Middle Platonism

Middle Platonismis the modern name given to a stage in the development ofPlatonic philosophy,lasting from about 90 BC – whenAntiochus of Ascalonrejected thescepticismof thenew Academy– until the development ofneoplatonismunderPlotinusin the 3rd century. Middle Platonism absorbed many doctrines from the rivalPeripateticandStoicschools. The pre-eminent philosopher in this period,Plutarch(c. 45–120), defended thefreedom of the willand theimmortality of the soul.He sought to show that God, in creating the world, had transformed matter, as the receptacle ofevil,into thedivine soulof the world, where it continued to operate as the source of all evil. God is atranscendentbeing, who operates through divine intermediaries, which are the gods anddaemonsof popular religion.Numenius of Apamea(c. 160) combined Platonism withneopythagoreanismand other eastern philosophies, in a move which would prefigure the development of neoplatonism.

History

Antiochus of Ascalon(c. 125–68 BC), was the pupil ofPhilo of Larissa,and the teacher ofCicero.Through his influence, Platonism made the transition from Academic skepticism toEclecticism.Whereas Philo had still adhered to the doctrine that there is nothing absolutely certain, Antiochus returned to a pronounceddogmatism.Among other objections to Academic scepticism was the consideration that without firm convictions no rational content of life is possible.He pointed out that it is a contradiction to assert thatnothing can be assertedor to prove that nothing can be proved; that we cannot speak of false ideas and at the same time deny the distinction between false and true.He expounded the Academic,Peripatetic,andStoicsystems in such a way as to show that these three schools deviate from one another only in minor points.He himself was chiefly interested in ethics, in which he tried to find a middle way betweenZeno,Aristotle,andPlato.For instance, he said thatvirtuesuffices for happiness, but for the highest grade of happiness bodily and external goods are necessary as well.

This eclectic tendency was favoured by the lack of dogmatic works by Plato.Middle Platonism was promoted by the necessity of considering the main theories of the post-Platonic schools of philosophy, such as the Aristotelian logic and the Stoic psychology and ethics (theory of goods and emotions).On the one hand the middle Platonists were engaged like the later Peripatetics in scholarly activities such as the exposition of Plato's doctrines and the explanation of his dialogues; on the other hand they attempted to develop the Platonic theories systematically. In so far as it was subject in this to the influence ofneopythagoreanism,it was of considerable importance in preparing the way forneoplatonism.

Plutarch

The most important of the middle Platonists wasPlutarch(45–120), who also won fame as a historian. Although he was a Platonist, he was open to the influence of the Peripatetics, and even, in some details, to the Stoics, despite his polemics against their principles; he absolutely rejected onlyEpicureanism.In opposition to Stoic materialism and Epicurean "atheism," he cherished a pure idea of God that was more in accordance with Plato.Nevertheless, he adopted a second principle in order to explain the constitution of the physical world.This principle he sought not in any indeterminate matter, but in the evilworld-soulwhich had from the beginning been bound up with matter, but in the creation was filled with reason and arranged by it.Thus it was transformed into the divine soul of the world, but continued to operate as the source of all evil.He elevated God above the finite world, but he believed that God comes to our aid by directrevelations;this enabled Plutarch to justify popular belief inprophecy.The gods of popular religion are merely different names for one and the same divine Being and the powers that serve them.Daemonswere for him agents of God's influence on the world.Plutarch defended freedom of the will and the immortality of thesoul.Platonic-Peripatetic ethics were upheld by Plutarch against the opposing theories of the Stoics and Epicureans.

Among later middle Platonists there wereTheon of Smyrna,who wrote a mathematical introduction to Plato, andGaius(2nd century) who was a teacher of Platonist philosophy.His pupil,Albinus,wrote an account of his lectures, of which we possess the introduction.Around the same time,Alcinouswrote an extant treatise on Platonism, in which he postulated three principles: the first God, theideas,which are regarded as thoughts of this "first God", and matter.Apuleius(c. 125), a popular writer, expounded an eclectic Platonism in his booksOn the God of SocratesandOn Plato and his Doctrine,which are written inLatin.Maximus of Tyre(c. 180), like Plutarch, endeavoured to bridge the gulf between a transcendent God and matter by the assumption of numerous daemons as intermediaries.Atticus(c. 175) opposed the eclecticism which had invaded the school and contested the theories of Aristotle as an aberration from Plato. He was an uncompromising supporter of Plato and regarded the theory of immortality as the basis of his whole system. Nevertheless, in this theology he approached more closely to the Stoic idea of immanence.

Numenius of Apamea(c. 160) combined bothneopythagoreanismand Platonism.He exhibited a far-going syncretism. Like Plutarch he supposed that an evil soul was combined with matter.From this the mortal part of the human soul is derived, which he described as the second irrational soul.Because of its guilt the soul had to descend from its bodiless life into the body, and after its departure from the body, if it does not need to undergo further incarnation, it becomes indistinguishably united with God.A gift of God is the wisdom which is the highest good, and this gift is only granted to those who devote themselves to the ultimate good to the exclusion of all other thoughts.

See also

• Allegorical interpretations of Plato

Bibliography

• Zeller, Eduard(1931),Outlines of the History of Greek Philosophy(13th ed.).

Further reading

• Brittain, Charles. 2001.Philo of Larissa: The Last of the Academic Sceptics.Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press.
• Bonazzi, Mauro. 2012.Antiochus and Platonism.InThe Philosophy of Antiochus.Edited by David N. Sedley, 307–333. Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press.
• Catana, Leo. 2013. "The Origin of the Division between Middle Platonism and Neoplatonism."Apeiron: A Journal for Ancient Philosophy and Science46.2: 166–200.
• Centrone, Bruno. 2000. "Platonism and Pythagoreanism in the Early Empire." InThe Cambridge History of Greek and Roman Political Thought.Edited by Christopher Rowe and Malcolm Schofield, 559–584. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Univ. Press.
• Chiaradonna, Riccardo. 2009. "Galen and Middle Platonism." InGalen and the World of Knowledge.Edited byChristopher J. Gill,Tim Whitmarsh, and John Wilkins, 243–260. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Univ. Press.
• Dillon, John. 1996.The Middle Platonists: 80 B.C. to A.D. 220.Rev. ed. London: Duckworth.
• Jones, Roger M. 1980.The Platonism of Plutarch and Selected Papers.2d ed. New York: Garland.
• Kalligas, Paul. 2004. "Platonism in Athens During the First Two Centuries AD: An Overview."Rhizai2:37–56.
• Mansfeld, Jaap. 1988. "Compatible Alternatives: Middle Platonist Theology and the Xenophanes Reception." InKnowledge of God in the Graeco-Roman World.Edited by Robert van den Broek, Tjitze Baarda, andJaap Mansfeld,92–117. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill.
• Opsomer, Jan. 1998.In Search of the Truth: Academic Tendencies in Middle Platonism.Brussels: Koninklijke Academie voor Wetenschappen, Letteren en Schone Kunsten.
• Zambon, Marco. 2006. "Middle Platonism." InA Companion to Ancient Philosophy.Edited by Mary Louise Gill and Pierre Pellegrin, 561–576. Oxford: Blackwell.

External links

• Middle Platonism in Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy