Reality and Soul in the Neoplatonic Theory of Sense-Perception

In this paper, I focus on the Neoplatonic theory that innate concepts can be used to correct the inaccuracies of sense perception. Specifically, I try to show what this theory tells us about the Neoplatonic view on the relationship between reality and mind. This relationship is seemingly simple, as the highest level of being, from which all reality derives, is the hypostasis Intellect. Even considering only the human soul, one sees how it is perfectly coordinated with outer reality, because the soul has in itself the same seminal reasons (logoi) that give order and structure to each being. However, there is one case where this perfect agreement between soul and reality fails: sense-perception. As a matter of fact, Neoplatonic philosophers admit that our grasping of the outer world through the senses can be unreliable. This is particularly important, as sense-perception is the first access to reality, from which all forms of cognition start. Neoplatonists explain the process of correction of wrong perceptions as an intervention of the logoi in sense perception.