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Syrianus and Asclepius on Forms and Intermediates in Plato and Aristotle ARTHUR MADIGAN, S.J. IN THE FIFTH APORIAof MetaphysicsBeta, 997a 34-998a 19, Aristotle offers arguments against the Platonic Forms and against the doctrine, or doctrines , of intermediates. The Neoplatonists Syrianus' and Asclepius' comment on the text and defend Platonic positions. Syrianus succeeded the Neoplatonist Plutarch as head of the Athenian School in 43 a or 43z and ' On the year of Syrianus's death, cf. the arguments of H. D. Saffrey and L. G. Westerink in their Introduction to Proclus, TheologicPlatonicienneLivre 1 (Paris: Les Belles Lettres, 1968), xvi-xvii. Our primary source for Syrianus's philosophical views is his commentary on Aristotle, Metaphysics Beta, Gamma, Mu, and Nu, which appears as Commentariain AristotelemGraeca,VIA, ed. G. Kroll (Berlin: Reimer, 19o2). It is clear that Syrianus exercised a significant influence on his pupil and successor, Proclus; of. Proclus's tributes to him in PlatonicTheologyI I (Saffrey and Westerink, 7) and in his commentary on the Parmenides(col. 618.3-13, Cousin). It is less clear to what extent the writings of Proclus convey the thought of Syrianus. Thus E. Zeller (D/ePhilosophic der Griechen, Dritter Theil, Zweite Abtheilung, Zweite H~lfte, Ftinfte Auflage [Leipzig: Reisland, 19~3], 819-zo ) writes: "Doch werden wir finden, dass die neuplatonische Lehre, so wie er sie vortrug, vonder systematischen Vollendung, welche ihr Proklus zu geben wusste, immer noch entfernt ist," while K. Praechter (art. "Syrianos," RE, Zweite Reihe, IV, col. 1734) writes: "Nach abw-~trts ist wieder eine scharfe Abgrenzung gegen Proklos dadurch behindert, dass der letztere zwar an ungez~ihlten Stellen seinen Lehrer zitiert, abet ohne Absicht geschichtlichen Referierens, sondern um sich fiir eigene Lehrbestimmungen auf ihn zu berufen, wobei nicht selten zweifelhaft bleibt, wie weir das Syrianische geht und ob nicht Proldos Gedanken des Meisters in eigenem Sinne fortspinnt." Additional information on Syrianus may be found in Zeller, 818-33; in Praechter, "Syrianos," cols. 17~8-75; A. C. Lloyd, "Athenian and Alexandrian Neoplatonism," in Cambridge History of Later Greek and Early Medieval Philosophy, ed. A. H. Armstrong (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 197o), 3o4; R. T. WaUis, Neoplatonisra (New York: Scribner's, 197z ), 138-39, 141-45. All translations, unless otherwise attributed, are my own. " A. Gercke in his article "Asldepios," RE II, col. 1697, suggests that he died between 56o and 57o. His commentary on MetaphysicsAlpa through Zeta appears as Commentariain Aristotelem Graeca VI.ii, ed. M. Hayduck (Berlin: Reimer, 1888). It is generally thought to represent the views of Ammonius, on the strength of numerous references in the commentary itself. While [149] 150 JOURNAL OF THE HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY died in 437; litde is known about Asclepius beyond his being a member of the Alexandrian School and a pupil of Ammonius, the son of Hermeias. The aim of the present study is to compare these two specimens of Neoplatonic commentary, in the hope of determining which embodies the more accurate interpretation of Aristotle, which presents the more adequate defense of Platonism, and in what respects Syrianus and Asclepius differ in their understandings of Platonism. Our attention will focus on four points: (1) their defense of the Forms against Aristotle's attack, (~) their conception of the intermediates and of the sciences of the intermediates, (3) their handling of the difficult passage 997b 34-998a 6, and (4) their stance towards the theory of those who posit intermediates but posit them as present in sensibles. 1. SYRIANUS AND ASCLEPIUS ON THE FORMS The central issue in the fifth aporia, as presented by Aristotle in 997a 34997b 3, is whether there exist substances besides sensible substances, and if so, whether these non-sensibles are of one .kind or of more than one kind, the position of those who recognize not only forms but also intermediates, the objects of the mathematical sciences. In 997b 3-12 Aristotle presents an argument against the Platonic Forms. While there are many difficulties with the Forms, the worst absurdity is the supposition that they are entities over and above the things in the sensible world but that they are the same as sensibles in all respects save one, that they are eternal while sensibles are perishable. People...

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