The Philosophy of Plotinus; The Gifford Lectures at St. Andrews, 1917-1918 Volume 1

by William Ralph Inge

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1918 edition. Excerpt: ... the hypothesis of ether as the ultimate form of Matter.1 Ether has been defined as 'undifferentiated imperceptible, homogeneous plenum.'2 Plotinus says that Matter is the infinite (a-weipov) in the sense of the indeterminate (aopia-rov). Its nature is to be the recipient of Forms. In itself it is no thing (to nh ov), though not absolutely nothing (owe ov). In the Timaeus, 'primary Matter' cannot be distinguished from Space in three dimensions. But for Plotinus Space is 'later' than Matter and bodies.3 In discussing Matter, he combines the Aristotelian distinction of Svvafut and evepyeta with the Platonic conception of a world formed by the union of being and not-being, of.the same and the different, of the one and the many. Plotinus calls Matter pure Svvamt, i.e. potentiality without any potency.4 In one of his fullest descriptions of it,6 he says, 'Matter is incorporeal, because Body only exists after it; Body is a composite of which Matter is an element. . . . Being neither Soul nor Spirit nor life nor form nor reason nor limit (for it is indefiniteness) (a-n-eipla), nor a power (Svvanit);* for what does it produce? but falling outside all these things, it cannot rightly be said to have Being, but should rather be called Not-being (jj.ri ov). . . . It is an image and phantom of extension (eiScoov iral tj>avrao-na oyxov), an aspiration to exist (virwrrao-eaK efa&it). It is constant only in change (ia-rtiKot owe iv a-ratrei); it 1 Moore (Home University Library--' Nature and Origin of Life ') thinks it probable that atoms are generated out of the ether. Mendeleeff, too, has argued that the ether, instead of being some mysterious form of non-matter, is the lightest and simplest of the elements. . . . The atomic weight of the ether he...

Genres: Philosophy

96 pages, Paperback

First published October 31, 1968

About the author

Sir William Ralph Inge was educated at Eton and King's College, Cambridge. After taking a double first in Classics, he became a tutor at Hertford College, Oxford, and was made a deacon in the Church of England in 1888. After a time as Lady Margaret Professor of Divinity at Cambridge, Inge was elected Dean of St. Paul's cathedral in 1911 by Asquith, a position he held until 1934.

During his life, Inge was President of the Aristotelian society, a columnist for the Evening Standard, a fellow of the British Academy, and a trustee of the National Portrait Gallery. He received honorary doctorates from Oxford, Aberdeen, Durham, Sheffield, Edinburgh, and St. Andrews. Inge received honorary fellowships from King's and Jesus Colleges, Cambridge, and Hertford College, Oxford.