Plato and Plotinus on Intuition: A Comparative Study

Plato and Plotinus, both as the two of the most influential philosophers of the classical period, had a special attention to intuition. Given the different approaches to the different philosophical issues that they have, it requires us to doubt on their unique visions upon intuition. The exact matter of the present paper is to consider what it means “intuition” to each of these two philosophers? By what method to be achieved? What are its characteristics and what things belong to?The response to the question, which will be clear in the end, is that the intuition for both of them is an immediate manifestation that is happening to human intellect; though both Plato and Plotinus, in order to achieve intellectual intuition,recommend activities to the Seekers which are primarily of two types of intellectual practice and self-purification activities.Also at the end we will be led to the conclusion that, regardless of significant differences between the two philosophers on the philosophical line and the way they interpret the issues, they both apply the intuition in a single meaning that can be achieved with respect to both theory and practice.