Plotinus, or the Glory of Ancient Philosophy

By Joseph Moreau.

Translated by Robert K. Clark.

This is the first translation into English of the highly regarded survey of Plotinus and his philosophy by Joseph Moreau, originally published in 1970. Jean Trouillard in Revue des Études Grecques wrote of this:

“The present work lays out a complete outline of Plotinian doctrine, both as a vision of the world and as a method of spiritual life. The meditation unfolds according to the cyclic or helical scheme of the Neoplatonists. We ascend from the universe, considered as a living whole, then as a system of intelligibles and intelligences, up to the Good which fulfills their unfolding by the exigency which it imparts to them. From this Supreme One we descend again to derivative beings by studying as a matter of course the procession of minds, then that of the soul, and finally the appearance of the sensible. Making our way, we encounter the problems of individuality, of extension, of time and of nature. Everything is thus arranged in order to understand the conversion of souls, which are purified, first from the sensible, then from the intelligible, before reuniting with the unitive presence within themselves.

In this book we rediscover the qualities of an author who could not be considered an objective historian of ideas if he were not a philosopher, nor inversely an authentic philosopher if he were not a historian of the Hellenic heritage. These qualities, indeed, are summed up in a great architectural talent. Holding firmly to the guiding idea, he accurately restores the structure of each part as a function of the whole, and he maintains consciousness of the whole in the reader through the detail.”

256 pages. Hardcover.