Peripatetic school

The Peripatetic school was a school of philosophy in Ancient Greece.

Greece. Its teachings derived
from its founder, Aristotle (384–322 BC), and peripatetic is an adjective ascribed to his
followers.

Aristotle's School, a painting from the 1880s by Gustav Adolph Spangenberg

The school dates from around 335 BC when Aristotle began teaching in the Lyceum. It was
an informal institution whose members conducted philosophical and scientific inquiries.
After the middle of the 3rd century BC, the school fell into a decline, and it was not until the
Roman era that there was a revival. Later members of the school concentrated on preserving
and commenting on Aristotle's works rather than extending them; it died out in the 3rd
century.

The study of Aristotle's works by scholars who were called Peripatetics continued through
Late Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and the Renaissance. After the fall of the Western Roman
Empire, the works of the Peripatetic school were lost to the Latin West, but they were
preserved in Byzantium and also incorporated into early Islamic philosophy. Western Europe
recovered Aristotelianism from Byzantium and from Islamic sources in the Middle Ages.
 History

The term peripatetic is a transliteration of the ancient Greek word περιπατητικός

(peripatētikós), which means "of walking" or "given to walking about".[1] The Peripatetic
school, founded by Aristotle,[2] was actually known simply as the Peripatos.[3] Aristotle's
school came to be so named because of the peripatoi ("walkways", some covered or with
colonnades) of the Lyceum where the members met.[4] The legend that the name came from
Aristotle's alleged habit of walking while lecturing may have started with Hermippus of
Smyrna.[5]

Unlike Plato (428/7–348/7 BC), Aristotle (384–322 BC)[2] was not a citizen of Athens and so
could not own property; he and his colleagues therefore used the grounds of the Lyceum as a
gathering place, just as it had been used by earlier philosophers such as Socrates.[6] Aristotle
and his colleagues first began to use the Lyceum in this way about 335 BC,[7] after which
Aristotle left Plato's Academy and Athens, and then returned to Athens from his travels about
a dozen years later.[8] Because of the school's association with the gymnasium, the school
also came to be referred to simply as the Lyceum.[6] Some modern scholars argue that the
school did not become formally institutionalized until Theophrastus took it over, at which
time there was private property associated with the school.[9]

Originally at least, the Peripatetic gatherings were probably conducted less formally than the
term "school" suggests: there was likely no set curriculum or requirements for students or
even fees for membership.[10] Aristotle did teach and lecture there, but there was also
philosophical and scientific research done in partnership with other members of the
school.[11] It seems likely that many of the writings that have come down to us in Aristotle's
name were based on lectures he gave at the school.[12]

Among the members of the school in Aristotle's time were Theophrastus, Phanias of Eresus,
Eudemus of Rhodes, Clytus of Miletus, Aristoxenus, and Dicaearchus. Much like Plato's
Academy, there were in Aristotle's school junior and senior members, the junior members
generally serving as pupils or assistants to the senior members who directed research and
lectured. The aim of the school, at least in Aristotle's time, was not to further a specific
doctrine, but rather to explore philosophical and scientific theories; those who ran the school
worked as equal partners.[13]

Doctrines

The doctrines of the Peripatetic school were those laid down by Aristotle and henceforth
maintained by his followers. Whereas Plato had sought to explain things with his theory of
forms, Aristotle preferred to start from the facts given by experience. Philosophy to him
meant science, and its aim was the recognition of the "why" in all things. Hence he
endeavoured to attain to the ultimate grounds of things by induction; that is to say, by a
posteriori conclusions from a number of facts toward a universal.[14] Logic either deals with
appearances, and is then called dialectics; or of truth, and is then called analytics.[15]

All change or motion takes place in regard to substance, quantity, quality, and place. There
are three kinds of substances – those alternately in motion and at rest, as the animals; those
perpetually in motion, as the sky; and those eternally stationary. The last, in themselves
immovable and imperishable, are the source and origin of all motion. Among them, there
must be one first being, unchangeable, which acts without the intervention of any other
being. All that is proceeds from it; it is the most perfect intelligence – God. The immediate
action of this prime mover – happy in the contemplation of itself – extends only to the
heavens; the other inferior spheres are moved by other incorporeal and eternal substances,
which the popular belief adores as gods. The heavens are of a more perfect and divine nature
than other bodies. In the centre of the universe is the Earth, round and stationary. The stars,
like the sky, beings of a higher nature, but of grosser matter, move by the impulse of the
prime mover.[15]

For Aristotle, matter is the basis of all that exists; it comprises the potentiality of everything,
but of itself is not actually anything. A determinate thing only comes into being when the
potentiality in matter is converted into actuality. This is achieved by form, the idea existent not
as one outside the many, but as one in the many, the completion of the potentiality latent in
the matter.[14]

The soul is the principle of life in the organic body, and is inseparable from the body. As
faculties of the soul, Aristotle enumerates the faculty of reproduction and nutrition; of
sensation, memory and recollection; the faculty of reason, or understanding; and the faculty
of desiring, which is divided into appetition and volition.[15] By the use of reason conceptions,
which are formed in the soul by external sense-impressions, and may be true or false, are
converted into knowledge. For reason alone can attain to truth either in understanding or
action.[14]

The best and highest goal is the happiness which originates from virtuous actions.[15]
Aristotle did not, with Plato, regard virtue as knowledge pure and simple, but as founded on
nature, habit, and reason.[14] Virtue consists in acting according to nature: that is, keeping the
mean between the two extremes of the too much and the too little. Thus valor, in his view the
first of virtues, is a mean between cowardice and recklessness; temperance is the mean in
respect to sensual enjoyments and the total avoidance of them.[15]
 History of the school

Aristotle and his disciples – Alexander, Demetrius, Theophrastus, and Strato, in an 1888 fresco in the portico of the
National University of Athens

The names of the first seven or eight scholarchs (leaders) of the Peripatetic school are
known with varying levels of certainty. A list of names with the approximate dates they
headed the school is as follows (all dates BC):[16]

Aristotle (c. 334 – 322)

Theophrastus (322–288)

Strato of Lampsacus (288 – c. 269)

Lyco of Troas (c. 269 – 225)

Aristo of Ceos (225 – c. 190)

Critolaus (c. 190 – 155)

Diodorus of Tyre (c. 140)

Erymneus (c. 110)

There are some uncertainties in this list. It is not certain whether Aristo of Ceos was the head
of the school, but since he was a close pupil of Lyco and the most important Peripatetic
philosopher in the time when he lived, it is generally assumed that he was. It is not known if
Critolaus directly succeeded Aristo, or if there were any leaders between them. Erymneus is
known only from a passing reference by Athenaeus.[17] Other important Peripatetic
philosophers who lived during these centuries include Eudemus of Rhodes, Aristoxenus,
Dicaearchus, and Clearchus of Soli.
Sometime shortly after the death of Alexander the Great in June 323 BC, Aristotle left Athens
to avoid persecution by anti-Macedonian factions in Athens, due to his ties to Macedonia.[18]
After Aristotle's death in 322 BC, his colleague Theophrastus succeeded him as head of the
school. The most prominent member of the school after Theophrastus was Strato of
Lampsacus, who increased the naturalistic elements of Aristotle's philosophy and embraced
a form of atheism.

After the time of Strato, the Peripatetic school fell into a decline. Lyco was famous more for
his oratory than his philosophical skills, and Aristo is perhaps best known for his biographical
studies.[19] Although Critolaus was more philosophically active, none of the Peripatetic
philosophers in this period seem to have contributed anything original to philosophy.[20] The
reasons for the decline of the Peripatetic school are unclear. Undoubtedly, Stoicism and
Epicureanism provided many answers for those people looking for dogmatic and
comprehensive philosophical systems, and the scepticism of the Middle Academy may have
seemed preferable to anyone who rejected dogmatism.[21] Later tradition linked the school's
decline to Neleus of Scepsis and his descendants hiding the works of Aristotle and
Theophrastus in a cellar until their rediscovery in the 1st century BC, and even though this
story may be doubted, it is possible that Aristotle's works were not widely read.[22]

In 86 BC, Athens was sacked by the Roman general Lucius Cornelius Sulla; all the schools of
philosophy in Athens were badly disrupted, and the Lyceum ceased to exist as a functioning
institution. Ironically, this event seems to have brought new life to the Peripatetic school.
Sulla brought the writings of Aristotle and Theophrastus back to Rome, where they became
the basis of a new collection of Aristotle's writings compiled by Andronicus of Rhodes which
forms the basis of the Corpus Aristotelicum which exists today.[20] Later Neoplatonist writers
describe Andronicus, who lived around 50 BC, as the eleventh scholarch of the Peripatetic
school,[23] which would imply that he had two unnamed predecessors. There is considerable
uncertainty over the issue, and Andronicus' pupil Boethus of Sidon is also described as the
eleventh scholarch.[24] It is quite possible that Andronicus set up a new school where he
taught Boethus.

Whereas the earlier Peripatetics had sought to extend and develop Aristotle's works, from the
time of Andronicus the school concentrated on preserving and defending his work.[25] The
most important figure in the Roman era is Alexander of Aphrodisias (c. 200 AD) who wrote
commentaries on Aristotle's writings. With the rise of Neoplatonism (and Christianity) in the
3rd century, Peripateticism as an independent philosophy came to an end, but the
Neoplatonists sought to incorporate Aristotle's philosophy within their own system, and
produced many commentaries on Aristotle's works. In the 5th century, Olympiodorus the
Elder is sometimes described as a Peripatetic.
 Influence

The last philosophers in classical antiquity to comment on Aristotle were Simplicius and
Boethius in the 6th century AD. After this, although his works were mostly lost to the west,
they were maintained in the east where they were incorporated into early Islamic philosophy.
Some of the greatest Peripatetic philosophers in the Islamic philosophical tradition were Al-
Kindi (Alkindus), Al-Farabi (Alpharabius), Avicenna (Ibn Sina) and Averroes (Ibn Rushd). By the
12th century, Aristotle's works began being translated into Latin during the Latin translations
of the 12th century, and gradually arose Scholastic philosophy under such names as Thomas
Aquinas, which took its tone and complexion from the writings of Aristotle, the commentaries
of Averroes, and The Book of Healing of Avicenna.[26]

See also

Look up Peripatetic in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Peripatetic axiom

Notes

1. The entry peripatêtikos (http://archimedes.fas.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/dict?name=lsj&lang=el&word=peri

pathtiko%2fs&filter=GreekXlit) Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20170206164535/http://arch
imedes.fas.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/dict?name=lsj&lang=el&word=peripathtiko%2fs&filter=GreekXlit)
2017-02-06 at the Wayback Machine in Liddell, Henry and Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon.

2. Grön, Arne; et al. (1988). Lübcke, Poul (ed.). Filosofilexikonet (in Swedish). Stockholm: Forum förlag.

3. Furley 2003, p. 1141; Lynch 1997, p. 311

4. Nussbaum 2003, p. 166; Furley 2003, p. 1141; Lynch 1997, p. 311

5. Furley 1970, p. 801 citing Diogenes Laërtius, Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers 5.2. Some
modern scholars discredit the legend altogether; see p. 229 & p. 229 n. 156, in Hegel 2006, p. 229

6. Furley 2003, p. 1141

7. 336 BCE: Furley 2003, p. 1141; 335 BCE: Lynch 1997, p. 311; 334 BCE: Irwin 2003

8. Barnes 2000, p. 14

9. Ostwald & Lynch 1982, p. 623, citing Diogenes Laërtius, 5.39 & 5.52.

10. Barnes 2000, p. 9

11. Barnes 2000, pp. 7–9

12. Irwin 2003

13. Ostwald & Lynch 1982, pp. 623–4

14. "Greek Philosophy" entry in Seyffert 1895, p. 482

15. "Peripatetic philosophy" entry in Lieber, Wigglesworth & Bradford 1832, p. 22

16. Ross & Ackrill 1995, p. 193

17. Athenaeus, v. 211e

18. Barnes 2000, p. 11

19. Sharples 2003, p. 150

20. Drozdek 2007, p. 205

21. Sharples 2003, p. 151

22. Sharples 2003, p. 152

23. Ammonius, In de Int. 5.24

24. Ammonius, In An. Pr. 31.11

25. Sharples 2003, p. 153

26. Spade, Paul Vincent (2018). Edward N. Zalta (ed.). "Medieval Philosophy" (https://plato.stanford.edu/
archives/sum2018/entries/medieval-philosophy/) . Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Center for
the Study of Language and Information.

References

Barnes, Jonathan (2000), Aristotle: A Very Short Introduction, Oxford Paperbacks, ISBN 0-
19-285408-9.

Drozdek, Adam (2007), Greek Philosophers as Theologians: The Divine Arche, Ashgate
publishing, ISBN 0-7546-6189-X.

Furley, David (1970), "Peripatetic School", in Hammond, N. G. L.; Scullard, H. H. (eds.), The
Oxford Classical Dictionary (2nd ed.), Oxford University Press.

Furley, David (2003), "Peripatetic School", in Hornblower, Simon; Spawforth, Antony (eds.),
The Oxford Classical Dictionary (3rd ed.), Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-860641-9.

Hegel, G. W. F. (2006), Brown, Robert F. (ed.), Lectures on the History of Philosophy 1825–
1826: Greek Philosophy, vol. 2, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-927906-3.

Irwin, T. (2003), "Aristotle" (http://www.rep.routledge.com/article/A022) , in Craig, Edward

(ed.), Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Routledge.
 Lieber, Francis; Wigglesworth, Edward; Bradford, T. G. (1832), Encyclopedia Americana,
vol. 10.

Lynch, J. (1997), "Lyceum", in Zeyl, Donald J.; Devereux, Daniel; Mitsis, Phillip (eds.),
Encyclopedia of Classical Philosophy (https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofcl00zeyl) ,
Greenwood Press, ISBN 0-313-28775-9.

Nussbaum, M. (2003), "Aristotle", in Hornblower, Simon; Spawforth, Antony (eds.), The

Oxford Classical Dictionary (3rd ed.), Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-860641-9.

Ostwald, M.; Lynch, J. (1982), "The Growth of Schools & the Advance of Knowledge", in
Lewis, D. M.; Boardman, John; Hornblower, Simon; et al. (eds.), The Cambridge Ancient
History Volume 6: The Fourth Century BCE, Cambridge University Press.

Ross, David; Ackrill, John L. (1995), Aristotle, Routledge, ISBN 0-415-12068-3.

Seyffert, Oskar (1895), A Dictionary of Classical Antiquities.

Sharples, Robert W. (2003), "The Peripatetic school", in Furley, David (ed.), From Aristotle to
Augustine: Routledge History of Philosophy, Routledge, ISBN 0-415-30874-7.
Wehrli, Fritz (ed.), Die Schule des Aristoteles. Texte und Kommentare. 10 volumes and 2
Supplements. Basel 1944–1959, 2. Edition 1967–1969.
I. Dikaiarchos (1944); II. Aristoxenos (1945); III. Klearchos (1948); IV. Demetrios von
Phaleron (1949); V. Straton von Lampsakos (1950); VI. Lykon und Ariston von Keos
(1952); VII: Herakleides Pontikos (1953); VIII. Eudemos von Rhodos (1955); IX.
Phainias von Eresos, Chamaileon, Praxiphanes (1957); X. Hieronymos von Rhodos,
Kritolaos und seine Schuler, Rückblick: Der Peripatos in vorchlisticher Zeit; Register
(1959); Supplement I: Hermippos der Kallimacheer (1974); Supplement II: Sotio
(1978).

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