The Highest Good and the Best Activity: Aristotle on the Well-Lived Life" (2011)
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Dio Chrysostom's Charidemus and Aristotle's Eudemus
Dio Chrysostom’s Charidemus and Aristotle’s Eudemus Katarzyna Jażdżewska IO CHRYSOSTOM’S DIALOGUE Charidemus exhibits a rich intertextual network, and recent scholarship has D explored Dio’s interaction with Plato’s Phaedo, with Hellenistic philosophy (particularly Stoicism and Cynicism), and with consolation, λόγος παραµυθητικός.1 In this note I would like to add to the literary background of the dialogue by arguing that, so far as extant evidence allows us to judge, Dio’s Charidemus seems to have been particularly closely associated with Aristotle’s lost dialogue Eudemus in respect to format, overall character, and themes covered. Aristotle’s Eudemus was a dialogue written to commemorate Eudemus of Cyprus, a deceased friend and a member of the Academy, who died in Syracuse around 354 B.C.E.2 Ps.- Plutarch’s Consolation to Apollonius 115B (= Arist. fr.44) informs us that Aristotle’s work was known under the title Eudemus, or On the soul. We do not know who the interlocutors were; Aristotle may have been one of the speakers.3 From Cicero’s De 1 For Plato see J. Moles, “The Dionian Charidemus,” 187–210, and M. Trapp, “Plato in Dio,” 213–239, in S. Swain (ed.), Dio Chrysostom. Politics, Letters, and Philosophy (Oxford 2000); K. Jażdżewska, “Dio Chrysostom’s Charidemos: A Study,” Eos 101 (2014) 67–81, at 69–76. For consolatory topoi, M. C. Giner Soria, “Acotaciones a un diálogo consolatorio,” Faventia 12–13 (1990) 293–305. For an overview of various influences on the Charidemus, M. Menchelli, Dione di Prusa. Caridemo (Or. XXX) (Naples 1999) 37–75. -
The Protrepticus of Clement of Alexandria: a Commentary
Miguel Herrero de Jáuregui THE PROTREPTICUS OF CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA: A COMMENTARY to; ga;r yeu'do" ouj yilh'/ th'/ paraqevsei tajlhqou'" diaskedavnnutai, th'/ de; crhvsei th'" ajlhqeiva" ejkbiazovmenon fugadeuvetai. La falsedad no se dispersa por la simple comparación con la verdad, sino que la práctica de la verdad la fuerza a huir. Protréptico 8.77.3 PREFACIO Una tesis doctoral debe tratar de contribuir al avance del conocimiento humano en su disciplina, y la pretensión de que este comentario al Protréptico tenga la máxima utilidad posible me obliga a escribirla en inglés porque es la única lengua que hoy casi todos los interesados pueden leer. Pero no deja de ser extraño que en la casa de Nebrija se deje de lado la lengua castellana. La deuda que contraigo ahora con el español sólo se paliará si en el futuro puedo, en compensación, “dar a los hombres de mi lengua obras en que mejor puedan emplear su ocio”. Empiezo ahora a saldarla, empleándola para estos agradecimientos, breves en extensión pero no en sinceridad. Mi gratitud va, en primer lugar, al Cardenal Don Gil Álvarez de Albornoz, fundador del Real Colegio de España, a cuya generosidad y previsión debo dos años provechosos y felices en Bolonia. Al Rector, José Guillermo García-Valdecasas, que administra la herencia de Albornoz con ejemplar dedicación, eficacia y amor a la casa. A todas las personas que trabajan en el Colegio y hacen que cumpla con creces los objetivos para los que se fundó. Y a mis compañeros bolonios durante estos dos años. Ha sido un honor muy grato disfrutar con todos ellos de la herencia albornociana. -
7 Aristotle on Greatness of Soul
7 Aristotle on Greatness of Soul Roger Crisp n the recent revival of interest in Aristotelian ethics, relatively little attention has been paid to the virtue of greatness of soul (megalopsuchia). This is partly Ibecause of the focus on the more structurally central concepts of Aristotle’s theory, in particular happiness (eudaimonia) and virtue (aret¯e). But in fact a study of greatness of soul can reveal important insights into the overall shape of Aristotelian ethics, including the place of external goods and luck in the virtuous life, and the significance of “the noble” (to kalon). Further, Aristotle describes the great-souled person in more detail than any other, and calls greatness of soul a “sort of crown of the virtues” (NE IV.3.1124a1–2). Many have found aspects of the portrait of the great-souled person in the Nicomachean Ethics repellent or absurd, but that is no good reason for the student of Aristotle to shy away from it. In this chapter, I shall elucidate Aristotle’s account of greatness of soul, addressing some puzzles internal to that account and bringing out its place in, and implications for, the ethics of Aristotle and of those modern writers influenced by him. Greatness of Soul as a Virtue To understand greatness of soul as an Aristotelian virtue requires first understand- ing Aristotle’s conception of virtue itself. Aristotle distinguishes virtues into two classes – intellectual virtues and virtues of character – corresponding to distinct aspects of the human soul (NE I.13). Greatness of soul is a virtue of character, though, like all such virtues, it requires its possessor to have the intellectual virtue of practical wisdom (phron¯esis; NE VI.13). -
Daniel Jugrin
Studia Philosophiae Christianae UKSW 52(2016)2 DanIel JuGrIn THE WAY OF ἈΝΆΛΥΣΙΣ: CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA AND THE PLATONIC TRADITION Abstract. In Clement of Alexandria, the three ways of knowing God appear implicitly in the form: the way of analogy, the way of negation (in the mathematical version), and the way of eminence. A basic aspect of the negation appears as an expression of Clementine criticism on anthropomorphism. The Platonic traditional model of via negativa is related to the mathematical theory of abstraction and is defined as a denial of the material things in order to reach the contemplation of God through pure mind: “we start by abstracting the surface, and we are left with the line; we abstract the line, and we are left with the point; we abstract the point, or strictly speaking the monad, and we are then precipitated into the greatness of Christ” (Stromateis V.11.71.2). Clement of Alexandria is, also, one of the authors who emphasize silence and prayer as having great importance in the knowledge process. The cessation of the activity of the senses leads to the supreme state of contemplation with a pure mind. Silence becomes, in this way, a symbol of God, and knowledge – not a matter of speaking, but of being. Keywords: Clement of Alexandria, Platonic Tradition, knowledge of God, abstractive way, analysis, aphairesis, silence 1. The geometrical method of ἀνάλυσις . 2. Via negativa and the theme of silence in Clement of Alexandria. 3. The origin of the mathematical model of via negativa. St. Justin, martyr and philosopher (103 – 165 AD), was the first Christian thinker who claimed that God can be characterized only in negative terms.1 His vision was familiar in the context of Helle- nistic Judaism: Philo of Alexandria (20 BC – 50 AD)2 had already established the ideas put forward by Justin. -
Aristotle (384-322 BCE)
Aristotle (384-322 BCE) The Pythagoreans, Socrates, and Plato attempted to reconcile an element of human freedom with material determinism and causal law. But the first major philosopher to argue convincingly for some indeterminism was probably Aristotle. This is despite the fact that he described a causal chain back to a prime mover or first cause, and he elaborated the four possible causes (material, efficient, formal, and final). In his Physics and Metaphysics Aristotle also said there were "accidents" caused by "chance(τυχή)." In his Physics, he clearly reckoned chance among the causes. Aristotle might have added chance as a fifth cause - an uncaused or self-caused cause - that happens when two causal chains come together by accident (συμβεβεκός). He noted that the early physicists found no place for chance among the causes. Aristotle knew that many decisions were quite predictable based on habit and character, but they were no less free if one's character itself and predictable habits were developed freely in the past and were changeable in the future. This was the view of Eastern philosophies and religions. Our karma has been determined by our past actions (even from past lives), and strongly influences our current actions, but we are free to improve our karma by future good actions. As a principal architect of the concept of causality, and the formulator of the four causes, Aristotle's statements on indefinite causes are perhaps his most significant contribution to freedom, in the world and in human decisions. In his Metaphysics, Aristotle makes the case for chance and uncaused causes (causa sui) and in the Nicomachean Ethics he shows our actions can be voluntary and "up to us" so that we can be morally responsible. -
The Appeal to Easiness in Aristotle's Protrepticus
THE APPEAL TO EASINESS IN ARISTOTLE’S PROTREPTICUS Matthew D. Walker [Uncorrected draft. To be published in Ancient Philosophy 39 (2019). Please cite only the final published version.] Aristotle’s Protrepticus sought to exhort its audience to engage in philosophy (filosofi&a), i.e., the “acquisition and use of wisdom” (kth~si&v te kai_ xrh~siv sofi&av: 6, 40.2-3/B53; cf. 6, 37.7-9/B8).1 The Protrepticus is now lost. But work by D.S. Hutchinson and Monte Ransome Johnson (2005) has confirmed earlier speculation – initiated by Ingram Bywater (1869) – that Iamblichus preserves large passages of the work in his own Protrepticus. Hutchinson and Johnson 2018 argue that significant portions of the Protrepticus also appear in Iamblichus’ De Communi Mathematica Scientia (DCMS), and that the Protrepticus was originally a dialogue. In passages preserved in Chapter 6 of Iamblichus’ Protrepticus (at 40.15-41.2/B55- 56), Aristotle offers three linked arguments for the claim that philosophy is easy. (I number the arguments in the translation that follows.) [1] For, with no pay coming from people to those who philosophize, on account of which [the latter] would have labored strenuously in this way, and with a great lead extended to the other arts, nevertheless their passing [the other arts] in exactness despite running a short time seems to me to be a sign of the easiness about philosophy. [2] And further, everybody’s feeling at home in it and wishing to occupy leisure with it, leaving aside all else, is no small sign that the close attention comes with pleasure; for no one is willing to labor for a long time. -
Historical Synopsis of the Aristotelian Commentary Tradition (In Less Than Sixty Minutes)
HISTORICAL SYNOPSIS OF THE ARISTOTELIAN COMMENTARY TRADITION (IN LESS THAN SIXTY MINUTES) Fred D. Miller, Jr. CHAPTER 1 PERIPATETIC SCHOLARS Aristotle of Stagira (384–322 BCE) Exoteric works: Protrepticus, On Philosophy, Eudemus, etc. Esoteric works: Categories, Physics, De Caelo, Metaphysics, De Anima, etc. The legend of Aristotle’s misappropriated works Andronicus of Rhodes: first edition of Aristotle’s works (40 BCE) Early Peripatetic commentators Boethus of Sidon (c. 75—c. 10 BCE) comm. on Categories Alexander of Aegae (1st century CE)comm. on Categories and De Caelo Adrastus of Aphrodisias (early 1st century) comm. on Categories Aspasius (c. 131) comm. on Nicomachean Ethics Emperor Marcus Aurelius establishes four chairs of philosophy in Athens: Platonic, Peripatetic, Stoic, Epicurean (c. 170) Alexander of Aphrodisias (late 2nd —early 3rd century) Extant commentaries on Prior Analytics, De Sensu, etc. Lost comm. on Physics, De Caelo, etc. Exemplar for all subsequent commentators. Comm. on Aristotle’s Metaphysics Only books 1—5 of Alexander’s comm. are genuine; books 6—14 are by ps.-Alexander . whodunit? Themistius (c. 317—c. 388) Paraphrases of Physics, De Anima, etc. Paraphrase of Metaphysics Λ (Hebrew translation) Last of the Peripatetics CHAPTER 2 NEOPLATONIC SCHOLARS Origins of Neoplatonism Ammonius Saccas (c. 175—242) forefather of Neoplatonism Plotinus (c. 205—260) the Enneads Reality explained in terms of hypostases: THE ONE—> THE INTELLECT—>WORLD SOUL—>PERCEPTIBLE WORLD Porphyry of Tyre (232–309) Life of Plotinus On the School of Plato and Aristotle Being One On the Difference Between Plato and Aristotle Isagoge (Introduction to Aristotle’s Categories) What is Neoplatonism? A broad intellectual movement based on the philosophy of Plotinus that sought to incorporate and reconcile the doctrines of Plato, Pythagoras, and Aristotle with each other and with the universal beliefs and practices of popular religion (e.g. -
Aristotle and the Privation Theory of Evil
Aristotle and the Privation Theory of Evil Jonathan J. Sanford, PhD Franciscan University of Steubenville [email protected] Though it conflicts with the standard narrative concerning the historical development of the privation theory of evil, it is nevertheless true that the notion that evil is not simply a privation but a privation of a due good has roots in Aristotle’s Metaphysics Theta. This book is Aristotle’s most complete account of being in the sense of actuality and potentiality, and its internal coherency and far reaching implications are often overlooked in commentaries on the Metaphysics, where most of the ink is spilled over books Zeta and Lambda. In this presentation I focus on Metaphysics Theta, chapter 9, draw upon some of the very fine work on this book of the Metaphysics which has been done in recent years, and try to lay out the case that a mature privation theory of evil is not simply compatible with Aristotle’s metaphysics but deployed therein and with profound implications for other areas of his thought. I. The Standard Narrative Before turning to the text of Metaphysics Theta 9, let’s consider a few features of what I identify as the standard narrative. It is Plotinus himself who emphasizes the distance of his own account from Aristotle’s when in Ennead II.4. 16, 3-8 he rejects the Aristotelian distinction between matter and privation. For Plotinus, matter itself is privation, and in Ennead I.8 matter is identified with evil. It is no secret that Aristotle maintains a notion of privation (steresis), and introduces it in Physics I.7 as one of the three principles (archai) of nature, describes its several senses in Metaphysics V.22 and examines it in the context of contrariety (enantiōsin) in 1 Metaphysics X.4. -
Walter Nicgorski: Cicero on Aristotle and Aristotelians 35 and the Teachings of the Peripatetic School Founded by Aristotle
WALTER NICGORSKI Cicero on Aristotle and Aristotelians ABSTRACT: Set against tendencies in the Renaissance and later political theory to see Cicero in tension with Aristotle, this research essay reports the results of a close study of all of Cicero’s texts that bear on his reading, understanding and assessment of Aristotle and the Peripatetic school. The essay necessarily attends to Cicero’s sources for his encoun- ter with Aristotle and affirms, with some qualifications, Cicero’s overall continuity with the moral and political thought of Aristotle. KEYWORDS: Aristotle, Cicero, Socrates, Theophrastus, Peripatetic, New Academy, Rhetoric, Stoic, Dialogues, Virtue, Equality, Petrarch. [M]y philosophical writings differing very little from Peri- patetic teachings, for both I and those men wish to follow in the Socratic and Platonic tradition… (Cicero, De Officiis I. 2) cicero was rome’s “best Aristotelian”. (dante)1 The authority of the American Declaration of Independen- ce rests in part on its drawing from “elementary books of public right as Aristotle, Cicero, Locke, Sidney, etc.” (Tho- mas Jefferson, 1824/1973. 12) This research essay provides the basis, in cicero’s own writings, to see his moral and political thinking as a significant Roman manifestation of political Aristo- telianism. It examines closely his assessment of Aristotle’s political legacy and the necessary preliminary topic of cicero’s sources for understanding Aristotle 1 This was dante’s judgement according to A. E. Douglas (1965, 162) and Paul Renucci (1954, 331). A seemingly different claim made by the 20th century scholar Ernest Fortin (1996, 33) was that cicero and Varro are “Plato’s roman disciples.” WALTER NICGORSKI: CICERO ON ARISTOTLE AND ARISTOTELIANS 35 and the teachings of the Peripatetic school founded by Aristotle. -
Chart on Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics
Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics Aristotle: 384-322 B.C. The Human Good is the Souls’ Activity that Expresses Virtue for “ Political science spends most of its pains on making the citizens to be a certain character, viz. good and capable of noble acts” [1099: 27-32]. I. Prolegomena Action of the soul that expresses II. Virtues of Character: Books III-IV: reason is distinctive of human beings; Book 1: the excellent man’s function is to Book 2: The Virtues & express reason well (8). Excellence is of two kinds: intellectual & moral. Intellectual excellence is Responsibilities: The good is that which all things aim (1) Though happiness could be god- by birth and teaching (requires experience & time) and moral excellence given, it “comes as a result of comes about as a result of habit. Moral excellence does not arise in us by Virtue pertains only to voluntary feelings & actions. Determine the highest good since excellence and some process of nature; we are adapted by nature to receive them & are made perfect by habit; We forgive what is done non-voluntarily; what is everything is subordinate to it ; the learning or training, to be among the we become just by doing just acts, temperate by doing temperate acts, brave forced by something external is non-voluntary and highest good is political science (2) most god-like things; for that which is by doing brave acts [11031]. Habits distinguish between good & bad everything done by reason of ignorance is non- the prize end of excellence seem to be constitutions & between good & bad states. -
Preprint N°500
2020 Preprint N°500 From Hesiod to Saussure, from Hippocrates to Jevons: An Introduction to the History of Scientific Thought between Iran and the Atlantic Jens Høyrup ROSKILDE UNIVERSITY MAX-PLANCK-INSTITUT FÜR Section for philosophy WISSENSCHAFTSGESCHICHTE and science studies Berlin FROM HESIOD TO SAUSSURE, FROM HIPPOCRATES TO JEVONS An introduction to the history of scientific thought between Iran and the Atlantic Jens Høyrup Preprint, April 2020 ©2020 Jens Høyrup In memory of Alex Novikoff whose Climbing Our Family Tree introduced me to scientific thinking at the age of six I promise nothing complete; because any human thing supposed to be complete, must for that reason infallibly be faulty Herman Melville, Moby Dick Jens Høyrup Section for Philosophy and Science Studies Roskilde University P.O. Box 260 DK-4000 Roskilde Denmark [email protected] http://ruc.dk/~jensh/ Greek alphabet V GREEK ALPHABET As a pretext for training the use of a dictionary of ancient Greek, the following pages contain a few words written in Greek letters. The four columns below show the corresponding alphabet – first the Greek minuscule, then the corresponding majuscule, then the name, and finally the approximate phonetic value (which does not always coincide with the phonetic value in modern Greek). αΑalpha a βΒBeta b γΓGamma g ( before γ, κ and χ; γγ thus as ng in English anger, γκ as nk in ink) δΔDelta d εΕEpsilon e (short) ζΖZeta z (i.e., voiced s) ηΗEta e¯ (long) θΘTheta þ (unvoiced th; originally t’) ιΙIota i (as i in English if or e in be, may thus be short or long) κΚKappa k λΛLambda l µΜMu m νΝNu n ξΞKsi ks οΟOmikron o (short) πΠPi p ρΡRho r (transcribed rh in initial posi- tion) σΣSigma s ςΣSigma s (used in final position) τΤTau t υΥYpsilon y (as German ü) φΦPhi f (originally p’) χΧKhi χ (as ch in German Ich; orig- inally k’) ψΨPsi ps ωΩOmega o¯ (long) The following double vowels may be taken note of: VI Greek alphabet αυ au ευ eu ου u (as English oo) Vowels in the initial position are marked by one of the two aspiration marks and . -
Université De Sherbrooke Faculté Des Lettres Et Sciences Humaines Département De Philosophie Et D'éthique Appliquée La Ju
Université de Sherbrooke Faculté des lettres et sciences humaines Département de philosophie et d’éthique appliquée La justification de l'éclectisme : Galien médecin et philosophe Par Jérémie Hébrard Sous la direction de Benoît Castelnérac Sherbrooke Juillet 2020 Résumé : L’enjeu de ce mémoire tient en quelques mots : restituer à Galien la place qui lui convient au sein de l’histoire de la philosophie. Les préjugés entourant l’œuvre du médecin de Pergame ainsi que son agnosticisme avoué lui ont souvent valu la réputation d’être un penseur sans grande profondeur qu’on pouvait négliger sans préjudice. La richesse de son témoignage, dont les philosophes ont fait peu de cas jusqu’à assez récemment, se révèle pourtant indispensable pour reconstituer la transition entre la philosophie post-hellénistique vers l’Antiquité tardive. Si la tâche peut paraître herculéenne, on aurait pourtant tort de s’en détourner sous ce prétexte, et notre modeste contribution s’avère un pas dans la bonne direction. Dans ce mémoire, je me propose de revoir l’immense œuvre de Galien à la lumière de son attitude éclectique, qui cimente sa pensée en dépit de la pluralité des thèmes qu’elle englobe. Cette recherche plaide donc pour une interprétation renouvelée de la relation de Galien à la philosophie en cherchant d’abord à montrer comment les courants de pensée qu’il côtoyait ont influencé sa pensée, mais également comment il s’est affranchi du dogmatisme des écoles philosophiques. Sa relation avec le scepticisme de la Nouvelle Académie y est également abordée dans notre traduction inédite de son traité Du meilleur enseignement.