How did Plotinus use Middle Platonist thought to develop Neoplatonism?

Plotinus did not simply invent his philosophy in a vacuum; rather, he constructed his original system by synthesizing Middle Platonism with his own critical reading of Aristotle and other Peripatetic commentators.1

Middle Platonism provided the foundational framework that Plotinus refined and expanded. Key elements he inherited and transformed include:

• Hierarchy of Principles: Middle Platonists had already established a hierarchy of divine principles, often emphasizing the transcendence of a supreme principle they occasionally termed "the One." Plotinus developed this into a more rigorous system of emanationism.21
• Placement of Forms: Middle Platonists placed the Platonic forms within the divine mind. Plotinus integrated this into his concept of nous (Intellect), where the forms exist as a living, thinking totality.21
• Otherworldly Orientation: The Middle Platonic demand for a "flight from the body" and the ascent of the mind to the divine served as the basis for Plotinus’s own path of intellectual and moral purification.21

By combining these established traditions with his unique insights, Plotinus transformed these precursors into the cohesive, mystical system known as Neoplatonism.21