Middle Platonism

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Middle Platonism is a modern term introduced by Karl Praechter for a phase of development of Platonism that began in the 1st century BC. Began and lasted until the late 3rd century. Middle Platonism was replaced by Neoplatonism .

Historical overview

The philosophy school founded by Plato in Athens , the Platonic Academy , fell victim to the turmoil of the First Mithridatic War ; no later than in the year 86 BC When the troops of the Roman general Sulla conquered Athens, teaching was stopped. The last director ( scholarch ) of the academy, Philon von Larisa , was already 88 BC. Fled to Rome. With his death (84/83 BC) ended in the history of Platonism the epoch of the “younger academy” shaped by skepticism . The skeptics had denied the possibility of a reliable knowledge of reality and instead introduced graduated probability assumptions (probabilism). Philon's former student Antiochus of Askalon († probably 68 BC) rejected the skepticism, which he considered unplatonic. He founded his own school, which he called the “Old Academy” in a programmatic connection to the time before the introduction of skepticism. With this return to the epistemological concept of the “older” or “old” academy, a view opposed by the skeptics of the “younger academy”, a new phase in the history of philosophy began. Now the conviction prevailed again that there was a certain amount of knowledge, a truth that was philosophically recognizable and teachable as such (“dogmatism”).

The school founded by Antiochus apparently ceased operations when his brother and successor Aristos of Askalon († 46/45 BC) died. From then on there was no longer any institution that claimed to continue the tradition of the Platonic Academy.

When it comes to the question of which turning point marked the beginning of Middle Platonism, scholars have divided opinions. Some ancient scholars believe that with the end of academic skepticism and the return of Antiochus to dogmatism, the epoch of Middle Platonism began, and Antiochus and his students were therefore Middle Platonists. Other researchers do not count the school of Antiochus as part of Middle Platonism, but only allow it to be around the middle or in the second half of the 1st century BC. Begin with Eudorus of Alexandria . This view is supported by the fact that Antiochus appeared in conflict with the skeptics as a renewer of the tradition of Plato's original academy, but, under the influence of the Stoa, renounced the Platonic doctrine of transcendence , a central component of Platonism. It is therefore problematic to count him among the Middle Platonists, because the return to the doctrine of transcendence is characteristic of Middle Platonism. According to Willy Theiler's assessment , Antiochus is to be regarded as a “pre-Neo-Platonist” like the Middle Platonists of the imperial period; they all "prepared" Neoplatonism.

The philosophers now called “Middle Platonists” did not have a generally recognized center, as the academy had been before the Roman conquest of Athens. Although groups of individual teachers emerged, the Middle Platonists did not form an organized community like the academics in the past. They only shared their commitment to Plato's teaching, which they interpreted differently. Because of this diffuse, heterogeneous character of Plato's reception, some researchers consider the term “Middle Platonism” to be questionable, as it suggests more uniformity of teaching than actually existed. Pierluigi Donini advocates retaining the established term as a term for a time, not for a certain direction with specific doctrines.

The age of Middle Platonism includes the final phase of Hellenism and the epoch of the Roman principate . During this time philosophy was taught in all the major cities of the Roman Empire , and in some places teaching was funded by public funds. One of the main concerns of the Middle Platonists was the careful interpretation of Plato's works in the context of school lessons. The knowledge was primarily imparted orally. The rich literature of the Platonists grew out of the teaching activities and usually served didactic purposes. It consisted largely of comments on Plato's dialogues as well as introductory writings and handbook-like representations. There were also life descriptions of Plato, Plato lexicons and treatises on individual topics.

The philosophically most influential Middle Platonist was the famous writer Plutarch , who lived in the 1st and 2nd centuries AD. Other well-known Middle Platonists were:

Alcinous emerged as a textbook author , whose lifetime is difficult to date, as well as that of Severus and the mathematician and music theorist Nicomachus of Gerasa . Ammonios Sakkas († 242/243), the teacher of Plotinus , and his pupil Origen were active in the phase of transition from Middle to Neoplatonism.

All Middle Platonists, with the exception of Apuleius, who wrote in Latin, used the Greek language.

In the 3rd century Plotinus († 270) founded Neoplatonism, which became the dominant philosophical trend in late antiquity. The Neoplatonic doctrine was formed in Rome from 244 onwards. In conservative Central Platonist circles in Greece, Plotin's philosophy initially met with rejection, but from the late 3rd and early 4th centuries Neoplatonism was able to gain general acceptance. Although the terms "Middle Platonism" and "Neoplatonism" did not yet exist in antiquity, the Neoplatonists were aware of the turning point between Middle and Neoplatonism, because they distinguished between the "old" (Middle Platonic) and the "new" (Neoplatonic) Interpreters of the teaching of Plato.

Doctrinal opinions

In the Older Academy, Plato's teaching was not considered perfect and binding in every respect; Plato's pupil Speusippos , his successor as head of the Academy, did not shy away from contradicting him on key issues. The Middle Platonists, on the other hand, believed that Plato's philosophy was divinely inspired and flawless. However, it is not immediately understandable, because Plato had expressed himself puzzlingly. He had deliberately hidden the truth in his texts and its disclosure required a special effort on the part of the reader. Among Plato's dialogues, the Timaeus was the one with whom the Middle Platonists dealt most intensively.

Sources

Only a small part of the philosophical works of the Middle Platonists has been completely preserved, the rest have been lost or have only survived in fragments. Some teaching material is known from external reports. Plutarch's extensive philosophical oeuvre occupies a large space among the surviving works. There are also four philosophical writings by Apuleius , Albinos' "Introduction to Plato's Dialogues", the "Textbook of the Principles of Plato" ( Didaskalikós tōn Plátōnos dogmátōn ) by Alcinous , lectures by Maximus of Tire and manuals by Nicomachus of Gerasa and Theon of Smyrna.

Metaphysics and cosmology

Among their main tasks, the Middle Platonists included the interpretation of the cosmology presented in Plato's dialogue Timaeus , taking up ideas that go back to Plato's disciple Xenocrates . They tried to fathom the relationship between the divine creator of the world ( demiurge ), the platonic ideas (the archetypes of perceptible phenomena) and the matter in which the process of becoming and passing away takes place. The “three principles doctrine”, which was advocated by most of the Middle Platonists, stated that the world owes its existence to three co- operating principles : the Creator God, ideas and matter. The demiurge, whom most of the Middle Platonists considered the highest god and equated with the idea of ​​the good as well as with the pure intellect ( nous ), was considered to be the effective cause of things that could be perceived by the senses. The paradigmatic (archetypal) cause was seen in the ideas, since the individual things in Platonism are images of the ideas, while matter has the role of the material cause . The sensually perceptible cosmos in its entirety was understood as an image of a purely spiritual ( intelligible ) cosmos in which the ideas are located. The Middle Platonists considered this image to be as perfect as an image can be. For them, becoming represented unchangeable being and endless time represented eternity .

Numenios and Harpokration von Argos represented a minority position . They assumed three gods or three aspects of deity, namely the supreme, non-active god and the demiurge responsible for creation, whom they viewed as double or divided into two aspects. In this model, the supreme god is equated with the idea of ​​the good and the pure nous.

Most of the Middle Platonists viewed the ideas as thoughts of the highest God. The metaphysical place of ideas was usually taken to be this pure intellect God himself. But there was also the view that the ideas are subordinate to the pure divine intellect as its products; they are located below it in the divine soul .

In the Middle Platonic worldview, both the intelligible cosmos and the area of ​​the sensually perceptible are alive. The invigorating instance of the sensory world is the divine world soul , which mediates between the spiritual and the material sphere. The sensory world is a sphere with the center of the earth as the center and the fixed star sphere as the surface. The sphere is divided into two parts: in the supralunar area (from the lunar sphere upwards) all movements are constant, in the sublunar area between moon and earth there are also disordered, irregular movements. Everything bad - including evil demons - is below the lunar sphere.

In Middle Platonism, the controversial question was often discussed whether the sensory world came into being in a unique temporal act of creation, which formulations in Plato's Timaeus seem to suggest, or whether it is eternal and its creation is to be understood as an incessant process, Plato only for didactic reasons as an individual describes the completed process. Another hotly debated question was whether the universe consists of four or five basic elements. The heavenly ether , which Aristotle had accepted, came into consideration as the fifth element next to earth, fire, air and water . One direction of the Middle Platonists regarded ether as an element of its own, another regarded it as fire.

Harmonization of philosophical and religious traditions

In dealing with other schools of philosophy, the Greek folk religion and the worldviews of other religions, a harmonizing tendency was widespread among the Middle Platonists. The starting point was that in a distant past there had been an absolutely true religious-philosophical original doctrine that was available to mankind at that time. Their first heralds were theologians and lawgivers, who came to the knowledge of the divine Logos as men filled with God . The core statements of this primal doctrine can be found both in Plato and in the religious wisdom of all ancient civilized peoples. There is a fundamental correspondence between the religious traditions of the Greeks, Egyptians, Jews, Chaldeans , Mager ( Zoroastrians ) and Brahmins , since they are all ultimately based on the original truth. The relationship of most of the Middle Platonists to the New Pythagoreanism , whose agreement with Platonism was certain for them, was close. The teachings of the Stoics and the Peripatetics were viewed as variants of Platonism that differed more or less strongly from the authentic teaching. Some Middle Platonists believed that there was a harmony between Platonism and Aristotelianism in essential points and therefore Aristotle's works were also useful for Platonists and should be used in the interpretation of Plato. But not everyone shared this view; Attikos fought them vehemently. In the 2nd century the Mittelplatoniker attacked Lucius and Claudius Nikostratos the doctrine of categories of Aristotle. Other Platonists traced the Aristotelian theory of categories back to Plato and tried to find it in his works. It was widely believed that Plato was the real originator of all Aristotelian logic.

Soul doctrine and ethics

Since the human soul has reason, it is related to the world soul and the gods. But this only applies to their rational part. In addition, it also has an irrational part, which the Middle Platonists also call "irrational soul" and which mediates between the rational soul and the body. The unreasonable (to álogon) in the soul is the seat of affects such as anger and desire.

While everything that happens above the lunar sphere follows an absolute natural necessity, in the sublunar area in which humanity is found there is also disorder, undetermined processes and free will . The rational soul decides freely, but the consequences of its decisions come with an inescapable, fateful necessity. Divine Providence oversees the world order, but does not direct individual fates.

The Middle Platonists agreed on the immortality of the rational soul, as well as on the fact that it exists independently of the body and already before it and that it leaves it when it dies. Opinions differed as to whether the irrational part of the human soul also has eternity and what happens to it after the death of the body. The problem of the unity of the soul or its split into essentially different areas was an important and difficult topic.

While the Stoics in ethics the goal of the state of equanimity ( apatheia ) to achieve, set in the center, taught the Mittelplatoniker that "as far as possible alignment with God" to the required by Plato (homoiosis Theo kata to Dynaton) arrive . The likeness to God is the philosopher's goal in life, which he should strive for as far as possible. The Middle Platonists were divided on the question of whether, in addition to virtues , external and material goods are required for optimal success in life ( eudaimonia ), as the Peripatetics believed, or whether virtue alone is sufficient, as the Stoics taught.

reception

Jewish and Christian theologians interested in philosophy received important stimuli from Platonism, partly through direct study of Plato's works, partly through writings by Middle Platonic authors. Alexandria was an outstanding center of this reception . There, in the 1st century AD, the Jewish scholar Philo of Alexandria combined Middle Platonic philosophy with Jewish theology. He was of the opinion that Plato had adopted the philosophy of Pythagoras , who in turn owed his wisdom to Moses . Moses is the true author of Greek philosophy. Philon's teaching later enjoyed great popularity among the church fathers . In the 2nd century Christian theologians like Justin the Martyr , Tatian and Athenagoras were strongly influenced by Platonism, which was familiar to them in the form it had assumed in Middle Platonic literature. The church father Clemens of Alexandria , who was active in the late 2nd and early 3rd centuries, created a theology that was strongly influenced by Plato. The theology of Clemens' pupil Origen also contained a lot of Platonic - especially Middle Platonic - ideas. Significant Middle Platonic influence can also be seen in the writings of the Gnostics .

Even in pagan religious literature that emerged in the age of Middle Platonism and had a strong aftereffect ( Chaldean oracles , hermetic writings ), significant correspondences with Middle Platonic teaching material can be recognized. Hermetic literature propagated Platonic ideas as Egyptian revelation wisdom, while Middle and Neoplatonists saw themselves confirmed by the authority of the Hermetic Scriptures.

Neoplatonism was a further development of Middle Platonism. Its founder, Plotinus, followed the tradition of the Middle Platonists. Middle Platonic doctrines formed an important part of the curriculum in his school and were discussed critically. Numenios in particular received a lot of attention from the Neoplatonists. Plotinus changed the metaphysics of the Middle Platonists in essential points. In doing so, he appeared as a faithful interpreter of Plato's original teaching. The Neoplatonists believed that their interpretation of Plato was a restoration of the complete metaphysics of Plato, abbreviated by the Middle Platonists, in its authentic form.

See also

Source editions and translations

  • Heinrich Dörrie , Matthias Baltes : Platonism in antiquity. Basics - System - Development . Frommann-Holzboog, Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatt 1987 ff. (Greek and Latin texts with German translation; previously published: volumes 1–7.1 and index volume to 1–4)
  • Marie-Luise Lakmann (Ed.): Platonici minores. 1st century BC - 2nd century AD. Prosopography, fragments and testimony with German translation (= Philosophia antiqua , volume 145). Brill, Leiden / Boston 2017, ISBN 978-90-04-31533-4 (critical edition)

literature

Web links

Remarks

  1. ^ Karl Praechter: Friedrich Ueberwegs Outline of the History of Ancient Philosophy , 11th Edition, Berlin 1920, p. 536: "The Middle Platonism". In the 10th edition (1909) Praechter had called the Middle Platonists the "Pythagorean and eclectic Platonists".
  2. ^ For example Matthias Baltes: Middle Platonism . In: Der neue Pauly , Vol. 8, Stuttgart 2000, Col. 294-300, here: 294 and Clemens Zintzen: Introduction . In: Clemens Zintzen (Ed.): Der Mittelplatonismus , Darmstadt 1981, p. IX.
  3. ↑ This opinion is, for example, John M. Dillon: Eudoros and the beginnings of Middle Platonism . In: Clemens Zintzen (Ed.): Der Mittelplatonismus , Darmstadt 1981, pp. 3–32, here: 3–5, 27. Cf. Marco Zambon: Porphyre et le moyen-platonisme , Paris 2002, p. 24 and note. 5.
  4. ^ Willy Theiler: The preparation of Neo-Platonism , 2nd edition, Berlin 1964, pp. 1, 37-40.
  5. ↑ George F. Karamanolis: Plato and Aristotle in Agreement? , Oxford 2006, p. 27; Marco Zambon: Middle Platonism . In: Mary Louise Gill, Pierre Pellegrin (ed.): A Companion to Ancient Philosophy , Malden 2006, pp. 561-576, here: 561f.
  6. ^ Pierluigi Donini: Commentary and Tradition. Aristotelianism, Platonism, and Post-Hellenic Philosophy , Berlin 2011, pp. 283-296, here: 283. Marco Zambon also expressed himself in this sense: Middle Platonism . In: Mary Louise Gill, Pierre Pellegrin (ed.): A Companion to Ancient Philosophy , Malden 2006, pp. 561-576, here: 562. See Marco Zambon: Porphyre et le moyen-platonisme , Paris 2002, p. 25 -27, 339.
  7. ^ Sources on this in Heinrich Dörrie, Matthias Baltes: Der Platonismus in der Antike , Vol. 3, Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatt 1993, pp. 2–9 (commentary, pp. 121–140).
  8. ↑ John M. Dillon: Eudorus and the beginnings of Middle Platonism . In: Clemens Zintzen (Ed.): Der Mittelplatonismus , Darmstadt 1981, pp. 3–32, here: 3–5, 27. Cf. Carlos Lévy: Cicéron et le moyen platonisme: leproblemème du souverain bien selon Platon . In: Revue des Études Latines 68, 1990, pp. 50–65, here: 51.
  9. ↑ On Apuleius as a Middle Platonist see Stephen Gersh: Middle Platonism and Neoplatonism. The Latin Tradition , Vol. 1, Notre Dame (Indiana) 1986, pp. 215-328.
  10. ^ Evidence from Matthias Baltes: Middle Platonism . In: Der neue Pauly , Vol. 8, Stuttgart 2000, Col. 294-300, here: 294.
  11. ↑ Henny Fiskå Hägg: Clement of Alexandria and the Beginnings of Christian Apophaticism , Oxford 2006, pp. 78-80; Marco Zambon: Middle Platonism . In: Mary Louise Gill, Pierre Pellegrin (ed.): A Companion to Ancient Philosophy , Malden 2006, pp. 561–576, here: 564f.
  12. ↑ Heinrich Dörrie, Matthias Baltes: The Platonism in antiquity , Vol. 7, Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatt 2008, pp. 546, 580f.
  13. ^ Sources on this in Heinrich Dörrie, Matthias Baltes: Der Platonismus in der Antike , Vol. 4, Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatt 1996, pp. 118–123 (Commentary, pp. 387–399).
  14. ↑ Heinrich Dörrie, Matthias Baltes: The Platonism in antike , Vol. 7, Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatt 2008, pp. 472-483, 580.
  15. ^ Heinrich Dörrie, Matthias Baltes: The Platonism in the Antike , Vol. 4, Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatt 1996, pp. 391–398 and Vol. 5, Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatt 1998, pp. 240–246, 251–259, 264 -270; Wolfgang L. Gombocz: The philosophy of the end of antiquity and the early Middle Ages , Munich 1997, p. 21f .; Audrey NM Rich: The Platonic Ideas as the Thoughts of God . In: Clemens Zintzen (Ed.): Der Mittelplatonismus , Darmstadt 1981, pp. 200-211.
  16. ↑ Wolfgang L. Gombocz: The philosophy of the outgoing antiquity and the early Middle Ages , Munich 1997, p. 22f.
  17. ↑ See also Matthias Baltes: Platonism and the wisdom of the barbarians . In: John J. Cleary (Ed.): Traditions of Platonism , Aldershot 1999, pp. 115-138.
  18. ^ Henny Fiskå Hägg: Clement of Alexandria and the Beginnings of Christian Apophaticism , Oxford 2006, pp. 76f., 80.
  19. ^ Paul Moraux : Aristotelianism among the Greeks , Volume 2, Berlin 1984, pp. 564-582; George F. Karamanolis: Plato and Aristotle in Agreement? , Oxford 2006, pp. 28f .; Marco Zambon: Middle Platonism . In: Mary Louise Gill, Pierre Pellegrin (eds.): A Companion to Ancient Philosophy , Malden 2006, pp. 561-576, here: 568.
  20. ^ Paul Moraux: Aristotelianism among the Greeks , Volume 2, Berlin 1984, pp. 528-563.
  21. ↑ Wolfgang L. Gombocz: The philosophy of the outgoing antiquity and the early Middle Ages , Munich 1997, p. 24f. On the Middle Platonic reception of Aristotle, see John Whittaker: Platonic Philosophy in the Early Centuries of the Empire . In: Rise and Decline of the Roman World (ANRW), Vol. II 36.1, Berlin 1987, pp. 81–123, here: 110–114.
  22. ↑ For details, see George Boys-Stones: 'Middle' Platonists on Fate and Human Autonomy . In: Robert W. Sharples, Richard Sorabji (eds.): Greek and Roman Philosophy 100 BC - 200 AD , Volume 2, London 2007, pp. 431-447.
  23. ↑ Werner Deuse provides information on the different views of the Middle Platonists on the theory of the soul, in particular on the relationship between the nous and the rational soul and on the role of the irrational part of the soul : Investigations on the Middle Platonic and Neo-Platonic Souls , Wiesbaden 1983, pp. 7–112.
  24. ↑ Plato, Theaetetus 176ab.
  25. ↑ John M. Dillon: The Development of Middle Platonism . In: Theo Kobusch, Burkhard Mojsisch (Hrsg.): Platon in der Abendländischen Geistesgeschichte , Darmstadt 1997, p. 27; Marco Zambon: Middle Platonism . In: Mary Louise Gill, Pierre Pellegrin (eds.): A Companion to Ancient Philosophy , Malden 2006, pp. 561–576, here: 569; Carlos Lévy: Cicéron et le moyen platonisme: the problem of your sovereignty bien selon Plato . In: Revue des Études Latines 68, 1990, pp. 50–65.
  26. ^ John M. Dillon, The Middle Platonists , 2nd Edition, Ithaca (NY) 1996, p. 44.
  27. ↑ Robert M. Berchman: From Philo to Origen examines the Jewish and Christian reception of Middle Platonism . Middle Platonism in Transition , Chico 1984. Cf. Carl Andresen : Justin and the middle Platonism . In: Clemens Zintzen (Ed.): Der Mittelplatonismus , Darmstadt 1981, pp. 319–368; Jan Hendrik Waszink: Comments on the influence of Platonism in early Christianity . In: Clemens Zintzen (Ed.): Der Mittelplatonismus , Darmstadt 1981, pp. 413–448.
  28. ^ John Whittaker: Platonic Philosophy in the Early Centuries of the Empire . In: Rise and Decline of the Roman World (ANRW), Vol. II 36.1, Berlin 1987, pp. 81–123, here: 121–123.
  29. ↑ Matthias Baltes: Platonism and the wisdom of the barbarians . In: John J. Cleary (Ed.): Traditions of Platonism , Aldershot 1999, pp. 115-138, here: 133f.