Plotinus and the Theory of Forms

Abstract

Plotinus’ interpretation of the Forms is one of the most interesting aspects of his philosophical thought. The traditional interpretation of the Forms as the Demiurge’s Thoughts put at risk their ontological autonomy. With his theory Plotinus developed a brilliant solution to the problem. Firstly, by taking the cue from his view that the Intelligibles are not outside the Intellect, Plotinus argues that Forms are active thinking thoughts and not merely objects of thought. The Intellect, then, amounts to the systematic interrelation between the different Forms simultaneously thinking themselves and reflecting all the others from their own perspective. A second issue concerns the Forms’ causal role, which Plotinus explains with his theory of the double activity. Thirdly, this theory plays an important epistemological role. The identification between the Forms and the Intellect is the only possible solution to scepticism (to which are virtually doomed all previous Platonists, according to Plotinus). How important this problem was for Plotinus will be further clarified by the reference to another controversial theory, that of the undescended soul, whose main aim was precisely to show that (and how) human beings have access to real knowledge.