DOCSLIB.ORG

Seekers of Wisdom, Lovers of Truth: a Study of Plato's Philosopher

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Seekers of Wisdom, Lovers of Truth: a Study of Plato's Philosopher Seekers of Wisdom, Lovers of Truth: A Study of Plato's Philosopher Item Type text; Electronic Dissertation Authors Jenkins, Michelle Kristine Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 25/09/2021 05:36:02 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/193552 SEEKERS OF WISDOM, LOVERS OF TRUTH: A STUDY OF PLATO’S PHILOSOPHER by Michelle Kristine Jenkins _____________________ A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the DEPARTMENT OF PHILOSOPHY In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY In the Graduate College THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA 2010 2 THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA GRADUATE COLLEGE As members of the Dissertation Committee, we certify that we have read the dissertation prepared by Michelle Jenkins entitled Seekers of Wisdom, Lovers of Truth: A Study of Plato’s Philosopher and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy _______________________________________________________________________ Date: 7/19/2010 Julia Annas _______________________________________________________________________ Date: 7/19/2010 Rachana Kamtekar _______________________________________________________________________ Date: 7/19/2010 Keith Lehrer Final approval and acceptance of this dissertation is contingent upon the candidate’s submission of the final copies of the dissertation to the Graduate College. I hereby certify that I have read this dissertation prepared under my direction and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement. ________________________________________________ Date: 7/19/2010 Dissertation Director: Julia Annas ________________________________________________ Date: 7/19/2010 Dissertation Director: Rachana Kamtekar 3 STATEMENT BY AUTHOR This dissertation has been submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements for an advanced degree at the University of Arizona and is deposited in the University Library to be made available to borrowers under rules of the Library. Brief quotations from this dissertation are allowable without special permission, provided that accurate acknowledgment of source is made. Requests for permission for extended quotation from or reproduction of this manuscript in whole or in part may be granted by the head of the major department or the Dean of the Graduate College when in his or her judgment the proposed use of the material is in the interests of scholarship. In all other instances, however, permission must be obtained from the author. SIGNED: Michelle Jenkins 4 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS In writing this dissertation, on Plato’s account of the philosopher, I have been ex- traordinarily fortunate to have had the support of some of the best philosophers I’ve ever met. First and foremost, my eternal thanks and gratitude to Julia Annas and Rachana Kamtekar. Both Julia and Rachana have spent countless hours helping me understand difficult texts, refine my writing, puzzle through problems, and brainstorm new ideas. In addition, they have both challenged me to grow as a philosopher and they’ve done so in a way that is supportive and affirming. As I finish this stage in my life and education and move on to the next, I will constantly aspire to be as good a scholar, teacher, and person as both of these women are. Many thanks also Keith Lehrer, for serving as a member of my committee and for his insightful and helpful comments on the dissertation. Also thank you to Nick Smith and especially Hugh Benson, for many conversations and for reading drafts of some chapters of the dissertation. Thank you to Robbie Wagoner, for teaching me Latin and for the conversations and friendship throughout our years as graduate students. I’m so lucky to have been able to go through grad school with such a fantastic ancient philoso- pher and friend. I wish to thank Phi Beta Kappa as well, for their generous support in the form of the Sibley Fellowship as I finished work on the dissertation. My thanks and love to my family and friends as well. To my parents - thank you for your constant support and love. To Clerk, thank you for letting me call you with ran- dom questions about Plato and for reading drafts of some of the things I’ve written. To Sara and Dan, thanks for dinners and laughter and forcing me to stay up way past my bedtime. To Kate, Marc, Laura, Lenhart, Robbie, Dena, Annie and Meryl - thank you for the dinners and conversations and movies and coffee nights and bon fires and camping trips and being, without a doubt, some of the very best friends I’ve ever had. They say that friends are the family you choose, and, if I might brag, I think I’ve made some mighty fine choices. You all are splendid. 5 TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT...................................................................................................................7 INTRODUCTION .........................................................................................................9 CHAPTER 1: THE EMERGING PHILOSOPHER: SOCRATES IN THE APORETIC DIALOGUES.................................................................................................................20 1. Introduction .........................................................................................................20 2. The Philosopher’s Motivations............................................................................22 2.1. Exhorting to virtue?........................................................................................29 3. The Philosopher’s Activities ...............................................................................36 3.1. Why this method?...........................................................................................41 4. The Philosopher’s Nature ....................................................................................48 4.1. The moral life of the philosopher...................................................................60 5. The Emerging Philosopher ..................................................................................69 6. Conclusion: Plato’s Philosopher and Isocrates’ Philosopher ..............................74 CHAPTER 2: SEEKERS OF WISDOM: THE PHILOSOPHER AND HIS PURSUIT OF WISDOM IN THE REPUBLIC ...............................................................................79 1. Introduction .........................................................................................................79 2. The Natural Traits of the Philosopher .................................................................81 3. The Moral Education...........................................................................................87 3.1. The effects of the moral education.................................................................90 3.2. The intellectual instability of the moral education.........................................98 4. The Theoretical Education...................................................................................100 4.1. The Five Subjects...........................................................................................101 4.2. The results of the propaideutic education ......................................................104 4.3. The Presentation of the Propaideutic Education ............................................110 5. Dialectic...............................................................................................................114 6. Conclusion: The Moral and Intellectual Life of the Philosopher ........................122 CHAPTER 3: LOVERS OF TRUTH: THE PHILOSOPHER AS KNOWER IN THE REPUBLIC.....................................................................................................................126 1. Introduction .........................................................................................................126 2. The Nature of Knowledge ...................................................................................127 2.1. Knowledge as Vision .....................................................................................128 2.2. Knowledge as Logos ......................................................................................131 6 2.3. Knowledge as Understanding.........................................................................133 2.3.1. The Nature of Understanding..................................................................134 2.3.2. Knowledge as Understanding, again.......................................................138 3. What the Philosopher Knows ..............................................................................145 4. The Virtues of Knowledge ..................................................................................153 5. Conclusion...........................................................................................................162 CHAPTER 4: LIVING BEHIND THE WALL: THE PHILOSOPHER OF THE THEAETETUS................................................................................................................164 1. Introduction .........................................................................................................164 2. The Philosopher of the Digression ......................................................................167 2.1.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The Chimera of the Philosopher King
    Roberto R. Aramayo The Chimera of the Philosopher King Around the Kantian Distinction between Moral Politician and Political Moralist: The Dilemmas of Power, or the Frustrated Love Affair between Ethics and Politics Dialectica Kantiana Hermeneutica Kantiana CTK E-Books Digital Library of Kantian Studies (DLKS) Biblioteca Digital de Estudios Kantianos (BDEK) Series Translatio Kantiana (TK) Quaestiones Kantianae (QK) Hermeneutica Kantiana (HK) Dialectica Kantiana (DK) Esta biblioteca digital se integra en la revista Con-Textos Kantianos International Journal of Philosophy (CKT-IJP) ISSN: 2386-7655 Diseño del logo de la colección CTK E-Books: Armando Menéndez e-mail: [email protected] Página web: www.con-textoskantianos.net © Roberto Rodríguez Aramayo, 2019 © De la traducción, Damián Bravo Zamora, 2019 © CTK E-Books, Ediciones Alamanda, Madrid, 2019 Diseño y maquetación: Nuria Roca ISBN: 978-84-949436-3-8 La edición electrónica de este libro es de acceso abierto y se distribuye bajo los términos de una licencia de uso y distribución Creative Common Attribution (CC BY-NC-ND International 4.0) que permite la descarga de la obra y compartirla con otras personas, siempre que el autor y la fuente sean debidamente citados, pero no se autoriza su uso comercial ni se puede cambiar de ninguna manera. Ediciones Alamanda General Zabala, 5 E-28002 Madrid CTK E-Books▐ Serie Hermeneutica Kantiana Roberto R. Aramayo The Chimera of the Philosopher King Around the Kantian Distinction between Moral Politician and Political Moralist: The Dilemmas of Power, or the Frustrated Love Affair between Ethics and Politics Traducción de Damián Bravo Zamora Índice PREAMBLE .................................................................................. 11 I. THE GYGES SYNDROME ........................................................
    [Show full text]
  • The Analysis of the Plutarch Political Thought
    Advances in Economics, Business and Management Research (AEBMR), volume 23 2017 2nd International Conference on Politics, Economics and Law (ICPEL 2017) The Analysis of the Plutarch Political Thought Ya Feng Shijiazhuang University of Applied Technology Shijiazhuang, China [email protected] Abstract—Plutarch is hailed as a great biographer, moralist, greeks, but Plutarch still could not help but to such a world but not a politician. In his code of ethics, however, politics has praise the Lord, he is "make millions of primitive tribe to the been the most prominent. He thinks the best political system is civilization of the great philosopher." The idea of [4] was the monarchy. He has a low opinion of ordinary people, who obviously influenced by Plato's philosopher-king. But it has to believe that they are ignorant and short-sighted, and that he be clear that the monarchies that Plutarch appreciates must be thinks that democracy is but a government of rabble. He virtuous, moderate and competent. Otherwise, once the king inherited Plato's philosophy that the monarch should be held by has fallen, the monarchy will become a tyrant. The tyrannical a good philosopher. But when Plutarch lived, it was impossible to rule of Plutarch is the same as that of Plato and Aristotle's achieve it, so he proposed that the philosopher should be assisted tyrannical system, which refers to the rule that no king is only by the concept of the monarch. for his subjects. Keywords—Plutarch; Political thought; Democracy; Analysis With regard to "minority rule", Plutarch clearly divided it into "aristocracy" and "oligopoly".
    [Show full text]
  • The Relationship Between Spirituality and Wisdom
    DISSERTATION PROTECTIVE FACTORS AGAINST ALCOHOL ABUSE IN COLLEGE STUDENTS: SPIRITUALITY, WISDOM, AND SELF-TRANSCENDENCE Submitted by Sydney E. Felker Department of Psychology In partial fulfillment of the requirements For the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Colorado State University Fort Collins, Colorado Fall 2011 Doctoral Committee: Advisor: Kathryn M. Rickard Co-Advisor: Richard M. Suinn Lisa Miller Thao Le Copyright by Sydney E. Felker 2011 All Rights Reserved ABSTRACT PROTECTIVE FACTORS AGAINST ALCOHOL ABUSE IN COLLEGE STUDENTS: SPIRITUALITY, WISDOM, AND SELF-TRANSCENDENCE Past research consistently suggests that spirituality is a protective factor against substance abuse in adolescents and adults. Many other personality and environmental factors have been shown to predict alcohol abuse and alcohol-related problems, yet much of the variance in alcohol abuse remains unexplained. Alcohol misuse continues to plague college campuses in the United States and recent attempts to reduce problematic drinking have fallen short. In an effort to further understand the factors contributing to students’ alcohol abuse, this study examines how spirituality, wisdom, and self- transcendence impact the drinking behaviors of college students. Two groups of students were studied: 1. students who were mandated for psychoeducational and clinical intervention as a result of violating the university alcohol policy; 2. a comparison group of students from the general undergraduate population who had never been sanctioned for alcohol misuse on campus. Alcohol use behaviors were assessed through calculating students’ reported typical blood alcohol level and alcohol-related problems. Results showed that wisdom is significantly and negatively related to blood alcohol level and alcohol-related problems for the mandated group but not the comparison group.
    [Show full text]
  • Solomon Reflects on the Meaning of Life
    SESSION 11 Solomon Reflects on the Meaning of Life SESSION SUMMARY In this session, we are going to align ourselves with Solomon and ask some of the same questions he asked. As we pose these questions together, we should look for their resolution in the person and work of Jesus Christ. Knowing that God exists, we can experience a life of meaning, justice, and purpose. We also call others to seek answers to their questions by looking to Christ. SCRIPTURE Ecclesiastes 1:1-11; 3:16–4:3; 12:9-14 106 Leader Guide / Session 11 THE POINT Because God exists, life has meaning and purpose. INTRO/STARTER 5-10 MINUTES Option 1 What do you think of when you hear the word vanity? The term vanity can refer to breath, emptiness, something temporary, or meaninglessness. Throughout the Book of Ecclesiastes, Solomon used a from of this word at least 24 times. Solomon used this phrasing to demonstrate the meaninglessness of living life apart from God. The term vanity of vanities is a superlative, emphasizing the emptiness of a Godless life. Without God, life is empty, holds no real meaning, and provides no lasting significance. He showed that only God can add real meaning to life. • Does life seem meaningless to you? Why or why not? Believers do not have to go through life wondering if they have purpose or meaning. God brings purpose and meaning to life. Sometimes that feeling of hopelessness still seeps in. But a vibrant relationship with the Lord enables people to view their lives in a more positive way.
    [Show full text]
  • Theory of Forms 1 Theory of Forms
    Theory of Forms 1 Theory of Forms Plato's theory of Forms or theory of Ideas[1] [2] [3] asserts that non-material abstract (but substantial) forms (or ideas), and not the material world of change known to us through sensation, possess the highest and most fundamental kind of reality.[4] When used in this sense, the word form is often capitalized.[5] Plato speaks of these entities only through the characters (primarily Socrates) of his dialogues who sometimes suggest that these Forms are the only true objects of study that can provide us with genuine knowledge; thus even apart from the very controversial status of the theory, Plato's own views are much in doubt.[6] Plato spoke of Forms in formulating a possible solution to the problem of universals. Forms Terminology: the Forms and the forms The English word "form" may be used to translate two distinct concepts that concerned Plato—the outward "form" or appearance of something, and "Form" in a new, technical nature, that never ...assumes a form like that of any of the things which enter into her; ... But the forms which enter into and go out of her are the likenesses of real existences modelled after their patterns in a wonderful and inexplicable manner.... The objects that are seen, according to Plato, are not real, but literally mimic the real Forms. In the allegory of the cave expressed in Republic, the things that are ordinarily perceived in the world are characterized as shadows of the real things, which are not perceived directly. That which the observer understands when he views the world mimics the archetypes of the many types and properties (that is, of universals) of things observed.
    [Show full text]
  • 2003 Annual Report of the Walters Art Museum
    THE YEAR IN REVIEWTHE WALTERS ART MUSEUM ANNUAL REPORT 2003 France, France, Ms.M.638, folio 23 verso, 1244–1254, The Pierpont Morgan Library, New York Dear Friends: After more than three intense years renovating and reinstalling our Centre Street Building, which con- cluded in June 2002 with the opening of our transformed 19th-century galleries, we stepped back in fiscal year 2002–2003 to refocus attention on our Charles Street Building, with its Renaissance, baroque, and rococo collections, in preparation for its complete reinstallation for a fall 2005 opening. For the Walters, as for cultural institutions nationwide, this was more generally a time of reflection and retrenchment in the wake of lingering uncertainty after the terrorist attack of 9/11, the general economic downturn, and significant loss of public funds. Nevertheless, thanks to Mellon Foundation funding, we were able to make three new mid-level curatorial hires, in the departments of ancient, medieval, and Renaissance and baroque art. Those three endowed positions will have lasting impact on the museum, as will a major addition to our galleries: in September 2002, we opened a comprehensive display of the arts of the ancient Americas, thanks to a long-term loan from the Austen-Stokes Foundation. Now, for the first time, we are able to expand on a collecting area Henry Walters entered nearly a century ago, to match our renowned ancient and medieval holdings in quality and range with more than four millennia of works from the western hemisphere. The 2002–2003 season was marked by three major exhibitions organized by the Walters, and by the continued international tour of a fourth Walters show, Desire and Devotion.
    [Show full text]
  • Reason and Necessity: the Descent of the Philosopher Kings
    Trinity University Digital Commons @ Trinity Philosophy Faculty Research Philosophy Department 2011 Reason and Necessity: The Descent of the Philosopher Kings 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. (2011). Reason and necessity: The descent of the philosopher kings. Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy, 40, 7-27. This Post-Print 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, Reason and Necessity: the Descent of the Philosopher-Kings Reason and Necessity: the Descent of the Philosopher-Kings One of the reasons why one might find it worthwhile to study philosophers of late antiquity is the fact that they often have illuminating things to say about Plato and Aristotle. Plotinus, in particular, was a diligent and insightful reader of those great masters. Michael Frede was certainly of that view, and when he wrote that ”[o]ne can learn much more from Plotinus about Aristotle than from most modern accounts of the Stagirite”, he would not have objected, I presume, to the claim that Plotinus is also extremely helpful for the study of Plato.1 In this spirit I wish to discuss a problem that has occupied modern Plato scholars for a long time and I will present a Plotinian answer to that problem. The problem concerns the descent of the philosopher kings in Plato’s Republic.
    [Show full text]
  • Petrarch and Boccaccio Mimesis
    Petrarch and Boccaccio Mimesis Romanische Literaturen der Welt Herausgegeben von Ottmar Ette Band 61 Petrarch and Boccaccio The Unity of Knowledge in the Pre-modern World Edited by Igor Candido An electronic version of this book is freely available, thanks to the support of libraries working with Knowledge Unlatched. KU is a collaborative initiative designed to make high quality books Open Access. More information about the initiative and links to the Open Access version can be found at www.knowledgeunlatched.org. The Open Access book is available at www.degruyter.com. ISBN 978-3-11-042514-7 e-ISBN (PDF) 978-3-11-041930-6 e-ISBN (EPUB) 978-3-11-041958-0 ISSN 0178-7489 This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 license. For more information, see http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A CIP catalog record for this book has been applied for at the Library of Congress. Bibliographic information published by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic data are available on the Internet at http://dnb.dnb.de. © 2018 Igor Candido, published by Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston Typesetting: Konvertus, Haarlem Printing and binding: CPI books GmbH, Leck ♾ Printed on acid-free paper Printed in Germany www.degruyter.com Dedicated to Ronald Witt (1932–2017) Contents Acknowledgments IX Igor Candido Introduction 1 H. Wayne Storey The
    [Show full text]
  • Practical Wisdom
    © Michael Lacewing Practical wisdom The syllabus defines practical wisdom as ‘the capacity to make informed, rational judgements without recourse to a formal decision procedure’. Many deontological theories argue that there is no formal decision procedure, and in fact even Kant, who has a formal decision procedure, argues that applying the Categorical Imperative correctly involves ‘judgment’, which cannot be formalized. However, the idea of practical wisdom is today most strongly associated with Aristotle, so we shall focus our discussion on his view of how to make moral decisions. Practical wisdom (Greek phronesis; sometimes translated ‘prudence’), says Aristotle, is ‘a true and reasoned state of capacity to act with regard to the things that are good or bad for man’ Nicomachean Ethics VI.5). So while practical wisdom involves knowledge of what is good or bad, it is not merely theoretical knowledge, but a capacity to act on such knowledge as well. This capacity requires 1. a general conception of what is good or bad, which Aristotle relates to the conditions for human flourishing; 2. the ability to perceive, in light of that general conception, what is required in terms of feeling, choice, and action in a particular situation; 3. the ability to deliberate well; and 4. the ability to act on that deliberation. Aristotle’s theory makes practical wisdom very demanding. The type of insight into the good that is needed and the relation between practical wisdom and virtues of character are both complex. Practical wisdom cannot be taught, but requires experience of life and virtue. Only the person who is good knows what is good, according to Aristotle.
    [Show full text]
  • What Is Authority?
    What Is Authority? In order to avoid misunderstanding, it might have been wiser to ask in the title: What was-and not what is-authority? For it is my contention that we are tempted and entitled to raise this question because authority has vanished from the modern world. Since we can no longer fall back upon authentic and undisputable experiences common to all, the very term has become clouded by controversy and confusion. Little about its nature ap- pears self-evident or even comprehensible to everybody, except that the political scientist may still remember that this concept was once funda- mental to political theory, or that most will agree that a constant, ever- widening and deepening crisis of authority has accompanied the development of the modern world in our century. ·This crisis, apparent since the inception of the century, is political in , origin and nature. The rise of political movements intent upon replacing the party system, and the development of a new totalitarian form of gov- ernment, took place against a background of a more or less general, more or less breakdown of all traditional authorities. Nowhere was this breakdown the direct result of the regimes or movements themselves; it rather seemed as though totalitarianism, in the form of movements as well as of regimes, was best fitted to take advantage of a general political and social atmosphere in which the party system had lost its prestige and the government's authority was no longer recognized. The most significant symptom of the crisis, indicating its depth and seriousness, is that it has spread to such prepolitical areas as child-rearing and education, where authority in the widest sense has always been ac- From Between Past and Future.
    [Show full text]
  • Locating Boccaccio in 2013
    Locating Boccaccio in 2013 Locating Boccaccio in 2013 11 July to 20 December 2013 Mon 12.00 – 5.00 Tue – Sat 10.00 – 5.00 Sun 12.00 – 5.00 The John Rylands Library The University of Manchester 150 Deansgate, Manchester, M3 3EH Designed by Epigram 0161 237 9660 1 2 Contents Locating Boccaccio in 2013 2 The Life of Giovanni Boccaccio (1313-1375) 3 Tales through Time 4 Boccaccio and Women 6 Boccaccio as Mediator 8 Transmissions and Transformations 10 Innovations in Print 12 Censorship and Erotica 14 Aesthetics of the Historic Book 16 Boccaccio in Manchester 18 Boccaccio and the Artists’ Book 20 Further Reading and Resources 28 Acknowledgements 29 1 Locating Boccaccio Te Life of Giovanni in 2013 Boccaccio (1313-1375) 2013 is the 700th anniversary of Boccaccio’s twenty-first century? His status as one of the Giovanni Boccaccio was born in 1313, either Author portrait, birth, and this occasion offers us the tre corone (three crowns) of Italian medieval in Florence or nearby Certaldo, the son of Decameron (Venice: 1546), opportunity not only to commemorate this literature, alongside Dante and Petrarch is a merchant who worked for the famous fol. *3v great author and his works, but also to reflect unchallenged, yet he is often perceived as Bardi company. In 1327 the young Boccaccio upon his legacy and meanings today. The the lesser figure of the three. Rather than moved to Naples to join his father who exhibition forms part of a series of events simply defining Boccaccio in automatic was posted there. As a trainee merchant around the world celebrating Boccaccio in relation to the other great men in his life, Boccaccio learnt the basic skills of arithmetic 2013 and is accompanied by an international then, we seek to re-present him as a central and accounting before commencing training conference held at the historic Manchester figure in the classical revival, and innovator as a canon lawyer.
    [Show full text]
  • WISDOM (Tlwma) and Pffllosophy (FALSAFA)
    WISDOM (tLWMA) AND PfflLOSOPHY (FALSAFA) IN ISLAMIC THOUGHT (as a framework for inquiry) By: Mehmet ONAL This thcsis is submitted ror the Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Wales - Lampeter 1998 b"9tr In this study the following two hypothesisare researched: 1. "WisdotW' is the fundamental aspect of Islamic thought on which Islamic civilisation was established through Islamic law (,Sharfa), theology (Ldi-M), philosophy (falsafq) and mysticism (Surism). 2. "Due to the first hypothesis Islamic philosophy is not only a commentary on the Greek philosophy or a new form of Ncoplatonism but a native Islamic wisdom understandingon the form of theoretical study". The present thesis consists of ten chaptersdealing with the concept of practical wisdom (Pikmq) and theoretical wisdom (philosophy or falsafa). At the end there arc a gcncral conclusion,glossary and bibliography. In the introduction (Chapter One) the definition of wisdom and philosophy is establishedas a conceptualground for the above two hypothesis. In the following chapter (Chapter Two) I focused on the historical background of these two concepts by giving a brief history of ancient wisdom and Greek philosophy as sourcesof Islamic thought. In the following two chapters (Chapter Three and Four) I tried to bring out a possibledefinition of Islamic wisdom in the Qur'5n and Sunna on which Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh), theology (A-alim), philosophy (falsafq) and mysticism (Sufism) consistedof. As a result of the above conceptual approaching,I tried to reach a new definition for wisdom (PiLma) as a method that helps in the establishmentof a new Islamic way of life and civilisation for our life.
    [Show full text]