Philosophy and Theology

Volume 7, Issue 1, Autumn 1992

Donald N. Blakeley
Pages 53-80

Unity, Theism and Self in Plotinus

This paper examines the theistic interpretation of Plotinus’s conception of unity as presented in the work of John Rist. Three types of unity are identified: unity-with-difference, unity-without-difference, and unity-and-difference. I argue that the theistic interpretation encounters significant difficulties and cannot respond to the distinctions that Plotinus himself observes in his analysis of unity.