INTUITION AND DISCURSIVE THOUGHT: THE FUNCTION OF ΕΠΙΒΟΑΗ IN PLOTINUS' ENNEADS

The is one of the main concepts of Hellenistic and Neoplatonic epistemology. Already related to the activity of thought by Epicurus and Alexander of Aphrodisias, this notion allows Plotinus to conceive the transition from intuition, which grasps its whole object by a single act, to discursive thought, which sets out its many attributes successively. It can be defined as the sighting of an innate form by the an intuitive act expressed in prepositional form by the. By analogy with the intuition of the human thought, the Plotinian also refers to the knowledge that the Intellect has of itself and of its principle, the One-Good.