DOCSLIB.ORG

12. Heraclitus' Ethics

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
12. Heraclitus' Ethics 12. Heraclitus’ Ethics David Sider Investigations into Heraclitus’ ethics are scarce on the ground. It is not that, apart from some that have been been overlooked because they are universally considered spurious, his several comments that touch upon human behavior have been ignored—there are too few fragments for any to go uncommented for long—but that they seem isolated and not obviously calling out to be made part of a systematic theory of eth- ical behavior. Furthermore, it has to be said that some of these scarce attempts to study Heraclitus’ ethics are disappointing.1 Nor does the subject of ethics as such receive much attention in more comprehensive treatments. It is true that ethics is discussed elsewhere in the huge Hera- clitus bibliography, but rarely head-on as a subject to be investigated and analyzed in its own right.2 Two noteworthy contributions to the liter- 1 Thus, A. N. Zoumpos, “Das ‘ethische Urteil’ bei Heraklit,” Platon 11 (1959) 420–423, raises the Aristotelian distinction between a-priori and a-posteriori reasoning, only to find that this does not apply to Heraclitus, which does not get us very far: “Kurz gesagt nimmt Herakleitos das ‘ethische Urteil’ als Produkt des ‘Göttlichen Logos’ an, das naturgemäss also in Voraus in den Menschen vor- hande ist.” (One could compare Anaxagoras’ Nous, which also shows up in an- imals.) Zoumpos relies too heavily on Plato for his understanding of Heraclitus, especially those passages in the Cratylus and Theaetetus that characterize him pri- marily as one relying on a theory of flux to explain his epistemological con- cerns. Zoumpos thus concludes that “der Mensch kein sichers Urteil bilden kann,” since there can be no Seiende, existence, in Heraclitus. There is, how- ever, logos, styled as Weltgesetz by Zoumpos, which can offer guidance to men, should they care to follow it. C. J. Broniak, “Heraclitus, Parmenides, and Plato on living the good life,” Dialogue (Milwaukee) 30 (1987) 28–37, de- votes only a little over one page to Heraclitus (28–29), with very little attempt to work the fragments themselves into a coherent system. C. Eggers Lan, “Ethi- cal-religious meaning of fr. 30 D.-K.” in L. Rossetti (ed.), Atti del symposium heracliteum 1981 (Rome 1983) 1.291–299, does not follow through on the promise of his title. 2 Some few examples chosen from the best and most useful books on Heraclitus: Charles Kahn, The Art and Thought of Heraclitus (Cambridge 1979) does not even include a listing for ethics in his index; Miroslav Marcovich, Heraclitus: Greek Text with a Short Commentary (Merida 1967) does index “ethics,” but Bereitgestellt von | De Gruyter / TCS Angemeldet | 46.30.84.116 Heruntergeladen am | 03.07.14 11:30 322 David Sider ature are a brief contribution by Robert Bolton, which acknowledges that it is only a preliminary study, and the more substantial investigation by J. W. Evans, which, because it was only an unpublished doctoral dis- sertation, has not received the attention it deserves.3 It was with this near vacuum on the subject in mind that i planned to address the matter at the conference on Pythagoras and Heraclitus, little knowing that Enri- que Hülsz (who calls Heraclitus a “moral philosopher”) and Tony Long would be addressing this very question directly and that others, most notably Aryeh Finkelberg and Gabor Betegh, would be shedding signif- icant light on the matter. Still, our various approaches complement each other, and each may have something to contribute to a new overall ap- preciation. In particular, Tony Long has properly noted how misleading it can be to read Plato back into Heraclitus. Yet my approach to Her- aclitus’ ethics based on the fragments themselves will lead to a theory that is consistent with much that is in fact found in Plato. he assumes without argument that Heraclitus’ ethics were very much those of the ruling class of his native Ephesos, which entails that Heraclitus never devel- oped an ethical system of his own. Cf. too M. Adomenas, “Heraclitus on reli- gion,” Phronesis 44 (1999) 109, who refers to Heraclitus’ “antipopulist ethics.” This will be disputed below. 3 R. Bolton, “Nature and human good in Heraclitus,” in K. I. Boudouris (ed.), Ionian Philosophy (Athens 1989) 49–57; J.W. Evans, Heraclitus and Parmenides as Moral Philosophers, diss. Yale 1970. Bolton approaches Heraclitus’ ethics via the notion of natural law as it would have incorporated Heraclitus’ idea of physis. Placing Heraclitus broadly in an early form of the nomos/physis controversy, Bolton relies most heavily on B 114 n»mm|\k]comtar Qswuq_feshai wqµ t` num` p\mtym …. tq]vomtai c±q p\mter oR!mhq~peioi m|loi rp¹2m¹r,toO he_ou. From this, along with some other supporting texts, Bolton reasonably concludes not only that is there a natural (because divine) law, but also that men can access it and trust in it. Note also B 116 !mhq~poisi p÷si l]testi cim~sjeim 2yuto»rja·syvqome?m, where “self-knowledge is coupled with so- phronein” (54). Bolton then offers some criticisms that could be brought to bear, but his article remains a good place to start. Evans’ more comprehensive treatment argues that “Heraclitus’ ethical views are inseparably entwined with his cosmology and metaphysics” (39). M. Fattal, Paroles et actes chez HØraclite: Sur les fondements thØoriques de l’action morale (Paris 2012), appeared as this article was on the point of submission to the publishers. Bereitgestellt von | De Gruyter / TCS Angemeldet | 46.30.84.116 Heruntergeladen am | 03.07.14 11:30 12. Heraclitus’ Ethics 323 i Before beginning, however, it should be noted that, despite the modern neglect, several voices in antiquity were in agreement that the book of Heraclitus did indeed devote a significant portion of its contents to ethics or politics, a subject not always easy to distinguish from ethics in the frag- ments, nor, i suspect, in Heraclitus’ own thought. Thus, Diogenes Laer- tius 9.15 records that “many have written commentaries on Heraclitus, including the grammatikos Diodotos, who denied that his syngramma was about nature, but rather that it was about politics, and that the material on nature was placed there (only) as a paradigm (ou vgsi peq· v}seyr eWmai t¹ s}ccqalla !kk± peq· pokite_ar, t± d³ peq· v}seyr 1mpaqade_c- lator eUdei je?shai). Again from Diogenes (9.12) we learn that this same Diodotus described Heraclitus’ book as an !jqib³roQ\jisla pq¹rst\hlgm b_ou, “accurate steerage toward life’s harbor.”4 Diodotus Grammaticus is unknown, but whoever he was, he probably was not a professional phi- losopher, most of whom in the ancient world seemed ready if not eager to ignore the ethical views of Socrates’ predecessors.5 Still others, accord- ing to D.L. ibid., call Heraclitus’ book a cm~lom( Ah_m, tq|pou j|slom 6ma t_m nulp\mtym, “a guide of conduct, ….”6 Diogenes Laertius also records the interesting statement (9.5) that t¹ d³ veq|lemom aqtoO bibk_om 1st· l³m !p¹ toO sum]womtor Peq· v}seyr, di-qgtai d( eQr tqe?r k|cour, eUrtet¹mpeq· toO pamt¹rja·pokitij¹m ja· heokocij|m. Heraclitus’ book, although peq· v}seyr on the whole, has been divided into three logoi, one on t¹ p÷m, which must include at least cosmological matters; a second on politics, and a third on divine matters. A straightforward reading of this passage—focusing 4 The Greek is a iambic trimeter, with its caesura preceding the fourth rather than the third princeps. Since grammatikoi were teachers, Diodotus may have com- posed verses to serve as mnemonic aids for his students. For a recent discovery of a teacher’s verses directed to his students, see R. Cribiore, D. Ratzen, & P. Davoli, “A teacher’s dipinto from Trimithis (Dakhleh Oasis),” Journal of Roman Archaeology 21 (2008): 170–91. 5 Note how Aristotle in his Ethics, although coming to grips with Plato in EN 1.6, does not provide in this work the same sort of overview of presocratic or sophistic thought on the subject that he does in his Physics and Metaphysics. 6 The reading of the codd., printed here, is not easy to construe, and has been frequently altered: ja· cm~lom( Ah_m, <ja· jak¹m> j|slom tq|pym 2m|r te sulp\mtym Diels; ja· cm~lom( Ah_m, <toO h( fkou> j|slou tq|pim 2m|r te sulp\mtym te Hicks. Bereitgestellt von | De Gruyter / TCS Angemeldet | 46.30.84.116 Heruntergeladen am | 03.07.14 11:30 324 David Sider on the present 1st_—would allow for somebody simply adding “chapter headings,” without any further alteration, but this would hardly merit mention by Diogenes. The perfect “has been divided” would never have been used if this were Heraclitus’ own division. By concentrating on the odd phrase !p¹ toO sum]womtor, however, which seems to mean that the book was originally continuously on, or continually returning to, the subject of nature, we get the more interesting statement (one that Diogenes would have found deserving of mention) that Heraclitus’ book suffered rearrangement into the three rubrics/sections he names. If so, there must have been a higher percentage of the book concerning, at least on a first reading of Heraclitus’ notoriously ambiguous prose, human nature (politics and ethics, as later understood).7 And as Dei- chgräber noted, these topics are three of the six into which Cleanthes divided philosophy, which suggests that the rearrangement and division into three parts were due to a Stoic.8 These important secondary testimonia aside, Heraclitus was clearly concerned with both individual behavior (B 43 vbqim wqµ sbemm}mai l÷kkom C puqjaz^m), as well as that of his city (B 44 l\weshai wqµ t¹m d/lom rp³qtoOm|lou).
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The Pythagoreans in the Light and Shadows of Recent Research
    The Pythagoreans in the light and shadows of recent research PAPER PRESENTED AT THE DONNERIAN SYMPOSIUM ON MYSTICISM, SEPTEMBER 7th 1968 By HOLGER THESLEFF It has been said' that "Pythagoras casts a long shadow in the history of Greek thought". Indeed, the shadow both widens and deepens spectacularly in course of time. He has not only been considered—on disputable grounds, as we shall see as the first European mystic. No other personality of the Greco–Roman world (except Christ, and perhaps Alexander the Great) has been credited with such powers and all-round capacities. Since early Impe- rial times he has been represented as a man of divine origin, a saint, a sage, a prophet, and a great magician; a sportsman and an ascetic; a poet and prose- writer; a Dorian nationalist (though an Ionian by birth); an eminent mathe- matician, musician, astronomer, logician, rhetorician, and physician; a world-wide traveller; a founder of a religious sect, an ethical brotherhood, and a political community; a great metaphysician and teacher whose views of the universe, human society and the human soul deeply influenced not only Plato and Aristotle, but Herakleitos, Parmenides, Demokritos and, in short, all prominent thinkers; a preacher of universal tolerance, and—a good hus- band and father. There can be seen occasional signs of a revival of Pythagoreanism at least from the ist century A. D. onwards,2 and some authors of the Imperial age 1 Philip (below), p. 3. 2 If Pseudo-Pythagorica are left out of account, the activity of the Sextii in Rome during the reign of Augustus is the first manifest sign.
    [Show full text]
  • Meet the Philosophers of Ancient Greece
    Meet the Philosophers of Ancient Greece Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Ancient Greek Philosophy but didn’t Know Who to Ask Edited by Patricia F. O’Grady MEET THE PHILOSOPHERS OF ANCIENT GREECE Dedicated to the memory of Panagiotis, a humble man, who found pleasure when reading about the philosophers of Ancient Greece Meet the Philosophers of Ancient Greece Everything you always wanted to know about Ancient Greek philosophy but didn’t know who to ask Edited by PATRICIA F. O’GRADY Flinders University of South Australia © Patricia F. O’Grady 2005 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior permission of the publisher. Patricia F. O’Grady has asserted her right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identi.ed as the editor of this work. Published by Ashgate Publishing Limited Ashgate Publishing Company Wey Court East Suite 420 Union Road 101 Cherry Street Farnham Burlington Surrey, GU9 7PT VT 05401-4405 England USA Ashgate website: http://www.ashgate.com British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Meet the philosophers of ancient Greece: everything you always wanted to know about ancient Greek philosophy but didn’t know who to ask 1. Philosophy, Ancient 2. Philosophers – Greece 3. Greece – Intellectual life – To 146 B.C. I. O’Grady, Patricia F. 180 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Meet the philosophers of ancient Greece: everything you always wanted to know about ancient Greek philosophy but didn’t know who to ask / Patricia F.
    [Show full text]
  • PYTHAGORAS-The-Story-Of-A-Child
    1 Title: Pitagora – Storia di un bambino diventato immortale © 2019 Nuova Scuola Pitagorica – all rights reserved Editing by Marco Tricoli Cover by Giuseppe Santoro Translation by Gabriella Mongiardo www.nuovascuolapitagorica.org 2 Pythagoras The story of a child that became immortal Nuova Scuola Pitagorica 3 Foreword This publication was born with the intention of stimulating awareness of the Pythagorean phenomenon and of opening a debate in society and particularly in the world of school edu- cation. It represents a starting point for a series of activities in various fields to schedule over the years. The contents of this text are the result of studies and analyses conducted within the New Pythagorean School, thanks to the contribution of its members spread around the world. The New Pythagorean School is an organization open to eve- ryone, without any preclusion and without precepts or pre- conceived truths to give: a school of free thought. It conducts activities in various cultural sectors, from the artistic to the lit- erary one, giving particular emphasis to ethical philosophy as a universal guide to righteous behavior in order to create a bet- ter world. 4 Pythagoras The story of a child that became immortal There once was a beautiful and intelligent child, with long flowing hair that sometimes took on a blond shade and at other times a copper one. Thus, he was called the long-haired. His eyes were a sea green and light blue sky color and his body was thin and in shape. He was also very curious and continu- ously asked questions about everything.
    [Show full text]
  • Welcome to the Complete Pythagoras
    Welcome to The Complete Pythagoras A full-text, public domain edition for the generalist & specialist Edited by Patrick Rousell for the World Wide Web. I first came across Kenneth Sylvan Guthrie’s edition of the Complete Pythagoras while researching a book on Leonardo. I had been surfing these deep waters for a while and so the value of Guthrie’s publication was immediately apparent. As Guthrie explains in his own introduction, which is at the beginning of the second book (p 168), he was initially prompted to publish these writings in the 1920’s for fear that this information would become lost. As it is, much of this information has since been published in fairly good modern editions. However, these are still hard to access and there is no current complete collection as presented by Guthrie. The advantage here is that we have a fairly comprehensive collection of works on Pythagoras and the Pythagoreans, translated from the origin- al Greek into English, and presented as a unified, albeit electronic edition. The Complete Pythagoras is a compilation of two books. The first is entitled The Life Of Py- thagoras and contains the four biographies of Pythagoras that have survived from antiquity: that of Iamblichus (280-333 A.D.), Porphry (233-306 A.D.), Photius (ca 820- ca 891 A.D.) and Diogenes Laertius (180 A.D.). The second is entitled Pythagorean Library and is a complete collection of the surviving fragments from the Pythagoreans. The first book was published in 1920, the second a year later, and released together as a bound edition.
    [Show full text]
  • Defining Orphism: the Beliefs, the Teletae and the Writings
    Defining Orphism: the Beliefs, the teletae and the Writings Anthi Chrysanthou Submitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of Leeds School of Languages, Cultures and Societies Department of Classics May 2017 The candidate confirms that the work submitted is his/her own and that appropriate credit has been given where reference has been made to the work of others. I This copy has been supplied on the understanding that it is copyright material and that no quotation from the thesis may be published without proper acknowledgement. © 2017 The University of Leeds and Anthi Chrysanthou. The right of Anthi Chrysanthou to be identified as Author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. II Acknowledgements This research would not have been possible without the help and support of my supervisors, family and friends. Firstly, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisors Prof. Malcolm Heath and Dr. Emma Stafford for their constant support during my research, for motivating me and for their patience in reading my drafts numerous times. It is due to their insightful comments and constructive feedback that I have managed to evolve as a researcher and a person. Our meetings were always delightful and thought provoking. I could not have imagined having better mentors for my Ph.D studies. Special thanks goes to Prof. Malcolm Heath for his help and advice on the reconstruction of the Orphic Rhapsodies. I would also like to thank the University of Leeds for giving me the opportunity to undertake this research and all the departmental and library staff for their support and guidance.
    [Show full text]
  • Greco-Roman Religions & Philosophies
    Greco-Roman Religions & Philosophies The New Testament World – Week 3 Adult Education Greco-Roman Religions Temple – in Greek and Roman was the home of the deity, not a place of worship. Greeks worship with their heads uncovered, Romans were always covered (seeing omens). Dominant tone in the NT is Greco-Roman influence Greek gods & Roman gods – became the same with different names Acts 19 – Diana of the Ephesians Each city/region had a patron god and cult Two categories of Hellenistic religion: (Each had old religion that developed) State religion o Official (polis) o Polytheistic o Had patron god, temples, feasts, priests o Statues of the deity were found throughout the city o Existed for the good of the state, not the individual o Everyone was eligible to perform ritual (not professional priest) o No systematic theology (geographic theology) o The Here and Now – not the afterlife (legal systems) o Mythology focused on the intervention of the gods (Acts 14:11-18) Mystery religion o Personal o Belonged by choice, not birth o Requires initiation o Tendency toward monotheism (or supreme god) o No geographical area, race or tribe o Available to those who swear to keep the mysteries a secret o Included communication with the god(dess) o Deals with the afterlife for the faithful, connected to the underworld o Judaism and Christianity are a mixture of both Combined civil and religious (ethical) law Local Mysteries - Early mysteries were rites to assure fertility, safety, or the like. Panamara o Southwest Asia Minor o Promised only terrestrial benefits. Mother of Gods Cabirir at Samothrace o Non-Hellenistic o Numbers varied o General protective; mostly of seamen.
    [Show full text]
  • Download Date | 6/9/19 10:06 AM Pseudo-Pythagorean Literature 73
    Philologus 2019; 163(1): 72–94 Leonid Zhmud* What is Pythagorean in the Pseudo-Pythagorean Literature? https://doi.org/10.1515/phil-2018-0003 Abstract: This paper discusses continuity between ancient Pythagoreanism and the pseudo-Pythagorean writings, which began to appear after the end of the Pythagorean school ca. 350 BC. Relying on a combination of temporal, formal and substantial criteria, I divide Pseudopythagorica into three categories: 1) early Hellenistic writings (late fourth – late second centuries BC) ascribed to Pytha- goras and his family members; 2) philosophical treatises written mostly, yet not exclusively, in pseudo-Doric from the turn of the first century BC under the names of real or fictional Pythagoreans; 3) writings attributed to Pythagoras and his relatives that continued to appear in the late Hellenistic and Imperial periods. I will argue that all three categories of pseudepigrapha contain astonishingly little that is authentically Pythagorean. Keywords: Pythagoreanism, pseudo-Pythagorean writings, Platonism, Aristote- lianism Forgery has been widespread in time and place and varied in its goals and methods, and it can easily be confused with superficially similar activities. A. Grafton Note: An earlier version of this article was presented at the colloquium “Pseudopythagorica: stratégies du faire croire dans la philosophie antique” (Paris, 28 May 2015). I would like to thank Constantinos Macris (CNRS) for his kind invitation. The final version was written during my fellowship at the IAS of Durham University and presented at the B Club, Cambridge, in Mai 2016. I am grateful to Gábor Betegh for inviting me to give a talk and to the audience for the vivid discussion.
    [Show full text]
  • Pythagorean Teachings Across the Centuries
    Pythagorean Teachings across the Centuries Angela Tripodi, adapted and expanded by the Rosicrucian Research Library Staff and Friends he school of Pythagoras has been defined by Vincenzo Capparelli and by several Tother authors, as the “Greatest school of Wisdom of the West.” It has had profound influence across time and has contributed to providing the coordination needed to combine the search for mystical truth with a clear methodology of wisdom. Even if the inheritance of the Pythagorean tradition cannot be fully grasped, due to its initiatory character, The last-remaining column of the temple dedicated to Hera which required a severe selection process and Lacinia in Crotona, Italy. Photo by Sandro Baldi. involved the obligation of absolute silence of teachings until the very last degrees. The from its Neophyte members, it is still possible few initiates able to enter the last doorway to relive the outlines of the sacred knowledge obeyed the sacred promise of absolute silence. in the teachings. Several sources need to be This norm of silence was the secret of the consulted in order to retrace the spread of school and is mentioned in several sources. this inspired wisdom whose light reached It also implies that all especially profound far from its original source. According to information and teachings were hidden, the information transmitted by Porphyry, not only from outsiders, but also from the Iamblichus, and in part by Diogenes Laertius, participants of the lower degrees. when the school at Crotona1 was destroyed, As is well known, the school had its many essential concepts were lost forever.
    [Show full text]
  • Women in Early Pythagoreanism
    Women in Early Pythagoreanism Caterina Pellò Faculty of Classics University of Cambridge Clare Hall February 2018 This dissertation is submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Alla nonna Ninni, che mi ha insegnato a leggere e scrivere Abstract Women in Early Pythagoreanism Caterina Pellò The sixth-century-BCE Pythagorean communities included both male and female members. This thesis focuses on the Pythagorean women and aims to explore what reasons lie behind the prominence of women in Pythagoreanism and what roles women played in early Pythagorean societies and thought. In the first chapter, I analyse the social conditions of women in Southern Italy, where the first Pythagorean communities were founded. In the second chapter, I compare Pythagorean societies with ancient Greek political clubs and religious sects. Compared to mainland Greece, South Italian women enjoyed higher legal and socio-political status. Similarly, religious groups included female initiates, assigning them authoritative roles. Consequently, the fact that the Pythagoreans founded their communities in Croton and further afield, and that in some respects these communities resembled ancient sects helps to explain why they opened their doors to the female gender to begin with. The third chapter discusses Pythagoras’ teachings to and about women. Pythagorean doctrines did not exclusively affect the followers’ way of thinking and public activities, but also their private way of living. Thus, they also regulated key aspects of the female everyday life, such as marriage and motherhood. I argue that the Pythagorean women entered the communities as wives, mothers and daughters. Nonetheless, some of them were able to gain authority over their fellow Pythagoreans and engage in intellectual activities, thus overcoming the female traditional domestic roles.
    [Show full text]
  • The Derveni Papyrus ("Diagoras of Melos, Apopyrgizontes Logoi?"): a New Translation Author(S): Richard Janko Reviewed Work(S): Source: Classical Philology, Vol
    The Derveni Papyrus ("Diagoras of Melos, Apopyrgizontes Logoi?"): A New Translation Author(s): Richard Janko Reviewed work(s): Source: Classical Philology, Vol. 96, No. 1 (Jan., 2001), pp. 1-32 Published by: The University of Chicago Press Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1215469 . Accessed: 15/05/2012 18:47 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. The University of Chicago Press is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Classical Philology. http://www.jstor.org THE DERVENI PAPYRUS (DIAGORAS OF MELOS, APOPYRGIZONTESLOGOI?): A NEW TRANSLATION RICHARD JANKO I. THE AIM AND OUTLOOK OF THE DERVENI AUTHOR HE DERVENI PAPYRUS, our oldest surviving Greek manuscript, was discovered in the remains of a funeral pyre1almost forty years ago, in January 1962. Along with other bizarre and astounding material, it offers an allegorical interpretationof a cosmogonic poem ascribed to Or- pheus. It is a text of capital importance for understandingthe religious and philosophical crisis of the late fifth century B.C.E.,when polytheism was challenged by monotheism and pantheism.
    [Show full text]
  • Seriousness and Playfulness in Plotinus' Enneads
    Loyola University Chicago Loyola eCommons Master's Theses Theses and Dissertations 1978 Seriousness and Playfulness in Plotinus' Enneads Roman T. Ciapalo Loyola University Chicago Follow this and additional works at: https://ecommons.luc.edu/luc_theses Part of the Philosophy Commons Recommended Citation Ciapalo, Roman T., "Seriousness and Playfulness in Plotinus' Enneads" (1978). Master's Theses. 2971. https://ecommons.luc.edu/luc_theses/2971 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses and Dissertations at Loyola eCommons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Master's Theses by an authorized administrator of Loyola eCommons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License. Copyright © 1978 Roman T. Ciapalo '/ SERIOUSJ:TESS AND PLAY:B'ULNESS IN PLOTIHUS' ENNE.A.DS by Roman T. Ciapalo A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Loyola University of Chicago in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of i~'laster of Arts February 1978 ACKNOHLEDGEI·IENTS I am deeply grateful to Fr. Leo S\·Teeney, S.J., .for his constant, thorough, and patient supervision o.f the -vrri ting of this thesis. His numerous suggestions and comments t·rere most helpful. I am also grateful to Fr. David Hassel, S.J., v.,rho examined the text and made many profitable suggestionso ii VITA The author, Roman Theodore Ciapalo, is the son of Peter Ciapalo and Oksana (Sav.ryn) Ciapalo. He '!.'las born on Hay 12, 1950 in Quilmes, Argentina. His elementary education was obtained in the public schools of Quilmes, Argentina and in St.
    [Show full text]
  • 1 UNIT 4 NEOPLATONISM Contents 4. 0. Objectives 4. 1. Introduction 4. 2
    UNIT 4 NEOPLATONISM Contents 4. 0. Objectives 4. 1. Introduction 4. 2. The Life and Writings of Plotinus 4. 3. The Philosophy of Plotinus 4. 4. Neoplatonism after Plotinus 4. 5. Let Us Sum Up 4. 6. Key Words 4. 7. Further Readings and References 4. 8. Answers to Check Your Progress 4.0. OBJECTIVES The originality of Plotinus lies basically in the elaboration of a harmonious system out of the main insights that he took from his predecessors. After the death of Plotinus, Neoplatonism continued to flourish in the Syrian School especially, in the School of Athens, in the School at Pergamum and in the Alexandrian school. The influences of Platonism can be seen in the early Christian theologians like St. Augustine. In this unit we shall briefly examine • the life and writings of Plotinus, the founder of Neoplatonism, • the central themes of his philosophical system, • the earlier philosophies from which his system borrows ideas • some philosophical problems of the system and • The post-Plotinian developments of the system in various Schools of the ancient world. 4.1. INTRODUCTION Neoplatonism was the last flowering of the Greek thought in late antiquity. Its birth place was Alexandria, that great city which was founded by Alexander the Great in Egypt and which became a major centre of intellectual activity of the ancient world. Situated at the intersection between the East and the West, Alexandria became the crucible in which the Eastern religious and mystical tendencies freely intermingled with Greek philosophical thought. This cross-cultural fecundation had given birth to Jewish Hellenistic philosophy (founded by Philo) and Neopythagoreanism.
    [Show full text]