Editing Ammonius Saccas

{{Short description|Hellenistic Platonist philosopher (175–243)}}
{{Infobox philosopher
| region           = [[Western philosophy]]
| era              = [[Ancient philosophy]]
| image            = 
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| caption          = 
| name             = Ammonius Saccas
| birth_date       = 175
| birth_place      = [[Alexandria]], [[Egypt (Roman province)|Roman Egypt]]
| death_date       = 243 (aged 67–68)
| death_place      = [[Alexandria]], [[Egypt (Roman province)|Roman Egypt]]
| school_tradition = [[Neoplatonism]]<ref name="Siorvanes 2018">{{cite book |author-last=Siorvanes |author-first=Lucas |year=2018 |chapter=Plotinus and Neoplatonism: The Creation of a New Synthesis |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NfxdDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA847 |editor1-last=Keyser |editor1-first=Paul T. |editor2-last=Scarborough |editor2-first=John |title=Oxford Handbook of Science and Medicine in the Classical World |location=[[New York City|New York]] |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |doi=10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199734146.013.78 |pages=847–868 |isbn=9780199734146 |lccn=2017049555}}</ref>
| main_interests   =
| notable_ideas    =
| notable_works    = 
}}
'''Ammonius Saccas''' ({{IPAc-en|ə|ˈ|m|oʊ|n|i|ə|s}}; {{langx|grc|Ἀμμώνιος Σακκᾶς}}; 175 AD{{Spaced en dash}}243 AD) was a [[Hellenistic philosophy|Hellenistic]] [[Platonism|Platonist]] [[Autodidact|self-taught]] [[philosopher]] from [[Alexandria]], generally regarded as the precursor of [[Neoplatonism]] or one of its founders.<ref name="Siorvanes 2018"/><ref name="Britannica">{{cite encyclopedia |last1=Armstrong |first1=A. Hilary |last2=Duignan |first2=Brian |last3=Lotha |first3=Gloria |last4=Rodriguez |first4=Emily |date=1 January 2021 |origyear=20 July 1998 |title=Plotinus |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Plotinus |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]] |location=[[Edinburgh]] |publisher=[[Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210417025334/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Plotinus |archive-date=17 April 2021 |url-status=live |access-date=5 August 2021 |quote=[[Plotinus]] (born 205 CE, Lyco, or Lycopolis, Egypt?—died 270, Campania), ancient philosopher, the centre of an influential circle of intellectuals and men of letters in 3rd-century Rome, who is regarded by modern scholars as the founder of the Neoplatonic school of philosophy. [...] In his 28th year—he seems to have been rather a late developer—Plotinus felt an impulse to study philosophy and thus went to [[Alexandria]]. He attended the lectures of the most eminent professors in Alexandria at the time, which reduced him to a state of complete depression. In the end, a friend who understood what he wanted took him to hear the self-taught philosopher Ammonius Saccas. When he had heard Ammonius speak, Plotinus said, “This is the man I was looking for,” and stayed with him for 11 years. Ammonius is the most mysterious figure in ancient Western philosophy. He was, it seems, a lapsed Christian (yet even this is not quite certain), and the one or two extant remarks about his thought suggest a fairly commonplace sort of traditional Platonism. A philosopher who could attract such devotion from Plotinus and who may also have been the philosophical master of the great Christian theologian [[Origen]] must have had something more to offer his pupils, but what it was is not known. That Plotinus stayed with him for 11 years is in no way surprising. One did not enter an ancient philosophical school to take courses and obtain a degree but rather to join in what might well be a lifelong cooperative following of the way to truth, goodness, and the ultimate liberation of the spirit.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Scott|first=Walter|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_0YqAQAAMAAJ|title=Hermetica: Introduction, texts, and translation|date=1982|publisher=Random House|isbn=978-0-87773-338-6|pages=2|language=en}}</ref> He is mainly known as the teacher of [[Plotinus]], whom he taught from 232 to 243.<ref name="Britannica"/> He was undoubtedly the most significant influence on Plotinus in his development of Neoplatonism, although little is known about his own philosophical views. Later [[Christianity|Christian]] writers stated that Ammonius was a Christian, but it is now generally assumed that there was a different [[Ammonius of Alexandria (Christian philosopher)|Ammonius of Alexandria]] who wrote biblical texts.

==Life==
The origins and meaning of Ammonius' [[cognomen]], "Sakkas", are disputed. Many scholars have interpreted it as indicating he was a porter in his youth, a view supported in antiquity by Byzantine bishop [[Theodoret]].<ref>[http://www.ccel.org/ccel/wace/biodict.html?term=Ammonius%20Saccas Mozley, J.R., "Ammonius Saccas", ''Dictionary of Early Christian Biography'', (Henry WAce, ed.), John Murrary & Co., London, 1911]; [[A Greek–English Lexicon|LSJ]] sv. σακκᾶς</ref><ref>Theodoret, ''Græcarum affectionum curatio'', Book 6, Paragraph 96.</ref> Others have asserted that this is a misreading of "Sakkas" for "sakkophoros" (porter). Some others have connected the cognomen with the "[[Shakya|Śākyas]]", an ancient ruling clan of India,<ref>[William H. McNeill: The Rise of the West: A History of the Human Community, pp. 380]</ref><ref>[E. Seeberg, "Ammonius Sakas" ''Zeitschrift für Kirchengeschichte'', vol. LX, 1941, pp. 136–170; Ernst Benz, "Indische Einflüsse auf die frühchristliche Theologie" ''Abhandlungen der Geistes- und Sozialwissenschaftlichen Klasse, Jahrgang'' 1951, no. 3, Akademie der Wissenschaften und der Literatur Mainz, pp. 1–34, pp. 30ff.;R.T. Wallis "Phraseology and Imagery in Plotinus and Indian Thought" in R. Baine Harris (ed.), ''Neoplatonism and Indian Thought'' (Norfolk, VA, 1982): [[International Society for Neoplatonic Studies|The International Society for Neoplatonic Studies]] pp.119–120 n. 72.]</ref> claiming that Ammonius Saccas was of Indian origin. This view has both been subsequently contested<ref>Hans-Rudolf Schwyzer, ''Ammonios Sakkas, der Lehrer Plotins'' (Westdeutscher Verlag, 1983). [https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/bbm%3A978-3-663-01814-8%2F1.pdf#page=5 p.83].</ref><ref>Clifford Hindley: "Ammonios Sakkas. His Name and Origin" ''Zeitschrift für Kirchengeschichte'' 75, 1964, pp. 332–336.</ref> and supported<ref>R.T. Wallis "Phraseology and Imagery in Plotinus and Indian Thought" in R. Baine Harris (ed.), ''Neoplatonism and Indian Thought'' (Norfolk, VA, 1982): [[International Society for Neoplatonic Studies|The International Society for Neoplatonic Studies]] pp.119–120 n. 72.</ref><ref name="Gregorios Studies 2002 p. ">{{cite book | last=Gregorios | first=Paulos | title=Neoplatonism and Indian Philosophy | publisher=SUNY Press | publication-place=Albany | date=2002-01-01 | isbn=978-0-7914-5274-5 | page=}}</ref> by more recent scholarship. Some scholars supporting Ammonius' Indian origin have also contended that this ancestry is consistent with the passion of his foremost student Plotinus for India, and helps to explain the philosophical similarities between [[Vedanta]] and Neoplatonism, which many scholars attribute to Indian influence.<ref>J. Lacrosse, “Plotinus, Porphyry and India: a Re-Examination,” in P. Vassilopoulou (ed.), Late Antique Epistemology. Other Ways to Truth (New York: 2009), 103–13.</ref><ref>Gregorios, PM (ed.), 2002, Neoplatonism and Indian Philosophy, Albany</ref><ref>Staal, JF, 1961, Advaita and Neoplatonism. A Study in Comparative Philosophy, Madras.</ref><ref>Harris, R. Baine (ed.), Neoplatonism and Indian Thought, Norfolk Va., 1982: [[International Society for Neoplatonic Studies|The International Society for Neoplatonic Studies]]</ref><ref>Lacrosse, J., 2005a, 'The commensurability of mystical experiences in the East and in the West. A comparison between Plotinus and Çankara', in A. Dierkens and B. Beyer of Ryke (eds.), Mystique. The Passion of the One, from Antiquity to the Present, Problèmes d'Histoire des Religions, Volume XV, Brussels, pp. 215–23.</ref><ref>Brunner, F., 1981, 'A comparison between Plotinus and viçishtâdvaita', in Les Cahiers de Fontenay no. 19-22. Neo-Platonism. Mixes offered to Jean Trouillard, Paris, pp. 101–24.</ref> On the other hand, scholars contesting his Indian origins point out that Ammonius was from the Brucheion quarter of Alexandria, which was the royal quarter of the city inhabited mostly by [[Greeks]],<ref>Dennis C. Clark, "Review of Jean-Michel Charrue: De l’être et du monde Ammonius, Plotin, Proclus" ''The International Journal of the Platonic Tradition''  01 Jan 2012, Volume 6: Issue 1, p 150</ref> and that the name "Ammonius" was common to many Greeks,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Gillies |first=John |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cBYiJzR8MCcC&pg=PA193 |title=Aristotle's Ethics and Politics |date=1813 |publisher=T. Cadell & W. Davies |pages=193 |language=en}}</ref> with a number of scholars and historians supporting a Greek origin for Ammonius.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rX84AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA124 |title=The Quarterly Journal of Prophecy |date=1852 |publisher=James Nisbet and Co. |volume=4 |pages=124 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Holbach |first=Paul Henri Thiry |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=26PLtnX_gY8C&pg=PA359 |title=Christianity Unveiled |date=2008 |publisher=Hodgson Press |isbn=978-1-906164-04-1 |pages=359 |language=en}}</ref> However, his name is [[Theophoric name|theophoric]] to the deity [[Amun]], indicating possible [[Egypt]]ian origin.<ref>{{Citation |title=Ἄμμων |date=2019-07-09 |url=https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=Ἄμμων&oldid=53604580 |work=Wiktionary |language=en |access-date=2022-10-30}}</ref>

Most details of Ammonius' life come from the fragments left from [[Porphyry (philosopher)|Porphyry]]'s writings. The most famous pupil of Ammonius Saccas was [[Plotinus]], who studied under Ammonius for eleven years. According to Porphyry, in 232, at the age of 28, Plotinus went to [[Alexandria]] to study philosophy:
<blockquote>In his twenty-eighth year he [Plotinus] felt the impulse to study philosophy and was recommended to the teachers in Alexandria who then had the highest reputation; but he came away from their lectures so depressed and full of sadness that he told his trouble to one of his friends. The friend, understanding the desire of his heart, sent him to Ammonius, whom he had not so far tried. He went and heard him, and said to his friend, "This is the man I was looking for." From that day he stayed continually with Ammonius and acquired so complete a training in philosophy that he became eager to make acquaintance with the Persian philosophical discipline and that prevailing among the Indians.<ref name="porphyry1">Porphyry, ''Life of Plotinus'', from Reale, G., (1990), ''A History of Ancient Philosophy IV: The Schools of the Imperial Age.'' Page 298. SUNY Press.</ref></blockquote>

According to Porphyry, the parents of Ammonius were [[Christians]], but upon learning [[Ancient Greek philosophy|Greek philosophy]], Ammonius rejected his parents' religion for [[paganism]]. This conversion is contested by the Christian writers [[Jerome]] and [[Eusebius]], who state that Ammonius remained a Christian throughout his lifetime:

<blockquote>[Porphyry] plainly utters a falsehood (for what will not an opposer of Christians do?) when he says that ... Ammonius fell from a life of piety into heathen customs. ... Ammonius held the divine philosophy unshaken and unadulterated to the end of his life. His works yet extant show this, as he is celebrated among many for the writings which he has left.<ref name="eusebius1">Eusebius, ''History of the Church'', vi, 19. {{Verify source|date=August 2020}}</ref></blockquote>

However, we are told by [[Cassius Longinus (philosopher)|Longinus]] that Ammonius wrote nothing,<ref>Longinus, quoted by Porphyry, ''Life of Plotinus'', xx.</ref> and if Ammonius was the principal influence on Plotinus, then it is unlikely that Ammonius would have been a Christian. One way to explain much of the confusion concerning Ammonius is to assume that there were two people called Ammonius: Ammonius Saccas who taught Plotinus, and an [[Ammonius of Alexandria (Christian philosopher)|Ammonius the Christian]] who wrote biblical texts. Another explanation might be that there was only one Ammonius but that Origen, who found the Neo-Platonist views of his teacher essential to his own beliefs about the essential nature of Christianity, chose to suppress Ammonius' choice of Paganism over Christianity. The insistence of Eusebius, Origen's pupil, and Jerome, all of whom were recognized [[Church Fathers|Fathers of the Christian Church]], that Ammonius Saccas had not rejected his Christian roots would be easier for Christians to accept than the assertion of Porphyry, who was a Pagan, that Ammonius had chosen Paganism over Christianity.

To add to the confusion, it seems that Ammonius had two pupils called Origen: [[Origen|Origen the Christian]], and [[Origen the Pagan]].<ref name="eusebius1"/> It is quite possible that Ammonius Saccas taught both Origens. And since there were two Origens who were accepted as contemporaries it was easy for later Christians to accept that there were two individuals named Ammonius, one a Christian and one a Pagan. Among Ammonius' other pupils there were Herennius and [[Cassius Longinus (philosopher)|Cassius Longinus]].

==Philosophy==
[[Hierocles of Alexandria|Hierocles]], writing in the 5th century, states that Ammonius' fundamental doctrine was that [[Plato]] and [[Aristotle]] were in full agreement with each other:<ref>Hierocles in Photius, ''Bibl.'' cod. 214, 251.</ref>
<blockquote>He was the first who had a godly zeal for the truth in philosophy and despised the views of the majority, which were a disgrace to philosophy. He apprehended well the views of each of the two philosophers [Plato and Aristotle] and brought them under one and the same ''[[nous]]'' and transmitted philosophy without conflicts to all of his disciples, and especially to the best of those acquainted with him, Plotinus, Origen, and their successors.<ref>Hierocles, in Photius, ''Bibl.'' cod. 251. from Karamanolis, G., (2006), ''Plato and Aristotle in Agreement?: Platonists on Aristotle from Antiochus to Porphyry'', Page 193. Oxford University Press.</ref></blockquote>

According to [[Nemesius]], a [[bishop]] and [[Neoplatonist]] c. 400, Ammonius held that the [[Soul (spirit)|soul]] was immaterial.<ref>Nemesius, ''On the Nature of Man'', ii</ref>

Little is known about Ammonius's role in the development of [[Neoplatonism]]. Porphyry seems to suggest that Ammonius was instrumental in helping Plotinus think about philosophy in new ways:
<blockquote>But he [Plotinus] did not just speak straight out of these books but took a distinctive personal line in his consideration, and brought the mind of Ammonius' to bear on the investigation in hand.<ref name="porphyry1"/></blockquote>

Two of Ammonius's students – [[Origen the Pagan]], and [[Cassius Longinus (philosopher)|Longinus]] – seem to have held philosophical positions which were closer to [[Middle Platonism]] than Neoplatonism, which perhaps suggests that Ammonius's doctrines were also closer to those of Middle Platonism than the Neoplatonism developed by Plotinus (see the ''[[Enneads]]''), but Plotinus does not seem to have thought that he was departing in any significant way from that of his master. 
Like [[Porphyry (philosopher)|Porphyry]] (''The Life of Plotinus'', 3, 24–29),<ref>{{cite book|first1=Lynn Vivien|last1=Hubbard|url=https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/323892492.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/323892492.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live|title=Bergson, Plotinus and the harmonics of evolution|page=17|publisher=The Faculty of Health and Applied Sciences, University of the West of England|location=Bristol|date=November 1, 2017|access-date=June 8, 2021|oclc=1063691221}}</ref> also [[Nemesius]] refers of Ammonius Saccas as the teacher or the master of Plotinus (Nemesius, ''Nature of Man'', 2.103).<ref>{{cite journal|author=M J Edwards|url=|title=God and Christ in Irenaeus. By Anthony Briggman |doi=10.1093/jts/flaa045|journal= The Journal of Theological Studies|date=June 13, 2000|volume=71|issue=2|pages=889–892|publisher=OUP|quote=...with incorporeals posited by Ammonius Saccas, the teacher of Plotinus (Nemesius, Nature of Man 2.103).}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author1=[[Nemesius]]|translator-first1=George|translator-last1=Wither|translator-link1= George Wither|url=https://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/eebo/A08062.0001.001/1:6.1?rgn=div2;view=fulltext|title=The Nature of man|publisher=Miles Flesher for Henry Taunton in St. Dunstans Churchyard in Fleetstreet|year=1636|chapter=2|access-date=June 8, 2021}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Theodidaktos]]
* [[Ancient Greece–Ancient India relations]]

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
*Armstrong, A., (1967), ''The Cambridge History of Later Greek and Early Medieval Philosophy'',  Cambridge University Press, pp.&nbsp;196–200.
*Karamanolis, G., (2006), ''Plato and Aristotle in Agreement?: Platonists on Aristotle from Antiochus to Porphyry'',  Oxford University Press, pp.&nbsp;191–215.
*Reale, G., (1990), ''A History of Ancient Philosophy IV: The Schools of the Imperial Age'',  SUNY Press, pp.&nbsp;297–303.

==External links==
*[http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/porphyry_against_christians_02_fragments.htm ''Porphyry, Against the Christians (2004). Fragments.'']
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070105010852/http://www.bibleinterp.com/articles/Cook_Reaction_Bible_Paganism.htm ''The Reaction to the Bible in Paganism'']
*[http://www.iep.utm.edu/o/origen.htm ''Origen of Alexandria''] – Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy

{{Platonists}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ammonius Saccas}}
[[Category:175 births]]
[[Category:242 deaths]]
[[Category:2nd-century Egyptian people]]
[[Category:2nd-century Greek philosophers]]
[[Category:2nd-century Romans]]
[[Category:3rd-century Egyptian people]]
[[Category:3rd-century Greek philosophers]]
[[Category:3rd-century Romans]]
[[Category:Ancient Greek metaphysicians]]
[[Category:Ancient Greek philosophers of mind]]
[[Category:Middle Platonists]]
[[Category:Philosophers in ancient Alexandria]]
[[Category:Roman-era Alexandrians]]