ABSTRACT
This chapter analyses Plotinus' theory of the soul-body relation, which is a central concern of his psychological theory. Plotinus' theory of affection can best be understood with reference to the central aspects of his view on the soul-body relationship. Plotinus thinks not only that the rational soul can exist independently from the body, but also that the non-rational soul can likewise exist independently from the body. According to Plotinus, the non-rational soul perceives the pain and pleasure in the body, but perceptions are not affections, but rather knowledge or awareness of bodily states. Plotinus says that there are, thus, two distinct kinds of desires, namely a bodily desire and a desire in the soul whenever a bodily desire triggers a desire in the soul. Plotinus thinks that a human organism's soul, which he analyses into both a rational and a non-rational part, is categorically different from that organism's body.
