The Heirs of Plato is the first book exclusively devoted to an in-depth study of the various directions in philosophy taken by Plato's followers in the first seventy years or so following his death in 347 BC--the period generally known as 'The Old Academy'. Speusippus, Xenocrates, and Polemon, the three successive heads of the Academy in this period, though personally devoted to the memory of Plato, were independent philosophers in their own right, and felt free to develop his heritage in individual directions. Dillon's clear and accessible book fills a significant gap in our understanding of Plato's immediate philosophical influence, and will be of great value to scholars and historians of ancient philosophy.

John Dillon is Emeritus Fellow at Trinity College Dublin, Ireland.

• 1 The Riddle of the Academy


• A: The Physical Structure of the Academy


• B: Plato's Intellectual Legacy


• 2. Speusippus and the Search for an Adequate System of Principles


• A: Life and Works


• B: Philosophy


• 3. Xenocrates and the Systematization of Platonism


• A: Life and Works


• B: Philosophy


• 4. Polemon, Champion of Ethical Praxis


• A: Life and Works


• B: Philosophy


• 5. Minor Figures


• A: Philippus of Opus


• B: Hermodorus of Syracuse


• C: Heraclides of Pontus


• D: Crantor of Soli


• E: Conclusion


• 6. Epilogue: Arcesilaus and the Turn to Scepticism