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Books > Philosophy > Western philosophy > Ancient Western philosophy to c 500 > General
This book examines what we can reliably know about Plato and the
historical Socrates. It shows how pervasively the sources of
information were biased by Pythagoreanism, Platonism, and
Neoplatonism. It gives a source-critical account of how the climate
of opinion in fourth-century Athens was captured by the
Pythagoreans and how Speusippos's Academy also came to be
pythagorized--adding definitional idealism to Pythagorean number
idealism, and elevating Plato to a divine level that makes him into
a coequal of Pythagoras, thus capturing Plato for Pythagoreanism.
By showing how Plato's dialogues were dedramatized, dedialogized,
and read or understood as if they were works expounding
pythagorizing doctrine, Tejera has created a provocative
reappraisal for scholars of ancient Greek philosophy.
This book meets the need to revise the standard interpretations of
an apparently aporetic dialogue, full of eloquent silences and
tricky suggestions, as it explores, among many other topics, the
dramatis personae, including Plato's self-references behind the
scene and the role of Socrates on stage, the question of method and
refutation and the way dialectics plays a part in the dialogue.
More especifically, it contains a set of papers devoted to
perception and Plato's criticism of Heraclitus and Protagoras. A
section deals with the problem of the relation between knowledge
and thinking, including the the aviary model and the possibility of
error. It also emphasizes some positive contributions to the
classical Platonic doctrines and his philosophy of education. The
reception of the dialogue in antiquity and the medieval age closes
the analysis. Representing different hermeneutical traditions,
prestigious scholars engage with these issues in divergent ways, as
they shed new light on a complex controversial work.
This collection deals with utopias in the Greek and Roman worlds.
Plato is the first and foremost name that comes to mind and,
accordingly, 3 chapters (J. Annas; D. El Murr; A. Hazistavrou) are
devoted to his various approaches to utopia in the Republic,
Timaeus and Laws. But this volume's central vocation and
originality comes from our taking on that theme in many other
philosophical authors and literary genres. The philosophers include
Aristotle (Ch. Horn) but also Cynics (S. Husson), Stoics (G.
Reydams-Schils) and Cicero (S. McConnell). Other literary genres
include comedic works from Aristophanes up to Lucian (G. Sissa; S.
Kidd; N.I. Kuin) and history from Herodotus up to Diodorus Siculus
(T. Lockwood; C. Atack; I. Sulimani). A last comparative chapter is
devoted to utopias in Ancient China (D. Engels).
The Chinese Tao and the Western Trinity have a fundamental unity of
theme: the unity of opposites. Both are connected with problems as
broad and diverse as how to describe the entire universe, how a
system can talk about itself, the relationship between symbols and
realities, and the nature of signs and sacraments.
Die Bibliotheca Teubneriana, established in 1849, has evolved into
the world's most venerable and extensive series of editions of
Greek and Latin literature, ranging from classical to Neo-Latin
texts. Some 4-5 new editions are published every year. A team of
renowned scholars in the field of Classical Philology acts as
advisory board: Gian Biagio Conte (Scuola Normale Superiore di
Pisa) James Diggle (University of Cambridge) Donald J. Mastronarde
(University of California, Berkeley) Franco Montanari (Universita
di Genova) Heinz-Gunther Nesselrath (Georg-August-Universitat
Goettingen) Dirk Obbink (University of Oxford) Oliver Primavesi
(Ludwig-Maximilians Universitat Munchen) Michael D. Reeve
(University of Cambridge) Richard J. Tarrant (Harvard University)
Formerly out-of-print editions are offered as print-on-demand
reprints. Furthermore, all new books in the Bibliotheca Teubneriana
series are published as eBooks. The older volumes of the series are
being successively digitized and made available as eBooks. If you
are interested in ordering an out-of-print edition, which hasn't
been yet made available as print-on-demand reprint, please contact
us: [email protected] All editions of Latin texts
published in the Bibliotheca Teubneriana are collected in the
online database BTL Online.
Early Skepticism and its founder, Pyrrho of Elis, were introduced
to the world in the third century BCE by the poet and philosopher
Timon of Phlius. This is the first book-length study in English of
the fragments of Timon's works. Of his more than 100 titles, four
fragments remain of a catalogue elegy, the Indalmoi, and 133 verses
of the Silloi, a hexameter parody in three books in which Timon
ridicules philosophers of all periods whom he observes on a trip to
Hades. Dee L. Clayman reconstructs the books of the Silloi starting
from an outline in Diogenes Laertius and the book numbers assigned
to a few fragments by their sources. This has not been attempted
since Wachsmuth's edition of 1885, and carries his approach further
by careful observation of syntactic and contextual clues in the
text. Using the Greek text of Lloyd-Jones and Parsons of 1983, all
of the extant fragments are translated into English and discussed
as literature, rather than as source material for the history of
philosophy. Separate chapters demonstrate that the principle
Hellenistic poets, Callimachus, Theocritus and Apollonius of
Rhodes, were aware of Timon's work specifically, and of Skepticism
generally. The book concludes with a definition of "Skeptical
aesthetics" that places many of the characteristic features of
Hellenistic literature in a skeptical milieu.
This book is a study both of anachronism in antiquity and of
anachronism as a vehicle for understanding antiquity. It explores
the post-classical origins and changing meanings of the term
'anachronism' as well as the presence of anachronism in all its
forms in classical literature, criticism and material objects.
Contrary to the position taken by many modern philosophers of
history, this book argues that classical antiquity had a rich and
varied understanding of historical difference, which is reflected
in sophisticated notions of anachronism. This central hypothesis is
tested by an examination of attitudes to temporal errors in ancient
literary texts and chronological writings and by analysing notions
of anachronistic survival and multitemporality. Rather than seeing
a sense of anachronism as something that separates modernity from
antiquity, the book suggests that in both ancient writings and
their modern receptions chronological rupture can be used as a way
of creating a dialogue between past and present. With a selection
of case-studies and theoretical discussions presented in a manner
suitable for scholars and students both of classical antiquity and
of modern history, anthropology, and visual culture, the book's
ambition is to offer a new conceptual map of antiquity through the
notion of anachronism.
In Ancient Philosophy (2012), Christopher Shields expanded on the
coverage of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle in his earlier book,
Classical Philosophy (2003), to include the philosophy of the
Hellenistic era. In this new edition (2023), Shields reaches even
further to include material on Neoplatonism and on Augustine and
Proclus, capturing-from Thales of Miletus to the end of the sixth
century CE-all of what might be called ancient philosophy. It
traces the important connections between the periods and
individuals of more than 1,200 years of philosophy's history
without losing sight of the novelties and dynamics unique to each.
The coverage of the Presocratics, Sophists, Plato, and Stoicism has
also been expanded so as to highlight Plato's responses to the
Sophistic movement in the development of his Theory of Forms. And,
finally, a valuable companion volume, with Shields's focused
translations of the important sources referred to in Ancient
Philosophy, Second Edition, will soon be published, obviating the
need for a massive anthology of discordant voices. Ancient
Philosophy, Second Edition, retains its helpful structure: each
philosophical position receives: (1) a brief introduction, (2) a
sympathetic review of its principal motivations and primary
supporting arguments, and (3) a short assessment, inviting readers
to evaluate its plausibility. The result is a book that brings the
ancient arguments to life, making the introduction truly
contemporary. It continues to serve as both a first stop and a
well-visited resource for any student of the subject. Key updates
in the second edition Extends the range of coverage well into the
sixth century CE by offering a new chapter on Neoplatonism and
early Christian philosophy, featuring discussions of Proclus and
Augustine. Explains the conflicts between Plato and the Sophists by
highlighting their approaches to rhetoric as an instrument of
persuasion, offering a helpful explanation of two senses of
argument. Includes new coverage of Plato's argument from the
Simplicity of the Soul, Argument from Affinity, and Argument
against Rhetoric. Includes coverage of Aristotle's political
naturalism . May be used with a soon-to-be-published companion
volume of primary source material, all of it translated by
Christopher Shields specifically for the reader of this Second
Edition.
This book reconstructs the theory of signification implicit in
Aristotle's De Interpretatione and its psychological background in
his writing De Anima, a project often envisioned by scholars but
never systematically undertaken. I begin by explaining what sort of
phonetic material, according to Aristotle, can be a significans and
a phone. To that end, I provide a physiological account of which
animal sounds count as phone, as well as a psychological evaluation
of the cognitive content of the phonai under consideration in De
Interpretatione: names, verbs, and assertive sentences. I then turn
to noemata, which, for Aristotle, are the psychological reference
and significata of names, verbs and assertive sentences. I explain
what, for Aristotle, are the logical properties a significatum must
have in order to be signified by the phonetic material of a name,
verb or assertive sentence, and why noemata can fulfil those
logical conditions. Finally, I elucidate the
significans-significatum relation without making use of the modern
semantic triangle. This approach is consonant with Aristotle's
methodology and breaks new ground by exploring the connection
between the linguistic and psychological aspects of Aristotle's
theory of signification.
How were non-human animals treated in the Classical world, and how
did ancient authors record their responses to animals in Greek and
Roman life? The civilisations of Greece and Rome left detailed
records of their experience and opinions of animals: in these
societies, which practised mass sacrifice and large-scale public
animal hunts, as well as being economically reliant on animal power
and products, how were animals actually treated and how was it
acceptable to treat them?
This sourcebook presents specially-prepared translations from Greek
and Latin texts across several genres which give a wide-reaching
sense of the place of the non-human animal in the moral register of
Classical Greece and Rome. From theories of the origins of animal
life and vegetarianism, literary uses of animal imagery and its
role in formulating cultural identity, to vivid descriptions of
vivisection, force-feeding, intensive farming, agricultural and
military exploitation, and detailed accounts of animal-hunting and
the trade in exotic animal products: the battleground of the modern
animal rights debate is here given its historical foundation in a
selection of nearly 200 passages of Classical authors from Homer to
Porphyry.
This comprehensive reference guide includes over 140 entries on
every aspect of Plato's thought. Plato, mathematician, philosopher
and founder of the Academy in Athens, is, together with his
teacher, Socrates, and his student, Aristotle, universally
considered to have laid the foundations of western philosophy. His
philosophical dialogues remain among the most widely read and
influential of all philosophical texts and his enduring influence
on virtually every area of philosophical enterprise cannot be
disputed. This comprehensive and accessible guide to Plato's life
and times includes more than 140 entries, written by a team of
leading experts in the field of ancient philosophy, covering every
aspect of Plato's thought. The Companion presents details of
Plato's life, historical, philosophical and literary context,
synopses of all the dialogues attributed to Plato, a comprehensive
overview of the various features, themes and topics apparent in the
dialogues, and a thorough account of his enduring influence and the
various interpretative approaches applied to his thought throughout
the history of philosophy. This is an essential reference tool for
anyone working in the field of ancient philosophy. "The Continuum
Companions" series is a major series of single volume companions to
key research fields in the humanities aimed at postgraduate
students, scholars and libraries. Each companion offers a
comprehensive reference resource giving an overview of key topics,
research areas, new directions and a manageable guide to beginning
or developing research in the field. A distinctive feature of the
series is that each companion provides practical guidance on
advanced study and research in the field, including research
methods and subject-specific resources.
The volume collects the most important papers Pierluigi Donini
wrote in the last three decades with the aim of promoting a better
assessment of post-hellenistic philosophy. The philosophical
relevance of post-hellenistic philosophy is now widely (though not
yet universally) recognized. Yet much remains to be done. The
common practice of focusing each single school in itself detracts
from a balanced assessment of the strategies exploited by many
philosophers of the period. On the assumption that debates among
schools play a major role in the philosophy of the commentators,
Donini concentrates on the interaction between leading
Aristotelians and Platonists and demonstrates that the developments
of both systems of thought were heavily influenced by a continuous
confrontation between the two schools. And whereas in cases such as
Alcinous and Aspasius this is basically uncontroversial, for other
authors such us Alexander, Antiochus and Plutarch the pioneering
work of Donini paves the way for a better understanding of their
doctrines and definitely confirms the intellectual importance of
the first imperial age, when the foundations were laid of versions
of both Aristotelianism and Platonism which were bound to influence
the whole history of European thought, from Late Antiquity onwards.
This book articulates the theoretical outlines of a feminism
developed from Aristotle's metaphysics, making a new contribution
to feminist theory. Readers will discover why Aristotle was not a
feminist and how he might have become one, through an investigation
of Aristotle and Aristotelian tradition. The author shows how
Aristotle's metaphysics can be used to articulate a particularly
subtle and theoretically powerful understanding of gender that may
offer a highly useful tool for distinctively feminist arguments.
This work builds on Martha Nussbaum's 'capabilities approach' in a
more explicitly and thoroughly hylomorphist way. The author shows
how Aristotle's hylomorphic model, developed to run between the
extremes of Platonic dualism and Democritean atomism, can similarly
be used today to articulate a view of gender that takes bodily
differences seriously without reducing gender to biological
determinations. Although written for theorists, this scholarly yet
accessible book can be used to address more practical issues and
the final chapter explores women in universities as one example.
This book will appeal to both feminists with limited familiarity
with Aristotle's philosophy, and scholars of Aristotle with limited
familiarity with feminism.
In the first part about the specific Stoic doctrine on moral
progress (prokop) attention is first given to the subtle view
developed by the early Stoics, who categorically denied the
existence of any mean between vice and virtue, and yet succeeded in
giving moral progress a logical and meaningful place within their
ethical thinking. Subsequently, the position of later Stoics
(Panaetius, Hecato, Posidonius, Seneca, Musonius Rufus, Epictetus
and Marcus Aurelius) is examined. Most of them appear to adopt a
basically 'orthodox' view, although each one of them lays his own
accents and deals with Chrysippus' tenets from his own personal
perspective. Occasionally, the 'heterodox' position of Aristo of
Chios proves to have remained influential too. The second part of
the study deals with the polemical reception of the Stoic doctrine
of moral progress in (Middle-)Platonism. The first author who is
discussed is Philo of Alexandria. Philo deals with the Stoic
doctrine in a very ideosyncratical way. He never explicitly
attacked the Stoic view on moral progress, although it is clear
from various passages in his work that he favoured the
Platonic-Peripatetic position rather than the Stoic one. Next,
Plutarch's position is examined, through a detailed analysis of his
treatise 'De profectibus in virtute'. Finally, attention is given
to two school handbooks dating from the period of Middle-Platonism
(Alcinous and Apuleius). In both of them, the Stoic doctrine is
rejected without many arguments, which shows that a correct (and
anti-Stoic) conception of moral progress was regarded in Platonic
circles as a basic knowledge for beginning students.The whole
discussion is placed into a broaderphilosophical-historical
perspective by the introduction (on the philosophical tradition
before the Stoa) and the epilogue (about later discussions in
Neo-Platonism and early Christianity).
In Platonic Legacies John Sallis addresses certain archaic or
exorbitant moments in Platonism. His concern is to expose such
moments as those expressed in the Platonic phrase "beyond being"
and in the enigmatic word chora. Thus he ventures to renew
chorology and to bring it to bear, most directly, on Platonic
political discourse and Plotinian hyperontology. More broadly, he
shows what profound significance these most archaic moments of
Platonism, which remained largely unheeded in the history of
philosophy, have for contemporary discussions of spacings, of
utopian politics, of the nature of nature, and of the relation
between philosophy and tragedy. Thus addressing Platonism in its
bearing on contemporary philosophy, Platonic Legacies engages, in
turn, a series of philosophers ranging from Nietzsche, Heidegger,
and Arendt to certain contemporary American Continental
philosophers. These engagements focus on the way in which these
recent and contemporary philosophers take up the Platonic legacies
in their own thought and on the way in which the exposure of an
archaic Platonism can redirect or supplement what they have
accomplished.
How did writers understand the soul in late seventeenth-century
England? New discoveries in medicine and anatomy led Restoration
writers to question the substance of the soul and its motions in
literature written during the neo-Epicurean revival. Writers
throughout Stuart England found Lucretius both liberating and
disturbing and engaged Epicureanism in ways that cohered with their
own philosophy, beliefs, values, or perceptions of the soul.
Lucretian Thought in Late Stuart England considers depictions of
the soul in several representative literary texts from the period
that engage with Lucretius's Epicurean philosophy in De rerum
natura directly or through the writings of the most important
natural philosopher, anatomist, and prolific medical writer to
disseminate Epicurean atomism in Stuart England, Walter Charleton
(1619-1707). Laura Linker thoughtfully recasts the Restoration
literary imagination and offers close readings of the understudied
texts 'P. M. Gent' 's The Cimmerian Matron, To which is added; THE
MYSTERIES And MIRACLES OF LOVE (1668); George Etherege's The Man of
Mode (1676); and Lady Mary Chudleigh's Poems (1703).
This volume consists of fourteen essays in honor of Daniel Devereux
on the themes of love, friendship, and wisdom in Plato, Aristotle,
and the Epicureans. Philia (friendship) and eros (love) are topics
of major philosophical interest in ancient Greek philosophy. They
are also topics of growing interest and importance in contemporary
philosophy, much of which is inspired by ancient discussions.
Philosophy is itself, of course, a special sort of love, viz. the
love of wisdom. Loving in the right way is very closely connected
to doing philosophy, cultivating wisdom, and living well. The first
nine essays run the gamut of Plato's philosophical career. They
include discussions of the >Alcibiades<, >Euthydemus<,
>Gorgias<, >Phaedo<, >Phaedrus<, and
>Symposium<. The next four essays turn to Aristotle and
include treatments of the >Nicomachean Ethics< and
>Politics< as well as the lesser-known works
>Protrepticus< and >Magna Moralia<. The volume ends
with friendship in the Epicureans. As a whole, the volume brings
out the centrality of love and friendship for the conception of the
philosophical life held by the ancients. The book should appeal to
anyone interested in these works or in the topics of love,
friendship, or wisdom.
Consciousness: From Perception to Reflection in the History of
Philosophy shows that the concept of consciousness was explicated
relatively late in the tradition, but that its central features,
such as reflexivity, subjectivity and aboutness, attained avid
interest very early in philosophical debates. This book reveals how
these features have been related to other central topics, such as
selfhood, perception, attention and embodiment. At the same time,
the articles display that consciousness is not just an isolated
issue of philosophy of mind, but is bound to ontological,
epistemological and moral discussions. Integrating historical
inquiries into the systematic ones enables understanding the
complexity and richness of conscious phenomena.
This volume offers a new translation of Plutarch's three treatises
on animals-On the Cleverness of Animals, Whether Beasts Are
Rational, and On Eating Meat-accompanied by introductions and
explanatory commentaries. The accompanying commentaries are
designed not only to elucidate the meaning of the Greek text, but
to call attention to Plutarch's striking anticipations of arguments
central to current philosophical and ethological discourse in
defense of the position that non-human animals have intellectual
and emotional dimensions that make them worthy of inclusion in the
moral universe of human beings. Plutarch's Three Treatises on
Animals will be of interest to students of ancient philosophy and
natural science, and to all readers who wish to explore the history
of thought on human-non-human animal relations, in which the animal
treatises of Plutarch hold a pivotal position.
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