Later Peripatetics

Historical Context and Development

The term Later Peripatetics designates the philosophers of the Peripatetic (Aristotelian) tradition after Aristotle and his immediate successor Theophrastus, roughly from the 3rd century BCE through late antiquity. They continued to work within, interpret, and adapt the system of Aristotle, while responding to the intellectual pressures of Hellenistic and early Imperial philosophy.

Institutionally, the Lyceum in Athens remained a recognizable center in the early Hellenistic era. Figures such as Strato of Lampsacus (third head of the school), Lyco of Troas, Aristo of Ceos, and Critolaus preserved a degree of continuity. Over time, however, the Peripatetic school became less a single organized institution and more a tradition of commentary and teaching dispersed across the Greek-speaking world, particularly in cities such as Rhodes, Rome, and later Alexandria.

A major turning point came in the 1st century BCE, when Andronicus of Rhodes undertook the editing and arrangement of Aristotle’s works. His scholarly efforts helped crystallize what later generations regarded as the Aristotelian corpus and provided the textual foundation for subsequent Peripatetic commentary. Under the Roman Empire, Peripatetic philosophy was pursued by figures such as Boethus of Sidon, and, most prominently, Alexander of Aphrodisias (late 2nd–early 3rd century CE), whose commentaries on Aristotle became authoritative for late antique and medieval Aristotelianism.

By late antiquity, Peripatetic thought was often institutionalized in philosophical chairs (for example, at Athens and Alexandria) and became intertwined with Middle Platonism and later Neoplatonism, which integrated large parts of Aristotle’s logic and natural philosophy into their own systems.

Doctrinal Themes and Debates

Later Peripatetics largely accepted the broad outline of Aristotelian doctrine—including hylomorphism, the four causes, teleology, and an ethics of virtue—yet they modified, systematized, or selectively emphasized aspects of this inheritance.

In natural philosophy, some early figures such as Strato of Lampsacus developed a more naturalistic and mechanistic reading of Aristotle, stressing physical causation and downplaying or reinterpreting teleology. Others, especially in later Imperial times, worked to defend Aristotle’s physics and cosmology against rival Stoic and Epicurean theories, for instance regarding the eternity of the world, the nature of the soul, and the structure of the heavens.

In psychology, debates concentrated on the interpretation of Aristotle’s account of the soul in De Anima. Alexander of Aphrodisias famously argued that the active intellect is separate and divine, while the human soul is perishable, thus rejecting more “immortalist” readings. Such positions provoked later controversy among Platonists and later religious philosophers.

In ethics, the Later Peripatetics preserved the ideal of eudaimonia (happiness or flourishing) grounded in the exercise of virtue, and the doctrine of the mean between extremes. Yet they operated in a landscape dominated by Stoic and Epicurean ethical debates. Some Peripatetics adjusted Aristotelian doctrine in dialogue with these schools, reconsidering the status of external goods, the role of fortune, and the extent to which virtue is sufficient for happiness. Reports indicate that thinkers such as Critolaus took a more austere line, bringing Peripatetic ethics closer to Stoic rigor on certain points, while others, like Diodorus of Tyre, may have adopted more hedonistic-sounding positions.

A distinctive activity of the later school was systematic exegesis of Aristotle’s texts. Peripatetic commentators developed technical vocabularies, methods of resolving apparent contradictions, and strategies for harmonizing Aristotle’s works with one another. This commentarial tradition gradually transformed Peripatetic philosophy into a highly scholastic enterprise, in which innovation often took the form of competing interpretations rather than wholly new systems.

Relation to Other Schools and Legacy

Throughout the Hellenistic period, the Later Peripatetics coexisted and competed with Stoics, Epicureans, Skeptics, and Platonists. They were sometimes overshadowed institutionally by the Stoa and the Academy, yet their influence persisted, especially in logic, biology, and metaphysics, where Aristotelian frameworks remained central reference points.

In the early Imperial era, there was a growing tendency toward eclecticism and synthesis. Some Peripatetics selectively adopted Stoic logical innovations or integrated Platonic metaphysical themes, while Platonists increasingly incorporated Aristotelian logic and natural philosophy. By late antiquity, Neoplatonists such as Porphyry and Simplicius wrote extensive commentaries on Aristotle, effectively absorbing large parts of the Peripatetic legacy into a broadly Platonic meta-system.

The long-term legacy of the Later Peripatetics is visible in three main areas:

1. Textual transmission: Through the editorial work of Andronicus and the commentaries of Alexander and others, they shaped the form in which Aristotle’s works reached Byzantine, Islamic, and Latin medieval readers.

2. Interpretive frameworks: Their methods and doctrines influenced the Arabic Aristotelians (e.g., Averroes) and, through them, the Scholastic tradition, especially in discussions of substance, causality, the intellect, and the nature of the soul.

3. Model of a philosophical school: As a tradition defined as much by commentary and exegesis as by original treatises, the Later Peripatetics provided a template for later intellectual cultures in which philosophical work was often conducted through interpretation of canonical texts.

Modern scholarship often characterizes the Later Peripatetics as conservative systematizers rather than radical innovators. However, recent studies highlight how their reinterpretations, reconciliations with rival schools, and debates over key Aristotelian doctrines played a decisive role in transforming Aristotelianism into a durable, global philosophical tradition that extended far beyond its original Athenian setting.