Before the 3rd century you're having several philosophical schools still as a going concern. You have not only the Platonists and the Aristotelians but you have Scepticism, you have Stoicism, you even have a little bit of Epicureanism. And what happens after Plotinus is that everybody becomes a Neo-Platonist. So if we then go forward to the Islamic world for example, Plotinus is immensely influential, and Neo-Platonism becomes at least one major component of mainstream Islamic philosophy as well.
Peter AdamsonIn fact Plotinus thought not only that soul in general is eternal so that you always have soul, but he thought that each person's soul is eternal.
Peter AdamsonWe do have intellects and Plotinus controversially thought that even though we might not be aware of it, our souls are always connected to the intellect. They never fully descend as he would put it.
Peter AdamsonThis is in a way the most important thing about soul is that it's a kind of principle which mediates between the universal intellect and the material world.
Peter Adamson