The Power of the Unsaid: Philosophic Silence in Plotinus
Banner, Nicholas
Date: 11 April 2013
Thesis or dissertation
Publisher
University of Exeter
Degree Title
PhD in Classics
Abstract
Abstract. This thesis examines the theme of secrecy and silence in the philosophy
of Plotinus. This philosopher is known for the innovative use he made of Platonic
and Aristotelean materials in constructing a thought-world which posits a totally
transcendent first principle, the one or the good, from which all other entities ...
Abstract. This thesis examines the theme of secrecy and silence in the philosophy
of Plotinus. This philosopher is known for the innovative use he made of Platonic
and Aristotelean materials in constructing a thought-world which posits a totally
transcendent first principle, the one or the good, from which all other entities are
derived. The Plotinian one is ineffable by its very nature, and Plotinus expounds at
length the claim that it cannot be comprehended, either by speech or thought. The
paradox of a philosopher writing extensive discourses about a reality which is said
to be ineffable is the main topic of this thesis, which seeks to answer the question:
what is Plotinus doing when he tells us that he cannot, or will not, reveal the nature
of the one?
Partial answers to this question have been given in previous scholarship through
study of the philosophic background which led Plotinus to posit such an ineffable
reality, and through analysis of the arguments in which he upholds the doctrine of
the one’s ineffability. Building on this body of work, this thesis gives a more compre-
hensive answer to this question by analysing the tropes of silence and secrecy which
were developed in Middle Platonism, derived especially from Plato’s writings, and
by locating Plotinus in a broader philosophic tradition which interpreted canonical
thinkers as esoteric writers. In this way, the thesis provides a historical context for
Plotinus’ treatment of the ineffable one. Plotinus’ discourse of ineffability is present-
ed not just as a response to purely philosophical issues, but also an enactment of a
tradition of philosophic silence, which determined in part how a Platonist philoso-
pher articulated in written form ideas about concealment and the limits of discourse.
Through a combination of close reading of a number of Plotinian texts and full dis-
cussion of the wider context, this thesis aims to integrate analytical and cultural
approaches to Plotinus’ philosophy. It aims also to bring out the significance of the
theme of philosophical silence for late antique philosophy both as a discipline and
as a socially-embedded part of Græco-Roman civilisation.
Doctoral Theses
Doctoral College
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