La natura disordinata dei corpi secondo Plotino

In some passages from the Enneads, Plotinus focuses on the attributes characterizing the nature of bodies as such. In i.8.4 Plotinus describes bodies, insofar as they are secondary evils, as: 1: having some form (but not a genuine one); 2: without life; 3: destroying one another; 4: being in disorderly motion; 5: hindering the soul’s activity; 6: fleeing essence since they are perpetually in flux. In iv.3.8 Plotinus focuses on bodies insofar as their status is different from that of the soul. Bodies are such that: 7: their individual character is in a state of flux; 8: their form is extraneous; 9: their being in accordance with a form is due to the imitation of intelligible Beings. The present article explains Plotinus’ list of attributes against the wider background of his metaphysics and causation theory. It is argued that passages like these display an approach outlined in vi.3.1: Plotinus is considering bodies in themselves and is therefore deliberately leaving out the soul, which belongs to intelligible beings. This approach is a sort of thought experiment aiming to elucidate the nature of bodies insofar as they are merely material entities.