Albinus (philosopher)

Albinos (Greek Ἀλβῖνος ) was an ancient philosopher. The term " albinos of Smyrna " is not appropriate, since it is unknown whether Smyrna was his hometown. He was a Platonist and lived around the middle of the 2nd century, in the time of Mittelplatonismus, whose leaders he belonged. His philosophy was still in Late Antiquity appreciation.

Life

That albinos was a student of Mittelplatonikers Gaios, can be tapped from the fact that he collected material from the lectures. From an observation of the physician Galen shows that albinos taught to the mid-2nd century in Smyrna in Asia Minor.

In the earlier research albinos was identified wrongly with a different Mittelplatoniker, the author of the Didaskalikos, an introductory presentation of the teachings of Plato. According to the current state of research, it is clear that the Didaskalikos comes from a philosopher named Alcinous, which is expressly referred to in the manuscripts as an author.

Works

From the works of albinos has remained only a get, probably in the form of a Vortragsnachschrift: the "Introduction to Plato's Dialogues" ( Eisagōgḗ ice tous Platonos dialógous ). It first uses the term "dialogue" explains then the dialogues in teaching and examination dialogues are divided, and it is recommended a sequence for reading: One should start with the Alcibiades I, dealing with the task of the philosopher, then read the Phaedo, as a third are the Politeia and finally the Timaeus, whose theme cosmology and the deity. For students who want to become philosophers, and have therefore to deepen in Plato's complete works, looks albinos a different order of reading before a wider audience of beginners. The order of the tetralogy division he refuses, since it is not didactically useful.

The titles of three lost works have survived:

• " From the presentations of Gaios ," a collection of transcripts from the teaching of Gaios, which one of eleven books of existing part was titled as " Broad Platonic doctrines ."
• "Over the doctrines of Plato " in at least three books
• "On the incorporeal things," a treatise in which he took a critical look at the Stoic ontology, which can come no independent reality the non-material.

In addition, probably came Comments to Plato's dialogues Timaeus and Phaedo, perhaps to Politeia.

Since albinos was equated in modern research long erroneously with the Mittelplatoniker Alkinoos, there were formerly also its font Didaskalikos to his works.

Teaching

As to the question whether Plato's statements are taken literally as statements of fact or as approximations to the truth, albinos is of the view that Plato depending on the nature of the substance partly the one and partly the other approach selected. In the old controversy about whether the creation account in the Timaeus in the sense of how the world is to be conceived in the time he speaks for choosing the interpretation of that world is without beginning and Plato not in the literal sense, but only metaphorically of their creation wrote. For Albinos Plato's formulations are to be understood, that the world is " created " only in the sense that their existence has a cause that is not in itself.

As Iamblichus says, took albinos as a reason for the descent of the soul from the purely spiritual realm of Nous in the physical world, a wrong decision on, for which the free will of the soul is responsible. The Platonic doctrine of the immortality he was referring only to the rational soul, the non- rational part of the soul he held on fleeting.

Reception

Among the listeners of albinos belonged to the later famous physician Galen, who was on his account moved, among other things of Pergamon to Smyrna. It can be seen that albinos enjoyed great prestige.

The satirist Lucian of Samosata, a contemporary of albinos, wrote a dialogue Nigrinos that of the conversion of a conversation participant to philosophy under the influence of the title character - is - a Platonist. One discussed since the 19th century hypothesis is that it is in the name Nigrinos a pseudonym for albinos. This assumption, however, is speculative.

The church father Tertullian mentioned albinos twice in connection with the Platonic doctrine of metempsychosis and praises his statement as perceptive, although he does not share his opinion. The Neoplatonist Proclus is one of the most important albinos Platonists. Even an anonymous traditional late antiquity list ( canons ) of recommended authors calls him among the " most useful" commentators of Plato's philosophy. Even in the 6th century used the Neoplatonists Priskianos Lydos albinos ' "Principles of Platonic doctrines ."

During the Renaissance Eisagoge was known - Marsilio Ficino copied them by hand - but found it in the humanists very little attention. It was not until 1707 appeared the first edition, worried by Johann Albert Fabricius, with a Latin translation. In modern research has been greatly hampered by the erroneous identification of the author of Didaskalikos with albinos. This equation, which Jacob Freudenthal had made ​​in 1879 and for decades the prevailing view was, meant that the positions represented in Didaskalikos shaped the image of the scholars of the philosophy of albinos.

Text editions and translations

• Burkhard Reis ( Ed.): The Platonist Albinos and his so-called Prologos. Reichert, Wiesbaden 1999, ISBN 3-89500-128-7 ( critical edition of Eisagoge with translation )
• Ada B. Neschke - Hentschke: The transformation of philosophy in Albinus ' Introduction to the Platonic dialogues. In: Norbert Dubowy, Sören Meyer- Eller (ed.): Festschrift Rudolf Bockholdt 60th birthday. Ludwig, Oberpfaffenhofen, 1990, ISBN 3-926115-29-7, pp. 13-31 ( translation of Eisagoge a comment)