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15 - Plotinus and Plato on soul and action

from Part IV - Parts of the soul in the Platonic tradition

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 March 2012

By
Eyólfur Kjalar Emilsson
Edited by
Rachel Barney ,
Tad Brennan  and
Charles Brittain
Rachel Barney
Affiliation:
University of Toronto
Tad Brennan
Affiliation:
Cornell University, New York
Charles Brittain
Affiliation:
Cornell University, New York
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Summary

This chapter discusses the Platonic origin of the treatise "On Free Will and the Will of the One". It presents an account of Plotinus' doctrine of inner and outer activity with a special focus on this doctrine's (by Plotinus' lights) Platonic origins. Plotinus replaces Plato's "external and internal action" with "external and internal activity". The notion of a twofold activity, one internal and another external is well known from metaphysical contexts in Plotinus. Plotinus evidently sees his two activities at work in the relationship between virtuous action and internal virtue. Indeed, he sees external human actions in relation to soul-states quite generally in the same way. Plato suggests that bad actions may bring ruin to a well-tempered soul. He also holds that some actions "preserve and help achieve" internal virtue.
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Chapter
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Plato and the Divided Self , pp. 350 - 367
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2012

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