/lit/ - Literature

[Anonymous No.18274593]

i've read plato and aristotle, am i ready to tackle plotinus? i've heard his stuff is very difficult and i'm still quite new to literature

[Anonymous No.18274647]

>>18274593
Did you read Diogenes?

[Anonymous No.18274679]

The path of knowledge is not like an elevator in which you ascend vertically along a rigid chute, stopping at each floor on the way. Instead we meander through philosophical understanding; skipping ahead, doubling back, zigzagging through ideas and time.
If it calls to you, read it. It may not reveal itself yet, but one day you will return and it will bloom for you

[Anonymous No.18274681]

>>18274593
Yeah, Plotinus references Plato and Aristotle pretty much exclusively. Ideally you would read up on Ammonius as well, but it is not necessary.
Good luck anon, Plotinus is one of the greatest philosophers of all time and he changed my life.

[Anonymous No.18274728]

>>18274679
>>18274681
thanks fellers, i'll pick up the enneads tomorrow

[Anonymous No.18274802]

>>18274681
>Ammonius
Not OP but I would love to read anything substantial on him. What do you recommend, seeing everything written about him is quite limited?

[Anonymous No.18275294]

>>18274647
>read le poo poo pee pee barrel man!

[Anonymous No.18276336]

>>18274728
Enjoy. It's the pinnacle of western philosophy, the perfect combination of rational philosophy and religious mysticism.

[Anonymous No.18276770]

It's difficult but not because you need to read a bunch of people first. You don't need to read anyone. Plotinus is difficult because he's writing for the benefit of his students who were already familiar with his thought. I would start with Return to the One by Brian Hines. If you really want to start with Plotinus himself then expect to read him multiple times before things start making sense.

[Anonymous No.18276798]

>>18276770
>>Brian Hines
>don't read Plotinus read this hippie new age literal who instead

[Anonymous No.18276840]

>>18276798
I didn't say he shouldn't read Plotinus. Why are you writing in quotes?

[Anonymous No.18276874]

>>18274593
read it in chronological order rather than ennead order though

[Anonymous No.18276928]

>>18276770
>>18276798
>>18276840
Is Hines book really that bad?

[Anonymous No.18276939]

>>18276928
It must be bad if a guy who doesn't know how to communicate without greentexting says it is.

[Anonymous No.18276948]

>>18274593
>Still quite new to literature
If you’ve read Plato and Aristotle you’ve read more than 99.9% of people on earth. You’re not new, you’re at least intermediate and yes you can read Plotinus, in fact you’ve probably read almost as much as Plotinus had considering what he likely had access to.

[Anonymous No.18276955]

>>18276939
Well he does seem to have an interesting way to communicate

[Anonymous No.18276994]

>>18276336
>Enjoy. It's the pinnacle of western philosophy, the perfect combination of rational philosophy and religious mysticism.

[Anonymous No.18277003]

>>18276994
>he used to go to his nurse, bare her breasts, and ask to suckle even when he was 7 years old

[Anonymous No.18277017]

>>18277003
Kek, talk about a man-child
But jokes aside, I would suckle on my nurses titties if I had one

[Anonymous No.18277024]

>>18277017
same maybe milk is the key to henosis

[Anonymous No.18277196]

I made a thread for the rest of the Middle and Neo Platonists >>18277107

[Anonymous No.18277275]

>>18274681
>Ideally you would read up on Ammonius as well

Read what? A fucking paragraph about his life? We don't know much about him at all.

[Anonymous No.18277292]

Was it B12 deficiency? Should we avoid vegetarian philosophers since it's been proven that B12 deficiency kills brain cells?