Lateinisches Mittelalter

This chapter deals with Plotinus as a philosophical source for medieval Latin scholars. In the medieval tradition of the 12th and 13th centuries, Plotinus’ name has been associated mainly with his theory of the virtues, whose reception occurred with considerable modifications through Macrobius’ Commentary on the Dream of Scipio. After a brief introduction to the reception of Plotinus’ philosophy in the medieval Latin world, a detailed and systematic account of his reception in the philosophical works of four Latin scholars is given, namely Abelard, Pseudo-Alexander of Hales, Albert the Great, and Thomas Aquinas. The chapter explains the main theoretical contributions and developments made by medieval Latin scholars to Plotinus’ theory of virtues. Of particular interest are the interpretation and definition of the higher virtues and the divine exemplars or paradeigmata of human virtue.