CARTESIAN DUALISM AND PLOTINUS' PHILOSOPHY OF MIND

In this paper my intention is to tackle a few issues concerning some interpretations of Plotinus' "philosophy of mind". Firstly, I will address the validity of the idea that Plotinus was "the first Cartesian", advocated by John Dillon and E.K. Emilsson. The idea has been mostly defended on the assumption that Plotinus had anticipated the substance dualism. However, the mind-body dualism evident in Plotinus' philosophy is in no way identical or similar to the Cartesian, since the basic premises of Plotinus' metaphysics do not make room for such notions. Another argument is the philosophical use of introspection by both Plotinus and Descartes. However, I would argue that it is exactly the way of employing the method of introspection what introduces a big difference between the two philosophers. Secondly, I will address the idea of Plotinus as a herald of post-Cartesian non-reductionist notions on the mind-body relationship. I argue that Plotinus and his theory of consciousness cannot be interpreted as a variation of the non-reductionst theories, since Plotinus' "philosophy of mind" in a way transcends the scope of the reductionists vs non-reductionists debates. In fact, non-reductionists share more similarities to Cartesian views, than Plotinus'. Hence comparing Plotinus' philosophy to post-Cartesian non-reductionism does not differ much from comparing it to Cartesian dualism. The conclusion of the paper is that philosophy of mind can find studying Plotinus' philosophy very rewarding. However, in paying attention to Plotinus and ancient philosophers in general, we should not miss to pay attention to the scientific and philosophical paradigms of our time that condition the way we approach a problem and anticipate a possible solution to it.

1. Broad C.D. The Mind and Its Place in Nature. London, New York, Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & CO., LTD: Harcourt, Brace & Company, INC, 1925. 674 p.

2. Chalmers D.J. The Conscious Mind: In Search of a Theory of Conscious Experience. New York, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1996. 375 p.

3. Cottingham J. The Mind-Body Relation. In S. Gaukroger (Ed.). The Blackwell Guide to Descartes' Meditations. Malden, MA; Oxford; Victoria, Blackwell Publishing. 2006. pp. 179-192.

4. Descartes R. Discourse on the Method of Rightly Conducting the Reason. In E.S. Haldane & G.R.T. Ross (Trans.). The Philosophical Works of Descartes: Vol. I. London, New York, Cambridge University Press, 1911а. pp. 79-130.

5. Descartes R. Meditations on First Philosophy. In E.S. Haldane & G.R.T. Ross (Trans.). The Philosophical Works of Descartes: Vol. I. London, New York, Cambridge University Press, 1911b. pp. 131-199.

6. Descartes R. The Passions of the Soul. In E.S. Haldane & G.R.T. Ross (Trans.). The Philosophical Works of Descartes: Vol. I. London, New York, Cambridge University Press, 1911c. pp. 328-427.

7. Descartes R. The Principles of Philosophy. In E.S. Haldane & G.R.T. Ross (Trans.), The Philosophical Works of Descartes: Vol. I. London, New York, Cambridge University Press, 1911d. pp. 201-302.

8. Dillon J. Plotinus, the First Cartesian? Hermathena. Dublin, Trinity College, 1990. pp. 19-31.

9. Emilsson E.K. Plotinus on Sense-Perception: A Philosophical Study. New York, New Rochelle, Melbourne, Sydney, Cambridge University Press, 1988. 179 p.

10. Emilsson, E.K. Plotinus. London , New York, Routledge, Taylor Francis Group, 2017. 410 p.

11. Frith C., Rees G. A Brief History of the Scientific Approach to the Study of Consciousness. In M. Vel-mans & S. Schneider (Eds.). The Blackwell Companion to Consciousness. Malden, MA , Oxford, Blackwell Publishing, 2007. pp. 9-22.

12. Furley D. Democritus and Epicurus on Sensible Qualities. In J. Brunschwig & M. C. Nussbaum (Eds.). Passions & Perceptions: Studies in Hellenistic Philosophy of Mind, Proceedings of the Fifth Symposium Hel-lenisticum. Cambridge, New York, Cambridge University Press, 1993. pp. 72-94.

13. Griffin D.R. Unsnarling the World-Knot: Consciousness, Freedom, and the Mind-Body Problem. Berkeley and Los Angeles, California, London, England, University of California Press, 1998. 266 p.

14. Guttenplan S. Reduction. In S. Guttenplan (Ed.). A Companion to the Philosophy of Mind (Blackwell Companions to Philosophy). Oxford, Cambridge, Blackwell Publishers, 1994. pp. 535-536.

15. Hart W.D. Dualism. In S. Guttenplan (Ed.), A Companion to the Philosophy of Mind (Blackwell Companions to Philosophy). Oxford, Cambridge, Blackwell Publishers, 1994. pp. 265-269.

16. Hutchinson D.M. Plotinus on Consciousness. New York, Cambridge University Press, 2018. 210 p.

17. Inwood B. Seneca and Psychological Dualism. In J. Brunschwig & M. C. Nussbaum (Eds.), Passions & Perceptions: Studies in Hellenistic Philosophy of Mind, Proceedings of the Fifth Symposium Hellenisticum. Cambridge, New York, Cambridge University Press, 1993. pp. 150-183.

18. Jackson F. Epiphenomenal qualia. In M. Eckert (Ed.). Theories of Mind: An Introductory Reader. Lanham, Maryland, Rowman & Littlefield, 2006. pp. 102-112.

19. Kenny A. The Rise of Modern Philosophy. Oxford, Clarendon Press, 2006. 356 p.

20. Kim J. Mind in a Physical World, An Essay on the Mind-Body Problem and Mental Causation. Cambridge, Massachusetts, A Bradford Book, The MIT Press, 1998. 146 p.

21. Kim J. Essays in the Metaphysics of Mind. New York, Oxford University Press, 2010. 317 p.

22. Plotinus. The Enneads (S. MacKenna, Trans.). London, Faber and Faber Limited,1917. 635 p.

23. Rappe S. Self-Knowledge and Subjectivity in the Enneads. In L. P. Gerson (Ed.). The Cambridge Companion to Plotinus. New York, Cambridge University Press, 1996. pp. 250-274.

24. Rappe S. Reading Neoplatonism, Non-discursive Thinking in the Texts of Plotinus, Proclus and Damascus. Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, Sao Paulo, Cambridge University Press, 2000. 266 p.

25. Risteski A. Approaching Descartes' Dualism: Reductionism of His Theory of Knowledge. In S. Gouveia & M. Curado (Eds.). Philosophy of Mind, Contemporary Perspectives. Newcastle, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2017. pp. 332-347.

26. Ross D.L. Plotinus, the First Cartesian? Hermathena, No. 169, Essays on the Platonic Tradition: Joint Committee for Mediterranean & Near Eastern Studies. Dublin, Trinity College, 2000. pp. 153-167.

27. Ryle G. Descartes' Myth. In D. J. Chalmers (Ed.). Philosophy of Mind, Classical and Contemporary Readings. New York, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2002. pp. 32-38.

28. Searle J.R. The Rediscovery of the Mind. Massachusetts London, MIT Press Cambridge, 1992. 104 p. Van Riel R., Van Gulick, R. Scientific Reduction. In E.N. Zalta (Ed.). The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Spring 2019). Available at: https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2019/entries/scientific-reduction/ (accessed 10 June 2019).

29. Westphal J. The Mind-Body Problem. Cambridge, Massachusetts; London, The MIT Press, 2016. 222 p.

30. Aristotel. Fizika (S.U. Blagojevih, Trans.) [Physics (S.U. Blagoevich, Trans.)]. Belgrade, PAIDEIA, 2006. 459 p. (In Serbian).

31. Gadamer Kh. G. Khegelova dijalektika (I. Marih, Ed.; E. Perunichih, Trans.) [Hegel's Dialectic (I. Marie, Ed.. Perunichi,, Trans.)]. Belgrade, ПЛАТО, 2003. 349 p. (In Serbian).

32. Eler K. Subjektivnost i samosvest u antitsi (E. Perunichih, Trans.) [The Subjectivity and consciousness in antici (E. Perunichi, Trans.)]. Belgrade, ПЛАТО, 2002. 101 p. (In Serbian).

33. Platon. Dijalozi: Teetet i Fileb (V. Gortan & M. Sironih, Prev.) [Dialogues: Teetet And Fileb (V Gortan & M. Sironi, Prev.)]. Zagreb, ITRO «Forward», 1979. 196 p. (In Serbian).

34. Plotin. Eneade I-VI (S.U. Blagojevih, Trans.) [Eneade I-VI (S.U. Blagoevich, trans.)]. Belgrade, Niro «Kiz-izhevne newspaper», 1984. 917 p. (In Serbian).

35. Khegel G.V.F. Nauka logike, Trehi deo, Subjektivna logika ili uche^e o pojmu (N. Popovih, Trans.) [Science of logic, Treii deo, subjective logic or uche OE by concept (N. Popovib, trans.)]. Belgrade publishing and graphic Institute, 1987. 266 p. (In Serbian).