DOCSLIB.ORG

An Introduction to Aristotle's Metaphysics Of

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text

Load more

AN INTRODUCTION TO ARISTOTLE’S METAPHYSICS OF TIME Historical research into the mythological and astronomical conceptions that preceded Aristotle’s philosophy 3 4 AN INTRODUCTION TO ARISTOTLE’S METAPHYSICS OF TIME Historical research into the mythological and astronomical conceptions that preceded Aristotle’s philosophy BY Régis LAURENT Translated by Trista Selous VILLEGAGNONS-PLAISANCE EDITIONS 16 bis rue d’Odessa 75014 PARIS www.editions-villegagnons.com 5 6 Forthcoming from Éditions villegagnons-plaisance: METAPHYSICS: - Régis LAURENT: Aristotle’s Metaphysics of Time - II - VILLEGAGNONS-PLAISANCE EDITIONS, 2015 ISBN: 978-2-9533846-11 7 8 To Frédéric… Acknowledgements: Francine Letouzé 9 10 CONTENTS PROLOGUE ....................................................................................... 15 I TIME IN ARISTOTLE’S PROTREPTICUS. INTRODUCTION AND QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION ........................................... 19 A. FROM ETERNITY TO TEMPORALITY: ON INITIATION.................. 27 B. FROM TEMPORALITY TO ETERNITY: WISDOM OVER THE LONG TERM ............................................................................................... 41 II. TIME IN GREEK TRAGIC POETRY AND IN HOMER’S EPIC POETRY. UNFINDABLE CIRCULAR TIME .......................... 49 A. ON FATE, OR TRAGIC POETRY AS A TECHNIQUE FOR VEILING TIME. ............................................................................................... 53 B. ON THE HERO, OR EPIC POETRY AS A TECHNIQUE FOR UNVEILING TIME. ............................................................................................... 63 III. TIME IN HESIOD’S MYTHOLGY AND PYTHAGOREAN THEOPHANY. THE SACRED SOURCES OF CIRCULAR TIME IN CLASSICAL GREECE. ....................................................................... 77 A. ON THE MYTH OF CRONOS OR THE STRUCTURING OF UNIVERSAL TIME IN “AGES OF THE WORLD”. ...................................................... 79 B. ON THE PYTHAGOREAN MYSTERIES, OR THE STRUCTURING OF HUMAN TIME IN PHASES OF LIFE INDEPENDENT OF BODILY UNITY . 102 IV. FROM PLATONIC MYTHIC TIME TO IONIAN SCIENTIFIC TIME. THE ROOTS OF ARISTOTLE’S PHILOSOPHY OF TIME .......................................................................................... 117 A. ON PLATONIC IDEOLOGY, OR MYTHIC TIME AS AN ATTEMPT TO VEIL INITIATORY TIME. .................................................................. 121 B. ON IONIAN ASTRONOMY, OR THE COMING OF CONCEPTUAL TIME, OPENING THE WORLD TO FUTURE TIME. ......................................... 150 BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................ 207 INDEX ............................................................................................ 229 11 12 To seek the truth would be to pursue flying game Proverb of unknown origin cited in: Aristotle, Metaphysics, , 5, 1009b 40 13 HISTORICAL RESEARCH INTO PRE-ARISTOTELIAN TIME PROLOGUE This book is the first chapter of my doctoral thesis in philosophy, written between September 2001 and October 2008. I am presenting this part only, as the thesis developed in the other two parts posed problems both to the scholars who were its first readers and to me. When I finished writing it a dichotomy became apparent, the origins and potential effects of which proved very hard to identify. I also remain unconvinced of its heuristic value and faithfulness to Aristotle’s thought. This thesis proposes that it is possible to distinguish the existence of time from its being in qualitative terms, but not to separate them quantitatively. So I have subjected my argument to further examination, involving a review of all the sources, to verify the detail of the reasoning behind this theoretical position, point by point. The present work refers only to the Greek sources. The mediaeval sources will be considered in the second part, alongside textual analyses of the Aristotelian corpus. This first book presents what seems to constitute the conditioning affecting Aristotle’s resolution of the question of time. The so-called historico-sociological method we shall develop is borrowed from the French philosopher Pierre-Maxime Schuhl3 and our exegete for Aristotle’s texts will be another 1930s scholar, Werner Jaeger. I have returned to this method via my training in linguistics.4 The work of Ferdinand de Saussure is 3 This methodology is set out in his doctoral thesis, published as Essai sur la formation de la pensée grecque. Introduction historique à une étude de la philosophie de Platon. PUF, 1934, pp. 7-12. 4 The first version of Werner Jaeger’s book, which is a continuation of his doctoral thesis of 1912, was written in German in 1923 with the title Aristoteles. Grundlegung einer Geschichte seiner Entwicklung. The English version was published in 1948. The French translation I used is by Olivier Sedeyn. It is based on both these texts and was published by Éditions de L’Eclat in 1997. 15 AN INTRODUCTION TO ARISTOTLE’S METAPHYSICS OF TIME profoundly incompatible with the historico-comparative method that was adopted by Jaeger and is still used in the universities. Here, therefore, we shall adopt a denotative approach influenced by sociology, rather than a connotative approach, before reversing this relationship in metaphysics. So we shall have little to say here about Aristotle and still less about metaphysics. However, the selection of Greek sources should indicate the theoretical positions that will later be rejected. If substance can be defined by all that it is not, Aristotle’s position on time can also be established by all that his model rejects in the course of its conceptualisation. We embarked on the present work with only a summary knowledge of Greek time before Aristotle’s period and it seemed impossible to discuss this notion in the Aristotelian corpus without having first undertaken some research. It would have been impossible to undertake such a reconstruction without the remarkable work of Catherine Darbo-Peschanski of the CNRS. Her book Construction du temps dans le monde grec ancien5 provided the foundations upon which, stone by stone, we have sought to construct a historical landscape portraying the notion of time before Aristotle. Hence the subtitle of the present book: Historical research into the mythological and astronomical conceptions that preceded Aristotle’s philosophy. Next, we should note that the information gathered has not been organised along historical lines. The aim here was not to write a historical study. Indeed such an undertaking would have required an initial concept of time, when the western concept of time used by historians stems largely from Aristotle’s model. So we should have found ourselves caught in a circular argument in which the time we were seeking was inscribed in a time that was already implicitly defined. The elements collected have thus been tested against concepts that are unveiled without historical presuppositions. Our successive investigations will examine the distinction between linear and circular time, question the notion of interval and consider that of télos, to ensure the terrain is properly prepared for the metaphysical discussions that will follow. The references to non-Greek philosophies in this study are intended as aids to understanding. This is the sole justification for our compendious discussion of Friedrich Nietzsche, Georg Wilhelm 5 Catherine Darbo-Peschanski (ed.), Constructions du temps dans le monde grec ancien, CNRS, 2000. 16 HISTORICAL RESEARCH INTO PRE-ARISTOTELIAN TIME Friedrich Hegel, Martin Heidegger and Giambattista Vico. The fact that some people are already familiar with the thought of these philosophers means it can be used as a springboard for a more rapid understanding of the theses advanced here. Furthermore, a demonstration without conviction is almost certainly of use only to its author.6 As for the relationship between Aristotle’s thought and that of Plato, it is to be hoped that the present work will reveal as clearly as possible the distinction between ideology and true conceptual thought. Let us be clear: there is no support in this quarter for the widely accepted thesis of an obvious kinship between the two systems of thought. The link will be broken by a return to Pythagoreanism. The suggestion that Plato was a great representative of Pythagoreanism is all too readily made when, as we shall see, Aristotle seems to have had far greater mastery of Pythagorean thought. Having not initially been aware of the importance of Pythagoreanism for a discussion of Aristotle’s philosophy, the reader may feel we are spending too much time on it. It should be emphasised, however, that the elements identified in this discussion will subsequently determine the relationship between Plato’s thought and that of Aristotle. It will also be noted that the place given here to Hesiod as a theologian is not compatible with the view usually advanced by the history of philosophy. To this we would respond by observing that this approach to Hesiod should not be understood in terms of a linear historical model; it is justified only in the light of the particular issue of the nature of time. Lastly, the reader may well be surprised by the discussion of “Phoenician” sources in describing the Ionian vision of the world. We considered abandoning this contentious aspect of our work on several occasions, but once again it will be justified by our understanding of Pythagoreanism. Our study of Greek time before Aristotle will be introduced by a commentary on one of his first books, the Protrepticus.7
Recommended publications
  • Who Freed Athens? J

    Who Freed Athens? J

    Ancient Greek Democracy: Readings and Sources Edited by Eric W. Robinson Copyright © 2004 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd The Beginnings of the Athenian Democracv: Who Freed Athens? J Introduction Though the very earliest democracies lildy took shape elsewhere in Greece, Athens embraced it relatively early and would ultimately become the most famous and powerful democracy the ancient world ever hew. Democracy is usually thought to have taken hold among the Athenians with the constitutional reforms of Cleisthenes, ca. 508/7 BC. The tyrant Peisistratus and later his sons had ruled Athens for decades before they were overthrown; Cleisthenes, rallying the people to his cause, made sweeping changes. These included the creation of a representative council (bode)chosen from among the citizens, new public organizations that more closely tied citizens throughout Attica to the Athenian state, and the populist ostracism law that enabled citizens to exile danger- ous or undesirable politicians by vote. Beginning with these measures, and for the next two centuries or so with only the briefest of interruptions, democracy held sway at Athens. Such is the most common interpretation. But there is, in fact, much room for disagree- ment about when and how democracy came to Athens. Ancient authors sometimes refer to Solon, a lawgiver and mediator of the early sixth century, as the founder of the Athenian constitution. It was also a popular belief among the Athenians that two famous “tyrant-slayers,” Harmodius and Aristogeiton, inaugurated Athenian freedom by assas- sinating one of the sons of Peisistratus a few years before Cleisthenes’ reforms - though ancient writers take pains to point out that only the military intervention of Sparta truly ended the tyranny.
  • Chapter 4. Hatred in Hesiod

    Chapter 4. Hatred in Hesiod

    This electronic thesis or dissertation has been downloaded from Explore Bristol Research, http://research-information.bristol.ac.uk Author: Kilgallon, Silvie Title: Hatred in Hesiod General rights Access to the thesis is subject to the Creative Commons Attribution - NonCommercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International Public License. A copy of this may be found at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/legalcode This license sets out your rights and the restrictions that apply to your access to the thesis so it is important you read this before proceeding. Take down policy Some pages of this thesis may have been removed for copyright restrictions prior to having it been deposited in Explore Bristol Research. However, if you have discovered material within the thesis that you consider to be unlawful e.g. breaches of copyright (either yours or that of a third party) or any other law, including but not limited to those relating to patent, trademark, confidentiality, data protection, obscenity, defamation, libel, then please contact [email protected] and include the following information in your message: •Your contact details •Bibliographic details for the item, including a URL •An outline nature of the complaint Your claim will be investigated and, where appropriate, the item in question will be removed from public view as soon as possible. Hatred in Hesiod Silvie Kilgallon A dissertation submitted to the University of Bristol in accordance with the requirements for award of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Faculty of Arts, January 2019. Word Count: 75,322. 2 Abstract: This thesis examines the conception and role of hatred in the Theogony and Works and Days of Hesiod.
  • The Roles of Solon in Plato's Dialogues

    The Roles of Solon in Plato's Dialogues

    The Roles of Solon in Plato’s Dialogues Dissertation Presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Samuel Ortencio Flores, M.A. Graduate Program in Greek and Latin The Ohio State University 2013 Dissertation Committee: Bruce Heiden, Advisor Anthony Kaldellis Richard Fletcher Greg Anderson Copyrighy by Samuel Ortencio Flores 2013 Abstract This dissertation is a study of Plato’s use and adaptation of an earlier model and tradition of wisdom based on the thought and legacy of the sixth-century archon, legislator, and poet Solon. Solon is cited and/or quoted thirty-four times in Plato’s dialogues, and alluded to many more times. My study shows that these references and allusions have deeper meaning when contextualized within the reception of Solon in the classical period. For Plato, Solon is a rhetorically powerful figure in advancing the relatively new practice of philosophy in Athens. While Solon himself did not adequately establish justice in the city, his legacy provided a model upon which Platonic philosophy could improve. Chapter One surveys the passing references to Solon in the dialogues as an introduction to my chapters on the dialogues in which Solon is a very prominent figure, Timaeus- Critias, Republic, and Laws. Chapter Two examines Critias’ use of his ancestor Solon to establish his own philosophic credentials. Chapter Three suggests that Socrates re- appropriates the aims and themes of Solon’s political poetry for Socratic philosophy. Chapter Four suggests that Solon provides a legislative model which Plato reconstructs in the Laws for the philosopher to supplant the role of legislator in Greek thought.
  • Plato As "Architectof Science"

    Plato As "Architectof Science"

    Plato as "Architectof Science" LEONID ZHMUD ABSTRACT The figureof the cordialhost of the Academy,who invitedthe mostgifted math- ematiciansand cultivatedpure research, whose keen intellectwas able if not to solve the particularproblem then at least to show the methodfor its solution: this figureis quite familiarto studentsof Greekscience. But was the Academy as such a centerof scientificresearch, and did Plato really set for mathemati- cians and astronomersthe problemsthey shouldstudy and methodsthey should use? Oursources tell aboutPlato's friendship or at leastacquaintance with many brilliantmathematicians of his day (Theodorus,Archytas, Theaetetus), but they were neverhis pupils,rather vice versa- he learnedmuch from them and actively used this knowledgein developinghis philosophy.There is no reliableevidence that Eudoxus,Menaechmus, Dinostratus, Theudius, and others, whom many scholarsunite into the groupof so-called"Academic mathematicians," ever were his pupilsor close associates.Our analysis of therelevant passages (Eratosthenes' Platonicus, Sosigenes ap. Simplicius, Proclus' Catalogue of geometers, and Philodemus'History of the Academy,etc.) shows thatthe very tendencyof por- trayingPlato as the architectof sciencegoes back to the earlyAcademy and is bornout of interpretationsof his dialogues. I Plato's relationship to the exact sciences used to be one of the traditional problems in the history of ancient Greek science and philosophy.' From the nineteenth century on it was examined in various aspects, the most significant of which were the historical, philosophical and methodological. In the last century and at the beginning of this century attention was paid peredominantly, although not exclusively, to the first of these aspects, especially to the questions how great Plato's contribution to specific math- ematical research really was, and how reliable our sources are in ascrib- ing to him particular scientific discoveries.
  • Persuasive Rhetoric in Origen's Contra Celsum

    Persuasive Rhetoric in Origen's Contra Celsum

    University of Tennessee, Knoxville TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange Masters Theses Graduate School 8-2003 Persuasive Rhetoric in Origen’s Contra Celsum. Daniel Charles Headrick University of Tennessee - Knoxville Follow this and additional works at: https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_gradthes Part of the Philosophy Commons Recommended Citation Headrick, Daniel Charles, "Persuasive Rhetoric in Origen’s Contra Celsum.. " Master's Thesis, University of Tennessee, 2003. https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_gradthes/1972 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. It has been accepted for inclusion in Masters Theses by an authorized administrator of TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. For more information, please contact [email protected]. To the Graduate Council: I am submitting herewith a thesis written by Daniel Charles Headrick entitled "Persuasive Rhetoric in Origen’s Contra Celsum.." I have examined the final electronic copy of this thesis for form and content and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the equirr ements for the degree of Master of Arts, with a major in Philosophy. David Dungan, Major Professor We have read this thesis and recommend its acceptance: David Linge, James Fitzgerald Accepted for the Council: Carolyn R. Hodges Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School (Original signatures are on file with official studentecor r ds.) To the Graduate Council: I am submitting herewith a thesis written by Daniel Charles Headrick entitled “Persuasive Rhetoric in Origen’s Contra Celsum.” I have examined the final electronic copy of this thesis for form and content and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts, with a major in Philosophy.
  • THE ARGONAUTIKA He'd Gone on His Vain Quest with Peirithoos: That Couple Would Have Made Their Task's Fulfillment Far Easier for Them All

    THE ARGONAUTIKA He'd Gone on His Vain Quest with Peirithoos: That Couple Would Have Made Their Task's Fulfillment Far Easier for Them All

    Book I Starting from you, Phoibos, the deeds ofthose old-time mortals I shall relute, who by way ofthe Black Sea's mouth and through the cobalt-dark rocks, at King Pelias 's commandment, in search of the Golden Fleece drove tight-thwarted Argo. For Pelias heard it voiced that in time thereafter a grim fate would await him, death at the prompting of the man he saw come, one-sandaled, from folk in the country: and not much later-in accordance with your word-Jason, fording on foot the Anauros's wintry waters, saved from the mud one sandal, but left the other stuck fast in the flooded estuary, pressed straight on to have his share in the sacred feast that Pelias was preparing for Poseidon his father, and the rest of the gods, though paying no heed to Pelasgian Hera. The moment Pelias saw him, he knew, and devised him a trial of most perilous seamanship, that in deep waters or away among foreign folk he might lose his homecoming. ,\row singers before 7ny time have recounted how the vessel was fashioned 4 Argos with the guidance of Athena. IW~cctIplan to do now is tell the name and farnib of each hero, describe their long voyage, all they accomplished in their wanderings: may the Muses inspire mnj sinpng! First in our record be Orpheus, whom famous Kalliope, after bedding Thracian Oikgros, bore, they tell us, 44 THE XRGONAUTIKA hard by Pimpleia's high rocky lookout: Orpheus, who's said to have charmed unshiftable upland boulders and the flow of rivers with the sound of his music.
  • Alexander Jones Calendrica I: New Callippic Dates

    Alexander Jones Calendrica I: New Callippic Dates

    ALEXANDER JONES CALENDRICA I: NEW CALLIPPIC DATES aus: Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik 129 (2000) 141–158 © Dr. Rudolf Habelt GmbH, Bonn 141 CALENDRICA I: NEW CALLIPPIC DATES 1. Introduction. Callippic dates are familiar to students of Greek chronology, even though up to the present they have been known to occur only in a single source, Ptolemy’s Almagest (c. A.D. 150).1 Ptolemy’s Callippic dates appear in the context of discussions of astronomical observations ranging from the early third century B.C. to the third quarter of the second century B.C. In the present article I will present new attestations of Callippic dates which extend the period of the known use of this system by almost two centuries, into the middle of the first century A.D. I also take the opportunity to attempt a fresh examination of what we can deduce about the Callippic calendar and its history, a topic that has lately been the subject of quite divergent treatments. The distinguishing mark of a Callippic date is the specification of the year by a numbered “period according to Callippus” and a year number within that period. Each Callippic period comprised 76 years, and year 1 of Callippic Period 1 began about midsummer of 330 B.C. It is an obvious, and very reasonable, supposition that this convention for counting years was instituted by Callippus, the fourth- century astronomer whose revisions of Eudoxus’ planetary theory are mentioned by Aristotle in Metaphysics Λ 1073b32–38, and who also is prominent among the authorities cited in astronomical weather calendars (parapegmata).2 The point of the cycles is that 76 years contain exactly four so-called Metonic cycles of 19 years.
  • Greek Religion and the Tradition of Myth Religion

    Greek Religion and the Tradition of Myth Religion

    Greek Religion and The Tradition of Myth Religion • Religion • An institutionalized system of rituals. • An institution is a “system of ideas whose object is to explain the world” (Durkheim, 1965: 476). • Spiritualism • A belief in forces that exist outside of space and time but that can act within those domains Culture and Belief • “Religion is sociologically interesting not because, as vulgar positivism would have it, it describes the social order...but because... it shapes it” (Geertz 1973, 119). • “The social function of myth is to bind together social groups as wholes or, in other words, to establish a social consensus” (Halpern 1961, 137). Mythos • Archaic Greek: a story, speech, utterance. • Essentially declarative in nature • Classical Greek: An unsubstantiated claim • Mythographos • Logographos • Logopoios Modern Definitions • “…Myth is defined as a complex of traditional tales in which significant human situations are united in fantastic combinations to form a polyvalent semiotic system which is used in multifarious ways to illuminate reality…” • (Burkert 1985: 120). • “A traditional story with collective importance” • (Powell, 2009: 2) Logos • An argument • A statement or story based on comparative evaluation or collection of data • The result of a process • A study • Bio-logy, Socio-logy, mytho-logy • Powell: • logos is defined by authorship, it has a known origin, • mythos is anonymous, it exists in a social milieu undefined by its origin Truth and Falsehood • “The poet and the historian differ not by writing in verse or in prose… The true difference is that one relates what has happened, the other what may happen. Poetry, therefore, is a more philosophical and a higher thing than history: for poetry tends to express the universal, history the particular.” • (Aristotle Poetics 1451a.
  • Lab Assignment 1

    Lab Assignment 1

    CS181: Programming Languages Vladimir Vacic, Christos Koufogiannakis University of California, Riverside Lab Assignment 1 1. Given the following graph of possible flights between seven US cities: (graph taken from the web site of the American Mathematical Society, http://www.ams.org) a) Write a Prolog program that would check if there is a route from Fresno to Dallas, from Seattle to Boston, and from Atlanta to Fresno. b) Write a C program that does the same thing. Note: you have to write complete, working programs, run them and show the results. As far as C goes, the choice of data structure to store the relations between cities is yours. Warning: if there are cycles in the graph, Prolog might never find a solution and may never say that there are no solutions. If this happens in your assignment, make a note of that. 2. Given the partial family tree of the gods of the ancient Greeks encoded as a Prolog database: parent(chaos, gaea). parent(gaea, cyclope). parent(gaea, chronos). parent(gaea, coeus). parent(gaea, oceanus). parent(uranus, cyclope). parent(uranus, chronos). parent(uranus, coeus). parent(uranus, oceanus). parent(chronos, hades). parent(chronos, poseidon). parent(chronos, zeus). parent(rhea, hades). parent(rhea, poseidon). parent(rhea, zeus). parent(coeus, leto). parent(phoebe, leto). parent(leto, apollo). parent(leto, artemis). parent(zeus, apollo). parent(zeus, artemis). parent(oceanus, iapetus). parent(tethys, iapetus). parent(hera, ares). parent(zeus, ares). male(chaos). male(cyclope). male(uranus). male(chronos). male(coeus). male(oceanus). male(hades). male(poseidon). male(zeus). male(ares). male(apollo). male(iapetus).
  • 1 Reading Athenaios' Epigraphical Hymn to Apollo: Critical Edition And

    1 Reading Athenaios' Epigraphical Hymn to Apollo: Critical Edition And

    Reading Athenaios’ Epigraphical Hymn to Apollo: Critical Edition and Commentaries DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Corey M. Hackworth Graduate Program in Greek and Latin The Ohio State University 2015 Dissertation Committee: Fritz Graf, Advisor Benjamin Acosta-Hughes Carolina López-Ruiz 1 Copyright by Corey M. Hackworth 2015 2 Abstract This dissertation is a study of the Epigraphical Hymn to Apollo that was found at Delphi in 1893, and since attributed to Athenaios. It is believed to have been performed as part of the Athenian Pythaïdes festival in the year 128/7 BCE. After a brief introduction to the hymn, I provide a survey and history of the most important editions of the text. I offer a new critical edition equipped with a detailed apparatus. This is followed by an extended epigraphical commentary which aims to describe the history of, and arguments for and and against, readings of the text as well as proposed supplements and restorations. The guiding principle of this edition is a conservative one—to indicate where there is uncertainty, and to avoid relying on other, similar, texts as a resource for textual restoration. A commentary follows, which traces word usage and history, in an attempt to explore how an audience might have responded to the various choices of vocabulary employed throughout the text. Emphasis is placed on Athenaios’ predilection to utilize new words, as well as words that are non-traditional for Apolline narrative. The commentary considers what role prior word usage (texts) may have played as intertexts, or sources of poetic resonance in the ears of an audience.
  • Depending on Evil an Analysis of Late Antique Christian Demonologies

    Depending on Evil an Analysis of Late Antique Christian Demonologies

    Depending on Evil An Analysis of Late Antique Christian Demonologies Thomas Andruszewski 2/17/2008 Table of Contents Preface ........................................................................................................................................................... i Introduction ..................................................................................................................................................1 Part I - In Support of Apocalypse Chapter I - Justin Martyr, Athenagoras and Tertullian................................................................................7 Chapter II - Origen .....................................................................................................................................23 Chapter III - Augustine of Hippo ................................................................................................................33 Part II - Demonizing Demons: the Construction of Evil in Late Antiquity Chapter IV - Taking Aim, the Role of Demons in the Polemical Arsenal of Early Church Fathers...........39 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................................................55 1 Preface This thesis provides an analysis of the demonologies included in the writings of some of the early Church Fathers. They include: Justin Martyr’s Apology (150 CE),1 Athenagoras’ Legatio (177 CE),2 Tertullian’s Apology (197 CE),3 Origen’s On First Principles (218 CE)4 and Against Celsus (248 CE),5
  • Beginnings – Philosophy and Science

    Beginnings – Philosophy and Science

    BOOK I: Greek and Roman Thought I. Beginnings — Philosophy and the Scientific World View 1. PRELITERATE THOUGHT — SPIRITS AND MAGIC The owners of fish magic will often dream that there is plentiful fish. The cause of it is the magician’s ancestor spirit. Such a magician would then say, “The ancestral Spirit has instructed me in the night, that we should go to catch fish!” And indeed, when we get there we find plenty of fish, and cast our nets. A Pre-literate Fisherman1,2 How people saw the world and their place in it before writing arose must be inferred from the thought of early literate and modern preliterate societies.3 Although these societies vary a great deal in their views of the world and their ways of life, widespread in them is one notion to which people in modern civilized cultures, or at least in their intellectual elites, do not generally subscribe, that everything that happens in the natural world happens because of the activity of spirits. I would not suppose pre-literate people see spirits where we see trees and rocks—their everyday world is surely much like ours, and more often than not, they take no note of the spirits. The difference lies in the 1A remark on my footnotes and endnotes is in order. I use endnotes (in conjunction with the bibiography) to cite my sources and my evidence (keeping myself honest), and suggest good secondary literature and good translations, in case someone wants to track these things down for herself. When engaged in a consecutive discussion of a single work or author I will use abbreviated parenthetical citations in the text, to save space.