Crantor

Great Crane († 276 or 275 BC) was a Greek philosopher ( Platonist ).

Life

Port Crane came from Soli in Cilicia and joined the Academy of Athens, where he studied with Xenocrates and its successor Polemon and then began to teach himself. He was popular as a teacher and could have set up their own school, but the Academy remained faithful. One would have expected him to take over the management of the Academy, but he died in 276 or 275 before the reigning Scholarchen (school principal ) Polemon. Philosophy Historically significant was the fact that Port Crane won the Arkesilaos for the academy because Arcesilaus became his chief disciple and later founded as Scholarch a new direction, the younger Academy (also called Middle Academy ). The two were also close friends and lived together. Crantor left Arcesilaus his fortune of twelve talents of silver.

Work

Like other philosophers of that time was Crantor very productive. From his extensive writings only a few fragments survive. These is his commentary on Plato's Timaeus, which begins the story of the Timaeus commentary. In it, he emphasized with regard to the cosmogony of the timelessness of the order of being. The fact that Plato represents the cosmos something that has come and thus time -dependent in the Timaeus, is not concrete according to Crane Gate considers not to be understood literally as a temporal succession but said only as a didactic purpose, namely to the mythical illustration of the dependence of caused by the polluter.

In the Timaeus commentary to Crantor also dealt with the Atlantis myth. A note in a traditional of Proclus fragment of the commentary is - and has been since ancient times - interpreted to the effect that Crantor kept the myth of a historical fact, and serves as proof of an early debate about the historicity of the Atlantis story. The interpretation of the passage is disputed; maybe it is not a separate expression Crane Gate, but only a reproduction of a passage in the Timaeus.

The ancient posterity had Crantor mainly as ethicists in memory. Cicero and Horace testify that he was in this area as a classic. Famous was his letter of consolation over the grief. Plays a central role in his conception of nature, awareness, equating the natural with the appropriate and correct. In his view, are the natural emotions ( negative like fear, anger and sadness ) functional facilities and nature. Therefore, they are entitled and not to suppress (provided that the right balance is maintained ). A kill of the emotions which leads to numbness, would disregard human nature. This port crane turns against the Cynic and Stoic apathy - ideal.

Iconography

A silver statuette found in 1813 in Bordeaux, which is now in the National Library in Paris, shows a philosopher who is by a typical attribute, a scroll in as a member of the Platonic Academy. In the research literature, the assumption has been expressed that it is Crantor.