Emanation is the base of total philosophy of Plotinus. In spite of this and despite he is an accurate thinker; his explanation of it is blended with different metaphors. Some researchers believe that this is because of his attempt to absorb ancient philosophies, specially the philosophy of Aristotle and Posidonius, into his rich philosophical tradition. But, some others believe that Plotinus applies these metaphors to explain some new theory which is called double act doctrine. On the base of this theory, every complete thing, in addition to its internal activity which is its true nature, has an external activity which is flow from it as a portrait. The external activity of the One is a potential indeterminate intellect which at first has the audacity to separate from the One. But, after separation, comes back to it apologetically which results in his completion. In this paper, we elaborate Plotinus' metaphorical and non-metaphorical explanation of emanation and its requisites.
______________ (tra.), Plotinus Ennead 2, Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1966.
______________, "Emanation in Plotinus", Mind, Vol 46, pp: 61–6, 1937.
______________, "Plotinus", In the Cambridge History of Late Greek and Early Medieval Philosophy, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008.
Brehier, E., The philosophy of Plotinus, Translated by Joseph Thomas, Chicago: The University of Chicago, 1958.
Corrigan, K., ''Essence and Existence in the Enneads'', In the Cambridge Companion to Plotinus, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp: 105–129, 1996.
Emilsson, E. K., Plotinus on Intellect, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007.
Lloyd, A. C., "Plotinus on the Genesis of Thought and Existence", Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy, vol 5, pp. 155–186, 1987.
_________, The Anatomy of Neoplatonism, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1990.
Grube, G. M. A. (tra.), Republic, in Plato complete works, edited with introduction and Notes by John M. Cooper, United States of America: Hacket Publishing Company,1997.
MacKenna, S. (tra.), The Enneads, London: Penguin, 1991.
Raizman-Kedar, Y., ''Plotinus’s Conception of Unity and Multiplicity as the Root to the Medieval Distinction between Lux and Lumen'', Studies in History and Philosophy of Science, Vol 37, pp. 379–397, 2006.
', './data/kj/coversheet/cover_en.jpg'))