From Plato to Platonism

Contents

Contents Preface ix Acknowledgments xi Part 1. Plato and His Readers 1. Was Plato a Platonist? 3 Plato and Platonism 6 Ur-Platonism 9 From Plato to Platonism 19 2. Socrates and Platonism 34 The ‘Socratic Problem’ 39 Gregory Vlastos 53 Terry Penner 62 Christopher Rowe 68 3. Reading the Dialogues Platonically 73 Plato and Developmentalism 75 Plato the Artist, Plato the Philosopher 83 Plato’s Self-Testimony 91 4. Aristotle on Plato and Platonism 97 Aristotle and Ur-Platonism 102 Aristotle’s Testimony on the Mathematization of Forms 113 Aristotle’s Criticism of the Mathematization of Forms 125 viii Contents Part 2. The Continuing Creation of Platonism 5. The Old Academy 133 Speusippus and First Principles 134 Speusippean Knowledge 143 Xenocrates 154 6. The Academic Skeptics 163 What Is Academic Skepticism? 165 Skepticism, Rationalism, and Platonism 172 7. Platonism in the ‘Middle’ 179 Antiochus of Ascalon 181 Plutarch of Chaeronea 187 Alcinous 195 8. Numenius of Apamea 208 On the Good 210 Part 3. Plotinus: “Exegete of the Platonic Revelation” 9. Platonism as a System 227 The First Principle of All 229 Intellect 237 Soul 242 Matter 245 10. Plotinus as Interpreter of Plato (1) 255 Matter in the Platonic System 257 Substance and Becoming 263 Categories in the Intelligible World 270 The One and the Indefinite Dyad 276 The Good Is Eros 280 11. Plotinus as Interpreter of Plato (2) 283 Human and Person 284 Assimilation to the Divine 293 Moral Responsibility 299 Conclusion 305 Bibliography 311 General Index 329 Index Locorum 335 ...