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Chapter 7 - Plotinus as a Living Daimon

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 December 2020

M. David Litwa
M. David Litwa
Affiliation:
Australian Catholic University, Melbourne
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Summary

Chapter 7 turns to daimonification in the founder of Neoplatonism, Plotinus (205–270 CE). Porphyry presented Plotinus as already a daimon while on earth. This presentation partially depends on Plotinus’s own teachings: the one who becomes a daimon in heaven already was one on earth. This presentist focus was shaped by a reading of Empedocles and Plato – the daimon is one’s higher consciousness into which one lives. In his theory of daimonification, Plotinus emphasized ethical and contemplative practices. Purifying virtues disengaged the higher consciousness from the “conglomerate” of the body and the lower mind. When one’s higher mind is free from bodily images, one can live at the level of the daimon.

Keywords

PlotinusPorphyryDaimoncontemplationcivic virtuepurifying virtuepneumatic vehicleguardian angeldetachmentFall (of souls)
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Chapter
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Posthuman Transformation in Ancient Mediterranean Thought
Becoming Angels and Demons
 , pp. 115 - 132
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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  • Plotinus as a Living Daimon
  • M. David Litwa, Australian Catholic University, Melbourne
  • Book: Posthuman Transformation in Ancient Mediterranean Thought
  • Online publication: 24 December 2020
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108921572.009
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  • Plotinus as a Living Daimon
  • M. David Litwa, Australian Catholic University, Melbourne
  • Book: Posthuman Transformation in Ancient Mediterranean Thought
  • Online publication: 24 December 2020
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108921572.009
Available formats
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To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Plotinus as a Living Daimon
  • M. David Litwa, Australian Catholic University, Melbourne
  • Book: Posthuman Transformation in Ancient Mediterranean Thought
  • Online publication: 24 December 2020
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108921572.009
Available formats
×