Classical Philosophy “This is a fine introduction to ancient philosophy, consistently clear and carefully argued; interesting and generally attractive to read. I also enjoyed how the various views of the philosophers were successfully tied to overarching themes, such as the contrast between the manifest and the scientific image of the world.” Vasilis Politis, Trinity College, Dublin “I found the volume well organized and philosophically engaging. It doesn’t talk down to the reader, nor attempt to blind him/her with science (or philosophy), so it should be well suited for the intelligent non-expert.” Raphael Woolf, Harvard University The origins of Western philosophy can be found in sixth-century BC Greece. There it was that philosophy developed into a discipline that considered such fundamental questions as the nature of human existence, our place in the universe, and our attitudes towards an interactive politicized society. Every development in philosophy indeed stems from the thinkers of this enlightened time. Classical Philosophy is a comprehensive examination of early philosophy, from the Presocratics through to Aristotle. The aim of the book is to provide an explanation and analysis of the ideas that flourished at this time, and to consider their relevance, both to the historical development of philosophy and to contemporary philosophy today. From these ideas we can see the roots of arguments in metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, and political philosophy. The book is arranged in four parts by thinker and covers • the Presocratics • Socrates • Plato • Aristotle Christopher Shields’ style is inviting, refreshing, and ideal for anyone coming to the subject for the first time. He provides a balanced account of the central topics and ideas that emerged from the period and includes helpful ideas for further reading. Christopher Shields is Professor of Philosophy and Classics at the University of Colorado at Boulder. He is the author of Order in Multiplicity: Homonymy in the Philosophy of Aristotle (1999), and editor of the Blackwell Guide to Ancient Philosophy (2002) Routledge Contemporary Introductions to Philosophy Series editor: Paul K.Moser Loyola University of Chicago This innovative, well-structured series is for students who have already done an introductory course in philosophy. Each book introduces a core general subject in contemporary philosophy and offers students an accessible but substantial transition from introductory to higher-level college work in that subject. The series is accessible to non- specialists and each book clearly motivates and expounds the problems and positions introduced. An orientating chapter briefly introduces its topic and reminds readers of any crucial material they need to have retained from a typical introductory course. Considerable attention is given to explaining the central philosophical problems of a subject and the main competing solutions and arguments for those solutions.The primary aim is to educate students in the main problems, positions and arguments of contemporary philosophy rather than to convince students of a single position. Classical Philosophy Christopher Shields Epistemology Second Edition Robert Audi Ethics Harry Gensler Metaphysics Second Edition Michael J.Loux Philosophy of Art Noël Carroll Philosophy of Language William G.Lycan Philosophy of Mind John Heil Philosophy of Religion Keith E.Yandell Philosophy of Science Alex Rosenberg Social and Political Philosophy John Christman Classical Philosophy A contemporary introduction Christopher Shields LONDON AND NEW YORK First published 2003 by Routledge 11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001 Routledge is an imprint of the Toylor & Francis Group This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2005. “To purchase your own copy of this or any Taylor & Francis or Routledge's collection of thousands of e-Books please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.” © 2003 Christopher Shields All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Shields, Christopher John. Classical Philosophy: a contemporary introduction/ Christopher Shields. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. I. Philosophy, Ancient. I.Title. B171.S52 2003 180–dc2l 2002037170 ISBN 0-203-46814-7 Master e-book ISBN ISBN 0-203-77638-0 Adobe e-Reader Format ISBN 0-415-23397-6 (hbk) ISBN 0-415-23398-4 (pbk) Dedicated with gratitude to Fred D.Miller, Jr Contents Preface x Acknowledgements xiii 1 Philosophy before Socrates 1 2 Socrates 29 3 Plato 53 4 Aristotle 98 Suggestions for further reading 136 Index 143 Preface Philosophy began in the West in a specific time and place: in Greece, along the coast of Asia Minor, during the late sixth century BC. Though advancing with only small steps forward at first, philosophy flowered quickly, in some ways astonishingly quickly, during and after the life of Socrates (469–399 BC). Somehow this one man seems almost single- handedly to have transformed a loosely knit set of far-reaching questions about the character and direction of human existence into a discipline with its own distinctive aims and methods. Now, philosophy does not own the questions it pursues; it is, on the contrary, easy to find the great tragedians and epoch poets of Greece assaying many of the subjects pursued by philosophers. Still, it seems that Socrates in a single-minded and determined sort of way introduced a distinctively philosophical approach, an analytical approach, to questions of concern to every reflective person—questions about the nature of human happiness, about the best form of life attainable by human beings, about the relationship between virtue and self-interest, and about the ultimate value of human life. In adopting an analytical approach to these matters, Socrates almost invariably approached them by posing disarmingly simple questions about the natures of virtue or of happiness, of self- interest, or of the human good. We all, we think, know what happiness is; it is, after all, what we all seek. Then someone like Socrates asks: What is happiness? Unwilling to accept facile responses, Socrates then demands unassailable answers, a sort whose production requires both searing self-reflection and careful critical acumen. As any student of Socrates quickly learns, it turns out that those who regard the answer to this sort of question as simple or straightforward will have trouble defending themselves when subjected to sustained scrutiny. To this extent, anyone wishing to reflect upon the best sort of life available to human beings will benefit from an encounter with Socrates or someone schooled by him. Scope and aims This book aims to provide an encounter of this sort. It is not intended as a substitute for reading the works of the philosophers it discusses. To be sure, there is no substitute for reading the writings of the classical philosophers; so, it is hoped only that this work will help illuminate some of their enduring contributions by bringing them into clear focus for a contemporary audience. It nowhere assumes that the philosophical contributions made by thinkers of this period have been superannuated or discredited by developments in the discipline’s subsequent history. Nor does it strive to repackage the philosophical positions of its authors in modern garb so as to make them palatable to a contemporary sentiment. Instead, it tries to present seminal developments in the thought of the period in a sympathetic though non-slavish way, in terms accessible to someone with little or no formal training in philosophy. Moreover, it proceeds upon the conviction that what is philosophically defensible in the views of the authors it treats should be stated and defended as such; by the same token, it does its subjects the service of criticizing their theories where they have been shown false or have been inadequately defended. Throughout, the goal is, simply, to understand and assess their views as live philosophical points of view, rather than as exhibits in a museum of intellectual history. This book’s subjects include not only Socrates, though he is certainly a pivotal figure in the story it tells: it begins before Socrates with the earliest philosophers, the natural philosophers, called the Presocratics by scholars, a term which itself already reflects a judgment about the towering importance of Socrates in the development of classical philosophy. It also considers the contributions and challenges set by a loose collection of intellectuals and teachers, the Sophists, whose views were of great concern to Socrates, and especially to his immediate successor, Plato (429–347 BC). Plato receives extended treatment, because he is the first philosopher in the West to develop systematic positive theses regarding some central topics in the sub-disciplines of philosophy which came to be known as metaphysics and epistemology. His student and fellow researcher, Aristotle (384–322 BC), receives similar treatment. After studying some twenty years with Plato, Aristotle emerged, like Plato, as a towering figure