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Though Ptolemy’s Almagest is remarkable for its conception of the science of the heaven and its new definition of philosophy itself, what is surprising is its lack of success in engaging, to say nothing of persuading, members of the philosophical schools both contemporary and subsequent. The challenge is to account for this, that is, for why some philosophers effectively ignored the Almagest, while others assimilated its new science without modifying significantly any of their competing claims. In other words, if the Almagest were a virus, the question is Why were some philosophers immune while others suffered only mild symptoms? The aim of this paper is to address this question in the case of Apuleius of Madaura, a Platonist philosopher of the second century CE.

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Ptolemy’s Almagest and the Philosophical Schools of the Second Century CE: Apuleius of Madaura

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  • 发表日期：

    2026年

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  • Alan C. Bowen

摘要

Though Ptolemy’s Almagest is remarkable for its conception of the science of the heaven and its new definition of philosophy itself, what is surprising is its lack of success in engaging, to say nothing of persuading, members of the philosophical schools both contemporary and subsequent. The challenge is to account for this, that is, for why some philosophers effectively ignored the Almagest, while others assimilated its new science without modifying significantly any of their competing claims. In other words, if the Almagest were a virus, the question is Why were some philosophers immune while others suffered only mild symptoms? The aim of this paper is to address this question in the case of Apuleius of Madaura, a Platonist philosopher of the second century CE.