A Map for Metaphysics

8 April 2023

A Map for Metaphysics

“Since, then, the simple nature of the Good appeared to us as also primal (for all that is not primal is not simple), and as something which has nothing in itself, but is some one thing; and since the nature of what is called the One is the same (for this is not some other thing first and then one, nor is the Good something else first, and then good), whenever we say ‘the One’ and whenever we say ‘the Good,’ we must think that the nature we are speaking of is the same nature, and call it ‘one’ not as predicating anything of it but as making it clear to ourselves as far as we can.  And we call it the First in the sense that it is simplest, and the Self-Sufficient, because it is not composed of a number of parts; for if it were, it would be dependent upon the things of which it was composed; and we say that it is not in something else, because everything which is in something else also comes from something else.  If, then, it is not from something else or in something else or any kind of compound, it is necessary that there should be nothing above it.  So we must not go after other first principles but put this first, and then after it Intellect [nous], that which primarily thinks, and then Soul after Intellect (for this is the order which corresponds to the nature of things):  and we must not posit more principles than these in the intelligible world, or fewer.”

(Plotinus, Ennead 11.9, Against the Gnostics, translated by A. H. Armstrong, Plotinus: Ennead II, Loeb Classical Library, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1966, pages 225-227, ISBN: 9780674994867)

“We have seen elsewhere that the Good, the Principle, is simplex, and, correspondingly, primal – for the secondary can never be simplex – that it contains nothing: that it is an integral Unity.

“Now the same nature belongs to the Principle we know as The One; just as the goodness of The Good is essential and not the outgrowth of some prior substance so the Unity of The One is its essential. Therefore: when we speak of The One and we speak of The Good we must recognize an identical nature; we must affirm that they are the same – not, it is true, as venturing any predication with regard to that [unknowable] Hypostasis but simply as indicating it to ourselves in the best terms we find.

“Even in calling it ‘The First’ we mean no more than to express that it is the most absolutely simplex: it is Self-Sufficing only in the sense that it is not of that compound nature which would make it dependent upon any constituent; it is the ‘Self-Contained’ because everything contained in something alien must also exist by that alien.

“Deriving, then, from nothing alien, entering into nothing alien, in no way a made-up thing, there can be nothing above it.

“We need not, then, go seeking other Principles; this – the One and the Good, is our First; next to it follows the Intellectual Principle, the Primal Thinker; and upon this follows Soul.  Such is the order in nature.  The Intellectual Realm allows no more than these and no fewer.”

(Plotinus, The Enneads,, translated by Stephen MacKenna and B. S. Page, Ennead II.9, various editions in the 1930’s, found online at sacred-texts.com)

 

“. . . being is fulfilled when it has the form of thinking and living.  So thinking, living and being are all together in what is real.  If then it is being, it is also intellect, and if it is intellect, it is also being, and the thinking and the being go together.”

(Plotinus, Ennead V.6.6, translated by A. H. Armstrong, Ennead V.6, What is Beyond Being Does not Think,  Loeb Classical Library, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1984, page 215, ISBN: 9780674994898)

“. . . Being is entire when it holds the form and idea of intellection and of life.  In a being, then, the existence, the intellection, the life are present as an aggregate.  When a thing is a being, it is also an Intellectual-Principle, when it is an Intellectual-Principle it is a Being; intellection and Being are co-existents.”

(Plotinus, The Enneads, translated by Stephen MacKenna and B. S. Page, Ennead V.6.6, various editions published in the 1930’s, found online at sacred-texts.com)

1.  One of the teaching tools of the Platonic tradition is a kind of map that depicts the features of the cosmos when understood from an emanationist perspective.  We can also think of this map as a kind of spiritual symbol, resembling symbols like the yin-yang mandala of Daoism or other symbols that contain many layers of meaning in a visible or descriptive form.  The three levels of reality discussed in the above quotes from Plotinus are such a map and symbol.

2.  The principle used for constructing the map is that we begin from the condition of absolute unity, unity as such, known as the One.  The One overflows due to its superabundant nature and in this way other levels of reality, known as hypostases, emerge from the primal source, the One.  With each additional level differentiation increases.  This means that the map is depicting increasing differentiation as we move farther from the One.

3.  There are three primary levels of reality or hypostases: first is the One which is beyond name and form, beyond predication.  We call it the One, or the Good, sometimes Platonists call it God, sometimes Platonists call it the Beautiful, but these names are there so that we can talk about what is beyond name and form; in this sense these names are poor substitutions for the reality of the One which is only understood through mystical union.

The second hypostasis, or level of reality, is, in Greek, nous.  This level of reality is often referred to as Intellect, or the Intelligible.  Bryan Hines in his book Return to the One, an introduction to the Enneads of Plotinus, uses the word ‘mind’.  This level is accessible through understanding and ascetic practice; unlike the One it is not beyond predication.

Nous is the realm where differentiation first appears.  In the Platonic tradition nous is understood to have three aspects or facets: being, life, and intellect.  I interpret ‘intellect’ in this context as something akin to ‘understanding’, or accessible by mind.

These three facets, being, life, and mind, are differentiated when compared to the unity of the One, but at the level of nous, the second level of reality, or hypostasis, they are mutually present to each other, bound up with each other; they are far more unified than any material appearance.  As Armstrong translates, “thinking, living and being are altogether in what is real.”  MacKenna refers to the three as an “aggregate,” but I think they are more closely intertwined than what I would normally consider members of an aggregate.  Perhaps a triangle is a better analogy; a triangle has three sides and if any side is removed it is no longer a triangle.  Similarly, nous has these three ‘sides’ which are always present with each other and never separated from each other.

4.  At the level of nous the three facets have no material content as they are beyond time and space.  The being of nous is not the being of any particular thing; it is being as such.  The life of nous is not the life of an oak tree or a sparrow; it is life as such.  The thinking (Armstrong’s word) of nous is not thinking about any particular thing, nor is it any specific mental event such as a feeling or emotion.  The thinking of nous is what makes thinking possible, it is the realm of mind, but before any particular, differentiated, mind appears, before any specific mental event occurs.

5.  This level of reality, the nous, is also where Platonic forms, such as numbers, reside.  Numbers are differentiated and make further differentiation possible in lower levels of reality, but numbers themselves are empty of specific content; the number 5 is, therefore, not a material thing, but material things can participate in the number 5.

6.  The One flows seamlessly into Nous, like a river overflowing its banks after a rain, like the light of the sun flowing into space.

7.  Nous flows seamlessly into the third level of reality, the realm of soul.  This is a realm of further differentiation.  In the realm of soul, first the world soul appears which is where motion first manifests, motion that is set, or governed, by number whose energies overflow into soul. 

This is also the realm of living beings that are differentiated from each other both as types of living beings and as individuals within each type of living being.  This is the realm of gods of all kinds.  This is the realm of human beings, plants, animals, rocks, and clouds, the realm of materiality.  This is the realm of finitude and mortality.

8.  Every being in the realm of soul is connected to the higher hypostases, or levels of reality, through participation.  This includes being connected to the One.  Just as we are connected to the sun though we are distant from it, so also we are connected to the One even though there are intervening hypostases. 

We are also connected to the being, life, and mind of the second hypostasis, the realm of Nous in a similar way. 

9.  The purpose of this metaphysical map is to allow us to place the variety of things that we encounter onto a metaphysical context.  This is very helpful for our spiritual understanding and practice.  Just as a geographical map can guide us to our destination, a metaphysical map can guide us to our spiritual destination.

10.  In Against the Gnostics Plotinus states that there are just these three levels of reality, that there are neither more nor fewer.  I think this comment is in response to a tendency, which is almost a defining characteristic of the Gnostics of that time, to make things unnecessarily complex.  Plotinus opposed using more and more hypostases for no particular reason.  The point Plotinus is making, or at least part of the point he is making, is that the map of the three levels of reality, the three hypostases, is sufficient for any spiritual practitioner.  I would say that it is more than sufficient; it is complete.

Adding more hypostases, or collapsing the three hypostases, may be satisfying to the ego of the intellect, but it does not assist us on our spiritual journey, it only creates confusion.

11.  An often-used visual representation of the three levels of reality consists of three concentric circles.  The inner circle is the One.  The One overflows in its abundance and the second ring is created, that of nous.  Nous overflows and creates the third level of reality, that of Soul.  Think of these three concentric circles as a guide for us; we are in the third, most outer, ring, the realm of deep differentiation, of materiality and separation.  The spiritual journey means to turn to the center, to pass through the realm of Nous (Intellect, Being, and Life) and return to the One.

12.  The third ring of Soul is the realm of material manifestations that distract us, hypnotize us, into thinking that the realm of Soul is the only realm that exists.  The return to the center circle, the One, is accomplished by withdrawing our fascination with sensory appearances through ascetic practice.  In a sense you could say that ascetic practice is the return to the One, the Good, and the Beautiful.