"The Concepts of Space in Plotinus"

Augustiniana, 2018

This paper focuses on the question of Plotinus’ influence on Augustine’s conception of the matter of the corporeal world, in order to highlight not only the undeniable tangency points, but also the relevant theoretical differences between the two thinkers. The following topics will be covered: (1) the relationship between the concept of matter and the notions of form, privation, mass, and non-being; (2) the epistemological and ontological status of formless matter; and (3) its ethical and metaphysical implications.

Phronesis: A Journal for Ancient Philosophy, 2005

There is a well-known tension in Plotinus' thought regarding the location of the intelligible region. He appears to make three mutually incompatible claims about it: (1) it is everywhere; (2) it is nowhere; and (3) it borders on the heavens, where the third claim is associated with Plotinus' affection for cosmic religion. Traditionally, although scholars have found a reasonable way to make sense of the compatibility of the first two claims, they have sought to relieve the tension generated by (3) by both downplaying the importance of cosmic religion to Plotinus and reinterpreting his spatial language metaphorically. In this paper I argue that both of these maneuvers are unsatisfactory. Rather, it is possible to reconcile Plotinus' metaphysics with the world-view of cosmic religion (CR world-view), i.e., to retain the spatial sense of Plotinus' language without making his metaphysics incoherent.

2019

This thesis is comprised of a translation of and commentary on Ennead III.7, 'On Eternity and Time' as well as an interpretative essay. The aim of this thesis is to demonstrate that eternity and time are, for Plotinus, modes which make the experience of the contents of Intellect and Soul possible, rather than features of reality existing independently of human subjectivity. As

1999

Within Neoplatonism, the ancient ideal of godlikeness can take several forms. There is a competition with regards to which god exactly we should emulate: the perfect, ineffable and absolutely unified One, the origin of Goodness? Or perhaps the principle of multiplicity, being and intellection, the perfect and eternal Intellect? Or the complete Living God, the World-Soul ordering and moving the cosmos? All suggestions have their merits, and Plotinus most likely thought that all have, in addition to a causal role for the existence and features of human beings, another kind of vital explanatory role, as ends.

2015

International Journal of the Classical Tradition, 2018

eds.), Plotinus and Epicurus: Matter, Perception, Pleasure, Cambridge University Press, 2016, 236pp., $99.99 (hbk), ISBN 9781107124219.

Dionysius 31 (2013), 2013