The Byzantine Roots of the Plato-Aristotle Controversy

Abstract

My proposal deals with a philosophical controversy that exploded in the second half of the 15th century between the supporters of Platonic and Aristotelian philosophy, the so-called Plato-Aristotle controversy. This struggle involved many important scholars of that time, such as cardinal Bessarion and George of Trebizond, and, even though it took place in Italy and most of the treatises composed during this controversy were written in Latin, it has its roots in the Byzantine philosophical debates of the mid-Quattrocento. In fact, in 1439 the Greek scholar George Gemistus Pletho wrote a short treatise in Greek on the differences between the philosophy of Plato and that of Aristotle, known by the Latin title of De differentiis Platonis et Aristotelis. In De differentiis Pletho compares the two philosophies and argues that, from the speculative point of view, Plato was far superior to Aristotle. The first scholar who reacted to De differentiis was the future Patriarch of Constantinople George Scholarius, who wrote in 1443/1444 two books Κατὰ τῶν Πλήθωνος ἀπωριῶν ἐπ’ Ἀριστοτέλει, arguing that Aristotelian philosophy was closer to Christianity than Platonism. In 1449/1450 Pletho replied to his criticism in the treatise Πρὸς τὰς Σχολαρίου ὑπὲρ Ἀριστοτέλους ἀντιλήψεις, known also as Contra Scholarii pro Aristolele obiectiones. In my paper, I will focus on the first phase of the Plato-Aristotle controversy, describing the peculiarities and the relationships between these Greek treatises. Then, I will anaylise the way Gemistus’ and Scholarius’ works influenced the Plato-Aristotle controversy in the West. Finally, I will briefly outline the development of the controversy in George of Trebizond’s Comparatio philosophorum Platonis et Aristotelis and Cardinal Bessarion’s In calumniatorem Platonis, showing how the perspectives and the aim of the contenders gradually changed, and the theological issues that were at the basis of the Byzantine debate disappeared from Latin treatises.

status: accepted