Posidonius of Apamea

The representative of the so-called Middle Stoi. Universal thinker, indicating how cultural evolution at the end of antiquity. Founded on the island of Rhodes his school, where he taught both philosophy and astrology. From 97 BC. was a teacher of the noble Romans, among whom were Cicero and Pompey.

In his philosophical teachings Posidonius tried to combine the teachings of ancient Stoi with the ideas of Plato and Aristotle. From the writings of Posidonius survived only a few fragments. Posidonius recognized teachings of ancient Stoi cyclical world of fire and the prediction, but it introduced some new provisions. Based at redefining the Stoic doctrine of Heraclitus on the world on fire, and the ideas of Plato's dialogue "Timaeus, Posidonius was the last time in the history of ancient thought has attempted to build a fully developed natural-philosophical way of peace. In the center of Posidonius doctrine - the doctrine of a mysterious acausal connection of all things, about the "world sympathy," animates nature. Posidonius the universe - a living organism, similar to the human body, imbued with subtle quivering after the fire, and every part of the body vested with responsive sensitivity in the fate of other parts. The reason for the ill-fated life, according to Posidonius, - that people should not deity in itself (the mind), and irrational, animal part of the soul, and it breaks the parallelism of the macrocosm and microcosm. Appointment of Rights - the life of both the contemplative and soustroyayuschaya world order. Thus, the doctrine of Posidonius served as the philosophical basis of astrology.

SSAverincev notes:

"For the sunset of antiquity, this alloy of myth and science was what were looking for all the exponents of the spirit of time. Can be said that no educated man IV - VII centuries. could not think seriously about the mysteries of nature, of the device, the human body, while avoiding the direct or indirect effects of concepts Posidonius ".
In his geographic work "Ocean" Posidonius tries, apart from the usual descriptions give the history of Earth. In particular, he sees the relationship between the tides of the sea and the phases of the moon. Based on astrological constructs arguments Posidonius on the national characteristics of the Gauls and Jews had a great influence on later theory of ethnic psychology (the psychology of peoples).
In honor of the lunar crater named Posidonius Posidonius.