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Athenian and Alexandrian Neoplatonism and the Harmonization of Aristotle and Plato Studies in Platonism, Neoplatonism, and the Platonic Tradition

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Athenian and Alexandrian Neoplatonism and the Harmonization of Aristotle and Plato Studies in Platonism, Neoplatonism, and the Platonic Tradition Athenian and Alexandrian Neoplatonism and the Harmonization of Aristotle and Plato Studies in Platonism, Neoplatonism, and the Platonic Tradition Edited by Robert M. Berchman (Dowling College and Bard College) John Finamore (University of Iowa) Editorial Board John Dillon (Trinity College, Dublin) – Gary Gurtler (Boston College) Jean-Marc Narbonne (Laval University, Canada) volume 18 The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/spnp Athenian and Alexandrian Neoplatonism and the Harmonization of Aristotle and Plato By Ilsetraut Hadot Translated by Michael Chase leiden | boston Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Hadot, Ilsetraut. Athenian and Alexandrian Neoplatonism and the harmonization of Aristotle and Plato / by Ilsetraut Hadot ; translated by Michael Chase. pages cm. – (Studies in platonism, neoplatonism, and the platonic tradition, ISSN 1871-188X ; volume 18) Includes bibliographical index. ISBN 978-90-04-28007-6 (hardback : alk. paper) – ISBN 978-90-04-28159-2 (e-book) 1. Philosophy, Ancient. 2. Plato. 3. Aristotle. 4. Neoplatonism. 5. Alexandrian school. I. Chase, Michael. II. Title. B177.H3313 2015 186'.4–dc23 2014030125 This publication has been typeset in the multilingual “Brill” typeface. With over 5,100 characters covering Latin, ipa, Greek, and Cyrillic, this typeface is especially suitable for use in the humanities. For more information, please see www.brill.com/brill-typeface. issn 1871-188x isbn 978-90-04-28007-6 (hardback) isbn 978-90-04-28159-2 (e-book) Copyright 2015 by Koninklijke Brill nv, Leiden, The Netherlands. Koninklijke Brill nv incorporates the imprints Brill, Brill Nijhoff, Global Oriental and Hotei Publishing. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher. Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use is granted by Koninklijke Brill nv provided that the appropriate fees are paid directly to The Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 910, Danvers, ma 01923, usa. Fees are subject to change. This book is printed on acid-free paper. In homage to my Italian colleagues Rosa Lauredana Cardullo (Catania), Daniela Patrizia Taormina (Catania, now at Rome), and Francesco Romano (Catania), to whose work I owe a great deal. ∵ Contents Preface ix Introduction 1 1 The Religious Orientation of the Alexandrian Neoplatonists from Theon of Alexandria to the Contemporaries of Ammonius, Son of Hermias 1 2 The Opinions of K. Verrycken, R. Sorabji, and L. Cardullo on the Subject of the Doctrinal Position of Ammonius, Son of Hermias, and on the Harmonizing Tendency 26 3 The Meaning of the Term ‘Harmonization’ and Its Historical Background 41 4 Some Characteristic and Permanent Features of the Tendency toward Harmonization of the Philosophies of Plato and Aristotle in Middle- and Neoplatonism 51 The Harmonizing Tendency from Porphyry to Simplicius 54 1 Porphyry (circa 234–305/310) 54 2 Iamblichus (3rd/4th Century) 65 3 Themistius (circa 317–388) 74 3.1 The Speeches 75 3.2 The Paraphrases 88 4 Plutarch of Athens (Died 431/32) and His Student Hierocles of Alexandria (End of the 4th and 1st Half of the 5th Century) 97 5 Syrianus (1st Half of the 5th Century) 103 6 Macrobius (Macrobius Ambrosius Theodosius, circa 400) 115 7 Hermias of Alexandria (Student of Syrianus around 430) 118 8 Proclus (412–485) 121 9 The Harmonizing Tendency in the Introductions to the Commentaries on Aristotle’s Categories of Ammonius and His School (Philoponus, Olympiodorus, David [Elias]) and in Simplicius 126 9.1 Aristotle as Plato’s Successor 127 9.2 The Division of Aristotle’s Works in a Neoplatonic Spirit 129 9.3 The Neoplatonic One is the End (τέλος) of Both Plato's and Aristotle's Philosophy 129 9.4 A Neoplatonic Exegetical Principle: Aristotle’s Deliberate Obscurity (ἀσάφεια) in His Properly Philosophical Works 136 viii contents 9.5 The Duty of the Exegete: To Bring to Light the Deep Agreement between the Philosophies of Aristotle and Plato 140 9.6 Aristotle as a Philosopher Inferior to Plato 143 10 Did the Tendency of Ammonius’ School to Harmonize the Philosophies of Aristotle and Plato Bear a Greater Resemblance to the Intense Tendency of Iamblichus, or to the Limited One of Syrianus-Proclus? 146 11 The Compositional Procedure of the Neoplatonic Commentaries 156 12 The Harmonizing Tendency in Damascius and His Students Simplicius and Priscianus of Lydia 159 Epilogue 173 Bibliographical Index 177 Preface The research I am presenting on the tendency to harmonize the philosophies of Aristotle and Plato in Neoplatonism follows chronologically upon the excellent book by G.K. Karamanolis, entitled Plato and Aristotle in agreement? Platonists on Aristotle from Antiochus to Porphyry.1 For my part, I would like to show that this harmonizing tendency, born in Middle Platonism, as G. Karamanolis and also M. Zambon2 have proved, prevailed in Neoplatonism from Porphyry and Iamblichus, and that it persisted in this philosophy until its end without any known exception, but with some nuances, which are due both to the proper personality of each of the Neoplatonists and to the stage of development of their doctrines. I therefore protest against an opinion that is still widespread, based ultimately on a paper by K. Verrycken,3 according to which it was the late Neoplatonist Ammonius of Alexandria who introduced “an instrinsic sim- plification” into the Neoplatonism of Alexandria. From the period of Middle Platonism, we will mention, very briefly and in an introductory way, only a few characteristic elements of the harmonizing tendency that emerged in this interval, particularly those that lasted down the end of Neoplatonism. As far as Neoplatonism, the final period of Platonism, is concerned, I propose to give a significant, but by no means exhaustive, overview of the manifestations of this harmonizing tendency in its various representatives (including Themistius), beginning with Porphyry. It is true that the latter’s position on this question has been studied in great detail by G.K. Karamanolis in his aforementioned book, but (on a rather important point) I will set forth a divergent opinion. The present study thus has as its subject the extent and the limits of the Neo- platonist tendency to harmonize the philosophies of Plato and Aristotle, and it leaves aside the question of whether or not this tendency can be objectively justified: an important theme, for which I refer the reader to L.P. Gerson’s book entitled Aristotle and other Platonists.4 1 Karamanolis, G.K. 2006. 2 Zambon, M. 2002. 3 Verrycken, K. 1990 a, p. 230. 4 Gerson, L.P., 2005. The author writes (p. 7): “The question we need to try to face squarely is how much of this supposed harmony is fact and how much fancy”. Eight highly instructive chapters, focused on the history of the interpretation of the philosophies of Plato and Aristo- tle, help to answer this question: 1. What is Platonism? 2. The esoteric writings and the early Aristotle. 3. The categories of reality. 4. Nature and its principles. 5. Psychology: souls and intellects. 6. Aristotle’s Metaphysics. 7. Aristotle and the forms. 8. Aristotle’s Ethics. x preface Closely linked to the problematic of the harmonizing tendency is the ques- tion of whether there exists a general, striking difference between the theolo- gies and religious practices of the Neoplatonists teaching at Alexandria and those who were professors at Athens. I will answer this question in the negative, although emphasizing that the very meager documentary material available to us for the three centuries of Neoplatonism taught at Alexandria and Athens allows us to perceive only a tiny fraction of its history. It is a highly pleasant duty for me to thank Mr. John Finamore, who accepted to publish this work in the collection “Studies in Platonism, Neoplatonism, and the Platonic Tradition” which he directs together with Mr. R. Berchmann. I also thank with all my heart my friend Mme Jeannie Carlier, for her conscientious re-reading of the manuscript. Introduction 1 The Religious Orientation of the Alexandrian Neoplatonists from Theon of Alexandria to the Contemporaries of Ammonius, Son of Hermias Still very recently, P. Golitsis, in his book Les commentaires de Simplicius et de Jean Philopon à la Physique d’Aristote,1 expressed the following view: “As one can see from the commentaries emerging from one and the other school, the school of Athens was focused more on Plato, whereas the school of Alexandria had more interest in Aristotle. What is more, the school of Athens was a bastion of pagan culture and religion, which was probably not the case for the school of Alexandria (…) Let us mention by way of a guideline that essentially no activity concerning the Orphic Hymns or the Chaldaean Oracles is known to us on the part of the Alexandrians (…) Hierocles the Alexandrian, about whom Photius (cod. 214 of his Library) reports that he had devoted the fourth book of his trea- tise On Providence to Plato’s agreement with the Chaldaean Oracles, seems to represent an exceptional case in the history of philosophical exegesis in Alexan- dria; he himself specified that the doctrine of the harmonization of theological traditions was handed down to him by his teacher Plutarch of Athens”. Let us specify that in this same book, it is not only the Chaldaean Oracles that Hiero- cles wished to place in agreement with Plato’s doctrines, but also the “hieratic institutions” and theurgy,2 and in his commentary on verses 67–69 of the Car- men aureum, he declares that theurgy, the ἱερατικὴ ἀναγωγή, is an indispensable complement to philosophical theory. In the fifth book of his De providentia, Hierocles makes a connection between the philosophy of Plato, Orpheus, and Homer.3 Let us also mention, already at this stage in our argument, that the sixth book preaches the harmony of the philosophies of Aristotle and Plato.
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