Editing Ancient Greek philosophy (section)

=== Platonism ===
{{Main|Platonism}}
Platonism is the philosophy of [[Plato]], asserting the existence of [[abstract object theory|abstract objects]], which exist in a realm distinct from both the physical world and the mind.<ref name="SEP-P">{{Citation |last=Balaguer |first=Mark |title=Platonism in Metaphysics |date=2016 |url=https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2016/entries/platonism/ |encyclopedia=The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy |editor-last=Zalta |editor-first=Edward N. |edition=Spring 2016 |publisher=Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University |access-date=2022-07-10 |archive-date=2022-06-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220618135541/https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2016/entries/platonism/ |url-status=live }}.</ref> Central to Platonism is the [[Theory of forms|Theory of Forms]], where ideal Forms or perfect archetypes are considered the true reality, with the physical world being an imperfect reflection.<ref name="seyffert481">Oskar Seyffert, (1894), ''Dictionary of Classical Antiquities'', p. 481</ref> This philosophy has influenced [[Western thought]], emphasizing the difference between the changing, perceptible world and the unchanging, intelligible realm. Platonism stands in opposition to [[nominalism]], which denies the existence of such abstract entities.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Haack |first1=Susan |title=Platonism Versus Nominalism: Carnap and Goodman |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/27902552 |journal=The Monist |publisher=Oxford University Press |access-date=November 14, 2024 |date=1978|volume=61 |issue=3 |pages=483–494 |doi=10.5840/monist197861338 |jstor=27902552 }}</ref>

==== Academic skepticism ====
{{Main|Academic skepticism}}
Around 266 BC, [[Arcesilaus]] became head of the [[Platonic Academy]], and adopted skepticism as a central tenet of [[Platonism]], making Platonism nearly the same as [[Pyrrhonism]].<ref>[[Sextus Empiricus]], "Outlines of Pyrrhonism" I.33.232</ref> After Arcesilaus, Academic skepticism diverged from Pyrrhonism.<ref>Sextus Empiricus, "Outlines of Pyrrhonism" I.33.225–231</ref> This skeptical period of ancient Platonism, from [[Arcesilaus]] to [[Philo of Larissa]], became known as the [[New Academy]], although some ancient authors added further subdivisions, such as a [[Platonic Academy#Middle Academy|Middle Academy]]. The Academic skeptics did not doubt the existence of [[truth]]; they just doubted that humans had the capacities for obtaining it.<ref name="Smith:Arcesilaus">{{SmithDGRBM|article=Arcesilaus}}</ref> They based this position on Plato's ''[[Phaedo (dialogue)|Phaedo]]'', sections 64–67,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0170:text=Phaedo:page=64|title=Plato, Phaedo, page 64|website=www.perseus.tufts.edu}}</ref> in which Socrates discusses how knowledge is not accessible to mortals.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Veres|first=Máté|year=2009|title=Carlos Lévy, Les Scepticismes; Markus Gabriel, Antike und moderne Skepsis zur Einführung|url=https://www.academia.edu/1774036|journal=Rhizai. A Journal for Ancient Philosophy and Science|volume=6|issue=1|page=107}}{{rp|111}}</ref> While the objective of the Pyrrhonists was the attainment of [[ataraxia]], after Arcesilaus the Academic skeptics did not hold up ataraxia as the central objective. The Academic skeptics focused on criticizing the [[dogma]]s of other schools of philosophy, in particular of the dogmatism of the [[Stoics]]. They acknowledged some vestiges of a moral law within, at best but a plausible guide, the possession of which, however, formed the real distinction between the [[Sage (philosophy)|sage]] and the fool.<ref name="Smith:Arcesilaus" /> Slight as the difference may appear between the positions of the Academic skeptics and the Pyrrhonists, a comparison of their lives leads to the conclusion that a practical philosophical moderation was the characteristic of the Academic skeptics<ref name="Smith:Arcesilaus" /> whereas the objectives of the Pyrrhonists were more psychological.

==== Middle Platonism ====
{{Main|Middle Platonism}}
Following the end of the skeptical period of the Academy with [[Antiochus of Ascalon]], Platonic thought entered the period of [[Middle Platonism]], which absorbed ideas from the Peripatetic and Stoic schools. More extreme [[syncretism]] was done by [[Numenius of Apamea]], who combined it with [[Neopythagoreanism]].<ref>Eduard Zeller, ''Outlines of the History of Greek Philosophy'', 13th Edition, page 309</ref>

==== Neoplatonism ====
{{Main|Neoplatonism}}
Also affected by the neopythagoreans, the [[Neoplatonism|neoplatonists]], first of them [[Plotinus]], argued that mind exists before matter, and that the universe has a singular cause which must therefore be a single mind.{{sfn|Grayling|2019|p=124}} As such, neoplatonism became essentially a [[religion]], and had great impact on [[Neoplatonism and Gnosticism|Gnosticism]] and [[Neoplatonism and Christianity|Christian theology]].{{sfn|Grayling|2019|p=124}}