In Isnardi Parente’s re-edition of Xenocrates’ fragments (2012), in the commentary to fr. 126 we read that the information reported ‘indicates the departure by Xenocrates and presumably the Academy from Plato’s tripartite psychology’ (my translation). This paper offers an analysis of fr. 126 IP2 and the information ascribed to Xenocrates by Theodoret. The aim is to show that an attentive examination of the information preserved does not allow us to determine whether Xenocrates and the Academy did, in fact, abandon Plato’s tripartite psychology.
Keywords: Xenocrates, Psychology, Soul, Bipartition, Tripartition.