Plotinus’ “Reverse” Platonism: A Deleuzian Response to the Problem of Emanation Imagery
Gina Zavota’s “Plotinus’ ‘Reverse’ Platonism: A Deleuzian Response to the Problem of Emanation Imagery” attempts a radical rethinking of the Plotinian question of emanation through the lens of Deleuze’s account of ontological individuation and actualization. Zavota notes that, despite its widespread acceptance as a Plotinian concept, Plotinus himself acknowledges the inadequacy of the language of emanation. Rather, just as Deleuze’s virtual Idea does not impose order upon the plane of consistency but instead simply indicates divergent lines of generation, Plotinus’ One does not predetermine the organization of things from above. Instead, the variety of generated objects, from the Intellect down to the barest material particulars, self-organize through the inherently generative operation of contemplation or turning towards the One. Thus contemplation is an act of differentiation, and Plotinus’ philosophy can be read as a counter-Platonism or divergent-Platonism.