8 Plutarch in the Middle of a Conflict between Epictetus and Favorinus
In: Plutarch and his ContemporariesSearch for other papers by Theofanis Tsiampokalos in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Purchase instant access (PDF download and unlimited online access):
Abstract
According to a reference by Galen in his work On the Best Method of Teaching (De optima doctrina) we can infer that at some point in the course of the second century CE, the name of Plutarch became entangled in a polemic, pitting the philosopher Favorinus of Arles against the Stoic teacher Epictetus. According to Galen, Favorinus defended the Academic practice of exchanging arguments over an issue from two opposing sides as the best teaching method in three different texts he wrote: a treatise On the Academic Disposition, also called Plutarch, a dialogue entitled Against Epictetus, in which a certain Onesimus, a slave of Plutarch, was supposed to exchange arguments with the Stoic philosopher, and a further book bearing the title Alcibiades. It comes as a surprise that Favorinus is said to have referred both to Plutarch and Epictetus within this context, since Plutarch never mentions Epictetus in his writings. Nevertheless, research on Arrian’s Discourses of Epictetus has already indicated passages which make it quite plausible that Plutarch possibly stood behind the method that Favorinus defends. What is still lacking is more stable evidence from Plutarch’s own texts. My aim in this paper is to fill in this gap by drawing attention to a text written by Plutarch, the dialogue On the Cleverness of Animals (De sollertia animalium), which might deepen our understanding of this matter.