Aristotle and Other Platonists

P. Gerson Lloyd

Description

"Aristotle versus Plato. For a long time that is the angle from which the tale has been told, in textbooks on the history of philosophy and to university students. Aristotle's philosophy, so the story goes, was au fond in opposition to Plato's. But it was not always thus."-from the IntroductionIn a wide-ranging book likely to cause controversy, Lloyd P. Gerson sets out the case for the "harmony" of Platonism and Aristotelianism, the standard view in late antiquity. He aims to show that the twentieth-century view that Aristotle started out as a Platonist and ended up as an anti-Platonist is seriously flawed. Gerson examines the Neoplatonic commentators on Aristotle based on their principle of harmony. In considering ancient studies of Aristotle's Categories, Physics, De Anima, Metaphysics, and Nicomachean Ethics, the author shows how the principle of harmony allows us to understand numerous texts that otherwise appear intractable. Gerson also explains how these "esoteric" treatises can be seen not to conflict with the early "exoteric" and admittedly Platonic dialogues of Aristotle. Aristotle and Other Platonists concludes with an assessment of some of the philosophical results of acknowledging harmony.

Sujets

• Philosophie et théologie

Informations

• Publié par: Cornell University Press
• Date de parution: 01 décembre 2017
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781501716966
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

Aristotle and Other Platonists

A L S O B Y L L O Y D P . G E R S O N

Neoplatonic Philosophy: Introductor y Readings(2004; with John Dillon) Knowing Persons: A Study in Plato(2003) Aristotle: Critical Assessments(1999) Cambridge Companion to Plotinus(1996) Plotinus(1994) God and Greek Philosophy: Studies in the Early Histor y of Natural Theology(1990) Hellenistic Philosophy: Introductor y Readings(1998; with Brad Inwood) Aristotle’s Politics(1986; with Hippocrates G. Apostle) Aristotle: Selected Works(1983; with Hippocrates G. Apostle)

Aristotle and Other Platonists

Lloyd P. Gerson

Cornell University Press

Ithaca and London

Copyright ©2005

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,512East State Street, Ithaca, New York 14850.

First published2005

by Cornell University Press

Printed in the United States of America

Library of Congress CataloginginPublication Data Gerson, Lloyd P. Aristotle and other Platonists / Lloyd P. Gerson p. cm. Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index. ISBN0–8014–4164–1(cloth : alk. paper) 1. Aristotle. 2. Platonists. I. Title. B485.G36 2005 185—dc22 2004013045

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 fibers. For further information, visit our website at www.cornellpress.cornell.edu.

Cloth printing

1 0 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

To my beloved

Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction

1. What Is Platonism? What Is Platonism?27 Platonism by Negation37 Is There a NonPlatonic Aristotelianism?

42

2. The Exoteric Writings and the Early Aristotle The Exoteric Writings49 Eudemus on the Soul and Forms51 Protrepticus60 On Philosophy67

3. The Categories of Reality

4. Nature and Its Principles Matter in Aristotle and the Platonic Tradition Paradigmatic Causes and Eternity117 Final Causality and Nature122

102

ix

1

24

47

76

101

viii

Contents

5. Psychology: Souls and Intellects The Definition of the Soul133 Aristotle’s Account of Embodied Cognition140 De Anima, Gamma5 152

6. Aristotle’s Metaphysics The Shape and Theme ofMetaphysics174 The Case of Alpha Elatton180 BookL610: Theology and Metaphysics188 Divine Thinking195 Divine Causality200 Plotinus’s Critique of Aristotle’s God as First Principle of All

7. Aristotle and the Forms The Neoplatonic Interpretation of Plato’s Theory of Forms Aristotle’s Criticism of Plato’s Theory of Forms220 Mathematics and the Forms232

205

210

8. Aristotle’s Ethics The Central Idea of Neoplatonic Ethics242 A Neoplatonic Reading of Aristotle’s Ethics252 Aristotle on the Form of the Good260 The Doctrine of Virtue as a Mean and the Platonic Art of Measurement

9. Aristotle: Platonist MALGRÉ LUI ? Are AntiNominalists All Platonists?276 Persons and Human Beings282 The Twin Pillars of Aristotle’s Platonism289

Appendix: Platonists and Other Aristotelians

Bibliography Ancient Authors295 Modern Authors, Editors, and Translators

General Index

Index Locorum

298

131

173

209

242

263

275

291

295

315

321

Acknowledgments

I have been unusually fortunate in the unstinting assistance I have been given by friends and colleagues. Earlier versions of the book were read by Ian Bell, S. R. L. Clark, John Dillon, Richard Dufour, Asli Gocer, Charles Kahn, Debra Nails, Sara Rappe, John Rist, C. D. C. Reeve, and Harold Tar rant. I am deeply grateful to all of these scholars for sharing with me their learning and for their critical engagement with my ideas. An early version of the main themes in this book was presented at a conference on Plato’s ancient readers at the University of Newcastle, NSW, in the summer of2002. I benefited immensely from the very goodhumored and pointed dialogue that my paper inspired. I am especially grateful to Dirk Baltzly, John Cleary, and Richard Sorabji for their helpful suggestions. Another version was pre sented at a colloquium at Trinity College, Dublin, where a learned and cor dial audience provided me with much food for thought. Holger Thesleff offered me his warm encouragement and, from his own library, material that was not otherwise available to me. An earlier version of a portion of chapter 2appeared inJournal of the History of Philosophy;material contained in chap ter4appeared in an article inArchiv für Geschichte der Philosophie;parts of chapter 5 appeared in an article inPhronesis;and parts of chapter 8 in an article inOxford Studies in Philosophy.I am grateful to the editors of these pub lications for their permission to reprint. The Social Sciences and Humani ties Research Council of Canada endowed me with a research grant during the period2002–4,which gave me much needed time, among other things, to complete my research.

Toronto, Ontario

L. P. G.