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114-463: Antiochus of Ascalon (c. 125–68 BC), was the pupil of Philo of Larissa , and the teacher of Cicero . Through his influence, Platonism made the transition from Academic skepticism to Eclecticism . Whereas Philo had still adhered to the doctrine that there is nothing absolutely certain, Antiochus returned to a pronounced dogmatism . Among other objections to Academic scepticism was the consideration that without firm convictions no rational content of life

228-420: A "knowledge-imparting idea" (katalēptikḗ phantasía), which enables secure knowledge. This katalepsis – a Stoic technical term – is characterized by the fact that its correctness is unquestionable because no wrong idea is conceivable that could produce the same impression as the correct one, therefore, there can be no doubt as to the correctness of the insight into reality gained in this way. For Antiochus, as for

342-535: A bad part of the soul in the cosmos and continued to develop its effects to a limited extent. The natural badness of matter is not remedied by the change of its soul, but is limited; it only affects the area between the Moon and the Earth (imagined as the center of the world). This area is the only part of the cosmos in which, according to Plato's teaching, evil occurs. Atticus shares the idea with other Platonists in principle that

456-578: A camp of the Romans besieging Athens, or perhaps in Alexandria itself, he met Lucullus , a Roman officer who served under Sulla . Lucullus, who later achieved prominence as a politician and general in the wars against Mithridates , became his friend and patron. In 87 BC, Philo wrote a treatise in two books from his exile in Rome where he gave concessions on some important principles of skepticism, but did not renounce

570-458: A detailed impression of his positions. Most of the fragments come from Atticus' commentary on Plato's dialogue Timaeus ; the longest, which take up by far the most space in the critical edition, are taken from his treatise Against Those Who Want to Explain Plato's Teachings by Aristotle's . He also wrote a commentary on Plato's dialogue Phaedrus . Whether he also wrote a treatise on the soul (or on

684-415: A happy life (vita beata). Antiochus emphasizes that the development of the individual, which leads to the perfection of his human nature, takes place gradually, with the later building on the earlier. The stages of development are hierarchically ordered according to the teachings of Antiochus. Progress is not a replacement of the lower by the higher, but an addition of the higher to the lower. The course of

798-459: A human life leads from the initial instinctive striving for self-preservation, which is common to all living beings, to the perception and use of one's own abilities and abilities, a stage of development intended for humans and animals, but not for plants. Finally - in the best case - progress leads to self-knowledge with regard to what is specifically human, the realization of which is demanded by human nature. The possibility of such reflection on what

912-475: A literal, not metaphorical, interpretation of the Plato's doctrine of creation. Atticus' position represents a version of Platonism according to which deviation from the literal word of the master means irredeemable heretical opposition. His work was a polemic , possibly originating from his position as the first holder of the Platonic philosophy chair at Athens under Marcus Aurelius . Atticus insisted that Aristotle

1026-510: A malformed doctrine by combining Stoic ideas with together with Platonic-Aristotelian ones. Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff judged that Antiochus had "trimmed a doctrine that met the needs and feelings of the so-called educated, because it avoided all sharp dialectics and seemed to retain everything that was good and beautiful." Eduard Zeller also shared this assessment. Since the late 20th century, however, more positive assessments have prevailed. Jonathan Barnes considers Antiochus' return to

1140-520: A mark of distinction for the city. and Cicero frequently speaks of him in affectionate and respectful terms as the best and wisest of the Academics, and the most polished and acute philosopher of his age. When Antiochus' friend and patron Lucullus undertook a campaign to Armenia in the year 69 in the Third Mithridatic War , he accompanied him and was present at the battle of Tigranokerta against

1254-416: 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 evil world-soul which 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

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1368-466: A separate intelligible world, but only in the form of general concepts and the conclusions drawn from them, insofar as these exist in the mind. This unplatonic teaching of Antiochus greatly enhances the role of sensory perception compared to Platonism. The intellect, which evaluates and orders the impressions conveyed by the sense organs, is itself a sense in Antiochus' materialistic world view. The universal

1482-605: A trip to North Africa and on a campaign to Armenia. After the decline of the New Academy in the late 1st century BC, his school was the sole inheritor of the Platonic tradition in Athens, which began the period of philosophy known as Middle Platonism . Antiochus endeavoured to bring some doctrines of the Stoics and the Peripatetics into Platonism , and stated, in opposition to Philo, that

1596-546: A truth claim for their own principle. In addition, there is a contradiction in the fact that the skeptics on the one hand assume the actual existence of objectively true or false ideas and on the other hand deny that a distinction between true and false is possible. Furthermore, Antiochus claims that the skeptical attitude cannot be implemented in everyday life, since it leaves the skeptical philosopher with no criterion according to which he can make reasonable decisions and thus condemns him to inactivity. A further argument refers to

1710-652: Is a biography of him written by Philodemus in his History of the Academy , which survives in a fragmentary papyrus recovered from the Villa of the Papyri in Herculaneum . However, due to the poor state of preservation of the papyrus, a significant part of the relevant section is either lost or difficult to read. Some additional biographical information comes the Academica of Cicero , who

1824-424: Is a clear demarcation between Platonic and Aristotelian philosophy. He emphatically opposes attempts to construct a harmony between Plato and Aristotle and to interpret Plato's works with the help of Aristotelian teachings. He considered Aristotle's approaches to be wrong, and believed that Aristotle systematically created his philosophy as a counter-concept to Platonism. One accusation he directed against Aristotle

1938-418: Is derived by the mind exclusively from the sense impressions - it cannot be deduced otherwise - and has meaning only through its connection with them. Against the skeptics' assertion that nothing can be known with certainty, Antiochus raises the objection that such a fundamental doubt cannot - as Arcesilaus and Carneades had claimed - also refer to itself. Rather, the skeptics are forced, inconsistently, to make

2052-506: Is featureless, completely unformed and therefore suitable for receiving any form. Matter receives its diverse, constantly changing forms from the efficient cause. The efficient cause and matter belong together by nature, each of the two is contained in the other. Without matter there can be no efficient cause, as the efficient cause is unthinkable outside of matter, and matter needs the efficient cause that holds it together. Since active force and matter cannot exist independently of one another,

2166-445: Is in accordance with nature is placed in man by nature like a seed. It is then up to him to implement this system. As a rule, people strive for what is in accordance with nature and therefore valuable. If there are errors and ethical conflicts, this is due to the fact that the hierarchical order of goods is not being observed, and a lower value is being preferred over a higher one. Antiochus therefore rejects one-sidedness with regard to

2280-450: Is lost today, he followed closely the ethics of Antioch us. Although Cicero does not agree with Antiochus' criticism of skepticism, he paints a very positive picture of his personality. He praises his exceptional talent and education, his intelligence, his gentle, peaceful character and the persuasiveness of his demeanor. His nickname "the swan" (kýknos), which the late antique scholar Stephanos of Byzantium has handed down, probably referred to

2394-542: Is mentioned in a brief entry from the year 176. Since 176 was the year in which Emperor Marcus Aurelius established four philosophical chairs in Athens, the date may indicate a connection with this edict; Atticus may have been the first to hold the chair of Platonic philosophy. Among his students was Harpocration of Argos . Much that is known of him comes from the fragments of his book preserved in Eusebius ' Preparatio Evangelica . However, some of them are extensive and give

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2508-415: Is no concrete evidence of a direct influence. In modern research, it is often noted by scholars that Atticus' confrontation with Aristotelianism was characterized by his polemical intention, and that he often painted a superficial and distorted picture of Aristotelian philosophy. Critics also observe that Atticus did not do justice to his own concern to present the authentic philosophy of Plato, because he

2622-458: Is possible. He pointed out that it is a contradiction to assert that nothing can be asserted or 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 , and Stoic systems in such a way as to show that these three schools deviate from one another only in minor points. He himself

2736-475: Is relatively compatible with the Christian one and his interpretation of Plato's account of creation meets the Christian doctrine of creation. Christian authors who mention or quote him include Eusebius of Caesarea, Theodoret , John Philoponus , and Aeneas of Gaza . The late antique theologian Arius , after whom Arianism is named, also shows parallels in his theological thinking to the ideas of Atticus, but there

2850-588: Is something in accordance with nature that is worth striving for its own sake and even contributes to the attainment of the highest goal, the perfect natural life. Antiochus even speaks of bodily "virtues" in the sense of desirable states of perfection of the body. By this he not only means that the individual organs are healthy and fulfill their tasks without problems, He considered virtue to include not only positive character traits, but generally desired, natural qualities, such as natural posture and graceful gait. In addition, external goods such as friends, relatives and

2964-452: Is that he violated the rules of nature observation, because he disregarded the principle that the observer of nature does not have to establish laws, but should investigate the laws given by nature . The Aristotelian theory of the celestial bodies contradicts the observable phenomena and thus does not fulfill the task of explaining the phenomena. Atticus regards the Demiurge , the creator of

3078-533: The New Academy of Carneades , who had been the scholarch of the academy until 137/136. Philo, who only joined the academy after Carneades' health-related resignation, represented a milder version of skepticism. Skepticism was coupled with a sharp rejection of the Stoic doctrine of katalepsis . Antiochus tended to abandon the core theses of skepticism, which seemed untenable to him. In doing so, he came into conflict with

3192-491: The Pyrrhonist skeptic Sextus Empiricus , who also transmits an Antiochus fragment quoted verbatim. It is unclear to what extent Sextus' further doxographical explanations on epistemology are based on a lost writing by Antiochus. Augustine also commented on Antiochus' philosophy, based on his reading of Varro's writings About Philosophy, which have also since been lost. All of the surviving details of Antiochus' teaching relate to

3306-481: The mind could distinguish true from false, following the Stoic doctrine of katalepsis . In doing so, he claimed to be reviving the doctrines of the Old Academy . Despite his emphasis on the Platonic tradition, his ideas were often more Stoic than Platonist; in particular, he gave up the Platonic philosophy of transcendence in favor of a materialistic doctrine of nature. The primary surviving account of Antiochus' life

3420-617: The 3rd century the Platonist Longinus was influenced by the metaphysics of Atticus. In the Neoplatonic school which Plotinus founded in Rome in the 3rd century, Atticus's comments on Plato were part of the curriculum. Plotinus' pupil Porphyry and his pupil and adversary Iamblichus made extensive use of the Timaeus commentary. Also, other Neoplatonists like Proclus, Syrianus , Damascius and Simplicius commented - often critically - on

3534-423: The 3rd century to show a harmony between Plato and Aristotle. Atticus' opinion that the ideas were outside of the nous and his idea of the demiurge were also wrong from the Neoplatonic point of view. His doctrine of the chronological origin of the world and of a time before the beginning of the world seemed to them absurd. Atticus also received a great deal of attention from Christians, since his conception of God

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3648-560: The Gods." Another of his works, called Canonica , is quoted by Sextus Empiricus , and appears to have been a treatise on logic . Cicero knows the works of Antiochus and extracts from them ideas that he reproduces in three of his philosophical writings (De finibus, Lucullus, Academica posteriora). Although he names Antiochus as the originator of the body of thought, he never gives a specific written source. A number of attempts to attribute larger text passages in these and other works of Cicero and in

3762-414: The New Academy and Philo was complete; he had disputed both the soundness of Philo's philosophical approach and the historical accuracy of his understanding of the history of philosophy. Later, probably soon after the end of the conflict there, Antiochus returned to Athens, which was controlled by the Romans from March 86 onward, and resumed his teaching. Since the skeptical " New Academy " had not survived

3876-475: The Platonic doctrine that virtue alone is sufficient to attain eudaimonia , against the view of the Aristotelians. The Aristotelian doctrine states that physical and external goods are also required for eudaimonia. Thus it is necessary that the virtuous man who strives for eudaimonia be additionally favored by favorable external circumstances, otherwise eudaimonia is beyond his reach. Atticus polemicizes against

3990-529: The Stoa; he censured the introduction of numerous "foreign" (incompatible with Platonism) elements. The skeptic Sextus Empiricus , a representative of Pyrrhonic skepticism, held Antiochus for a Stoic who brought Stoic philosophy to the academy and taught it there. Augustine was particularly harsh when he referred to the rumors that Antiochus was motivated more by lust for glory than love of truth, who accomplished nothing of substance and polluted Platonism with stoic evil;

4104-434: The Stoic idea of immanence. Numenius of Apamea (c. 160) combined both neopythagoreanism and 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

4218-450: The Stoics adopted it from the academy. However, the concept of nature underwent a change of meaning in the Stoa. For the Stoics, human reason was regarded as a manifestation of the divine logos directing the cosmos from within; human nature was significant only insofar as it was an expression of the general nature of the cosmos. Therefore, in the Stoic system of values, only the spiritual goods,

4332-402: The Stoics of having distanced themselves from nature by disregarding physical goods (such as health, strength and beauty). Since man consists of body and soul, one cannot simply give up the body. Rather, human nature should be brought to perfection in every respect, including on the physical level. Therefore, physical goods should not be denied any intrinsic value. In the physical realm, too, there

4446-464: The Stoics, Antiochus holds matter to be infinitely divisible, contradicting the opinion of the Atomists and Epicureans. He assumes two first principles of all reality, an efficient cause and the matter that presents itself to and is fashioned by the force. According to Stoic terminology, Antiochus also called the efficient cause "quality" (Greek poiótēs, Latin qualitas). Theoretically, the primordial matter

4560-433: The Stoics, this is the criterion of truth . In his argument with Philo, he sees this criterion as an indispensable prerequisite for a meaningful distinction between the true and the false. Unlike the Stoics, however, Antiochus only allows general concepts to be true, while the Stoics also considered individual sense perceptions to be true. Antiochus distinguishes between the sensible, which is subject to constant change, and

4674-474: The academy and the establishment of his own school, which he named the " Old Academy " as he claimed it was closer to original doctrines of Platonism that he believed had been betrayed by the skeptics of the New Academy under Philo. His students at this new institution included the Roman politicians Varro and Cicero . Antiochus was also the friend of the Roman politician and general Lucullus , whom he accompanied on

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4788-521: The academy, or whether, like many other philosophers of the time, he was an academic from the start and only attended Stoic courses on the side. Under the direction of Philo, who was scholarch from 110/109 to 88, the academy adhered to Academic skepticism , which had been the predominant form of Platonism since it was introduced by Arcesilaus in approximately 265 BCE, a period called the Middle Academy . This skepticism became even more strict under

4902-484: The academy. He studied under Mnesarchus , who had recently taken charge of the Stoa Poikile after the death of its previous scholarch Panaetius . The contact to the Stoa was probably mediated by the Stoic philosopher Sosus, who also came from Ascalon, and whom Antiochus would go on to name the title of one of his later works after. It is unclear whether Antiochus initially belonged to the Stoics and only later switched to

5016-517: The act of creation. He believes that the timing of the act of creation was not chosen arbitrarily, but that the Creator observed the changes in chaos until it reached a state suitable for the creation of the world. With his doctrine of creation, Atticus also combats the Aristotelian view that everything that has come into being must inevitably perish. He assumes a beginning of the world, but not an end of

5130-409: The archetype itself as a force involved in the creation of the world; for him it has the function of a demiurge's plan for the world, and does not belong to the realm of the eternal and ungenerated. Despite this relatively low classification of the world of forms for a Platonist, Atticus sees in it more than just the means to the end of creating the cosmos; it has its own intrinsic value. According to

5244-406: The bearer of the nous. In addition, he also accepts an unreasoning, ephemeral life principle (álogos zōḗ). He identifies this principle with the mortal aspects of the soul in the Timaeus, which are the source of passionate desire. From his point of view, this irrational, unreasoning part is not a real part of the soul, but only a temporary addition that the soul receives for the duration of its stay in

5358-469: 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. Antiochus of Ascalon Antiochus of Ascalon ( / æ n ˈ t aɪ ə k ə s / ; Ancient Greek : Άντίοχος ὁ Ἀσκαλώνιος ; c.  135/130  – c.  68 BC )

5472-414: The body, which comes from the "malicious" soul of matter and returns to it at man's death. In the embryo, Atticus apparently assumes animation and formation solely through the irrational life-principle; the embryo is not yet a human being for him, but only becomes such later, when the rational soul comes in from the outside. In Ethics, Atticus's rejection of Aristotelianism is particularly acute. He defends

5586-406: The case of intellectual virtues, Antiochus distinguishes between those that are bestowed by nature and “arise of their own accord”, such as quick comprehension and memory, and “voluntary”, which are due to the activity of reason. The voluntary virtues—the cardinal virtues of prudence , sophrosyne , courage , and justice —are acquired after one has chosen them. Their acquisition is at all times in

5700-442: The cause of this movement for Atticus, for a perfect or good soul could only produce order. From this Atticus concludes that the soul of the primordial matter must itself be disordered and therefore "bad" (kakḗ). For him, together with the matter it enlivens, the soul is the cause of badness in the world. Atticus uses the technical term "malicious soul" (kakergétis psychḗ) for this, which is characteristic of his teaching. Only through

5814-424: The claim to continue to be a skeptic in the tradition of Carneades, and stuck to the idea of a unified teaching tradition at the academy since it was founded. When Antiochus received these Roman books in Alexandria in the winter of 87/86, he reacted with indignation and wrote a response entitled Sosus , which was named for the Stoic philosopher Sosus of Ascalon. With the publication of Sosus , Antiochus' break with

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5928-410: The connection between efficient cause and matter also means that the soul itself as material, because the existence of matter determines that of efficient cause. Antiochus wrote several works, none of which have survived. A clear presentation of the material that met the needs of the audience was important to Antiochus. His criticism of an artificial philosophical jargon that can only be understood with

6042-517: The core of the ideas of Neoplatonism in Late Antiquity . He exerted a large degree of influence on later Neoplatonists, most of whom disputed his philosophical ideas, as well as influencing many Christian philosophers , who often saw his ideas as more compatible with theirs . Very little is known about the life of Atticus. In the Chronicle of Eusebius of Caesarea , Atticus' philosophical activity

6156-443: The cosmos must be eternal for philosophical reasons and therefore Plato's statements about creation are to be understood metaphorically. According to the metaphorical interpretation, Plato does not mean an act of creation at a specific point in time, but only wants to express a timeless dependency of the eternally existing world on the equally eternal deity. Atticus, on the other hand, believes that, according to Plato's teaching, there

6270-435: The demiurge's act of creation did the bad soul of matter receive a divine addition. In this way it received a share in both the world of ideas and in the nous, and accepted reason. Since then, the material world has been making orderly movements. So the originally evil soul of matter became the good (although not entirely perfect) world soul . However, the "malicious soul" was not completely transformed, but continued to exist as

6384-416: The dialogue is named, apparently appeared as an important participant in the conversation. Around 78 BC Antiochus wrote a treatise in which he presented his view that there is agreement between the Stoa and the Peripatetics , the school of Aristotle, with regard to the doctrinal content and the differences can be reduced to questions of formulation. In the last year of his life, he wrote a treatise entitled "On

6498-493: The empirical success that can be achieved by acting on the basis of a correct, knowledge-providing idea; this success presupposes a connection between the idea and reality, which is not given in the case of a deceptive idea. For Antiochus, the highest good and the purpose (telos) of life is to "live according to nature". As Antiochus notes, historically correctly, this concept was taught by the Old Academy Platonists, and

6612-453: The epoch of Middle Platonism , of which he was one of the most notable representatives. Atticus was vehemently anti- Peripatetic . From the writings of Atticus, which have only been handed down in fragmentary form, it can be seen that he was conservative and wanted to purge what he saw as the original teachings of Plato from the intrusion of elements of Aristotelianism . As an interpreter of Plato, Atticus thought philologically and advocated

6726-409: The fatherland, even wealth, honor and power, are valuable and worth striving for. However, external goods, in contrast to mental and physical goods, are not absolutely necessary for a perfect life according to human nature. However, this does not devalue and render superfluous the equally legitimate striving for physical and external goods. Virtue (of character) is not the only good thing in people. In

6840-479: The featureless primordial matter does not really exist for Antiochus; the two original principles can only be separated in the act of thinking, not in reality. Since nothing exists apart from the two principles and everything that exists is necessarily spatial, there is no being independent of physical existence for Antiochus, in contradiction of Plato's theory of forms , which considered ideas as independent, transcendent archetypes of sense objects. The inseparability of

6954-422: 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

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7068-455: The help of an interpreter shows that he placed great value on general understanding. According to Cicero, when Antiochus was still a student of Philo, he wrote treatises in which he represented skepticism "extremely astutely". Cicero mentions an epistemological treatise called Sosus , which was written around 86 BC, which was Antiochus' reply to the Roman books of Philo. The stoic Sosos, after whom

7182-416: The hierarchical character of the world order. Atticus emphatically defended the Platonic doctrine of the immortality of the soul against Aristotle. He accuses Aristotle of advocating a view of the soul which amounts to denying not only the activities of the soul but also its substance and character, arguing that by separating it from the intellect (nous); Aristotle makes the soul superfluous. For Atticus,

7296-424: The highly debated question of whether or not the account of the creation of the world in Plato's Timaeus is to be understood in the sense of a temporal beginning of the world, Atticus advocates a temporal beginning. In accordance with his general philological way of thinking, he prefers a literal understanding of the text. With this interpretation he turns against the position of numerous Platonists, according to whom

7410-487: The intellectual heir of all three traditions and makes appeals to the "ancients"; among his authorities are not only the scholars of the older academy, but also Aristotle. However, the skepticism introduced by Arcesilaus turned away from this consensus based in truth, and the Peripatetic school had also lost their way after Aristotle in their excessive focus on natural philosophy; only the Stoics had been able to preserve any of

7524-401: The intelligible, which is always unchanging. According to his teaching, since sense data only concern changeable things, they cannot by themselves provide access to truth, but only produce opinions; the knowledge of truth is an achievement of the intellect in dealing with the concepts, which have the property of remaining and persevering. This distinction is reminiscent of Plato's division between

7638-552: The introduction. Around the same time, Alcinous wrote an extant treatise on Platonism, in which he postulated three principles: the first God, the ideas , which are regarded as thoughts of this "first God", and matter. Apuleius (c. 125), a popular writer, expounded an eclectic Platonism in his books On the God of Socrates and On Plato and his Doctrine , which are written in Latin . Maximus of Tyre (c. 180), like Plutarch, endeavoured to bridge

7752-572: The later Roman Empire this would be referred to as the "fifth academy", with Philo being understood as the founder of a "fourth academy". In 88 BC, the political turmoil in Athens that would ultimately result from the First Mithridatic War caused many members of Athens' upper class, including Philo and many of his students, to flee to Rome. Antiochus, however, who was no longer a member of that school by this point, did not follow them and appears to have travelled to Alexandria instead. Either in

7866-443: 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

7980-478: The materialistic aspect of Antiochus' teaching could only meet with the sharpest opposition in Christian circles. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, many scholars emphasized the unplatonic aspects of Antiochus' teaching. His perceived eclecticism , or mixing of different philosophical traditions, which they believed took place without understanding the peculiarities of the sometimes incompatible teachings, aroused offense. Theodor Mommsen thought that Antiochus had

8094-415: The most important branch of philosophy, as it answered the question of how to live in the right way. In second place he considered logic, especially epistemology, as a means of grasping truths on these matters. He classifies Physics, or Natural philosophy, as the least important. What he criticizes about it is that it deals with obscure, difficult questions, the clarification of which is far less important than

8208-622: The original authentic teachings of Platonism, the apparent differences had simply been attempts to correct some details. In epistemology, the Stoics are in fact the defenders of Platonism against Plato's own apostate school, the skeptics of the New Academy. In ethics, however, Antiochus says the Stoics stole the teachings of the Old Academy and covered it up by introducing deviant, inappropriate terminology. Like most Ancient Greek philosophers, Antiochus divided philosophy into three branches: Logic, Physics, and Ethics. Of these, he considered ethics to be

8322-411: The past to be understandable, since it drew attention to the achievements of important predecessors at a time when the schools of philosophy were in decline. Woldemar Görler also came to a relatively favorable assessment; in his view, Antiochus' philosophy is "not a vague compromise" but "self-contained." The founder of the "Old Academy" did not reinterpret Plato's teachings in the Stoic sense and blurred

8436-476: The politician Marcus Pupius Piso . Atticus shared a household with Antiochus. The poet and Epicurean philosopher Philodemus of Gadara , who wrote the surviving biography of him, was also one of Antiochus' friends. Ambassadorial trips by Antiochus to Rome and "to the governors in the provinces" reported by Philodemus testify to the philosopher's prestige at this time, when he was at the height of his fame, and Strabo , in describing Ascalon, mentions his birth there as

8550-462: The power of the individual. They alone are necessary for the attainment of happiness, and they are also sufficient prerequisites for it. Therefore, a happy life is possible at any time by one's own decision; physical and external obstacles and evils cannot prevent it. It is true that the spiritual goods, namely the virtues, have priority and that a virtuous character alone is sufficient to achieve eudaimonia (happiness). However, Antiochus does not share

8664-451: The prevailing current in the academy, which at the time was already moderate and willing to compromise, but was still committed to the tradition of Carneades. After some time, this led to him leaving the academy and founding his own school in Athens. In an attempt to connect his school with Platonism before the introduction of skepticism, he called his school the Old Academy , which during

8778-456: The primordial matter was already in motion before the creation of the world, the question arises as to the cause of this movement. Atticus, who traces every movement back to a soul as its originator, assigns matter its own soul. He thus regards matter as animated ( hylozoism ). Since the movement of pre-cosmic matter was chaotic according to the Timaeus , no naturally perfect soul can be considered as

8892-537: The prominent Middle Platonist and Neopythagorean Numenius . Numenius, like the later Neoplatonists Plotinus and Proclus , had understood the Demiurge as a separate entity, one subordinate to "The Good". According to the common view of the Middle Platonists, the Demiurge creates the world by looking at the archetypes (ideas) of things. Atticus shares this view but, unlike most Middle Platonists, does not assume that

9006-432: The question of how best to live. In epistemology, Antiochus attacks the position of the skeptics, according to which all statements - especially all philosophical teachings - are only opinions, the correctness of which can at best be made plausible, but never conclusively proven. Antiochus believed that there is knowledge whose absolute reliability follows from the fact that the possibility of error can be logically excluded,

9120-412: The question of the best way of life. The ideal is neither the active life of non-philosophers (Greek bíos praktikós, Latin vita activa) geared towards external success, nor the tranquil, withdrawn life of some philosophers (bíos theōrētikós, vita contemplativa), but rather a combination of both forms of life. Antiochus' stoic background is very clearly noticeable in the natural sciences. In agreement with

9234-442: The radical view of those who deny that physical and external goods have any influence on the happiness of a wise man. Although he believes that the cardinal virtues are sufficient for a happy life, he sees physical and external goods as additional reinforcing factors that can increase happiness even further. This makes a perfectly happy life (Latin vita beatissima) possible, while the mental and spiritual virtues alone can only guarantee

9348-476: The rhetorical skills of the philosopher. Opponents of Antiochus insinuated that his motive for breaking with academic skepticism and founding his own school was lust for fame. Cicero and Plutarch mention such accusations. On the other hand, judgments in the Roman Empire were unfavorable. Plutarch indicated his disapproval only indirectly. The Middle Platonist Numenius of Apamea disliked Antiochus' proximity to

9462-502: The second, anti-skeptical phase. Although he did not take up many central doctrines of Platonism, Antiochus did not see himself as an innovator who presented his own insights, but as a faithful herald of the Platonic tradition. He saw the Stoics and the Peripatetics as being in fundamentally in agreement with Platonism; all three schools proclaimed the same truths, they just presented that truth differently. Antiochus presents himself as

9576-402: The serious differences between the schools out of dishonesty, but because metaphysical thinking was foreign to him; his syncretism is an expression of a tendency of the zeitgeist of the time. Thus, regardless of his position as head of a "Platonic" school, he had in fact become almost a pure Stoic. John Dillon also considers Antiochus' thinking to be coherent. According to Mauro Bonazzi, Antiochus

9690-741: The site where the academy had been seated since Plato's time, which was destroyed in the Sack of Athens, but at the Ptolemaium, a gymnasium in the city centre, while the academy grounds were no longer used for philosophical classes. Probably around 83 BC, the famous Roman scholar Varro stayed in Athens and studied under Antiochus. In 79, a circle of prominent Romans was gathered in the "Old Academy": Cicero, who spent six months with Antiochus, his younger brother Quintus Tullius Cicero , his cousin Lucius Tullius Cicero , his friend Titus Pomponius Atticus and

9804-561: The teachings of Atticus. However, they did not rely on his original writings, at least in part, but on the works of Porphyry and Iamblichus. Proclus dealt intensively with the views of Middle Platonism . He emphasized - probably ironically - Atticus' extraordinary diligence. Hierocles seems to have had Atticus in particular in mind when he attacked philosophers who portrayed Plato and Aristotle as representing opposing positions. Polemics against Aristotle were displeasing in Neoplatonic circles; already Plotinus teacher Ammonius Saccas had tried in

9918-450: The thesis that human happiness also depends on noble origins, physical beauty and prosperity, which he sees as low and misguided thinking. The impact of Atticus' philosophy was considerable and lasting. His teachings on cosmology and the soul influenced the physician Galen , who, however, rejected his view of the formation of the embryo . The prominent Peripatetic Alexander of Aphrodisias dealt with Atticus' criticism of Aristotle. In

10032-476: The things he has created. This idea of God is therefore closer to that of popular religion (and Christianity ) than the conventional theology of the Platonists. It is a counter-model to the teachings of Aristotle and Epicurus , which Atticus fought against, which postulate no divine providence dealing with individual destinies, rather, Providence is one of the doctrines that Atticus most emphatically defends. In

10146-400: The thinkers who consider the cosmos to be eternal, and Plato's account of creation to be metaphorical, Atticus feels compelled to grapple with the paradox of a temporal emergence of time. According to the Timaeus , time arose together with the cosmos. Atticus solves this problem by assuming two kinds of time: a pre-cosmic disordered time and the familiar, ordered time that has only existed since

10260-409: The time Cicero studied there in 79, and he seems to have died around 68, after which time his brother Aristus of Ascalon succeeded him as head of the school. Apparently he hardly deviated from the teaching of Antiochus. With his death, Antiochus' "Old Academy" seems to have perished as an institution; in any case, nothing is known of other scholars. The aftermath of Antiochus' philosophy in antiquity

10374-555: The time he belonged to the school of Philo, after his departure and break with Philo, he fought skeptical philosophy as fiercely as he had previously defended it. All of Antiochus' writings are lost, but his philosophical doctrines can be reconstructed from the philosophical writings of Cicero, especially the Lucullus , which discusses his epistemology, and the De Finibus , which discusses ethics. In addition, there are individual statements by

10488-520: The troops of the Armenian king Tigranes II on October 6, 69. Regarding the course of the battle, Antiochus remarked that the sun had never seen such a battle; Tigranes suffered a catastrophic defeat; only five men were said to have fallen on the Roman side. In the following year, Antiochus died in Syria , where he had accompanied Lucullus on another campaign. While Antiochus staunchly espoused skepticism during

10602-535: The turmoil of war – after Philo's flight apparently no new scholarch was elected – Antiochus' "Old Academy" was now the only institution that claimed to continue the tradition of Plato's Academy, emphasizing his Academy's sharp contrast to the skepticism of the New Academy. However, Antiochus did not continue the Platonic Academy as it had been maintained for most of the Hellenistic period; Antiochus did not teach on

10716-425: The virtues that make a reasonable life possible, were given their own value. For Antiochus, however, the model for human nature cannot be universal nature, but only human-specific nature in its particularity. He relates the ideal of what is natural to the specifically human nature in its perfection, when it has reached a state in which it lacks nothing. In doing so, he aims to include the human body. Antiochus accuses

10830-518: The wording of Plato's Timaeus, to which Atticus adheres, when the Creator created the world, he found matter already there, which was in disordered motion ( chaos ). So matter was not part of creation. Therefore, Atticus, assuming a one-time act of creation of the cosmos, assumes uncreated matter ( hyle ) independent of the Demiurge. In doing so, he is committed to a dualistic model: God and matter exist independently of one another and originally have nothing to do with one another. Since in this model

10944-570: The world in Plato's Timaeus , as the supreme god . Ontologically, he sees the Demiurge as the supreme first principle ; he identifies the Demiurge with the Platonic Form of the Good , the good in itself, which appears as the supreme deity in Plato's Republic . In doing so, he follows the conservative direction in Middle Platonism, which is also represented by Albinus , and contradicts the view of

11058-428: The world of appearances and the world of ideas. It is not meant in this sense, however, because Antiochus does not ascribe an ontologically independent existence to the unchangeable. Plato mistrusted the senses, since their objects were only inadequate images of archetypes (ideas), and assumed an independent world of ideas that one could and should turn to directly. For Antiochus, however, the intelligible does not exist in

11172-444: The world of ideas resides in the intellect ( nous ) of the Demiurge. Rather, he assigns it a separate existence outside of the nous, on the level of the soul. A feature of Atticus' theology is that it does not share the otherwise dominant belief among ancient Platonists that the supreme deity, because of its perfection, necessarily knows no change over time. The god of Atticus considers, plans, waits, decides and takes personal care of

11286-421: The world soul organizes and permeates everything, because only if a single ensouled force connects and holds everything together, can the universe be managed sensibly and beautifully. Atticus teaches that the human immortal rational soul (logikḗ psychḗ) is to be understood as the union of a divine and a non-rational soul. He regards the irrational soul as the substratum, the divine as the ordering principle and as

11400-409: The world soul owes its reason and goodness to the creative deity. However, since he understands creation in terms of time, in contrast to those who interpret it metaphorically, he assumes a real time period in the past in which there was no good world soul, but only the bad soul of matter. Thus, for him, the world soul belongs to the created things, it does not exist independent of time. In contrast to

11514-402: The world soul) is uncertain. According to George Karamanolis , the hypothesis that he also commented on Aristotle's categories that has been put forth by some scholars is unlikely. As a commentator, Atticus was primarily a conscientious philologist; he stuck strictly to the wording of the commented text, instead of starting from his own philosophical speculations. A primary concern of Atticus

11628-406: 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 direct revelations ; this enabled Plutarch to justify popular belief in prophecy . The gods of popular religion are merely different names for one and the same divine Being and the powers that serve them. Daemons were for him agents of God's influence on

11742-429: The world. As something created and changeable, the world is inherently transitory, but the Demiurge's will prevents its dissolution. The creator must have the ability to save his creation from destruction. Otherwise the divine will would be weak and defective and thus ungodly. It would be subordinate to the law of nature, which determines the transience of what has become, and inferior to it as a cause. That would contradict

11856-450: The world. Plutarch defended freedom of the will and the immortality of the soul . Platonic-Peripatetic ethics were upheld by Plutarch against the opposing theories of the Stoics and Epicureans. Among later middle Platonists there were Theon of Smyrna , who wrote a mathematical introduction to Plato, and Gaius (2nd century) who was a teacher of Platonist philosophy. His pupil, Albinus , wrote an account of his lectures, of which we possess

11970-501: The writings of other authors to Antiochus, although his name is not mentioned there, remains hypothetical. Antiochus was called the founder of the "fifth Academy," in the same way that Philo was called the founder of the fourth. This split occurred just before the First Mithridatic War began in 88, which would lead to the destruction of the academy in 86. During this time, Antiochus was resident in Alexandria . He had returned to Athens by

12084-423: Was a 1st-century BC Platonist philosopher . He rejected skepticism, blended Stoic doctrines with Platonism, and was the first philosopher in the tradition of Middle Platonism . Antiochus moved to Athens early in his life and became a pupil of Philo of Larissa at the Platonic Academy , but he went on to reject the prevailing Academic skepticism of Philo and his predecessors. This led to his resignation from

12198-440: Was a close friend of Antiochus, and from the later biographer Plutarch in his Life of Lucullus and Life of Cicero. Antiochus was born in the late 1st century BC, probably between 135 BC and 130 BC. Nothing is known about his early life, but both Strabo and Stephanus of Byzantium mention him as a notable philosopher from Ascalon . He travelled to Athens and joined the Platonic Academy , after 110 BC, when Philo of Larissa

12312-427: Was a time before the Demiurge created the world. In this he sees no contradiction to his conviction that being a Demiurge consists of creation. He thinks that the demiurge, before he created the world as an image, had already created and preserved its archetype. As the everlasting cause of the archetypal world of ideas, the demiurge was never idle, which would be incompatible with his nature. Atticus ascribes no agency to

12426-419: Was an atheist, that he denied the existence of the soul, and that he rejected divine providence. This led him to believe that the world had a beginning in time. With this rejection of the eternity of the world and also with his understanding of the Demiurge and the theory of forms , as well as his anti-Aristotelian attitude, Atticus represented a decidedly opposed position to views that later became part of

12540-467: Was by no means a "platonic Stoic". Rather, he skilfully pursued his strategy: he did not want to merge Platonism and Stoa, but subordinate the Stoic teachings to Platonism and incorporate them into it. Atticus (philosopher) Atticus (fl. c. 175 AD) was an ancient Platonic philosopher who lived in the second century of the Christian era , under the emperor Marcus Aurelius . His lifetime fell into

12654-402: Was chiefly interested in ethics, in which he tried to find a middle way between Zeno , Aristotle , and Plato . For instance, he said that virtue suffices 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

12768-454: Was largely due to his significant influence on his two very prominent Roman disciples, Cicero and Varro. He also indirectly influenced the republican politician Marcus Junius Brutus , who played an important role in the assassination of Caesar and the civil war that followed. Brutus was a student and friend of Aristos and an admirer of Antiochus, but did not know him personally. He wrote several philosophical works. In his treatise On Virtue, which

12882-525: Was subject in this to the influence of neopythagoreanism , it was of considerable importance in preparing the way for neoplatonism . The most important of the middle Platonists was Plutarch (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 only Epicureanism . In opposition to Stoic materialism and Epicurean "atheism," he cherished

12996-427: Was the current scholarch of the academy. Antiochus studied under Philo for a significant portion of his career; his relationship with Philo as a student lasted longer than that of any of the scholar's other students. However, the two philosophers later became estranged, as a result of a disagreement about skepticism. While at Athens, Antiochus also studied Stoicism , a school of Hellenistic philosophy that rivaled

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