History of Ancient Philosophy
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Diogenes Laertius, Vitae Philosophorum, Book Five
Binghamton University The Open Repository @ Binghamton (The ORB) The Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy Newsletter 12-1986 The Lives of the Peripatetics: Diogenes Laertius, Vitae Philosophorum, Book Five Michael Sollenberger Mount St. Mary's University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://orb.binghamton.edu/sagp Part of the Ancient History, Greek and Roman through Late Antiquity Commons, Ancient Philosophy Commons, and the History of Philosophy Commons Recommended Citation Sollenberger, Michael, "The Lives of the Peripatetics: Diogenes Laertius, Vitae Philosophorum, Book Five" (1986). The Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy Newsletter. 129. https://orb.binghamton.edu/sagp/129 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by The Open Repository @ Binghamton (The ORB). It has been accepted for inclusion in The Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy Newsletter by an authorized administrator of The Open Repository @ Binghamton (The ORB). For more information, please contact [email protected]. f\îc|*zx,e| lîâ& The Lives of the Peripatetics: Diogenes Laertius, Vitae Philosoohorum Book Five The biographies of six early Peripatetic philosophers are con tained in the fifth book of Diogenes Laertius* Vitae philosoohorum: the lives of the first four heads of the sect - Aristotle, Theophras tus, Strato, and Lyco - and those of two outstanding members of the school - Demetrius of Phalerum and Heraclides of Pontus, For the history of two rival schools, the Academy and the Stoa, we are for tunate in having not only Diogenes' versions in 3ooks Four and Seven, but also the Index Academicorum and the Index Stoicorum preserved among the papyri from Herculaneum, But for the Peripatos there-is no such second source. -
How Ancient Greek Philosophy Can Be Made Relevant to Contemporary Life James Duerlinger*
Journal of Philosophy of Life Vol.1, No.1 (March 2011):1-12 How Ancient Greek Philosophy Can Be Made Relevant to Contemporary Life James Duerlinger* Abstract In this paper, I will explain how ancient Greek philosophy can be made relevant to our lives. I do this by explaining how an instructor of a course in ancient Greek philosophy can teach Greek philosophy in a way that makes its study relevant to how the students in the course live their lives. Since this is the most likely way in which its relevance to contemporary life might be realized in practice, I explain its relevance from this perspective. I contrast the different ways in which ancient Greek philosophy is taught, and give examples of how it can be taught that calls attention to the ways in which what the Greeks said are relevant to how students live their lives. In this paper, I will explain how ancient Greek philosophy can be made relevant to contemporary life. The form in which I will explain this is by discussing how an instructor of a course in ancient Greek philosophy can teach Greek philosophy in a way that makes its study relevant to how the students in the course live their lives, since this is the most likely way in which its relevance to contemporary life might be realized in practice. One of the ways in which many instructors of courses in ancient Greek philosophy attempt to make its study relevant to the interests of their students is to teach the course from the perspective of contemporary analytic philosophy.1 This way to teach the course makes it relevant to students who have a background in contemporary analytic philosophy or wish to pursue a career as a professional philosopher or to seek a historical background to contemporary philosophy.2 A more traditional way to make the course relevant is to teach it as * Professor, Philosophy Department, University of Iowa, 11 Woodland Hts. -
Neoplatonism: the Last Ten Years
The International Journal The International Journal of the of the Platonic Tradition 9 (2015) 205-220 Platonic Tradition brill.com/jpt Critical Notice ∵ Neoplatonism: The Last Ten Years The past decade or so has been an exciting time for scholarship on Neo platonism. I ought to know, because during my stint as the author of the “Book Notes” on Neoplatonism for the journal Phronesis, I read most of what was published in the field during this time. Having just handed the Book Notes over to George BoysStones, I thought it might be worthwhile to set down my overall impressions of the state of research into Neoplatonism. I cannot claim to have read all the books published on this topic in the last ten years, and I am here going to talk about certain themes and developments in the field rather than trying to list everything that has appeared. So if you are an admirer, or indeed author, of a book that goes unmentioned, please do not be affronted by this silence—it does not necessarily imply a negative judgment on my part. I hope that the survey will nonetheless be wideranging and comprehensive enough to be useful. I’ll start with an observation made by Richard Goulet,1 which I have been repeating to students ever since I read it. Goulet conducted a statistical analy sis of the philosophical literature preserved in the original Greek, and discov ered that almost threequarters of it (71%) was written by Neoplatonists and commentators on Aristotle. In a sense this should come as no surprise. -
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. -
The Polemical Practice in Ancient Epicureanism* M
UDK 101.1;141.5 Вестник СПбГУ. Философия и конфликтология. 2019. Т. 35. Вып. 3 The polemical practice in ancient Epicureanism* M. M. Shakhnovich St. Petersburg State University, 7–9, Universitetskaya nab., St. Petersburg, 199034, Russian Federation For citation: Shakhnovich M. M. The polemical practice in ancient Epicureanism. Vestnik of Saint Petersburg University. Philosophy and Conflict Studies, 2019, vol. 35, issue 3, pp. 461–471. https://doi.org/10.21638/spbu17.2019.306 The article explores the presentation methods of a philosophical doctrine in Greek and Ro- man Epicureanism; it is shown that for the ancient, middle, and Roman Epicureans a con- troversy with representatives of other philosophical schools was a typical way of present- ing their own views. The polemical practice, in which the basic principles of Epicureanism were expounded through the criticism of other philosophical systems, first of all, Academics and Stoics, was considered not only as the preferred way of presenting the own doctrine, but also as the most convenient rhetorical device, which had, among other things, didac- tic significance. The founder of the school, Epicurus, often included in his texts the terms used in other philosophical schools, giving them a different, often opposite, content. While presenting his teaching in the treatise “On Nature” or in letters to his followers, Epicurus pushed off the opinions of Democritus, Plato, and the Stoics, but resorted mainly to implicit criticism of his opponents, often without naming them by name. His closest students and later followers — Metrodorus, Hermarchus, Colotes, Philodemus, Lucretius, Diogenes of Oenoanda — continuing the controversy with the Academics and the Stoics, more frank- ly expressed their indignation about the “falsely understood Epicureanism” or erroneous opinions. -
Tomasz Stępień Remarks on Neoplatonism As a Synthesis of Ancient Thought
Tomasz Stępień Remarks on Neoplatonism as a synthesis of ancient thought Studia Philosophiae Christianae 39/1, 196-209 2003 and distinct) worked through its own inertia to lead its adherents into positions difficult to reconcile with supernatural faith and especially with revealed truths and, therefore, was gradually conducing to laici- zation of thinking and reinforcing modern secularism23. TOMASZ STĘPIEŃ Wydział Teologiczny UKSW REMARKS ON NEOPLATONISM AS A SYNTHESIS OF ANCIENT THOUGHT PREFACE As we know, Neoplatonism was the last philosophical system created by ancient pagan philosophers. This system was very at tractive to Christian thinkers, who made it a basis for explaining Christian faith. Therefore it became a part of Christian philosophy of Middle Ages. In the same time, when in Europe falling Roman Empire left almost no culture and philosophy in the west, in the eastern lands conquered by Arabs, Greek texts were translated into Arabic, and the dawn of Arabic philosophy began. Writings of Ari stotle became the most popular, however Arabic philosophers read those texts in a neoplatonic way, because neoplatonic pagan philo sophers considered the thought of Aristotle as a part of their sys tem and interpreted it in a specific way. All this may seem obvious but at the beginning I would like to show how important Neoplatonism is to understand both Christian and Arabic philosophy. Proper understanding of Neoplatonism is not a simple thing. Last few decades brought a lot of new studies on Neoplatonism, and it becomes clear, that many things must be revised in understanding of neoplatonic thought. Those studies ha ve shown a new vision of the last pagan system. -
Philosophy Honours: Ancient Philosophy Spring Semester 2019
Philosophy Honours: Ancient Philosophy Spring Semester 2019 Course Organiser: Dr Andrew Mason Email: [email protected] Telephone: (0131) 6511843 Office Hour: 2.00-3.30 Monday (6.10, DSB – Adam Smith Room) Course Secretary: Ms Anne-Marie Cowe Email: [email protected] Description The course each year provides a systematic introduction to some central concepts and arguments developed by ancient philosophical schools, starting from the early Greek thinkers, proceeding to the major figures of Plato and Aristotle, and devoting an appropriate amount of time to the main Hellenistic schools such as the Epicureans, Stoics, and Sceptics. The focus of the course will be on a major philosophical theme developed by these schools. This year the course introduces the ethical thought of leading ancient philosophers, focusing on questions about virtue and happiness, the relation between them, and the place of philosophy in the good life. We will consider in turn the views of Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Epicurus and the Stoics The course consists of two weekly lectures, starting in week 1 (11.10-12.00 and 2.10-3.00 on Tuesdays), and a weekly tutorial, starting in week 2 (1.10-2.00 Wednesday, and 10.00-10.50, 11.10- 12.00, and 1.10 -2.00 Thursday). Tutorials will move a week behind lectures, covering material that was discussed in lectures in the previous week. In tutorials, students will be invited to give brief introductions of passages from the reading; a list of tutorial readings will be published at the start of the semester. -
Augustine, Wannabe Philosopher: the Search for Otium Honestum
University of Tennessee, Knoxville TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange Supervised Undergraduate Student Research Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects and Creative Work 5-2014 Augustine, Wannabe Philosopher: The Search for Otium Honestum Allen G. Wilson University of Tennessee Knoxville, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_chanhonoproj Part of the Ancient History, Greek and Roman through Late Antiquity Commons, Ancient Philosophy Commons, Christianity Commons, Classical Literature and Philology Commons, History of Christianity Commons, History of Philosophy Commons, History of Religion Commons, Intellectual History Commons, and the Other Classics Commons Recommended Citation Wilson, Allen G., "Augustine, Wannabe Philosopher: The Search for Otium Honestum" (2014). Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects. https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_chanhonoproj/1722 This Dissertation/Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Supervised Undergraduate Student Research and Creative Work at TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. It has been accepted for inclusion in Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects by an authorized administrator of TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Augustine, Wannabe Philosopher: The Search for Otium Honestum Honors Thesis By: Allen Wilson Faculty Advisor: Dr. Maura Lafferty University of Tennessee Knoxville 1 Abstract On the path from teacher of rhetoric to bishop of Hippo three important milestones present themselves: Cassiacum, Thagaste, and Hippo. At each of these places Augustine led his own Christian community. Cassiacum marks the beginning of a momentous journey where Augustine, having quit his rhetorical position in Milan, retires with some friends and students (along with his mother Monica) to discourse on philosophy and Christianity before he and his friend Alypius are to be baptized. -
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. -
Pythagoras Him.Self Discovered the Pythagorean Theorem
the Pythagorean theorem. I may as well break the news right away: there's no good literary character-a vessel for the ideas and imaginings of other people. And while evidence that Pythagoras him.self discovered the Pythagorean theorem. It was, we like to think we have some reasonably vivid idea of the real Socrates, thanks to however, known to his followers, the Pythagoreans. That rather sets the tone for Plato and other authors like the historian Xenophon, in the case of Pythagoras we the rest of our discussion of Pythagoras. We know a great deal about the tradition of are really just sifting through legends and myths. Not only is Pythagoras quite a Pythagoreans which takes its name fromhim, but we know hardly anything about bit earlier than Socrates, but his way of doing philosophy-if he did philosophy at the man himself. Among the Pre-Socratics, all of whom are surrounded by a good all-was a lot less public than Socrates'. Whereas Socrates would walk up to people deal of misinformation and legend, he stands out as the one figure who is more in the marketplace and harass them by askingthem to define virtue, Pythagoras and myth than man. But what a myth! He's credited with being the first to fuse his young students in Croton supposedly observeda code of silence, to prevent their philosophy and mathematics, with being a worker of miracles, being divine or secret teachings from being divulged to the uninitiated. Of course, maybe that code semi-divine, the son of either Apollo or Hermes. -
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. -
Introduction
Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-87863-0 - Plato on the Rhetoric of Philosophers and Sophists Marina McCoy Excerpt More information 1 Introduction I. This book explores how Plato separates the philosopher from the sophist through the dramatic opposition of Socrates torhetoricians and sophists. In one way, its thesis is simple. Plato distinguishes Socrates from the sophistsbydifferences in character and moral intention. In the broadest terms, Plato might agree with Aristotle’s claim in the Rhetoric that what defines a sophist is “not his faculty, but his moral purpose” (1355b 17– 18). In another way, the problem is difficult, for the philosopher and the sophist share many characteristicsinhowthey speak and act; these simi- larities are not superficial but go to the very heart of what Plato presentsas philosophy, sophistry, and rhetoric. The tendencyofcontemporary schol- arship has been to emphasize the distinctiveness of Socratic or Platonic philosophy in terms of a technical method separable from rhetoric.1 1 Commentators who have emphasized a technical method in Socrates’ or Plato’s thought in distinction from sophistry include Gregory Vlastos, Socratic Studies (Cambridge: Cam- bridge University Press, 1994); Terence Irwin, Plato’s Gorgias, translated withnotes (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1979); Jacques Bailly, “What You Say, What You Believe, and What You Mean,” Ancient Philosophy 19 (1999): 65–76;Richard Robinson, Plato’s Earlier Dialectic (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1953); and W. K. C. Guthrie, A History of Greek Phi- losophy, Volume IV: Plato the Man and His Dialogues, Earlier Period (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986). Guthrie emphasizes the differencebetween eristic and dialectic in Socrates’ thought but admits that Socrates often uses eristics to best his opponents.