Plotinus stands at a crossroads in ancient philosophy, between the more than 600 years of philosophy that came before him and the new Platonic tradition. He was the first and perhaps the greatest systematizer of Plato's thought, and all later students of Plato in the following centuries approached Plato through him. This Companion from a new generation of ancient philosophy scholars reflects the current state of research on Plotinus, with chapters on topics including mathematics, fate and determinism, happiness, the theory of forms, categories of reality, matter and evil, and Plotinus' legacy. The volume offers an accessible overview of the thought of one of the pivotal figures in the history of philosophy, and reveals his importance as a thinker whose impact goes far beyond his importance as an interpreter of Plato.

A new Companion offering student-friendly essays on this major figure in the Platonic tradition and in Greek philosophy.

About the Author
Lloyd P. Gerson is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Toronto. He is the author of From Plato to Platonism (2013), and the editor of The Cambridge History of Philosophy in Late Antiquity (Cambridge 2010) and Plotinus: The Enneads (Cambridge 2018). James Wilberding is Professor of Ancient and Contemporary Philosophy at Humboldt University, Berlin. He is the author of Plotinus' Cosmology: A Study of Ennead 2.1 (2006) and Forms, Souls and Embryos: Neoplatonists on Human Reproduction (2017), and the editor of World Soul: A History of the Concept (2021).


Book Information
ISBN 9781108726238
Author Lloyd Gerson
Format Paperback
Page Count 400
Imprint Cambridge University Press
Publisher Cambridge University Press
Weight(grams) 740g
Dimensions(mm) 229mm * 151mm * 26mm