Plotinus’ Foundations of the Soul and Its Reception in Augustine of Hippo En. IV, 8 [7] in Gn. adu. Man. 2, 12
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Abstract
In our work, we present the following hypothesis: the passage of Plotinus En. IV, 8 [7] is present in Augustine of Hippo's gn. adu. man. 2, 12; as it is not a direct quotation and as there is also an ongoing controversy about the content of the Libri platonicorum, that collection of texts translated into Latin which gave him access to an approach on the credibility of faith (conf. 7, 13), we approach this proposal from a triple movement of convergence: We present, first, the state of the question about the authors who would form part of that collection of Platonic texts; then, the clarifications regarding the soul in Plotinus and the difficulties he encountered in his path of understanding and, finally, the way in which this conception had an impact on the creatural notion of Augustine of Hippo, at the time of the aforementioned exegesis. In this context, we find the turn medietas animae, to explain the situation of the soul in paradise, which allows us to postulate the use of a Latin text, in which the Plotinian expression μέση τάξις is translated. We conclude, following this perspective of analysis, that Augustine of Hippo explains, by means of En. IV, 8 [7], the fall of the soul, in a way that is in accordance with Scripture. Our method of work is philological, as a science of understanding, through a careful reading of the Plotinian and Augustinian texts.
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