Plotinus on the role of nous in self-knowledge

This study aims to explicate the role that $\nu o\\upsilon\varsigma$ ('intellect') plays in self-knowledge in the philosophy of Plotinus. It does not offer itself as a historical study or as an exhaustive account of the hypostasis nous. Rather, it assumes that the most promising way forward to a correct understanding of what this controversial term means is to consider how Plotinus puts it to work. Consequently, it limits itself to the examination of nous as Plotinus uses it to solve problems concerning self-knowledge and personal-identity. After presenting enough of the historical background to frame a working idea of nous (chapters 1-2), it proceeds in three steps of uneven length, the aim of which is to show how Plotinus relates these two problems. The first step defends Plotinus' claim that we do not know who we are (chapters 3-5). It compares his claim with similar claims put forward by Thomas Nagel and Bernard Williams. The second step argues that Plotinus maintains that our true identity is that of a $\nu o\\upsilon\varsigma\ \acute\varepsilon\kappa\alpha\sigma\tau o\varsigma,$ a particular nous (chapters 6-11). This claim reveals that Plotinus' conception of the self is complex, for it introduces a tension between our true self, a $\nu o\\upsilon\varsigma\ \acute\varepsilon\kappa\alpha\sigma\tau o\varsigma,$ and the 'we' $\lbrack\tau\grave o\ \acute\eta\mu\varepsilon\\iota\varsigma\rbrack$ or the empirical self that is the subject of our first-person experiences. It then argues that Plotinus uses the Stoic conception of $o\grave\iota\kappa\varepsilon\acute\iota\omega\sigma\iota\varsigma$ to describe a process of internalization whereby we come to know what our true identity consists in. In this connection, and contrary to two well entrenched views, it is argued that $\pi\acute\iota\sigma\tau\iota\varsigma$ has a role to play in the acquisition of self-knowledge, or the Return to nous, and that it is not a concept solely related to sensory perception. Finally, the third step (chapter 12) follows up the discussion of identity by looking at Plotinus' ethical theory. It argues that a discussion of nous that failed to note its normative aspects would be incomplete, for it is knowing what we are–our true identity–that Plotinus is able to prescribe how we ought to live.