This is the Italian translation of a section of philosopher Miguel de Beistegui’s Aesthetics After Metaphysics. From Mimesis to Metaphor (Routledge, New York and Oxon 2012). In this chapter, the author strives to question the apparently unbreakable bond between metaphor and metaphysics, concluding that 20th-century theorists who investigated metaphors only focused on its conceptual aspect, thus failing to grasp its entire potential as a theoretical instrument. Spanning from Aristotle’s definition of metaphor, Beistegui maintains that 20th-century philosophers such as Heidegger, Derrida and Deleuze failed to delve into a more complex use of the metaphor. On the contrary, the author attempts at breaking the structural bond between metaphor and the metaphysics of identity and representation, in order to escape the boundaries of the sensible world. By investigating the discourses that show the limits of metaphysics, Beistegui advocates for another sense and use of the metaphor, one that can apply to literature, poetry, and visual arts: according to the author, this widened view of metaphor as an operative tool could surpass idealistic aesthetics and open up the hyper-sensible as a space for a more materialistic poetics.