Plotinus (AD 205–270)

Egyptian-born Roman philosopher who originated neo-Platonism. He held that the ultimate goal of mystical union with the One or Good (the source of all being) can be achieved by intense moral and intellectual discipline. From the One or Good, the various levels of reality emanate timelessly.

The first level is the Divine Intellect, in which the Ideas (Plato called them Forms) are living intelligences and archetypes of the things of the world of sense. The next level is the Soul, the active principle forming and ordering the visible universe. People can choose to live on the level of the lower Soul (Nature) or the higher Soul (Intellect).

Plotinus studied from the age of 28 under Ammonius Saccas (died AD 243) in Alexandria. He taught first in Alexandria and in 244 went to Rome, where he founded a philosophy school. His treatises in Greek, the Enneads, were edited by his pupil Porphyry (AD 232–c. 305). They deal with most topics of ancient philosophy except politics.