Authority and authoritative texts in the Platonist tradition
Michael Erler (Editor), Jan Erik Hessler (Editor), Federico M. Petrucci (Editor)
"All disciplines can count on a noble founder, and the representation of this founder as an authority is key in order to construe a discipline's identity. This book sheds light on how Plato and other authorities were represented in one of the most long-lasting traditions of all time. It leads the reader through exegesis and polemics, recovery of the past and construction of a philosophical identity. From Xenocrates to Proclus, from the sceptical shift to the re-establishment of dogmatism, from the Mosaic of the Philosophers to the Neoplatonist Commentaries, the construction of authority emerges as a way of access to the core of the Platonist tradition"-- Provided by publisher
eBook, English, 2021
Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom, 2021
Electronic books
1 online resource (x, 283 pages) : illustrations
9781108921596, 9781108915687, 1108921590, 110891568X
1201697211
Introduction Michael Erler, Jan E. Heßler and Federico M. Petrucci; 1. Xenocrates' invention of Platonism David Sedley; 2. An iconography of Xenocrates' Platonism David Sedley; 3. Arcesilaus' appeal to Heraclitus as a philosophical authority for his sceptical stance Anna Maria Ioppolo; 4. Authority beyond doctrines in the 1st century BC: Antiochus' model for Plato's authority Federico M. Petrucci; 5. Authority and doctrine in the pseudo-pythagorean writings Bruno Centrone; 6. Constructing authority: a re-examination of some controversial issues in the theology of Numenius Alexandra Michalewski; 7. Plutarch's E at Delphi: the hypothesis of platonic authority George Boys-Stones; 8. Aristotle's 'physics' as an authoritative work in early Neoplatonism (Plotinus and Porphyry) Riccardo Chiaradonna; 9. Conflicting authorities? Hermias and Simplicius on the self-moving soul Saskia Aerts; 10. Kathēgemōn the importance of the personal teacher in Proclus and later Neoplatonism Christian Tornau; 11. 'In Plato we can see the bad characters being changed by the good and instructed and purified' attitudes to platonic dialogue in later Neoplatonism Anne Sheppard.