The point of view put forth in the following pages differs greatly from the common perspective according to which the treatises 30 to 33 constitute a single work, a Großschrift, and this single work, Plotinus' essential response to the Gnostics. Our perspective is that of an ongoing discussions with his "Gnostic"--yet Platonizing--friends, which started early in his writings (at least treatise 6), developed into what we could call a Großzyklus (treatises 27 to 39), and went on in later treatises as well (e. g. 47-48, 51). The prospect of an ongoing discussion with the Gnostics bears an additional virtue, that of allowing for a truly dynamic understanding of the Plotinian corpus.

Jean-Marc Narbonne, Ph.D. (1988) in Philosophy at the Sorbonne, is Professor of Philosophy at Laval University (Quebec). He has published extensively on the Neoplatonic tradition, including Levinas and the Greek Heritage (2006); Hénologie, ontologie et Ereignis: Plotin - Proclus - Heidegger (2001); and La métaphysique de Plotin (2001).