Tim asked:

What is the Hellenistic matrix from Plotinus's view point?

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The Hellenistic period is seen as a period of self-confident independence, conscious originality and,
although original in some respects, it also adapted ideas from its predecessors. Philosophy tends to
separate itself from the field of science during this period. In Alexandria, Ptolemy's hostility to Greek
learning accelerated the decay of scientific inquiry. The shift is toward a concentration on ethics and
practical morality as one enters the Greco-Roman world. Philosophy during this time gained a
recognized position, becoming more popular and lending itself to simplified moral teachings. With the
spread of Hellenism, the idea of a common humanity — a community — with a corresponding
increased awareness of the individual develops. The common humanity is supported by an increase
in mobility and the spread of a common Greek language. The Greco-Roman world was also one of a
variety of religious cults. It was into this world that Plotinus was born.

Plotinus perceived a world of ruin and misery propagated by development in Hellenistic philosophy.
He attacked the materialism of the Stoics and atomists. He also declared that the Epicureans were
unable to deal with an instinctual superstitious belief, making philosophy irrelevant.

Concerning the Hellenistic Matrix, one needs first to make a distinction as to what this Matrix really is.
Since a Matrix is considered to be the situation in which something originates or develops, the womb
of ideas so to speak, then the Hellenistic Matrix would consist of the philosophy of the Classics: Plato,
Aristotle, the Skeptics, and the Pythagoreans. It is in this context that Plotinus perceived the
Hellenistic Matrix, a Matrix born from the womb of Classical philosophy.

Plotinus attempted a reconstruction of Greek philosophy. The end result was Neo-Platonism, a
framework of philosophy with a religious core. In Plotinus's philosophy you find agreement with the
Skeptics in that he concluded that Knowledge was required to comprehend. Plotinus relied on the
Platonic Forms, Forms from beyond physical heaven, to address the source of Knowledge. Humans
have Knowledge, Plotinus concluded, and the soul must transcend the physical realm to perceive
these Forms. He based his conclusions on the theory of Ideas. These Archetypal Ideas linked a
Supreme Deity and the world of matter. This other worldliness of Plato played no part in Hellenistic
philosophy. It was not till the close of the period and the revival of Pythagoreanism, which brought in
a new age thought, that this was reconsidered.

The idea of a transcendent God, or a human soul exiled, as considered by Plato, was alien to the
Stoics and Epicureans. Hellenistic thought was dogmatic; it led to skepticism and a decline in
rationalism. It was in this milieu that Plotinus came to the forefront, producing a philosophical system
based on religion.

What Plotinus develops is a system that drew from the Classical period, his Hellenistic Matrix. His
system was also a system that had a Greco-Egyptian influence attached to it. This can be seen in the
formulation of Plotinus's emanationalism, which had its roots in Egyptian theology. It is from here that
you get the development of a monistic theology.

Plotinus drew heavily on Plato's Dialogues. He ignored the contradictions between the Dialogues and
saw them as a unified whole. His concept of the mind was that of a self-conscious autonomous
spiritual substance. He developed a monistic mysticism where reality is a divine ground — the
ineffable One. His mysticism transcends the categories of monism as well as the categories of
metaphysics. Plotinus developed a knowledge of being 'one with God' as a direct experience in
intuition. From the classical period, Plotinus developed a spiritualistic theory of mind. The mind or
soul had a unique and irreducible existence on its own — which began in Platonic Idealism.

John Eberts