Plotinus

About Plotinus

Plotinus (203–270 CE) was a pivotal Hellenistic philosopher credited with founding Neoplatonism, a school of thought that profoundly influenced subsequent Western, Christian, and Islamic philosophy. His comprehensive work, posthumously compiled by his student Porphyry as the *Enneads*, systematically elaborated on Plato's ideas, postulating a transcendent One from which all reality emanates in a hierarchical structure. This intricate metaphysical system established him as one of the last great thinkers of the classical era, earning him the #863 rank in MIT's Historical Popularity Index.

In the contemporary digital sphere, Plotinus's historical weight is not fully reflected in his online attention. With an annualized 201K Wikipedia views in 2025, his traffic is modest when juxtaposed with similarly ranked philosophers. For instance, Epictetus (#998 importance) draws 360K views, and Ramakrishna (#922 importance) garners 516K. Plotinus's attention gap suggests a relative underrepresentation online compared to these peers, though his modest year-over-year growth of +10.2% shows some maintained, if slow, interest.

Despite his strong foundation, the 2025 momentum data shows a slight dip of -1% in interest between Q1 and Q3, suggesting that the recent positive growth may be stalling. This indicates a figure whose profound historical influence has not yet translated into significant, sustained digital engagement.