TY - JOUR
T1 - Freedom and Praxis in Plotinus's Ennead 6.8.1-6
AU - Andrade, Bernardo
PY - 2020
Y1 - 2020
N2 - In this paper, I argue that Plotinus does not limit the sphere of free human agency simply to intellectual contemplation, but rather extends it all the way to human praxis. Plotinus’s goal in the first six chapters of Ennead 6.8 is, accordingly, to demarcate the space of freedom within human practical actions. He ultimately concludes that our external actions are free whenever they actualize, in unhindered fashion, the moral principles derived from intellectual contemplation. This raises the question of how the freedom of practical actions might relate to the freedom of intellectual contemplation. After considering two previously offered models—a model of double activity, and an Aristotelian model of practical syllogism—I offer a third alternative, namely a model of moral attunement, according to which our rational desires assume a kind of 'care of the soul' through active supervision. Practical life is thus imbued with freedom to the extent that the soul supervises its actions to conform to its will and choice of the good.
AB - In this paper, I argue that Plotinus does not limit the sphere of free human agency simply to intellectual contemplation, but rather extends it all the way to human praxis. Plotinus’s goal in the first six chapters of Ennead 6.8 is, accordingly, to demarcate the space of freedom within human practical actions. He ultimately concludes that our external actions are free whenever they actualize, in unhindered fashion, the moral principles derived from intellectual contemplation. This raises the question of how the freedom of practical actions might relate to the freedom of intellectual contemplation. After considering two previously offered models—a model of double activity, and an Aristotelian model of practical syllogism—I offer a third alternative, namely a model of moral attunement, according to which our rational desires assume a kind of 'care of the soul' through active supervision. Practical life is thus imbued with freedom to the extent that the soul supervises its actions to conform to its will and choice of the good.
KW - Plotinus
KW - Freedom
KW - Soul
KW - Action
KW - Practical Ethics
UR - https://impactum-journals.uc.pt/archai/article/view/1984-249X_30_31
UR - https://www.academia.edu/44216159/Freedom_and_Praxis_in_Plotinus_s_Ennead_6_8_1_6
U2 - 10.14195/1984-249x_30_31
DO - 10.14195/1984-249x_30_31
M3 - Article
SN - 1984-249X
VL - 30
SP - 1
EP - 30
JO - Archai
JF - Archai
M1 - e03031
ER -