Negation and Mystical Union in Plotinus

The Plotinian description of mystical union derives from his – philosophical and theological – view regarding the One. Firstly, the process of abstraction (aphairesis) implies the removal of all that has been an addition to the soul by its descent into a body. Secondly, it requires a rigorous intellectual purification of thought in relation to the One. The mechanism by which Plotinus imposes the “negation of negation” (Enneads 5.5.6.32) and “taking away everything” (Enneads 5.3.17.38) manifests itself by transposing the soul from the stage of discourse and cognition towards the noetic contemplation on the level of Nous, and, finally, towards the mystical union with the One.

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