Plotinus' Exhortation to the Soul

Plotinus was well aware of philosophical rivals who denied the reality of forms or a world of intellect. He finds it hard to take Epicureans seriously, so his main opponents here are the Stoics. Despite being cleverer than any scarecrow, they were convinced that they, or their souls, were nothing but material objects. Plotinus is happy to set up Stoic materialism as a straw man to be knocked down.