Acknowledgements
This book is a revised version of my doctoral thesis, which was defended at Charles University, Prague, and the University of Fribourg, Switzerland, under the supervision of Štěpán Špinka and Filip Karfík. My thanks are due first and foremost to them: for their guidance, for their ability to inspire, which never ceases to amaze me, for being tough opponents of my ideas and, most of all, for their trust in me. I also owe thanks to Christian Tornau and Riccardo Chiaradonna, the examiners of my thesis, for their valuable comments which helped me to revise the manuscript into its present state. I am very grateful for the thorough work of Chad Jorgenson, who managed to make my English clear and readable. I would also like to thank John Finamore and Robert Berchman, the editors of the series, for accepting my work for publication.
The writing of this study was supported by Charles University Research Centre program No. 204053, and I am especially grateful to Štěpán Špinka and Lenka Karfíková for allowing me to participate in this project.
For many years, I have had the privilege of profiting from long discussions of various topics related to Plotinus with my friends Eliška Fulínová and Robert Roreitner.
My deepest thanks go to my family: to my parents, for awakening the love for knowledge in me and for their continuous support in whatever I am doing, and most of all to my wife Veronika and my daughters, Adriana and Agnes, for their patience, love and support.
Ota Gál
5 July 2021