Lakydes

Lakydes ( Greek  Λακύδης ; † probably 207 BC in Athens ) was an ancient Greek philosopher . He lived in Athens and belonged to the Platonic Academy , whose direction he took over as the successor to his teacher Arkesilaos 241/240. He is also called Lakydes of Cyrene after his hometown .

Life

Little is known of the life of Lakydes. He came from a relatively poor family in Cyrene in what is now Libya . It is not known when he came to Athens. He joined the academy, which has been headed since 268/264 by Arkesilaos, the founder of what was later to be called the “younger (skeptical) academy”. Arkesilaos had given the Academy a new direction by introducing skepticism . Lakydes was one of his numerous students. Already during the lifetime of the Arkesilaos he held a prominent position and held lectures. When Arkesilaos died in 241/240, Lakydes took over the office of headmaster ( Scholarchen ).

According to a somewhat unclear tradition, he gave the previously "unsteady" academy firm support. That is why the doxographer Diogenes Laertios even describes him as the founder of the “New Academy” (a term that was actually only coined long after his death and meant to be derogatory). What is probably meant is that after the deep, strong unrest-causing change brought about by the introduction of skepticism under Arkesilaos, he affirmed the new direction and knew how to stabilize it through a course of consolidation. This happened by - as Philodemos reports - "mixing the school from both (directions)", thus bringing about a balance between the skeptical innovators and more conservative followers of the tradition of the Old Academy.

Lakydes' circle of friends and acquaintances included Timon von Phleius and Praylos, two representatives of the direction of "Pyrrhonic skepticism" founded by Pyrrhon von Elis , which was similar to "academic skepticism". Over time, the two directions continued to converge.

Lakydes is described as a very dignified, hardworking person since his youth and also as amiable and sociable. Under his leadership the Academy prospered despite the upheavals Arkesilaos's change of course had produced; he was admired and had numerous students, some of whom are known by name. The poet and writer Euphorion was one of them . The Stoic Chrysippus , who emerged as a staunch opponent of academic skepticism, also attended his courses.

Only isolated incidents from his life have come down to us. He is said to have owned a goose that followed him every step of the way and that he buried like a close relative after her death. The fact that he only dealt with geometry at a very old age caused offense , because the study of mathematics was regarded in Platonism as an indispensable propaedeutic preparation for a serious study of philosophy.

Like his predecessor Arkesilaos, Lakydes was able to benefit from the support that the Attalid family , the rulers of Pergamon , gave to the Younger Academy. Just as Eumenes I of Pergamon had generously sponsored Arkesilaos, Eumenes' successor Attalus I stood up for Lakydes. He donated a garden plot to the academy, on which Lakydes held his lectures and which was named after him "Lakydeion". The exact location of the Lakydeion is not known. Lakydes did not accept an invitation to the court of Attalus I; as a justification he stated that still images could be viewed from a distance.

Lakydes suffered from an illness that prevented him from performing his duties for ten years. It is unclear whether this refers to the last ten years of his life or several periods of ten years in total. Probably 224 or 223 he gave up his status as sole headmaster and established a collegial leadership on a broader basis, with his students Telekles and Euandros von Phokaia playing a prominent role. When he died - probably in the year 207 - no new scholarch was elected, but the collective leadership of the previous governing body of the elders ( presbýteroi , literally "older"), in which Telekles and Euandros set the tone, was retained. Apparently the principle of collegial leadership worked as the academy continued to attract large numbers of students from many parts of the Greek world.

The news handed down by Diogenes Laertios that Lakydes died of paralysis as a result of drunkenness is hardly credible; it is common gossip, as it was similarly spread about Arkesilaos.

Works and teaching

The Suda , a Byzantine encyclopedia, states that Lakydes wrote philosophical writings, including a work "On Nature" ( Peri physeōs ). Nothing of it has been preserved. All that is known about his teaching is that he remained faithful to the skeptical direction established by his predecessor Arkesilaos. Apparently, his strength lay in didactics rather than in developing original thought processes.

One of the most important hypotheses of the academic skeptics was that it is not possible to obtain secure knowledge. Sensory perceptions cannot be trusted unconditionally, as can be seen from hallucinations and confusions. Even if a philosophical statement was correct, this could not be proven, since strong counter-arguments could always be found. Hence, every claim to truth is to be rejected. Hence, one should refrain from judging in order not to succumb to the temptation to treat mere opinions as proven facts.

This attitude proved problematic in the area of ethics . Opponents of skepticism argued that every action presupposed a decision in favor of a specific goal and thus its approval; this approval includes a judgment. Therefore, the skeptical philosopher who does not judge in principle is condemned to inactivity because he lacks a rational criterion for making decisions. Thus, a philosophical - that is, reason-driven - life practice on the basis of skepticism is impossible.

A caustic, grotesque tale about Lakydes, circulated by contemporary opposing circles, apparently served the purpose of ridiculing skepticism and proving its action-theoretic unsuitability. According to this story, Lakydes was stingy and used to lock his pantry carefully. He put the key in a box, which he sealed with his ring. He tossed the ring through the keyhole into the pantry. When his slaves found out, they broke the seal on the box and ransacked the pantry, whereupon they resealed the box and put the ring back in place. Lakydes couldn't explain the disappearance of the supplies. Therefore he joined the skeptical philosophy of the Arkesilaos, which called for the abandonment of judgments because of the incomprehensibility of reality. He also promoted skepticism by citing the example of his experiences in the pantry, but was laughed at. Thereupon he no longer kept the ring in the chamber. But the slaves did not give up. They continued to steal the supplies, using a different seal or not sealing at all. When he confronted them about the false seal, they said the box was properly sealed; if he cannot recognize the seal as his, he is subject to a delusion. If they failed to seal it, they claimed he forgot to seal the box. His assumption that he did it is based on memory, and the memory is deceptive and does not provide any real knowledge, but only creates a philosophically worthless opinion. So they refuted him with his own teachings until he admitted desperately that his philosophy was not applicable to everyday life.

In this satirical story, the skeptical philosopher is ridiculed as a fool. Presumably, in the last argument of the slaves, a criticism of Lakydes on the truth claims of statements about the past is reflected, whereby the error-susceptibility of the memory served as an argument.

Source collection

• Hans Joachim Mette : Other academics today: From Lakydes to Kleitomachos . In: Lustrum 27, 1985, pp. 39–148 (compilation of the source texts)

literature

• Tiziano Dorandi : Lacydès de Cyrène . In: Richard Goulet (ed.): Dictionnaire des philosophes antiques . Vol. 4, CNRS Éditions, Paris 2005, ISBN 2-271-06386-8 , pp. 74-75
• Woldemar Görler : Lakydes and his successors . In: Hellmut Flashar (ed.): Outline of the history of philosophy . The philosophy of antiquity , Vol. 4: The Hellenistic philosophy . 2nd half volume, Schwabe, Basel 1994, ISBN 3-7965-0930-4 , pp. 829-848
• Carlos Lévy: Les Petits Académiciens: Lacyde, Charmadas, Métrodore de Stratonice . In: Mauro Bonazzi, Vincenza Celluprica (ed.): L'eredità platonica. Studi sul platonismo da Arcesilao a Proclo . Bibliopolis, Napoli 2005, pp. 51-77

Web links

• Diogenes Laertios: Lakydes at Perseus Project (biography of Lakydes, Greek text and English translation)

Remarks

1. ↑ Tiziano Dorandi: Ricerche sulla cronologia dei filosofi ellenistici , Stuttgart 1991, pp. 7-10 has suggested that Lakydes may have been a scholarch as early as 244/243; Woldemar Görler: Arkesilaos . In: Hellmut Flashar (ed.): Outline of the history of philosophy. The philosophy of antiquity , vol. 4: The Hellenistic philosophy , 2nd half-volume, Basel 1994, pp. 786–828, here: 795 f., 830 f. agrees and proposes as a declaration that Arkesilaos left the official business at least partially to Lakydes three years before his death. Dorandi later gave up his hypothesis; see Dorandi: Chronology . In: Keimpe Algra u. a. (Ed.): The Cambridge History of Hellenistic Philosophy , Cambridge 2005, pp. 31–54, here: 32.
2. ↑ Diogenes Laertios 4:59. For a similar statement by Philodemos , according to which the designation "Newer Academy" was introduced as a result of Lakydes' work, see Woldemar Görler: Lakydes and his successors . In: Hellmut Flashar (ed.): Outline of the history of philosophy. The philosophy of antiquity , Vol. 4: The Hellenistic Philosophy , 2nd half volume, Basel 1994, pp. 829-848, here: 833 (cf. pp. 779 f.).
3. ^ Carlos Lévy: Les Petits Académiciens: Lacyde, Charmadas, Métrodore de Stratonice . In: Mauro Bonazzi, Vincenza Celluprica (ed.): L'eredità platonica , Napoli 2005, pp. 51–77, here: 54–59; Woldemar Görler: The younger academy in general . In: Hellmut Flashar (ed.): Outline of the history of philosophy. The philosophy of antiquity , vol. 4: The Hellenistic philosophy , 2nd half-volume, Basel 1994, pp. 775–785, here: 779 f.
4. ↑ For the students see Tiziano Dorandi (Ed.): Filodemo: Storia dei filosofi. Platone e l'Academia (PHerc. 1021 e 164) , Napoli 1991, pp. 64-68, 259-266; Hans Joachim Mette: Other academics today: From Lakydes to Kleitomachos . In: Lustrum 27, 1985, pp. 39-148, here: 50 f.
5. ↑ Diogenes Laertios 7,183 f.
6. ↑ To the Lakydeion see Hans-Joachim Schalles : Investigations on the cultural policy of the Pergamenischen rulers in the third century before Christ , Tübingen 1985, p. 137 f .; John Glucker: Antiochus and the Late Academy , Göttingen 1978, p. 234 f.
7. ↑ On Euandros see Tiziano Dorandi: Euandros de Phocée . In: Richard Goulet (Ed.): Dictionnaire des philosophes antiques , Vol. 3, Paris 2000, p. 243.
8. ↑ For the dating see Tiziano Dorandi: Lacydès de Cyrène . In: Richard Goulet (ed.): Dictionnaire des philosophes antiques , Vol. 4, Paris 2005, pp. 74–75, here: 75; Woldemar Görler: Lakydes and his successors . In: Hellmut Flashar (ed.): Outline of the history of philosophy. The philosophy of antiquity , vol. 4: The Hellenistic philosophy , 2nd half-volume, Basel 1994, pp. 829–848, here: 830 f.
9. ↑ Woldemar Görler: Lakydes and his successors . In: Hellmut Flashar (ed.): Outline of the history of philosophy. The philosophy of antiquity , vol. 4: The Hellenistic philosophy , 2nd half volume, Basel 1994, pp. 829–848, here: 832 f .; Carlos Lévy: Les Petits Académiciens: Lacyde, Charmadas, Métrodore de Stratonice . In: Mauro Bonazzi, Vincenza Celluprica (ed.): L'eredità platonica , Napoli 2005, pp. 51–77, here: 58 f .; Italo Gallo: Teatro ellenistico minore , Rome 1981, pp. 58-62.