Replies

What principally distinguishes Plotinus from both Plato and his immediate predecessors is the assumption of a principle higher than the nous. This assumption proceeds from the requirement of unity as an attribute of the highest principle; the nous, as at once subject and object of perception, nooun and nooumenon is twofold. Therefore something higher must be sought, which is absolute unity, the One, identical with the Godhead and wholly transcendent -- the first cause, the source of all thinking and being, all the good and beautiful, and all activity.

I gather you don't "do cosmology," Doc, and that you don't see the Universe as being at some level one unified whole.

Must run and finish packing for my vacation. Hope we can revisit this topic later.

I gather you don't "do cosmology," Doc, and that you don't see the Universe as being at some level one unified whole.

What I don't do is theorize ahead of the data :-). However, I can respect and do my best to help inquiry without being particularly sanguine about its likelihood for success, and it did strike me that someone who's taking the particular path you're taking might want to read Plotinus; that is assuming you haven't already.

I do read somewhat eclectically. The idea of the universe as a unified whole is common to all sorts of religions - but some of your speculations did seem have to find an echo in Plotinus, a thinker in the western tradition, who was influenced by orthodox Christianity, Plato, and the gnostics he ended up condemning.

Enjoy your vacation.