Beauty and the Good in the philosophy of Plotinus

A b s t r a c t The present thesis proceeds in its exposition of the initial assertion of the unity of beauty and goodness in Plotinus' philosophy. The thesis puts forward the question of the source and definition of the intuitive and philosophical persuasiveness of such a unity, and its ontological foundation in the philosophy of Plotinus. The thesis' intention is to clarify how the abovemen- tioned unity may be thought of, what is its nature, wherein lays its foundation. The foremost aim of this work is exploration, and potentially resolution, of the following aporia, which, as I hope, is not trivial and may shed new light upon Plotinus' metaphysics, especially his under- standing of the relationshipofbeautyandgoodness:inwhatsensearebeautyandgoodnessinunity (what is the principle of such a unity and its foundation), inwhichsensearetheymutuallydistinct (what is the nature of such a distinction)? My interest lays not only with the exposition of the rôle and status of beauty and goodness in Plotinus' thinking, but rather the exploration of dif- ferent ways they mightbe united in such an eminent sense, yet simultaneouslydistinctlyinde- pendent. Our investigation, following Plotinus' exposition of the topic of beauty in Enn. I, 6, shall lead us from the analysis of beauty at the level of thesensual world..