Customer Reviews

The Middle Platonists: 80 B.C. to A.D. 220

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

'Middle Platonists' is a work that focuses on the period of intellectual activity which flourished from the time of the "dogmatist" Antiochus Aschalon (ca. 80 BC) to Ammonius Saccas (ca. 220 AD), the mysterious "teacher" of the great Plotinus. The author, John Dillon, clearly states that his intention for this work is to fill in the gaps between Plato and Plotinus in order to help prevent readers from too hastily moving back and forth from the two giants without understanding the pockets of Academic scholasticism that facilitated the transmission and development of Platonism proper to what became known later as neo-Platonism.

The division of the work is as follows: (a.) 'The Old Academy and the Themes of Middle Platonism,' (b.) 'Antiochus and the Turn to Dogmatism,' (c.) 'Alexandrian Platonism,' (d.) 'Plutarch and the Origins of 2nd Century Platonism,' (e.) 'The 2nd Century Athenian School,' (f.) 'The School of Gaius,' (g.) 'The neo-Pythagoreans' and (h.) 'Loose Ends: Miscellaneous Platonists and the Platonic Underworld.'

To anyone who can afford--or even find--this magisterial study on 'Middle Platonism,' it is absolutely recommended that they acquire a copy. 'Middle Platonists' will greatly enhance any reader's understanding of the entire flow of Platonism, from its source in Plato, to its different channels filled later by his successors.