The Holy And The Profane In The Aesthetic Thought Of Plotinous'

As we all know, Plotinus is one of the eminent philosophers during the transitional period between the ancient Greece and the Middle Ages. Based on one of his primary aesthetic works, The Six Enneads (volume 1, chapter 6), this thesis aims to clarify his trace of "pursuing the beauty"—from "what indeed is the beauty" to "what is the aesthetic feeling", and from "taking the beauty as the noumenon" to "taking it as the property"—and thereby disclose the basic logic of his pursuit, that is, though the translation of essentialism into the ontology ,in other words, through the suspension of question in order to achieve the answer. In chapter 1, this thesis sorts out Plotinus' elementary aesthetic thoughts, mainly discusses about his theory of "beauty" and "the sense of beauty", and inquires its relation to "the One" and "the holy", in order to reveal the searching for holiness and its secularization are the internal causes of Plotinus' system of aesthetic thought.Meanwhile, this thesis explores the foundation on which the above-mentioned characteristic of Plotinus' ideology has been built up. The fundamental theme of his ideology is the desire for one ultimate holy noumenon. It exists internally and objectively as well. It mainly embodies in the contradictory between the inexpressibility of "the One" and "the matter", the being in the eternity and the being in the time, the compound "historical orientation" and pure "holy origin", etc. Moreover, beauty, as the basis and property of this holy noumenon, presents itself a kind of profound contradiction. These questions shape a self-corresponding relationship with Plotinus' ideology. In chapter 2, through the analysis of Plotinus' theology ideas, this thesis exposes the status and function of "the holy beauty" in his theology.At last, through the analysis of the question, this thesis further explores the background of Plotinus' ideology in the overall western philosophic history. The reason why Plotinus' mysticism can be regarded as a category of mysticism, actually is that it exists between the knowledgefication of Greek religion and the religion of the Middle Age's knowledge. Plotinus' theology further promotes the relationship of Plato' ideas and gods, meanwhile, it evades the Person of God mentioned by Augustine. In chapter 3, through the analysis of rational secularity, this thesis exposes that the final holy noumenon can not get rid of the articulation of personality.In the aspect of the methods, through the discussion about the irreducible elements in religion following The Varieties of Religious Experience (William James), The Idea of the Holy (Rudolf Otto), and The Sacred and the Profane (Mircea Eliade), the thesis affirms that mental independence contributes to the contradiction between the "Illumination" and the "loss" of the whole world. Holiness has been divided into two in this motion : "I" and "beauty". In fact, Plotinus' way is the freedom of "I" embracing the godship, and beauty is still a gleam of holy beam lighting "I" up. And this pursue is able to be obscurely reflected by the "memory" and "illumination". This is the main content of chapter 4.