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From Plato to Platonism UNCORRECTED REVISED PROOFS: Copyright Cornell University From Plato to Platonism 3050-1442-0FM.indd i 9/4/2013 11:35:18 AM UNCORRECTED REVISED PROOFS: Copyright Cornell University 3050-1442-0FM.indd ii 9/4/2013 11:35:18 AM UNCORRECTED REVISED PROOFS: Copyright Cornell University From Plato to Platonism Lloyd P. Gerson Cornell University Press Ithaca and London 3050-1442-0FM.indd iii 9/4/2013 11:35:18 AM UNCORRECTED REVISED PROOFS: Copyright Cornell University Copyright © 2013 by Cornell University All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review, this book, or parts thereof, must not be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher. For information, address Cornell University Press, Sage House, 512 East State Street, Ithaca, New York 14850. First published 2013 by Cornell University Press Printed in the United States of America Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Gerson, Lloyd P., author. From Plato to Platonism / Lloyd P. Gerson. pages cm Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-8014-5241-3 (cloth: alk. paper) 1. Plato. 2. Platonists. I. Title. B395.G47 2013 184—dc23 2013010926 Cornell University Press strives to use environmentally responsible suppliers and materials to the fullest extent possible in the publishing of its books. Such materials include vegetable-based, low-VOC inks and acid-free papers that are recycled, totally chlorine-free, or partly composed of nonwood fi bers. For further information, visit our website at www.cornellpress.cornell.edu. Cloth printing 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 3050-1442-0FM.indd iv 9/4/2013 11:35:18 AM UNCORRECTED REVISED PROOFS: Copyright Cornell University To the memory of two teachers of integrity Hippocrates G. Apostle and John M. Crossett 3050-1442-0FM.indd v 9/4/2013 11:35:18 AM UNCORRECTED REVISED PROOFS: Copyright Cornell University 3050-1442-0FM.indd vi 9/4/2013 11:35:18 AM UNCORRECTED REVISED PROOFS: Copyright Cornell University Contents Preface ix Acknowledgments xi Part 1. Plato and His Readers 1. Was Plato a Platonist? 3 Plato and Platonism 6 Ur-Platonism 9 From Plato to Platonism 19 2. Socrates and Platonism 34 The ‘Socratic Problem’ 39 Gregory Vlastos 53 Terry Penner 62 Christopher Rowe 68 3. Reading the Dialogues Platonically 73 Plato and Developmentalism 75 Plato the Artist, Plato the Philosopher 83 Plato’s Self-Testimony 91 4. Aristotle on Plato and Platonism 97 Aristotle and Ur-Platonism 102 Aristotle’s Testimony on the Mathematization of Forms 113 Aristotle’s Criticism of the Mathematization of Forms 125 3050-1442-0FM.indd vii 9/4/2013 11:35:19 AM UNCORRECTED REVISED PROOFS: Copyright Cornell University viii Contents Part 2. The Continuing Creation of Platonism 5. The Old Academy 133 Speusippus and First Principles 134 Speusippean Knowledge 143 Xenocrates 154 6. The Academic Skeptics 163 What Is Academic Skepticism? 165 Skepticism, Rationalism, and Platonism 172 7. Platonism in the ‘Middle’ 179 Antiochus of Ascalon 181 Plutarch of Chaeronea 187 Alcinous 195 8. Numenius of Apamea 208 On the Good 210 Part 3. Plotinus: “Exegete of the Platonic Revelation” 9. Platonism as a System 227 The First Principle of All 229 Intellect 237 Soul 242 Matter 245 10. Plotinus as Interpreter of Plato (1) 255 Matter in the Platonic System 257 Substance and Becoming 263 Categories in the Intelligible World 270 The One and the Indefi nite Dyad 276 The Good Is Eros 280 11. Plotinus as Interpreter of Plato (2) 283 Human and Person 284 Assimilation to the Divine 293 Moral Responsibility 299 Conclusion 305 Bibliography 311 General Index 329 Index Locorum 335 3050-1442-0FM.indd viii 9/4/2013 11:35:19 AM UNCORRECTED REVISED PROOFS: Copyright Cornell University Preface In 2005, I published a book titled Aristotle and Other Platonists. In that book, I explored the idea, virtually ubiquitous in late antiquity, that Aris- totle’s philosophy was in “harmony” with Platonism. Although I did try to explicate the harmonists’ account of the nature of Platonism, I had little to say about whether that account was accurate. In short, I largely sidestepped the tendentious question “Was Plato a Platonist?” The present work is an attempt to answer that question, or at the very least to show that an affi rma- tive answer is not nearly as implausible as it is often taken to be. In search- ing for an approach to my question that is minimally non-question-begging, I have been led to reconsider a number of modern assumptions regarding the Platonic dialogues and their relation to Platonism, the relation between Platonism and a putative Socratic philosophy, and the direct and indirect testimony of ancient philosophers regarding Platonism, in particular that of Aristotle. The fi rst part of the book is taken up mainly with the critical ex- amination of these assumptions. In part 2, I examine the “construction” of various versions of Platonism in the Old Academy, and among the ‘Middle’ Platonists. In these chapters, I face the problem of why, indeed, there are different versions of Platonism if Plato’s disciples were in fact aiming to be faithful to the teachings of the master. For anyone inclined to the affi rma- tive answer to my main question, this problem cannot be avoided. As Sextus Empiricus said of dogmatists in general, their disagreement among them- selves is one of the best possible arguments for skepticism. So, too, if Platon- 3050-1442-0FM.indd ix 9/4/2013 11:35:19 AM UNCORRECTED REVISED PROOFS: Copyright Cornell University x Preface ists disagree, does this not at least suggest that with regard to the question of whether Plato was a Platonist, there is in fact no truth of the matter? There is a considerable literature that takes the dialogues as ink blots for a philosophical Rorschach test. And it cannot be denied that among some self-described followers of Plato, contradictory views about certain matters are held. Nevertheless, I aim to show that behind such disagreements as ex- isted there was a profound agreement about fi rst principles and that assent to the elements of that agreement is what Platonism was always thought to be. In part 3, I try to show that in Plotinus we have, as Proclus insisted, the most authentic and insightful “exegete of the Platonic revelation.” This is true, I argue, both in his construction of the Platonic system and in his dem- onstration of how that system is the ultimate basis for many of the solutions that Plato gives to the philosophical problems he raises. The tenor of this work undoubtedly amounts to swimming against some currents of contemporary scholarship, although probably not as much as it would have a generation ago. It amounts to challenging some orthodox- ies of Platonic interpretation, especially as these are still found in North America. And it amounts to a willingness to explore a hypothesis according to which ‘Platonism’ is the name of a well-articulated philosophical posi- tion and not just the label for the “sum total” of Plato’s literary product. As much as this book is explicitly rooted in the minutiae of the history of ancient philosophy, its constant overarching goal is to bring history and philosophy into fruitful collaboration. All translations are my own except where noted. 3050-1442-0FM.indd x 9/4/2013 11:35:19 AM UNCORRECTED REVISED PROOFS: Copyright Cornell University Acknowledgments It is a considerable pleasure for me to acknowledge the gracious assis- tance of numerous colleagues in the writing of this book. George Boys- Stones, John Dillon, Rafael Ferber, Franco Ferrari, Francesco Fronterotta, Jens Halfwassen, Brad Inwood, Debra Nails, Dominic O’Meara, Jan Op- somer, Nicholas Smith, and Harold Tarrant read either the whole of the draft of the book or signifi cant portions of it, and many of them corre- sponded with me regarding particular technical matters. I very much doubt that any one of these learned colleagues agrees with all or most of what I have written. I know—and they certainly know, too—that they have saved me from many egregious errors. What better defi nition of a colleague is there than this? As always, I am indebted to my beloved wife, Asli Gocer, who never let her love dampen her professional criticism, or vice versa. This book is dedicated to the memory of two former teachers, Hippocrates G. Apostle and John M. Crossett, who gave me all the best that a small liberal arts college has to offer. Finally, this book was written with the generous sup- port of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. 3050-1442-0FM.indd xi 9/4/2013 11:35:19 AM UNCORRECTED REVISED PROOFS: Copyright Cornell University 3050-1442-0FM.indd xii 9/4/2013 11:35:19 AM UNCORRECTED REVISED PROOFS: Copyright Cornell University Part 1 Plato and His Readers 3050-1442-001.indd 1 9/4/2013 11:33:42 AM UNCORRECTED REVISED PROOFS: Copyright Cornell University 3050-1442-001.indd 2 9/4/2013 11:33:43 AM UNCORRECTED REVISED PROOFS: Copyright Cornell University Chapter 1 Was Plato a Platonist? Was Plato a Platonist? A cheeky question, perhaps. If by “Platonist” we mean “a follower of Plato,” then the question is entirely captious. Plato was no more a Platonist than Jesus was a Christian. The question is only margin- ally more illuminating if we take it to mean “Would Plato have agreed with one or another of the historical, systematic representations of his philoso- phy?” Naturally, this question, like all questions about counterfactuals in the history of philosophy, is unanswerable. But if the question means “Do we possess evidence that supports the view that Plato’s own philosophy was in substantial agreement with that of one or another soi-disant Platonists?” then, according to many scholars, we are in a relatively good position to give a defi nite answer to the question.
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