Plataristotelians?

Lloyd P Gerson has just published a book entitled Aristotle and Other Platonists , an effort to show that the two great philosophical opponents of ancient Greece are not opposed at all. He points to the “Neoplatonic” writers of antiquity, who attempted to harmonize the two philosophers. The TLS reviewer, Christopher Shields, is unconvinced, acknowledging that “Plato’s influence on Aristotle was paramount,” but arguing that Aristotle rejects certain Platonic theses, both “positions central to Plato’s thought, as well as others closer to its periphery.” He ends with the intriguing comment that the influence of Aristotle on Plato has been unfortunately neglected: “the two men interacted on a regular basis, with significant periods of interruption, for some two decades.” The fact that this interaction did not produce a tertium quid is evidence of their continuing disagreements, but also leaves the suggestive hint that similarities between them may have arisen as much by Aristotle’s influence on Plato as the opposite.