Ptolemy (Platonist)

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Ptolemy ( Greek  Πτολεμαῖος ) was an ancient Greek philosopher ( Platonist ). His lifetime is unknown, probably it falls in the 3rd century.

The Neo-Platonist Proclus (5th century) mentions in his commentary on Plato's dialogue Timaeus a Platonist named Ptolemy, who responded to the question of who is the fourth participant in this dialogue, not named. The Neo-Platonist Iamblichus gives information about the Aristotelian influenced theory of the soul of Ptolemy . He reports that Ptolemy was one of those Platonists who believed that the soul is always in a body, even if it is not incarnated on earth. Either they stay in the "firm", "shell-like" body or in a "finer" one.

Heinrich Dörrie is of the opinion that Ptolemy belongs to the period of late Middle Platonism . Matthias Baltes and Harold Tarrant also consider him a Middle Platonist .

The classical philologist Albrecht Dihle identified this Platonist with an author of the same name, who wrote a text about the life of Aristotle and the arrangement of his works. This writing, which was consulted by neo-Platonists from late antiquity such as the Aristotle commentator Elias (6th century), has only survived in an Arabic version; Ptolemy al-Ġarīb ("Ptolemy the Stranger" or "Ptolemy the Unknown") is named as the author from the 10th century . The hypothetical equation of this author with the Platonist mentioned in Iamblichus and Proklos is no longer considered plausible in recent research; rather, the view has prevailed that Ptolemy al-Ġarīb was a 4th century Peripatetic . Earlier attempts to identify him with other well-known namesakes have failed.

literature

  • Albrecht Dihle : The Platonist Ptolemaios . In: Hermes . Volume 85, 1957, pp. 314-325 (obsolete with regard to equating the Platonic Ptolemy with al-Ġarīb )
  • Stéphane Toulouse: Ptolémée le Platonicien . In: Richard Goulet (ed.): Dictionnaire des philosophes antiques. Volume 5, part 2 (= V b), CNRS Éditions, Paris 2012, ISBN 978-2-271-07399-0 , pp. 1739-1743

Remarks

  1. ^ Proklos, In Platonis Timaeum I, p. 20 lines 7–9 Diehl.
  2. ↑ Iamblichos in Johannes Stobaios 1,378 Wachsmuth-Hense; Greek text and translation by Heinrich Dörrie, Matthias Baltes: Platonism in antiquity. Vol. 1, Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatt 1987, p. 132 f. (Comment on p. 378 f.).
  3. ^ Heinrich Dörrie, Matthias Baltes: Platonism in antiquity. Vol. 1, Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatt 1987, p. 378.
  4. ^ Heinrich Dörrie, Matthias Baltes: Platonism in antiquity. Vol. 3, Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatt 1993, p. 180.
  5. ↑ Harold Tarrant: Proclus, Commentary on Plato's Timaeus. Vol. 1, Cambridge 2007, p. 114, note 113.
  6. ^ Ingemar Düring : Ptolemy's Vita Aristotelis Rediscovered . In: Robert B. Palmer, Robert Hamerton-Kelly (Eds.): Philomathes. Studies and Essays in the Humanities in Memory of Philip Merlan. The Hague 1971, pp. 264-269. See the partly outdated, older description by Ingemar Düring: Aristotle in the Ancient Biographical Tradition. Göteborg 1957, pp. 208-212, 469-475.
  7. ↑ Marian Plezia: De vita Aristotelis Ptolemaei . In: Jürgen Wiesner (Ed.): Aristoteles. Work and effect. Vol. 1, Berlin 1985, pp. 1-11; Hans B. Gottschalk: The earliest Aristotelian commentators . In: Richard Sorabji (Ed.): Aristotle Transformed. The Ancient Commentators and Their Influence , 2nd, revised edition, London 2016, pp. 61–88, here: 62 f. Note 5.
personal data
SURNAME Ptolemy
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Πτολεμαῖος (Greek)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION ancient Greek philosopher
DATE OF BIRTH 2nd century or 3rd century
DATE OF DEATH 3rd century or 4th century