Plotinus and the problem of the unification of the soul with the first principle

Abstract

Based on an interpretative line suggested by the Plotinus’ philosophy, this paper tries to study the problem that the highest finish of human soul entails during its return to the One-Good. On several occasions, the  philosopher maintains that, knowing one’s own self, it is possible to contact with a  supreme principle, which is beyond the intellectual faculty, by virtue of whose vision the soul can enjoy a love without measure. This finality in the unification does not depend in the last instance of the rational success, but of agreeing in the same center with that of similar to the One-Good that there is in the soul. These distinctions would credit the possibility of a mystical union within the Plotinian system. However, from the epistemological point of view, the mystical status is controversial and raises a number of
theoretical difficulties that need to be elucidated. For the analysis of the mentioned topics, a reading is developed not only hermeneutically but also critically both from the sources and from the scholarly bibliography.