Isidore (philosopher)

Isidorus (* probably between 445 and 450; † between 517 and 526) was a late antique philosopher of the Neoplatonic direction and head of the philosophy school in Athens. He was mainly concerned with metaphysics . Nothing of his works, which included hymns , has survived.

Life

Isidore was from Alexandria . His family apparently belonged to the circle of the local Neoplatonists, who as pagans were in opposition to the Christian state religion. His uncle Aigyptus, the brother of his mother Theodote, was a friend of the philosopher Hermeias of Alexandria . First, Isidore received his philosophical training in his hometown under the direction of two unnamed brothers, usually identified with Asklepiades and Heraiskos of Alexandria; his model was the very withdrawn ascetic Sarapion. He later went to Athens, where the famous philosopher Proclus directed the Neoplatonic school, which continued the tradition of the Platonic Academy . Isidore became a student of Proclus, who valued him and whom he admired very much. He also studied the teachings of Aristotle with Marinos of Neapolis , who later succeeded Proclus.

Isidore later returned to Alexandria. There he got into trouble when the Christian authorities took action against the Neoplatonists (probably 482-484) and had to leave the city. Shortly after Proclus' death (April 17, 485), he returned to Athens. The new headmaster Marinos valued him, but Isidore thought little of Marinos and did not consider him a worthy Diádochos (head of the school, literally “successor” [Plato]). Marinos wrote a comment on Plato's Dialogue Philebos and asked Isidore for a comment. When Isidore criticized the work and expressed the opinion that the already existing Philebos commentary by Proclus was sufficient, Marinos burned his writing. The two philosophers also had differences of opinion over the interpretation of Plato's dialogue Parmenides , which Marinos had also commented on. Finally, there were tensions between Christians and Platonists in Athens, too, which were so dangerous that Marinos no longer felt safe of his life and fled to Epidaurus , from where he never returned. Isidore was elected as his successor, but he received the office of headmaster only on account of honor and therefore did not have to exercise the official duties associated with it. The school was then in a crisis that Isidore considered so hopeless that he considered leaving Athens. It is unknown whether he put this intention into practice.

A pupil, friend and admirer of Isidore was Damascius , who became the last head of the Neoplatonic school no later than 515. Isidore went on a trip to the Orient with him, which took him to Gaza , the Arabian Peninsula , Bostra , Damascus and Heliopolis ( Baalbek ). Damascius dedicated a biography to his teacher, only excerpts of which have been preserved in the library of Photios and in some fragments in the Suda . In it, Isidore is described as very truthful and frank.

Isidore was married to a woman named Domna, who died after giving birth to a son, whom Isidore named Proclus after his teacher.

source

• Polymnia Athanassiadi (ed.): Damascius: The Philosophical History. Apamea Cultural Association, Athens 1999, ISBN 960-85325-2-3 (critical edition of the excerpts and fragments of Isidore's biography with English translation)
• Clemens Zintzen (Ed.): Damascii vitae Isidori reliquiae. Olms, Hildesheim 1967 (critical edition of the excerpts and fragments of Isidor's biography)
• Rudolf Asmus (ed.): The life of the philosopher Isidoros of Damascius from Damascus. Meiner, Leipzig 1911 (German translation of the excerpts and fragments of Isidore's biography)

literature

• Richard Goulet: Isidore d'Alexandrie. In: Richard Goulet (ed.): Dictionnaire des philosophes antiques , Vol. 3, CNRS Editions, Paris 2000, ISBN 2-271-05748-5 , pp. 870-878
• Wilhelm Kroll : Isidoros 17 . In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume IX, 2, Stuttgart 1916, Sp. 2062-2064.
• John Robert Martindale: The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire , Vol. 2, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1980, ISBN 0-521-20159-4 , pp. 628-631
• Michael Schramm: Isidorus. In: Christoph Riedweg et al. (Ed.): Philosophy of the Imperial Era and Late Antiquity (= Outline of the history of philosophy . The philosophy of antiquity. Volume 5/3). Schwabe, Basel 2018, ISBN 978-3-7965-3700-4 , pp. 1982–1986, 2154 f.

Remarks

1. ↑ Polymnia Athanassiadi (ed.): Damascius: The Philosophical History , Athens 1999, pp. 21-24; Richard Goulet: Isidore d'Alexandrie. In: Richard Goulet (ed.): Dictionnaire des philosophes antiques , Vol. 3, Paris 2000, pp. 870-878, here: 872 f.
2. ^ On the dating of Richard Goulet: Isidore d'Alexandrie. In: Richard Goulet (ed.): Dictionnaire des philosophes antiques , Vol. 3, Paris 2000, pp. 870-878, here: 874 f.
3. ↑ Damascios, Vita Isidori 42.
4. ↑ Polymnia Athanassiadi (ed.): Damascius: The Philosophical History , Athens 1999, p. 43 f .; Richard Goulet: Isidore d'Alexandrie. In: Richard Goulet (ed.): Dictionnaire des philosophes antiques , Vol. 3, Paris 2000, pp. 870-878, here: 875.
5. ^ Richard Goulet: Isidore d'Alexandrie. In: Richard Goulet (ed.): Dictionnaire des philosophes antiques , Vol. 3, Paris 2000, pp. 870–878, here: 872; Udo Hartmann : Philosophers of late antiquity. Women in the philosophers' lives from Porphyrios to Damascius. In: Robert Rollinger , Christoph Ulf (eds.): Women and Gender , Vienna 2006, pp. 43–79, here: 65.