Sympathy in Plotinus

Abstract: In this thesis, I make intelligible Plotinus’ notion of sympathy by explicating the cause of sympathy within Plotinus’ universe and the effects of sympathy. I do this by using a framework inspired by the Stoic literature on sympathy which distinguishes between three interrelated features of sympathy: Unity, global sympathy, and local sympathy. I show that for Plotinus sympathetic interactions are possible because of the numeric identity of soul with all its parts. I also show that the cause of this unity is the result of two metaphysical principles which govern a series of productions, which results in a diminishing unity from Plotinus first principle, the One, to matter which has no unity. I argue that the unity of soul is both necessary and sufficient for global sympathy (part-to-whole sympathetic interaction) but only necessary for local sympathy (part-to-part sympathetic interaction). In addition, I also explicate the underlying mechanisms of both local and global sympathy by appealing to the likeness principle (for local sympathy) and the inherent ‘Love’ and ‘Strife’ within the universe (for global sympathy).