Abstract

Rist’s work examines problems not usually treated in depth in books giving a general account of the philosophy of Plotinus: nevertheless a general picture of Plotinus does emerge, and on the whole it is one more consistent with the evidence than the over simplified versions of the rationalist-mystic now too long in vogue. The truth is that as more work is done on Plotinus and Neo-Platonism the sacrosanct simplicities that prevail in all fields of scholarship, will make way for more complex, more plausible interpretations.