Ammonius Saccas c. 175 AD – c. 242 AD
Ammonius Saccas was a Greek philosopher of Alexandria and the founding teacher of Neoplatonism. The little we know of his life comes from his pupils, especially Plotinus and Origen the Platonist, who heard him for many years before going on to their own influential careers. He left no writings but bound his students by an oath of confidentiality, and through them his characteristic project, the demonstration that Plato and Aristotle agree at the deepest level, became a central aim of late antique philosophy. His seminal role in shaping Plotinus's Enneads makes him one of the most consequential teachers in the philosophical tradition.
Key facts
- Nationality
- Egyptian-Greek
- Era
- Ancient
- Movements
- Platonism
Selected quotes
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Attributed to Ammonius Saccas:
“Plato and Aristotle, rightly understood, do not contradict one another.”
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Attributed to Ammonius Saccas:
“Truth is one, though it speaks in many tongues.”
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Attributed to Ammonius Saccas:
“Philosophy is the soul's ascent toward the One.”
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Attributed to Ammonius Saccas:
“All true knowledge is the recollection of what the soul has known eternally.”
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Attributed to Ammonius Saccas:
“The teacher's work is to lead, not to be repeated.”