diso, and of almost nothing else in literature. Now and again, his descriptions of the eternal world
of glory
To our high-wrought fantasy present That undisturbed song of pure concent Aye sung before the
sapphire-coloured throne To Him that sits thereon.
Again, a philosophy may be important because it expresses well what men are prone to believe in
certain moods or in certain cirmumstances. Uncomplicated joy and sorrow is not matter for
philosophy, but rather for the simpler kinds of poetry and music. Only joy and sorrow
accompanied by reflection on the universe generate metaphysical theories. A man may be a
cheerful pessimist or a melancholy optimist. Perhaps Samuel Butler may serve as an example of
the first; Plotinus is an admirable example of the second. In an age such as that in which he lived,
unhappiness is immediate and pressing, whereas happiness, if attainable at all, must be sought by
reflection upon things that are remote from the impressions of sense. Such happiness has in it
always an element of strain; it is very unlike the simple happiness of a child. And since it is not
derived from the every-day world, but from thought and imagination, it demands a power of
ignoring or despising the life of the senses. It is, therefore, not those who enjoy instinctive
happiness who invent the kinds of metaphysical optimism that depend upon belief in the reality of
a super-sensible world. Among the men who have been unhappy in a mundane sense, but
resolutely determined to find a higher happiness in the world of theory, Plotinus holds a very high
place.
Nor are his purely intellectual merits by any means to be despised. He has, in many respects,
clarified Plato's teaching; he has developed, with as much consistency as possible, the type of
theory advocated by him in common with many others. His arguments against materialism are
good, and his whole conception of the relation of soul and body is clearer than that of Plato or
Aristotle.
Like Spinoza, he has a certain kind of moral purity and loftiness, which is very impressive. He is
always sincere, never shrill or censorious, invariably concerned to tell the reader, as simply as he
can, what he believes to be important. Whatever one may think of him as a theoretical
philosopher, it is impossible not to love him as a man.