The makers of Encyclopaedia Britannica bring you the Great Books of the Western World. Comprising 60 volumes containing 517 works written by 130 authors, these texts capture the major ideas, stories, and discoveries that shaped Western culture.

Gain a deeper understanding of philosophy through the ages by studying Plotinus—the founder of Neoplatonism.

The makers of Encyclopædia Britannica bring you one of the Great Books of the Western World. This text captures major ideas, stories, and discoveries that helped shape Western culture.

In the Sixth Ennead, Plotinus delves into the kinds of being established by the Intellectual Principle and the diverse ideas which may be found in the intellect; concluding with a discussion of the good—“the One’s” moral nature.

Plotinus addresses the nature of virtue, happiness, and beauty. He also reveals how Plato’s dialectic (analyzing one’s perceptions) can improve one’s understanding of reality.

In the Fifth Ennead, Plotinus identifies underlying principles of reality: “the One,” the Intellectual Principle, and the soul.

Here Plotinus addresses the immortality of the soul and the relationship between the body and the soul.

In the Second Ennead, Plotinus discusses the nature of matter and the relationship between potentiality and actuality. In the Third Ennead, he investigates providence and free will, and also describes the nature of time and eternity.