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Georgius Gemistus Pletho's Criticism of Plato and Aristotle

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Georgius Gemistus Pletho's Criticism of Plato and Aristotle MASTER NE T^TVE NO 91 ^ 2-16 MICROFILMED 1991 COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES/NEW YORK as part of the "Foundations of Western Civilization Preservation Project" Funded by the NAUON.AL ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMANITIES Reproductions may not be made without permission from Columbia University Library COPYRIGHT STATEMENT .«A,. ..Jti. M. makin reproductions of copyrighted material... Library reserves the right to r ', in its judgement, fulfflhnent on of the copyright law. AUTHOR mmmmm- R,JO LSON M. i i i .-' »-^ • o -satr GIU TUS I PI ft r I— i HO'S SM.. PLACE: SHA F :t 19 Master Negative # COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES PRESERVATION DEPARTMENT BIBLIOGRAPHIC MICROFORM TARCF.T Original Material as Filmed - Existing Bibliographic Record wmtmmmgK f 182 G284 Taylor, John Wilson .«• Georgius Gemiatus Pletho*s criticisn of Plato and Aristotle, A dissertation ... by John Wilson Taylor. Menasha, Wis.; Banta, l^fl. vii|100 p. 24 cm. 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Ei^c *••'*' JBi^e HnittrrBttg of CKitraso NOV 2S 1921 Georgius Gemistus Pletho's Criticism of Plato and Aristotle A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY LITERATURE OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF ARTS AND IN CANDIDACY FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY DEPARTMENT OF GREEK BY JOHN WILSON TAYLOR GEORGE BANTA PUBLISHING COMPANY MENASHA. WIS. ' * <""f-'.'i. , * ,1 \92\ Wilt Ittta^rfliltg nf Qlljirago Georgius Gemistus Pletho's Criticism of Plato and Aristotle A DISSERTATION 'I- SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF ARTS AND LITERATURE IN CANDIDACY FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY DEPARTMENT OF GREEK ^ BY JOHN WILSON TAYLOR ''A I GEORGE BANTA PUBLISHING COMPANY MENASHA, WIS. 1921 F 7i TABLE OF CONTENTS I Page Bibliographical abbreviations v Preface vii I. Biography 1 II. Downfall of the Byzantine Empire in Pletho's life- time 3 III. Pletho's place in the revival of Platonism 6 IV. Tracts from which Pletho's criticism of Plato and Aristotle is derived and his attitude toward the two philosophers 20 His attitude toward Plato 26 His attitude toward Aristotle 29 V Sources of Pletho's judgments regarding Plato and Aristotle 31 I I % VT Pletho's Criticism of Plato and Aristotle 38 Ontology 4u I" ihrry of Ideas 48 i Teleology 55 Determinism 58 Creation of the heavens 63 ." I III mortality of the soul 72 )!.X It hies 76 logic and other subjects 80 Appendix 83 The purpose of Pletho's Laws 8 i Interpretation of the system of deities described in the Laws 92 Sources from which the names of the deities were derived 96 Index of important names iUU m V i M BIBLIOGRAPHICAL ABBREVIATIONS The following books and articles are quoted in this work in abbreviated form: A. Alexandre, PUthon: Traits des Lois. Paris, 1858. Aristotle. Berlin edition. Separate works abbreviated in the usual way. The commentators are also referred to by the Berlin editions. Aristides. Teubner edition. Bandinius. Bibliotheca Laurentiana. Florence, 1764. Bessarion. Bessarionis Opera Varia. Aldine edition. Venice, 1516. BoiviN. In Mimoires de litterature, HHs des registres de Vacadimie royale des L inscriptions et belles lettres. II, 712 ff. Paris, 1736. Burnet. Greek Philosophy, Part /, Thales to Plato. London, 1914. Cl. p. Classical Philology. Damascius. Duhitationes et Solutiones. Edited by Ruelle, Paris, 1889. i EuSEBlus. Praeparatio Evangelica. Teubner edition. 1804. " Fabricius. Bibliotheca Graeca. Edited by Harles. Hamburg, Gaspary. Zur Chronologie des Streites der Griechen iiber Platon und Aristoteles im 15. Jahrhundert in the ArchivfUr Geschichte der Philosophie III, 50 5. G., ltd. Lit. Gaspary, Geschichte der italienischen IJterafur. Vol. I. Berlin, 1885 and vol. II, Strassburg, 1888. Gass. Gennadius und Pletho. Breslau, 1844. Hacke. Dc Bessarione. Harlem, 1840. Hettner Italienische Studien. Braunschweig, 1879. HoDius. De Graecis Illustribus Linguae Graecae . Instauratoribus. London, 1742. Edited by S. Jebb. J IT S. Journal of Hellenic Studies, Legrand. BiUiographie hellenique des XV^ et XVP siecles. Paris, 1885. M. Migne, Patrologiae cursus completus, series Graeca. Paris. 1866, \olume 160. Other volumes are referred to by their numbers, as .M. 122. Philoponus. De Aetemitate Mundi. Teubner edition. Other worl:=^ are re- ferred to by the Berlin editions. Plato. Works are abbreviated in the usual way. Plutarch Moralia. Teubner edition. V Prantl. Geschichte der Logik im Abendlande. Leipzig, 1855. P&ocLUS. In Timaeum and In Rem Publicam. Teubner edition. '^ H VI BIBLIOGRAPHICAL ABBREVIATTONS PSELLUS O. D. De Omnifaria Doctrina in M. 122, 688 A fif., in M. 122, 784 B flf. Sol. Quaed. SoluHones Quaedam Quaestionum Naturdium References in these two works are to sections. R E. G. Revue des itudes griques. U PREFACE 1908. Sandys. History of Classical Scholarship. Cambridge, to analyze and estimate Gemistus Pk tl 10 s 1874. This study is an attempt SCH., SCHiLTZF. Fnilosophie der Renaissance, I. Jena, criticism of Plato and Aristotle. Gass and Schvotze lia\"e already of Chicago Decennial Publi- Shore Y Tn^^ Vnilv / P/ if 'r Thought. University written on hi> philosophic tliought but they made no attempt to cation-, 1 *>().>. determine the -oiirces used in the tract- regarding Plato and Aris- Geschichte der SiLiN /).r Humaniii Gjza als Philosoph in the Archiv fUr totle and they dealt with the content of the tracts in such a summary FiiUi^iOphu:, II, 420 tl, fashion as to leave an impression which does an injustice to Pletho's Nc-.v York, Symonds. Rtnaissatu.': m ItJ). Part ii, The Revival of Learning. understanding of the ancient philosophers. It is hoped that suf- 188S. ficient reason has been adduced in this monograph for a revision of TiRABO^CHi, Storid dflla lett^ratura Ttdi:in,i. Florence, 1^05. this impression. 1^02. Siorid deiraicadanid pliunicadi Fifuz.'. Florence, ToRRK, Della. Pletho's quotations of, and references to, passages of Plato and I'^Ol. Ueberweg. Grundriss der Geschichte der Philosophie .. Berlin, Aristotle have been, with few exceptions, referred by means of foot- Vast. Le Cardinal Bessarion. Paris, 1H78. notes to the original passages. About one fifth of these had already 1870. although most of his references proved on Valentinelli. Bibliothecd manuscripta ad S. Marci Venclidrum. Venice, been identified by Gass, examination to be inapposite. The others have been transferred to VoiGHT. Die Wiederbelebungdes cldssischen AlteriHms. Berlin, IS9S. the pagination of Stephanus for Plato and to that of the Prussian Whittaker. The Neo-Pldtonists. Cambridge, 1918. (second edition.) Academy edition for Aristotle. Where possible, also, with a view to Porphyrins: De Philosophia ex ordculis haurienda. Berlin, 1856. Wolff. throwing light on Pletho's sources, passages have been cited from 1889. Zeller. Die Philosophie der Griechen. Leipzig, later philosophic writers to whom Pletho was indebted. The suggestion of the subject of this work is due to Professor Paul Shorey, to whom the author wishes to express his thanks also for the many valuable ideas and criticisms for which he is indebted to him. ,<> vu I t (I ' CHAPTER I Biography Very few details are known of the life of Georgius Gemistus. His birth is put conjecturally in the year 1355 by Schultze/ since, dying in 1450, he was said by Georgius Trapezuntius to have lived almost one hundred years.^ Gennadius stated that in his youth Gemistus fled from his native land, Byzantium, and lived at the Turkish court, where he became intimate with the Jew, Elissaios.^ Alexandre's conjecture, followed by Schultze, as to the chronology of his depar- (% ture and return remains a mere guess.^ It is certain, however, that he lived in the Peloponnese many years before 1427, when the Prince of the Peloponnese gave him a castle and land at Phanarion, of which the document of conveyance has been preserved.^ It was during these years that he was the teacher of Bessarion, who retained through- out his life the deepest respect for him.^ Two letters from his hand written during this period on the defense and reformation of the Peloponnese have come down to us, one to Theodore and the other to the Emperor Emanuel.^ In two panegyrics delivered at his i death he is said to have been a judge. ^ In 1728 the emperor, John VI, consulted Gemistus, during a visit to the Peloponnese, as to his opinion regarding the union of the Eastern and Western Churches, and 1 P. 24. » Comparatio inter Platonem et Aristotelem (Venice, 1523), next to last I ^. chapter. ' M. 639 B. * Schultze, pp. 30, 31. ' Schultze, p. 61. is be put in Syropou- • Vast (p. 35) has demonstrated how little credence to in the Peloponnese. los's statement that Bessarion studied for twenty one years the year ' Schultze, pp. 39, 41. Delia Torre (p. 429) refers the latter epistle to 1412 on the ground that a time when peace had at last been concluded with the Otto- mans would seem to Pletho an especially suitable time for carrying out his re- objection forms.
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