Analysis Of Plotinus's Enneads, On Beauty

In 1.6 of Enneads, On Beauty, by Plotinus discusses the common questions surrounding beauty. Such as, what is it? Why are we, as humans drawn to it? Why are some things thought to be beautiful while some are not? And, how do we know when we see beauty, or something ugly? Plotinus then states that people who can answer these questions, their souls have truly achieved ascending to intellect, and will be able to see beauty. “Go back into yourself and look; and if you do not yet see yourself beautiful, then, just as someone making a statue which has to be beautiful cuts away here and polishes there and makes one part smooth and clears another till he has given his statue a beautiful face, so you too must cut away excess and straighten the crooked

He describes, “Again, every sort of virtue is a beauty of the soul, a truer beauty than those mentioned before..” (Plotinus 1) He then goes on to question how virtue is proportioned with the other parts of the soul. Plotinus believes that the primary beauty in bodies is something that we, the other people look at and notice at first glance, something that really grabs your attention. “..the soul speaks of it as if it understood it, recognizes and welcomes it and as itwere adapts itself to it. But when it encounters the ugly it shrinks back and rejects it and turns away from it and is out of tune and alienated from it.” (Plotinus 2) Yes, this completely makes sense! If I were to meet someone in a friendly manner at first, they may possess certain qualities that are eye-grabbing and that I deem “attractive” or “captivating” and I may feel some sort of connection almost immediately, whether it be friendly or something more, because of the two souls opening themselves up and welcoming themselves to one another and seeing “something akin to it or a trace of its kindred reality, is delighted and thrilled and returns to itself and remembers itself and its own possessions.” (Plotinus