Plotinus on descent of the soul

Abstract

The article analyzes the main problems associated with the theme of the fall of the soul in the “Enneads”. The author proposes a clarification of the conceptual premises underly­ing Plotinus' ideas about the “descent of the soul into the body”. These premises include Plotinus’ doctrine of the soul as a conjunction of unity and plurality (in connection with the doctrine of quality and the body), Plotinus’ doctrine of the identity of the subject of sensory perception (in connection with the criticism of the Stoic theory of perception), “metaphor of sciences”, which describes in a new way the relationship between the soul as a hypostasis and individual souls. The article shows the role and significance of the “proneness” of an individual soul as a determining factor in its descent, it also analyzes the relationship between “freedom” and “necessity” in this process.