It seems that Plotinus, together with other Neoplatonists, were caught in a philosophical tangle. If the material universe is part of the One, which is Good by definition, then the material world must be good as well. But the material world contains evil, so how can it be good? Plotinius explanations of magic and sorcery are interesting.

PLOTINUS

GENERAL INTRODUCTION
As a result of two wars that have devastated the world
men and women everywhere feel a twofold need. We need
a deeper understanding and appreciation of other peoples
and their civilizations, especially their moral and spiritual
chievements. And we need a wider vision of the universe,
a clearer insight into the fundamentals of ethics and religion
How ought men to behave? How ought nations? Does God
exist? What is His Nature? How is He related to His
creation? Especially, how can man approach Him? In other
words, there is a general desire to know what the greatest
minds, whether of East or West, have thought and said
about the Truth of God and of the beings who (as most of
them hold) have sprung from Him, live by Him, and return
It is the object of this series, which originated among
a group of Oxford men and their friends, to place the chief
ethical and religious masterpieces of the world, both
Christian and non-Christian, within easy reach of the
intelligent reader who is not necessarily an expert-the
ex-Service man who is interested in the East, the under-
graduate, the adult student, the intelligent public generally
The series will contain books of three kinds: translations,
reproductions of ideal and religious art, and background
books showing the surroundings in which the literature and
art arose and developed. These books overlap each other
Religious art, both in East and West, often illustrates
religious text, and in suitable cases the text and the picture
will be printed together to complete each other. The back
ground books will often consist largely of translations. Th
volumes will be prepared by scholars of distinction, who ...