PLOTINUS AND THE ISSUE OF MAN AS A POLITICAL ANIMAL
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7443/problemata.v12i1.57899Keywords:
Plotinus, Man, Animal, Politics, EnneadAbstract
In the Mackenna’s translation of Enneads (1969) there is a rich introduction made by Paul Henry to the thought of Plotinus, especially with regard to the reception of the Neo-Platonist by posterity. In this introduction there is a controversial statement which consists in considering that man in Plotinus would be “isolated”, not being feasible to conceive him as a political animal. Thus, the Plotinian anthropology should be distinguished from that of Aristotle, who is known by the “political animal” conception. Nevertheless is possible to find similar ideas about the political nature of man in Plato. The aim of this paper is to conduct a brief examination of whether it would be possible to think man as a political animal in Plotinus, which will be studied from the perspectives of anthropology and of ethics in the pertinent excerpts of the Enneads.
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