Plotinus on Number.

From the library of Prof. Wolfgang Haase, long-time editor of ANRW and the International Journal of the Classical Tradition (IJCT). - Slightly rubbed jacket, otherwise very good and clean. / Leicht beriebener Umschlag, sonst sehr gut und sauber. - Ancient Greek philosophy routinely relied upon concepts of number to explain the tangible order of the universe. Plotinus� contribution to this tradition, however, often has been omitted, if not ignored. The main reason for this, at first glance, is that Plotinus does not treat the subject of number in the Enneads pervasively as the Neopythagoreans or even his own successors lamblichus, Syrianus, and Proclus. Nevertheless, a close examination of the Enneads reveals that Plotinus systematically discusses number in relation to each of his underlying principles of existence�the One, Intellect, and Soul. Plotinus on Number offers the first comprehensive analysis of Plotinus' concept of number, beginning with its origins in Plato and the Neopythagoreans and ending with its influence on Porphyry�s arrangement of the Enneads. Its main argument is that Plotinus adapts Plato�s and the Neopythagoreans� cosmology to place number in the foundation of the intelligible realm and in the construction of the universe. Through Plotinus� defense of Plato�s Ideal Numbers from Aristotle�s criticism, Svetla Slaveva-Griffin reveals the founder of Neoplatonism as the first post-Platonic philosopher who purposefully and systematically develops what we may call a theory of number, distinguishing between number in the intelligible realm and number in the quantitative, mathematical realm. Finally, the book draws attention to Plotinus' concept as a necessary and fundamental link between Platonic and later Neoplatonic schools of philosophy. - Svetla Slaveva-Griffin is Assistant Professor of Classics at Florida State University. ISBN 9780195377194