OUTLINES OE THE HISTORY OF 4reek philosophy BY Dr. EDWARD ZELLER TRANSLATED WITH THE AUTHOR'S SANCTION BY SARAH FRANCES ALLEYNE AND -ABBOTT tJNlVEBSITi t NEW YORK HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY 1S86 IN' MEMORIAM SARAH FRANCES ALLE7NE AUTHOR’S PREFACE. F or some years it has been my intention to respond to a request arising from various quarters, and add to my larger work on the Philosophy of the Greeks a short sketch of the same subject. But until the third edition of the History was brought to a conclusion I had not the leisure for the work. Sketches of thi3 kind will proceed on different lines according to the aim which is held in view. My object has been primarily to provide students with a help for academical lectures, which would facilitate preparation, and save the time wasted in writing down facts, without interfering with the lecturer’s work or imposing any fetters upon it. Hence I have made it my task to give my readers a pic­ ture of the contents of the philosophical systems, and the course of their historical development, which should contain all the essential traits— and also to put into their hands the more important literary references and sources. But as in the last points I have not gone beyond what is absolutely necessary, so in the historical account I have as a rule indicated the parts very briefly with which historical considerations of a general kind or special explanations and inquiries are connected, or in viii AUTHOR'S PREFACE. which, it seemed proper to supplement my earlier work. (An addition of the latter kind, in some detail, will be found in sections 3 and 4.) My outlines are intended in the first place for beginners, who as a rule form the majority of an audience. But these are rather confused than assisted if the historical material is given in too great abun­ dance, or they are overwhelmed with the titles of books of which they will only see a very small portion. Anyone who wishes to study the history of philosophy or any part of it more minutely, must not content himself with a compendium, but consult the sources and the more comprehensive works upon them. At the same time, I am well aware that manuals may very properly be constructed on a different plan from mine. A trustworthy bibliography, for instance, furnished with the necessary hints on the value and contents of the various works, or a chrestomathy on the plan of Preller, but more strict in selection, would be very valuable aids in instruction. Nor will it be against my intention if the present work finds readers beyond its immediate object. Nevertheless, it is my opinion that every scientific exposition must set out with an accurately defined aim. It is highly objectionable that an author should constantly strive after other ends than that which is the main purpose of his book. T h e A u t h o r . B e b l i n : September 27, 1883. TEANSLATOE’S PREFACE. Of the following pages, the first part, down to the words 4 practical life ’ on p. 90, is the work of the late Miss Alleyne, whose manuscripts were entrusted to me. For the remainder, and for the revision of the whole, I am responsible. Miss Alleyne began her series of translations of Zeller’s 4 History of Philosophy * with' the 4 Plato and the Older Academy,’ published in 1876 in conjunction with Prof. Goodwin, of University College, London. This was followed in 1881 by the two volumes o f 4 The Pre-Socratic Philosophy,’ and in 1883 by 4 The Eclec­ tics.’· It was also her intention, when the present work was ended, to translate the last volume of the 4 History.’ But in the prime of life, and in the full vigour of her powers, she died, after a month’s illness, August 16, 1884. The excellence of her work has received universal recognition. It was a labour of love. The theories of the Greek Philosophers, and their efforts to conceive the world in which they lived, had a deep interest for X TRANSLATORS PREFACE. her. An inward sympathy with them gave her an in­ sight into the meaning of speculations which by many are deemed idle vagaries. To her they were steps or stages in the progress of the human mind, not merely words or opinions. In the £ being ’ of Parmenides, in the 6 dry light ’ of Heracleitus, she perceived a begin­ ning or foreshadowing of modern thought. Plato was ‘ one of the books she would have taken with her to a desert island.’ She knew the value of accuracy, and was at great pains to secure it. She had also a keen sense of literary style, and would turn a sentence three or four times before she could be satisfied with it. Hence the excel­ lence of her work as a translator. But though her literary powers were of an uncommon order, to those who were personally acquainted with her they form only a small part of her claim to remembrance. For she united with rare intellectual gifts a truly noble and womanly character. She was one of those who live for others, themselves not caring to be known. There are many by whom her writings would not have been understood who cherish her memory as a great posses­ sion, and feel that they have lost a friend never to be replaced. E v e l y n A bbo tt. B a l l io l C o l l e g e , Ox f o r d ; November 10, 1885. CONTENTS. INTRODUCTION. A. METHODOLOGIC AND LITERARY. SECT. PAGE 1. The history of p h i l o s o p h y ................................................ 1 2. Greek philosophy.......................................................................5 3. Original sources. The history of philosophy among the ancients. ........................................................................... 7 4. Modern aids................................................................................14 B. HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. 5. Origin of Greek philosophy. Its supposed derivation from the E a s t ........................................................................... 18 6. Native sources of Greek p h ilo s o p h y ................................... 21 7. The development of Greek thought before the sixth cen­ tury b .c .........................................................................................................24 8. Character and development of Greek philosophy , . 28 FIRST PERIOD. THE PRE-SOCRATIC PHILOSOPHY. 9. Course of its d e v e lo p m e n t ................................................. 35 I. T h e T h r e e E a b l ie s t Sc h o o l s , A. THE ANCIENT IONIANS. 10. T h a le s...................................................................... 37 11. Anaximander . ..........................................................39 xii CONTENTS. RKCT. ΓΑΟΒ 12. Anaximenes................................................................................41 13. Later adherents of the ancient Ionian school. Diogenes . 43 B. THE PYTHAGOREANS. 14. Pythagoras and his s c h o o l .................................................45 15. The Pythagorean system: number and the elements of num ber.............................................................. 50 16. The Pythagorean p h y s i c s ..................................................... 52 17. Religious and ethical doctrines of the Pythagoreans . 55 18. Pythagoreanism in combination with other doctrines . 56 A C . THE ELEATICS. 19. Xenophanes ............................................ ........ 58 20. Parmenides................................................................................60 21. Zeno and M e liss u s .................................................................. 63 i IL The Physicists of the Fifth Century b.c. 22. Heracleitus................................................................................ 66 23. Empedocles . ..........................................................71 24. The atomistic s c h o o l .............................................................. 76 25. Anaxagoras " ..................................................... 83 III. T h e So p h is t s . 26. Origin and character of Sophisticism....................................88 27. Eminent Sophistical tea ch ers.................................................91 28. The Sophistical scepticism and Eristic . 9 2 29. The Sophistic ethics and r h e t o r i c ........................................95 SECOND PERIOD. SOCRATES, PLATO, ARISTOTLE. 30. Introduction ....................................................................... 99 I. S o c r a t e s . 31. Life and personality of S o c r a t e s ........................................101 32. The philosophy of Socrates. The sources, principle, method 103 33. The nature of the Socratic t e a c h i n g ...............................107 34. The death of Socrates..............................................................112 CONTENTS. xiii II. T h e Sm a l l e r So c r ^ t ic S c h o o l s . 6ECT. PAGE 35. The school of Socrates: Xenophon........................................113 36. The Megarean and the Elean-Eretrian schools . 114 37. The Cynic s c h o o l .................................................................. 117 38. The Cyrenaic school . ..................................................... 122 III. Plato and the Older Academy. 39. The life of P l a t o .................................................................. 126 40. Plato’s w r it in g s .......................................................................128 41. The character, method, and divisions of the Platonic sy stem .................................................................................... 134 42. The propeedeutic foundation of the Platonic philosophy . 136 43. Dialectic, or the doctrine of i d e a s ................................... 140 44. Plato’s