Atticus was a Platonist philosopher active in the Roman Empire during the 2nd century CE, most likely during the reign of Emperor Marcus Aurelius. His exact birthplace and the location of his school are uncertain, with some scholars suggesting Athens and others a location in the Eastern Empire.
He is known primarily as a fierce defender of Plato's philosophy against rival schools. He strongly opposed the common practice of harmonizing Plato's teachings with those of Aristotle. Atticus wrote a single major work, now lost, arguing that Aristotle's ideas on the eternity of the world, on ψυχή, and on ethics were fundamentally incompatible with Plato's. This polemical text is often referred to as Against Those Who Claim to Interpret Plato through Aristotle.
The work survives only in fragments, preserved mainly by the 5th-century Christian writer Eusebius, who found Atticus's criticisms useful for his own arguments. Atticus represents an important "purist" strand within Middle Platonism. His fragments document the intense debates about Plato's legacy before the rise of Neoplatonism. His arguments were influential enough to be engaged with by later philosophers, securing his place as a notable, if fragmentary, voice in ancient philosophical history.
Available Works
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