Our Virtue (Plotinus, Ennead I. 2)

In this session, we’ll listen to Plotinus’ tractate On Virtue (Ennead I.2), where he reinterprets the classical virtues of Greek philosophy through the lens of Platonism.

For Plotinus, virtue is not merely ethical behavior or social excellence. The virtues are stages in the soul’s ascent — forms of purification that free the soul from identification with the body and restore its likeness to the divine.

Developing themes found in Plato’s Theaetetus and Republic, Plotinus distinguishes between the civic virtues and the higher virtues that belong to the contemplative life.

Key themes include:

• The difference between civic and purificatory virtue
• Virtue as becoming “like God”
• The relation between ethics and contemplation
• Why true virtue involves inward transformation rather than external conduct alone

Here's the text if you’d like to check it out beforehand - https://w.wiki/NLTq

After listening, we’ll open a shared discussion around questions such as:

• What is virtue for Plotinus?
• How do the higher virtues differ from ordinary moral behavior?
• What does it mean to become “like the divine”?
• Is virtue primarily ethical, intellectual, or spiritual?

Beginners are very welcome, but this is advanced material.
You’ll get much more out of the discussion if you check out this Introduction to Neoplatonism beforehand.