Plotinus’ Thought and Analogia Entis

The notion of analogia entis (the proportion between beings) is usually associated with Medieval Scholasticism and confined to that period. The thesis that will be presented in this talk holds that that notion is the backbone of Plotinus’ thought. This means that Plotinus’ thought has determined the development of Western Metaphysics in a substantial way: for, it is in Plotinus’ thought that the platonizing reading of Aristotle’s enquiry on being, as it is displayed in Metaphysics, gets consolidated and doctrinally organized. Establishing this allows a clearer understanding of the relation between Plotinus’ and Heidegger’s thoughts: far from being similar, they are at opposite poles. Contrary to what several scholars have argued, Plotinus’ One cannot in any way be taken to mean the same thing as Heidegger’s Sein: the former is the radicalization of the ontology of presence, while the latter wants to be an interrogation of the origins of that very ontology.