James Shelinsky

The Meaning of the Arts

Instructor: Josh Gillon

03/08/13

Plotinus vs. Plato
Plotinus and Plato both see the nature of beauty as a product of a higher consciousness in the result of self-control. However, they both seem to interpret the idea in a different way. When it comes to the understanding of the nature of beauty the clear difference between Plato and Plotinus is that Plotinus believes that to understand the nature of beauty you must become Godlike and purified of all evil through the study of the “good” in beauty with self-control. Plato, on the other hand, believes that to understand beauty you must use self-control to resist the desire to possess what one may first see as beautiful to fully know the true nature of beauty. To Plato, one must learn to become a mirror image of that, which brings him desire through observation, rather than become pure or godlike as Plotinus believes. “There is no greater good than this that either human self-control or divine madness can offer a man” (Phaedrus 256B-256C).
Plotinus believes that true beauty comes from absolute good which comes from the many forms of beauty that one may see or feel pleasure through. He believes to understand that “The soul must first be accustomed to look at beautiful practices, then beautiful works of men who are called “good”, and then to look at the soul of those who produce these beautiful works”(Plotinus 62). What this means is that Plotinus believes that you cannot see the true essence of beauty without giving your soul the ability to collect intellect on the manner of which you think is beautiful. One must first become knowledgeable of the simplest form of beauty and build off of that with intellect. Through intellect of the various forms of beauty, along with the cleansing of one’s soul, Plotinus believes that understanding of the true meaning of beauty can be understood.
Where Plato disagrees, is that the nature of beauty is understood through self-control in that you must be in the constant presence of, for instance, the one you may love, but at the same time resist engaging in physical activity. Through this, both of the lovers may find the true meaning of beauty in their thought. “Now if the victory goes to the better elements in both their minds, which leads them to follow the assigned regimen of philosophy, their life here below is one of bliss and shared understanding”(Phaedrus 256A- 256B). They both will find that resisting the temptations for physical activity will result in a longer lasting friendship, giving them a better understanding of beauty.
Plotinus also believes that the understanding of beauty comes with self-control, but he also thinks that you must have a mastery of the subject at hand, accompanied with the thought that “You must become wholly Godlike and wholly beautiful if you intend to see God and beauty” (Plotinus 62). He does not believe that you can achieve an understanding of beauty though people around you or the thing that you find pleasure or beauty in, as Plato does, but only in the gathering of intellect and if you apply that intellect in the correct way to your soul. In doing so you must cleanse yourself of all evil denying certainty in your soul, and then, he believes, you will have a true understanding of beauty. “If the eye approaches that sight bleary with evils and not having been purified or weak and owing to cowardice, is not able to see all the bright objects” (Plotinus 62).