Notes on the Post-Hellenistic Platonist Debate on Divine Causation

Scholars tend to regard the attribution of craftsman-like causation to God as a distinguishing mark of Middle Platonism. In this paper I will show that this view is misleading, for it obscures Middle Platonist theories of non-craftsman-like causation, such as that introduced by Taurus. I shall not only outline the internal economy of this doctrine and of those supporting craftsmanship (e.g., those of Plutarch and Atticus), but also highlight the philosophical exigencies leading to their formulation and the meta-doctrinal strategies which they entail.