The Philosophical System of Posidonius.

Since only a few fragments of the works of Posidonius have survived, it is necessary to reconstruct his philosophical system. Such a reconstruction was first attempted in the beginning of the 19th century after the fragments had been collected. ¹ It was naturally restricted to the understanding of those testimonies. But then, from the end of the 19th century on, the fragments were supposed not to be sufficient material. Scholars therefore tried to replace the missing direct data by tracing down the influences of Posidonius on later philosophers. Many theories were granted as being indirectly Posidonian, because they seemed to fit either to one of the fragments itself or to the consequences to be drawn from it ² This method was applied even down to the most recent times. For in regard to the basic principle, it is no essential alteration that the "inner form" of Posidonian thinking, felt intuitively rather than demonstrated, decided what theories could be attributed to Posidonius. ³