Contemplation and Production of Nature in Plotinus

My purpose is to examine the Plotinian conception of nature, the lower portion of the soul, whose function is to inform and give life to the sensible world. As Plotinus insists, especially in the treatise III 8 [30], “On contemplation”, nature produces by contemplation, that is, by a kind of cogniti...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autor: Cruz, Maria Isabel Santa
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2022
País:Brasil
Institución:Universidade Federal de Pernambuco (UFPE)
Repositorio:Perspectiva Filosófica (Online)
Idioma:español
OAI Identifier:oai:oai.periodicos.ufpe.br:article/253137
Acceso en línea:https://periodicos.ufpe.br/revistas/perspectivafilosofica/article/view/253137
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Plotinus
nature
contemplation
production
Plotino
naturaleza
contemplación
producción
Descripción
Sumario:My purpose is to examine the Plotinian conception of nature, the lower portion of the soul, whose function is to inform and give life to the sensible world. As Plotinus insists, especially in the treatise III 8 [30], “On contemplation”, nature produces by contemplation, that is, by a kind of cognitive activity that is different from those of the intellect and the higher soul. This cognitive activity, which excludes all reasoning and deliberation, consists of a certain type of self-perception or consciousness. Nature produces because it is logos, a rational formative principle that transmits to what is inferior the intelligible forms it receives from the higher soul, whose archetypes are the contents of the intellect. Nature is a logos that produces other logos, last and devoided of productive power; it is a productive power that contains, deployed, the formal principles that it transmits as reflections or images on matter, thus shaping sensitive entities, without becoming immanent to them.