By A. H. Armstrong, Plotinus

Plotinus (204/5-270 CE) was once the 1st and maximum of Neoplatonic philosophers. His writings have been edited through his disciple Porphyry, who released them a long time after his master's dying in six units of 9 treatises every one (the Enneads).

Plotinus looked Plato as his grasp, and his personal philosophy is a profoundly unique improvement of the Platonism of the 1st centuries of the Christian period and the heavily similar considered the Neopythagoreans, with a few affects from Aristotle and his fans and the Stoics, whose writings he knew good yet used seriously. he's a special mixture of mystic and Hellenic rationalist. His idea ruled later Greek philosophy and motivated either Christians and Moslems, and continues to be alive at the present time as a result of its union of rationality and extreme non secular adventure.

In his acclaimed variation of Plotinus, Armstrong presents very good introductions to every treatise. His worthwhile notes clarify imprecise passages and provides connection with parallels in Plotinus and others.

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Extra resources for Ennead IV (Loeb Classical Library, Volume 443)

Sample text

I. Gurdjieff: Time, Word and Being in All and Everything (2007a) aims to be “the first reading of the three series of Gurdjieff ’s All and Everything as an organic whole” (back cover). Aside from the fact that it gives marginal attention to The Herald of Coming Good, his study focuses on a subject that differs from one undertaken in the present work in terms of exploring the place of hypnosis in Gurdjieff ’s teaching and life. It is noteworthy that the original version of the present study involving a systematic study of all of Gurdjieff ’s writings (including Herald), with a central focus on the place of hypnosis in his teaching, was deposited (as part of my doctoral dissertation) with University Microfilms International (UMI) in 2002.

For earlier efforts see his (with the Gurdjieff Foundation of California) Gurdjieff: An Annotated Bibliography, with an Introductory Essay by Michel De Salzmann (1985) and Gurdjieff: A Reading Guide (2004). For a condensation of two essays featured in the latter, see his “The Gurdjieff Literature” (2007a) in B. A. Russell’s (compiler) Gurdjieff ” Eight Key Evocations; also see his The Essence of Orage. Some Aphorisms and Observations (1997), his (with George Baker) “Gurdjieff in America: An Overview” (1995), and his “Bibliography” compiled in Speeth and Friedlander’s Gurdjieff: Seeker of the Truth (1980).

This may then be used to critique his ideas not from the standpoint of extraneous data or facts, but of the inner contradictions and logical inconsistencies of his own arguments. The present study aims to demonstrate that adopting a hermeneutic method for understanding Gurdjieff ’s life and teaching through his writings is essential for decoding the central message or “gist” of his legacy.

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