DOCSLIB.ORG

A Study in the Form and Meaning of the Pseudo-Dionysian Writings

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
A Study in the Form and Meaning of the Pseudo-Dionysian Writings HIERARCHY AND THE DEFINITION OF ORDER IN THE LETTERS OF PSEUDO-DIONYSIUS HIERARCHY AND THE DEFINITION OF ORDER IN THE LETTERS OF PSEUDO-DIONYSIUS A Study in the Form and meaning of the Pseudo-Dionysian Writings by RONALD F. HA THA WAY University of California at Santa Barbara II MAR TINUS NIJHOFF - THE HAGUE - 1969 to 1969 by Marlinus Nijhott. The Hague, Netherlands AIl1'ights reurved. including the right to translate or to reproduce th is book 01' paris thereof in any f01'm ISBN 978-94-011-8468-7 ISBN 978-94-011-9183-8 (cBook) DOl 10.1007/978-94-011-9183-8 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS A debt of gratitude is owed by the author to Professor Heiko Oberman, in whose seminar this monograph was conceived in embryo, to Profes­ sors Herbert Marcuse and Peter Diamandopoulos for their assistance, and to Professor Alexander Altmann for his advice and guidance. Thanks are due to the officials of Brandeis University who allowed the author to transfer a graduate Fellowship in order to pursue research in the British Museum. Special words of gratitude are owing to both the staff and Fellows of the Dumbarton Oaks Research Library. Several persons, including Professors Jean Meyendorff, Romily Jenkins, Alfred Bellinger, and Donald Nicol, have read either the translation or the text or both and have offered many helpful suggestions. For advice and other kindnesses along the way the author would also like to offer up oblations to Professor Seth Benardete, and to Professors Richard Walzer and E. R. Dodds at Oxford. The author also thanks Mr. Charles Whitt for preparing the Index. The author regrets that work on the monograph was too far advanced to permit him to use the recent edition of Damascius' Lile 01 the Philo­ sopher I sodore by Dr. Zintzen. TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS V LIST OF TABLES IX ABBREVIATIONS XI GENERAL INTRODUCTION XIII I . General Argument XIII 2. A Note on Recent Research XIX 3. The Philosophic Interpretation of Ps.-Dionysius XX 4. A Note on the Meaning of the Term "Hierarchy" XXI 5. A Note on Pseudo-Dionysius' Literary Techniques XXIII 6. General Significance of Ps.-Dionysius XXIV PART ONE CHAPTER I. THE HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE OF THE LETTERS 3 A. General Remarks 3 B. The Consistency of the Letters within the Corpus 6 C. The Authority of the Letters 9 I. Traditional Apostolicity 9 2 . Authorship 12 3. Proc1us and the Dating of the "Corpus" 13 4. The Author of the "Letters" as a Philosopher 21 D. Summary 30 CHAPTER II. THE METAPHYSICS OF HIERARCHY 37 A. Hierarchic Order Based on Law 38 B. Hierarchic Order Based on Logos 48 C. Hierarchic Order based on Eros 51 CHAPTER III. THE HIERARCHIC DESIGN OF THE LETTERS 61 A. Overall Unity and Minor Inconsistencies 61 B. Fixed Hierarchic Ranks and the Problematic Eighth Letter 64 C. The two Subject Titles 67 D. The Settings and the Hierarchic Order of the Letters 69 E. The Significance of the Hierarchic Order of the Letters 76 VIII TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER IV. THE MODELS OF ORDER IN THE EIGHTH AND NINTH LETTERS 85 A. The Eighth Letter 86 I. Peculiarities of Terminology 86 2. Philosophical Sources 93 3. The Practical Model of Order 100 B. The Ninth Letter 104 I. The Platonic Critique of "Theologia" 104 2 . The Theoretical Model of Order 1I5 PART TWO THE LETTERS OF PS.-DIONYSIUS THE LETTERS OF PSEUDO-DIONYSIUS 129 BIBLIOGRAPHY 162 LIST OF TABLES CHAPTER I A. Principal Conjectures for the Identity of Ps.-Dionysius in Chrono- logical Order 3 I B. List of Important Dates 35 CHAPTER II C. The Pattern of Meanings of the Term A6yoc, in Ps.-Dionysius 47 CHAPTER IV D. Hapaxlegomena in the Eighth Letter 88 E. The Bipartition of Theologia in the Ninth Letter II6 ABBREVIA TIONS CA Corpus Areopagiticum (The four treatises and ten letters of Ps.-Dionysius the Areopagite. All references to Ps.-Dionysius are to the column numbers in S . Dionysii Areopagitae Opera Omnia quae exstant, studio et opera B. Corderii, gen. ed. J.-P. Migne (Paris, I857) , Patrologia Graeca III.) CH De coelestia hierarchia (On the Celestial Hier­ archy.) EH De ecclesiastica hierarchia (On the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy.) DN De divinis nominibus (On Divine Names). MT De mystica theologia (On Mystical Theology.) Proclus, in lAIc. Proclus Diadochus, Commentary on the First Alcibiades 0/ Plato, Critical text and indices by L. G. Westerink (Amsterdam, I954). Cited by page and line number. - , in Crat. Procli Diadochi in Platonis Cratylum commen­ taria, ed. G. Pasquali (Leipzig, I908). -, in Parm. Commentarii in Parmenidem, Procli philo­ sophi platonici Opera, ed. V. Cousin (Paris, I82I), Vois. 4-5. -, in Parm. (7) Commentarium in Parmenidem, pars ultima adhuc inedita, interprete Guillelmo de Moer­ beka, ed. R. Klibansky and C. Labowsky (Warburg: London, I953). - , in Rem pub. Procli Diadochi in Platonis rem publicam com­ mentaria, ed. G. Kroll (Leipzig, I899) . Cited by volume, page, and line number. XIl ABBREVIATIONS Proclus, in Tim. Procli Diadochi in Platonis Timaeum Com­ mentaria, ed. E. Diehl (Leipzig, 1903). Cited by volume, page, and line number. -, EI. Theol. The Elements 0/ Theology, A revised text with translation, introduction and commentary by E. R. Dodds (Oxford, 1963). Cited by proposi­ tion, page, and line number. -, Plat. Theol. Procli Successoris Platonici in Platonis Theolo­ giam libri sex, ed. Aemilius Port us (Hamburg, 1618, repr. Minerva, G.m.b.H.: Frankfurt am Main, 1960J). Cited by book and section; arabic numerals in parentheses are the pages of the Portus edition. Damascius, Pro Princ. De primis principiis, ed. C. A. Ruelle (Paris, 1889). Indices Indices pseudo-Dionysiani, auct. Alb. van den Daele (Louvain, 1941). B. A.-G. A Greek-English Lexicon 0/ the New Testament and other early Christian Literature, Trans­ lated and edited by W. F. Arndt and F. W. Gingrich from W. Bauer's "Griechisch- deut­ sches Worterbuch zu den Schriften des Neuen Testaments und der iibrigen Urchristlichen Literatur," fourth edition, 1949-52 (Chicago, 1960). L.-S.-J. A Greek-English Lexicon, compo by H. G. Liddell and R. Scott, a new edition rev. and augmented throughout by H. S. Jones (Ox­ ford, ninth edition, 1953). Lampe A Patristic Greek Lexicon, Fasc. 1-3 (Oxford, 1961f.) . GENERAL INTRODUCTION N eoplatonism begins explicitly with Plotinus in the third century of our era. The later Neoplatonism of the fifth and six century schools at Athens and Alexandria was both the continuation of the philosophy of Plotinus and also a pagan ideology. When these schools were closed, despite attempts at compromise at Alexandria and as a result of direct and indirect political pressures and actions, pagan ideology died. Many philosophers, such as Isidore, Asclepiodotus, Damascius, and Olym­ piodorus, must have foreseen the danger to philosophy, and their extant writings are sprinkled with forebodings. Would the death of pagan ideology, in the form of pagan worship and the Homeric and Orphic traditions, bring about the death of all genuine philosophy as well? One answer to this great question is found in the enigmatic writings of Ps.-Dionysius the Areopagite. Purposing to be the writings of the Athenian convert of St. Paul, they fall within the province of a multitude of so-called "pseudepigraphic" Christian writings. 1. GENERAL ARGUMENT I embarked on the study of Ps.-Dionysius' Letters with two goals in mind: (r) to grasp in clear detail the unknown author's philosophic intentions in writing his famous Corpus and the way in which he set about writing, and (2) to attempt to see with precision the reason for the absence of a political philosophy in Christian Platonism. The Letters provided a richness of detail and information bearing on the first subject which was wholly unexpected. Not only do the Letters reveal the author's precise techniques in using later Neoplatonism, but they also reveal how the author's use of Neoplatonism leads to adap­ tations of Christian faith. The Letters contain much of immediate relevance to the second subject, although they pose difficult problems XIV GENERAL INTRODUCTION of interpretation. The Eighth Letter, Ps.-Dionysius' explicit pronoun­ cement on secular or political things, retains the core of classical politi­ cal philosophy, the doctrine of virtues and in particular the virtues of justice and generosity (or kindness). Yet the politeia in which the exer­ cise of those virtues is explained, the ecclesiastical hierarchy, is made to rest on the laws of a Neoplatonist metaphysics, laws which are re­ garded as by themselves sufficient for ordering our life and actions. The Letters, no less than the treatises of Ps.-Dionysius, in their attempt to marry Neoplatonism and Christian faith, are devoid of the attempt to understand the political as political, and are in this respect an im­ portant document for grasping the nature of the Dionysian metaphy­ sics of hierarchy which, with Stoic natural law teachings, constituted the residual form in which western tradition received and tried to comprehend classical political philosophy. I have approached the Letters of Ps.-Dionysius with no fixed convic­ tions about the identity or the intentions of the author, but have en­ deavored to allow the material to speak for itself. It seems appropriate to state in general terms what, in my opinion, the material argues. The Letters prove to be important for understanding the author's four treatises. The symbolic theology in which the Letters culminate is in­ separable from the affirmative and negative theologies expounded in the four treatises (d. 105),1 and the Letters were composed on a hierarchic plan, which elaborates in many details on the obscure dis­ cursive treatment of hierarchy in the treatises, a subject of which this unknown Neoplatonist is the discoverer and master.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Pt: Must Translate By: 2
    Solution to Challenge 3 Start by using the description of the MPSC cipher and Hint 1. We have: pt: m u s t Translate by: 2 3 4 5 CT: P Y X Z What this tells you: 1. If “m” was shifted two to the right to arrive at “p”, the “n” or “o” must be missing in between them. That means that “n” or “o” (but not both) appear in the keyword. This assumes that “m” isn’t in the keyword, but since it lies two letters from “p” it looks like it is in the normal alphabetical sequence. 2. One of “v”, “w”, or “x” must also be in the keyword. (The keyword is not “kryptos” !). Again, this assumes that “u” is not in the keyword. 3. Once again, since “s” is about 4 letters from “x” in the normal alphabet, we assume that “s” and “x” are not in the keyword but appearing in alphabetical order. This agrees nicely with #2: “v” or “w” is in the keyword AND “t” and “u” are NOT in the keyword (since we need these letters to keep “s” and “x” 4 letters apart. 4. If “v” or “w” is in the keyword, this makes “t” 5 letters from “z” if “y” and “z” are not in the keyword. Then end of the alphabet line looks like: … m (n o ) p… s t u (v w) x y z where parentheses were used to indicate groupings where one letter is missing (and appears earlier in the keyword). In order to make further progress, one might start guessing at possible two letter words that could reasonably precede “must”: “we” and “it” come to mind.
    [Show full text]
  • Euripides” Johanna Hanink
    The Life of the Author in the Letters of “Euripides” Johanna Hanink N 1694, Joshua Barnes, the eccentric British scholar (and poet) of Greek who the next year would become Regius Professor at the University of Cambridge, published his I 1 long-awaited Euripidis quae extant omnia. This was an enormous edition of Euripides’ works which contained every scrap of Euripidean material—dramatic, fragmentary, and biographical —that Barnes had managed to unearth.2 In the course of pre- paring the volume, Barnes had got wind that Richard Bentley believed that the epistles attributed by many ancient manu- scripts to Euripides were spurious; he therefore wrote to Bentley asking him to elucidate the grounds of his doubt. On 22 February 1693, Bentley returned a letter to Barnes in which he firmly declared that, with regard to the ancient epistles, “tis not Euripides himself that here discourseth, but a puny sophist that acts him.” Bentley did, however, recognize that convincing others of this would be a difficult task: “as for arguments to prove [the letters] spurious, perhaps there are none that will convince any person that doth not discover it by himself.”3 1 On the printing of the book and its early distribution see D. McKitterick, A History of Cambridge University Press I Printing and the Book Trade in Cambridge, 1534–1698 (Cambridge 1992) 380–392; on Joshua Barnes see K. L. Haugen, ODNB 3 (2004) 998–1001. 2 C. Collard, Tragedy, Euripides and Euripideans (Bristol 2007) 199–204, re- hearses a number of criticisms of Barnes’ methods, especially concerning his presentation of Euripidean fragments (for which he often gave no source, and which occasionally consisted of lines from the extant plays).
    [Show full text]
  • Contextual Predictability Norms for Pairs of Words Differing in a Single Letter
    H I LLINI S UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN PRODUCTION NOTE University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library Large-scale Digitization Project, 2007. ~66' Technical Report No. 260 CONTEXTUAL PREDICTABILITY NORMS FOR PAIRS OF WORDS DIFFERING IN A SINGLE LETTER Harry E. Blanchard, George W. McConkie and David Zola University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign August 1982 Center for the Study of Reading TECHNICAL REPORTS UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN 51 Gerty Drive Champaign, Illinois 61820 BOLT BERANEK AND NEWMAN INC. 50 Moulton Street Cambridge, Massachusetts 02238 [LtHE LIBRARY OF TH-I The National Institute of Education U.S. Department of Education UNIVE.SITY OF ILL:S Washington. D.C. 20208 IT ^a -- CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF READING Technical Report No. 260 CONTEXTUAL PREDICTABILITY' NORMS FOR PAIRS OF WORDS DIFFERING IN A SINGLE LETTER Harry E. Blanchard, George W. McConkie and David Zola University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign August 1982 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Bolt Beranek and Newman Inc. 51 Gerty Drive 50 Moulton Street Champaign, Illinois 61820. Cambridge, Massachusetts 02238 This research was conducted under grants MH 32884 and MH 33408 from the National Institute of Mental Health to the first author, and National Institute of Education contract HEW-NIE-C-400-76-0116 to the Center for the Study of Reading. Copies of this report can be obtained by writing to George W. McConkie, Center for the Study of Reading, 51 Gerty Drive, Champaign, Illinois 61820. EDITORIAL BOARD William Nagy and Stephen Wilhite Co--Editors Harry Blanchard Anne Hay Charlotte Blomeyer Asghar Iran-Nejad Nancy Bryant Margi Laff Avon Crismore Terence Turner Meg Sallagher Paul Wilson Abstract Predictability Norms Four hundred sixty-seven pairs of short texts were written.
    [Show full text]
  • The Routledge Handbook of Neoplatonism the Alexandrian
    This article was downloaded by: 10.3.98.104 On: 25 Sep 2021 Access details: subscription number Publisher: Routledge Informa Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered office: 5 Howick Place, London SW1P 1WG, UK The Routledge Handbook of Neoplatonism Pauliina Remes, Svetla Slaveva-Griffin The Alexandrian classrooms excavated and sixth-century philosophy teaching Publication details https://www.routledgehandbooks.com/doi/10.4324/9781315744186.ch3 Richard Sorabji Published online on: 30 Apr 2014 How to cite :- Richard Sorabji. 30 Apr 2014, The Alexandrian classrooms excavated and sixth-century philosophy teaching from: The Routledge Handbook of Neoplatonism Routledge Accessed on: 25 Sep 2021 https://www.routledgehandbooks.com/doi/10.4324/9781315744186.ch3 PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR DOCUMENT Full terms and conditions of use: https://www.routledgehandbooks.com/legal-notices/terms This Document PDF may be used for research, teaching and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproductions, re-distribution, re-selling, loan or sub-licensing, systematic supply or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. The publisher does not give any warranty express or implied or make any representation that the contents will be complete or accurate or up to date. The publisher shall not be liable for an loss, actions, claims, proceedings, demand or costs or damages whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with or arising out of the use of this material. 3 The Alexandrian classrooms excavated and sixth-century philosophy teaching Richard Sorabji It was announced in 2004 that the Polish archaeological team under Grzegorz Majcherek had identifi ed the surprisingly well-preserved lecture rooms of the sixth-century Alexandrian school.1 Th is was a major archaeological discovery.2 Although the fi rst few rooms had been excavated twenty-fi ve years earlier, identifi cation has only now become possible.
    [Show full text]
  • Rhetoric and Platonism in Fifth-Century Athens
    Trinity University Digital Commons @ Trinity Philosophy Faculty Research Philosophy Department 2014 Rhetoric and Platonism in Fifth-Century Athens Damian Caluori Trinity University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.trinity.edu/phil_faculty Part of the Philosophy Commons Repository Citation Caluori, D. (2014). Rhetoric and Platonism in fifth-century Athens. In R. C. Fowler (Ed.), Plato in the third sophistic (pp. 57-72). De Gruyter. This Contribution to Book is brought to you for free and open access by the Philosophy Department at Digital Commons @ Trinity. It has been accepted for inclusion in Philosophy Faculty Research by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ Trinity. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Damian Caluori (Trinity University) Rhetoric and Platonism in Fifth-Century Athens There are reasons to believe that relations between Platonism and rhetoric in Athens during the fifth century CE were rather close.Z Both were major pillars of pagan cul- ture, or paideia, and thus essential elements in the defense of paganism against in- creasingly powerful and repressive Christian opponents. It is easy to imagine that, under these circumstances, paganism was closing ranks and that philosophers and orators united in their efforts to save traditional ways and values. Although there is no doubt some truth to this view, a closer look reveals that the relations be- tween philosophy and rhetoric were rather more complicated. In what follows, I will discuss these relations with a view to the Platonist school of Athens. By “the Platon- ist school of Athens” I mean the Platonist school founded by Plutarch of Athens in the late fourth century CE, and reaching a famous end under the leadership of Dam- ascius in 529.X I will first survey the evidence for the attitudes towards rhetoric pre- vailing amongst the most important Athenian Platonists of the time.
    [Show full text]
  • Persecution and Response in Late Paganism The
    Persecution and Response in Late Paganism: The Evidence of Damascius Author(s): Polymnia Athanassiadi Source: The Journal of Hellenic Studies, Vol. 113 (1993), pp. 1-29 Published by: The Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/632395 . Accessed: 01/12/2013 12:02 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 Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The Journal of Hellenic Studies. http://www.jstor.org This content downloaded from 198.105.44.150 on Sun, 1 Dec 2013 12:02:11 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Journal of Hellenic Studies cxiii (1993) pp 1-29 PERSECUTIONAND RESPONSE IN LATE PAGANISM: THE EVIDENCE OF DAMASCIUS* THE theme of this paper is intolerance: its manifestation in late antiquity towards the pagans of the Eastern Mediterranean,and the immediate reactions and long-term attitudes that it provoked in them. The reasons why, in spite of copious evidence, the persecution of the traditional cults and of their adepts in the Roman empire has never been viewed as such are obvious: on the one hand no pagan church emerged out of the turmoil to canonise its dead and expound a theology of martyrdom, and on the other, whatever their conscious religious beliefs, late antique scholars in their overwhelming majority were formed in societies whose ethical foundations and logic are irreversibly Christian.
    [Show full text]
  • Guide to the Leo Strauss Papers Circa 1930-1997
    University of Chicago Library Guide to the Leo Strauss Papers circa 1930-1997 © 2008 University of Chicago Library Table of Contents Descriptive Summary 3 Information on Use 3 Access 3 Citation 3 Biographical Note 3 Scope Note 6 Related Resources 8 Subject Headings 8 INVENTORY 8 Series I: Correspondence 8 Subseries 1: Correspondence to Leo Strauss 9 Subseries 2: Correspondence from Leo Strauss 12 Subseries 3: General Correspondence 13 Series II: Teaching 18 Subseries 1: Lectures 18 Subseries 2: Essays 22 Subseries 3: Course Notes 22 Sub-subseries 1: Hobbes; Natural Right 22 Sub-subseries 2: Jewish Thought 24 Sub-subseries 3: Notes: Greek Thought 25 Sub-subseries 4: Miscellaneous Notes 26 Series III: Manuscripts 29 Series IV: Publications and Reviews 31 Subseries 1: Writings by Strauss 32 Subseries 2: Writings by Others 34 Subseries 3: Reviews of Strauss' work 35 Series V: Personal Files 36 Series VI: Oversized Documents 37 Series VII: Audio Recordings 38 Subseries 1: Masters 38 Subseries 2: Access Copies 42 Series VIII: Restricted 44 Subseries 1: Letters of Recommendation 45 Subseries 2: Correspondence (purchased from Jewish National and University45 Library) Descriptive Summary Identifier ICU.SPCL.STRAUSSLEO Title Strauss, Leo. Papers Date circa 1930-1997 Size 105 boxes (99.5 linear feet) Repository Special Collections Research Center University of Chicago Library 1100 East 57th Street Chicago, Illinois 60637 U.S.A. Abstract Leo Strauss (1899-1973), scholar of political philosophy. The Papers include correspondence, manuscripts, research notes, notebooks, publications and audio recordings. The papers document Strauss' career as a writer and professor of political philosophy at the Academy of Jewish Research, Berlin (1925-1932), the New School for Social Research (1941-1948), the University of Chicago (1949-1968) and other institutions in the United States and Europe.
    [Show full text]
  • The Iliad by Homer (Discussion on Some Relevant Issues)
    DEPT. OF ENGLISH, SEM-IV, CC8, THE ILIAD (ATASI SAHOO) The Department of English Raja N. L. Khan Women’s College (Autonomous) Midnapore, West Bengal Study Material--3 On The Iliad by Homer (Discussion on Some Relevant Issues) For Course: English Hons. SEM: IV Paper: HCC8 Session: 2019-2020 Prepared by Atasi Sahoo Guest Teacher Department of English Raja N.L. Khan Women’s College (Autonomous) Date: 23rd April, 2020 23rd April, 2020 1 DEPT. OF ENGLISH, SEM-IV, CC8, THE ILIAD (ATASI SAHOO) The story of Homer’s The Iliad is based on the Trojan War and the central theme is the ‘wrath of Achilles’. In the following paragraph the major themes and some relevant issues are discussed. ❖ Analysis of Important Issues and Characters: • Main Focus of The Iliad: According to Aristotle, Homer didn’t want to depict the whole Trojan War of almost ten years, rather his narrative is based on a single theme—the wrath of Achilles. How that anger is originated and its aftermath are illustrated in the epic. The very first line of Book 1 declares the anger and reason behind that anger of Achilles is depicted in Book 1. The whole story is based on the lives of the aristocratic people, the aristocratic heroes. The human actions in the story take place in the Greek camps, or in the battlefield or in Ilium whereas the gods and goddesses stay on the Mount Olympus and they continue to engage themselves internally or externally in the human affairs. Though the narrative illustrates only a few weeks in the last year of the Trojan War, Homer generates the impression that he is covering the whole war, and even the times before and after it, as we can come to know many of the events that took place many years ago and it also foretells the upcoming events towards the end of the narrative.
    [Show full text]
  • Sylvain Delcomminette, Pieter D'hoine, Marc-Antoine Gavray (Eds
    Reviews 245 Sylvain Delcomminette, Pieter d’Hoine, Marc-Antoine Gavray (eds.), Ancient Readings of Plato’s Phaedo. Leiden-Boston: Brill, 2015, viii+364 p.; ISBN 978-90-0428217-9, € 126. Reviewed by Peter Lautner, Department of Philosophy, Pázmány Péter Catholic University, Piliscsaba-Budapest, H-2087 Piliscsaba, Egyetem utca 1, Hungary. Email: [email protected] https://doi.org/10.1515/rhiz-2018-0013 This volume grew out of a conference held in Brussels on the reception of the Phaedo in antiquity, concentrating on the period before Damascius and Olympi- odorus. Its subject-matter fits neatly with the recent trend of following the after- math of some of Plato’s dialogues in antiquity. Aristotle’s approach to the themes exposed in Plato’s dialogue focuses on not only the theory of the soul (in De anima and in the lost dialogue Eudemus), but also physics. Sylvain Delcomminette draws attention to the fact that Aristotle puts the emphasis elsewhere, on the account of the causes. He argues that Aris- totle had the Phaedo in mind when he discussed the material in Phys I, Met. A, and Gen. et Corr. The Aristotelian causal theory was developed with a view to Plato’s account. Furthermore, the description of the earlier philosophers’ views in Met. A much resembles Socrates’ account of the earlier views he encountered in his youth. The important difference is that Aristotle’s description is impersonal and fully anti-Platonic in claiming that “all men by nature desire to know”. Of course, he also rejects the causal efficiency of the Ideas. However, Aristotle seems to admit the principle of the “second sail”, which involves attaining knowledge through λόγοι.
    [Show full text]
  • The School of Ammonius, Son of Hermias, on Knowledge of the Divine
    ELIAS TEMPELIS THE SCHOOL OF AMMONIUS, SON OF HERMIAS, ON KNOWLEDGE OF THE DIVINE ΕΚΔΟΣΕΙΣ ΦΙΛΟΛΟΓΙΚΟΥ ΣΥΛΛΟΓΟΥ ΠΑΡΝΑΣΣΟΣ ΑΘΗΝΑΙ 1998 THE SCHOOL OF AMMONIUS, SON OF HERMIAS, ON KNOWLEDGE OF THE DIVINE ELIAS TEMPELIS THE SCHOOL OF AMMONIUS, SON OF HERMIAS, ON KNOWLEDGE OF THE DIVINE ΕΚΔΟΣΕΙΣ ΦΙΛΟΛΟΓΙΚΟΥ ΣΥΛΛΟΓΟΥ ΠΑΡΝΑΣΣΟΣ ΑΘΗΝΑΙ 1998 ISBN 960­85212­5­4 1998 © Ηλίας Τεμπέλης, 'Ογδόη οδός 3,152 36 Π. Πεντέλη ΕΚΔΟΣΕΙΣ ΦΙΛΟΛΟΓΙΚΟΥ ΣΥΛΛΟΓΟΥ ΠΑΡΝΑΣΣΟΣ Πλατεία Αγ. Γεωργίου Καρύτση 8,105 61 'Αθήναι Υπεύθυνος Τυπογραφείου: ΕΥΑΓΓ. ΜΠΟΥΛΟΥΚΟΣ Όδός Μίλωνος 26,117 45 Αθήναι Τηλ.: 93.45.204 - Fax: 93.17.188 To my wife Christina PREFACE This book is a slightly revised version of my Ph.D. thesis, on which I ' began work in 1990 and which I defended at the University of London in 1994. My study undertakes a reconstruction and critical assessment of the theory of the Neoplatonic school of Ammonius, son of Hermias, on the presuppositions of the acquisition of knowledge of the divine and also on the contents and the purpose of this knowledge. The metaphysical position of the human soul between the intelligible and the sensible worlds allows it to know the intelligible world and the divine, in particular, provided that the cognitive reason-principles in the human intellect are activated. The purpose of such knowledge is the as• similation to the divine and is achieved by means of a personal struggle with the help of theoretical and practical philosophy. The school of Am• monius compared its own philosophical attempt at knowledge of the di• vine to previous similar methods.
    [Show full text]
  • Moreover, Rendering an Account of What Aristotle Takes to Be This Concept Is Almost a Heroic Undertaking
    140 BOOK REVIEWS thinking; moreover, rendering an account of what Aristotle takes to be this concept is almost a heroic undertaking. Philosophers and political theorists alike can find much to ponder in this treatise. Burns’ suggestive critique is enlightening and provocative, in the manner that good history of philosophy should be. Highly recommended. Anthony Lisska18 DENISON UNIVERSITY Debra Hamel, Reading Herodotus: A Guided Tour through the Wild Boars, Dancing Suitors, and Crazy Tyrants of The History (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2012), xxiii + 329 pp., $29.95 (pbk). ISBN 9781421406565. Why read Herodotus? While Thucydides, Plato, Aristotle and others have longed served as fertile resources for political philosophy, Herodotus has been mostly neglected. Despite a recent efflorescence of scholarship on Herodotus in classical studies, Herodotus has not exerted much influence on how students of political thought, mostly in politics or philosophy depart- ments, reflect upon the present. In general, Herodotus is most often teamed with Thucydides as the less scientific (and thus less useful) of the two histori- ans. Herodotus may offer an instructive account of the origins of Athens or reflections on the perceived value of democracy, oligarchy and kingship in the ‘Constitutional Debate’, but his thought as a whole and the craft of his writing have largely been ignored from within these camps. In her Reading Herodotus,19 Debra Hamel offers an opportunity to recon- sider why we should (or shouldn’t) read Herodotus. Put pithily, Hamel argues that we should read Herodotus because it’s fun. What other text of the ancient world would discuss urination, infestations of worms, necrophilia, lice and flatulence with so much delightful detail and gleeful storytelling? Hamel’s book offers a sampling of ‘the juicy bits’ from Herodotus’ oeuvre, staying close to the surface of his stories and reminding the reader who hasn’t cracked the Histories in a while of precisely what she’s missing.
    [Show full text]
  • Fall 2019 Volume 46 Issue 1
    Fall 2019 Volume 46 Issue 1 3 Hannes Kerber Leo Strauss on Exoteric Writing 27 Marco Menon An Interpretation of Machiavelli’s Favola Review Essays 45 Lloyd Robertson Ezekiel 38–48: A New Translation, with Introduction and Commentary by Stephen L. Cook 61 David Lewis Schaefer Political Philosophy and the Republican Future: Rediscovering Cicero by Gregory Bruce Smith Book Reviews 87 Matthew Berry The Alt-Right: What Everyone Needs to Know by George Hawley 93 Marco Menon All’alba di un mondo nuovo by Angelo Panebianco and Sergio Belardinelli 99 Will Morrisey The Kingdom of Man: Genesis and Failure of the Modern Project by Rémi Brague 107 Mary P. Nichols Aristotle: Democracy and Political Science by Delba P. Winthrop 119 David A. Nordquest Educating Liberty: Democracy and Aristocracy in J. S. Mill’s Political Thought by Christopher Barker 125 Wendell O’Brien Tractatus Politico-Philosophicus by W. Julian Korab-Karpowicz 131 Alexander Orwin Glaucon’s Fate: History, Myth, and Character in Plato’s “Republic” by Jacob Howland 137 Joshua Parens Leo Strauss and His Catholic Readers by Geoffrey M. Vaughn 141 John Ray Nourishment: A Philosophy of the Political Body by Corine Pelluchon 145 David Lewis Schaefer Thick and Thin: Moral Argument at Home and Abroad by Michael Walzer 155 Georg Simmerl Von Carl Schmitt zu Hannah Arendt? by Sebastian Huhnholz ©2019 Interpretation, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of the contents may be reproduced in any form without written permission of the publisher. ISSN 0020-9635 Editor-in-Chief Timothy W. Burns, Baylor University General Editors Charles E. Butterworth • Timothy W.
    [Show full text]