The plotinian conception of discourse is a complex and manifold one. In "Ennead" I, 2, Plotinus thinks the lógos prophorikós as an image of the the lógos in the soul. In "Ennead" VI, 9, he thinks it as a fallible way to talk about the One and an instrument to exort and instruct the philosopher in his way of ascension. In this paper, I investigate what the relations of discourse and ascension of the soul are in the "Enneads", in an attempt to determinate what are, according to Plotinus, the possibilities and limits of language in its philosophical use.
Plotinus; neoplatonism; ascension; philosophical discourse