Each of the Twelve Ideas as a Unique and Special Form of the Intellectual-Principle Entire

by Anthony J. Damiani

Paper V09P

3-LETTER CODE: PLO

TOPIC: Plotinus

SUBJECT: Intellectual-Principle

SUBSUBJECTS: Twelve Ideas, Idea of Man

ORIGINAL LOCATION & FILE NAME (of PDF used for typing): AD SuppC 1-4.PDF

CONTENTS:

Current world situation requires unifying principle(s) to organize variety of philosophical and religious traditions

Intellectual-Principle (I.P.) as giver of Wisdom to the Soul; Intelligence in actuality and eternity

Intellectual-Principle as Total of Ideas; each Idea contains entire I.P. in special Form

Proposed methodological framework: each Idea is placed in first house and other 11 Ideas applied to primary Idea; example using 7th house Idea; achievement of absoluteness in explanation

Creation of twelve absolute philosophies; each claims finality; each maintains legitimacy despite overlap

World-Idea complexity explains persistence of different schools of thought; demonstrates simultaneity of Ideas' presence

Cannot understand one Idea in isolation; all Ideas implicit in each individual Idea

Transcendent One as model of how a one can be a many without losing uniqueness

Practical applications: framework for understanding ideological conflicts; tool for exploring the Idea of Man; foundation for future philosophical discourse

BOOKS QUOTED FROM OR REFERENCED:

• Plotinus, The Enneads (MacKenna translation, 4th ed.)

PLOTINUS QUOTES REFERENCED: V.9.2, V.9.5

AD HANDWRITING: Handwritten by student (CdA) but obvious dictation by AD; with additional handwritten AD edits

COMPLETENESS: Full Paper

PUBLISHABILITY: No, a slightly different version already published in Astronoesis

VERSION OF PAPER IN ASTRONOESIS: Chapter 2, Editors' Extension III, p. 147

TYPED by MP 2020, PROOFED by JRM; FORMATTED by JF 2021-3; REFORMATTED by IT 2025

NOTES:

• RETYPED AD PAPER (V09P).

• File prepared for From the Heart May 2023, but not in Dec. 2023 Larson Publications manuscript version.

EACH OF THE TWELVE IDEAS AS A UNIQUE AND SPECIAL FORM OF THE INTELLECTUAL-PRINCIPLE ENTIRE

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We are at a time in world history where there is an intense need for a Principle or principles to provide a unifying background to the rich complexity and variety of philosophic and religious traditions mankind has inherited and is developing. So overwhelming is the proliferation of knowledge, that unless we find encompassing principles our mental balance is in jeopardy. If we dare to pursue the glimpses offered by Plotinus we may arrive at a workable hypothesis as to what that philosophy might be. The pyramiding complexity of knowledge must be boldly faced. What is the principle, Plotinus asks, that is the giver of Wisdom to the Soul? And he responds by saying the veritable Intellectual, wise without intermission. (V.9.2) And further, "it is an Intelligence which is in actuality and in eternity." [V.9.5] This intelligence – the Int. Princ. [Intellectual-Principle], he refers to as an aggregate, or the Total of the Ideas, and each one of these Ideas is the entire I.P. [Intellectual-Principle] in a special Form. It is to this notion that we will direct our attention by positing our initial premise of correlating the zodiacal signs with those Ideas. The effort that is required of us now is to attempt to understand this notion in a much more detailed way. We are going to try to understand how each Idea – which we have located in their corresponding house 1 through 12 – can be shown to be a unique & special version of the entire I.P. That is, one Idea at a time is put in the first house of the chart of Being and the entirety of the other 11 Ideas are applied to it in such a way that the unity of the Being of that Idea is amplified and expounded by the others. So for example, if we use the 7th H. [House] Idea & put it in the first House and then systematically apply to this Idea the meanings provided by all the other Ideas, we should come out with an absoluteness that makes this idea the source and origin of all explanations.

When this is repeated a dozen times we should have Twelve absolute philosophies, each one legitimately claiming for itself finality, despite the juxtaposition of the I.P. in its totality. That the World Idea is involved in such complexity is revealed by the persistence and validity of many differing schools of thought which would at the same time indicate the simultaneity of their (the Ideas) presence. It is not possible to understand one of the Ideas by itself – all the others are implicit in it. The consequence is that each can be taken to be absolute. We also have here an illustration of how the Transcendent One itself provides us with a perfect model of how a one can be a many and its uniqueness not surrendered in the process. The pregnant variety & the rich sources of inspiration inherent in such a schema could certainly be the broad and vast substratum that would help in our appreciation and understanding of the war of ideas where the future battles of the mind will be fought. An ocean of possibilities concerning the meaning of the Idea of Man becomes available.

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