Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Alcinous

On the whole, Alcinous inclines to the Peripatetic rather than to the Stoic wing of Middle Platonism. Distinctive features of his doctrine are his theology (ch. 10) and his views on the reasons for the embodiment of the soul (ch. 25). In Chapter 10 we find a hierarchy of principles set out, consisting of a supreme god, who is a transcendent intellect, an intellect of the world-soul, and the world-soul itself, which seems to be only rational by participation, after being 'roused up' by the supreme god. This is comparable to other Middle Platonic systems observable in Plutarch and Numenius, but the relationship between the principles is distinctive to Alcinous. In Chapter 25 we find an interesting list of possible reasons for embodiment, giving evidence of considerable debate on this question, and a theory of three faculties of disembodied souls not found elsewhere. In general, a frustrating aspect of the Didaskalikos is the evidence it gives of active philosophical debate within Platonism in this period, while not preserving the actual arguments; but that is inherent in the nature of the work.