Description

In Plotinus and Augustine on the Mid-Rank of Soul: Navigating Two Worlds, Joseph Torchia, OP, explores the mid-rank of the soul theme in Plotinus and Augustine with a special focus on its metaphysical, epistemological, and moral implications for each thinker’s intellectual outlooks. For both, human existence assumes the character of a prolonged journey or an extended voyage. Augustine infuses Plotinus' vision of reality with a profound theological significance rooted in the ontological difference between God and creatures. As a rational creature, the soul stands mid-way between God and corporeal natures, between eternity and temporality. This book encompasses two parts: Part I addresses the significance that Plotinus attributes to the soul’s mid-rank within the broader context of his understanding of universal order, and Part II delineates Augustine’s interpretation of the intermediary status of the soul with an ongoing reference to his spiritual and intellectual peregrinatio, as recounted in the Confessions.