Albinus' Metaphysics an Attempt At Rehabilitation

Abstract

In the first part of this article I have tried to show the originality of Albinus' interpretation of Plato's metaphysics as a whole. It remains to inquire in how far originality may be ascribed to him as regards the details of his interpretation. Here we touch on the ticklish subject of the sources. It is often assumed that an indication of the sources is a sufficient explanation of a philosopher's system 1). Yet methodically one ought to start from the presumption of his originality. The question must therefore be put in this way: which certain, or very probable, results have been achieved by the study of the sources of Albinus and to what extent is his originality diminished by it? I shall divide this inquiry into two parts, by studying first the sources of Albinus in general, and then the sources of the elements out of which his metaphysics have been built up. In doing so one must pay special attention to the question what exactly it is one wants to prove and whether the data justify the conclusion. In my opinion scholars have not always been sufficiently discerning in this respect. It is e.g. of fundamental importance whether it can only be proved that a certain thinker