The Middle Platonists: 80 B.C. to A.D. 220

by John M. Dillon

Aristotle thus put the chicken before the egg

Genres: Philosophy, History, Esoterica, Christianity

430 pages, Paperback

First published May 16, 1996

About the author

John Myles Dillon (/ˈdɪlən/; born 15 September 1939) is an Irish classicist and philosopher who was Regius Professor of Greek in Trinity College, Dublin between 1980 and 2006. Prior to that he taught at the University of California, Berkeley. He was elected a corresponding member of the Academy of Athens on 15 June 2010. Dillon's area of research lies in the history of Platonism from the Old Academy to the Renaissance, and also Early Christianity.

Reviews

[Jared Saltz · Rating 5 out of 5]

John Dillon writes the definitive treatment on Middle Platonism and its importance for the understanding of God, the world, and philosophy in 2nd Temple Judaism and Early Christianity, including Greco-Roman and Judeo-Christian writers from Antiochus of Ascalon to Philo, Plutarch to Plotinus, from Plato to Porphyry (which constitute Platonism and Neo-Platonism, respectively). This is a must read for any who are interested in philosophical developments at this crucial juncture. Dillon tends to allow Philo more originality than many of his peers, and doesn't think that some of the minor characters should be given so much influence in the development of philosophy as other scholars.

[Robert Murphy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Even though this book is comparatively old, it is still a classic for studying the development of Platonic thought from Plato to Plotinus. Dillon has a very good method and he does a great job of focusing in on important aspects of the wide range of material. He makes the reader aware that this is not an exhaustive book on Middle Platonism and gives points for future research (though it has probably been researched by this point). His inclusion of the Neopythagoreans and his brief survey of the "underworld" of Platonism at this time were very stimulating and piqued my interest.

[Hoyden · Rating 4 out of 5]

Don't leave home without it!

[Riccardo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Un manuale ancora valido e utile dopo oltre 40 anni dalla sua pubblicazione.