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By Nick Kampouris. The Skepticism philosophy continued to have a strong influence on the Platonic school until 90 BCE, when Antiochus of Ascalon began to lead the school. Antiochus' main belief was that the mind can distinguish truth from falsehood. He believed the grounds for knowledge, morals, and understanding need to be examined and seeking truth was critical, and the essence of our being. In many respects, Antiochus believed he was reviving the Old Academy established by Plato's initial ideas.
Antiochus' thoughts become influential and he became one of Cicero's chief teachers and influences. In 86 BCE, the school itself was destroyed in a fire that likely occurred during Athens' siege. The teachings continued to thrive in the Roman Era, as its teaching even influenced Roman officials and others.
By the 5th century CE, there was now a movement to re-establish the Academy itself. Ass they were called, the Neoplatonists established the new Academy by CE. The Neoplatonists believed they were reviving Plato's original ideas; however, they were now influenced themselves by a wide variety of ideas, indicating that there philosophy was not just one central theme. Common beliefs of this new philosophy were that the soul or person was a microcosm of the universe and that this microcosm should strive to making the divine and natural world work better.
There are a series of rituals that one goes through that help create a core dedicated to a pure and ethical life that then brings us closer to the divine nature of our existence. The One is seen as the divine source where we must strive to achieve understanding and unity with this source.
Many of these ideas were influenced by Eastern mysticism, which blended with emerging concepts of a unified and single universe. This philosophy later becomes very influential in the Medieval period as it gets merged with Christian thinkers and philosophers.
Others within this school, however, did not ascribe to all of this or even much of this philosophy, so it is somewhat doubtful that the Neoplatonists were actually one unified school of thought. Nevertheless, the Neoplatonists' presence revived the academy until the reign of Justinian I, who closed all philosophical schools in CE. The philosophies of Platonism, however, did survive in the East, as the Eastern Christians adopted many of the philosopher refugees that left the Byzantine Empire during the closure of the philosophical schools.
This eventually led these schools to influence the West through the later Medieval period, when some of the philosophies began to merge with Christian thought through a reexamination of the old Classical works. The legacy of the Academy was through the fact it was the first known place where scholars could gather, debate, discuss, and teach about the universe and its understanding.
This is why, ultimately, the word academy is adopted in our own vocabulary. During the Renaissance, a revival of interest in Greek philosophies, in general, led many to reexamine the old texts and teachings of the Greek philosophers and the academy.
Some of the philosophies, such as Neoplatonism, also influenced Christian and later thought. It must have been a beautiful park when Plato, who had a house nearby and a garden within the area, began to teach there in around BC. The first point that we must make is that the modern use of the word 'academy' will give us a false impression of what Plato actually set up.
Chermiss writes [ 1 ] :- What, then, did Plato really do in his Academy? It is not surprising, therefore, that by a more or less unconscious retrojection modern scholars have attached the particular significance which 'Academy' has in their own milieu to the garden of Plato 's which was situated in the suburb northwest of Athens called 'Academia' after a mythical hero The fresco The School of Athens by Raphael represents the modern idea of an academy and he has placed Plato and Aristotle into such a setting, but the reality of Plato 's Academy must have been totally different.
A similar sentiment is expressed by Glucker [ 3 ] :- To us In ancient Athens, the Academy was first and foremost a public park dominated by its gymnasium, and the connection between it and Plato 's school was only one of the numerous historical reminiscences in an area rich in history.
Glucker goes on to look at the writings of Pausanias who gives what is essentially a tourist guide to Athens written in the second century AD when the Academy was still supposed to be in existence. He describes the graves, altars, and olive trees of the Academy i. He says that a memorial to Plato is found not far from the Academy but there is no mention of Plato 's school nor, for that matter, is there any mention that Plato was connected with the Academy which is simply a park.
What then was Plato 's Academy? Chermiss writes [ 1 ] :- All the evidence points unmistakably to the same conclusion: the Academy was not a school in which an orthodox metaphysical doctrine was taught, or an association of members who were expected to subscribe to the theory of ideas The metaphysical theories of the director were not in any way 'official' and the formal instruction in the Academy was restricted to mathematics.
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