Atticus (philosopher)

Atticus (fl. c. 175 AD) was an ancient philosopher. All that is known of him comes from the fragments of his book preserved in Eusebius' Preparatio Evangelica.[1] Atticus was vehemently anti-Peripatetic. His work was a polemic, possibly originating from the first holder of the Platonic philosophy chair at Athens under Marcus Aurelius.

It is not clear whether the polemic had a philosophical or a political motivation. Atticus insisted that Aristotle was an atheist, that he denied the existence of the soul, and that he rejected divine providence.

Atticus' position represents a version of Platonism according to which deviation from the literal word of the master means irredeemable heretical opposition. This version turns up occasionally in contemporary scholarship, as much in the writings of Aristotle's defenders as in those of Plato's defenders.

Notes

Eusebius of Caesarea, Praeparatio Evangelica, book 15 Archived January 20, 2008, at the Wayback Machine, 4–9. etc.

References

George E. Karamanolis, Plato and Aristotle in Agreement? Platonists on Aristotle From Antiochus to Porphyry, Oxford University Press, 2006, ISBN 0-19-926456-2.

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[1] Eusebius of Caesarea, Praeparatio Evangelica, book 15 Archived January 20, 2008, at the Wayback Machine, 4–9. etc.

Atticus (philosopher)

See also

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References