027 Plotinus: The last ancient philosopher

In Raphael’s [The School of Athens], there are Plato and Aristotle in the center, and Plotinus on the far right side. Plotinus was from North Africa, which was a colony of the Roman Empire at the time. Plato is from the 4th century BC, and Plotinus is from the 3rd century AD, so there's about 5-600 years of difference between them. But Plotinus was a big fan of Plato, so he claimed to be Plato's successor. Although the philosophy of Plotinus and Plato are similar in a broad sense, the details are different., So later, people called the philosophy of Plotinus Neo-Platonism. The philosophy of Plotinus is better understood when compared to Plato's philosophy. So, today we're going to talk about the philosophy of Plato first, and then about the philosophy of Plotinus. Let's get started.