Atticus (fl. c. 175 AD) was an ancient Platonic philosopher who lived in the second century of the Christian era, under the emperor

Marcus Aurelius Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (Latin: áːɾkus̠ auɾέːli.us̠ antɔ́ːni.us̠ English: ; 26 April 121 – 17 March 180) was Roman emperor from 161 to 180 AD and a Stoic philosopher. He was the last of the rulers known as the Five Good ...

. All that is known of him comes from the fragments of his book preserved in

Eusebius Eusebius of Caesarea (; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος ; 260/265 – 30 May 339), also known as Eusebius Pamphilus (from the grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος τοῦ Παμφίλου), was a Greek historian of Christianity, exegete, and Chris ...

' '' Preparatio Evangelica''. " Porphyry makes mention of the ύπομνήματα emosof a Platonic Atticus, but they may have been written by Herodes Atticus." However, Guthrie (1918) was of the opinion that the 'memos' were commentaries of Atticus the Platonic philosopher read by

Plotinus Plotinus (; grc-gre, Πλωτῖνος, ''Plōtînos''; – 270 CE) was a philosopher in the Hellenistic tradition, born and raised in Roman Egypt. Plotinus is regarded by modern scholarship as the founder of Neoplatonism. His teacher wa ...

in his lectures. Atticus was vehemently anti- Peripatetic. His work was a

polemic Polemic () is contentious rhetoric intended to support a specific position by forthright claims and to undermine the opposing position. The practice of such argumentation is called ''polemics'', which are seen in arguments on controversial topic ...

, possibly originating from the first holder of the Platonic philosophy chair at Athens under

. It is not clear whether the polemic had a philosophical or a political motivation. Atticus insisted that

Aristotle Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of ph ...

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 Plato ( ; grc-gre, Πλάτων ; 428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 BC) was a Greek philosopher born in Athens during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. He founded the Platonist school of thought and the Academy, the first institution ...

's defenders.

Citations

References

* George E. Karamanolis, ''Plato and Aristotle in Agreement? Platonists on Aristotle From Antiochus to Porphyry'', Oxford University Press, 2006, . {{DEFAULTSORT:Atticus 2nd-century Romans 2nd-century philosophers Middle Platonists Roman-era philosophers Roman-era philosophers in Athens

See also

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References