Considerations on the concept of audacity (tólma) in Plotinus

Abstract

Within the Plotinian corpus the topic of audacity provides a key for explaining the hypostatic constitution of what proceeds from the One and advances towards the formation of the sensitive world. This essay will try to settle some questions about the role of audacity within the corpus of Plotinus. Doing so will allow us to argue for the following position. Even if the generation of a being separate and distinct from the One includes the notion of otherness and therefore of multiplicity, this action-a product of the Intellect's daring-does not imply dispersion but only the constitution of a living being able to develop by its own strength the richness already contained in its germinal potency.