Abstract

In Ennead I.5 Plotinus attempts to navigate a well-trodden path of inquiry by responding directly to a wide spectrum of popular theories on human flourishing, insisting emphatically that well-being belongs to the present moment. One of his central targets is Aristotle, who insisted that well-being be measured by "a complete life" or a life measured by virtue, a modus vivendi sustained via the development of appropriate habits (hexis) and the avoidance of misfortunes. At the same time the Hellenistic schools-with their insistence that happiness is available to practitioners in the immediacy of the "now"-take pride of place in Plotinus' short screed on the subject. This treatment provides an in-depth analysis of Plotinus' unique conception of the value of the present moment by highlighting Plotinus' dialogue with Aristotle and Hellenistic conceptions of the soul, pleasure and pain, and time and eternity.