About this person
Plotinus was an ancient Greek philosopher born and raised in Roman Egypt. He is regarded as the founder of Neoplatonism, a school that profoundly influenced later ancient, Christian, Jewish and Islamic philosophy.
He was born around 204 or 205, probably in Lycopolis or Asyut. He studied under Ammonius Saccas in Alexandria and later settled in Rome, where he taught philosophy. His students included Porphyry, who arranged and published his writings after his teacher's death.
Plotinus's thought was based on a hierarchy of three fundamental realities: the One, Intellect and Soul. According to him, all things emanate from the One, and the human soul can turn towards it through spiritual union. His texts were arranged into six groups of nine treatises, known as the Enneads. He died in 270.