From “The Essential Plotinus“ by Elmer O Brien, I think this is a beautiful writing about the working of the soul,
The Soul
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There is no longer question of a soul that is a part against a soul that is an all, especially when an identical power is present; if the function of one part is different from that of another— that of seeing from that of hearing, for example— it cannot be said that the part of the soul that is concerned with seeing is different from that concerned with hearing.
It is the same soul, although a different faculty acts in each of the two cases.
But in each of these two faculties are all the others implicitly.
Difference of perception comes only from the difference of the organs.
All perception is perception of forms.
This fact proves that all impressions must reach a unique center.
If each of the organs is unable to receive all the impressions, each organ has its distinct impressions, but the judgment of these impressions depends upon the one same principle that, like a judge, comprehends what has been said and done.
The Soul is, accordingly, a unity every-where present but with differing functions.
If it were present as sensation, then the individual organism would be unable to think—only The Soul would be able to.
But The Soul is rational and as universal as it is rational. #philosophy # soul #plotinus #plato #neoplatonist #wisdom
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