Andrew Smith

Plotinus: Ennead I.6: On Beauty

Translation, with an Introduction and Commentary

• Broschiertes Buch

Produktbeschreibung

"Not only an important document for the history of ancient aesthetics, [On Beauty] also makes for an excellent introduction to Plotinus' thought more generally, especially [given] this readable translation, which nicely captures Plotinus' more rhetorical turns of phrase." --Peter Adamson, Professor of Late Antiquity and Arabic Philosophy, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munich "This new [edition] is very pleasant to read and contains everything needed to grasp the features of this important Plotinian treatise. [It] will be welcomed by a wide range of readers, be they familiar with Plotinus or not." --Alexandrine Schniewind, Professor of Ancient Philosophy, University of Lausanne "Plotinus criticizes the view that beauty consists in symmetry, and interprets it instead in terms of the presence of form, bestowed on physical objects by the activities of souls. Relying on Plato's Symposium and Phaedrus, he traces back the beauty of physical objects to its source in the intelligible world, i.e. the beauty of the Forms (or the Intellect), and, ultimately, to the transcendent Good (or Beauty), which is the cause of intelligible beauty. The apprehension of physical beauty provides us with the starting point for the discovery and active shaping of our inner selves, or, to put it in a different way, for the ascent to intelligible and transcendent Beauty. The Introduction and the Commentary supply a wealth of information in an economic way and are helpful for the newcomer and the specialist alike. The volume will make a valuable reading for anyone interested in the history of aesthetics, in metaphysics, and in the spirituality of late antiquity." --László Bene, Associate Professor Ancient and Medieval Philosophy, Eötvös Loránd University "Smith shows how Plotinus' discussion of beauty relates to his philosophy overall. The commentary contains numerous parallels from other works of Plotinus which helpfully illuminate what is said in I.6." --Anne Sheppard, Professor of Ancient Philosophy, Royal Holloway, University of London "A lucid translation of one of Plotinus' most accessible treatises, with a thorough and informative commentary. In many respects, this book is an ideal introduction to Plotinus' thought." --Michael Griffin, Assistant Professor of Classics and Philosophy, The University of British Columbia

Produktdetails

• Verlag: Parmenides Publishing
• Seitenzahl: 158
• Erscheinungstermin: 1. Februar 2016
• Englisch
• Abmessung: 190mm x 126mm x 17mm
• Gewicht: 197g
• ISBN-13: 9781930972933
• ISBN-10: 1930972938
• Artikelnr.: 44498656

Autorenporträt

Andrew Smith is Emeritus Professor of Classics at University College Dublin. He is the author of Porphyry's Place in the Neoplatonic Tradition: A Study in Post-Plotinian Neoplatonism (1974), Philosophy in Late Antiquity (2004), and Plotinus, Porphyry and Iamblichus: Philosophy and Religion in Neoplatonism (2012). He is the editor of the Teubner edition of the fragments of Porphyry (1993) and of Philosophy and Society in Late Antiquity (2005), as well as series editor, with John M. Dillon, of the Enneads of Plotinus with Philosophical Commentaries.