MYSTICAL INTELLECTUAL EXPERIENCE IN PLOTINUS' PHILOSOPHY

A quick reading of the Enneads seems to suggest that Plotinus describes only one kind of mystical experience, that of the union of the soul with the One. However, there seem to be two kinds of such experience. The texts suggest that the union of the soul with the Intellect is also responsible for a form of intuitive knowledge, ineffable and superior to reason. In this article I try to demonstrate what that experience consists in, describing its nature and indicating its features, determining its stages and relating it to the question of self-awareness