The Soul's Relationship to the Intelligible World

Plotinus believes that the soul is eternal and has seen the wondrous beauty of this realm before it came to be in a body. In its most debased condition, the soul may become so confused as actually to identify itself with the body. For him, the soul's challenge is not to achieve union, or contact, with the intelligible forms. Rather, the soul needs to realize that it is always in contact with those forms.