Atticus (c. 175)

Atticus ("ca." 175) was an ancient philosopher. All of what is known of him comes from fragments of his book preserved in Eusebius' "Preparatio Evangelica"., [Eusebius of Caesarea, [http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/fathers/eusebius_pe_15_book15.htm "Praeparatio Evangelica", book 15] , 4-9. etc.] Atticus was vehemently anti-Peripatetic. His work was a polemic, possibly originating from the first holder of the chair in Platonic philosophy at Athens under Marcus Aurelius. It is not clear if the polemic had a philosophical rather than a political motivation. One may justly infer as much from his insistence that Aristotle was an atheist, that he denied the existence of the soul, and that he rejected divine providence (p.189). Atticus' position represents yet another version of Platonism, one 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 defenders of Aristotle as in writings of defenders of Plato.

ee also

*Numenius of Apamea

References

* George E. Karamanolis, "Plato and Aristotle in Agreement? Platonists on Aristotle From Antiochus to Porphyry", Oxford University Press, 2006, ISBN 0199264562.

External links

* [http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9040197/Herodes-Atticus Britannica Article]