Plotinus and the Stoics: A Preliminary Study

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PLOTINUS AND THE STOICS

PHILOSOPHIA ANTIQUA A SERIES OF MONOGRAPHS ON ANCIENT PHILOSOPHY EDITED BY

W. J. VERDENIUS AND J. H. WASZINK VOLUME XXII ANDREAS GRAESER

PLOTINUS AND THE STOICS A PRELIMINARY STUDY

LEIDEN

E.

J.

BRILL

1972

PLOTINUS AND THE STOICS A PRELIMINARY STUDY BY

ANDREAS GRAESER

LEIDEN J. BRILL

E.

1972

Copyright 1972 by E. J. Brill, Leiden, Netherlands All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or translated in any form, by print, photoprint, microfilm, microfiche or any other means without written permission from the publisher PRINTED IN THE NETHERLANDS

To Harold F. Cherniss

CONTENTS Acknowledgements.

XI

Preface . . . .

XIII

Abbreviations .

XVI

INTRODUCTION.

I

PART ONE

PRESENTATION OF THE MATERIAL

1.

PLOTINUS AND THE OLDER STOICS • .

.

.

.

.

.

.

II

# I Matter is without Quality [S.V.F. I, 85J. # 2 Definition of Time [S.V.F. I, 93J. # 3 The Intelligible abides? [S.V.F. I, 198]. . # 4 Total Mixture [So V.F. I, I02J . . . . . . # 5 The "two kinds of fire-doctrine" [S.V.F. I, I20J. # 6 Virtues are bodies [S.v.F. I, 140]. . . . . . # 7 Perceptions and impressions [S.V.F. I, I4IJ. # 8 Soul is a body [S.V.F. I, 142]. . . . . . . # 9 The Organ for vowels? [S.V.F. I, I50J . . . # 10 Only human beings have e:U~oc.L{LOVLoc. [So V.F. I, I83J # II Bipartition of soul [S.V.F. I, 202J . . . . . . .

13 IS 17 18 22 24 24 25 26 26 27

#

27

12

The

~ye:fLOVLX6v is &'t"pe:7t't"ov

[S.V.F.

I, 2II].

..

# 13 The 7toc.(hrnx6v is not 1~:rpe:7t't"ov [S.V.F. 1,234].. # 14 Soul is revealed in 't"1i AOYLXOC [S.V.F. I, 374/7]. # IS Human Soul is part of the world-Soul [S.v.F. I, 495J . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . # 16 Man inherits some of the irrational7toc6"y) [So V.F. I, 518] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . # 17 Logic is part of Philosophy [S.v.F. 2, 49J. . # 18 Soul is subject to alteration [S.V.F. 2, 53/65J. # 19 (See # 7) [S.V.F. 2, 7 I J. . . . . . . . . . # 20 oc.V't"oc.crLoc. ~E 7tA"Y)Y~ &A6you i£~ 'rU7twcreLe; (3, 29-30), it is clear that Plotinus must have been thinking of an opinion such as was apparently held by Chrysippus (S.V.F., Vol. II, p. 21, 13-14 From Tertullian, De An. 5, Nemesius, De Nat. Hom. 32 [Matth.J. Cf. R. Harder's commentary (Vol. Ib), p. 416. 3 Cf. e.g. III 2 (47) 13, I ff.; IV 3 (27) 8, 9; III 4 (15) 2, 17 ff. and VI 7 (38) 6, 21, for which see W. Theiler, "Tacitus und der antike Schicksalsglaube", in: Phyllobolia (Basel, 1948), pp. 77 ff. 4 See, however, V 7 (18) 2, 1-23. 5 The division into six parts, as reported for Cleanthes by D.L. 7, 41 [= S. V.F. I, 482], can easily be reduced to one, which would speak of three parts (D.L. 7,39 [= S.V.F. 1,49]). 6 Cf. R. Harder's commentary (Vol. Ib), p. 576. 1 2

[# 22]

33

[for the phrase, OU "U1tOU~ €VOC1toO"pOV1j°-CXL (II 9 [33J 16, I ff.), holding that atheism endorses moral evil. The same argument was often employed by Stoic philosophers.

S.V.F. 3,660

S. V.F. 3, 687

[# 79J Plotinus, as has been said [see above, pp. 58 in # 66J, when pointing to the