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Plotinus on Primary Being
Substantia – Sic et Non. Eine Geschichte des Substanzbegriffs von der Antike bis zur Gegenwart
  • Damian Caluori, Trinity University
Document Type
Contribution to Book
Publication Date
1-1-2008
Disciplines
Abstract

Late antique philosophers took a great interest in metaphysics. Indeed, the discipline's very name, "metaphysics", goes back to late antiquity.1 One of the main reasons for this great interest can be found in the view - widespread in this period - that an understanding of reality is crucial for our lives and for the destiny and salvation of our souls.2 Only by contemplating and by possessing knowledge of reality - a reality that was thought to be beyond the world of our ordinary experience - is the soul in an uncorrupted state of well being. Metaphysics is precisely the discipline that aims at this understanding. It aims at explaining reality. Given the importance of understanding reality we can see why the study of metaphysics was considered to be of prime importance.

Editor
Holger Gutschmidt, Antonella Lang-Balestra, & Gianluigi Segalerba
Identifier
10.1515/9783110327137.85
Publisher
De Gruyter
ISBN
9783110326710, 9783110327137
Citation Information
Caluori, D. (2008). Plotinus on primary being. In H. Gutschmidt, A. Lang-Balestra, G. Sebalerba (Eds.), Substantia &emdash; Sic et non: Eine geschichte des substanzbegriffs von der antike bis zur gegenwart (pp. 85-103). Ontos Verlag: Frankfurt, Germany.