Abstract

The study of the concept of Number in Plotinus' Ennead VI.6, the treatise On Numbers, examines the evolution of Ancient Greek philosophy in its search for the origin and the essence of our Universe. On Numbers represents the culmination of this inquiry. My examination of Plotinus' concept of Number is conducted in two parts: the first part is historical, tracing the development of the concept of Multiplicity as the subject, directly related with the origin and the existence of Number; the second part is theoretical, investigating the concepts of Number and Multiplicity in the treatise On Numbers itself. ;In chapters 1 and 2 of the treatise, Plotinus suggests that Multiplicity is a "separation from the One" determining the two-fold nature of existence of multiple matter: the first is the outward direction of separation from the One; the second is the inward direction of separated matter back to the One. Then, I conclude that the dynamics of Plotinus' universal hierarchy are centered around the principles of the outward cosmogonical unfolding of all universal constituents and their inward cosmological tending to their source, the One. I conclude further that the instrument of existence of Plotinus' system is the participation of Number in the organization of every level of the hierarchy of the intelligible entities and their sensible images. ;In chapters 3--9 of the treatise, Plotinus develops the concept of the intermediary position of Number among the fundamental entities of the Universe as a Mixture of Limit and Unlimited. In the realm of the intelligible, Number pre-exists all intelligible beings except Being and the One. As such, when applied to the lower levels of the intelligible hierarchy, Number acts as Monadic, individualizing the intelligible beings as unique paradigms of existence. When, considered in its relation to Being, Number acts as Substantial which is an activity or power of Being, regulating the ability of Being to divide itself into intelligible beings. ;The uniqueness of Plotinus' understanding of Number reconstructs the hierarchical structure of the Neoplatonic Universe as a completed and harmonious unity of different degrees of "a separation from the One."