In Chapter 1, The Late Ancient Background
¶ The late Alexandrians thus adhered to the old, traditional view which placed Plato above Aristotle. In any case one has the impression that with the exception of Damascius and, in particular, John Philoponus, philosophy in late antiquity did not really explore new territory but on the whole remained confined to imparting time-tested doctrines to an ever diminishing clientele, while increasingly losing its institutional backing (Goulet 2007 [*116…