Authority and Authoritative Texts in the Platonist Tradition

Sheds light on the meaning, import and philosophical outlook of the notion of authority throughout the Platonist tradition.

All disciplines can count on a noble founder, and the representation of this founder as an authority is key in order to construe a discipline's identity. This innovative volume explores how Plato and other authorities were represented in one of the most long-lasting traditions of all time.All disciplines can count on a noble founder, and the representation of this founder as an authority is key in order to construe a discipline's identity. This book sheds light on how Plato and other authorities were represented in one of the most long-lasting traditions of all time. It leads the reader through exegesis and polemics, recovery of the past and construction of a philosophical identity. From Xenocrates to Proclus, from the sceptical shift to the re-establishment of dogmatism, from the Mosaic of the Philosophers to the Neoplatonist Commentaries, the construction of authority emerges as a way of access to the core of the Platonist tradition.