At the core of the whole universe is the One, the origin of everything and to which everything will one day return. However, the one is beyond knowledge and description, and for it to connect with mortals it mediates through an intelligible realm comprising Intellect and Soul. Intellect is in a state of eternal contemplation of the One, holding perfectly together all intelligible thought, but its role is also active because it creates the Soul. The soul contemplates intellect and is an intermediary link between the intelligible realm and that of humans; it too fulfils a creative role bringing forth all worldly things as well as the souls of individual beings; it is thus eternal but operates in time and history.
Plotinus argues that humans are weakened and estranged from the One but they can participate in Intellect and Soul and this stirs in them a yearning to return to the One following a route that is the “pathway of art”. Beauty emanates from the One similar to the way that a star discharges light that loses energy as it travels vast distances through different atmospheres before finally diffusing in its weakened state on earthly matter.
Like Plato and Aristotle, Plotinus inherited the Pythagorean definition of beauty which comprises order, harmony, measure and proportion. Plotinus took issue with this by asking how Pythagoras’ theory could be applied to compound entities without parts, such as color or light, because unlike material objects they cannot be described in terms of symmetry; yet they can be described as beautiful. This conclusion clearly parallels Plato, who in his Philebus argued at 51c-d that non-composite things like colors “import their own kind of pleasures” and “are by their very nature forever beautiful by themselves”. Plotinus extended his argument to include spiritual qualities such as virtue and truth. Virtue can be beautiful, but how can it be symmetrical or depend on symmetry to account for its beauty? Plotinus concluded from this that beauty must essentially be different from symmetry (Ennead). Plotinus considers that in a beautiful face where symmetry is a prominent feature, symmetry is only one manifestation of beauty, not its cause. Beauty, therefore, is a quality.
Redin/Santoro Brienza concludes that for Plotinus, 'the primordial quality and fundamental metaphysical attribute of all reality is unity. Beauty also as a universal characteristic of all reality consists in unity'. Beauty cannot, therefore, come from matter,
as matter, just like symmetry, has no metaphysical unity in and of itself. It is rather the 'Soul' that 'makes beautiful the bodies which are spoken of as beautiful; for since it is a divine thing and a kind of part of beauty, it makes everything it grasps and masters as beautiful' (Ennead I.6.6.). Beauty thus gives a spiritual charge to matter, imbuing it with its ideal form.
Plotinus thus appears to be close to Plato in the sense that the soul inside humans desires to be united with the Good or the One, a state in which Beauty is apprehended. Plotinus at times uses language that is directly influenced by passages from Plato, like the following one which is indebted to the Symposium (203b). Plotinus talks about the state of pure apprehension of beauty as like being drunk with wine, 'filled with the nectar, all their soul penetrated with this beauty' (Ennead 5.8.10). In the Phaedrus 251a-256e, Plato also considered the reaction of the soul in the presence of beauty, viewing it like a recollection of Beauty itself which had once been seen by the soul in a previous existence. Participating in the form of beauty stirs a remembrance of a former happy state when the absolute form was once apprehended. But, as O'Meara asserts, 'Plotinus sees soul... as recalling, not just one Form [i.e. of beauty], but the whole world of Forms', or in other words that which perfectly holds all the forms: the One, or in Plato's terms, the Good. The experience of beauty in the earthly realm, then, rather than be a potential distraction or a danger as Plato argued, becomes for Plotinus a distraction of a noble and good sort, because it carries us immediately away from ugliness and other base qualities into the heart of perfection itself, where virtue and beauty co-mingle.
It is clear that Plotinus was fully committed to elevating the status of art. Art's mimetic qualities cannot therefore be understood in a restrictive Platonic sense advocated in the Republic, whereby art merely imitates ultimate reality in an inferior way. In Plotinian terms, because art manifests beauty in the physical world, this emphasizes its autonomy. Plotinus states that the 'arts do not simply imitate what they see, but they run back up to the forming principles from which nature derives; then also... they do a great deal by themselves, and, since they possess beauty, they make up what is defective in things'.(Ennead 5.8.1). Plotinus' interest in looking at and analyzing the 'teleological dynamism of human experience' draws him closer to Aristotle's ideas of art mimesising nature. This influence is also clear in the following passage, which for some has been viewed as a summation of Plotinus' ideas about art.
Let us suppose a couple of great lumps of stone lying side by side, one shapeless and untouched by art, the other which has been already mastered by art and turned into a statue of a god or of a man... and if of a man not just of any man but of one whom art has made up out of every sort of human beauty. The stone which has been brought to beauty of form by art will appear beautiful not because it is a stone... but as a result of the form which art has put into it. Now the material did not have this form, but it was in the man who had it in his mind even before it came into the stone; but it was in the craftsman, not in so far as he had hands and eyes, but because he had some share of art. So this beauty was in the art (Enneads 5.8.1).
This seems to point to the same conclusion that Plato reached in the Phaedrus, at least by implication, that when an artist is drunk with divine nectar his philosophical systems are over-ridden and are replaced by a pure communication between him and God. Plotinus implies here that this communion is achieved through the artist's intimate connection with nature. In going back to the Reason-Principles or the forming principles of nature, Plotinus believed that the 'pathway of art' allows one to travel on a metaphysical journey. The created piece of work becomes one point on a series of interconnected pathways that, to use the words of Eco, have a spiritual 'luminous current' running through them. It is thus the purity of art's relationship with the One that accounts for Plotinus' high regard of art.
Courtesy: The passage is an excerpt of “A comparison of Plotinus' philosophy of art and beauty with that of Plato” by Andrew Watson, Pathways- School of Philosophy
Questions:
1. What is the gist of the passage?
A. Soul ultimately wants to reach the one and this can be done with the help of beauty. Beauty lies within Art; hence Art can help soul to reach the one.
B. One is the centre of the universe and one connects with mortals through soul and intellect.
C. Plotinus believed that beauty is different from symmetry, order, harmony, measure and proportion.
D. Art merely mimics ultimate realty in an inferior way and make up what is defective in things.
2. Give the relationship between Unity/Beauty/Soul/Matter.
A. Matter makes soul beautiful and with this beauty soul attains unity.
B. Soul makes matter beautiful and with this beauty matter attains unity.
C. Matter and soul can only be beautiful together and hence attain unity together.
D. Matter and soul are different manifestations of the beauty of the one (unity).
3. Why beauty gives spiritual charge to matter?
A. Because beauty is an aspect of the soul
B. Because matter has no metaphysical symmetry without beauty
C. Because with beauty, matter enters unifies with one.
D. Because beauty gives matter a metaphysical unity.
4. How are Art and beauty related?
A. Art is a manifestation of beauty.
B. All art forms are beautiful.
C. The art form of man/god is more beautiful than the lump of bare stones.
D. Beauty is encompasses in art or art is a way of attaining beauty.
5. Where is Plotinus not closer to Plato? Who is he closer in that aspect?
A. Art never had beauty within it. Plotinus is closer to Aristotle here.
B. Soul wants to be united to the one. Plotinus is closer to Aristotle here.
C. Beauty is all about order, harmony, measure and proportion. Plotinus is closer to Pythagoras here.
D. An object can be beautiful by virtue of by its nature which can include spiritual qualities such as virtue and truth. Plotinus is closer to Socrates here.
6. What is the difference between soul and intellect?
A. Soul is part of the intelligible realm mediating the One with humans while Intellect is not.
B. Intellect contemplates the One and creates soul and soul links intelligible realm and humans
C. Intellect holds together all intelligible thoughts while soul contemplates intellect.
D. Soul does a creative role in bringing together all the material needs while intellect only helps in thought.
Solution for Passage-1:
Without any doubt, this is one of the most complicated passages which could ever come for any competitive exam. Typically if you try to approach such a passage like your normal reading material, you are bound to land in trouble. We have seen that students waste a lot of time trying to understand each and every word in the passage, thus getting themselves trapped in the infinitely meandering sub-plots instead of focusing on the real plot or gist of the passage. So a student who has been through a lot of mock CATs generally decides to skip these kinds of passages and instead focuses on seemingly innocuous passages which looks straight forward. The problem with such an approach is that the questions which follow the passage and their options are incredibly complicated and misleading. And the student in panic easily walks into the trap laid by the examiner. So what’s the solution – simple, attempt passages which look tough; for sure the questions which follows them would be easy. We have seen this happen consistently ever since the topics like philosophy and humanism became darlings of the question paper setters. Just try to think, the people who set the papers are also human beings like you and me and he/she will also find it tough to interpret a passage if we are finding it difficult to understand it. So the questions he/she will be framing out of it will be based on that limited understanding – the scope of complication is restricted there. I am not telling that they cannot make it tough; of course they can and get the cut-offs down to 1 or 2. But that is not their purpose, they are interested in getting people who are clever enough to understand the core idea from a passage and effectively apply that idea to the questions. This purpose works well with philosophy because the approach followed in philosophical writing is quiet different from the logical style (problem -> alternatives -> analysis -> solution) which we all are familiar with. Philosophers love to go around the problem working out analogies and theories without suggesting any solutions or alternatives to the problem and in most of the cases even the problem.
Now let us try to deconstruct the passage and convert it into logical language. By doing this on the gist of the passage, these figures emanates out of the text:-
Effectively these 2 figures capture the central idea of the passage and would more than suffice to answer all the questions. The whole idea here is to keep reading by keeping an eye on the central idea. Ignore the metaphors, analogies and other misleading subplots and keep pacing ahead.
Now let us try to answer the questions based on these diagrams:-
1. A) Plotinian thoughts are all about “Soul ultimately wanting to reach the one and how beauty manifested through art helps it” and this is the idea which is continuously reiterated all through out the passage through a plethora of subtle connotations.
2. B) Clear from the diagram
3. C) Clear from the diagram
4. D) Clear from the diagram
There are always some questions which can be literally picked out of the passage; these don’t even need you to understand the passage or its central theme. Questions 5 and 6 are of that type.
5. A) Para 6, Line 1
6. B) Para 1
The efficacy of the deconstruction approach is clear from the above example. The complicated looking passage got reduced into 2 simple diagrams. After all, philosophy is not that simple, it is only about identifying the right lines to focus on.
Passage 2
Read the passage below and answer the questions which follow
Crinoline and croquet are out. As yet, no political activists have thrown themselves in front of the royal horse on Derby Day. Even so, some historians can spot the parallels. It is a time of rapid technological change: It is a period when the dominance of the world's superpower is coming under threat. It 'is an epoch when prosperity masks underlying economic strain. And, crucially, it is a time when policy makers are confident that all is for the best in the best of all possible worlds. Welcome to the Edwardian Summer of the second age of globalization.
Spare a moment to take stock of what's been happening in the past few months. Let's start with the oil price, which has rocketed to more than $65 a barrel, more than double its level 18 months ago. The accepted wisdom is that we shouldn't worry our little heads about that, because the incentives are there for business to build new production and refining capacity, which will effortlessly bring demand and supply back into balance and bring crude prices back to $25 a barrel. As Tommy Cooper used to say, 'just like that'. Then there is the result of the French referendum on the European Constitution, seen as thick-headed luddites railing vainly against the modern world. What the French needed to realize, the argument went, was that there was no alternative to the reforms that would make the country more flexible, more competitive, more dynamic. Just the sort of reforms that allowed Gate Gourmet to sack hundreds of its staff at Heathrow after the sort of ultimatum that used to be handed out by
Victorian mill owners. An alternative way of looking at the French "non" is that our neighbors translate "flexibility" as "you're fired".
Finally, take a squint at the United States. Just like Britain a century ago, a period of unquestioned superiority is drawing to a close. China is still a long way from matching America's wealth, but it is growing at a stupendous rate and economic strength brings geo-political clout. Already, there is evidence of a new scramble for Africa as Washington and Beijing compete for oil stocks. Moreover, beneath the surface of the US economy, all is not well. Growth looks healthy enough, but the competition from China and elsewhere has meant the world's biggest economy now imports far more than it exports. The US is living beyond its means, but in this time of studied complacency a current account deficit worth 6 percent of gross domestic product is seen as a sign of strength not weakness. In this new Edwardian summer, comfort is taken from the fact that dearer oil has not had the savage inflationary consequences of 1973-74, when a fourfold increase in the cost of crude brought an abrupt end to a postwar boom that had gone on uninterrupted for a quarter of a century. True, the cost of living has been affected by higher transport costs, but we are talking of inflation at 2.3 per cent and not 27 per cent. Yet the idea that higher oil prices are of little consequence is fanciful. If people are paying more to fill up their cars it leaves them with less to spend on everything else, but there is a reluctance to consume less. In the 1970s unions were strong and able to negotiate large, compensatory pay deals that served to intensify inflationary pressure. In 2005, that avenue is pretty much closed off, but the abolition of all the controls on credit that existed in the 1970s means that households are invited to borrow more rather than consume less. The knock-on effects of higher oil prices are thus felt in different ways - through high levels of indebtedness, in inflated asset prices, and in balance of payments deficits.
There are those who point out, rightly, that modem industrial capitalism has proved mightily resilient these past 250 years, and that a sign of the enduring strength of the system has been the way it apparently shrugged off everything -- a stock market crash, 9/11, rising oil prices -- that have been thrown at it in the half decade since the millennium. Even so, there are at least three reasons for concern. First, we have been here before. In terms of political economy, the first era of globalization mirrored our own. There was a belief in unfettered capital flows, in free trade, and in the power of the market. It was a time of massive income inequality and unprecedented migration. Eventually, though, there was a backlash, manifested in a struggle between free traders and protectionists, and in rising labor militancy.
Second, the world is traditionally at its most fragile at times when the global balance of power is in flux. By the end of the nineteenth century, Britain's role as the hegemonic power was being challenged by the rise of the United States, Germany, and Japan while the Ottoman and Hapsburg empires were clearly in rapid decline. Looking ahead from 2005, it is clear that over the next two or three decades, both China and India -- which together account for half the world's population -- will flex their muscles. Finally, there is the question of what rising oil prices tell us. The
emergence of China and India means global demand for crude is likely to remain high at a time when experts say production is about to top out. If supply constraints start to bite, any declines in the price are likely to be short-term cyclical affairs punctuating a long upward trend.
Questions:
- Which of the following best represents the key argument made by the author?
a.) The rise in oil prices, the flux in the global balance of power and historical precedents should make us question our belief that the global economic prosperity would continue.
b.) The belief that modern industrial capitalism is highly resilient and capable of overcoming shocks will be belied soon.
c.) Widespread prosperity leads to neglect of early signs of underlying economic weakness, manifested in higher oil prices and a flux in the global balance of power.
d.) A crisis is imminent in the West given the growth of countries like China and India and the increase in oil prices.
- What can be inferred about the author's view when he states, 'As Tommy Cooper used to say "just like that"'?
a.) Industry has incentive to build new production and refining capacity and therefore oil prices would reduce.
b.) There would be a correction in the price levels of oil once new production
capacity is added.
c.) The decline in oil prices is likely to be short-term in nature.
d.) It is not necessary that oil prices would go down to earlier levels
- What, according to the author, has resulted in a widespread belief in the
resilience of modern capitalism?
a.) Growth in the economies of Western countries despite shocks in the form of
increase in levels of indebtedness and inflated asset prices.
b.) Increase in the prosperity of Western countries and China despite rising oil
prices.
c.) Continued growth of Western economies despite a rise in terrorism, an
increase in oil prices and other similar shocks.
d.) The success of continued reforms aimed at making Western economies
more dynamic, competitive and efficient
4. By the expression 'Edwardian Summer', the author refers to a period in which there is
a.) Unparalleled luxury and opulence.
b.) a sense of complacency among people because of all-round prosperity.
c.) a culmination of all-round economic prosperity.
d.) an imminent danger lurking behind economic prosperity.
Solution:
This passage came for CAT 2005 and most of the takers attempted the passage because it looked it an easy one. But this seemingly innocuous comprehension had very tricky questions and close answer options. Only if you have understood the every nook and corner of the passage just like the examiner had, can you answer the questions correctly. The gist of the passage is very simple and can be represented with our graphical technique as:-
But the problem with this passage is that the examiner has understood the passage very well and so his questions are not concentrated on the central idea alone. Let us try to answer the questions now.
1. c.) The gist as is explained in the diagram is Edwardian summer. The manifestation of this phenomenon is done with examples of crude oil prices, French referendum and global power flux.
2. b.) This is a data based question connected to a usage in para 2. Because the question is based only on that line, read around it and answer the question independently without using extra information from the other paragraphs.
3. c.) Para 4 talks about the resilience of modern capitalism and tells how it survived 9/11 (rise in terrorism), rising oil prices and stock market crash (other similar shocks).
4. b) Clear from the diagram that you rise well above the cut offs in this section