 As might be expected, Plotinus’ philosophy does not have much use for the concept of technê. Its account of knowledge is fuller than that of craft and is close to Aristotle’s idea of epistêmê in the strong sense. In the Enneads, epistêmê is not directly associated with technê. In the first place, epistêmê refers to the particular cognitive state of the first hypostasis from the One, Nous, in which there is an identity between knowledge and what is known (VI. 6. 15). Our souls gain true knowledge by the presence of Nous, although Nous knows non-discursively while our souls characteristically know in a discursive way (V. 9. 7; IV. 3.18). Discursive knowledge is the sort of knowing that moves from, e.g., premise to conclusion; non-discursive thought, then, is a unitary grasp or understanding. Discursive knowledge, through dialectic, is able to speak in a reasoned way about each thing, say what it is and in what way it differs from others, and what it has in common with those with which it exists, and so on. It does all these things with certain knowledge (epistêmê) and not by opinion (I. 3. 4). Plotinus also uses epistêmê in another sense to refer to the various branches of knowledge which are articulated in theorems (e.g., IV. 3. 2). Since the ideal state for a human is to enjoy the knowledge which is found in Nous and then, beyond that, the contemplation of the One, Plotinus gives short shrift to the civic virtues of courage, justice, and moderation. Once one attains the higher levels, he gives up the civic virtues in their usual sense. At this level, moderation, for instance, is not measure and limit but rather separation from one’s lower nature (I. 2. 7. 25).