aristotelian' and 'platonic' dualism in hellenistic and early christian philosophy...

21
'Aristotelian' and 'Platonic' Dualism in Hellenistic and Early Christian Philosophy and in Gnosticism Author(s): Abraham P. Bos Reviewed work(s): Source: Vigiliae Christianae, Vol. 56, No. 3 (Aug., 2002), pp. 273-291 Published by: BRILL Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1584656 . Accessed: 30/04/2012 05:41 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].  BRILL is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Vigiliae Christianae. http://www.jstor.org

Upload: brysonru

Post on 08-Aug-2018

233 views

Category:

Documents


2 download

TRANSCRIPT

8/22/2019 'Aristotelian' and 'Platonic' Dualism in Hellenistic and Early Christian Philosophy and In

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/aristotelian-and-platonic-dualism-in-hellenistic-and-early 1/20

'Aristotelian' and 'Platonic' Dualism in Hellenistic and Early Christian Philosophy and in

GnosticismAuthor(s): Abraham P. BosReviewed work(s):Source: Vigiliae Christianae, Vol. 56, No. 3 (Aug., 2002), pp. 273-291Published by: BRILLStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1584656 .

Accessed: 30/04/2012 05:41

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms

of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

 BRILL is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Vigiliae Christianae.

http://www.jstor.org

8/22/2019 'Aristotelian' and 'Platonic' Dualism in Hellenistic and Early Christian Philosophy and In

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/aristotelian-and-platonic-dualism-in-hellenistic-and-early 2/20

'ARISTOTELIAN' AND 'PLATONIC' DUALISMIN HTFI.LENISTICAND EARLY CHRISTIAN PHILOSOPHY

AND IN GNOSTICISM

BY

ABRAHAM P. BOS

Introduction

'Platonic dualism' is a much-usedconcept and usuallyseems to signposta

well-definedcontent:Plato was the first to make a sharpdistinctionbetween

visible, corporeal reality and an intelligible,incorporealworld of Ideas. It

was he, too, who argued that every human being has a visible, corporeal,and perishable body and an incorporeal,invisible soul. Curiouslyenough,however, various thinkers in the Hellenistic and early Christian era are

called 'Platonists',though they do not support this lucid 'Platonic dual-ism'.' This might seem due to 'branddegradation',a lack of mentalpower,or a less developed taste for clarity and internal consistency.In this arti-

cle I proposea differentdiagnosis:we must distinguishbetween 'Aristotelian

dualism' and 'Platonicdualism'.

I will start with some examplesof acknowledged Platonist'authors who

do not endorse the strict 'Platonic dualism'sketched above. Philo of Alex-

andria believes that the distinctionbetween intelligibleand sensiblerealityis

fundamental,but he locates

this intelligiblereality in the divine Logos,which is immanentlyactive and creativein the cosmos. In this conception

Cf. P. Boyance, 'Dieu cosmique et dualisme. Les archontes et Platon', U. Bianchi

(ed.), Le originidellognosticismoLeiden 1970) 340-356. A.H. Armstrong, 'Dualism: Platonic,

Gnostic,andChristian',D.T. Runia(ed.),PlotinusmidGnosticsndChristiansAmsterdam1984) 29-52 tries to clarifythe concept of cosmic dualism. See also H. Dorre, 'Dualismus',RAC vol. 4 (1959) 334-350; K. Alt, Welftuchtund Weltbeahung. ur Fragedes Dualismusbei

Plutarch,Numenios,Plotin (Stuttgart 1993) starts her study by observing: 'Dualismus istkein eindeutiger Begriff'. She goes on to devote part I of her book to 'Dualismus in

der Deutung des Kosmos' and part II to 'Dualismusin der Deutung der Menschenexistenz'.

In the context of the contrast of 'soul' and 'body' she proposes to speak of 'integrateddualism' (p. 14).

? Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2002 VigiliaeChristianae6, 273-291Also available online - www.brill.nl

8/22/2019 'Aristotelian' and 'Platonic' Dualism in Hellenistic and Early Christian Philosophy and In

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/aristotelian-and-platonic-dualism-in-hellenistic-and-early 3/20

ABRAHAMP. BOS

the boundary between intelligibleand corporeal reality seems vague and

obscure.2

Plutarch of Chaeronea and the author of treatise X of the HermeticCorpustate that it is desirableand necessaryfor the soul to be liberated

from the visible body. But even more importantto them is the liberation

of the intellect from the obstructive shell formed by the soul, and in this

process the soul seems to be left behind in the material cosmos. In these

conceptions the boundarybetween soul and body has been blurred.

Justin Martyr, generallyrecognizedas a man of Middle Platonism,is at

pains to destroy Plato's theory of soul and says that he does not give a

fig for it.3Irenaeusof Lyons talksabout a soul-body.4And Origen is familiarwith

a pneumatic,luciformsoul-substance,which is also called ochma.5Gregoryof Nyssa explained the text of Genesis 3:21 on 'the garmentsof skin' as

intending a corporeal covering of a pure noetic principle.6

2 Cf. D.T. Runia, 'A brief history of the term kosmosnoetos rom Plato to Plotinus',

JJ. Cleary (ed.), Traditions f Platonism.Essaysin honour f . Dillon (Aldershot 1999) 151-

171, pp. 154-158. See also J. Dillon, 'Asomatos: uances of incorporeality in Philo',

C. Levy (ed.), Philon d'Alexandriet le langagede la philosophieTumhout 1998) 99-110.

3 Justin. Dial. 4-6 with the conclusion in 6, 1: Oi&6v?0go, ?prl, iXhIet adTrvo; ou6s

nIv0ay6poiu D6? a7xo;S65& v6E ; Xokvotairta ?oa4oovxo;. Cf. J.C.M. van Winden, An

eary Christian hilosopher.ustin Martyr'sDialoguewith Ttypho,chapters ne to nine (Leiden

1971) 103-106.4 Iren. Haer. 5, 7, 1. Cf. D. Wyrwa, 'Seelenverstandniss bei Irenaus von Lyon',

J. Holzhausen (ed.), Ti --Seel--Anima. Festschriftfiir . Alt (Stuttgart/Leipzig 1998) 301-

334, p. 310 and AJ. Vanderjagt, 'Quantum ad comparationem mortalium corporum.

Matter matters for Irenaeus's idea of the soul', M. de Jong et al. (eds), RondomGregoriusvan Tours(Utrecht, R.U. 2000) 1-7.

5 Cf. Orig. Cels. II 60; In Mt. XVII 30 and H. Crouzel, 'Le theme platonicien du

"vehicule de l'ame" chez Origene', Didaskalia7 (1977) 225-238. H.S. Schibli, 'Origen,

Didymus, and the vehicle of the soul', RJ. Daly (ed.), OrigenianaQuinta Louvain 1992)381-391 remarks on p. 381: 'For the Christian Platonists of Alexandria the vehicle or

luminous body was the product of God's handiwork'. See also L.R. Hennessey, 'A philo-

sophical issue in Origen's eschatology: the three senses of incorporeality', RJ. Daly (ed.),

OrigenianaQuinta Louvain 1992) 373-380. The doctrine of the soul-vehicle is also found

in Porphyry,Iamblichus, Syrianus,Hierocles, Augustine, Boethius, Philoponus, Macrobius,

and Synesius, and yet they are called 'Platonists'. The theme of the 'soul-vehicle' is infact closely related to the question of 'dualism' which we are discussing here. ThoughPlotinus does not have the term 'ochema'n this sense, he is just as convinced that souls

in the heavenly region are clothed with 'bodies'-cf. Enn. IV 4 [28] 5, 17.

6 Cf. J. Danielou, Platonisme t thiologiemystique.Essai sur la doctrinepirituelle e saint

Grigoire eNysse(Paris 1944) 60-65; H. Cherniss, The Platonism f GregoryfNyssa(Berkeley

274

8/22/2019 'Aristotelian' and 'Platonic' Dualism in Hellenistic and Early Christian Philosophy and In

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/aristotelian-and-platonic-dualism-in-hellenistic-and-early 4/20

'ARISTOTELIAN' AND 'PLATONIC' DUALISM

Plotinus,too, was greatlyexercisedby the questionof dualism. From his

firstwritingactivities he studied the problem of the soul. His second trea-

tise deals with 'The soul's immortality'(EnneadsV 7); the sixth treatisetalks about 'The soul's descent into bodies' (EnneadsV 8).7To introduce

the problemtherehe offersa surveyof contributions o the discussionsince

the pre-Socraticperiod.8He goes on to show that Plato's work contains

several attestationssuggestingthat the master contradictedhimself and that

he himself had failed to draw sharp and crisp lines.9 Perhaps, indeed,Plotinus is using here a critical study of Plato's views by an earlier author.

The underestimationf Aristotle'sontribution

In my view, we should take another good look at all the classical texts

put forward in the debate about 'dualism'.A serious flaw in the discus-

sion is that Aristotle'srole is all but disregarded.10n what follows I will

argue that 'Platonic dualism'existed as an unambivalentconcept for only

1930) 12-25. See also Porphyre,e l'abstinence,ol. I, texte etabli et traduitparJ. Bouffartique

(Paris 1977) 37-41.7

Already in his first essay, 'On beauty', Enn. I 6 [1] 7, 4-7 he wrote: avapaivouxot

KPtSXoavvoKai ctaTpoapEit Kiaiacno&uooivo;a KaTapaxivovre;ltg(pteaOe?0a.. yugvoi;

avtevat.8 W. Burkert, 'Plotin, Plutarch und die platonisierende Interpretation von Heraklit

und Empedokles',J. Mansfeld and L.M. de Rijk (eds), Kephalaion.tudies... offeredo CJ.

de Vogel Assen 1975) 137-146; J. Mansfeld, 'Heraclitus, Empedocles and others in a

Middle Platonist cento in Philo of Alexandria', VigiliaeChristianae9 (1985) 131-156; D.

Zeller,'The life and death of the soul in Philo of Alexandria. The use and

originof a

metaphor', StudiaPhilonicaAnnual7 (1995) 19-55. See also K. Alt (1993) 154ff.9 Plot. Enn. IV 8 [6] 1, 27: oxtax&rxvXeycov avraxi 9paveixat. Plotin,EnniadesIV,

texte etabli et traduit par E. Brehier (Paris 1927; repr. 1964) 212: 'I1est probable quecertains interpretes ou critiques avaient fait valoir le desaccord entre ces deux series [de

textes de Platon]'.'0 See, for example H. Dorrie (1959). He sets Aristotle as a monist against Plato:

'Aristoteles hat alle Ansatze zum Dualismus die er bei Platon fand, scharf kritisiert;sein

eigenes Forschen war jedem Dualismus vollig abgewandt' (338). Not surprisingly,Dorrie

concludes on p. 339: 'Die Belebung des Dualismus in den Philosophien der Kaiserzeit

kam vom Religiosen her... Diese Wendung, die sich zu Cicero's Zeiten anbahnt,...ist das eigentliche geistesgeschichtliche Ratsel jener Epoche'. A much sharper view is

found in A.H. Armstrong, 'Aristotle in Plotinus: the continuity and discontinuity of psychi

and nous'HJ. Blumenthaland H. Robinson (eds),Aristotlend the ater raditionOxford 1991)

117-127, p. 118: 'Plotinus, like his Middle Platonist predecessors, accepts Aristotle'ssharp

distinction of Psychiand Nous and maintains the transcendence and superiority of Nous'.

275

8/22/2019 'Aristotelian' and 'Platonic' Dualism in Hellenistic and Early Christian Philosophy and In

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/aristotelian-and-platonic-dualism-in-hellenistic-and-early 5/20

ABRAHAMP. BOS

a very shorttime, and soon after Plato's lifetimewas supplantedby another

dualism, which is better termed 'Aristoteliandualism'. At its heart lies a

divisionbetween theoretical intellect and soul. For ontology this led to theseparationof a transcendent,theoretical Intellect from a demiurgicWorld

Soul immanent in the cosmos. For anthropology t led to a postulationof

the activityof nousas incorporeal,and to the propositionthat the soul is

'not without body'.

Revisinghe modem iewofAristotle

We have to make a different assessmentof Aristotle's contribution tothe discussion on the "soul's descent" compared with what was current

until recently.For since W.Jaegerll and F. Nuyens'2scholarswere inclined

to leaveAristotle's ialoguesout of consideration, ecausetheywere regardedas 'Platonizing'.But a fundamental correctionis necessaryon this point.13W. Jaeger led modem Aristotle studies in a wrong directionby assuminga sharp distinctionbetween Aristotle's lost dialogue Eudemus nd his sur-

viving treatiseDe anima.We shall have to abandontheJaegerian paradigm

1 W. Jaeger, Aristoteles.GrundlegunginerGeschichteeinerEntwicklungBerlin 1923). A

French translation was published as late as 1997: Aristote.Fondementsour une histoirede

son ivolution, raduit et presente par 0. Sedeyn (Combas 1997). For the sake of refer-

ences I will use the English translation Aristotle.Fundamentalsf thehistoy of his developmenttransl. by R. Robinson (Oxford 1934; 21948; repr. 1962).

12 FJ.CJ. Nuyens, Ontwikkelingsmomentenn de zielkundevan Aristoteles.Een historisch-

philosophischetudie(Nijmegen/Utrecht 1939). A French edition of this work was pub-lished under the title L'volution de la psychologie'Aristotepar F. Nuyens; Preface de A.

Mansion (Louvain 1948).13 Cf. A.P. Bos, 'Aristotle'spsychology: diagnosis of the need for a fundamental rein-

terpretation', AmericanCatholicPhilosophicalQuarterly3 (1999) 309-331; "Aristotle's doc-

trine of the instrumentalbody of the soul",Philosophiaeformata4 (1999) 37-51; "Plutarch's

testimony to an earlier explanation of Aristotle's definition of the soul", A. PerezJimenez,

J. Garcia L6pez, R.M. Aguilar (eds), Plutarco,Plat6ny Aristoteles.Madrid 1999) 535-548;"Aristotle's De animaII 1: the traditional interpretation rejected', Aristotle ndcontemporayscience,D. Sfendoni-Mentzou;J. Hattiangadi; D. Johnson (eds) (New York 2001) vol. 2,

187-201; 'Why the soul needs an instrumental body according to Aristotle (Anim.I 3,

407b13-26)', Hermes 28 (2000) 20-31; 'The distinctionbetween "Platonic"and "Aristotelian"dualism, illustrated from Plutarch's myth in Defacie in orbe unae',A. Perez Jimenez and

F. Casadesis (eds), Estudios obrePlutarco(Madrid-Malaga 2001) 57-70; "Aristotle'spsy-

chology: the modem development hypothesis rejected" (to be published). See also De

ziel en haarvoertuig. ristoteles'sychologieeherinterpreteerdn de eenheid an zyn oeuvreedemon-streerdLeende 1999).

276

8/22/2019 'Aristotelian' and 'Platonic' Dualism in Hellenistic and Early Christian Philosophy and In

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/aristotelian-and-platonic-dualism-in-hellenistic-and-early 6/20

'ARISTOTELIAN' AND 'PLATONIC' DUALISM

and develop a unitaryinterpretationof Aristotle'sentire oeuvre. Even more

consistently than 0. Gigon has already done,'4 we should assume that

Aristotle's ost works and his survivingbiological writingsand De animadidnot propose two (or more) differentpsychologicaltheories but one and the

same. Because this one Aristotelianpsychologywas a non-Platonicut never-

theless a dualisticpsychology,we have much more reason than could be

recognized in the past to assume Aristotelian nfluence on this discussion.

On one essentialpoint Aristotledisagreedwith his teacherPlato,namelyon the issue of the oul,'"more particularly he indissolublebond of the soul

with a body.Aristotle adicallyand consistently rguedthe distinctionbetween

nousand pgychi.'6 or Aristotle the nous-in-acts always wholly incorporeal.But he considered it characteristicof the soul that it cannot carry out its

functions 'without body'.' Moreover, Aristotle specified the condition of

the soul as being inextricablybound up with a sdmaphysikonrganikon.'8

0. Gigon, AristotelisOpera,vol. III (Berlin 1987) 230.

'5 Cf. Hipp. Haer. I 20, 3: Kait Xa2diva Xeiaca t4~rHX6ovt aqol'vpo CkycV7Xv

,troinpl )Xfiq& iaro 6gv y&p1hX6oova0a&vatov,6 &_ Aptotrik niu5uxtage'vev icaiict& tcxaba Mic w$Vrrvivawpavir'COatr4nF_'c adcgart and I 20, 6. Cf. Cic. ND. I 13,33 = Arist. Philos. fr. 26 Ross; 25, 1 Gigon, where I follow J. P6pin, T7llogie cosmiqueet thkologiehrttienneParis 1964) 140 in reading: 'Aristoteles in tertio de philosophia libro

multa turbat a magistro suo [Platone] uno dissentiens'. These testimonies cannot be

brushed aside by claiming that there were various differences between Plato and his

pupil. The point is that all these differences can be reduced to one essential disagree-ment. Cf. also Atticus fr. 7 (z Euseb. P.E. XV 9, 14):nLivtow&: Kaxhvtovitoi; 6tawpipveai

nMhiovi- 6 hrv ya&ppilotvo?iveu ) a&uvatov eivat ouviataa0at, 68 &opitnEt tEj;

VvXiS; rbv voiv. On the Churchfathers' use of Aristotle see Aj. Festugi&re,L'idialrelgieuxdes Grecset l'vangile(Paris 1932) 221-263; D.T. Runia, 'Festugi6re revisited: Aristotle in

the Greek Patres', VigiliaeChristianae9 (1989) 1-34.16 This point is sharply formulated by E. Barbotin, La tlhoriearistotMliciennee l'Intellect

d'aXprs hhWphrasteLouvain/Paris 1954) 220: 'En somme, le schisme int6rieur qui divi-

sait le compos6 humain chez Platon subsiste chez son disciple, mais subit une transpo-sition progressive: au lieu d'opposer le co-Ciaa la V-of, celui-ci oppose finalement la

xVXfoau vob;; dans la hi6rarchie des principes constitutifs de l'homme, le dualisme s'est

d6plac6 de bas en haut'. This Aristotelian position is best set out with reference to a

passage in Plu. Defacie in orbe unae28, 943A: vob; y'apVuXiiSj;p(uXiei acato; ia[CtEv6v

Muvt aici ntezpov-'the intellect is so much more excellent and divine than the soul as

the soul is in relation to the body'; Alcinous, Didask.X 164, 18: &icd &Ei'uXfi; voi;

ageivoV,... Cf. A.P. Bos (2001) 57-70.'7 Cf. Arist. Anim. I 1, 403a5-18, a5: (pacveoat &FWGov'ev rXciatov olikF'v a&veU6nOtMo;

nayciXpeviu&iotoiv. a15: adti eta oajsgaro; tvo; eantv (A.Jannone 1966); II 2, 414a19-

21: afioa gF'Vyap otK jC ti, aIogatO;5&'Et,Kat5iXto'robo hv a6gart unapXEt..

18 Anim.11 1, 412a27-412b1; 412b4-6: ci 6i8 CtKotv6v hei'ina'aia;XViI; &e,XhyIev, etTh

&v hv-teXr.ex ta x pokiloCDRaTo;oou1Koi)pyavlKoi.

277

8/22/2019 'Aristotelian' and 'Platonic' Dualism in Hellenistic and Early Christian Philosophy and In

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/aristotelian-and-platonic-dualism-in-hellenistic-and-early 7/20

ABRAHAM P. BOS

However, the crucial question is: what body does Aristotlemean when

he says that the soul cannot performits specificactivities 'withoutbody'?

W. Jaeger and F. Nuyens were wholly convinced that Aristotlewas refer-ring to the visible, external body of a human being, animal, or plant.Hence they saw a yawning gap between Aristotle'sviews in De animaand

his positionin the dialoguethe Eudemus.n the Eudemus ristotlehad clearly

argued that the soul can performits own functionsvery well, indeed bet-

ter, withouthe galling and oppressivevisible body.19But in De anima I 1,

in his famous definition of 'the soul', Aristotlesays that the soul is inex-

tricablybound up with a 'somaphysikonrganikon'.aeger and Nuyens, fol-

lowing an almost unanimous tradition since Alexander of Aphrodisiasinthe third centuryAD, interpretedthis sentence in the sense that the soul

is the formalprincipleor entelechy of a 'naturalbody equippedithorgans',i.e. the visible body of a plant, animal, or human being.20This traditional

interpretationmust be rejected.For a 'naturalbody' in Aristotle is never

the body of a living creature but always an 'elementary body' or a com-

position of elementary bodies. And in the whole of Aristotle's oeuvre

'organikon'evermeans 'equippedwith organs'but always 'servings an instru-

ment', 'instrumental'.21That is to say, Aristotle emphasizes in his definition in De anima II 1

that the soul forms a composite substance with a 'natural body' which

serves the soul as an instrument. Once this has been recognized, and the

important role ofpneuma in Aristotle's biological writings has been acknowl-

edged, it becomes clear that what Aristotle is saying in his definition is

that the soul (as regards the realization of its typically psychic functions)

is indissolubly linked with pneuma,which is the vehicle and instrument and

shell of the soul22(in human beings and blooded animals; for lower animalsand plants Aristotle assumes that an 'analogon'orms the instrument of veg-

etative and animal souls). The soul is the entelechy of this 'instrumental

'9 Cf. Arist. Eudem. r. 1 Ross; 56 Gigon; fr. 6 Ross; 65 Gigon. See also Protr. r. 10

b Ross; 73 and 823 Gigon (texts which it is also better to connect with the Eudemus).20 Cf. W. Jaeger, Aristotle 34: 'the entelechy of the organic body'; cf. p. 45. F. Nuyens

(1939) 220: 'een natuurlijkbewerktuigd (organisch) lichaam' ('a naturally instrumented

(organic) body'). Cf. D.W. Hamlyn (1968): 'the first actuality of a natural body whichhas organs';R. Bodeus (1993) 137: "la r6alisationpremiere d'un corps naturel... pourvu

d'organes".21 Cf. S. Everson, Aristotle nperceptionOxford 1997) 64 and J. Barnes, Class. Rev. 49

(1999) 121.22 Cf. A.L. Peck, Aristotle,Generationf animals London 1942) vi; lix.

278

8/22/2019 'Aristotelian' and 'Platonic' Dualism in Hellenistic and Early Christian Philosophy and In

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/aristotelian-and-platonic-dualism-in-hellenistic-and-early 8/20

'ARISTOTELIAN' AND 'PLATONIC' DUALISM

body' (which is already present in sperm and in fruits),23ust as, in the

soul of a craftsman,the form of a product is the principle which keeps

the hands and the instrumentsof the craftsman 'oriented to their goal'.Once the traditionalexplanation of Aristotle's definition of the soul is

seen to be untenable, it is surprising o discover that Antiquityoffers clear

traces of an earlier and historicallymore correct explanation in authors

from the period before Alexander of Aphrodisias.24Someone who has abandonedthe traditionalparadigmof W.Jaeger will

suddenlyrealize that Aristotle'sdoes not explicitly say in any place that the

soul perishes as soon as the visible body starts to decompose. This is a

conclusion which exegetesof Aristotlehave drawn,25 ut altogetherwrongly.The heart of Aristotle'scontribution was his assertion that a transmi-

gration of souls from one living creature to another species of living crea-

ture is impossiblebecause reproductionis confined to within the species:'a man begets a man'.26And because for Aristotle the soul is inextricablybound up with an 'instrumentalbody', the level of life realized by a cer-

tain soul is necessarilycorrelative with the quality of 'the soul's instru-

mental body'.27 t is impossibleto make music with a hammer,but a ham-

mer can be used for carpentrywork.It is, however,possibleto make musicwith a flute. Aristotle inferred from this that a soul which is connected

with a vegetative instrumentalbody will never be able to manifest any-

thing other than vegetative life; but a soul with a sensitive instrumental

body will be able to display animal life. Startingfrom this fundamentally

23 Cf. Arist. Anim. II 1, 412b25-27.24 See Plu. Plat. quaest.8, 1006D. Cf. A.P. Bos (1999) 535-548. Hipp. Haer. VII 22,

10-13; see A.P. Bos, 'Basilides as an Aristotelianizing Gnostic', Vigil.Christ.54 (2000)44-60. See also D.L. V 33: opyavtKoi 6eeEce TOuTi)Eet cpO;Tt KaXECToKE)oevou. See fur-

ther Theophrastus, fr. 269 (W.W. Fortenbaugh) and Boethus of Sidon, in Simpl. In De

an. 247, 24.25 So, recently, H. Busche, Die Seeleals System.Aristoteles'Wissenschafl on der Psyche

(Hamburg 2001) 29.

26 Cf. Phys. II 1, 193b8; b12; 2, 194b13: av0p0cooSyap av0epooov yevva (with the

important addition: icKaikto); 7, 198a26; III 2, 202all; Gener. orr.II 6, 333b7; Part.

anim. I 1, 640a25; II 1, 646a33; Gener.anim. II 1, 735a21; Metaph.Z 7, 1032a25; 8,

1033b32; 0 8, 1049b25; A 3, 1070a8; a28; 4, 1070b31; b34; 5, 1071a13-16; N 5,

1092al6; E.E. II 6, 1222b17. G.P. Luttikhuizen indicated to me the interesting passagein the Gospelof Philipp. 75 that reads: 'a horse sires a horse, a man begets a man, a

god brings forth a god'.27 Cf. Arist. Gener. nim.II 3, 736b29-33: IIaOrlS v o)v VuXF^i5Uvaatl; 'x?poiuoat'axo;

eoite KKOitvoVTK:CvCatOXIeIotopo tx ovoox)Lg oTOtX x; Sotapo'on tlkt6tlltai vroXaiKalaZ&tiuat,ixov oito KaXi xotoaiOTI taxqppetlP)ct.

279

8/22/2019 'Aristotelian' and 'Platonic' Dualism in Hellenistic and Early Christian Philosophy and In

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/aristotelian-and-platonic-dualism-in-hellenistic-and-early 9/20

ABRAHAM P. BOS

differentapproachto the problemof soul, Aristotlecriticizes Plato and the

Pythagoreansand accuses them of connecting the soul with a body with-

out definingwhat kind of body this is.28That is to say, Aristotlecriticizesthe doctrinesof the philosophersbefore him becausethey speakonly about

a 'descent'of souls into mortal bodies, such that the consequencemust be

that the samesouls are present in man and animal, and that transmigra-

tion, also through higher and lower levels of life, can be naturallyassumed.

BecauseAristotlealso attributesa soul to plants, the earlier traditionentails

that animals,but also plants, possessa soul with, in principle, capacityfor

intellectuality.For Aristotle this is an entirely absurd consequence which

he puts under the heading of 'Pythagoreanmyths'29 nd rejectsaltogether.In his view, it is out of the question that just any soul takes up residence

in just any body.Aristotle thus rejects the notion of 'upward'or 'downward'mobility of

souls throughvariouslevels of life.Justin Martyr'scriticismof the Platonic

doctrine of transmigrations in fact stronglyinspired by Aristotle.30

In Aristotle'santhropologyonly man's soul possessesa 'potencyfor intel-

lect'.31This potency is actualized when the intellectualfunction is 'wakened'

by contact with the transcendent ntellect, i.e. God.We will have to pay attentionto the fact that, in pre-Hellenistictimes,

the stories about the wandering Odysseus were already seen as an alle-

gorical interpretationof the soul's vicissitudes.In any case Aristotle, too,

put his Eudemusn the context of 'the return home' and 'nostalgia'.32We

shouldconsiderhere that Pythagoreansand Platonistsmay have interpretedthe stories about Odysseus as an argument for their view of the soul's

transmigration hrough various (or all) levels of life. In Aristotlewe must

presume that he saw man's peregrinations n search of true happinessasrepresented n the songs about the great Odysseus.In this way the return

to the Fatherlandcould also be easily combined with the motif of the

reunion with the Beloved.

28 Arist. Anim.I 3, 407b13-26 and A.P. Bos, Hermes128 (2000) 20-31.29 Arist. Anim. I 3, 407b21: 'io6ep ?v65e60gevov Kaxra roIS nutayoptlKoi6q69o't; Miv

TuXo)oavVruXi1vi; bTOtVXv v6VeaoatocuDia.30Justin, Dial. 4, 2-4, 7. Cf. R.M. Grant, 'Aristotle and the conversion of Justin',

J. Theol.Stud. 7 (1956) 246-248; J.C.M. van Winden (1971) 69-84.

31This is suggested by, for instance, Arist. Anim. I 2, 404b5: o apaiverat ' o ye icara

(pp6vrotvX?E6gLevoSOi5;&aatv6gooix;gap?tv Toi;OitO;,X(t' o'ou Txoi;avOpdcotS;aotv.32 Cf. G. Meautis, "L'Orphisme dans 1'Eud&me'Aristote",R.EA. 57 (1955) 254; 261.

280

8/22/2019 'Aristotelian' and 'Platonic' Dualism in Hellenistic and Early Christian Philosophy and In

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/aristotelian-and-platonic-dualism-in-hellenistic-and-early 10/20

'ARISTOTELIAN' AND 'PLATONIC' DUALISM

No doubt Aristotledeveloped his discussionof the problem of the soul

in the context of a broad criticism of Plato's theory of the World Soul

and his theory of individual souls, as outlined in the Timaeusn particu-lar.33Aristotle'scriticismrelatedto Plato'sDemiurge,because this Demiurgehas features both of an Intellect and a World Soul. For Aristotle it was

clear that the Intellect is purely incorporealand only theoreticallyactive.

But the soul is productive, though 'not without body'.Whereas the doxographicaltraditionas we usually discuss it goes back

to Theophrastus' great work on the opinions of the naturalphilosophers,we should recognize that there was also another independent tradition

which ultimatelygoes back to Aristotle'sEudemus. his traditionhas passedon the view of the Greek philosopherson the soul and on the generationof living creatures, in a setting that presented generation (genesis) s the

greatestevil that could befellan individual ife-principle.But it also sketched

a meta-cosmic,a meta-physicalperspective.

I will now describe some featuresof Aristoteliandualism:

(a) The soul is incorporeal.This position is essential to Aristotle'spsychology,as it is for Platonistic

psychology. As a result, they both differ structurallyfrom any form of

materialisticpsychology.

(b) The soul is inextricablybound up with a naturalbody which serves

the soul as an instrument.34

The soul is thereforenot, as it is in Plato, the soul of a 'livingcreature'

in general, but the soul of a special kind of living creature(plant, animal,

man, or astralgod).

33 Cf. Arist. Anim.I 3, 407a2-407bll.34 Arist. Anim.II 1, 412a27-b9. Interestingly, Didymus the Blind, Comm. n Gen. 107,

7 [S. C. 233, p. 252] even speaks about the soul-body as an opyavtlcoi oadjaxo;! Cf.

Aristid. Quint., Mus. II 17, p. 88, 1 (ed. R.P. Winnington-Ingram). Also connected with

this is the notion of a body which serves the soul as a 'vehicle'. On this, cf. Galen,P.H.P. VII 7, 25-26: ei 6& cainepi VWX ooita; a&xopivotai 'pi, uoiv0drepovdvacyaltov

EiUtEiV TOlT ' eavatO oIov a)oYyoete; TEKIai(X?poiep oioa xeicxrov a'ZT,IV,Ei; O Kiav kIr

pou0XovTatKacT'lKXou0iavacpivovxtat tuicKOiEKai 'AptoThEXt;,f al)TT'iv?gV6a0oaXov

bmisapXEivioiav, oXrls(a ETo, cp6tov a&i;S Elvawl o)xi tOocb(laa1' o{ jhoo00iV 7cpO;

X&axo(tjCaxa cotvwviavXapavet. Greek text and translation in Galen,On thedoctrinesof Hippocratesnd Plato, edition, transl. and comm by P. de Lacy, III vols (Berlin 1978-

1984) vol. II, 474-475. A motif related to this theme is that of a pneumawhich 'per-forms diaconal work' for the purely intellectual principle. Cf. Basilides the Gnostic in

Hipp. Haer. VII 22, 10-11; Clem. Str. II 36, 1; Exc. Theod.16. Cf. W.A. Lohr, Basilides

und seine Schule Tiibingen 1996) 61-78.

281

8/22/2019 'Aristotelian' and 'Platonic' Dualism in Hellenistic and Early Christian Philosophy and In

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/aristotelian-and-platonic-dualism-in-hellenistic-and-early 11/20

ABRAHAMP. BOS

(c) The soul's bond with the visible body is an 'unnatural'bond.

The soul can be called 'imprisoned', chained',in its relation to the vis-

ible body.35The visible body in itself, apart from the ensouling effect ofthe soul, is frequentlyreferred to as a 'corpse', as a 'burden' which is

draggedalong by the soul.36On this point Aristotle'spsychologyis doubt-

less similarto Plato's. But in Aristotle the soul can only be connected with

the visible body by mediation of the (fine-material) nstrumentalbody,because the entire visiblebody must be produced by the soul with the aid

of its 'instrumentalnaturalbody'.

(d) Man's soul37needs to be 'released'from the visible body. This is a

turning away from sensory activitywith the concomitant emotions, and aconcentrationon itself.

(e) Aristotlemust have talked about a 'double' liberation:after the soul

has been released from the visible body, the intellect must free itself from

the (fine-material) oul-body.38

(f) A regularpart of the human soul's purificationafter it has cast off

the earthly body is the journey through the seven celestial spheres,where

it meets the Archons and casts off of the irrational soul-powers.

(g) The intellect-in-act is not a part of the soul but 'seems to be adifferentgenus of soul'.39The potency or dynamisor intellectualactivityis,

35 Cf. the texts on the famous motif of the 'Etrurian robbers' in Iambl. Protr.8 (47,

21-48, 9 Pistelli) = Arist. Protr.10b Ross; 73 Gigon, and August. C. Iul. Pel. IV 15, 78

= Arist. Protr.10b Ross; 823 Gigon. On this, see J. Brunschwig, 'Aristote et les pirates

tyrrheniens (A propos des fragments 60 Rose du Protreptique)',ev.philos.de la France88

(1963) 171-190; J. Pepin, 'La legende orphique du supplice tyrrh6nien', A. Cazenave;

J.F. Lyotard (eds), L'artdesconfins.Milangesofertsa M. de GandillacParis 1985) 387-406.36 Cf. Corp.Herm. X 8; 13; see also VII 2: tov TiS 0(popa&;au6v, TOvrCKoTtvOV

'epipoXov,bTV o)vxraavarov,Tovaio60rT6v eIcp6v,rTOv?pti(p6prTov(pov, TOv EvouIov

Xnoziv. Philo often uses the term veicpo(popeiv:Leg. III 22, 69-23, 74; I 33, 108; Gig.

3, 15; Agr. 5, 25; Migr. 5, 21; Heres 12, 58; 61, 309; Somn.II 36, 237; Q, Gen.I 93;

Orig. Cels.VII 45. Cf. J. Pepin (1985) 390-391 with n. 10. Aristid. Quint., Mus. II 17,

p. 88, 4 calls the visible body the 6opTpe&6e;pyavov.37 This restriction to souls which have a potency for intellectuality is indicated in e.g.

C.H. X 19: \vXil 6? &dv9p(oivnr, ov naoa {ev, I ?5'6 .?J3| ... {. r O&7caXXayAvatOV

o(oaTxoS .. 6X you; yivcait.

38 The motif of the 'double death' cannot be detached from the conception of the'double theology' and 'double psychology'. The theme of the 'double death' is found

explicitly in Plu. Facie942D-943E. But it is also clearly the import of C.H. X 16, Iren.

Haer. I 21, 5 and of Justin. Dial. 6, 2.39Anim. II 2, 413b24-27: rlpi 0? To voV KcaiTX'q;OecoplTtrCfi<;uvdaeeo;oV6?v tCo

(pavep6v, &a ' i?OtKceWu)Xq yvo; ?T?pove?vat, ial ToroUTo6vov ?VO?X?XatXo)pit?eat,

282

8/22/2019 'Aristotelian' and 'Platonic' Dualism in Hellenistic and Early Christian Philosophy and In

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/aristotelian-and-platonic-dualism-in-hellenistic-and-early 12/20

'ARISTOTELIAN' AND 'PLATONIC' DUALISM

in Aristotle'sview, a 'potency'or power of the soul. However, the nous-in-

act does not have a bond with any material activity. (The only metabasis

eis allogenoswhich Aristotle admitted in his philosophy is the metabasis f'nous-in-potency's potency of the soul, to 'nous-in-act',or 'nous-in-act's

of another genus.)

(h) The 'liberation'of the intellect from the (materiallycharacterized)soul is a matter of the intellect being 'wakened'.

(i) The soul is eternal but not imperishable.The soul survives after the

death of the earthly human individual,but the astral soul-body graduallydissolves into the eternal ethereal sphere.40

(j) The soul does not reincarnate,because what enters material realityis not the soul but the intellectualprinciple or something else of a tran-

scendent origin,41which is clothed with a psychic body.

(k)There is no question of transmigrationof a human soul to the bodyof an animal or vice versa (becauseevery soul has its own species-depen-dent instrumentalbody). 'A man begets a man' and a cat begets kittens.

This basic position in Aristotle was directed againstboth Plato's theory of

Ideas and his doctrine of reincarnationand transmigration.

(1)The final goal of human existence is to 'become godlike'.This idealis embraced equally by Platonistsand Aristotelians.But for Plato it means

that the soul develops into perfect intellectuality,for Aristotle that man

achieves actualization of his intellect and thus separationof the intellect

from the instrumentalbody of the soul.

(m) For Aristotle this entails: arrivingat perfect intellectualknowledgeof natural reality. There can be no question of an 'anamnesis' in the

Platonic sense. Aristotlelucidlycharacterizes remembering'as being based

on perception and as a matter of the animasensitiva.42ontemplation of

KaO0aiep &aiStovoi0qpaprxo I acceptthe translation f E. Barbotin,1966).Cf. Gener.anim. II 3, 736b28-29: iwxtcat xobv owv ,u6vovipa0ev ?EttvoatvatKaicOEiovE?va

OtVOVO0)iv yap axoi m ?vepyeia OIVOtV?O rOtaxtCi eveipyeta (text A.L. Peck).4 Cf. Hipp. Haer. 20, 3; 20, 6. This is also the implicationof Themist.In De an.

106, 29-107, 5 = Arist.Eudem.r. 2 Ross;58 Gigon,whereThemistius eports hat the

proofsof the soul's immortalityn the Eudemusffectivelyamountedto proofsof the

intellect's mmortality.41 In the GnosticBasilides his is the 'Sonship',which requires he holy Pneumaoascend to the TranscendentHipp.Haer.VII 22, 9-13).

42 That is why Aristotledoes talk aboutthe soul'spost-mortalmemoryof its earthlyexistence.Cf. Procl. In Remp. I, 349, 13-26 (Kroll)= Arist. Eudem.r. 5 Ross; 923

Gigon.Plu. Facie944F-945B;Plot. Enn.IV 4 [28] 5, 15.

283

8/22/2019 'Aristotelian' and 'Platonic' Dualism in Hellenistic and Early Christian Philosophy and In

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/aristotelian-and-platonic-dualism-in-hellenistic-and-early 13/20

ABRAHAM P. BOS

the Ideas is not a form of sense perception but an activity of the mind.

(n) In the Aristotelian traditionthe soul is presentedas enhylos, ecause

it forms a substantialunity with its instrumentalbody. Aristotle also pre-sents the instrumentalbody as the vehicle of the logosor the logoiof the

soul. The notion of logoi permatikois thereforenot a Stoic contributionto

the philosophicaldiscussionbut an Aristotelianheme43 esignedto overcome

the problem of Platonism,the separatenessof 'form, 'Idea', and 'matter'.

On the basis of this distinction between the Aristotelian and Platonic

varietiesof dualism we shall have to reconsiderthe texts which played a

role in the debate over the soul'sincarnation, n order to examine how far

they possiblyshow the influenceof Aristotle'spsychology,as presented n hisfamous dialogueEudemusrOn theSoul,but also held in his extant writings.

I now want to take two of these facets of 'Aristoteliandualism'(f. and

h.) and use them to show the high probabilityof Aristotelian nfluenceon

the later discussions.

Thesoul'sascenthroughheheavenlypheres

In its treatisesI ('Poimandres')nd X the Hermetic Corpusuppliesclearexamplesof a 'dualism' that is significantlyun-Platonic.In these accounts,the soul after death ascends through the spheres of the Heimarmenend

casts off a covering at every stage in this journey.44The reason why the

soul possessesthese coveringsis given in treatiseI in the descriptionof the

descent of the divine Anthrdposhrough the spheres of the World Rulers,who give him 'presents'by which the divine Anthroposets part of their

nature.45As a result, his essential identity with the transcendent God is

veiled and hidden and disappears,as it were, behind a temporarynewidentity with the astralpowers. Besides this conception of the soul-cover-

ings, the 'double theology' of these Hermetic treatises is also typicallyun-

Platonic and characteristicallyAristotelian.

43 Cf Arist. Gener.anim.II 1, 734b28-735a4.

44 On this theme, seeJ. Dillon, 'The descent of the soul in Middle Platonic and Gnostic

theory',B. Layton (ed.), Therediscoveryfgnosticism,ol. 1 (Leiden 1980) 357-364; W. Bousset,

Die HimmelsreiseerSeele 1901; repr. Darmstadt 1971); I.P. Culianu, Psychanodia. A surveyof the evidenceoncerningheascension f the soul and its relevanceLeiden 1983).

45 C.H. I 13: oi 5E ilpaTOrliav a-rxro, ?KaTcaoo6e retsi6&ou;S iaiS atXg.6) l(ai aa-

a0v iv vyiervaxtTET z c vowiaik,x&v a iovqes ... Cf. also AristidesQuintilianus,Mus. II 17, p. 87, 11-14 (Winnington-Ingram)and AJ. Festugiere, "L'ame et la musique

d'apres Aristide Quintilien", TIAm. Philol.Association5 (1954) 55-78, repr. in id. J8tudes

dephilosophie recqueParis 1971) 463-486, pp. 470-474.

284

8/22/2019 'Aristotelian' and 'Platonic' Dualism in Hellenistic and Early Christian Philosophy and In

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/aristotelian-and-platonic-dualism-in-hellenistic-and-early 14/20

'ARISTOTELIAN' AND 'PLATONIC' DUALISM

The model for this representationcan be found in the treatiseDe mundo,no matter how the authorshipof the work is viewed. For even if it is not

by Aristotle'shand, there are good reasons for dating the work before 250BC and not to the firstcenturybefore or afterChrist,as was oftenthought.46

Chapter 1 of this treatise, too, draws a picture of the soul which leaves

its earthlybody and rises, guided by its intellect, to heavenly spheres.The

expressionsand metaphorsused in this chapterled P. Moraux at the time

to characterizet as purelyPlatonic. He found 'nothingtypicallyAristotelian'

in the chapter.47n the fourth chapter of the same work, however,pneumais said to be the 'ensouled and fertilizingsubstance'which pervadesall liv-

ing creatures.48The rules of philology require us to presupposethe doc-trinal unity of the work and to conclude that Platonic themes have here

been given a different,namely Aristotelian,setting in this work.

What is more, chapter 6 of De mundo ffers the great theological com-

parison of the transcendent God to the Persian Great King in his royal

palace in Susa or Ecbatana,surroundedby his royal guards,and shielded

from the massesby the seven walls of his royal castle with their numerous

gatewaysand watchposts,and thus developsthe importantexample for all

furtherdescriptionsof the soul's fate after death.49The informationon Aristotle's ost works also forces us to attribute this

'non-Platonicdualism' to Aristotle. For it is certain that Aristotle'sEudemus

talked about the soul's 'return home' after the death of the human indi-

vidual. But Aristotle had also passed fundamental criticism on Plato's the-

ory of soul, in which the immaterial soul possessesa movement of its own

and can even be a principle of self-movement.50And Cicero says that

Aristotleheld the human soul to consist of the astral element.5l

46 Cf. J. Barnes, Class. Rev. 27 (1977) 440-443; D.M. Schenkeveld, 'Language and

style of the Aristotelian De mundon relation to the question of its inauthenticity', Elenchos

12 (1991) 221-255; G. Reale; A.P. Bos, II trattatoSul cosmoper Alessandro ttribuito d

AristoteleMilano 1995).47 P. Moraux, DerAristotelismuseidenGriechen.VonAndronikosisAlexander onAphrodisias

vol. II (Berlin 1984) 8-9; Ital. ed. (Milano 2000) vol. II 1, 18.

48 Mu. 4, 394b10: Aeyxalt 6e Kcai kpoSq vebLa ii e ev (Pxoi; ical 4otq (oooa) Kal i t

iavTov68ilcouaa e`VnXX6Sc?cai y6vtloS;o6oxa. The addition (ooa)c was suggested byD. Holwerda, Mnemosyne6 (1993) 50.

49 Cf. C.H. I 24-26, and the Archons of the system of the Ophites which Orig. Cels.

VI 30-33; VII 40 describes; the Song of the Pearlin the Acts of Thomas110-111; Gospelof

May 15-17.

50 Arist. Anim. I 3, 405b31-407bll.51 Cf. Arist. Philos. fr. 27 Ross; T. 18, 1; fr. 994; 995; 996 Gigon.

285

8/22/2019 'Aristotelian' and 'Platonic' Dualism in Hellenistic and Early Christian Philosophy and In

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/aristotelian-and-platonic-dualism-in-hellenistic-and-early 15/20

ABRAHAM P. BOS

Anyone not blinded by the perspectiveof the traditionalAristotle inter-

pretationmust be preparedto consider that Aristotlealreadydevelopedhis

alternativetheory of soul in the Eudemus, theory of a guiding imma-terial soul-principlewhich uses a naturalbody as an instrumentand as a

vehicle.

The intellecthat s wakened

The theme of 'the sleeping (world)soul' or of 'the intellect that is wak-

ened' is highly suitablefor showing, on the one hand, that modern schol-

ars have encounteredmany problems here and, on the other, that these

problems can perhapsbe solved via a differentapproach.Our starting-point s the text of Alcinous' TheHandbookf Platonism.52

This work was formerlyattributed to Albinus. In any case it professesto

be in the Platonistic tradition. In his doctrine of principles or theologyAlcinous talkssuccessivelyabout 'matter','the Ideas', and 'God'.53 n chap-ter 10 he describes God in a way which cannot be traced back to Plato's

own oeuvre. The 'first God' is called the Intellect, who always thinks all

intelligibiliacollectivelyin a pure fashion, free of and unmixed with anysensiblereality.This supremeGod is then said to be the cause of the eter-

nal actualizationof the WorldIntellect.And God, thoughhimselfunmoved,is causejust as the Sun is the cause of seeing and the object of desire the

cause of desire.

Alcinousclarifies he way in which the transcendent ntellectis the cause

of the World Intellect as follows: 'By his own will he has filled all thingswith himself,rousingup the soul of the world and turningit towards him-

self, as being the cause of its intellect. It is this latter that, set in order bythe Father, itself imposes order on all of nature in this world'.54 n chap-ter 14 the author adds the comment: 'Also, God does not create the soul

of the world, since it exists eternally,but he bringsit to order, and to this

extent he might be said to create it, by awakeningand turning towards

himselfboth its intellect and itself, as out of some deep coma or sleep, so

52 Alcinous,The Handbook f Platonism,English transl., introd., philosophical comm. by

J. Dillon (Oxford 1993). Alcinoos,Enseignementes doctrines e Platon,introd., texte etabli

et commente par J. Whittaker et traduit par P. Louis (Paris 1990).53 Alcinous, Didask.8-10; p. 162, 24ff.

54 Alcinous, Didask. X 164, 42-165, 4: Kcara appjv ab(TO oi[ArnIotv gsgTfrXlceEtdvtra

EiaVTOi, v VuXuiIvOViO6COo)i?yEEipaCal ?Ei atb'rTvtaOTpEvcv,TOil oViaoT6i; aitXto;

btalpXov- 0; KOIl Ot o TOVboCatpo6;aOKOtIcE oi(T16oaCaavPqCtVeV TvE Tip KOiC6aopp.

286

8/22/2019 'Aristotelian' and 'Platonic' Dualism in Hellenistic and Early Christian Philosophy and In

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/aristotelian-and-platonic-dualism-in-hellenistic-and-early 16/20

'ARISTOTELIAN' AND 'PLATONIC' DUALISM

that by looking towards the objects of intellection inherent in him it mayreceive the Forms and shapes, through strivingto attain to his thoughts.'55

In his discussionof Alcinous'theologyof the transcendentsupremeGod,J. Dillon remarked: It is in fact the AristotelianPrime Mover of MetaphysicsXII. The descriptionof God is to be seen neither as original to Albinus

nor as, properly speaking,eclectic.As far as Albinus is concerned,Aristotle

is simply in this case giving a true account of Platonicdoctrine'.56His dis-

cussion of Alcinous' doctrine of the World Soul is unclear because Dillon

seems to suggestthat, accordingto Alcinous, 'the irrationalWorld Soul or

the World Soul in its irrational or unorganizedaspect' needs to be wak-

ened and organized.57 n his discussion of the same motif in Plutarch,Dillon had observed: This image of the sleepingWorld Soul (the 'Sleeping

Beauty' myth, one might call it) is rather mysteriousin origin. It is not a

Platonic image in this form, though the image of our life as a sleep or

dream is an old and respectable one. It may simply be an imaginative

development of the Politicusmyth, but the fact that it is found in both

Plutarch and Albinus suggeststhat it is older than both.'58

W. Deuse, too, paid attention to the texts of Alcinous cited above, group-

ing them under the heading 'Seele und Nous' and characterizing hem as'Dualismus Gott-Seele'.59For Deuse it is clear that Alcinous works with

the conceptual pair 80vaCtt;--vepyea, which derives from Aristotle. He

also refers to Aristotelian extswhich could be illuminatingand which were

alreadymentioned in this context by J. Mansfeld.60

55 Alcinous, Didask.XIV 169, 36-41: Kai THilyVyVv 5v a?elouxaavxKoob6gi oXit ioiei

b 096;, &Xa Kacaacoog?l, icl Talt XeyovT'v cKal otIeI, eyeipov Kal Itotp9pov xp6;

aivbv T6vET ov atiic Kcal iTvv 'oaxep iKKcapoutvoc; 3aOeoS itrvo), OXoS &nopXknooaaip6o; xa voyca amxoXto xati&a t a't l aiS; ptoppas;, tpiegivn TO EfKei.ivooongactov.

56 J. Dillon, TheMiddle Platonists.A studyof Platonism80 B.C.-A.D. 220 (London 1977)

283; cf. id. (1993) 103. In 1977 he still identified Albinus as the author of the Didaskalikos.

On p. 276 Dillon already noted that Didask.used 'Aristotle's distinction between theo-

retical and practical wisdom'. Cf. also A.H. Armstrong (1991) 117.57 J. Dillon (1977) 284. Cf. id. (1993) 106 and xxxiii. But we will have to maintain

that only the soul's intellectual dynamis an be wakened to intellectuality.58 J. Dillon (1977) 296, with reference to Plu. Procr. anim. 1026EF. See also his

p. 287 andJ. Whittaker (1990) 114 n. 267. We find the same doctrine in Aristid. Quint.

Mus. III 25, p. 128, 29: thv yap 8il vxIZ vl 'X&e pevaoav&aof3oXoi (pov1oacE; o68evaXk' Va&yvoaiaKal XA0 itaToyvCoogarticovytvoeevrv Kcapov.

59 W. Deuse, Untersuchungenur mittelplatonischenndneuplatonischeneelenlehreWiesbaden

1983) 82; cf. K. Alt (1993) 49. This author concludes on p. 50 that this theme is a

'Paradoxon' in Alcinous.60 Arist. Metaph.A 9, 1074b17-18, where the theme of a 'sleeping god' is brought

287

8/22/2019 'Aristotelian' and 'Platonic' Dualism in Hellenistic and Early Christian Philosophy and In

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/aristotelian-and-platonic-dualism-in-hellenistic-and-early 17/20

ABRAHAM P. BOS

However, Deuse here has missed the truly important text in Aristotle,De anima I 1. Essential to the Aristoteliantheory of soul is the proposi-

tion: 'Withregardto the presenceof soul a distinctioncan be made between(a state of) sleep and (a state of) waking.Wakingis analogousto the studyof science, while sleep is analogousto the possessionof science without it

being studied.61 For Aristotlethis implies that the soul is structurally us-

ceptible to 'change' and so must have a somatic substrate.And all 'parts'or 'powers'of the soul can therefore be present 'in potency' and 'in act'.62

In this way Aristotle states, at the 'bottom' of the soul-functions,that a

grain of corn and a beech-nut can be in a state of germinative rest, i.e.

can be the germinative seeds of an ear of corn and a beech tree, even with-out displaying growth. In the same way Aristotle states that the embryo of

an animal or human being is, in its initial state, only vegetatively 'operative',

but does not realize sensitive or motory functions until a later stage. In

this way he has also made clear, at the 'top' of the scale of soul-functions,

that a human being may have realized all his specific psychic functions (of

sensation, emotion, locomotion) without having achieved intellectual activ-

ity. However, what is specific to his theory of soul is that he presented the

'potency for intellect' as a 'potency of the souf. At the same time he pre-sented the 'nous-in-act' as being 'of another genus' than the soul, because

the 'nous-in-act' does not have a relation with any material activity. The

consequence of Aristotle's dualism of soul and intellect was, besides, that

the transition from 'nous-in-potency' to 'nous-in-act' could not be regarded

as a natural process, like teething or learning to walk. The intellect-of-the-

soul only achieves realization because the soul turns away from material

reality and is attracted by the reality of the NJoeta.

This motif was given a mythological elaboration by Aristotle in his mythof the 'dreaming god Kronos' in the Eudemus.63 his myth constitutes his

up; and Eth. Eud. II 1, 1219b19, where sleep is described as the inactivity of the soul.

Cf. J. Mansfeld, 'Three notes on Albinus', 7Thta-Pi1 (1972) 61-80, p. 65.61 Arist. Anim.II 1, 412a23-26: ev yapp i'napXetv ilv Xilv cKa iirvoS Kaicaypirpyopoi;

WcTtv,&avdoyov6' if (lv ?yptiyopot4T 0ope??iv,b6 ivo; toXv iEaVKait hvepyeiv. Cf.

II 1, 412a10-ll.62 The abovementioned text in Eth. Eud. II 1, 1219b19 is therefore totally irrelevant.

It is concerned with sleep (of living creatures with powers of perception). In Anim. II1, 412a23-26 Aristotle compares the two modes of being of (every) soul with the two

states of sleeping and waking.63 Tert. Anim.46 = Arist. Protr. r. 20 Ross; 979 Gigon: solum, si forte, ridebo, qui

se existimavit persuasurum, quod prior omnibus Saturnus somniavit; nisi si et prioromnibus vixit. Aristoteles, ignosce ridenti. Cf. A.P. Bos, Cosmicand meta-cosmicheologyn

Aristotle'sost dialoguesLeiden 1989) 71-98; Ital. ed. (Milano 1991) 151-191.

288

8/22/2019 'Aristotelian' and 'Platonic' Dualism in Hellenistic and Early Christian Philosophy and In

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/aristotelian-and-platonic-dualism-in-hellenistic-and-early 18/20

'ARISTOTELIAN' AND 'PLATONIC' DUALISM

alternative to the doctrine of the World Soul in Plato's Politicus nd the

Timaeus.

ClearlyAlcinousintegratedthis line of thoughtinto his versionof Plato'sphilosophybecause he was convinced that Aristotle was right to postulatethat the soul is the principle of life in ensouled bodies and that the intel-

lect is not a productive but an orientating and guiding principle. The

World Soul, according to Alcinous too, is the entity which, immanent in

the cosmos, is active demiurgicallyand productively,giving concrete shapeto the forms after the example of the Intelligibilia in the transcendent

Intellect. Alcinous' text clearly shows a deep infusion with the essential

ideas of Aristotelianphilosophy.That is why we need to reject the hypo-thesis ofJ. Dillon that the Middle Platonistconception of the World Soul

should be understood to follow from an acceptance by later Platonistsof

the Stoic doctrine of Logos.64The same motifof the need for the intellect of the World Soul to be wak-

ened is also present in the remarkableexegesis of Plato's Timaeusrovided

by Plutarchin De procreationenimae.65lutarch follows the same tradition

in the myth of Defacie in orbe unae,where he pictures the dreaming god

Kronos as bound by Zeus in the chains of sleep, but also as the agentwho, throughhis dreamoracles,controls all that is realizedin the cosmos.66

This line is also pursued in Hermetic CorpusX 5, where Ouranos and

Kronos are presented as leaving their bodies in their sleep and partici-

pating in the most beautifulcontemplation.67

64 See J. Dillon (1977) 46: 'another development characteristic of Middle Platonism,

deriving not from the Old Academy but rather arising as a development from Stoicism,that

is, the distinguishingof a

firstand

second God.The

distinction between a com-pletely transcendent, self-intelligizing figure, and an active demiurgic one. The later

Platonists adopted the Stoic Logos into their system as the active force of God in the

world'. Cf. id. (1993) xxxiii. ContraDillon it can be argued that both the Stoic doctrine

of Logos and the Middle Platonist doctrine of the World Soul resulted from Aristotle's

criticism of Plato's theory of soul.

65 Plu. Procr.anim. 1026E-F: Eoaat6E Xpt Ovou) ,oipa cai y?yovev /Si no ictaK1;,ev

Xo plav(p6vitgov a&gp3XveTatal KcacxaspOdav?tkhr;tgtuXE ca?vov xOi)oiKeios)...d'

a&vlveyKev05i;0ta p ,Xti Kai a veEWe iCp6Oi napads6eylaOeo5 ouve7tcoxpepovTo;aicI

ao)vaTe?)9ovovxo;. Cf. 1016C: ()uxilv) i0v 6 Oe6; ... T) aioialtKu ) o VoepOVKatiTx KIv-

rjtKXcq)TreTa7yoevov dp' ai'vo5 capaoXov lyeRova Tou Ravtxo; eyKaT?aoeoav. K. Alt (1993)20 gets no further than: 'Der Gedanke, dass das Geistige in der Seele schlaft, ist

auffallend'.And: 'innerhalbder Timaios-Erklarungbleibt diese Variante aus dem Politikos-

Mythos ein schlecht integrierbarer Sonderaspekt'.66 Plu. Facie941A-942B, esp. 941F: axrov kev yap T6vKpovovev avrpw 3a90EiE?plt?eo6at

TcrxpaS%poOE1thboS1 ca0e)uovTa. Txv yatp i cvov amc ) RgllexavfoOatl &?ogC,v u7tc0 o) A6o;.67 C.H.X 5: h; 0o1 )uvad VOI ^eoVt apXpoao9al xT; 09laS; aoXaKtcotpliovXat O icaKi;

289

8/22/2019 'Aristotelian' and 'Platonic' Dualism in Hellenistic and Early Christian Philosophy and In

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/aristotelian-and-platonic-dualism-in-hellenistic-and-early 19/20

ABRAHAM P. BOS

In the same traditionPhilo of Alexandria holds that first the transcen-

dent Intellectbringsforth the Logos and then the Logos vitalizesand pro-

duces the visible cosmos.68In this traditionwe also find the Gnostic theme of the 'conversion'of

the cosmic World Archons.This is frequentlypresentedas a 'makingcon-

tact' of transcendentReality with the cosmic reality of the Archons. In

spiritualizing onceptionsof ChristianizingGnostics 'the voice from heaven'

which speakswhen Jesus is baptized in the Jordan by John the Baptist is

often explained in the same way.69

Entirelyparallelwith this theme on a macrocosmic scale we find pas-

sages which refer to the 'wakening' of an individual man's intellect.Characteristically,Philo describes how Abraham is 'wakened as from a

deep sleep' and then sees with 'his soul's eye' the pure light instead of

deep darkness.Accordingto Philo, this happenedwhen Abrahamabjuredthe cosmic theology of the Chaldeans and received knowledge of the

supreme,the trulytranscendentGod.70For Abrahamthis was not a migra-tion to a foreign countrybut a returnto his Fatherland.7" he mistake of

the Chaldeans was that they worshipped 'the Powers' of God instead of

God himself.'2The proclamationof the Hermetic apostle is: 'cease your inebriation,

intoxicated as you are by an irrationalsleep'.73The same motif is found

in the Excerptaex Iheodoto.74

[8&I 'n zoi5G76aO4wiSdi icaXXiatv 6yjtv tep Oipav'o;xai Kp6'vo;,oi ifigkepot np6'yovot,

evmtF,i,jXatv. Cf. H. Jonas, T-he nosticreligionBoston 21963) 68-91. The author sees

this as a fundamental characteristic of Gnosticism. He fails to note any connection

with Greekphilosophy.

See also G.W.MacRae, 'Sleeping

andwaking

in Gnostic texts',U. Bianchi (ed.), Le originidellognosticismoLeiden 1970) 496-507.

68Philo, Opjf. 16-25.

69 Cf. Basilides in Hipp. Haer. VII 26, 1: -jXeOvlv t6 vu'ayyatov [npdvrov]&in'i6';

uib6m,o; .. lrpb4rv apXovra ... Kat?meaTPE\IE,wuvted4V otaVavyvota See W. Foerster,

'Vom Ursprung der Gnosis', K. Wessel (ed.), ChristentummJil (Recklinghausen 1964)

124-130, p. 127. The same author on p. 128 points to the intriguing text of the Megalk

apophasis,n Hipp. Haer. VI 16, 5: niavt6 o7v,qrqafi,o&oyevviitocxtiv -v iijtv Suva,Ret,

oi-ic VEPYEmi,... eVYPaii,iatudi (fr1 1Y&oIrrPudj.E&V (dV) o TV I{Xp TOil o6youToIl

ICpo"llCoVToc 1ica 8t8aoXahiaS. .. eGat ... Kaploc; TOE1to;E cEt)OVoaTPEVO;.

70 Philo, Abr. 60-72.71 Philo, Abr. 62.

72 Philo, Abr. 69; cf. Opif.7-8. See also A.P. Bos, 'Philo of Alexandria: a Platonist in

the image and likeness of Aristotle', StudiaPhilonicaAnnual 10 (1998) 66-86.71 C.H. I 27: ra{craaae & iKpatnaXdvre;, 0Ecy6gevot "'iSrvo 'X6yT.Cf. VII 1-2; X 15;

IV 4.

7 Clem. Exc. Theod. 3, 2: iSirvo;& tjv A8x1`iilXA0NiSni inv iveI"XE Ki 6ra(XX)Fivat.

290

8/22/2019 'Aristotelian' and 'Platonic' Dualism in Hellenistic and Early Christian Philosophy and In

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/aristotelian-and-platonic-dualism-in-hellenistic-and-early 20/20

'ARISTOTELIAN' AND 'PLATONIC' DUALISM

W. Foerstermakes a good point when he arguesthat the 'call to awaken'

forms the origin of Gnosticism.75But we should consider here that this

concept builds on the philosophicalfoundation laid by Aristotle when hedistinguishedbetween the presence of soul 'as sleeping'and 'as wakened'.76

Vrije Universiteit,AMSTERDAM

E-mail: [email protected]

Likewise Gospelof the Truth22; SecretBookof John cod. II 31, 5-25. The fact that this

can be linked with 'Adam's sleep' does not imply that the theme of sleep has a Jewish

origin, as G.W. MacRae (1979) 498-499 suggests.75 W. Foerster (1964) 129.

76 I would like to thank drsJ.L. de Jong for his very useful comments on an earlier

version of this paper.

291