Lacydes of Cyrene

Short description: Ancient Greek Academic Skeptic philosopher

Lacydes of Cyrene (Greek: Λακύδης ὁ Κυρηναῖος), Academic Skeptic philosopher, was head of the Platonic Academy at Athens in succession to Arcesilaus from 241 BC. He was forced to resign c. 215 BC due to ill-health, and he died c. 205 BC. Nothing survives of his works.

## Contents

* 1 Life
* 2 Philosophy
* 3 Notes
* 4 References

## Life

He was born in Cyrene, the son of Alexander. In his youth he was poor, but remarkable for his industry, as well as for his affable and engaging manners. He moved to Athens, and attached himself to the Middle Academy, according to a silly story quoted by Eusebius[1] from Numenius, because the ease with which his servants robbed him without being detected, convinced him that no reliance could be placed on the evidence of the senses. He was a disciple of Arcesilaus, and succeeded him as head (scholarch) of the school in 241 BC, over which he presided for 26 years. The place where his instructions were delivered was a garden, named the Lacydeum (Greek: Λακύδειον), provided for the purpose by his friend Attalus I of Pergamon. He resigned his position in 216/5 BC, because of ill-health, and for the final ten years of his life the Academy was run by a council led by Evander and Telecles, who succeeded him to jointly run the Academy after his death in 206/5 BC. According to Diogenes Laërtius[2] he died from excessive drinking, but the story is discredited by the eulogy of Eusebius[1] that he was in all things moderate.

## Philosophy

In his philosophical views he followed Arcesilaus closely.[3] He is said to have written treatises, including one entitled On Nature,[4] but nothing survives. Apart from a number of anecdotes distinguished for their sarcastic humour, Lacydes has the reputation of a man of refined character, a hard worker, and an accomplished orator.

## Notes

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Eusebius, Praeparatio Evangelica xiv. 7.
2. ↑ Diogenes Laërtius, iv. 60; comp. Aelian, Varia Historia, ii. 41; Athenaeus, x.
3. ↑ Cicero, Academica, ii. 6.
4. ↑ Suda, Lakudes.

## References

* Laërtius, Diogenes (1925). "The Academics: Lacydes". Lives of the Eminent Philosophers. 1:4 (Two volume ed.). Loeb Classical Library.
* Algra, K.; Barnes, J.; Mansfeld, J.; Schofield, M. (2005). The Cambridge History of Hellenistic Philosophy. Cambridge University Press. pp. 32–33.

Attribution

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Platonists

Academics|

| Old|

* Plato
* Aristotle
* Eudoxus
* Philip of Opus
* Aristonymus
* Coriscus and Erastus of Scepsis
* Demetrius of Amphipolis
* Euaeon of Lampsacus
* Heraclides and Python of Aenus
* Hestiaeus of Perinthus
* Lastheneia of Mantinea
* Timolaus of Cyzicus
* Speusippus
* Axiothea of Phlius
* Heraclides Ponticus
* Menedemus of Pyrrha
* Xenocrates
* Crantor
* Polemon
* Crates of Athens

|

Skeptics|

| Middle|

* Arcesilaus
* Diocles of Cnidus
* Lacydes
* Telecles and Evander
* Hegesinus

|

New|

* Carneades
* Hagnon of Tarsus
* Metrodorus of Stratonicea
* Clitomachus
* Charmadas
* Aeschines of Neapolis
* Philo of Larissa
* Cicero
* Dio of Alexandria

Middle Platonists|

* Antiochus
* Philo of Alexandria
* Plutarch
* Justin Martyr
* Gaius
* Albinus
* Alcinous
* Apuleius
* Atticus
* Maximus of Tyre
* Numenius of Apamea
* Longinus
* Clement of Alexandria
* Origen the Pagan
* Calcidius

Neoplatonists|

| Ancient|

* Ammonius Saccas
* Plotinus
* Disciples
* Origen
* Amelius
* Porphyry
* Iamblichus
* Sopater
* Eustathius of Cappadocia
* Sosipatra
* Aedesius
* Dexippus
* Chrysanthius
* Theodorus of Asine
* Julian
* Sallustius
* Maximus of Ephesus
* Eusebius of Myndus
* Priscus of Epirus
* Antoninus
* Gregory of Nyssa
* Hypatia
* Augustine
* Macrobius

| Academy|

* Plutarch of Athens
* Asclepigenia
* Hierocles
* Syrianus
* Hermias
* Aedesia
* Proclus
* Ammonius Hermiae
* Asclepiodotus
* Hegias
* Zenodotus
* Marinus
* Agapius
* Isidore
* Damascius
* Simplicius
* Priscian

|

Medieval|

* Boethius
* John Philoponus
* Olympiodorus
* Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite
* John Scotus Eriugena

| Islamic Golden Age|

* Al-Farabi

|

* Anselm
* Peter Abelard

Chartres|

* Bernard
* Gilbert
* Thierry

|

* Henry of Ghent
* Bonaventure
* Meister Eckhart
* Paul of Venice

Modern|

| Renaissance|

| Florentine Academy|

* Plethon
* Marsilio Ficino
* Cristoforo Landino
* Giovanni Pico della Mirandola

|

Cambridge|

* Ralph Cudworth
* Henry More
* Anne Conway

* Petrus Ramus
* Giordano Bruno
* Blaise Pascal
* Emanuel Swedenborg

German idealists|

* Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
* Christian Wolff
* Moses Mendelssohn
* Immanuel Kant
* Johann Gottlieb Fichte
* Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling
* G. W. F. Hegel
* Hermann Lotze

|

* Thomas Taylor
* Ralph Waldo Emerson
* Josiah Royce
* Søren Kierkegaard
* Henri Bergson
* Aleksei Losev

Contemporary|

* Bernard Bolzano
* Philip K. Dick
* Joseph Ratzinger

| Analytic|

* Gottlob Frege
* G. E. Moore
* Kurt Gödel
* Alonzo Church
* Roderick Chisholm
* Michael Dummett
* W. V. O. Quine
* David Kaplan
* Saul Kripke
* Alvin Plantinga
* Peter van Inwagen
* Nicholas Wolterstorff
* Crispin Wright
* Edward N. Zalta

|

Continental|

* Edmund Husserl
* Roman Ingarden
* Leo Strauss

Categories|

Platonism

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