Plotinus was a Platonist philosopher who combined insights from Aristotle and the Stoics into a unique interpretation of Plato. Because his interpretation was a significant departure from other readings of Plato, later scholars called it Neoplatonism.
Neoplatonism was a highly influential philosophical and mystical system that emerged in the 3rd century CE. It reinterprets Plato’s teachings, proposing that all of reality “emanates” from a single, supreme, and ineffable source known as “the One.” The ultimate goal of the soul is a spiritual return to this divine origin.
Plotinus is considered the founder of Neoplatonism, but he had a number of followers. Unfortunately, they did not always understand him or remain faithful to his teaching. Iamblichus, in particular, distorted Neoplatonism into a more religious and occult system. He introduced theurgy (ritual practices and divine magic) into the philosophy, wrongly arguing that humans cannot unite the soul with the One without divine intervention, whereas Plotinus’s philosophy makes such intervention unnecessary.
After Plato and Aristotle, Plotinus is arguably among the greatest philosophers of antiquity, and certainly one of the most influential. We would be wise to take Plotinus as our primary guide to Neoplatonism.