History of Antient Philosophy
History of Antient Philosophy
History of Antient Philosophy
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A.S. Bogomolov
History
of Ancient
losophy
Greece and Rome
Progrt'~" I )uhli"ht'r~
'\l (l~('u ....
CONTENTS
Publishers'
Note
. . .
. .
.
.
. . .
f. History of Philosophy: Its Subjeel.-Mat\er aDd ..et.....
2. Birth of Philosophy: Soc:i.1 OackgrouDd . .
3. Prephiloeophic Formsor Consciousness and Pbilal opbJ
34
34
38
52
8. ITALIAN PHILOSOPHY . . . . . . . .
Pythagoras and Pytba,oreaDs: Scieace. Religion. Pbik .,..ta,
Xenopbaoes of Colophon . . . . . ; .
The EI.atic School from Parmenides to Meli l1li
14
14
77
82
7
12
20
..
lOB
SOCRATIC SCHOOLS . . . .
12. Sophlst.lc Philosophy
t3. Socrates . . . .
. t4. Socntle Schools .
. . . . .. .
1111
115
I.
138
MJ
t47
IIr
Ilf S,'n~IIIH)~
,.,
It'
lI'ory "
I;'H
207
211
218
225
234
240
251
'.
251
259
260
266
272
Kno~'le~lgl'
13.
I~.
1:).
279
279
282
286
202
Principles and
Theory' o!'
:
8 0",. 0 h' 1 osophy (Physlt's) of StoiCism
,~ II' 1".\ leal Theory
9. Roman Stoicism
Chapter 3. SCEPT IC ISM
Chaplf'r
IH7
207
~: ~~;~r!f~~'lalld
P H ILOSOPHY
HI!I
1'12
172
171i
n.
--
"Aead(,tnic" Sel'ptiriS11l
. . .
4. DECLl!';E OF ANC I " .
. .
F
'
I
alfJnl~1U
291
295
305
305
313
319
319
Publishers' Nol('
This book is primarily inl"Jllhd f(Jr stud"llls (,f tIHIJlHII<lnilies, hUl will alsf, IH' ffJund h"!pful in sf'H-l'ducalioJl,
It consisls of threl' parts, (>31"":h <;er\."in~ tllf' ClJUHJI(Hl purpos!'
of providing a systematic pxposition of 3ncipnt philo-',oplll'rs'
teach i ngs.
Part I outlines the history of the early Wriod of (In,pk phi,
losophy. Parlll familiaris("s the reader with its classical pNi
od, Part III gives a brief survey of the Hellenic-Roruall phi
losophy.
The founders of Man:ism have repeatedly pointf'd out the
outstanding historical role of ancient culture in general and
ancient philosophy in particular. "The Grffks will for ever remain our teachers ..... "Recent philosophy ha.s only continued
lhe work begun by Heraclitus and Aristotle." z '\fan and Enge ls continually underlined the creatin originality or ancient
Greek philosophy which had been the first t.o risf' to thf' I{'V(>I
of the rational world outlook. The main fervour of ib materia list trend was invariably directed towards explaining nature
from nalu .'e itself, from the laws inherent in matter.
The histor ica l importance of Greek philosophy abo derives
from its un ique contribution to the development of dialectics.
T he fi['sl naive form of materialism was simultaneo.usly
a s ponta nC'ous dia lectical concept of the world.
The G.'eeks' own history of philosophical ideas illustrate:;
the profound revolutionary role of materialism. Thi:; hi:-;tory
which has provided das~ical examples of antagonism bE'tween
327
3.12
344
.,
materiaJi~Ill and id(',lli~m c\l'arly n ' Halt'ci thl' in('\' itabil ity of
thl' ~plil of all philo~tlphl'rs in " rll.\~S snci('ty jntn t wo hig
('aIllp~. Speaking of thl' agl' -.oi.d strnggil' bl'l~Vl'(' n th > two
philo~ophicallint's and undl'ritnlllg a class, partisan c h aracter
of Lht' ideologicaI1)atli('s in Grl't'k philosophy (.Rnin askl.'d:
"Could the slruggll' bl'twN'n materialism and idl'ali s m , til(>
struggle bl'tweell the telld('ncil's or lill(,s of Plato and D('m ocritus in philosophy." ha\'e b('com(' antiqu<lled during th e t wo
thousand years of the deVl'lopm('nt of philosophy ?,, 1
Greek philosophy is a grand monulIlent of human cultu re,
Its manifold forms, wrote Engels, "contain in embryo , in the
nascent
. state, almost ailialer moc\C's of ouliook on the world . ,,2
'1'11(' subjpct mallN of the history of philosophy is philoso phy in its histori('al dl'v('lopment. Ancient philosophy tra \'ers('d a long and diffi('ult path from "physics" or a doctrilH' of
natun' ill til(' :-;1H'eific :-;pnse of the word to a systl'm of thE'or(>lical ~(' i\' n{'l':-; induding'. along:-;ide physics. also logic and
l'lhi('s , Con('rt'l(' analysis shows that the structuft' of philosophical knowl('cigt' in individual systems turns out to bE'
t'V('n morp (ompll'x. \\'e shall therefore try to gin' a general
;111(1 ahstrcl(t d(' finilion of philosophy which would makC' tlH'
iill',\ of this seit-'1\et' Illore accurate and specific and lh('rphy
lu' lp sift til(' ma'tt'flal '"'To- bi'-i-\tildi(>d,
Philosophy a~ 1\ product of hi!'torical development iwlongs
to til(' spht'I"t' of human ('uitur(' and is cio:-;ply conne('tpd with
its dirfl'l'('nt fll'ltls, It is born of their int(>raetion and th('ir in
ll' 1'1wl ('olltra<iiclions and. in turn, ('xt'rts a reriprtlcal innu
<'.tICl' upon titPlIJ , By culturl' we mean the dynamic totality of
thl' l'('~ults of human activity aimed at mastt'I'ing till' world
and r('pr('sl'nlP(1 in dirfC'l'('llt forms, from uHlt(,J'ial production
to al'1. According to ll1alt"I'ialisl philosophy ancl this book i!'i
intl'nclNI to l'xpoll1ld th(' vil'wpoint of historical and dial('elical
ltIat('fiali~111
llwh'rial production is tile most importallt form
of human activity , whl'J'{'as all otill'l' tq.r.t.!~ _includi.. .g al'ti~tic,
LcJigiou!:Lllw l I.Ilt!.QllticaC are :2c.co.u.dur,Y a n~I .:"1I bonl i n li ii' -to it,
That dot'S !lot lllPi.H1, of ('OIlI'S(', that tlll'Y IHNPly -ren-ect 1lIall~S
mllt('ri1.ll, praetical activity. Arising froll1 praclict', tllt'y
til('lHs('lv('s \){'('()IIH' part and parn'l of ohjl'clin' l't'ality ,llld
mak{' a pow(,rful illlpact on atl aspects (If social tift' 1t'lltlinJ,{
to hampl'l' or sLil1ltllatt' its progr('ss and Ilw!'i IIH'rgil1g in
a singll' now of culluml dt'\'l'loPllll'llt.
Mar\ dislinJ,{lIislH'd IwtwN'n 1II<\tt'rial prarti<'ill (p1'lldll('
ti\'\') <ll1d prat'lit-al spil'itllal (<lftistie and rt'ligiulIs) appro
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and i t
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work of which human thinking appropI'iatl'd tht' ohj('clinworld and reproduced it as ""piritually l'Onrfl'le" in COIlCt'pt ,
in thought and in word,
Til(' difference betwC'(,1l llwort'tical and PI';u'ticl.l1 attitudc~
to thC' world ;s relative, It ari~e~ in till' pro('('::1~ of ~o('ial dl-'v('iopm('nl and i!'o C'liminated in thl-' saml-' procC'ss when philo~()
!)hy, onc(' contempiath'e, turn~ into an important spiritual tool
for transforming the world, "Th(' phiio!'ophcfs h3\'(, only interpreted the world in various Wi.lyS; th(' point is 10 change it, "
~tat(>d :\1arx in the ('Ie\'('nth the~is on f\'IH'rbach,2 Idriltified
traditionally with the theoretical contemplation of the world
and re~reselltin,g a world outlook, philo~()phy hus always been
pot~>nl!ally an .losJ,rmn(,llt for 111('_ practical transforlualion.m
socl('ty and man, This is only too natural in \'i('w of its intellectual, function- to e~pr('s~ man'!, und('rslanding of thp world,
of hiS own plac.(' III II and?f himst'lf. Claiming to sp('ak on beI~alf of h\lm~nl~Y, thC', phtlosopil('r in fact I'('pl'('senls hut thp
I uhlirI' of iH~ 11IIl(', IllS peopi('. hi~ class, Thp world outlook
1H',(>XpOyl\d~ Inrillde~ of n('ccssity not only cognitive b t, I
(
ax lologlcal '_ and th,e~efore iueologica I, a tti tud I' to rea Ij t IIi natl~~
f?rm 1of, ~o(,lal., ;Jo~ltlcai, ae~th('ti(' anti ethic sympathi('~ or an~' pat 1I( s. He a Ppl ov(>s or II Isa 1>1>1'0\'('s, j usti fll'S 01' d ('n
lut al\\'ay~ from lh(' position of r('"ISon tI
.
OUllcesTIl(> history of philosophy is Itot Ih; alH' rO~'(>t,lcal thought.
1
is a
I'
,<
. IJ WI.';( om nowcrs
cross
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I . tr('nds and schools
\nsophy does
vi('w it!:. SUb,-l 1 II
I'
outlook, plliallll'o'\
"
-I IIII'I'i('ll"
_ s, c.la W()r 11I, III quantit<lliv('
h'nlls
J"'.," '. I.al~ ~ natura I
IHtp, IllS too larg(' for thollghllo e!lCOI;I') ",\.1.11 If II If! not inftI ass It and at,count for
,
For litl'of"l>lif.tI tlllllklfl~ tlll~ ta~'(k prpsclllS It,Sf1f III 1111'
fnrm flf 0111' "fI]ri,,1 d]oil"' : 10 :-t.'rllgni"e till' lJIall s world 1I
1111' I'l'n"l'iiull of :-Olfll' obJI't;t ve eali y t'l.isliuj{
ulsirl,
,II11J iudl'!ll'udl'llt of mali 's millll, m to Idl'nt]fy il wilh .11H'
alrl"II!Y l'xi~lillg world of id .. a'~ "on"lrllrtl'e~ hy till'orl'tu'll
thillkiJlg i\sI'If, 1'111 il illlothpr way. f;'\'Ny tlllllk.'r fllld~ [,1111st'lf ('ollfI'OIlII'" wilh till' Kn'ut basiC ,/upslifln of pliiiO!WIJhy,
thaI of thl' r('Jalioll of t!tillkillg <lilt! Iwing, of thp prilllaey of
:,1(
1_
I, '1 .
n', I'fuk
f<:nJ.:l'I~,
ma\t('l' or spil'il.
.
Tlds qll(>.o.;tion whidl asslIllI('(J diffl"rf'llt forms and arqllJr{'d
('V('I' gl'('alt'l' sigllilil'um'p ill the history of philfhnphy hl'calll('
a wah'l'sh('(1 1H'lw('('n materialism and idl"ali.$m, "Thl' an~wl'rs
which lilt, phi1osophrr~ ga .... (' tf) thi .. question," wwll' ElIlt'I~,
"~plilth(,1ll into two gn'at camp~, Th(I"1' who <ts .. "rlt(~ Ihl.,Prlmacy of spirit to nalurt' .. _ compri!'l'd I~f' r:amp I,f Idf'ah .. lU.
The other~, who rpgar<ied Hature as primary, belong 10 Ihl'
various schooi!' of matt'rialism,'" It i!" only the materH1lt~t "11lution of tlJ(-' basic ql){'stioll of philo!'ophy that ae('nr.]s with
the lIatur{' of tlH'Ofetieal co~nition in whieh the ~uhj('('t opposes him~('lf to Ih(' wurld and r{'producf'!' il in a ~y~ll'lll of
concppt~ as indept'IHlpllt of hi!"> con..,;riou."n('!'." and of tilt'
proce~s of cognition.
.
_ ,
Yel th(' weak spot. the heel of Achtlle.... of ll~aterl~lt:'1ll had
always b('('n, till th(' p\'olution of it:<- highe:<-t dlalectll'al form,
the problem of thp origin of Ihl'orplical con~cloll ... np.~!, <llId, fM
that matt('I', ('onsciOIlS1H.'S!' in gl'nl'ral. Idealtsm h~!"> In fart dl:-'
cal'ded Ihi ... probl(,1ll as non-('xi..,;t('nt. From it;,; \"Ie\\"polllt. 11ll'
world of <'onc(>pls evolwd by the Illind is the only r('ol world
tl'eatl'd by Objl'cli\"p Spil'il (the Ah~olute, God, Cl'l',IIM, ('t(',)
prior to any physi('al ohjC'ct .. ,
,
'
"
, .~_
This apPl'ou('h 1'('latl''''; phihJ:'lop.llIt'ai nit'ails_ III II tlh n 11),: Ion
and acrOlllll~ for Ihpil' ('OIl\Jt\tHl t'!ll ... I ('Ill o'og lcal roob ilnd \"N_V
~illlih\l: social and idl'()iogic<ll functions,
,
, ..
Now, pnsilillg tilt' prilllilcy of Iho~lg.ht and i.\bsollll~ n,~!'oll,
rld
till' idl'ali ... t Ita ... to ilt'l'ollnl fM tht' origin of tht' lll<lt('rI,li
and e'plain why thl' rt'iI!'on cn'att'li nature,
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"r and It..... :' ratillnal than il:-;t,lf Tht' idl'a1i:-;t liN!' ha~ only Ullt'
way op('n to him -to tr;lIlsJlns~' tilt: prohll'lll onto tilt' plant' of
hUUlan n'\ations .lnd In plt'iHI ('n'aluJIl ;1:->;111 ae! of human .w li
,-it\' which. di\,orn'd (Will lht' 1I1liH'rsd chain of cau~al fplat
ion-:-;, starts with lho\l~hl and lpads to all actioll ,Hid it!'. rt':-;tdl.
TIll' t''':-;t'Il{'t' of irlt'alism is thus anthropomorphism, asniptioll
of human ('haracll'ristics til all IIHII ('xists.
The history of philosophy pivots nn thl' struggle hl'twP(,1l
matNialism and idralism which is wagl'd not only hel\\'(,(,II,
hut also within till' anl.lgonistic lfrnds. This uncompromising
Slfll'tJ.!:h,. 11I)\\"('\'('r, is a hi hl~' cfl'ali\'(' p.!].rss \y~ich con::;li
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~he~or;~j~ ~ ~li~II;~!~'I"I~~I~ L; I~,::; r:;. ~,:: rl ' ~S'~('t~ ~~: ~~s~:o~lh~It~l~!),~l,~
mt'nnosoc
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r ..
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'p.
s, IIs(or
'I,
mf'nt of so.-u':v
ommunal. J:!1a~"
0 phdoso
Illation rlf'\df)JI~ It!'l own world VH'W whi("h rtnf('t~_ ill till' flllal
an'1Iysis, tlw s{)('iill h('ing <Hid till' soriai l'Unsf"iIH]SIlt'SS fI( thl'
('po('h. Till' world vil'w of prilllitivl' ('Olllllllillill s(,df'l~' Wit'l
Illainly r('pn'sf'llll'fl hy mythology: phill)~ophy ('OIlIl'S into be
illg in ~la\l'-owlling ~(}d('ty,
Tht' llH'thodology of histori("o-philosophical rl'"l'ar('h taking accHunt of till' dt'HloplIlent of philosophy and intt'IIN'tU'
al ("lIltul'(' at largl' df'rivl's from a twofold rll'pl'lldt'rw(' of phi
losophy on so('il'ty. naml'1y, on the \e>H'1 of social df'HlopnH'nt
wl,lich ',nakPs phil,&~, <l("rordio2' to 1I~'el all t'.}(Jch ('Oil,
C('lvrtl ]11 lIH~lt , allrlOrl {h(' l~ve>1 of ll:o;; epo('.I';.Sl'_ '('011,
-sciou~'rH~ss,T.P. on its knowledgC;of til(' world ann orlts(If. This
twofold dC'lel'lnination of philosophy c(llis for a simllitan('o1JS
analysis of its socia l (class) and epislt'/llological roots,
The> methodology of th(> history of phi10~ophy has('d on ilia
IPfialist dial(>ctics rlemands that philosophy "IS til(' ultimate
('xprt'ssion of inle>lIe('tual culture> and its theorl'tical lIuc1(>u<;
~ho]lld bl' U'('a te>d , first. as a product of soci('ly's t'ntirl' cultural dl'velopm ent, second, as a unity of intNnal contradic'
tions (opposite views) which constitut(' th(' !lIutin for("(' of
its devl'lopment and, third. as a creatin process of qualil(lti
ve> change>s including negation. the negation of Iwgation, and
l)f{'ab in ('o ntinuity during transition from one syst(,1ll of
vi('ws to another, I n terms of methodology this <lpproilch c<llb,
rll'sl, for historicity . i.e, the innstigation of N("h philosophit'al ,
sys\.{,1lI in connection with the concretl' cond.ilions of its
('m('rg(>llcc _ a[)~(rexi~.!.!!cr.. as...a_.u.uique phenomt'non ci)j,~tITIi1- \ f
ill'g iit'ihe> sa m(' time a link in the gen('ral chaIn liTcallS(' P1rp("t
r('lations and, s('cond, for parlisanship which d(,IlHInds of
a historian of philoso phy to occuPY a de.tlf-CI!.!. social and
philosophical position in assessing C'Vl'ry pllC'1l0lllenOIl IInclt'r
illv('stigation in th(' light of struggl(' b('tW('('il mat('rialism and
i(l('ulism.
TIll' hi!';lol'Y of philosophy in An('ie>nl Ct('t'('(' and I\Olllt'
which is out.litH'd in this book ('OW l'S tIl{' pt'I'iod from the iall'
Pal't of t.he> st'venlh ('('nlmy B,C. till till' heginning (thl' lir,..;t
third) of the> si.'\th ('('ntllty A.D, Proc{'{'ding frolll till' histori
('al division of th(' sla\'(' formation which is Iht' sO('io-p('onorn
ic foundation of uncit'llt philo!"ophy Wt' distinguish Ihl'l'l' llIain
p('riods in ils dpwlopm{'nl: \,Hrly (~rt'l'" philo.sophy (Ihl'
se>\'enth-fifLh c('nturil'S B.C.), ria"si('al en'l'" Jlhilo . . nJlh~
(tht' fOllrth c(,!lllIry) and Crpco- Homan philosoph,. Th~"
path'rn sOllwwhat de>parls from the> g('IIt'rall~' ildopll'd ,'I,,"slll-
\1
".'1tU)l1 III
all;'
':It
b The Ilrst steps of philosophy in Anc icnt GrC'C(',c pose a num er OfTcor~piex scientific probl~ms controvcrsial till nowa d ays. heir compl " .
Pirsl, it a
"exl. ~ IS trac(>abl ~ to IhrC'c main reason~,
iosophy'<;~~~:~S ImposSl,blc to l'stabltsh lh(' ('x3cllime of phi ,
. though Its emcrgC'nce brought ahout a I'adiclli
--
12
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for socw pml III 1\
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of "la\I' 1m UIIi/.: sll('ll'l" .
i' r II'r !i aVI".
d('h.'rmlllm~ t
mastl'r relation \It'l'II\I'<I!t-,, through till' ,'1111['(' L (' n Sill'!!',
It'i rH'p
t,- all d ral
I" " h'lI till IIII' rt'!atwlIs 111'1\\1'1'11
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I" Ilrincillh' ,\11\' of th,'", \'.111 lost' liS I1l'f:-<oll;\lIl),
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ilnd turn into a sian' !\ 'th illJ.! ,':htu y. spt-atng lou .
lw can br tak{,l1 prisoner. !-!,O hallkrllpl ,md fwd IlIlIlsplf ill
bondage, filII ill po\'{'rty aud hel'llUlt' ,1\ d('h'll n'l~'ss, lh()tI~h
"frcl"', hired labourer who CIII1 Ill' t'ils dy (urnI'd Into 1\ slaw
by all\' influential member of liIe cOllllllunity. Eyen Ill(> immor
1;;1 gods ar!' not imlllll l\(' from -"ut'h l\ fall'. H('call , for instanc!', how NrptUlH' r('mindg Apollo of th(' tin1(' w he'll 011
Zeus's orders th('y both :::('fved the' Troyan king Laom edon:
S1!{llIfJ('ant \ .
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",n'
\r "II
I'ol/lira h'sf'll"s I" Ih" fal'l
III t III
Il' !If'\llIlh
PilI Iry ~.I
ttl" Bg ICU" Inti fomllllllll'
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"till tip 1111 II
11(' t 11"11 I 1J III in \Uil'a, 111)\\1'\' 1 it
"". ,0{ nll,idly .1,,"'rlOrot ug fly,.
II{ t l t Ie gro\\iul{ (,Hnc,'utrltioll
IIf lalld III I hI' haflfb "f till' Kf>Ulil p Ir;"loc:" H'y tlw "lIlIa
Irid~. 'I'lIl'ir lalld" w.'rf> (ultiv.lted by p(K)r shHrPfrupi',r".
",hWHO 1'1'111 I"'id"ully ,utllliJlltpd 10 th'c siXlh~ of Ih" n0l'
arid who IIlIlulllalk"lIy IlIrlH'd ifllu .. I:tvl''' if ""'Y falb'l! In
pay it TIL .. 11 .. 1111,, fir his falilily IIwIllber!'! 1'lIlIhl 111"(1 fall
illio hOlHlag!> IIr h., !'oold inli) !<Ia\.'ry if Itll'y faill,.1 III r",JaY
11 IOHn, BI'I", .. "II IIII' t'llpatrids Oft till' Oflf> bawl awl till' d"(If'IIfI
()tlll'r, filllkl.1 ~lIIa l l
('Ill sharpc'''0l'''''!,S iIllfl S!;I\'j>S, Oil
pt'aslInts (gf'IIIIIO .... S) i111.1 h"lIoic'ra1tsml'll (derlliurl{l's) who
Wl'n' gnHlllaJly If)siJl~ thl'ir ('IIIIIlN'liofl with land. " spt'f'ia l
plact' in sorif'ty was O(,(,lIpiNI by nf>w('()rJlprs or alil'ns (IlII"
leks) who WI'((' pl'rsolwlly frN', hut did not pnjoy any political
righls. Their propf'fty rights w('re cllrtailed tl}o: 1M install(,(',
Ihl'Y ('oilid 1l1'ittH'r haw' any land in Attica lor buy a bOIlSI' in
11111111111011 My"h'lII.
nw
Alhl'IIS,
luh"ur
In'"''''' ,III.,.
')'
.1
I
lat"r".in 1\IYriculturt'
wa" :-;11'11111~ ~rowllIl{.
construe t lon,
~
,..
.
F'r('(' ..... ('althy
Illl
longN
{Ilrn'd
to tilK!' part
III
prod
11(' t Ion
('iliz('n~
"
i.'
Ihl'
lI1ilill/I'III,'''''''' nOli'
'"
'('(I 1(1' "111/IIII I Oil till' OT/. ,'
I flll(.IHlI
"
.
1/, Io:rllllilf/r ~'rlllll'l,'cll!l' 1/1 iI.~ lirst 11 ./
I I! Ilrf' 1/11(/ .~(JCI I
hl/l/ll.
.
I ,~ Orlrl! form. till 111 1' 0/11 ".
,,'
'0
i~ nnly Ihil< ('''11111\(' ''' fu sinn (If <liITt'rl'u\ asp,,(',-, ,lIut l'nUlI'",wnl~ (If
1II\- lh,,11J~i('al (""n~I' i"n ~ III'~~ Ihnl ll('('''tlnt~ fur .h(' ''' -<"1111<'<1 ma~l(, .nn"" II\'('
n( \'''n''u ~ rill"ll "" prIlHIl;\-" ",,,n. " _~_ for tlw klhlll I'R,'{'I <If ~"nw tah.,,\~
I It
, Karl \llIn ,. 1 (" UI, ln hul /url /0 /llf ('n/I </I//' of P" /It i l'a/ f:('(JII""'Y' 1'- :! tli
:.!\
I~."i
tIro',
Iflirp.r ~
23
of liying process and its dlvltlt' IJI'llI el pl l'" tlH' ,\)('gllllHII J,{,
the end and the mi(hll{' of all that l'XlstS. Olll' Z{'us old y,
one Helios. 01\(' Dioni~II!'. Olll' god in {,n'l'ything. 1I0w should
we call each onE.' separately?" a~k~ 1111 ol'phle (OF, fl'. 23Bb ).
, / This is no
a simp le claim to .
the divin {'
~
name,
.
log.ij:al
,
prasenSll OUS
world
,consequently, on tTH'
between the believel'
and the object of his faith , absolutely alien to mythology.
Various orphic theogonies and cosmogonies are mainl y
traceable to i1(>siod, but also include other elements that
may have originated in the Middle East. Here is oll e of th e
variants of such a theocosmogony known from Athellago l'as:'
The beginning of the Whole was Water; from Wate r came
Mud .. and from both came a Serpent, Heracles or Time (accordmg to another version of the same theogony, Water and
E~rth prpduced a Serpent having the heads of a bull and a lion
With the r~ce of a god in between: it had wings and was called
Ageless Time or Unch.allging Heracles), This Heracl es produced a huge Egg, which, overfilled with the strength of the
one who produced it, split into two because of friction Its
~~p(~a~~~) bs~amf Ouranos (Heaven), and the lower part,
Heaven uniledl:~i~hla;:~~s~~~e pr~duced a god without body .
male Giants and Cyclopes U pro I uced. the female Fates and
deprived of power by hi~ c~i~~re~arong that ~e would be
shackled the males and flung tl
'. uranos, I.e. Heaven,
lem mto
Earth in anger produced the T't
I
Tartarus, whereat
A ..I
lans
slm] ar, though somewhat d'ff
'
c.osmogon ic picture is presented b I p~rent 111 details, theoheved.. to be Pythagoras's teache~ lerecy.des of Sy ros beLaertilis (1.119), a book su rvivin 'f According to Diogenes
began with these words: "Zas ~Z~~:l Phcl'ecY?es of Syros
a.lways, and Chlhonie; but Chlho nie ) ~nd Time existed
sl~ce Zas gives earth to her as a ift o~cqll1red ,~re name Ge,
thiS fragment is a play on words' gge n honour
(the end of
"
lean s earth g
, eras means
Fra ' .4f!Cill~ to tile Pre SOcratlC PllllosOl}her~ A
Ha r~.lanf~n tt~. I n I)II'[~, ,Frag iliff! If dtr I'orSOk"a/jk~(),r"~[('tKe tra ns[ation or t h ('
2
nl\'(' fSlly )rl' ~Q Carnl . ,
\,
~'
athl{>(l F
Ibid., pp. 13. 1".
.,
Inl l{l' .. assachusetts. HH8.
recmall .
P.3.
26
.'
tifie-th(' other. In conlra~t wilh
I 1
notions.
and
ass('rtions of natural
or water. or ('arlh or
tI~at man is a ir , or fire ,
as self-e~'i~('nt (Hipp. De nat
('\. ~ that does. not appear
I
In ('xplallllng an illness and pre~
). It ma In tains that
:~'cerary to proce('ci from th(' h\'~'ic~; ~~~ a trea tment it is
lIr('of man revealed
t Ie body s componen .'1- 100
and black) . TI
' mucus
and
b
II!' rt' I'lanc(' on practical
c
.,
11('
(White
XPNI('nce, observation
28
1 ),
nf'~ld('s
SY7
'"
means
that.
a word used
in everyday la nguage was pI ".e<
ff
t I . I
.
a
dI eren eXlea environment and a diff
..... . .
parted to it.. Viewed hil
.
er~nt meaning was Imin that a philosophi ~ o~oirICaIlY, thiS process consisted
of a conve ntional w~~~g e etc expl?red the possibilities
and used it by way of e~pre~ea Cd. all Its semant.ic richness
,
enmentlOg on the I
press different shades of philo
h'.
anguage, to exso~hy assimilated, transformeS~~n~al thougl~t.. Secoo.d, phil oI gave a dlrterend loterp relatlOn to the language of
myt 1 relig
d
to t h e very names of the gods We
Ion an fltes, even
names of the gods were conve~t d . shall later see how the
bois of element!"; and how the a~lallll~O allegories and sym YSIS of the semantics of
Diog-po(>:'. l...al'rliu s. op. cit.. \o!. I, p. 1:J.
ThiS tlll'PHI
Chapter 2
Ionic Philosophy
fl,
General
r.;HI1P
Ed, by Rirhilrd \k
1\.1'\)11.
H,\lUj,11ll 1I0\l:--',
,'j:)
damenlally different frolll till' myth~log i t'i~~ tlI odl' ~!f th~)tlgh
eings that came from Chaos dl(t !In! ('(I n :-;I~I of II nnd
I ,.'
.
'
b
II
naturally enough, did not " 1'(>50 \'l' ~ Inlo It U p Ol1 nllHpl(>tioli
of their eyrie, Gaia. Tartaro:-; and .... ro:-; , till' t! ('St'l'lIliants
Gaia and Uranus and other immorti.l!s eo uld 1I 0t ht' ('on('l'iv('d
as coming from , consisting of and rr:-;o lv ill g in to Chaos,
The v'ry understanding of gods by tlw r<lrlip:-;l pili
losoph'rs ~hows a radical d'parture from till' traditional
mythological views: till:" gods are regard r d in th (' u atHraii5tic
terms, associat'd with the physical world n nd are, in fact,
relegated to a secondary plan, MoreovPf , in co nt.rast to the
mythologist who speaks on behalf of the g od s a nd pretends
to divine wisdom and absolute t.rut.h, the philosoph er speaks
of the love of wisdom and qUPf't for knowledge , As dist.i nct.
from utilitarian knowledge aimed at achieving dir ec t r es u lts
such as human welfare or personal fame, philosoph y was
believed to spring from curiosity and represent di sinter ested
knowledge untarnished by any practical con sid erat io ns,
Illusory ,as it was, this view reflected the objec tiv e posit ion
of a thl,nke,r in a society where mental work h a d j ust
started Singling out as an independent kind of human ac ti vity
oppose,d to o~her forms, of socially use ful labour, H aving
come mto ,:~Isten~e,,,phllosophy began to develop its own
~ethods - dlalecttcs
as the art of dis pute and d e b ate
alme~ ,at establishing the truth , and " theory " (theoria)
~s dl5mterested contemplation of the truth Ie d
t
cont
I l'
I.r'"
._
a 109 0
ri' l' em,p: ~ve I ~ (bws thfj oretikos) whi ch purportedly
I~~~guis e a phllo~oph e r from ordinary peopl e ,
or
y'
p.
.",
(,r
p~l.losophy
AI;, rl'l~ar,Is pllik UIHlY phy ...is ,,3 ,he ,h~ect of ph,
IO!'iophu:al IIIVI'<I,ti~all/m WI! (:oll,"'lved HI lnt IIUIY&llInV
( I
o r two <q,prlJactll'~
hl' rlvcsligalion mtl Ih
.
tI
I'
.J
C cr '1
o r II lings
..
H'lf II lunate 8uhstanr p
lduCIII"
the
h
I
I I
''''
P IIO~(lp 1ler
~(J go )~on( t \Po hnulld~ (If obse vahte o~cts and the
Invd.fig~IIIOIi (If p~lCn.()merl3 ai!I"~:;sihle to ~(-,Il:es. The
first phtlosopht'rs
II I p 1a t IIrc
30,
l!liS
,
"\.
\
Ihe acti,-e crealin' forc e~, t hl' ('iUl :-lt' (l tlll'i l' l' IlI \' I'~ell('e
d dissoluti on . To thi~ CUlH' l' pt P latu ('oullt t'rpoSI'II
~I~(' concept of th t' primacy of :-;.o ul ( ih id . p. 8H2) - 1I t'11(,('.
it was Plato who cl early defllled til(' world outlook of thl'
early ph ilosophers as materi<lli~.tic and ra ll kl'd th plll with
the trend that considered mlll('r~lIl s U!>l'l t!HlC.C. mallCJ: jll ju'
the prinlS!rv cause of the worlJl~
'" The analysi s of tlH' an cient cOll ce pt o f " natlll'e " thus
brings us t~ the fundamental problem of ph ilosophy . The
direct res ult of its evolution was the e m e r ge nce of t wo
schools associated with the na mes of Democritll s and Pl a to
and representing, for the first time in the history o f phil osophy, materialism and ideali s m as su c h. As reg ards nasce nt
philosophy which was making but its fll'st s t e ps, w e ca n onl y
speak of tendencies which could be pred o m inantl y
materialist or idealist. With the " phys ic is ts" who regarded
" nature" as a living and self-developing whol e ge n e rati n g and
destroying its own component parts the materiali s t t enden cy
was undoubtedly prevalent.
5. The
~liIesian
School
,
f
a n a number of o'h
... er authors ,
Db
TIll' iill'<t that tllp PBrtll n'sls fin watf'r not<'d by Aristotle
as rliaradl'ristk of Thall''5 S vipw", i!' evidf'ntly tranabl('
to til(' Egyptiall mythology in whir'lI th(' Earth was likened
to a nat dish noating Oil watrr. whereas the Sun was
d'scril)('d as noating (H'f()~~ til{' sky in a boat. In all probabili,
ty, it was not only and not ~o much a myth a~ a common,
eve ryday notion of the Egyptiall~. It must have been abo
qu ite access ible to all ali('n ramiliari~ing himsE'if with th('
country's c ustoms, particularly if that alien came from
s uch a seafaring ppople a~ the Ionian~. At this point,
however, another problem arises. As we saw, Aristotle ascribes
to a ll "ph ysiologers" the idea that all things and. consequl'nt- );,
ly . a ll e lement.s (elemental forces) came from one primary 1s ubs ta nce. Are w(> to infer from this that Tha les derived air,
fi re a nd earth' fr om water? Aristotle does not assert that Thales
h e ld t hi s particular vie w, but in later doxographer Hippolyt us we find: "He [Thales l said that water is the beginning , <
an d t he end of everything, as through thickening and evapor atio n it makes up and maintains everything with rt'sulta n t vacill a t io n of earth. vortices and movement of luminar ies, so that everything is carried along and nows in accord ance w ith the nature of the ultimate substance of all things"
(DD, 5551.
(D iog. L. I, 24)
a motive force, since he s~id that the maglll.'l has iI sou l in "I
.
"I
I
becau~{' it moves t IH" Iron .
On the other hand. none otlwr than Aristotlp wri tl's
"Certain thinkers say that soul is intNlll ingIl'd in th;'
whole universe, and it is perhaps for that reason that Thal l'S
came to the opinion. that all things arl.' full of gods,":.!
Hence, the world appeared to Thal('s as animated
full of We. It was typical hyloloism (hyLe-maUer, zoe - li fl')
rooted in mythology. In Thal~s, however , it acquired a new
meaning, essentially different from mythological. Nature as
a single and living whole possesses, according to Thales a n
inner principle' of motion, a "motive element" which' he
denoted by the habitual terms "soul" and "gods." Thi s
COIl.ccpt. represented. a step towards naturalistic panth eism
wh~ch dissolves od In nature and makes him but a I' in cipl e
o Its spontaneous motIOn.
, Thales's teachi~g viewed as a w.hol e clearly I'. eveals
t\\O sources, two dlffe~ent trends merging in a s ingl e wodd
outlook-I.nyth and sCience. Their synthesis, i. e. the radical
re~tru~turlng of mythological stories on the bas is of initial
sCl~nlific ~nowledg~ an? rational thinking produced the fir st
philosophical doctrme In the history or ancient phil osoph y
The next step on this path .was made by Thales's followers:
(2) Anax.tmander. Anaxlmander (c. 610 -546 Be ) tl
son o~. Praxlades of Miletus, was a pupil, a rollo~e~ 'an~e
~ccor ,mg to. some ~vidence, a relative of Thales . H e Wl'ot~
~: ':~~:ha ~~sllosoPhlcal treatise!Jn Nature ?ne of the excerpts
stus. The a~~~~en~o:~ t~ us I,n the re~ldlti?n of T~l eophra
Simplicius in lar
naXiman d er s views given by
OK A'9 a 'd B 1) ge part from Theophrastus (Phys. 24 13
,
n
runsasfollo '''A
.
'
,
arche and elemen't of existin ws:
~axllnander named the
the first to introduce this na~~hflllg\ the boundless', being
it is n~ither water nor any othel'~[ \~ arche. lie says that
but a different substance which is b un dt so-called elements,
ess, from which th ere
d
come into being all the h
TI '
eavens an the
Id
.
~I/lgs perish into those things out r ;:or s Within them ,
bemg, as is due; for they make just 0 w Ich they have th eir
for their injustice according to trecom~ense to one anoth er
he puts it in somewhat poetical te:l~l or~l~ance of time -so
he obs{'fved how the four elements cSha t IS ~Iear that when
nge tnto each other,
2
doxog ra phers.
(2) The clause "th ings perish into those thmgs out of
which they h ave t~eir bein~. as is. due" ~s u.ndou~tedly
authentic, represe ntlll g Anaxlmander s genuille Idea. If not
his wording, Theophrastus, ratin g Anaximander among the
moni sts would h ave written "that thing" instead of "those
things" (ex h6n ". eis taylC!). The .7ubSeq.uen~, explanation
showS th at the plural I'del's to the opposites.
(3) Anaximander's reference to "the boundless" is
interesting in that to apeiron can ~e u.nd:rstood b?th. as
ind efinite in a qualitative sense and as IIlfi n lte III a .quantltatlve
sense. We have confli cti ng ev id e nce regardlfig Tha les.
Thus in one of the extracts Simplicius says that Thales
considered hi s primary substa nce, water. as ~nite (peperasmeno n ) whereas in another fragment he Wl'ltes that those
who mad e on e element the primary substance regarded
I To apeiroll i!i a !illh~llIl1li\'i"l'd llt.'ulN adjectivt.'. il.s anlollym~ tll'di~~
r . I'd (I('fillile flllilc) Rud /0 peras (hIlHI, ('nd. bOt n.
peperasmenon {1111 "
pO~~'1 A ... we "ee. lilt.' word i" poly"cmllnlic alltl
edge, fu l filment ant1 e\'('[llllIr ' . :
'
- .-th e refore ,'ery diffu'ull 10 Ir{lll"lal('.
w t
qualltaLlvelv IndefinIte and quantitatIvely inflllite. The emergence of things from it is their qualitative determination
and ljllantitativ(' limitation.
(4). Till' "boundless" is somet.imes identified wit.h my ~
thologa'sl Chaos. Such an understanding however does
t. )1
consor.t with Anaximan~er's recognitiol; of th e' tempo~~1
()r~erlllles~ o.f both genesIs and destruction, this orderliness
bl'lIlg ('!'s{'ntlally necessary.
'
_. At'cording ~o another opinion , Anaximander's " boun dle "
I". ~o,"ndl('s~ In ~cneral, resulting from the abstraction s~f
~'d~ythlllg that IS coneri'll:'. lIowever, Ari s totle specially
In H'at~d ~I~a.t It was not so. ~'he notion of the limitless
mfllllt~ as such..was characteristic of the Pythagorean s and
ato, \\her(,8s
- ~ . the physicists ,... all 0 r II1e m a Iways
~t'gar< I lh (' 1IIImite as an at.lribut t
b>'
.
';1
(';
..
.,
"
io\
Anaximander's picture f
presented as follows Th 0 the ?,orld can roughly be
like the drum of a ~olul~n e~~i~ IS cylindrical in shape
br~adth, It hangs freel in th I a depth three times its
to Its equal distance f y
e centre of the world"
'
'h
rom every thin " (A I
oWin g
.... ether the earth evolved from ,gl b 1), It is not clear
,
Ie oundl
, TIII~ ob~cure phra~{' ha ... {'\'ok
ess or existed
r~nl!'lUR' rr()rn III 'th 1 ' t ('d mu c h ('OutfOY{'r~ II '
l't"Jllf'nts hpton
0 oglca . (thl' "hrJlI stirf''' con.'li~L~ i/II Il'mt('qrr et<llions
'1"111 rJn,' a Ilotl~'r) R't to d{'t n lit; d e, tll'.~ <I n d d i~lri bu I{'II a 1I1():: e~('~oac h me n t of
in
IlI;.L
ur
5)
~ion
-==
'r'
good I'j~rJ[1
)
"n,d flHl~idt'rcd
tillugs.
It is 1I0t to bl' \\lIudf'rl'd that Antlxiltll'IH'S pquated air
we breathe with lift, It~1'1f SIlH'I' III~ gl'lI"ral naive matl'rialistic ronreptioll of lh(' IIlli\'(>r~E' was root!'rI in the
an.cie.nt myth()~ogici\1 i,Il'a of breath '!'Iour i\!'I a specific
prtnclple of lIVing and thinking hodi!'s. 'A~ Oil .. so u!." h(>
says, "b(,lng air, h{)ld~ liS logt'tlH'r, so do brt'ath and air
sur round t~e whol(' llnivt'r~I''' (DK I :{ B 2). Anaximen('s
cI~arly de~lv(,s the "sou l" from "a ir " regarding it, together
"':'Ith,~naxlmander, Anax~go .. as and Archelaus, as being 'air
lik e. 1\10I'eOVel', on the eVIdence of St. Augusline AnaxiDlenes
co n te n~ ed that t~lC gods too had th(>ir origin from air (A 10).
A~co~dlllg. to Cicero and AiitiuR who e,:idently expreRsed
thi S Id ea III a mor(' ad(>quate form, Anaximenes held that
the air is god and that divine force~ are present in elements or in bodies. The lalter statement attested to by
Aetius seems to suggest that the Milesian thinker formula ted t h e central id~a nf panthrism --tht' idE'ntily of god with
nature or, in that particular cusC' with nair
which
IS the nature 01 air that exisb. tto~e~rr- another or "his
statem ents, vouched for by Cicero, namely. that gods and
d iv in e things came from air, warrants a more cautiolls appraisal of A naximenes's \'i('ws, Evid('lltly. he showed but a tendency towa rd s the pantheistic idcntification of god with being
and app li ed the descriptive attribute "divine" to air.
like Anaximander to thl' boundless, mer(>ly by way of qualify ing the primary substance as immortal and indestructiblf'.
Anaxim('nes 's cosmology was relatively simple and in
som e ways even primitiv(' as compa["('(i with Anaximander's
broad v is ion of the univ('lse marked hy great power of reasonin g and bold imagination, Con:;idering th(' eart.h to b('
n at, Anaximelles held that it is riding upon the air like th('
sun, the moon and the planets. As distinct from th(' immovahle
earth, heavenly bodiC's al'e actuatrd by the co::;mir wind,
whereas th e stars are attaclwd to a crystalline h(,8\'enly
d o me which turns around th(' (,Mth. Thr ~un's and moon's
eclipses, as well as the moo n 's pha~es wrre accountt,d for
by the fact that till' h('annly bodi('!'1 turn to til(' ('(trth al
ternately with their light and dark ~id('s. I:o~lowing Thales,
he believed th(' heavenly bodiC'!'i to have orlglllat('d from th(,
('arth. Some of them carne frolll ('\"aporating moistufl' which
i
as m a n)'
inherent in this substance: "S uch a c!i r.t ributi on would not
have been possible without lnt('lIi ge nc(', ( name ly) that all
things should have their measlln': winter and summer and
nig:hl and day and rains . and winds and per iods of fin e
wcnlhrr; other things also, if 011(' will study them c10selv
will be found to have the best possible 3nangemcn t" (8 3):
Diog-elles. thNcforc, 5hould be regarded as a phil osoph er
whose Vil'WS marked a turn from spontaneolls materialist
"physiology" to ~e id~~lj~t.ir conc('plion _of un iy.t'rsa l
Intelligence. In hiS [eacTllng the naive materiali s m of the
Milesiall school giws way to a rising idealis t te nden cy.
6. lIeradilus
d l~ring w~lich
ag~lIl.
teachi ng,
wh ich is
~s it we re, to man reveal ing ,itse lf n wo rds and
In p.henomena perceived by se nses and
,
by m1lld . However, "though men associa te wit h it
Logos)
~~~st .cl ose.ly, yet th ey are separa ted from it. a nd those
(I~nf2) ~ h 1Ch they e ncounter daily see m to t hem s t range"
Now. th e word Logos curre ntl y used in h tim e of
t e
lI era cl ltus was polysemantic i e covered
a br~ad : a nge of
notions whi ch we re closely linked in
t herefore needs diffe ren t word s to b ,th e Greek ~ min d, and
i
e ra ns 1a ted Illto m odern
For
~.i0 n ,". "a r~ u ~~,n t," " teachi ng , " ' "
re l at l o n ~ hl p,
n arra,~
ys
~
I
I
.
nat,m.'
creates
harmonious
CIIl'l'\S ly t I{' ('ontrast of
ta
'
f I ('r('nt VOIO':o;,
t IIlg musical harmon)' .
colour~,
IS the Illlxlun' 0
.
errr
of
con e
was his doc tri ne
{J~ st~,~lg~l~ or war as the sourcl', motive power and "insti gatUi (mtla) of any world process: "War is both kin g of
all and father of all, and it has revealed some as ods
othl'r~
as men; some it has made I
.
g
.:
(8 53).
s .Ive~, others fre e
ThE' idea of universal conn,,t I,,'u already been exprf'%t'd hy the Milesian:; and COllstltutN\ r
~n Important eiE'ment in .\naximander's.1uoelrille.
' or However,
instance ,
HI I'ontra~t wit h Auaximandl' r
opP(j:,it,'s in h'rm ... of
.
. till' struggle of
r(>trllHltion ("things
gin' jllstil't' .tntl makt jllst ri'<'OlTlpPIICe to one another for their
iujustic('''). II l' ra<"litus ta\l~ht: '011(' should know that war
is g{, lwral ( u lliVl'rsal) and jurisdiclion is strife, and every
thing conH'S about by way of strife and neceg~ity" (8 SOJ.
The la st words of this pronollllc(,IllCnt sound almost likl' a
quotation frOIll AnaximandN's hook.
The doell'ine of the tlniver~al ('haracter of :-;trifl.' leads
to a conclusion that thNe is no permanence in the universe,
everything moves on and is in a flux. The conception of th e uni versality of change was accepted in antiquity as Heraclitu s'.!'. en'do arul. the image of the "l1uid" thi nk er has always been assqciated in -the history of philosophy
with the ca tc h phras(' ,",Panta rhei" (everything is in a
flux) though it was neverfmlod in his genuine fragments.
/ His own words were: " I t is not possible to step tw1.('t.. intolJ~e sallie riv('r" (B 91). However, lliraclifus'Sleaching
does ilot bOil Uov\'-it to the conception n[ continuous motion
and c hange, however important it may be. He is a dialectician
and does not regard the process of change in an unre~ulated
and disorderly way, In the changing and the nuid he
sees the stab le, in "exchange" - a proportion, in the relative-lhe absol utE'. The langllage resources in the time of
H eracl itus were pathetically inadequate for expre:5:5ing flexible notions in an abstract way and he was compelled tn
use polysemantic words, metaphoric expressions and sym~ol.s
with variou s associations a nd impllcalions. In many cases
the;r meaning was irretri evabl y lost.
Heraclitus did not know the term "oppo~ites" which
was introduced later by Aristotle. Instead, he used sllch
words as diapheromenon. diapheronton (~ 51,,8 8) ~',h~ch
mean "diverging," and to antizoyr! mealll~g. hostll~, I.e.
words of ge neral d escr iptive charac~e r. Descnptl~e and IIna~e
bearing are also th e words e).~presslllg such notIOn s as movement (stream, nux) , change (~xchan~e, t.url~). E.\e l~ th~
word " Logos" which is the central notIOn of hiS philosophy
Illeans not only law . but also fire, mind, unit... It IS ror
thi s reason that He raclitus'S teaching is uot an abstract
theory , but a " revl' lation," a. ~ingle doctrine of th.e ~\"orld.
apprehended lal'ge ly by intUItIOn where concrete senSIlO\l~
'J'" B 1"'6 (Coll thinl-":~ Kw ....
,
I
1 An npininn h'l" rt'rl'l1ll) hl'('I1 \I,k,'1 11111__
.."
d) ... I 1
hot , hotlhinl-":~ Kw .... ,01,1. ,Ihl'. .....'1 rlril'''.
Ihl parrhl'lil" nlOISlt'lIl' ,.I~ In ,','
.
Ii I, lIlt' word~ a'T<.Ht IIIK \,1 It'
tm
I II!'
1'J:rr -,w,'
ff
defined character.
.
No philosophy ca n aVOid the pr~b l (,111 of human COllsei
, '~and knowledge. Like thl.' Md es HllI s, lieraclltus links
OU5nc~::;
I"
I I .,
.
it with the activity of "SOll, W li e I, 1Il . ur n, IS COlllleN
ed with some natural element. ilerac lltlls taught that
"souls ... are vaporised from what is weI" (B 12). lI,c s~ id : "To
souls. it is death to become water; to waleI', It IS death
to become earth. From earth comes waleI', and from water,
soul" (836). Relevant to this is al so fragm e nt. B 76 (1):
"Fire lives the death of earth, and air li ves the death of
fm,,' water lives the death of air, earth - that of water ."
Fro~l these pronouncements we can gather that Heraclitus
conceived soul as air or thin and movable vapour. The qualities of the soul depend on the extent. to which it. succumbs to
th e influence of moisture: "A dry (des iccated ) sou l is the
wisest and best" (8 t 18) , whereas "a man, w h en he gels
drunk, is led stumbling along by an imm a ture boy, not
knowing where he is going, having hi s so ul wet" (8 t 17 ).
On the evidence that we have , Heraclitu s co nceived the
"airy" souls of men and animals as closely related to cosmic
air which was in this connection called "d iv in e reason,"
He taught that we inhale the Logos by breathing. When man
is asleep, his reason departs, and when he wakes up it returns so that his soul is like coals or embers which glow
brighter when brought near the fire and fade when remover!
from it. This affinity of the soul not only to eva poration ,
but also to the Logos and fire identified with life and
knowledge is very characteristic. The soul is conceived as
a mod~fication of single living "nature." Drawing in , as it
were, Its Logos, the soul communicates with thi s "nature"
~nd cognises it. to the extent to which it assimilates to
Its Logos.
/'
Knowledge is .obtained through the agency of the se nses
and reason . which are closely connecled . H
I ,
erac
I us .IS
quote d. assaymgthathehonouredmost"ll,os
f WIIC
I II
.
e ,I ungso
there IS Sight, hearing , knowledge" (B 55)
I
h
can b
. d b
h
' I.e . t lOse t at
.
e ~ercelve
y t e se nses and comprehended by the
mmd . i t. IS pres umably for this reason tha' I, e d d
I not cou nte l'pose, contrary to t h e almost unanimo" , op
:'"
one can hide [rom it. Il :;I('ers ('\t'r~lhlll jr{ a nd ~Wily3 th., ths' ....... "That which aloiH' IS WISl' I ~ 1lI1l' ; It I ~ wlllmj:t alltl
Iunwilling
Illk. _
to be called by I I~(' IHIIlH' (I r Z,I' U",; "' (.II "\'.-). h i~
willing because the ~!tos: hn' IS no ~t'SS Oll llllpOlcli1 _ thun
Z('U!~. the sourcE' of I1f('; It IS not wlllllljr{ , h"I"uUSl' It rl'
veals it:wlf to man not in the anthropomorphi c g ll isl' of the
Thunderer. but in the slrnggl(' and waf, in T I' uth a nd. Strife,
in the cosmic harmony of oppositl's.
Of course, it cannol be sHid thai IIt'radilus's leaching
was free [rom mythological views as s uch. Bes id es Zeus. He raclitus speaks of Hades the god of death and Di onys us the
god of Iife - "Hades is the same as Di onys us, in w hose honour
the,' rave and perform the Bacchic rev('ls" ( 8 15) . t h e Erinyes ....:. .. The sun will not transgress his meas ures; otherwise
the Furies (Erinyes), mini~ter~ of Ju s ti ce, will fi n d him
out" (B 94), the Sibyl "with raving mo uth , u t.ter ing her
un laughing, unadorned, unincensed words" (8 92) a nd "the
lord whose oracle is that at Oelphi" (8 93) , All th ese quotations sound today \ery dark as the associatio ns He raclitus
wanted to bring to his listeners' minds have bee n large ly lost.
. The interpretations given by antique commcn tators o f various
periods are far-fetched allegories or symbol s. I t is ver y likely that the meaning of these phrases was ind e('d presented
by Heraclitus in the form of allegories and meta phors which
were used in a definite context and intend ed to e lu cidate
his dicta; now, however, being the remnants o f an extinct.
culture ..they can do nothing but. obscure hi s tho ught.
TradLtLon p~esents Heraclit~s as a solitary thin ker, a
. npbleman by bLrth and manners who k('pCTiimseli al oof f rom
hiS leilow-cLb~ens an? held most 01 mankmd III grea t contempt. AccordLng to DlOgenes Lacrtius (IX, 3), "he wa ~ loftymLnded beyond all other men, and other meaning ... F in a lly: he became a hater of his kind and wandered on the mo u ntams, and thcr~, he continu{'d to live, making hi s diet. of
g~as~~ndd~erbsd HTo su~po~t such opinions, the commentato rs
usua y.a uce
eraclLt.us s own pronouncements )Or ort.ed
ly tshowlllg
I S arLs
p . t ocf l the hatred and
, scorn of thi~. gloo") y b"I'
L lOLL
wn~- PO"""
s d d
ra orIIliS countrymen.
lao
" h" h rhe fragment'!
.
.~" ... s In ce co nLO u erances w L
e may give cau~('
I"
"k
. for ac cLlsa I"Ions 0 r tus
sor I b u,
lal I'nwnt" tle
I y are
. I II e many of Heraclitus'!!
.. olh"r
~- s
not Single-valued and att'sl to the d.al ," I' I
r h" Ih
h""
h
ec Ica c Hlracte r
o
IS
oug t. III t e COs mos govern(>d b Y II IC WIS'
" Logos,
)t
dt,tll l !ift, ~,nli i!::"nohlt (lPl.ltli awuil th,,!i{' wil'I (10 lI"t follow its
prcs(.L" ipl ioll' alltl hOilst of tht'ir
TIII'y art' wil
(
{til ,IIHI arro}!:ant alLll "0111' shouhl tl'ulH"h arroganlt' ratbpr
t han a ("I)IIfla~rali(Jn (B II:~)_ 011 tht, other IWILlI, 'tt1f' think in).! facu lty ill ,11111 111011 to all" (II t 1:~) OilLd all m('11 havl' till'
r apHc ity of knowinl{ tht'lIIs!'lvt's and ading with !IIt)("h'ration"
(B 11 H). 'I'll(' Logos is "c(JmIlH)II" alii] ev('ry\)()(ly run g rasp Lt
an d at t a in wisdom howt'vt'r, anordinl{ tf) frag:mt'll t 2. 'most
flwn l ive llS if tiH'Y had it privatt' ILlld{'fst<lnciing uf !tw ir
own. "
Th (' aCCOIHII of I h'radiluss ('thiral views pn'st' nts a
s, pC'c ia l pL"oh ll'm, as thp ohscurity of his style cfJlllbinps in
thi s fI (' ld with the llH'agr{'ness of ull(lueslionab ly gt' n ui nt'
passages. Fragment 11!), which has b(>('11 the object of m~L ch
uis putt', says: c.haractt'f (ethos) for man is destiny (daimon).
Th e d iffic u lty in the int('rpr('talion of this pas..;ag{' Sa'fl_ls
largely f rom the ambiguity of thl' key wor~s ethos a~d dalmon
whi ch had morc t h a n ont' ust' each. It IS most likel y t hat
Herac lit.us,'s s tatement. is directed against the mylholo~ical
belief in a daimim liupposed to look after an individual man in
th e manner of a guardian and empha~i~{'s man's. own respon s ibility for his destiny. Commenting 011 thiS saymg, Eph Lcar m us was lat er to paraph rase it as follow::,: "Character fo,~
ma n is good desti ny- but fo r some men. bad also
( OK 23 B 17 ). Heraclitus left us in the dark as to whether
ethos is inn ate or sLlbj{'ct to change (for the wors,e or [or the
b{'ttc r) , but we do k now his categorical
statement::-:.:Q.a~
.
.n.
,.
(OK 'J') B man
'9)
to me is [ wo rth 1 ~l'n th.o tL~awL If h IS be?t. ..
....'I . .
Give'jl lte ra clitus"'s p{'!:,simislll about the abLlIty of most p('op le
to ra s p the Logos, oll e can only wonder why he s hould
tak~ pain s t o ad va ne{' hi s principles" make sp(>('chcs, preach
aga ins t ig norance a nd wrongdoing and "weep" over wfl'lC h{'d
i~II'IralllI'
Ihl
,,' '
cialion of wealth
may wealth not fail YOU men of
IS enun
.
dr' k d
Ephesus, so that you may ~e COllv ~ cte . 0. your WIC e ness!"
(13 125a) I was combined wl~h u.ndl~gUlsed conte mpt for, dem,t'c tendencies and egalltaflan Id eas after the fashion of
ocra J
d Th
'
h r '
,
ari!'llocralic poets Alcaeus an " eogn.ls ~ 0. unDU S y Co.OIcrolled wealth and all kinds of noveltlCs. At the sa me tim e
~It'raclitus
exalts law which should be defended by rightminded people as "their city's walls" (8 ,44) so far as it is
ill accord with the on e divine law governing th e world, the
Logos.
Heraclitus' s universal "strife" was undoubtedl y a 1'('f1eclion of the class struggle which unremittingl y fl a res up and
subsides in an antagonistic society. The truth, accordin g
to lIeraciitus, is that. peace and rest which seem to peo pl e a
drsirable order of things are not. based on a harm ony of agreeml'nt, but 011 an cY.,ui.!ibJ:illm of ten sion, 00 a!1 incessant.
slruggl(' of opposing forces. This dialectical idea oT universal
slrif(' as the real harmony of the world, the co nvi ction that.
war is the father of all things and of the true peace is the
e.'iSl'n('(' alld - the tragic fervour of Heraclitus's phil osophy.
IIt'rariitus had no orthodox follower s. Though ancien t
sou rC'('s often speak of the " Her::.riiteans," t.hey usuall y mean
thos(' who s('iz('d upon the Ep"luslan's doctrin e of flu .~ and
brought. it into a ollc-sided prominence. S uc h phil osophers
ironically r('ferred to by Plato as "e ternally flowin g" held
that ('V('r changing and contradictory reality does not lend
Ils(' H to any determinat.ion so that no statement regardin g it
t'IHI 1)(' tru('. This eonduslOn carrif'd tlleHcraclitean doctrine
of thl:' nu~, of ('very thing to an extreme and filially deg rad ed
It to SO I)ll1stry. Ac('ording to Aristotle, "it was thi s beli ef
IhHt .blosso llH'd into the most. extreme of the views above
II\I'nlloll('(l, lhat. of the professed lIeraclileans s uch as was
twit! by Cr:llylus, who iinally did not think it right to say nnytllIlI,I.( hilt only. moved his fmger, and criticised Herac litu s for
~ay lllg that It I~ Impossible to step twice into tl
.
f(Jr h(' thought one could lIot do it even once" (Ale,sa,nM,e ',lv,e ' ;
!i. 101(11) ,
rlS .
e . V,
Th{' I'rofotillt! illnuence of Herac'I',",'
,'
"
,.
s eae, "lmg h'
ru ns
Imug I r(>nturH'!-I aud clearly .shows up in "
I
.
Ie p IF DSOP lea
I
I\
works of diff('rent period~, ("g. in Parmenides's poem, Plato's dialoglle~, in the works of Ari~totle, the stoics and
the sct'ptics, in Christian tht.'ologians and the "fathers of
the Church." According to DiogeneJ; Laertius, "the commentat.ors on hi!-; work are very numerous, including as they
do Antisthenes and Heraclides of Pontus. Cleanthes and
Sphaerus the Stoic and again Pallsanias who was called the
imitator of Heraclitus, Nicomedes, Dionysius, and, among the
grammarians, Diodotus ... Hieronymus tells us that Scythinus,
the satirical poet, undertook t.o put the discourse of Heraclit.us
into verse" ( IX. 15). The a nswers given by Heraclitus to the
fundam ental problems of philosophy two a nd a half millennia
ago have not lost their sig nin cance in mod ern times and he
is as popular nowadays as in antiquity. It wou ld not. be an
exaggeration to say that of all early philosophers Heraclitus
is the most deserving of the title of the founder of objective dial ectics. Its eSSt'FlCC, the doctrine of th~_ S~! lIgg~ c
and unity of opposites will be forever linKed With hiS
name .
,
Chupler .1
Italian Philosophy
7. Pythagoras and J>ythagoft'ons: Science, Hdigion. Philosoph y
To-
,,'
65
;,
(I; \~ I
.
. 1 >1 "harp crilici:'lll. Till' P :v th ag(\flan. WPH' t hf'
combined will I S .
fl -I to embark on tills pJth.
m;
'" lor of pythagorecllli:'1ll ('n n nn\ ~' lw prt'~I'ntf'd III Ih t'
The fils
>
The ' relig ious community fo unded by r'y lh a,:toras atlain l'd
real political influence and ('\,('11 3!'1Cl'nd ('d to power in
~roton, Metapontulll and Tarcntum . Howe Y(\(', a::; a result of
a r('\'olt which embraced the whole country th e Pythagore a n
brotherhood as a political organisati.on was sm.as hed ~nd its
members wcre either killed (accordmg to an Cie n t eV idence,
they were usually burnt ali~e with the. hous es w here they
gathered to discuss state affairs) or ballished. I n t h e second
half of the fifth century B.C. pythagoreani sm was mainl y
represented by its philosophical teaching as e xpou nded by
Philolaus. In the late fifth and early fou r th centuries
B.C. Pythagorean philosophy grows i.nto and m erges with
Platonism in the activity of the ancient Acad e m y . These
~tages ill the external history of t~e sch ool a l:e rl"presenled
respectively by early (the later third of th e s ixth a nd nrst
half of the fifth centuries), middle (the later d ecad es of th e
fifth century) and late Pythagorean ism. In view of th e
predominantly Platonic character of late Pythagor ean ism we
shall confine our survey of the Pythagorean th o u g h t to its
first two periods as .best representing the spirit or th is tr end.
A . Pythagoras and early Pylhagoreani sm. Pyth agor as, th e
the son of Mnesarchus of Saroos. is said to ha ve s tu d ied in
gypt and probably ill Babylonia where he a cquired the
knowledge of mathematics and astronomy. In abou t 532 B.C. ,
Pythagoras left Samos to escape lire under the ty r a n ny of
Polycrate!:i and settled in Croton where he es tablis h ed h is
brothe~tlOod. His life was surrounded by a haze of leg e nd: he
w~s said to be a :00 of Apollo or Hermes, to have a golden
t~lIgh a,nd .to retam memories of his soul's past tra ns mi gration s . ~ torles were told that he had first been Herm es 's son
Aetilahdes. then Euphorbus who was wounded by Me n e laus,
t~lf'n Hermotimus , Pyrrhus and rlilally was born as P yt hagora s. In Croton , he prea ched a new way of life which, accor ding
to Plato, ~as hand~d down by him to posterity so that his
followers are to thiS day conspicuous among others by what
they term th e
way of life" (PI a I 011. Resp.
.'
a~ tile law. The Pylhagor~all way of life also la,id down Van ?llS
rules of behaviour for ddlerenl groups of pl.ople d('~elldl llg
on their social status, gavE' medlca.1 and ('ug~nlc pr('scnptioll!<,
demanded the fulfilment of vanous physical. and mU SICt
e\.erci!-'('s, etc. The ancient sour('~s ofT~r no ,ratlOlI.al cxpJ a na
;0
\~'ho
~p('cial attl;' ~~
( J~rm
B~~~ l'
bette~/~~l~
,~Ph~1. 16~).
diffe~:~\.
7)
"
OIl
s'('a sO
~ovement
acc~rding
defini~e
.r~ferred
Iimit-even
- unl imiled
odd
~he
Sll~
wh~~~
St;e
base~
kO~
withl~t~i
al r~adls
th~
at rest - mov in g
straight -crooked
one - plu raHty
Jigh t - dark ness
right Ieft
good - bad
.. mal~ - female
square - oblong"
A!i. IS eVidE-nced from thi s labl
I P
the limited and th e unlimited i \ l l e .y tha goreans brough t
nine wI!h good and bad res pecti ve ly. This in fa ct was
theory. r~ted in the wisdo~1 ~~\~en,~~1 Idea o f t~e ir ethical
pr~scrlptlons to observe measure:n d e.ve~ Sages and thei r
thi S theory, Aristotle wrol(> ' " E ' I bhmlt. Comm en t ing on
th e unlimited , as lhe Pyth~ ~; ~VI elo.ngs to the class of
to that of the limilNI " (Ftl N~ cans conjectured a nd good
ho e
1
> 1.
<C. B. 5110Gb) 1 . ' .
.
. w vcr, llat the Pythagor('an c n ' .
. tiS s lg lll fica n t,
different from the 11 ...... "I.t
0 ('eptlOn of opposites i~ very
h . I
... ' , I ean one ad'
P YSI('a : the opposites arc no I
n IS essentially metamak e a Ulllty of identity and ~ . ~utuaIlY repellent and do not
mixtu~e. Characteri sing Pyth~ erCnce, but rather a un ity of
Ja.mbh c.hus.quoted hi!l) as sa ing~~~S as a. moral reformer,
e\'erythlng IS mixl'd , earth wrth~' n~ eXlstmg thing is p uce
llrl', lire \\,'tl
;2
I I water , air wit h'
ho IUIlI tlll'y \V.illl :,lir. ('V('n tI~(' fair with the ugly and thl'
th
jll;;t Wllh thl'. 11l1JIISI (Ja"~bl. \. Pyth. 130). This integratl'd
physit' ul, I,tlllf and al'~thf'll(' approach is highly characteristic
If till' p yth aJ.{or("1II !Uoral theory and brings us to another
illl~()fta nt dO"lrille of the Pythagoreans-that of harmony.
( .('IIt'ra ll y !ipl'akIllJ(, the doctrine of harmony is onl' of the
key ('il'lIle nt!i of Pythogoreanism, underlying both its cosmolo
gy a nd t ill' tearhing of the !'.oul. For one thing, according to the
p ythagor('a ns, the ",holt' cosmO!i owes its perfection to the
harmony of numbe r~ which constitute its ultimate elements.
Sources quote Pythagoras and Philolaus as calling the soul
a harmon y a nd refer to Alcmaeon of Croton, a physician of the
earl y fifth cc ntury B.C., as one of the expounders of this theory . Al cmaeon is said to have been specially interested in medicine and ph ysiology and regarded all things, particularly the
human bod y , as the product of the mixture of opposites, their
harmoni ous combinations. According to Alcmaeon, "health is
equ ality ( isonomia) between the powers- moist and dry, cold
and hot, bi tte r and sweet and the rest, and the preva lence
( monarchia) of one of them produces disease, for thE' preval(' ne E' of either is destructive ... Health on the other hand is the
blendin g (symmetra krasis) of the qualities in proper
meas ure" (OK 24 B 4). It was just this "blending in proper
measu re" th at the Pythagoreans called "harmonia"' and madE'
on e of t he central notions of their teaching.
To d escr ibe the relationship between opposit(> forces in thE'
human bod y AicmaE'on uses political terms isonomia (equality
of rights) and monarchia. This terminology betrays hi~ 50('iomorphic app roach to nature and throws light on thl' source of
his natural a nd sodal conceptions. In point of fact, Alcmae
on 's teaching represents a clear tendency to spread !'oocial and
eth ical noti ons to the sphere of natural phenomena and thus to
holstel' up. in the face of growing class cOlltradiction~. the idea
of soci a l harmony by mak ing it the basis of the world outlook.
T he deve lopment of the Pythagorean thought in the midd le
per iod see ms to havE' hee n summed up by Philolaus who was
active in t he seco nd half of t he fifth century. The a nti
Py th ag orea n up rising C8usl'd h im to emigrate to Thebes, t hen
he return ed to Ital y and settled a t Tare ntu m, probably
his native city. Philol a us was t he teacher of Archy tas wh o
la ter form ed n lasting friendsh ip wi t h Pl ato and broug ht
s
h im in to d irec t co ntact with Pyt hngorE'anism. P h il olnu , too,
may h ave m('t Plato. Oiogencs Laertius informs li S, with reo
or
".t
nf
nil'
t"
I I '
I"~ 1'"\" h".,,, h"ll\ ily IllInil'h.,,\
I
'" 1I1!"'''~lIrll , I I ,
'
n~ ''';Ill H'M"\ In till! H~ if d"o.',' 11111'
." , I" I' ~ :!~Ii)
,.. I", !luiul"H','" . 10111
n"""
\
+
1)
-., - - -
u (u
111
n (11+1)
,:I)
fj'I',,,nR",,lllr n"1l11wr
,t '("il 1l"l1l('1"1l'- whi ch wa,;
r
HI'llrl'SI'III('11 ill tIll' forlll .II ~t'1)1l11
rI,'
.
k r I
I ,n nUllrl''';
wOllll1 100 ,I;; II
rl').:1I1 1Ir l'yllHlI{On'llIl PfC1dll'I' 1 \('s,-,.,
lows:
,..
( I)
~.
(:!)
(:i)
Palternll- (2) and (3) are obtained with tlJ(' hl'lp of a '
I rumen I w h'1(' II Ia k
J..:tlo
mon-an '
Ins
' ('s 'Ib nanH' , ro m tilt' ('ar,)
'
,
h
' I
.
(11
ler s ~('t square or I e Uprlg It pOllller on a :s und ia l. ApJllyi tl~
a gnomon produces the same pattern. but of a larger sizE' TI
application
of gnomons made up of an odd ntllnbe r'o",III Its
Ie
.
'evel~
ff
76
h. j(' ,
;lr
~o
hi~
Pythagor('an~
7;
\\;l1;!
r'h
78
lUlmar Iv
15) .
.
Id
l
Thesf' pas~age" pn>st'rwci hy (.Il'nwnt '?f ;\ (,X,ln na no
onl y di~close the main w('aknl''''" of polvthe'~',n, b~lt n'~rt~~"~t
one of the most important arguuwut:'> of alh~,:'>m HI.':~I.n, t
anv r('Ii gion: the a~sertion that thl' ,trll(, crt'ator:'> of,,~od- a~re
pie who s ha pf' them in ttwir (lwn Irna~t', but not' Ice \N a.
peo
t X
phaul" wa" an at I10I
This dof'~ not mean. how('n'r, lin . eno
:0-'.
I" I
ist. To popu lar polylhl'i"m hI> cOllnterpn"ed t~t' P~IIIt,NI~ ~~{'.\
conception of god which latN becamt' klltl\\ 1,1. a~g)nt H I~I\I
{Gr. pan IlH'un;ng "all" ,lIld tI/l>fJ.~ ml'anln~
'1.\'"
eha rac tNi si ng Xl' nophane s 's IUI\(~IN~tan~'t:~i~ lI~lt::-t:r~I~~~I'
t 1.1
'ote' " \Vith !'l'ft'n'lIct' tn tl(''' 1Il (' III
.
If
o C \\h' O' , is (;od" (Ml't. t ;) 986 b), Xenophan('s hllll:'>l'
says t (' fI( , r II
.,' "Then' ili ,Ul(' goo,
descl'ibt's the 1ll\lurl' of god ,I:'> 0 0\\""
,
I .
..
I
I ' ,t not at all ILkI' moria " III
among god" !llld 1lI1'n t 1(' I.':rt'il I:'> ,
.'., I I ' " l(, r lac1'
b d ' or in IlIind,., And hI' alway" n'lllilLn~ 111 l~ ~a,n
.','
n~t ~ll{)\'ing HI HI1. nor is it lilting for him to changt'
P~l"lt'~~'
at diffl'1'(>nl tinw", ,, But without Illil h(' "l'l.'i l'Yl'ry t ling III II -
g\
tIS
'"
lion. b\' the tho ug ht of hi~ mind ... II I' st'I'S liS " \\'11011' , thi k.
"
11 t' "(lj")"j')'
11:-;
as a whole.
an dl.war:,; as il WI()
-"
_h, 2;), 211)
This undNsti.lndlnf! of god CO IlH'S \" p r y Ih'HI' to thl' I Ollh
concepti on o f living naturr whi c h i~ th l' ('(l U St' of its own 11)' II
lion and change. In fact. X C' 1l0phUIll'S iil t' ll ti fil'.s god not Wi:~ l
the spirit. but with Ihe world . i.l'. hi s ptllllh ('is lll i .., niH II I'al
istic. Hi~ search for Il single d e tC'l'IninatC' s ubs tance wa~ Wrv
IIlllch in the Ionian tradition. but th e an ciC'n t ('\" id C'llce abou't
fS
Of,
Ih,l' fUI"IIlt,[,
(111
It'
wili,h
it \I'I';\\ISI' ()'I
'
"'IIII/,hUII, s
a small Irpali!w
On Xl'nophalles. Zello and Gorl[illS whi('h, as thl' philnlngit':d
illv('sligation in thl" righlN'nth-1I11ll'ti't'llth n'n'lIl'It's "lw\\"l'(\
:-;hOllld bp call1.''d On .Ileli.~sll.~. X,'r lO l)halil'S IIlId (;(lrJ!ill ,\, lis
allthor was an unknown perip<tt('tic COlllllH'lItatnr or lIl!' li .. ",
('{'ntur~' .-\.0. who !Hay ha\,{' used Ari4oth's ~l'nlliIlP work
when writing the section on X('nophanl'~. Thollg'h thi:-; :-;('t'tio1\
ran by no mean~ be relied upon fot' aCCllratl' {'xpo:-;ition of
Wil"
'
WI'
IHI\('
Xl'nophan(':-;':-; arguments, il gin'>s certain \aluahll' infOl'malion which is worth quoting. According to its iluIl101' , Xl'llO phanes mainlailll'c\ that theon(' ('l('rnat. uniform ,\lui splwricul
god, the cosmo,,", could b(' n('ith('r unlimit('(1 nor limit!'l) ,
Ileither moving nor motionlpss. In<l('ell, till' Ont' Bt'ing mllst he
either lInlimited, infinite, or limited, finite, If il i~ unlill1it('li,
it do('s not ('xist, since in order to ('xist it must \)(' dplel'mined
hy sonwthing, i,E'. limited. Ir it is fmitp and limited, it cannot
Ill' OnE' (sing\e), as it must haw something whicb limit s it.
whi~h i~ Other, So, being b not One hut ~Iany, The prohlem of
mollnn IS Irpated in a similar manlll'r. The nlOtionl",ss i:-; in fa et
idel1tical.with till." n.on-px[stelll, !'incp n('itlwl' anything (,,11\
~om(' to .It. nor can It comp to anything. On tllP other hand,
If. i~l1ythll1g. move!'. i.t must 1lI0W r('lativl;' 10 :-;onH'thing (',,"I;'
~~l1~h 1I11pi1:~ p.lurahty, many-a'ia H'slllt, th(' ullity of Iwing ,
It. .slnglenf'ss I!' lost a~aln. Thf' con,Illsioll i~ th'l! Ihp OIl(' i:-;
I1l'ltll('r
.'
. nt'lther
.
\1.. at r('st
.; no r Hl(~,:'lIlg,
,a!' .
It IS
non-IH'ing nor
.(Df' .'IXG III 91~b 1h: cr. DK 21 A 2X).
. 11)\\ does tlll~ conceptIOn agrt'l' with Xl'lIoph'UH"';S Ilanth ('
l!'tn
aoov('?
.. I)l> Iwo way!' 'to l'xplain
"
. .If\f'otlon(>(l
,
. . ' Th;r(' ma~
this
appan lit contradlcl1on. I- irst 01ll' nn .
"I I
!,llIllptioll that X,
I
- ,
'~llrn('l't'( 1'01\1 tilt' i\!'nop lanes attl'mptpd to "'iv" I " I, 'I' ,'.
of lll{' ('oncpr"'o", I ,I
II
- ... (,\
ogll a allet \.'il~
_
) ] { I 011(' a -pml"',e
h
.
t,llIg I'
)('llIg I('I l'ntl'I"1('(1 bv
1111 With
C<l."" Ill\' \I'l'all"I'
,..
i ('j.(IIIL , In thilt
I
. (),' -II I' i1,,'SI/S, I' 1'/1(1) I'
/11
/ IS III/(
If}rK/([.~ 'i wlllil 1)(' 1'l'g'll'Ilt'd '1-' II
- ..
IH'lolo(ll' aI IHl]",lIloxl'!' l'()IIIW('II'II'wilh ,',;" ,I ~OI,I'(,ll()fl III aponils
thill WI'rf' olJtlill('(1 by X('1l0 hUlH's I
!' pIO.) 1'1I~ 0
0111' Belll K
I(lt~, I'I;,to's rii(llf'l'tirs ;11111 (~XP()l1;l~h::~\I::r~I:!'('(I. III till' ~Jlir.it of
Ii'iwfl If)gil'. S('rnnd, tiH' tn'alis!' 1 . I .' rlll'i of thl' Arr~lo
1\
. lIa"I'\]('w('rl'"
'
lOll II . ('nnph<ll1f's's latN Ilnrtrilll' ;'\'( 1I"\( II hy hlln
~ 'i an
I'XpOSI
111\111'1' thl'
.3'\,-,
"
k'
IIi: I,m'!'
t-)'W.;.fl t ,
f 1"lr1l11'111cll IIlId
'pi ('i Ill. (111 till v
1111\11
1\1'1lt'1' litH
WI'
!\trong 1f'Jlfl(,lIry
hU\'I' Ihl' rlr~t j'X
;on
d. tn
,Il l' "l'ron
:<t't' lt l~
to il!'lLo[" 'Ill
be'll~.
"IIII'IW
" 1 .'~. I!>
Thl' Wily to tr u l h, ,H'l' OI'I IIll ).! III 1'HI
th 'll it i:< ;lnd thai it ;:-; i mp()!'i~l hlt' ,for it IIn\ \11 lit
"h ,l\
IUOf
I.
Ih.>
Ill('
iDh. 2~
B '2. 9 ) . liNt' WI' 11 ;\ \,1' in [ad Iht', 111":-<1 :<\.11i'111t'nt of III!' In!,,;
p_ 182,
i.::
o!-'ih'O Iwt and rold l1l(>anlllg' lin' alit pari I, t U' to:'Ut'
rt'/UIJlt
(IIrr(''''11I
['.'
r " .
'n
of sl'JI~lIaJ I'x(Writ'IH't'.
U 1111 I ( WIH't
i'arlllt'lIirll<:-, faith in rl'a:-;on allli it,
"
W.tIIS so greal Ihal II("
r' " s SIIII'<'rlOrily ov('r sl;'m:p:-;
III art nl\tol()j.!I~\'d" tl
d
'
lOug 1 an
Idt'nllfi('d it wilh Iwing rp~ar II, 'r
.,
I {,os II Sf'II..;\, data Up r"t'ct 'd
UI)!"tall (' ngue <Hill cOllstanll\' changing .. , '
tJ \
,
{'\ II I'n('1;' of :-'PllSt':-' a:-i
",CI','"I, ".
't
c"
"
,lI:
1"011'
!,nn!' II~
a bsurd .
. \\ IIrh i.
Aporias against spact' and se'lse pt'rc{'I'I ,
.
I
l
lj"~rll
o Ih
I (> nollOn 0 space. Pun pul::. )"rw (rei II
'II
l~pO"
.
r
hmenl. 1 d t mg
H ' ) O\\'tll'
~
SPUCt' tills "., .
~ ;~II.
plurality of
at a II .
.
Or.CU)lI(,:-O .1
spac('~
i:-:
ab~urd.
To discredit sen:,ation .
thpl't'fort'
Zt'1I0
"'I",e
I'>'
flfill1 4
1111
.\.I"tlt'
.'
'l
10
('\ISI
(1,1.1
"<"""
. " ,,""""
;.,
I'W II'll I"IT
HlII!B
It;
ilK
'.
w:u hOY,
nCc
The A I'"W IR ~tati()na, y he IJ C Ie! ( rows beglfl f ) mnve
in opposite clin'ctiolls wilh f!qUC:l \-'eloclty until II tl ree
rowS are opposilH ('acb oltIPJ':
(1))
,1,111,1
BBBB
('(('C
The B row has pass(,ri half ttlp t W wTile the ( row has
pa . . s('d til(> whole of the R row. ~ow, TOWS movin.; with eq lal
velocity musl takr thf' Sillll(' tilor to pas . . an ~qual distance. ~.1
the rows are l'qllal. hilt it take . . row C a~ much time to ;)ass
row B, as it takes row B to pass only on" half of row A. Hence,
half a given time b equal I~O the whole whkl s :tbsurd. This,
according to Zeno. again . . hows that motlf-n IS unreC1~ (DK
A 28),
Analysing thesE' puzzlr ..... a modern readf'1 Wl~, have 14
difficulty in solving thelll, Indeed. the aporias aganst "1f'
notion of plurality are based on the fallacious axiom oi tH'
ancil'nts that a sum or an infinitl' number of magnl1ldes i~
bound to bE' infinite. It is w('11 known to II.!' that there exist
intlnite convergent series. \Ve call accurately calculatt" when
and in what point of thE' path Achilles will catch up with ,'tUl
tortoise. Suffice it to recall till' elementary p:-ycholog1cal
notion of the ltll'{'shold of perception and WE' sltaJl"top IlUl."in~
OVl'r the "millet . . ppd." Again, th' author of tht'stadlUm
puzzle appl'ars very /laiv!' indl'{'d ill the light fl.f the. rull' of
the composition of vl'loriti!'s ... ':l'nrthe",.,~ ..... Zt'flO ~ argu
ment!' continut' ('xt'rcising th(' I1l1nd" or phl,loso.pht'r~. h~gl
cians and mathrrnatiritlll" en'il in Ollr days. fh:lr 'lI~torlcal
signirlcunc(' cOIl!-li . . ts in that Ih('v :eve~llf'd th~ dlfticuI1It'." of
thp formation (If "rit'ntilk C(HlC(~pt~ of space,.:lmE' and m~;lOn
rooted in {Iwir dialecti('al naltlft' and. plI~,d thE' pro ,<'01
of cxpressillg tht'ir objt'ctlve contladlctortnl'SS I,n logical
rl)rms.
?y
The problem Of. the dialectics of motion has given rise to enor mous
literature, The claSSIcal solutIon of thi~ probl(,llL in Marxist philosophy
was h gl~enl by Engels: "J,,~olion itself is a contradictioo: e ve n si m ple
mec anlca change of posItion can only com
b
h
h
.
at 00 1' and th e same moment of time both
I' 8 out 1 roul{
a body bemg
abo not io it" (Fredl>ri ck Engel~, ..1nlL.lj~h~L:ne and the '111~C place ~nd
( bOII ~ d0r,n to a stlltemenLthu Lilolio I
g. p. t48). TillS qu otatlo o
)
i.o slat"
u
Id ... "., . I. fLlnl!~'lh(>_ ~.xpreswd non
. rollt.rad ic.\ "':
If no on!; l'S<.'tt )lIIK ~ Illf)\"1Il1( 1i I
.
,
tllll{'- ~ p 8C e positioos . 51'(' also A.!-', Bo om! IW'~.. !Hi oj:CUPYLllI{ II s('n('s of
a od Its Solutiou " , iu : PhilofOphy In ~h
1)1I11('('tlcal Contradiction
.
0"',,
.\falerio/ism.
92
;.IIV.
. To cone.lude, t~e Eleaties made an iml>orlant ~tcp forward
1Il the philosophical cognition of the world by focusing on
reason
.
d t andd lhinkino
.
.,. Tlley opene d Jl('W IH)f)zons
in philosoph\'
:ir~n ()~r;hr lit ~rom cosmological speculations to an examinaIpm f d' e Ogl,<' of thought. TIl(' Elcatics advauced the probo . rs rIncllon. r\'en <'ootrnsl, hf'tweE'1i being and a earance. E'!iseoce and plwnolllrna t Ih d . '
. ~p
thE' mortals. Parmenide!i and' . ~u dn <Ir.bltrary Opllll0n of
". Be mad- a
( .d
hiS follow('rs In tht, fihh cc nt u..
"gorl'a a \"In
I
"exi!'tin o thin"!i" a"d
ee 1Ipon t H' Ionian concept of
'"
.,'
rosE' to a I I h
.
phllo~ophical gl'llerali:-;alion, 'l't I ~ ~IIC.l rgller le\'cl of
df>wlopa fllll-fledged ah,. (~
.tH~ \\('rE' strll unable to
.
. M
11011011 of I, '
. the
Platrlnlan sense.
f 1Il~ as such 1Il
.... l"\'lurllwr '11111 III y:>t It" \lily (. an 11111 W Illu 'Wlrk
. JII'" "I
,.
.
r til' I~ ~ul 10. It. 'Ie I lW Irl."II all ullgardlll' COflsplrary
p' I(.n' t ... ralluY
II '\I'raga , perslIBdl'd hi!! lellf)w
111'
' 'Inf, Hul (. dli"alc IHllitieal I'lllIdl
titl"1" ~ 10
allllHllml.
p;.rty
"
ty, allli f"r III " "WII parl lu ha v r{'luSt" I till' offl:' o( a king
~ir
.
I IH' I I'~
~toril':; of I.lIl1l1'l
Chap/a .,
n' I II ,. .. trllll\"\" r I
WI hHnl' all it
wonl!t.r-worl';.I'r. (llli' of tlwtn 1o1I:i of all "pidl'llIi!" III thl' city of
sdin lls (~lI11 .. t'll hy polllltioll of til!' Ill'arhy r;\"I'f. TIl{> plaglU'
W,lS stoPIJ('d by Emlll"t\odE's, wit/) divt'rlld two lU'ighbollring
~trl'fIIllS into tilt' rivN <11111 dl'arl'd ib ....-at,rs. A('cording to
~notlH'r story, lu' kE'pl ,\ womall aliYI' {or thirty clav~ withf)lIt
hreath or puls(' and hrollg\J1 hN back II) lIormal. Il did not
COllie down to Ill' what rt'a nilllatiull tl:'fitnitlUt'S he had used,
but the acr.ounts of his fl'<lts caused hilll to Ul' ngardt'd by his
superstitious contemporaries as a Pllss~ssnr of almost !;Up.Nnatural power>;. HI S death IS l'Ihr()lId('d III mystNY AccordLfig
to one uf tht' tal('s, h(' Il'apt inlo Etna in the midst of the
celebration of his victory owr plague when th{' grateful
Selinuntines were paying his divinr hOllours as he "'ant(od
them to belie\'{' in hisasc{'nsion to Hravrn and forever wOf.'ihlP
him al; a god, According to anothN story. he mad~ this
~acrifice after the woman's revival. but the vokano did not
;ccept it and Ihr{'w back his sandal... This latter.version has
a strong flavour of lllaliciO\l~ slandl'T likely to be Circulated by
Empedoc1el;'s political opponenl~, the more so as otht'f SOUfces
gi\'e a very plau sible e31lS(' of his Math: on .the ,:,,'ay to some
public feslival in Messina h(' fl'll. broke .hls thl~h. and .Ihe
complication pro\"('d fatal. His lomb IS III \Iegafls (DlOg.
L. VIII, 67-73).
..
essence o f
'r .
., """1"" ,
(I
..
or
d"'"
'd"
~~I~:~/~~1~ro:I~11~~~7tl)~Io:,;:,;I
'
'
.
;
'
.
:
.
'
,
a
\
~~:('
a~:~~rl;~
i:~:l~~a:~ai~~
~:
~or~~
a Si ngle
Ill' Oil
I" . .
.
'.
. t be Mnll Y out of Oue. There is a doublr cr('a.tlon
apart so a,' 0 d ~ doubl e decline; the union of all things
of morta s an "
f;HI_~t'''
'f ruorl.l hq
tht' (Itlll'r I'; r,'ared 11 ... tilt' \,I\'lIwub ),Cr,)\\' ;'p,\I'I, tWit thl'l n: '
I)
"
(il -7
'
!<tag-I' when Love ~\'a~ "
f \\S
. ,)), III the second
.
rlump
I[lnt
the
Ii I'111 I~ anf f organ s
cIIm b lIled at random I
'.
I.'r~ - "oxen with headso rye fI!le to all ~orL" of JlIollsl
ox('n.-- Thev were IIn~I'i" ,1n(,11 and meJl wilh Iwafis of
.'
.. II e I) SUfVI\'e "",i
i
' fi
poS , ('fIt)' a.nll liler('fore peri!<I\(';J. TI
"_
pro( 11('1' Hal EO
from the tidal rever~al of th
_ .11' third stag(' rt>Sll!tlflg
".... ,hol('-nal~l:ed cn'attl res Wi~h~:~n~l.c {1Jf('f'S hrought al~()1I1
tUIll of s('x. I II{' fourth ~ta"(' tl
lIubs. orj{OII1!< 01' dl ~IIIH'
f'li b II
. . , . IE' 0111' \11' li\'l' i . f
. Y Ie contilluing ad\'anrl' f Sl 'f
II. IS (. lara c ll'ris
naIl/HI. It i~ th(' familiar world" 'r "i(' .:111(1 growinlC dis{"J"i mio S(' r rl'prtJ(I 1I('lIlg
'
00
lIIall' and
IlUtlllllJ{.
,f"n ',,"
<lmi
.111.
1I1,-llmlnal.
IIi ~r1"lhin ~ Em}l{'d,lC" I'~'M ,. In,' Itim If 811 org-, nil ,.olll\n:lolj.. "'rllt-~: '\\Iwn""r Ih{'n;ll. tht p rL.. c m('
I ",
,hUIII
" jtl~1 wh,,' tht ,y ",ould hal'" IlI"'n II tho y )If 11 C 1011 0 W
i(lr an "1\11. ..;urh thillW; >!1Ir\'h'ld. 1)(,lIIg nrg.1U1/pi "plWn(
"1I~1\" in " littill j.(" W;lV: wlll'n';)'4 Ihmlt whidl gr" ..... otlll rwi!W
II.ri~IH'11 alill ('OIlli l1l1l' to [wrish il ... ElIlpedod,'s S :;5 his
\nan.iaC'l.tl o,pro~"n~" ,Iid ... -- (;\ri~t, i'hys. II. S. 1!Ji~",
For all lhl' fanriflllill'ss of this ("OIII'pplioll which Jlf'ar~
a \'('ry S\lIll' rfl ci a I r('SI'Ill h Ia nI't' t IJ iJtI rw ill' H t 11I'0r y of t \"11111 t ion.
it r('vl'als 11 clt'ar Ila{uralisli(' {rl'llIl, The Siciliall philfl,~lJpll'r
wa:<- 1Ill' first to try to ,1I'COlint for till' pllrpo"t'flll ('on!<titutioll
of li,ing ("f('<l{lIrt~ without rt'sorting to ~llpl'rnatur<l1 PUW{'fs
and divine pl'ovidell (,("
Empedocles's doc t rine r()llIh;I1t~ with <lttl'llIpb to gin'
11 ~r;{'nliflc I'xplallation of ps~'ch;c pror{'~:-I's taking plac(' in
a living organism, L'nd('rslalHiinJl "sIl1l1" as a harilloniou~
and proportional conslitution. Empl'llorl('~ c/)]~pan'~ b~t'a,lh
ing to the operation of a rI('ps~'dra (a devlc' for llftlllg
liquid from one v(',,~('1 <llld nI!;'1:Isinl{ it into 8I10lhl'r) . thp
inspired air corr('sponding to til' water In t~(' d{'~,;ydra. an.~
the blood to the retreating air (B tOO). :'wn~atlOn. too .. I~
explained as a purel y physical proce,,~: the ernu~nce~ which
issuE' from all things ('Iller pores in human botiu''; a~d ar~
p('rceived by li k(': "For by ,arth. he sly~. wt' !<,'{, earth. b.~
water water . by ether godlik(' !;'Iher, bY"fir!;' \\:a~lIng fir('. 10\E'
by love . and strife by gloomy strife.
(AmI. ~1et. III. "'I.
h
II
ilVull'lmtoli
i'
ur,l,
1~b~~ntrast
Ja('j(H,
D'e
I\llhlhamUl('r, Stuttgart:
102
/}mk""
111\
'JiPIU'I\ with ;, 1111111;\11 IlI'ad Oil hl'l hm y, lIor rOIll
l~ !lIlt
'k'i' , ,,,,I hrandll'S start; \llI' itU"Ii_ 110 ,hOi't, nn ~wift
, h,r I n . .
11"
h'lir,' "I'llilal nr~an~: hut III' 1:4 \IUlIl, holy and
knIt'S, n o ' ' ' '
_
_ ,,[fahh', alul only \tillli. whw,l~ tlllrt~ through t~t' whole
Ill. . . i t h it:4 IIwirt tlmuj(hl:4 (Il I,H), A dl;;llncl from
11l11H'! "II' '"
'
' ,
Oil \(l/lIrl'
nlll('t'l'Iwd wilh t "JI' Inlt~1I , P p h
YSI('a
thl' pm'III
'
, "
.,
, Ie! ami tlH' physioloRY of liVing h('IUR'I, lht, pUrificatIOns
\\or
'c"tl';; on mail's illll,llt'dulIl and t'thi<'al world and
l'OEIl'CII .. '
"
""",h..
,..
8 whole,
d d'
th P 'hcalions
The religiOUS doctrine ('''POUIl e Ill, e,. UriI'
, .
,
1 lementar\' to Empee!ocles's "phy,qcal conceptlOn.s
IS con!n his hilo;;ophical \'iews in the language,of tradl-
oc di,'ine
I' ' tl e co.. mlC era 0
of their close relations lip IS I I'
hoed in the Purifica~
Sphere in t~~ poe1,11 ~lI,~~Q{~~:t:'~~\IUI~I:~ ;;ociety a" the reign
/i01ls descl'lblng t Ie 1111 1ft S
od Ac'" nor Battle-Din.
, L
., There wa.. no g
..
,
of CYprtS 0 K
ove: ".or C fono" 'Po,",'don
but
only
Cvpns
nor
,,,,
.,
,
nor Zeus t 1e mg, n
' It to please her with plOU:'
the Queen. These men soug I
'
r:\;~als ilHport~nt
~he ~~'~I~:~:~~,t~~~;:;~le~
Lo,,
I -..
gifts"," (B 128).
,.
that this ',Idaptation" ?f
It. shoH,ld ~e ~loti'd, hO;:I~~~~;lry m('ntality h,ad to be paid
philosoplHc<l1 Ideas to cont \ ~r wid~ lO ullrl'slratned religIOUS
dearly for, as it opened the (0,
to later cOlllmentators to
,
'
. I "av(' orCUSlon
"
(original
imagin ation ,In( !,'
h(' Purijic(ltions III terms 0
interpret the doct.n n,e of) \ ICIt inll'rpr('tations, ho,:vever'"can
sin, fall and e>;~'flltOIl, ", lie in vi!.'\\' of thi'lf ob\loUS
hal'dly be consl(\('red t('I1,\ I
arbitrariness,
Cr. (;, ~_
,: ,
Kirk, J -
n~wll.
r
illtl'rl',,~H,1I1
C<lI1ll'
ius.
il~si.sted
104
~f
:luan~~tllJI\TIJ~~~~I~;;t~o~1
kll'
, Thl' ",UT,1
~>'nonyul"II'
UW,lIllI11l IhUlII;'
,,,,,,,r~' 8
,
",II .-" r ,
.-
fril~lIl!'lll~ f
I
r"l1 l
AIH1\a~Or<l"'~ In'atl:<l' dl, ..,"rdllug I II' (,Urnp'lIlo"It.~ "I 111 '
lIrigilli11 mi\turt' "('I'1ll \n II\' f,llht'r a III. hiJ,(IIOII'l,
IllL till' 11111''
. _
,
h'lnd, ,\III'I\;lft0r,\$ spl'ak" of SUb"\l\lICt'" lIIitHlh' III Illlmlwf 'Hut
I'h,-.,
L'
11\,.1)
',"
, I.,
('11'lIlI'1I1-< (,\r;,,(
dOlHlllilllllj{
arc also infinite in numb'r and not at nil likt Olll' an(lt lH'r . nnd
nalllcsslich constituents of tht' mi\tur(> as "moist and dr y, hot
lind cold. bright and dar!.;:' as w('11 11 .. "a grl'lI\ quantit\" III
t'Olrth" (Dr;, 59 B I and DK [.9 B 'I. r<'''p('clivC'ly ).
.
This ,\'itlellce prompl('d a ('oudll!'iou that Auaxagol'as,
cont rary to hi" own premist':';, cOII(''i\"(';I til(' {'ll'Hll'ut s (a('tht'r.
air. water. earth. and fire) not as essen tifilly eombinatiolls of
various seeds (panspermia). bul flS "{IU;llity-things," direct
com hi nat ion" of {IUalili!.':.;. and that th(' specilicily or each
sl'parate element was d('tNmined by til<' quantitati\'{'
pr!.'dominance of "ome of tll<'se qU;llities Ovel' their opposites.
whereas seeds noated. a" it were. among lhe elel11ents
combining into things,
Thi:.; intl"rprelation which has gained wide c urrenc y in Ihe
rl;'leyanl literature meets with on' serious objection: how can
{'Iements l'volve from opposites, i.e. not-e leme nts? How can
al'ther coml' from not-aether, and fire from not-fire ? What is
more. it b contradicted by other doxographic evidence with
a sufficil'ntiy ancient tradition behind it. For instanCl' .
describing Anaxagoras's th'ory and evidently relying on
Thl'ophrastus. Lucr'tius quotes Anaxagoras as saying th at fire
comes from fire and moisture from moisture (1.835). i.e.
lhat elements are built up from their seeds. This testimony
is borne out by Simpilcius asc r ibing to Anaxagoras these
words: ' ... all homoeomers as, for instance, water or fin' or
gold .... (A 41).
Anaxagoras's views. comp lex as tiw}' a re, should no t be
overcomplicatl'd. He firmly adherrd tv Ihe pl'incip le that all
sllb~tances and all things call1(\ from like i.r, rroJll inf..lilrlv
divi~ihl(' p;lrtj('~('s or ~('('cls.' However: to maintain lhi~
11I1141;IIIlO'II1;11 1'I"I!wipl .. \1 \Ii"II ;Imounts. in fac t , to the ex
w _ " .. I "".,] by \n'''~~lOra~ l1i,,,_.lf. " a )11,
'"
..
...
or
i:1
I ..
"PlI>''''''s '"
Zello
,In"
B .1 )
ThE' polemical resonanc{' of IIl{'sr- ~Ial {' n ll'n l s is UIlOlistak .
able and we seem 10 haY(' hr-ller r('ason to s uppOSt' that Zenn
wa~ challenging Ana:o.:agora.'l than tht' otlwr way roulld, ~inl'l'
thl" laller's argument uppl'an; 10 br- too parad oxical to he
opposed to Zeno's rea~oning o~ten~ibly ha 5ed o n ('ommon 'l('I1~l" but leading. neYl"rlhell"ss. 10 absurdilir- ~ , It is ob\'iou~ thai if
Zeno's logic prOt'l"S correct. Ana:o.:ago ra.'l '~ a rg ument ba~l'J on
thl" principle "e\'l"rything contains e\'('fy th ing" i~ to be
rejectl"d, and vice Yer~a . :"io\\' Ir-t 1I~ express Anaxagoras's
il"~l'rlion~ in a malhematical form :
I'.
b. c. d. e.
A+A~A:
II
+a~ 10. b.
0.
d. e.
/I:
,\l-A =.\1=.11+ A.
whl"re [ 1 is thl" set symbol; a, b, c, d etc, ar{' Sl' t m em bers; A
is the derived set and '\fi~ the infinite set. On('e WI.' d o.'lo it becomes clear that Ana:o.:agoras'" stalrmenls are in a ccord with
Ihl" set theory. whereas Zello's reasoning r('flel'ts th e noti ons of
ancient arithmetics ha~ed on the assumption thal th e ~lI m of
an infinite numbl"r of magnitudr-s is inflIlitely large, In d{'ed,
B 3 formulates a well-known PI'OPl'rty of infinite St'tSI'{l lJ i potence of a \\'~ole an,d its part (l>.~, of a point Sl.'t of line
.'legment and ILc; portion. of naturel numl){'r series and evr-n
number. ~eries) , whe~eas B 5 exprl'SSrs lil(' prin('il)le of the
composllIon of sels: I{ a ~et is defiller! a.<; "all", l',g. a set of
tim
II'
,1I11
" ' ''II 0 1 Ili!4 "pt.v,lt'al
y elll
1),111 .. /' 011111 bt. 1101 d th,lI \1I8xagora!4
tlll traOl' ,I lHl.ttrr
1\
.
, . I ..... 1I1I,h Yoen' I'vlll{>ul e1 e to all' 1('\'\
I (,\ 'r\ alll WI';11\ \10111 "
r" Sl'l"!I
I
1,\(
,
\" I '{ it lH!dv i~ lIuul, !III 0
Of 10
"1IIIIIk.'~ S~ I II. (I~ I ,I , bul ,;11 "lo(l{fI'j{al., whil'b fllLt bl'dl\'lIlo.d
1'();IlI~~~. i~: rll~ i ::~'II::::~II'r nl p;lrl~ ,IIHI lIl1'~" (or tlll'idr. b,kd ) ,'all
III n,
I
\
f;IIPf)I)SI' WI' tn' to
1\'1 I' a
he aga in 1~\Lt t~l{t'~ IN, , ~,W I hI' i,;e\'itably' dl'stroyed 1"\'1"11
huma n bt' lng, rh~ .11\,111, .'I, ., p. (IrIs sa\' the head and till'
.,
" di ,;i()('" 111m HI on \ Yo)
.. ' , '
d
I
1
. ,. k 01 di\,'icliJlj,t him into thousan s 0 par, ~
' we
body , n ot to Sptu.
, " ~ irltn ha\l" bl"en fTUSherllll
as was thl;' ~ast'w'~h 1~~~IIII:r~t",~~ ~I~ay ~llb~l'qlll'Htly t~y to join
a morl .lr . \0 ,ll1al~t f'l' IIl1l't.pl' ~CJc("'l",i in rl"~torillg hH~ to thl"
hb pa rts af,t;H!', ..... ~,s la.
. It'C''~~M\, not onl~' to JOin hl"
initial ('1)111111](111. In .10 ~I), II IS' t Ii:m thl" human furm
1111,1 also im,part, ',', .. C~IIL fu~,' thf'1ll into
PMlid,'s ,of mattl'r,
'
filIng to . TI'" 0 e,
.
whieh , (I (J IH', a('('o
,
"
unit\' of thl" nrgalll~m.
.,
,no
"I\'f'
t \1'111
I
' ('nll~i~tt'
d .11\ ., I,
a ~ in g t' OIJ('{'
...
I, judrinl'
All o lht'T " wt'ak,~t,~" III t ,\I ~ from a nnt-hair, and nl'~h
" " O U t l t fOf in.;tann'.
lo" owil\": if a half ('allullt t 011\\
,.,
n
,,,I h .. w ~'an Yoe
'
,
'h
('ilnno t l'OllH' Irom lIot- . I, I
., lIot-ran'lI Iran,'II,; nl'"
., C't'l'U rolll..
,
for t h t' genl'sl~ () I , "
. tnullo hat'e to conCN'>.
and b()J\t'~)? To b~' rnl1~'~~"~:~~t;~.~ 01 bOIll', ne~h, l'l. tHil
".'leeds" nol only a.; 1lI111t1lt ,I I'in~, l.te. Thi,. wl1\lld,hrLII~
abo a s minul~' r,l\'l'n~, humMI I~t ~lI'or\' whil'h dOlll1nawd
11 :-; r i hI to tIlt' prt'fllfm;\lwlll. \' and'maintaine,! that thl'
biolo: ) in tht'
like the matllft'
. , f 'til animnl (lr a plnnt '0\,1.
"
embl ~oo ,
I ' it t\'il~ \'t' ry ~TI\a ...
111 orga nism exet'pt t l.It "
'('Ii (lid not a r riw a l ~\Ich a cn lll' I .
'rho \lffh J\nH:o.:ago ra~ 11Ill~ , .
." , ",'('T\, l h inll" d earl y ll'al :., l' () f" t'\'('1'\'1
II n ~
,
d ' I f thl'
sion, h is, pr ilu'IP
, ' If lilt' wh t11l' and 10 a t' IU,\ I )
,
'.\ . ('OIH'l'ptwn (
tn a IIll'l' "1l11~ It
., 11' a nd il s pa rt!!',
,
dialectical. IIni ly ~r Il~~ ;v~,'n\hi nll ill e\'erythin~:,e\:l'r):~~l~:~~
If Ihere IS a pM Ion . , . ,; Thl> prin ci piI' of e\ l"f) I
ma y f'\'o , ve from 1'\'l'r )tll n~,
,
II"
IV...
t 1ft
J1 II 1l1l'I'
"r..
',no
1'.
'U
~I'vt'ntl'l'nth l'I'nt~I:'('~mpll'It'IY
from (,\I'rything"
]
_" i!' a chlUlu'tt'rislir ft"11l
,
I n' ! ) , lH'mvtl]
, IUO d {'o
en
t Uti] 'III.'%" accurdiu
.. to whi,-] I ,"n\'1I1l1l
_],
. ' I{ll)~i .
_
, _
. ...
mlo anyl ling
All". ,,,o,n'r'-;
.
e<H1 tUTU
." , (' ~l' lind a('(IUln'
'
lUi_ .HI,1
I,ua]',.
I h,~.
A,na\agorll.t-, IOIH'H'I', gIH'" an l'nlin'h' I-rr,
th'll!
1IIh'rprt'ta.
h';: d I '
1."
...
rom ('\I'f)'lh' ..
I,
or .rln.~, U.I'IIl.g Ju:;t 11 1l1lnlpiLrast' of th(' "1"-' ,!!l.g
in
('\{'ryt~l.ng
proposl~lOn
same
it is dirl.'clf'd
wl~os~
tll11l'
Ilgain~t
~rIIlclpl.e and
<
th
,I
m,yllO
o~y.
At the
pl~nH~rn,ta.n 1b~hllosOPhers
ad ,r.
tOYS
\\"~;::~'dsUCh
'"
"If
"'
in motion \\ 1I S_~l' lwrilt t' 11 (Int l'rna l' .\); lIud a_~ thin,,!! ""'r,.
IT ( lIIh'rllil II y) tilt, ,"I',,,IUlioll
...
"IIOV
ing and s('p;lrlltllll{
,)
~ . J
incr('a~('tllhis (inlt'rll<1l) "1'par,llioll" (H I:J). Iii
Ana,alloras \'olllim',1 tilt' al"llllll of .\Iind to s .. tlin. in '"
~
.
H lUll
thl' original illt'r! IIlIIS" illld 1',p/MIlI-d thl' rt'.~1 nf th, I"
CI('j'SS
by II vorl,'\ which "t',Mra!"" (til SlIhst.lrH'(-'S hulU "lit' an tI
it nd d i,' i d I'S t h!'m i n 10 sill II lit r rril(' t i UII S Ilt'f ort' ('om hi II i n.
1,1.' r
ollu.r(::::I\".
,f'
In 'HI (InII' I
in WI
10I
t' I
tlln,!.!'s
f .v runlllll'f.
J us!
7, ltm
as \.('l1opIl1l1l '
'.
.
.
,
us ex mac Hila for lh(' making
112
70'0
! Something or In I'IfO'l'tion il fUllmfnl oj, ....ith it. rllhff ob,curf rfrerence to ,"other world inhehilfd b)' p~ople .!m.llr to tholll ltvlnt on the
e.rth, h.\'ini ~imilar rili~., ,1,,1 mMn Ind lun and ct'lutlal bodlea, t . . .rt~
rowing ,Il."rt.~ or produce fut Ihem. 11 I. hard 10 ~.Y ~(th,.fulment .pel
~llh(' multitude of inh,bil~,1 ....orld. or lUll of ptcuhar mlcro ..... nrld .!tnilar
H-H3!!
t3
wealth and power saYlIlg that a bhssf u (man would look ridicu.
lous to the crowd. Wh~n asked why to be born was hettPf than
not to be born. be replied that a man would choosl' to be born
"in order to study the heavens and the whole UniVl'rSl'" (A30)
Ethical matters, the problems of man and society fE'ceived
much greater prominence in the works of Ausxagoras's pupil
Archelaus who was called the last of the physical philosophers
Chapla 5
tius (II, 16). "he philosophised about laws and things fair
And just." Sud a (DK 60 A 2) adds that in his opinion "what is
just and what is base depends not upon nature but upon CODvention." However, the antithesis between nature and convention was common to numerous ethical theories of the late fifth
century and we can only guess if Archelaus was its originator.
In his "pbysics"-he combines Anaxagoras's theory of "seeds"
with the teaching-s of Anaximenes and Diogenes of Apollonia
about air as the primary substance of things. He appears to
have shared the latter's view that air possesses reason and
therefore performs the function of the Prime Mover. However,
according to Hippolytus, Archelaus believed that movement
started with the separation out of the hot and the cold from
the original mixture, the hot moving and the cold staying still
(A 18). The only fragment that came down to us from Archelaus, "coldness is the bond (desmos] of the earth,"
survived in a corrupt theological context.
In contrast with Anaxagoras, Archelaus understood mind as
a mixture of special "seeds." His conception of the origin of
life was also different from that of Anaxagoras: animals' seeds
did not fall on the earth with rain 85 was stated by his t eacher,
but the animals were born from the earth when it was warm,
and it sent up an ooze resembling milk to serve as nourishment, and it was only later on that they were engendered
from one anothe~. T he ~osmol og i es of both philosophers,
naturally, were different In details.
A.rche,l,aus t~rmi,nated the early stage in the development of
ancient phYSICS. Now natural philosophy takes up its place
in ~he same r~nk with other philosophical disciplines next to
logiC and ethiCS.
'
to Ollrs. It is abo possible th.at ADuagoras here Vl'ulllrl'!! ;I hYP<)th{'sis that
a world lIke OllU call emerge In any part of the lIniv('r~~,
th
d
ing conditioDs.
. Iven l' correspon -
fOf
able to use
1,1354.).
.,
Th
rJS Opl
pp. 353-354
~"
Hi
118
119
123
the w'!aker ugu neot the t onger" 'ind vice ve.... I was no\.
for\.uitous therefore that ProtagOlas maiD' nned the he''!!:> of
the impossibility o contradiction and contended hat there Ire
two opposite, but equally tenable arguments on. every ~b]er.
From this it followed that there was no other crlter on 01 t uth
than man himself,
.This view is apUy expressed in Protagoras's famous phrase
"Man is the measure of all things" (DK 80 B i), Historico
philosophical tradition ~raceable to P~ato's Theaet~t~s rega~ds
this thesis as an expressIOn of sensualIsm and relatiVIsm, Plato
in fact interpreted Protagoras's thesis as the contention that
knowledge is perception. The phrase "Man is the measure of
all things" means that what seems to me is for me, and what
seems to you is for you: if the wind is cold to me who feels
it cold, and is warm to you who feels it warm, we cannot
say that it is cold or warm in itself.
Such arguments, of course. sound to us 9uite ,nai:e, We can
measure the ambient temperature and get Its objective characteristic independent of subjective perceptions, Yet in time
when the warm and the cold. the dry and the moist. the bitter
and the sweet were regarded as objective qualities of thin~s or
even peculiar "things" themselves. it was no small achleve~
ment to emphasise a close relationship between sensually
perceived qualities and the perceiving individ uai. Protagoras
comes to a conclusion that being is mutable and that men
"apprehend different things at diflere.nt, times owing to
their differing dispositions; for he who 15 lD a n~tural state
apprehends those things subsisting in matter which are ~ble
to appear to those in a natural state, and those who are ~n a
non-natural state the things which can appear to those lD a
non-natu'ral state" (Sext. Pyrrh. I, 218).
.
On the evidence of Sextus Protagoras accep~ed dogm~tIc
ally the doctrine that matter is in nux and, relted upon It ~o
account for subjective appearance of thlDgs. Henc~" hiS
relativism was limited and did not amount to sceptiCIsm,
Moreover, the founder of sophistic in fact c~ntended t~at
sensation cannot be at fault. If food appears bitter to a s,lck
man and sweet to a man in good health, if a man wearmg
rags feels cold and another one in warm cl~the.s feels warm,
it does not mean at ali that one of the?,lls right, and ,the
other is wrong. It simply means that 0D:e state reqUlre,~
to be changed into the other. the worse IOto the better
(Platon. Theaet. 167&). Protagoras, as we see, abandons the
who "was the first to mamtam that there Bre two sides to
every question, opposed to each other" (Diog. L. IX, 51)
This thesis which amounts to saying that contradictory
statements about the same thing are simultaneously true
and that it is impossible to contradict appeared absurd
to Plato who commented upon it thus: "I have always
thought it an amazing doctrine, suicidal 8S well as destructive" (Platon. Euthyd. 286b). Aristotle unequivocally
rejected this thesis as incompatible with the law of contradiction., .Conflicting testimonies make it impossible to restore
Protagoras's authentic words, but we can recapture the
meaning of his principle from context. Our purpose can
best be served by well~known sophism Euathlus.
According to Diogenes Laertius, Protagoras made a deal
with his disciple . Eu~thlu~ whereby the latter was to pay him
t~e .fee after wlDDlng hiS first case in a law court. The
discIple. however, was in no hurry to get a case and the
teacher threatened to sue him. Puzzled Euathlus replied
~?at ~~ h~d not won a case yet and had received no fee.
Nay, said Protagoras, "if I win this case against you,
I mu~t have the fee, for winning it; if you win, I must
have ,t, because you win it" (Diog. L. IX, 56). The sophist's
worthy pupil retor~ed: "If I lose, I shall not pay because I
sbhallh be the 10,~er; ,I I win, I shall not pay either, as I shall
e t e w'nner (see Gell. V, 10).
Here
weI have a genuine parad ox: P rotagoras must receive
I
hIseeonyifhei
-Ied to It
- on the other hand
" thl
s no t en tIt
r,ua. us must" pay h-IS t eac h
l y-If'he is not due to pay ,
er
on
TI llS contradiction could
lb"
.
prohibited to
I
on y e elImmated if it were
app y the terms 01 th
Protagoras and Euathl to r
. e contract between
Yet the grounds for S~~h a ee c~s~ Involving both of them.
it takes a serious 10 ical in: re~trl~tlon are not obvious and
lion to it!i source. S~ch inve~~~lga~lOn to trace the contradicin the late nineteenth-earl tlgatI~ns were only undertaken
~ion with the logical analysi~ o~:~tltth cen.turies in connecICS, As regards the soph'sts
Ie oundatlOns of mathematwere an excellent means I to' t leI paradox,es of this kind
con use an Issue, "to make
Sea 1,I~gf'1. VorlesulIgtm iiber dte G
.
Verlag Phlhpp Heclam JUD., Leipzig. 1.978tls~h~~6~er Pllilo8ophie, Band I,
124
,..,-,
'h
"J'
. .
are subject to constant cha
d
was this: If things
that can be apprehended thngt an f it is onl~ the transient
and all opinions varying ~it~ t~ue horm of bemg is relativity
ter and man cannot but be reI e. c ang~ of state of both matapparently extreme relat"
a~lve, fiUld and mutable This
di sf mctlOn
.
mod'fi
'
between the "b IVlsm
tt .. IS d
i ed
yb
Protagoras's
what con forms to and conflicts'
e er an the" worse, " .I,C, betw('f'o
a T~~ d~c~rine of the relativity ~ft~ thel dJcta~es of naturl'
f ~u )eclivlst manner lies at the r t n?w e ~e IDterpreted 110
a se, reasoning, In the heat of 00 0 sophistry as the art of
:~e~l.ng to ,corner their opponen~n n~~g,u~ent the disputants
P Isms, I.e. to the sub"
III requently resort to
~:xible and contradictory J:~i::~s a~~i~ation of objectively
.en well awarp of the differenc b t 0 goras seems to have
e e ween the subjective and
12(;
Inl'
Impossible
the
fOm
(lXlstelt
I
I
I
in speech
which IS not,ldentlcal With external objects : "Speech is not the
real
, and eXistent things therefore we d 0 no II n dIcate to our
nelgh~o~rs the ~x~st~,nt things but speech, which is other than
wh t ' I
'
,
,
,onverse y,
a eX,ls s cannot become Our speech, and without becomin
speech ,It ,ca?not be communicated to another,
g
Gorgl8S s Idea of cognition is so to
k
'
of Protagoras's: every thin ' f I' f
spea, the negative
the latter, The relativismg~; Pr~~a or the former an,d ,t~ue for
Gorgias were the culmination of goras an~ the mh~lis~ ,of
approach to the nf>xibility n 'd' the one~slded, subjectiVist
tori ness of notions reflectin'g t~1 I~ an,d Internal contradicobjecti~e world, In contrast Wit~ t~ea:a~lng and, contradict?ry
. ree
128
k . ly sophists expressmg
Slave-owning democracy
('
a
(>('1
(t
!h('
I
I
13, Socrates
.,
(Diog. L. 11 ,40). Out of 500 Judges 36t votNt for tho doalh
rt'('Oll s trllrllllJ,t tlIP J,tl'lIl1iul' vif'WS of SOC' -atps WI' lUilY sHfeiy
en'd,t him with two important ('olltrib11tioIlS to ptlllo$ophy
Th~' lirst is th,' d,'vl'loP"lI'lIt and (iaboratioll of dl_Ied e~ ~s a
uwth()(1 of illqlliry. Though Surrah's was lIot tlIP author of this
IIwthoci and gavl' 110 Ih('orf'ticai 'xpfJsition of diaif>ctirs, hI'
followl'd a (' Ipar-cut palll'fII of diaif<:tiral r('asolling ane! lail!
ban' his logif fIJI' iatf'f philosoplH'r~ to formalist>. T~II' s('colld
is that Socratl's placpd dialf>fli(:~ at tlu' st'rvic(' of "thir~ ami
undertook to giv(' a grrH'ral d('fJllition of virtm' as a hasis [or
the rational transformation of morals.
On the formal side, Socrates's dialectics rfllisists of iro
ny and mairutics or intellectual midwifery, and on the sub
stantive side, of induction and definition. His irony which ron
sists in asking {fuC'stions in sham ignorance and refuting all
answers is in fact idC'ntical wilh the sophistic method of argu
ment intended to disclose contradictions in the opponent's
statements or views. Yet in contrast with Gorgias who seeks to
prove that knowledgr is impossible in principle. Socratrs only
comes out against false knowledge. Demon~trating confusion
in his interlocutor's mind, Socrates confesses his own inaptitude and invites him to join in a common search for truth.
The ultimate goal of Socrates's irony is to exposC' false claims
to wisdom and lay bare human ignorance so as 10 clear the way
for tr ue knowledge which is expressed in the formula: "Know
thyself." According to Socrates, there is no point in studying
the ph ysica l world as man's power of cognition is far too lim
ited to penetrate the design of the gods. The true subject of
philosop hy is the knowledge of man's own nature. Here
knowledge is not on ly possible, but necessary. His irony is therefore closely link ed with induction wh ich cons ists in the analysi s of different noti o ns of a subject with the aim of arriving
at its true definition . Help ing his pupils in th e ir intellectu a l
bil'th - pangs, Soc rates Ii.ke n.s hi~sel.f 10 a. midwi.fe .(11 transpa~
ent allusion to the maleutl c skdl whefIled b) h1ln from IlI.s
mother: as a result of their dis cussion his interlocutor mlJ~t
~ive birth to wisdom.
,
'
Xenophon and Plato g ive n1l11~erO~l s ~x~mples of ~ocrall's ~
dial ect ics. Inducing his companion Aflstlppus to bnng ou.t ,l
general definition of duty. Socrates sa~'s: " ... TI~e sal~w thl.,~g
may be both good and evi I; ror I C.Bl easily ~u ~ pO~(' , t I~'l I. ",1.11 ( h
is good in the casr or hung(>l' , may be ~vll In .1. [('\~r . !'1,I.l~~
what would prove a cure for the one. will certallll~ In crl,lS(
the malignity of th(' other: and in thr same manner wdllwaut\
I:H
.,
..'
cra S s pro Qun relIgIOUS con\I~ ~llj:"M. 1:1(' J(ods Will ~aullol bl' unravelll'd through man's
"f',t ('('tu8 l'ud'.'8vour, It rpveals itsl'H in proplu.tic siulls
a ('r mill' h l'raVIIl<1'
d'
' ....
I.
f
. '" all approprl8tt-' s8('rirtcE'. Souah's hlkt's
II!! rll(-' mm IIH' ()('Iphil' oracle I and pr,.-,
I)10tlllh'
..
.
,,('!'oS
(-'0-
\ ...
ortliItR tn
l'IHlu',
Ap"/()l(fI til,.
tkol h.
{",tlflllde
I'IIIUlllnr('o Sorral('s
r"",{
I
11~'
.-
"'S,,
lightens him ill the saul(' way as lIP l'llli~htens his IistE'ners.
Yet it is l!lr Illore than mt'rt' irrationalism and tribute to the
orphic tradition, Socratt's's "dlmnll'.' or tl~(-' i.nn(-'~ voice that
speaks t~ him now I\nd thell a.ud J.!\I~dlS 111m In 1~ls COllrse of
conduct is in fact ttl(> lIIalllfcs-tatlOn of the mtensE' and
continuous labour of his thought. As regards Socrates's
referencl's Lo Eros. man's best guide in his aspiration for
beauty as such (d. Plato's ~"!Impll.'~iflm): or to th.e immortal
soul's reminis('t'llrt-'s of the Ollr(' rontt'mplated ultimate truth
of all being UYeno), thl'Y can wl'lIl)(' construt-'d as an anticipation in a religious form of till' Platonic theory of ideas.
Coming bark to tlu' diah'('li('al II1l'tho<l of S()cr~tes, we may
characterise its po."iti\"{' ('Onlf'llt on Ih(' formal Side as a cryslallis<ltioll of sophistil' argul1ll'nts, aneiPllt rhl'toric and the
orlltory of th(' lawcourts. This llH'thod \~'as .still .Iack.ing a
tiwor('tical fOl1nd,ltion alHI SO('fHll's app!Jt'd It primarily to
ethical prohlC'ms, It sl'l off, <IS it Wf'rt" a~ avalanche of episIf'mological doctrilll's and had a POW('rfuillllpact on the sub~e
ql1'lIt dewlopm('nt or (~rppk philo~(Jphy. OIl thl' substantive
"idl', Socratic dialf'rti('s Sh"Wl'd tlwt a gl'IH'rai concept (':ould
onlv hI.' arrin'd al as a r('sult of hard intl'lIl'ctual labour and
that the path of knowlf'dgp It'ililing to d(flllitiolls.was not an
paS\' one. Alongsid(> this. tilf' conviction that uIII\,('rsals arl'
nnl;' opl'n to tht' llIind CilU:-il,d Socralf''' to ('('ga~d .t1ll'm as pro~
ducts of thought and to rOllCf-'lItrah' nIl man s lnn('r world.
This wa .. thl' ('pisll.'lIlnlngiral <I!'qll't'l of hi!' f<\mol1~ dictum
"know tilysC'If."
ThC' dia'IN,tical 1lH'lhod was mainly applit'd hy SO{'fatl's to
.mora! prohl ('illS i\ n d}1l' is trail ilion i\ 11 y r('ga rd('(1 as the fOll ndrr
or;;cientiflc ('thies. Sin(,, no moral asseSSm('llt seemed ~o bl'
possibl(' w;thollt a r('liabl(' crilt'rion, Socratt'S foc~lsed hiS atIt'ntioll 011 til(' gl'lIl'ral nolioll of ... irtllt' and d~flllC'd It as .knowle>dgf'. Ht' tallght thaI it eOllsisll.'d in knowlIIg what: IS good
and acting in <\ceordallc(' with this knowlpdgl For IOstanee.
bravery prl'slippos('s tilt' knuwl('dge of how ~o faee dal~ge~.
jllstic(' th(' knowlC'dg(' of what to do ill relatlOll to the> IIIdll
W('ft' pas....l:'d by Socrat('s for di"ill(' wisdom all oppost'd to the f~bl~nl:':l" of
human mind: "Butlhe truth is. 0 ml:'l1 QI Alht'ns. that God only IS WIse; I'nd
bv his answ('r hE' intE'nds to show thl't "'e wisdom of men is worth littlE' or
n~thinR'; although speaking 01 Socrales.1he is only usiDg ~y Dame by way Df
illustrations, as il.hE'. said. He, 0 men, is '~e wi~st, who. like Socra&es, knDwS
thst his wisdom III In trllth worth nothmj(... (Platon. Apol. 23ab).
{aJ
a,;d
~~~~t'
'"
t;:'ii;:~"I\:~\,I(:;~'(~~(;:~('I~~I':.le~
I Xl
s~ rhl~a~
(i~:~lo~~~I~~d~~
;)r
II
'1fl
137
before death.
All. of them
saw th(>ir task in (..,t~ti".\,',',Ill,
ll'lf
"
'".
.... '
g\h'l'
an
let III a sociC'ly Wlll'I'(> ')iO'" a 1 (aSSt',;
'I
I d preac h IIlg
. .Virtue,
.
al~bi\'al~nt.
cla,:;~ mO~~li:r.:
oPI~re:;sed
?own~rodden,
l~
and
but could not propose an wa
to Impro\:e their pOSition as there was no future for l~
~s
slave society.
elll In
In, i~s ethical teaching the Cvnic school conl"nded that
man s 'own
od" h' I
.
possible ind go d'
IS, lappllless consist~ in the maximum
('pen el~ce ~om the chances of the oute l' world
ft~~~~a~\~IY ~hreatenlllg hiS pr.op~rty, health, freedom and life
cienc~' 'W~~C~l ~~~leo~rodness I~ 1I11ler freedom and self-sufflbecoming indifferent ~obse ~lta.lIled ~ suppressing desin's and
the Cynics contrasted }~a~~I~e~~' of ether with the sophists
taught that all social institut"
to aw ?n(~ custom. Th<,y
tiona I, opinions are false and lions ar.e artifiCial and cOl.lvenvirtue and vice in the
. ead a\\ay from true hapPllless,
:\ahlr<' ha~ defined m~~~v~ntlOnal sense are but empty words.
rue
virtuous i'f he satisfies \ h
nee1s an.d his life can only be
qualities. The Cynics reso~m ane stripS off al1 his social
luxllfv and ex',
utely came out against wealth
pr(>ach'
.
I
'
.
. I' vagance
lIlg s ~mp e
li ving
an d moderate toil co nduciv ' h
stre ngth of body and so I e ~ t e peace of mmd and to the
rejected the traditional ur~ l ~~ honest poverty. They equally
cxisten('c of onlv one
d Ig\OUS teachings and asserted the
otll(>r gods as th'e prodgOt' t,\~ world's mind, regal'ding all
II
lIC 0
custom"
owever, the Cy ni cs press d tI . .
far. Together with extrav
e
le( appea l to " natul'e " loo
tal to ooth body and so~f~;~~e an( artificial wants detrim enrI'alll(>(>d:; distinguishing him a~ :Is.o .t l.lrew ove l'l)o81'd man's
and alt(>~lillg' to historical
c lvlltsed m('mb('I' of society
tr,rl(
. J IIPlIIselves
1
of all progr('ss
so . I b of mank'III d ,an(1 ('ven tried
. cIa
onds whatsoev(,J", common
Frf'tjprirk Fn"pl,
OL
.
"
. 1-/
,,1u"rtn~.
p. 117.
Mc('ncy inrlu, ve l>i"gf'IIP~ ("tht' Dog") wa!'o not shy of relicving nature in sight of a ('fowLi and, according to Diogenes
Laertills, had a "haoit to do ('vprything in public, thl' works uf
Oemctl'rand of Aphroditf' alih" (Ding, L. VI, 69). Crate:' and
HiPP<.lrchi<.l scandalis('(\ thf'ir fpllow-citiZE.'lls by op('niy
making love in til(' city sqlHlre. Th(' Cynics took pride in thpir
freedom from society and ('on tempt of all conventions, held
a sharp tongu<, in high esteem and wen' not slow to r('sort to
foullanguag<, and cast abuse at anybody-the reason why the
word "cynic" has acquired a defl1litely negative meaning in all
European languages. Yet the same Oiogenes bitterly resented
the existing social order IInder which people competed in
pushing one another into a ditch instead of comp<'ting in
goodness and kindness. lie ridiculed noble descent and glory
calling them a cover of vicco He sacrificed to the gods a louse-the only benefit he received from them ... He was a tender,
considerate and tactful tutor of the children in his charge
who returned him great love and affection. Crates was said
to be a "kind sOlil" and an "opener of all doors," enjoyed the
reputation of a "philanthropist," a lover of people.
To account for these sl'etllingly incompatible qualities, we
must take into consideration the social standing of the Cynic!'
and bear in OIind that cynicism was essentially the philosophy
of the lower strata of society. The CyniC was in fact an outcast
who had no place in society and, for his part, turned his
back on it. The fruits of civilisation and enlightenment were
not for him. He made a virtue of necessitv and returned to
a state of nature, living like a savage or an a'nimal. The Cynics
had no future and the sum total of their life was universal
nihilism. In this co nn ection one cannot but draw a paral\l'l
between cynicism rind cer tain ideological trends of the twentieth centur y bl'ollght to the su rface by the crisis of modern
capitn lism. Indeed, the past few decades provided a numbcr
of strik ing illustrations to the stock phrase "extrClllPS meet":
righteous indignation against bourgeois civilisation has not
infrequently assumed outrageous forms, such as vag ranc y,
parasitism, dcbauchery. addiction to drugs, t('J"I'OriS]ll, and
become no Icss destructive and (lilli-humanistic, than the evi ls
of capitalism it is dil'ected against. There may well be new
Diogenes es , Cralcses and I-lipparchias among the modern
extremists ... Their fCI'YOlII'S I(';ld 1I0whel'c and are as steril(' as
the ostentat ion s bravado of the unci('nt Cynics.
The Cynic school came into being in th(' epoch when it wa::;
still, impos:o;ibJe
to'OH'fstcll
lh(' bo,,,,.I,.,,[."I'
,
'
..
.'
~.l\P-OWl\ln
('t~.:\ sin\{' "regamlng Id
IllS freedolll, h(' it !'\'I'li II
I g so(,]
Iroll/{lU'
C('SS [III upflslIlg.
cou
only
'II
. bl'COIll"~ "' S,I",1\ I'-OWIU" sucI
a,Sl,ro k-(' 0 [ I lu.ck a f,feE' Illan could always hecoIIH' a sl- f: 'y
\\as
the casf' with
DlOgenes
captur('d h". II1(' plratl'"
. ,'\1.',
, ,
[
..
'
Th.as
\\as
'", II, pr"'tm
I"' r lr('
.. no vway out
d 0 1Il1s \'ICIOIiS circlc ('\""Ill
,~,
h
SPIrit, rl un er thE' contemporarY s()ci-II cond'r '. I) t e
Ilia I ~reedom could not but turn' i;lto <clOWlli:lIOl~S Illlel,I(>('.
~a~.s ~n<11
inJfvf~~!fmpt
,
1I,\lCS i'lsserted that the ff
,'"
' {'x tiS l~mplrlCIJS the
amI wI'rp infallihll.' butof tl~(' ~tl011S ilIonI.' wl.'r(' app rch~;\ded
tlOn~ 1wn(' was ~Pllr('lH'tlsibllll\gs ~hat had cHus{'d the affec"~dll'r{'r froll1 v('rti"o of " ' I' (> Ot' Infalliblc_ "just as 'ho
!lIOI r
,'"
J' UIH tCI.' rl.'C{'i
.'
.
v{'s a ye l lowish impr('s' I rom ('V(>rylhlll<Y and 'hn "', IT
1111,1{" I
d
1'>'
,- .... I ('n'r fr
I
.
II
H d( ',~('( " an
hl' who P"SIH'S his ('v~, .' I ,om op llhalmia se(>s
III I IU) f' IInpr('ssioJ1 ... And in tili'" !-OI( t Wayi'. gNs IlS it w('rc
I 'rrlng about Our own A.ff(' ,.
,WHy, wlu.'rt'as w{' H're 'Ill
c lOllS, as r~'gards. tl11.' {'''t('rnal r('al
<
'"
Theodorus
.. t PH'S(,rll"
.
.
. d was quoted as. savinO"
. ' 1">.that ''111 "',
(1,1
aft' b ase on common oplIlIon whJ('h is nothing {'I:-it'
. s
lhe cons('nt of fools. Thert" is
11lIuhhl,
~,
,.,rrracehd a.s 'SUI.' I"
1. a wise man, ac{'ordin,r
., ' rlt orI dis.
m . I
d'
,.. {
H'llt OI"IIS
a~ sea an . commit . ad~'It('ry cHId sa('rill'.~t'. if s :'
aets are. condUCive
to Ills JOY
. ('th
. III- h.
I
. . Hefe thl' C.~ rl'I\<lIC
COIll:!'! ,cry C ose to the moral tlwory of the CYnic..; "I(,S
atheism of Theodorus was ('videnth' of tI, :
,. 1 hI'
and b '1 d d
.
l(
S<BIl(' anill
.. ?I e own to rejecting traditional
Ilolyth '. ,..:
rldlclllmg the believers.
('Ism .\11(1
. The dialectics of hedonism brought the C
..
nothin(~
d)lrec~
th~ln
th~r~n<~'~~ ~o the
I ' . I P 11 oso~hy.
b~~~~~s;~~e~'~~\P~rf~ct, ha~pines!'
t~~
a~tive
sn
&~'
wa~
- -0......
.., ft la ,
':!.\,
of tl](' phy~iololot('r~'
"principll'~" of .
till' unin'l'~t'
.
"'\'1 II (1,\. IIlall_.
\"{' Ir .d.C'termmalr. .:;ubstanc('s.
Thl' 1ll,,,lru.-;t of ~tI('h III"
. I
I
.
.
'
lnnp ""
gre\\ 11\ proportion to I H'II' Illcrea..;lIl<'r
,I,\!'I'sll\"
..
1"1 Illllllhl'r 'l!lfl
<
,.0 t Ilat b011
and
.. '
I Ih(> phliosoplH'rs .
. tht' - plIhlic lill'dl'
' ~ ('arnt'
to r(>J;!an
I f 3" prQ(I IICts of rI('h lIlHt"ltwtioll
, . ,\"',.,.,
. nIl(' I
1 III
. I tWill
I hl.',m;Hln~r, n my~h-" rather than,~" ,-;olln<l ,,('i('lltiru' nolio""
Till pr('\-~lilll~ allltllcl~ to I,h(' P()~ltl\"{' philo",ophif,ll do('t['ill{,~
of the tl,l1H:' was epltom,,,e<1 III Ari..;lophan('s'" immo 1,1
('omrdy (loud,';,
r ,\
I~O\\,(,VN, tilp scepticism that follow('d
r.rth c('ntul"
('nlt~ht('I.ln1('nl \\'a~ not a hlind alII'Y. but a sl('pping stOIl(' t~
it r.H'\~
of philosophiral thought. The' problrtlls faring
rI":
philosoph)
~f
21~alttatl\(,
al~d
tIll'
PART TWO
r.LASSICAL GREEK f'IIILOSOPIlY
In Lieu of inlrodu("!ioll
a;n
II 7
II
\
l)olltl(,l.1~ op~on(,lIts
in
,I
l{'C<lIIH' II !"pi!"ll r
g-on'rntlle n l in thl' fourth ('('!lIllI'" S' ,"I,
.
'
onH IIf
..;uccumb to the rule of hrH't' ".1," .' It I ~ wa." tht' 1i!'!'1 to
I
I' .
. < 0 soon lWg'1I1 t
I .
t It' po ltl('al S{'('Il(' in till.' wholr of C "
1'1'
() (Om lll ale
fourth cl'lltury knowll in hislor\' as ' ~,~~~,l'A 7 :l' :yran!~y of the
W,I~ hrollghl aboul by the di.;; i!; , .. ' g( 0 till' ,I yrallt~"
and till' contradictiOilS of tll,'", I,lg l 'll tHHl of I,ht' 1)OIIs s\'s lf'1ll
,
. d
- , Ie ~ a\'t'-0\\1I111<7 ' " '
plopt!'rlll' , cJa::-ses ..::Iro\'''
to " S,=" "I 'III 0['( I PI' to ~ SN
II\{'
~..
,I lt'ly:
1I
and retam their wealth and
r i\'il' I . c~Jt) Ie yoor
wh{'rea~ the poor looked fol'\\" ~
(g{'(
SOC ial POSltlOlI,
would h('lp them in the
a i d t~ a st rong lIlall \\ ho
('con.olllic and social ri h~~ll~ l e a~~ m ::-l tilt' ric h fo r .lht'ir
soldlNs, banked 0 'hg
e l~ I. ants, often pI'ofesslOn al
n
e
'n
I I
I
co .... tradictions between the Ie
,(
a\,('( on the
with one 01 [hem, now with-' agues oJ .~I l ~s la t('s 5 1, ing now
patronage of Persia 0 '1 'dnother or even r('sortl ng to the
"
~ .\ ace on,
Th
e t) ranllles of DlOn\'<;iu<; I
d D'
,
,
Jason of Pherae' Th
'I' .
an
lonyslUS II III Sicilv,
_
111
essa y the
. P
.!"<
,I, .
".
>
('h,,1"'" J
\nci('ut
t.
"
\tomism: from I~('U('lppU"
tti~loricllI
..
' '1
AtonHSIIl
and wid,'ly
Stoic and the IH'()-I'atnrll~ elm"l "hl'fon' tltt, Tn)Jan \\'ar.
d
illl philo~opher '\lodw .. \\ ho Il rl" .,1" ,I.,. philr. .. qph\", Tht'
' .,
',.1 'I'" tht> f nun I
.
,
i,t'. III tU1H' IIItUll'lllOrr. ,"
'1
" I l l ! a COIllP')IIi.'llt parI
I'" "no\\ n 1I
alol1ll~lI(' t Ilt'OI".~ I'f untlt'l'
.'.
:, I t ,.\ hin" in .-\nt'it'IlI I n,j.la,
or th(' \<li"('''lk<l phllo~()phl("1
t. C,.
-,f ,I, ar"lImt'nt~ ad.
" I", til(' 'lIh"'t'llIllil l'lIIt
_
For all it~ OI'Ig'I!1<I I y.
.: ",'.' I Ihi .. ('irnllll,"'tann'. ILIgt'tlwr
\'<~nc('d hy th(' (.n:l'k all~Il~L'-'\'''''I:::~a h~ill'hing i,.; hardly (Ildl'~
WIth Ih(' filct IIt"t I l l l :
,.1,1'
~\)nw ~dltll.Ir"
. I
' . Bel'" i\l'('nUlI.l l
.
than Ill(' IllIr( ('(,1I1111~ "1''-'"
,
II",,'\'H'I' tlw illH'h'lIl
"
f I '.
\11'\ IIIIIUl'lIC(,
'
, ,
COIl('I'pllon 0 111'11 11111,
,I' I" hI IWI'Illit .1 ,l\'lllllll'
,
.
l ' 't'''''
"" 1(111 .. till I I
' . ,
(,\'I{lt-ntl' \\(' p( ~~"~,
. I '" "~'I Wit(111l .\IonH~m ;1 .. ,\
"
"
cOile I II~HIII
, I ~" ' II \\ho h,ll'!'O\\t'l
I IIIII 'I rt'''' ' Iw ~OHIL' ,\"1;\ I I
,
.,' I,d in I II' 111111 t' , 1 . : ' ,
.,' .
doctnnl' WiI"; ,1( 1 II I
I
,"
. " IWI"lfllL' i\ ";l'll'nllllt
"
" I ""I
I' I I III()' 1'1'11 1111\'...
I
l )hllo~OI)lll(,lI
.'it IOII~, I
I"
('t'lIllIl'\
.1111
I.
I, , 111 \11' IIllh tI
,
I\rPOl'Y Ihal Ino" ~ I,IPI
I"
Il IIl lti 'lh'd fl)l'llI, illl
..
"I I
'Ih\,,,,
Ih,IUI!I 111 ,I
,
II
1'1'1I1i\11I!'i II
111\\\, ( ' , ,.
' , . , " " '"
lIt till' \\'111'"
f ,hI' "'{''''ll I H I ,
I
I
ililPOI'I,UlI (' \tIlI'1I
II
1" I I '
it'hl'" ,thOIlI Ihl' flll't'H!1I
\\'halt'\'I'l' , till' I'\'~ult~ II
.,1',,: ill;'(lIlII'(I\\'rlibl~' thill till'
.
'Ill
1\l1L'
('illl
..
, I
.,
I
f
f."
",,,1,
"'"I'l'
OIUI~,
,
...
'lIll\ ,III ,)fIl!l 11,1
'"
,','II I {<I"'I,k .. \\,.., 1111
,
"
... nUI'('I'''; II
-.
iI
,1OS(,(\ at {"\fljl-'
,numNOUs
I I questions
.
t : - ;,t,<Igl's"
ts roo! .
Into "t H' oman
and Pvth'I"Il'I"
' . 'as wl'lI
s {{n -dpep
, .phYsics
'
. <... ClllIsm.
t h(' spec I! allOn!". of till.' Ell'atie school u I I
a,s ntt)
the lif,th century, Atomism was ('ontPrll{'d 1~:'it~ll~h ph~'SI(,s 0'
o~ bemg and \"old. (':.. i~tl'nc(' alHI I'
{' P,roblems
dl~('rslty. divisibility and qualitv .1IH'r~~t{'f' tlllIt.,. and
0,
t' [
diffH'ulli('~I~\~: nlh~~IO.1l
i' . .
"t'
,
I'11111 II" iI f" " II' ""I"IOU"
"
[ I{rl"ll. I " ,\"
,- ) AII("1'1I1
1 ,1/1 n
, pra('ll(,lIl wisdom.
FI ,.
r,
',I
0:11'
Ie
consist~
o( 11IC111t'r?
,lOi' .
n'asnnlllgarH
pond('r('d.likl' Ilt'mot'rHus. Sf' I ' IH' " 11Ilt' .hlpr.S l'rs
.,
I' apOrl,lS
,lg'illllSI rnultilutiP'. if ., I, ( "~I,
.,I, ,.
.
,
. .L" ( ".
1\ lilt 'I . ,on'r
~. hng('
HUlllhrr of part'"
,I,
' I' .
Ii",, ,
b",,'"
,;a
rw'
,,
('Olltra('\~
~I;-I ,iiI)
or
thl'lll aparl,
Tht' <Iclmi~silJll of \'oit! alsol'lilllinillt'clIIH' IIiffl(:u1til's fa('illg'
,I
,TIl(:
paradoxl:'s against mowment" TI1 r '.
e( by Zl:'no s
lit'vt, that LeucipPlls and Democ'rilIl : (', IS good reason to beby rl:' . . orling to the notions of' _-.' ~,\Olded th:se paradoxes
tinw and mOWIll('nt. The;
".HII\IS~ble fructlons ,of space,
the \'i(>wpoint of anc' t' e 1.lOtlOll!;, Ilicompreh(>nsible from
modern concepts of q:I~I~ti;c\e~cl;', cOi~l(' v('ry close to the
Democritlls was bound . e( space, tllne and motion,
for the differences'of fi
.t? I~lah . . Ollll;' attempt to account
ulomic composition r~: all, \\~ter and eart.h in terms of their
"e]('ml.'nls" was dl.'e' I ,l'tl:l ce t le conceptt~n of the four
lion, DI'"rribing theP ;to!~~~~;! I~~ G.~l:'ek phllo!".ophical tradilIwy have Il('ver explailwd in'd \ 1~t'S, A,rll'ttotle \\Tote: "But
(>ll'mE'nts, ex('ept so far al'; to 11 eta; th(' shapes of the \"arious
and the r('st they disC'
. \ ot t H' sphere to fire, Air, water
g
atom" (I)e ,-aelo III' ;,n "OI3S ed by the relativl' size of the
..;
,
. I, 3 a) Acco l'
J) I'mocntus explained the mob'I"t
f I"( IIlg to other ('vide-nce,
smulln(>s:-; and roundne<:!; TI I I yo the atoms of fi l'e by thl:'ir
"
I"
'".
lC atoms of fl',
.1'1' ('II 11(' In shape
ll)n',
I'ff
.
.' II, water and earth
-.
, " r ( I ('rrnl
41l!'tlllctlOns bNween II
I
Sizes accollnting fol'
,
le e enH'llts Th' I
HILI) 011(' another
but e' I, I"'
a OIllS do not turn
n.....
'
\'o\'el'omal'I'>1
, .I~S as separat' elements C-' g
I a g( . If't('rogC-'lleou!'.
,!,pvlIlg the illusion of JIlulI;all' l'~lrt I ;)1l~1 all' from water.
As WE' S,(, i
.
.
r.1I1S ormatIOn.".
. ,n cOllstructlllg thl' lIllin'r,,(' I)
"'PPIll lo Il('ed anyll,',no I) I I
.
('mornlus doe!' not
I
,., 1I a oms and II r
\
I raw togNhN, set lip an ('dd" u'll b' '. 0 lon, ,,10\'ing atoms
.
I (
(gin to Iw "orl('d out in
d{,t{'rmini~rn
pl't':-ient
.... cOIl
1'[1'H'II I'
.
.'
".... ilit,I'I,I,I (I
liPS I I
wa.'" IIll'rr rOllC('ptlon of tilt' mpch'\/tis", [
"I' 1111'1'11. whal
>rI'II-'
.
1l{'aIlSall\")TI
' .'
II' rno~t
1) () M ) t. V('r.'iJOIi (,OIlW'" fro/ll tht' I'"I I 41 [ I !'lllt~-1
I 1'1ll0('rllus as rpfC'rring' 10 till' "I'I' Wr" -.,' ~ \\ In qUolI's
hlow of _Illilth>r" (I ~. -.
'),)) .
t I (IlSSlfIIl. llIotilll l '\[,.1
..
IS 1/1 prl1n'ls J! . '. .
I,'"',,
nt'('I'SSI!Y" ,"pI"
.'.
. ,. '.
C;lUs{'
,.-;
.'
I H'
_. ,Is ,\ slatl'llIt'1l1
[
.
0
"II' (OIlIlO,laIIOIi to il:
OhVlOUs
("111'
<
st;' \\ I 1 rIP('t''';''II' ,
I
Ittl(.'i to .....'\"('nll IlllllOrt"", "')" . '
.. ~. ,\Ilr this
TI'
.
,
. . {qllt'nct's.
.
H, fi~ . . t and th(' mo:-;t .'iignilk<lllt of I,
'.
.
materialist dl'h'rminio;ll' ,,[ '" ' ' til' t It III IS thl' dptllal hr
'II
. . 1)JIlPIgt'IH'('l/-,
'
\\or (. Accordtng' to Apli . . 11
1'1
1<1 mO\'I'~ tilt.'
world to h(' al1imat(' and ~~''''';~'Il(,II) \1 os~~pIH'.I"~ Iwlip\"('(1 tht,
. '
.'I, n seu'net' " ..,.,
' . I I
,In 1'\'1'111. 1.1'
,I"
""
.
'
s "I{'\l'a Ill' C<IUSi' or
' . )\\ IS Ill'Cl'SSII\ S'
.
.
'. " '- 1111'(' (".-'f'I'\,lhlllg O('('lIr..;
IIV nl'I'ps..;it\" thl"
.""
11'1.'1 no such 1hi 11.1 ' , ,I
.'
,
'
.
s~'ns", I.P. as sOllll'lhing tl ' t I"
.1." ( lal~('I' III an obj('('tiH'
.
1,1
1,1.'1
flO
{"'liSP
(I
'
, 1\,1' nollOfl IIs('d IIll'r ,I 'I I
.
< , . , lan('1' IS a suhj{'('"
[
,
(
)I) (1'1I0\(' '\II ('\""
t ' I
(,IU~('O,I.I',nothinfl 1- tl
'
I \\('(Ollol kllow (he
'" p,';('
lan an P\I""'~"""
'
" II( ' p.
.~S
II () [I lilmall Igno-
or
t.,
"
11\I'OIlIg-IlI"II'
prOporllfltlatp al)d ado],lIill;' "II 'I' 10~1: 11\;(1\1111-{ II slIlooth,
"111'1
-'.
.... \\1 1 (00111')' '1'1
,
I nllll'l.'-'lIl f';I/l Ill' IIlllltiplit'd. hilI all r' I ' II' 1'\;II.lIpll's of
o I II III IOII.";I'IOIISI,\' 01'
U[J('flllSI'inusly illlllrl' Ihl' t,le l thaI IJPlIlO('ritlls did lUll r('l'fll{niSI' a("('idL'III;11 1111)\'1'1111'111 of ,IJI' ,II'IIIIS and Iheir "randlllll"
f'()lIIhinalinll illio ordl,rly 'lhjPI'ls. hul held IhM tIH>Y WPr{, suhjt'('\ to Ihl' law, or allradioll of lik(' 10 lik,,_ _
'
This 1'011('1'1'11011 was wpll kflown 10 IllI' plillosoplw'al pr,,('ursors of 1)l'llIm'ritus, bill hI' 1(1\'1' it a III'W inll'rprf'lali fll1. ()Il
lilt' {'vicll'lj('" of S('xlus i':lJlpiri('IIS, j)PlIIonitlls taught that
"Iivillg {,[,p;lIII]'''S l'flll~f)]'1 wilh tlll'ir kinfl, as dOH'S with lion's,
and ('I'<\IIf'S wilh Cralll'S, allil silllililrly with Ihp rpst of till' alii
mal wMld, So il is wilh inanimal{' tilings, as Ofll' ('all SI'!' wilh
lh<' sif' .... ing of s('Ptis and wilh Ihl' pphhlps 011 bpad]('s. III Ihl'
fOl'lll('l', throllgh Ill(' I'irl'lI]alion or Iht' sip\,(" bpalls arE' sPpilral
('Ii alld ['allgl'd with I)('an.", harll'y-grains with barl(,y, HllIl
wheat with whf'at; ill tlJ(' laU('r, with thp TIlotion of the waw,
oval pf'bbles art' IlrivPII 10 lilt' salll(, pla('(' as oval, and 1'011 luI 10
round, as jf lilt' similarilY ill IIH'St' things had iI sort of PUWI'],
OV('I' thI'IH which had hrollghlllH'llllogl'llH'r" (OK fi8 B Hi'!).
Simi],l!' ('vidt'llc(' for J)(,lIIo('fitlls'S vi{'w~, if only not so colourfill, WI' ha\"(' from Tlu'opilrasills, ])io/.!f'IH's La('I'tills, lIippol~'
tus and AI('xalld('1'. As rpgards Ilw formatioll of (lnit'rly
inorganic bodi('s. J)l'IlIO('l'illiS was far ahpad of his til11(, and his
doClrinp might \H'II ha\'1' rankpd wilh ~omt' nll'chanisti(' ('011ct'pts of till' nillt'il't'nlh (,l'lItllr~', as, for install!'t', til(' "law of
agrl'gation" ill Spl'IH't'r's Iht'MY of l'volulion of whiC'h it is
highly rl'minisf('lll.l
TIl(' pidul'(' of thl' IInivprsl' jlail1tl'd hy Dt'lIlo('filus t',t'lIIpli
rips a simpl(' jU.'I:taposition or nl'('t'ssit~' alld dIilIU't': ortit'rly
hodi{'s (,0111(' about hy 1It'('pssity as a rI'suit of h,lphalil['tI collisiol1!-; and rpcoils or Ihe atoms, If his vision of lht' world WPfI'
to h(' r\l's('ril)('d ill Il'l'ms of IllOdl']'n ~('il'lIn', tht' law of slali~li
('al rl'gulilrily wOllld prohahly Iw lilt' f'lo!-;('st nppro\imatioll.
lIow('vl'r, 1)['O('I'('ding frolll his IlH'challislk tlH'ory of callsality
wilh it!-; rigid alIPrJlativl' of dIiIllC(' or lH'n's~ily, 1ll'lllOl'I'illls
I'Pjl'ctpd Lill' fOl'1lll'r in favour of Iht' latiN, Contrary 10 tlia]('('ti('al 1]l'll'l'Iliinislli will. its ('ollccplioll of fhaIH't' as ;I form of
lII<tllir('slalifl(l flf IH'('I'ssily ;\1]([ as ils complt'lIIt'JlI. III(' Ollt'
sidt'd ilnd "Will)([('II" dl'tpl"lIlillism of Ih'lIIol'rillls ahsollllisl'd
1I('ct's"ity, 111('l'l'ily IlIrllinj.! it inlo ils opposi\l' and rt'dIH'in.l{ In
til(' Slilll~s of dlill;f'I', 111111'1'11. tilt' 1II1ivt'rs(' Ht larg" is conel'ivl'd
by 1111' alomists ilS Ililvillg 111'1'11 prodll('pel by ('ham'('. wli"r"iI'"
"0111' world" has 110 olhl'r I'\plallalioll hili lilt' law or calls;liil)".
.,
",'
human activity. The problem of freedom underlying any 8Ihical theory lay at the root of disagreement betweeo DemOCritaa
and his follower Epicurus who was to develop further the doctrine of atomistic determinism.
4. . . . . . Ibe ....ecwy of' KaowJedge
me
an
~~~sa:=:~tr~~t:i:: i~g:'ariUdi
~hUs.;
fa~liD~~:ce
still
othe~
.ts.)
o_
. "
108
what
ceive
finer
As
g_
Uoertod
tha~
,..
riw vl'''''
AccordiDl to Democ',
dependence GO chao" (is &hi'
d of one'. OWD conulou.
ste~ made pouible DO\ 0Dl,. ."
ty .. but also b,. the .fmDIl
ture,
Ioml,
i.e. the
cus
the modern
not reducible to.
erposes Intelligence ~
\he
lor
mao's stupidit.y he op8BI
wa,.
cept of necessit.y.
f do'IIl I I .......
DialecUc delin. rea
ujecL
sions ,,:ith knowl~3:mc:.;::.tD fM\
sharp-slghtedness
how
derstands necessity and knOWI
is well aware of the fact chat. it. ..
thing, as even a good
~
valorous maD may suler a
case knowledge ud .W will
water is useful for maD,.
ful, for there is danpr of
therefore been tnvent.ed,.
To be sure, Dewucn&el
freedom as recognind D~".
towards the dialectical Mlutloa of
on ~he role of "nOD
~.::
conjectures.
&1M
consideratioRs.
freedom paved
the nature of .buma
make another atep in \be
antithesis.
-=
':0
10
acee
loa
gods were
beheld Ibe
lightDiDp,
ecUplel of
.h.
to
IS,
was
a~
accoun~~
of certain myths
traditional
or lca events and human experience F
.
int~rpreting the myth about Athena "Trit~ge~;i~..~stabni::e,
tlm:l').
maintained that the goddes!i
~:~~ond,catlon of Wisdom with it!i thrN' abili ties, to t l;ink
e . to speak well and to act well (see L 822) A . ' I
e'(plan 1 " '
.
.
sImI ar
cilance\:'o~ was gl\'e~ by De~ocritus to tlip con ception of
;Ich, accordmg to Aristotle, was viewed by him as
De~lOcritus.
\\~8Sor~
t)
""
contenUnent or well-beiDI and recommends avoidiol "extremes-submission of individual to the need. of &be
state on the one hand and neglect of public aO.ira. on &be
other: "To good men, it is not advantageous that they sbould
neglect their own affairs for other things; ror their private
affairs suRer. But if a man neglects public aRairs. be Ie
ill spoken of. even if he steals nothing and does no wrona"
(L. 737). Consequently, the right way to achieve contentmea.t
is not to avoid participation in public or private affairs, but
rather to observe measure and keep well within one's powera.
Living in turbulent times, Democritus regarded participation in public affairs. punishments. contradictioDs between
the rich and the poor, the masters and the slaves as unavoidable evils and recommended dealing with them on the priDei
pie nf the golden mean which he also considered applicable to
such moral categories as friendship. mutual assistance. devotion. and the like. The Democritean ethical theory safely
eVldes both the sophistic immorality and the Socratie alJso.
lutisation of moral prescriptions clearly demonstratiDR
the most characteristic feature of all ancient philosophy.
its contemplativeness. Exalting well-being and cheerfulness
IS the goal of ljving and seeking to keep emotional disturbance to a mhtimum. Democritus did not see in philosophy
a meaDS of changing tbe existiog society-his aim was only
to explain it.
6. ...... D
lLilt!,M
.,
ing, nor do
ing" (Sext.
starting point
garding the
Besides
expounded
wrote Th,
The HlItorll
Anaxarchua
sopher and
Owing to
the trulh
Tradldoa
....... --.
mons philosophical
and eno H 'ever no less obvious .AI
b " us " " .
ytb 1....._ 1
h \IOtraditiulial religiOu8-m ~I~--'
Ie
.
. dealism The launu.,"
dE" 'eloPIR~e~ of obj~tive Idealism.
~'ho~e ~~:I reaction to t.he atomistic
~~:uOggh Plato never mentioned the
was clear already t.p the ancie!lta
. sion was not on'y the hostihty
fm: but also the nderst.andiol
I~:t~h himself agai at t.he prince
L. IX. 40). Moder .
dialogues reflected ~18
and at the same time
opponent's
.
which surraced m
of open
materialism
and religion.
provided the
its banner in
f
Ibt
ERH.\TL,\l
bot tOm
mllin"
SIIOVL
DREAD
"t)'
il I nOa,1 . I II ,iliaciI.'''
3S"
. ('I'eral
. air.)
I.Ialy UIlU . ,,,-387 PI
j1
Plato
\'I.!,
ed
wndly relat'IOns
e c est'J.
- -
".'IL'
. k'
. 0
liS llIo\hpr PI"
,t
.1 IIl'imilll alltl rrit'lId, [s "
Ilf 10111' earnp from
~I a t 0 .S rl'al II'l1llt'
I .0011 I l(' hlllOIl' \t'
.
_,. \ . '
S..
11'1110111 law"i\,l'r
"
I,
)~
,\\,IS
fls\ork,,'
I I
.111.( _ II'
o~n'd
..
.
.'11{' lIi1Jllt'
Ill!'an", hl"o<\(isholl\,It'fld
~ 10 hiS ,Ilhl!'llc hU111 (pllllyf
'\111I'1I;.\IIs In'rt' lab' '" or ~tOIlI), lIi~ falllily and 1IIIII"r
. ,
r (r1\I'U nlll of \",'
,
"
,tilt I rd~lrll('fl 10 .\11l{'I1~,
' l ... lIliI J)" I H' Spartan~
'0
~Iot>d
i~
" t
\1"
.,II' " lllrlll'd ,rar.wd\'
Ill' "., lH!'~s"(1l
.,'
It' \ullng 11Ot'!
\\"1'11
t' [
"~I ~I'
"
'Yo It>
;\' I n II ,.,
II
')~oph\",'
,II
"I'
U~
I'
him~I'lf
alo F,,','
hr~1 IIW\ ''" "rral!'~
'
hi!llirl'
ahtllli ~n7 'It I ,.
,[ S' '
I' IIKhl ),I'ars I\{' Wj',
[' 1I Ill~ nll'\'Iilllol' lurnf'd
I orrah-.. 81) 1 I r
' UII{' 0 tli'
ahllull'l
)":1'11'
t ,A.tIIl'IIS lIfh'r hi~ m':stIllO~1 dl'\"(lI .... {1 pupils
.
1\'1'1 1 1 1 M '
., I'r S {'xI'r"t
"
IUlla.I'ril\' , . ,
('gara and ,It
'
HIli, 1'01'
_, I lilt" S{'\'I'ral 11'-IpS abro<lll
,j
1'1' a shurt q
. ' ,"
',
I
.}O\
a~ III liS
, II o)O,13S7 Plalo \'it,
Ii:' ,I'
toe
t1;e E
IS problem is CO
I
ruet from h
!LneftN With uttl'm
f
the ~onlen~ oe scaue~ed remain.~or Plat"'~ PIII)~~oIU~oml' seh?IHt"l!. 10 r~eol1st.
tiall, diff. r,P,lato s oral learlling ('luiult'd P""
d .'IOUII' 11IflL~ III Anslolir,
<ren rom hIS w 'tl
d'
' " ullr~'a'onabl'
I
come into prominen
rI en . 18IoJ(UI'~. III re~etl
y.lo It' "~~l'lI
Plo.to. Th~ Wrltt~n ce a.;'~iJve.n rIlle 10 I'XlenSive liler!lyeor(s Ih" ~uhjl'('1 ha,
197<1). Wt' Ilrt' inclfnn
I'IWfI.111'1l Dor/rllll's, Routled ure W(>J.N. Findlay.
(''IOteric doctrine
ed. to thHlk, though, thai lh~ .ge and Pllul, London,
di~ciples in the AC:~:~ h(' J,ad on(' and r('~('ated :~~o~ta"ce of Plalo's
for a Irend toward
y. nI'l' ."01 be Overe~hmat"d: be' n y to h,~ c1o~est
it could hardl . Ita s math('matl('.al pr('!'nhHion
IIIg notable mainly
f'xplicitly stat;d inv~h~('Pd",ted from the ba~i(' pri,,('rp~~:so,Plh'irJlI ('onfepL~,
la oi'U's.
. 0
'" Ilh,JII.'l<iphy
"
'"
0' .
fir illeas
:~t~i~;rt~:'i!~~~.i:l~e~~~i:~nd~nn~\:~~ G\~~~:Ii.~e
~oes
Uislt
image which
not
"appearance' even "external
,..
I S primary meaning was
b
d ' . .
appearance, I,e. the visible image of an
o Jeet, an It IS 111 thl~ sense that the r('laled word 'd
d d
I
used by Plato. Yel in his philosophical dOClrine ~ tl 0$ an. I eo. were a so
dlnerent meaning.'!: the external appearance, the e~~~~('Y hrl' a~.least three
the mmd only, and it~ l.eleological principle. The'e m~en~nan 0 ject o~en. to
cld\' III a concrete notion a~ under~lood in diall'cticar I ~s cahn onl) comi! b~ thl' old term "idea". In thl' historico-philo~o h~IC w leh denot('s
F.nRh~hspeaklnR counlri('~ the tl'
"d ". I
peal ht('rature of
.
..
.
rm I I'a IS r('(lut'ntll replaced b the
lRrm form . which ha~ its ad\"antag('~ th()URh may 'IOml'tim ..... b
"I'd"
.
'"~
e mlS
ea mg:
176
I"
I.
1~ld('rlltlOn ~n
. . l I'
of "id('n", Prof('f.'di ng frOI1l t liS COl.
. I " r ' 10 indi{"~t(' Ilwl II IS 0 )1
w(' ~hnll n~(' th(' t('rnl "!<Il'II' Willi {",II"t.:l
. ~ it i~ nol 1\1I(;lll1ilinr to the
ulldt'rstood in th(' P lalolll'lIl1 S\'n~(': tlH' 1l10~(, ;;okaphil~sophrrs: I'rom Tllllle.'
Engli~h re,ul('r (d. W.K.S. Glllhne. Th.C ;~e~MII or goodn('''~ or ('(p,ullt~.
/0 1>Ia/o p. 89: "We ~ily thill w(' ha,:
wl1<'11 we Inll; of Io:ood \\111(' Of
which (';mb l('!1 U~ lO mel, n th(' ~:"~II' Ithltll,~nl ehnncNI. altholljl:h 1111'''' nl8~.
, ,'od
,rickeler ('{llIlIl Irl!\fllo:l~~ .II\( e I
.,.."" lind frifl;f.'h'f~. trl~IIIt'('S
v
' .
011 b('IWl'('fl "
!le('m to be little ~ I\iln'd III COIl1I11
anti Ch llUC{'II").
\
fl(" Jlllver
exisls. )nl~' In the indl'ildual and
rsa
Dlve' Ie Hid vldu ... : I,"
.
\
I'IS (In one w~y or
hroug
('
..
very
mdlvlI
ua
h
)
\Ill ver!!")1
EvPrv 1Iniversal i!i (a fragnlt'lIt, or an
aool"er I th~ (,s. ('nee of an individual. EVl'ry univ{'rsal
'pC(
, )
I ' d 'IVI'd na \ 0 b'Jl'rls. \''.wry
I pproxilllal
'Iy mhraccsn \1 tWin
onlY ~d .\ ellh'rs Itcomph'lply inlo the IJnivl'rsal, '11",. I'lt".
lilt \VI \I
0 r transltlOlI!'
',
individual is cOllnl'd,'( \ \ )y I IlOllsallU~
.
E,.NY
'\ Uil \5 (II'lings,' b
' proc
_ I ther kiTHJS n r'III( \'1\'11
r t'nOO!('lIa,
",It ,I )0 l't(., 1 The unlVI'rsa
.
I lorn {Jut 0 r II'
liS d'iii \pc t If a I 11111" y
('~SlS ,
h'
'
'I
I
'
b't'('OIlH'S 1111 "Idl'a" Ihal I\S II!-i pXlslplICI' III tit' l'X rat'l1Iplr,
ieal worll!'
.
.
TIll' lhl'ory of ('oglliliun shows that ,Ih(' ullI\"prsal t',,~ls
. lht' individual <lnd III(' partitular, the stahlI' In thl' \i.\.
~Iilablt' .lind lIIuti\hlt', tilt' law in thr diversity or pIH'IWIIH'lIa.
Thl' universal (unity) {'an only h(' grasped.as a result of ,abo
straction. i,l'. lIlt'nlal isolation of. propertlt.'s of tilt:' ohJt'd
or (,/HIIlt'Clioll!! hl'twl'pn it~ IlrOpp.rtll'~' th~ugh hotl~ till' unt
v('fsai illltl thl' individual (divl'rslty) arl' Iniu.'r('otlll Ihl'
jl'('t~ and I'Yj'nL-; of till' fl'al worl? r~:prt'se.nt1llg ob!rcllH' ;~s
pt'rls of fl'ality, Accnrdin~ In. \"1.'11111,. till'. ~Irhotorn)'. n.f hlJlI~'II:
kn\lwll'd~I' and Uu' po!-'!-'tl)llrty of Idealism (=r{'!lgltl,n) .H~.
giwn alft'ady in tile first, elem:;r~ru abstractwn .hnl~sl
in g('lll'ral and parti(tililr hOtIS(':;.
rt)(' format.lOll. I)f ,11\ al:.
slract Ilotion is it l'tlInph'x aet whirh lIlc!udes III It th(' pos.
sibility of till' ni~lrt of (,III las), from Iif<' an~, cOIl:wqut'ntl).
uf lht, transformation of th4' abstract concept lIlto ~ pa~t;"ul'l~
IWin,l( Thl' world of Id('<lS thus turns Into till rt,l III \I
,
I'
,I -I ',s rl'''''lrd('c\
ilS pnnlar\". 111
~upra.sl'nslloui 0 )IN:ls W \It I
fo,'
ft'lation to llw phy~klll worlt!. .
.
.
. "
\
I'I'ly of id('alislil IS also rooh'd In 1,lIIg u ,lgt,
I{, POll!'l)I I
I . tl ' 11IIV{'f'
as wonb t!H' "maltN" of langlHlge, ('xprrs:; 011) It 1
.
s'll" Prin;itiv(' lingui!-ilies proert'ils frolll the assumptlOll t~~'I~
01:
\0
t:I~lt'. ItYl~ II,~
afrtnily betwl'('1l tht'III. and twing IInable to frnu I HI,III<\ 010":.'; .
'II
I Ylii('al world comrs to Ill.' ('nll( 11
I
of ah~tracl wort s. III I~ PI,:, ,1'
. 1 Ihl' world of t1uiwr
sioll that tlH'Y fIIu!>!l ('X~SI t' Sl\\ I(rr, II
sal,
c(Jn\('('PII~ l;r."::~~:I,;;
:lX, t~~:'
INlin.
8 1\",,1;
h;,
,0
'f'I'
..
'. , t ' I
rl' I IgiOll <III
From thl' \-iewpolllt of logiC.
ato s reasolllll~ IS pr,lc ,c~ .
Iv irrt'pl'oarhable. Till" hll.ld~nl('ntal fallacy ,of Platonism itt'S
in tht' pr(,lllisl's, TI1l' atomistiC theory accepting ('tt'rnal t11()n"l
b
recog lllse
\(>
I to conceived the relatiOn emutual colli~ion .of at()l~sit a, as thE" tendency of the former
tween sen~ibl(' things an I' e~s His teleology is ('s~('ntially
to approXllnat~ to the at~~ 'the physical world, Slllce the
transcendent. 1.('. {'xternal
h'
As has been shown eorltIdcas are separated from the t ~I~~s'hic conception of the co::;cr it ~tel1l~ from the anthropo
P I Is Ih. physical world
"
. h ". Ji" that con ro
1U0S endowed Wit
a :;0,' _ II controls the body.
io thl' manner the hu.man .:;01 nd cosmogony are tr('aled by
The prob\cms of cO~ll1ology a
dt: his physical th('ory
Plato in the Timaeus where he e.~poun -bet~eN; the sensible
e
and makes an attempt to b:idg ~a\~I;ae~ernal Ideas. Basic to
world of change and ,111', Immll . 11 notion of Reason as
Plato's physiCS in thiS dialogue ~s le'ThiS notion is a clear
the demiurge or creator of the co~mlos"l Anaxago ras r('gardl'd
except 'imary
t 1a
'
" " er.
ccho of Anaxagoras'N
s OllS,
elements
0 r rna
il olily us the moUve force of the pi r the world (nol from
",' the c reator 0
b NY
wht'reas in PI~to "I ~, IS ." 'Their relations appeal' to (> v I'
nothing!) and Its I'at ht'\., '
mind to grasp, For one, t l.~
complex 3nd hard fOl' th(' anc~ent (and in Plato denllllrge IS
I e dernllll'g('
.
r 1
conceptio n of go d as I )
. 'h'lily of cr('1.ltlOlI ron
.
I'
the POSSI I
' .
t
nothing but god) lInp ~!Ilg (~r('l'k thought and It wa~ nO
nothing was (>ntlr('ly ab('11 to Platonic doctrine, lIndl'l " ~I~~
until much later .t hal lh(> 'f'lIIitv r('ceived a mOIH1tl~lI~t.11
innuence of Judaism and Chrl.s" o(':demiurg(>," dl.'nollllg III
inll.'fpretation. Bpsidl'~' th; n<\Il~~1 in Illanual labo~lr, dll.' not
lngag....
Phlode~('nbl'd
tulll ,l~
G~r('e k a.~"kitHul ilrtl~an
.
f "hther,
~Ince
'
tally with tlH' notlo .. ()
<
_
I '"'J
l.l
()~v
ilfLl' t'
It'
a beu (II
lis ('UI'HHI:'. ,Ina IO~\ rll'ad" r l 'vl'a ls .\Iht'JIlIIl!'r
' . " I.. k'Ill"
concept of God) .
. '
JflglJ\ If th,.
As Plato prest'nts it in tht, rlll/ lll'lI.,. tlH' II
..
s
f I
co~mo::; are t I1(' I l I('as or t IH' Illmh[s of'. th ill II. \IIHah'
1.
. 0 I It'
unformed
m,lte>rial
from which tht' ,"
" ",.,,!!.""','
Itlttt.'If
1' Of
.
G
1Il,1{ ('
I tlli'
I
or .od \\l1I('h shapl's ttWIll III '\(,. I' < I( tIl'
DemlUrge
'r aI Id
0
I
1
< (on all('1' w'l l
(' l (n
eas. nIH' ('VI{ l'!l('l' of Plato 111111 ,'I[ I I
' I
.['
I'
.
S
Ie \'\d
d 1 lieu ties III explaining hi", (,OIH' I' pl of matt: I ' great
says (30a) that God found the> whol(' vi~ibl(' S r . e nd eed , he
but moving in an irreglilar and disonit' ;'ly h ' .I{>r not at rest
disorder he brought order" th('n '(500) 11 S lion an~1 "olltof
I' h
.
'
"C' compares It t
I
W11C
a gold-smith fashions into nlany diffel'f'nt slw (~gOd
further
as. belng
'
" InvI"p('s,
o:;ha I (61a) hC'
' . speaks of nl'ltter
,
Sible and
a II
. p(' e5S, receiving all things p'lrtak"
I(
bewildering way of thr intelligible<', ,.'~l,g In SOIll (' most
aId"
t I:'
' as matler " " nurse"
,I /ece p ac e of things produced in it by id('as 'S om er ::i:;esdto
as space
sums II b;;5tati
was born' (52d).eln g an( genrratlon, ('V('n before the world
,I
pt
i~e
l~~: r~c~Pla,d('1
' The
cr~a
~lIId
n~I~~~
rIon 0 [
P"
WIll:
la "IIt' II"rlrill".
In dl
jl
r"
arg~ments
,.
In
noth~ng
III
before
he argument from th
~.Iike. indi.vidual
e(4
knew preJ
objects. the S~~;nimutability of the soul. Unof IL" affmity with the di . s always equal to itself in
) The argument from
v.me and the eternal
therefore it
soul is. the true cause
~~ ~~~ t~ings,
iSC~~S:~~YinT~~e
tihle
70e-107b) .
an ,consequently ' IS
. .Immortal
' IS IJIcompa(Ph
Ilisnoldirflcult
aed.
Iy unt('nable I
to prove that Plato'sar ur
of logical
ar.gument (1) is ba!d nents are logicalty which
I Ity which only exists in th onhLhe confusion
opposite into
to ,the physical world. Theoug and actualisation is yet t ~ ot ler may be possible 10 . P~SS1l1g o.n of one
vide such
proved. In point of
Its rcalican b(' used a orcover, his theory of cr' . ato did not prosoul.
against the
and
IHbility of knowl
,IS a vicious circle IInmortality of the
soul (in the M edge IS derived from th ' beca.lISC the posdpriv>d from t~no), w.hereas the pre-ex~lS ~re-existence of the
BC'sides, it is r~~t:oS~d)ility of know led ('en~e of the soul is
d('monstrative val d III mythological
(In the Phaedo).
on a myth and on Ut~ whaLc;;ocv>r. Argume:~ts W~ich have no
Immutability, A . e
of soul's> (3) I.S also based
JlHliv)dllal soul
h('IJl.g
and
ha~f'd on thf' assum . l:' finite. I.e. mortal 0 creatIOn. an
throllJ;!h II
ptlOn that th(' inrJivid ',Argument (4) is
Ie agency of lh(' g('neral i
I ua can be explail1ed
, .(' . t lrou""h
I
J90
... tie i(lf'a or the
po~ .~~~ed,
rela~1
t~S
proo~ ~
Argume~t(2a)rg.ument.
fac~lcPIIY, b~lt
c~tlon bac~fires
no~
pm;~ulate
n~u~:;'b
l~e prodll~~erntl Iden~ity
108c)
,
In this way, thr('atE'ning the wrongdoers with punishment
in the next world and promising rewards for merits. Plato
intends to force men into the ways of righteousness and
sets out to d>velop the principles of moral behaviour, i.>.
the doctrine of good. This doctrine did not rf'main
ras
unaffected by Plato's philosophical genesis. In the Protago
.
one of his eariiN dialogu('s, Plato adhered to th> principles
of l'ational eudaemonisml and maintained that goodness
was the unity of virtu> and happiness, the beautiful and
th(' useful. the morally good and the pleasant. Later (e,g.
in the Gorgias) l'lato advanced the principle of absolute
morality opposing it to happiness, benefit and pl>asure,
In the Theaetetus, PILaf'do and Republic (Books VI and
VII) he ~Iready fixed <In unbridgeable gulf between th(' id>al
of abolute goodn('ss on the on(' hand and man's s>llsual
ity and striving for plcHsures and happiness. on the othN.
This ('volutioll w ..\s evid>nUy the result of PlatO'S growing di:-;
illusionml.'nt ahout thl' Athenian society and 1h(' increa::;ing
.\
laliun
191
in
~nly
~ee
t~Y
~eat~. therefore philosophy isC:~~Co;:~~d b~ ~Itained thro~~~
IO~
from
hi~
Re~~hbr;,e m~nly
lre~
b~~:~e~~~e~:~;;~:/~~~ed\~~oi~~I~~~:]~~:;~ndt"i~~hb:c~h:
an ..
nan
of !ll'rv('r:-;;on
lind ovc'r,llI IIt_gradatloll of governuwnt. In g("
ol thl'f(' an' tlirt'" tvpts of lo(uVt'l"nIHt'nt ba.;ed 011 law. Arlie",
.'
r
f(lng('1i
in cll'ffl'i\<;\ng
ordl'r of pt'rfl'fll. on , they are monarchy.
aristocracy and til'l'fIo(:raCY. To these correspond the form<;
bas('{l on lawh'~<;]\c<;s: tyralluy. oligar('hy and the lowest form
which, according to Plato, has no spf'cial name. Plato's c1as
sillcation of the forms of govl'rnmcnt provided the fOllndation
of his political theory and was lat('f developed by Aristotle in
his doctrine of the state.
In the Republic Plato makes an attempt to construct a new
model of ideal society. The state (polis) arises due to the ina
bilit.yo{ individual men to Ratisfy their requirements ..... ithout
outsidt' help. The need to procure food, build houses. make
cloth es and meet people's other vital requirements aCCQunts
for the existence or farmers, artisans, merchants, etc. They
constitute the lower class of society and shoulder the burden
of providing the material goodS. The defence of the state
against its internal and e:eternal enemies is the responsibility
of the warrior class. Finally, there are the rulers whose function is to co-o rdinate the activity of all the classes and govern
the stale. These are "philosophers" skilled in the "royal art,"
devoted to the ideals of justice and goodness, and possessed of
wisdom.
'This cc'.onomic and political substantiation of the state
structure is bolstered up by a psychological analogy between
til(' classes of th e state and the faculties of' mall'S soul which
!Oust be in harmo niou s unity. Man's position and weight
in the sodal hierarchy depend on the prevalence of one
of hi s :so ul' s virtues: wisdom, courage or temperance. The
membe rs of the lower class (which on th e whole receives lit.lIe
attention from Plato) are allowed to have private property and
individual families. These, however, te nd to foster self-interest, jealousy ancl inequality. As a result, a special external
force is requircd to hep the labourers under control. To prevent. the extremcs of wl'alth and poverty, the higher classes are
denied the right to private property and family. Thp ~tall"s
population IS reproduced under the strict supervision of spc('i
ally appointcd officials who ('IHl'fullv select thl' mating CO\l-
1:,11:1'1
.,
t b
the state an d eac
. , d as an aristocratic or. 0 e
Plato's ideal city wa~ conce~;~ Its governing bodies, recmor' precise, oligarchiC repu IC,
\u::
195
I
litical and economic cris~s and
oin
, "uhrg kj.1; .prOfO\lTIl
.~",g deterioration dwhie!' he Hll'ntl[I'" I
t- proj.\:re~.~
t'
.
''';
to
rill''
I . . . 1'1, to"o.; '"I(>a\ slate base on unques IOnh()~lt.
I,'
a,
f ' t
.
. of demo ...~ rac'-'J' ff"slriction n prJ\"3
(>
fll'S " "th "an,ln'. I.pprl'SSIOII
. _
. nbedit'llCp,:-;\I. \"" l'gimentation of all human artlvlty
Lng >"fly and nH'\I('1I oll'l r a manifestation of his ultnH'OTlI"
'1st' t laO
_
r rol~
". "0 fact
not
\ln~ I f' tl Ie "golden age" of Gre('k slav(' sunIS I
,
nd grief or
"t'r\'atlslll a
"
?:J)os~~~~tituting
"
I
I
P~ist,
.P'(>dunotlll,t'dtwO\\O~
tI{';~,
eOIl~pql.l'.n
smc~ ~
,pr~;'il~~
in~
~phere
in{~ollcl'ivahl.e a~ IIIYdtl~~I~:SY~~d
~~~ i~
aC~f~ ~P~i~Ya
r~st
1I~ ~
ac.tj~ tt~Pbeli~ve
~\~~O
~~e~~gnised
.abih.t'Y'ls'oac(ol:~~foeno~f
a%OClagtrlOeendo~;:tm~:~le
i.e. theikr
logical
I spea 'lUg, I
,
.,
~'e are a
of conccpts.
say.s:
another, and
have a commUluon
rew and others wilh Illan"
and some have.commun!on \~~\' some should not h,l\"e l~nl:'~i~l
and that lhe~'e IS n.o real~?,n (ibid. 254c). Motion and r(~~igt).
sal communIOn \~Ith a. es wit.h both, for both ar~.ble- but
not mix, but beLng ~~x distinction are ~ot c.omptt~em'. For
Further, s~menlessr ~t three which share III bOl~:th identical
associate With tiC l.r"1 b ' g motion becomes
,
' , g Will eLlI,
res to res.
instance, m.LxlI~ t from it. Thp !'lame app \
er recognises
with and ?Iftetetl from thc above, Plato no
hilosophici.s
and
rigLd IInmuta (
conc(>Lve<i as e x ,
\P:>' "ysa\ categolie!'l, for
arc l'hey are invoh-ed in a
.and
tradLctory..
b' i 19 Wit \ so
.
essentIally CO;1
hi\"a\{'-nt relations com \0 lotable feature of
tem of mutua
others. Yet
n em hasis on the
standing
r y of Idcas was IllS
: .. pect afl' thl'
Plato's new t lel~r Very characteristic III t IS:" "(H is not. one
'I
/ OppOSI ,So
"\\'hNher one I.
I r
unt y 0
fl'" Pllrm(,lIid('.~:
d
another 31 0
closing lines o. 11. I r)n to th('msel\"('~ an one
,
and the other:; 11\ re a \(
~Iit
Pla~o
~Ias:es
.~:
other~ no~,
W,l;~ ~
~~~o:;
apa~t
a~om
~olmpm'e
tl~e tnOS~
sP~la~.
,.
them. in every way. are and arc not, and appear , bl' Hnll appear iloilo be" (t 66e). In otlll'f words, LIlt' .H nalY:Ol1~ 01 lily de_
termination taken separate ly ilnd III n'latl(l~1 to other IIl.ter_
minations shows that each of th('m Ilas;';l'.'i ITlto ib 0PP()~it
Each higher concept splits into ('ontrari('s which. in tll~'
exclude each other a~d resolve into a mOrl' g('nl'ral ('"n('<,pt. I~
contrast to the SOph iSts, Plato. lInderstan?~ that the dpvelop_
ment of a concept IS not an arbItrary tranSitIOn (rom onf' deter_
mination to any other determination. Each of the OPposiu-s im_
plies its own counterpart, its "other se lf:" being is in!'leparable
from not-being , one from many. rest from motion, identity
from distin ction .
Groping after the laws of logic, Pluto also came very Hear
to what later was to be known as the law of contradiction, He
in fact formulated this law in,the Phaedo (W3b) drawing a
distinction betwee n the OpPos ite s th emse lves and the th ings
which possess them, The opposites can not change into each
other: "If change is between opposites or intermediate states .. ,
there must be a substratum which c hang es to the opposite Condition , for the opposites do not cha nge. And this substratum
remain!';, but the opposite does not." As we have seen, later in
the Parmenides Plato changed this view restricting the sphere
of the law of contradiction. Probably, he believed it to be
"inoperative" in re lation to a notion and, ontoiogically, to an
Idea which can change into its opposite, However it may be,
neither in the Parmenides, nor in the Sophist Plato clarified
his views on the status of th e law of contradiction and its
relation to the movement of concepts,
Here comes another important aspect of Platonism, The dialecti c o f the One and Other unfolded in the Parmenides is directly related to Plato 's doctrine of Idea s as the true sources
of individual objects. It is fundamentall y differen t from the
teaching of ancient philosophers about the ontological, existential generation of things from primary substa nce, as it is
concerned with the ir ideal generation in the bosom of Id ea, In
his first variant of the theory of Ideas Plato, without specifying the relation of Ideas to individual objects, ventured a hypothesis that particulars might "share in" Id eas or Ideas
might :' be present in" or " associate with" particulars. Now the
analYSIS of the Ideas themselves brought him to the conclusion
tI~at Id eas were also mUltiple and, consequently, needed some
higher ~rinciple, This principle is the One (to hen).
In POlOt of fact, most Plato's dialogues , particularly the
sl' ;r'l ..
Lau's.
PI
wrong in their opllllOn
the
(lOur sources indi~ate that SP~i~~IP mathematical number:"
tonic Ideas replaclOg them ~
e uote him as saying
Aristotle and Jamblichus, for :~lstancd' t~at the One itself b
that numbers are the only ~ea ltv ,a~
. . Ie 0' startlllg. pOlll I, 0 ph'-'sics an<I h'
t heir first pnnclp
IS
rttle
IIlteres
I
J
\H'
".r
\0
Hean~l
dtht~l tlH'
{,:\I:-;t:-;
within the
...
out;id;"~h
,~,\~(ll
.
t~,';
ens ihl,'
v,~,ble
~.('~
Lache~~~
Atropo~
orm!' of E'xisten'c
morlal~.
Xenocrates).
s~s~ ~f lhre~
tJdlVISlO~ ,which
came
m~thology
phlioso~hi~al
ther~~vi~~e ~{'tt~rs
..
euts.
under the gl'nt'ral head of "good" Xenocrat':'> included the
,
good of the soul, i.e. virtues (areUq, the good or the body,
i.e. pleaf'lourp, and external go()(ls, such as wealth, power,
honour, etc. Though virtue plays a decisive role in attaining
a blissful life and securing the soul's emancipation, Xenocra
tes does not dpny till' importance or bodily pleasures and
external goods for man's happiness. According to Aristotle.
Xenocrates held that a happy me alld a virtuoUS life are
identical since both are given preference over all other modes
o{ life (Top. VI1, 1. 152a). Commenting on this statement,
Aristotle points out the logical fallacy of Xenocrates's
inference from preference to identity and contend~ that
happiness should be subordinate to virtue. Concluding the
review or Xenocrates's ethical teaching, it is perhaps worth
mentioning his distinction between theoretical and practical
wisdom: happinesf'lo can only be attained if the knowledge of
first causes and intelligibles (theoretical wisdom) is complemented by the knowledge or practical matters (practical
wisdom)
.
The \-vorks
and pe,dagogical activity of Polerno and Crantor
testify to thC' growing trend of the Academy towards ethical
problems. On the C'vidt'ncC' of OiogeneS LaertiuS young
Polemo was
by unrestrained behaviour and wild
temper: "One day, by agreement with his young friend~. hI.'
l
burst into thl' school of Xenocrates quite drunk, with a ga 'land on his head. Xenocrates. howl'V('r, without being at all
disturbed, went on with his discourse as before. tht' ~ubj('ct
being temperance. The lad as he listened, by dep:r('(:'s wa~
taken in the toilf'lo. Itt:"' berallle so industrious as to surpass all
the other scholars and ros(' to be himself head of the school
in the 116th Olympiad" (IV, 16). PolelllO is said to have ad
vocated strict mOfab and "used to say that we should ('XCI""
cise ours('\vI'S with
and not with 1l1erl' logical
distingtli~hed
fart~
~p('cula-
Plato's Timoeus.
OIlE'
II!'
I'
illS g"Hfe
Halt(lIr~Onsl."'h'd
In tllf'
c{'nturi(l~ contrasted
II'II~P". ,rr,
. or I \\It tht, hliss Awaitinll his ~oul in
SitZfoll'"r (Ed) {)/pPhl,
.
f, r\ flll,,{' FUI'!IJ r'.'
. ,~oO~Ophlt'dl'rGrierJ.t'"
II 1'h('il. ,.
., .('Iplll{.
oo~. S. 10:-:15.'
~
Ib,""'""".
Ch<lpler 3
Aristotle
13. Life and Work
"
./
ll
"'Ok
I I' dOI"(><\S('. "
Another largp work written by Aristotle in his early period
i!'o thl' ProtrepliCtls (Exortation) that also su rvived in
fragmf'nts, largely in the composition of neo-Platonic
Jalllhli('hu" under lhr !'oame name. It represents what was later
to becomt> rathN a fommon gt"nre of philosophical essays
i~vitlllg thf> rl'adf'r to philo"ophical "tudiC's and exalting the
IIfp !If ('ontfolllpialion. Still in th(> wakC' of Plato's theorY of
ilif"'''!', ArisloUr spj'aks highly of philosophy as being 'the
hi
t.
:fl
.
r t Ie lea lity.
I ',n;\H
()
).
a.
I
I
I
\',
V
1\
tlln.
io
'''II'''" r",..,wI1JI.
."
<,<annot
.
I b<' ~Llb:-;lanc('
- and
' t'!':-'('Il t'l' which Ill''''
. I11'
Arlsto! p,
i\c('od lll~
Y
1)\;",:I','('ls",y
"1111
,II 1\
"
H' ~u I)J~('~.<H~.d ,I IH' pre d lcat' ~\"hicb n~ay he> Irut' 01' fal'
"(Socrates
IS
!:ilttlll~,
p) 'p",.,." .,
~C'latlow,
Contraria
Subcontraria
rl:a.'
!.'''!Lin p,'CHn_,"
Wr,rk ..VI
, VI>1.
11;7,
\1'1:
t"" (f
' t <I t I('",
' 11/)()k II I'/(/p/lysrn", Co/lt'dt'd
i \ r.~
1\
,h'nrl',
III
.IiSI"Ollf
h'rlTl:i
and ilropt'~ItIOIIS
III liSt
not
A('{:nrdin~
pr"llli~".
pn,," i~l'
f(llldll~iou
\~h"'\.'
"Wlh'I"I'h\'
-,
'I
an~:thing
1 Ills' 11\('\11011
I
IS
\I~"
(Arist. Top. 1. 1.
'the
I suhJ('c\ of till'
TOI)ic~'.
~~l~:'~
ii'
" j,{tltlH'n I).'
. . .11
'
('OSt'it
,I HII)( I In all argun\C'nt.
I
~tlilloglJ{,s
mOre
k
oh'('I"
'r~/
(
\
'
l
'
,
'"
~
,,(,
() ,It'lIlS{, \'('S
f m"l.
op, I, I , IOOh), Thi s ailn, llc('Ol'di ngHIt
to
\nstoll{' , can be ach l(' vcd through Ih e liS, of \'"ll'iOlls " 10 ' "
For instanc(',
Ih'
'" I,lSl,C,S,
'
, ' topi cs pertaining to 'pol 'vs~m~'J
"
rumenta I III all~lnrn~ thE', truth if difipr{'nt words M e synonymous, allil Illlsl('ading If the \\'or(\s arc hOlllon\'tnOH"i TI ' \
nlt'di('int' can
d,cfined both as the knowl('lig(' 'Of
)
,:('('ord"l1cl' \\'Ith ~ls p~lrpos{') anti as th(' kllowlcdge of the
(nrn'('t mlld{' of 11f(' (10 accordall c{' with lh{' nw alls uscd to
'lcll1l'~',(' a ~t;lt{' of health), On th e other h 'llld, til(' llse of t he
w()nt h;.!t as a mammal and a WOOdl'lI impll'lIlen t in 011(' and
till' "allll' argunH'nt is bound 10 lead to confllsion,l
Alongside,the ('xamination of individll al " topies," Aris totl('
Ill'\'elop" th('Ir <;~'''tCIll showing that a dialogu(' lIlust iucl ud('
fiv~' ~11;:III,C()ll1pOtl('nt~: (I) ~tatcmrnl of a pl'ohl('Jll: (2) IlLcan s
fill (nslll.'lng corrcct IIlfcl'e nc(', s uch as the I'u l('s for adoption
of pn'nll!'('''i, analysis of diff('r('nl nl('anin~" of l'ach t('I'm,
~ I('kcll()n of r('s('Ill\)lanc('s and di\lcI,(,tlC('S; P) I'll II's of
IlIfl',['(' I1('(' , 11Idll('ti\'~' (from thc individllal to tH~\ IIniv('rsal)
or Syllogist iC: ('I) IIllelTogatol":o. s\rfltpfrV; (5) l'('sllon(\{,lIt's
str,ltl'gy.
",.
Th(' "d iall'ctical" (dialogical) mrtholl is l'l'gard('(1 by
Arlstotlp 1'''" tIl(' \\'\V
'- to ,I 1(' II~ PI'III(' lpl('''i of ('H'I'V Scil' n Cl',
' -, otf' I'11111 IOgIC,
"
.
I II fad " IIkl' 'all .\rlS
It is a th('ol'\'
of
d('
" I IOC('I'tHIn
' hasic l)roposl
" , 1I10n
, ~tri\\1(J 1l b\'
,1'1'<\"0'"
.
I" 1I1)\\al(S,
tlOIlS, /)1' Il0wlI\\'ards, hy r('il~onin~ frolll th('m , 1'h('s(' arc
;;1''
~)('
he~ith (~I~
J\
r', . ,
,f,
~et- \\. K_ ,r: Culhri!. \',,1. \1. p, :!o~'- .\ri~h"l'''s uwn pX;\I1'llh' "I
O"'''II~Jlly .' ;",H~ whirh "",aI" ,,",', ,'," k-(,\' uf " ,jour Mill II",
.h""ld..
101,,,",
1t.1"1 I'U('1
. hi
W I11(,. ,WilS an () IJ('clIH' ~l'.sll t () tht hisloril'al prol.'l'''''' I)
urI'
rn~llItlOn.
1-I0WI'\,t'r. owmg
. I
I "I
(Categories),
CO!lc('JJls
I
I
. Categories .should Ill' ['('g",,",I,'
<
(II" L \e
I This
I "e\pI lai nds why-the
ast ~g \ ca an the firs~ "\l1('taphy~ical" treatise, Till' Conce ts
exanH
there are IIIdeed ' congenial to til(' "I)r'
,PI<'5
Ined
"
,1lH'lp
an( C~~I~(,S that are the object of Ari~totlt"s "fIrst )hil _
sophy,
I
0
t5, Fir.<t Ph i l o'iO p h~, The Doctrine of First
Pri nc iples and Call!'es of Being and Knowledge
,T h ~ fl,rst philosophy as a sCi,ence COllcprned with the prima~~ prlllcipies and causes of belllg was expounded by Aristotle
"",d
"r
2Jx
-I
n..
I(" ..
>
,-
.}.,
_.
,A
. k
\ I\('<1 I t I1 JI\ a SIC' man. so nature a way.'! act!'; with an <'y(' to tI
/)<'.'11 and is its own doctor.
.
1(,
A qlH'Rtion naturally arises, which of thl' eallSt's is to he
.
\
p: ,\
III
,
"
I
ill till' tradiliollil 11Il! pr~lallf 1IIJ.t /) lIIat {>r: It IS no ongN
I
I
I
"
"',..
- "
--
/
/
>
> apart: "1'"till(' IS just this
, )111
motIOn
an d t>ImE' d0 no t eXist
"('sf
22'
I(
etc.
. B~ing endowed wi~h reason, man OCcupies a higher position III the ladder of life than other animals and, accordingly,
has a m?re advanced soul and body, Their conformity to the
."nro n sclo u ~ teleology .of natlln' , i.(>. to the goal of completion
and p('rf('cllOn, nnd s Its expr('.'ision in man's erect carriage,
.10
nrgHn~
I:
I:
k'';
',.,e
_31
41
apparently pertshes too. As I"l'g-anls tlH' (,!"I'ali\"!' n'-"
- - ',s
- lI~lI~lOlta
I ,\II( I 1',III',IIi11. A['p \\'1'
' . onI.;
he staIrs expll:-,tly
t Iwi It
infer frolll tillS that thr IlI th\'ulllHI soul I. . 1I111llortal too?
Aristotle C'\'ades the anS\H'r. On thl' Ollt' Ii'lllli. tllP inahility
thl' superior soul to ('\.isl without thl' iofl'I'iol' (Ull's .st'rm~ tn
point to its ultimate mortality. On Ih(' ot hl'l' hand, Aristotl t,
asserts. the possibility of the ,m ind ('xisl,ing without th(' body
and pOints out that the creatlv' r'C\sO Ii 1:-; thC' (,lltC'IC'chy of its
receptin countcrpart, but not of the body: cet'tain pat'ts of the
soul "may lie scparable becausc tllC'y arc not thc act ualities of
any body at all" (ibid., II. I, 1 13a). And ('\"1"11 more ('xp li citly :
"whil(' the faculty of sensatio.n is dependellt upon the body,
mind is separab le from it" (ibid., I I I, 4 . 429b).
The obscurity of Aristotle's doctrine of the cI'eative I'eason
and the skctchiness of his notes allowing for widely divergent
interpretations gave rise to a long controversy that has run for
many centuries without much appreciable- resull. However,
the general trend of Aristotle's thought appears to be s uffic iently lucid. Taking the concept of the eternal creative reason
as a premise. Aristotle infers the existencC' of God or Divine
~1ind. His rcasoning runs thus: "\Vithoutthe soul the faculties of knowledge and sensation are potentially these objects,
thE' one what is knowable, the other what is sens ible. They
mllst be either the things themselves or their fOl'ms, The for mer alternative is of course impossib le: it is not the stone
which is present in the soul but its form.
"It follows that the soul is analogous to the hand; for as the
hand is a tool of tools, so the mind is the fonn of forms and
sense the form of sensible things " (ibid_. III. 8. 431b-43:ri)_
Hence, the creative reason whose object and content are
forms alone is not on ly free and independent of real objects,
but prec~d~s them logically. It "creates" objects by thinking
them. Similarly, the world is the creation of God as his
~ho~ghl. Ho~e~er, ~ris~otle's Cod does not precede the world
tn time coexIsting With It. It is separahle from the world only
in the sen~e. in ,:"hich the form (border) of a thing is sepa rable
fl'~m. the thtng.I,tself..In fact, the rtrrlJity of the world implie!'
tlll~ IIlseparablhty, slllce without it the world would cease to
ex ist.
' phy ~ ind ' II'rlll s il 111t'all~ that god. i~ tlH' yrlllll' 1111
Jrlovl.d 1110\'1'["." \Vl' art' bOlilid to rp("f)gnlsP It f'XI:-;tPIH"(' 10
III
u\"oili tlH' inlinill' rl'gr' <lion fJf f'allSeS (till' cau",(' of OIH'
,ilI'IWIIII'IIIH1 i~ 1liP ('/111"'/''1111'111'(> (Jf aflollwr that I1n'('/,(1\'5 It III
LillI', and
~o
011
";,'1'", I",
irrational. Thl'
or
I S<,<, \\. h..C. GUlhri<', Tht' C;rrrk Philosophers. From Thales to ,1 rI.~l"tI!'.
lI!1qwr, N('w York, I!l7S, pp. H)II.
Aristotle's philosophv
distorl('d hy. cll'I'kalis",
II.."
'.s
theoretical basis of medieval scholasticism. In ordl'"
111'1(1
t '"
(I
t h'
. , 'ltv
" gaH~ wa\' .III Illodt'rn sci('Il"'"
. .IIl,llIo
ll
rrom "po,entIa
,
'r
'..'
~r
0 tht'
1',' P I i-1llallOll mm la\\'. III rOlliI'll!'! \\,Ith .\l'Islol',' II I"~, ,.,
,
.
-:-.~-----"-
. .
t~al'(l'd
tht' l'lTpct
.Slll]!\,
. of a llH)\\'!' alld I'I'J('cll'li tllp ,lOS",,
movement. which
was not maintain{'ci by",
.
"x ernal
motloll ,b
n', .
or
r.oree, ,t,Ie, S(,len~lst,or
new epoch appl ied himself to the
IIlVestlgatl~n 01 t1e aws of mechanical movement and
pl'omptiy discovered that t~l(' effect. of the action of an external
f?rce was ~ccelerated motIOn, ,l~ a body is not acted on, it is
either motIOnless or moves rectilinearly and uniformly H
.
r .
.
h
. ence
th e notIOn
0 Inertia w ich brought about a revolution in tl
doctrine of mechanical movement.
1e
Bot~ the first, (metaphysics) and.the second (physics) philosopilles .of Aristotle were rooted In the conv iction that the
form dominates over matter, the soul over the body, the mind
o~er the senses and passions. This conviction carried to the soc,-al sph.ere constituted the basis of Aristotle's ethics and politiCS whlc.h he treated under the heading of the philosophy of
human life,
',he
II
.,.,'
-'
,)
;II: "\'irluc,thcll
lH'ing
'I
' I of two kinds, inll'lI"t'tllal ant I lIIonl .
, l' II (,C I Uti ,I '"Ir (
Ul' lilt
H' main OWl'S hllih ils
.
. hifll" ,1111 I'lis .. ' , I n
to teac Iling' for which n'nson it rl'tl"in's t ' \ ' . ' ""ro\\'lh
) ,I 'I
I '
. . I t'ru'lin"
I
1111(' \\ II t' mora \"Irlll('_
CO IlH'S
aho,,'
'
"
"
r
II
,LlH
.
,'.
PSLl
of 1 ' I '
"wh:n~(' abo Its nanl(' fUlike is 011\' that 1:- fornH'd hy '\ ,1.1 Ht,
\"arlatlO.n from til{' word COlOli (ha bit )" (ihid" II t
Moral
' HUa)
, nrluC's
' I are> essentially
d
' aclin'. I n<iN'\! ' w ....~' I".'
{(onwJ
lI sll
actlllg
Just y. mo cst by acting modes t I\" <a nd """".
,ly
~
.lg<'O(JS
b
acllllg courageously. NevC'rthC'lf'ss
intelle,ol I
'Y
'd
d
d
"Ull
'''llu
( ~\,IS om an goo 5(,115(,). though based on knowl ed g (" cs
dln>Clcd
not '
towards kn ow ledge ilf;;(>lf
are
.
~
,u
wat'{ Is .good
be IlaVlOur, practical deeds, I-Ience the definition of tI '
"practical philosophy."
e llCS as
,S ince a moral action should be govC'rned by .. easo 1 ' , '
Iree domo I ClOlce
I ' betweenO'oodandevil'
. '' I, h[ , I IInh:::;a
pi
,
\,
"to
,coosesOr
en d ures t Ilings l)ecallse [t IS noble to d o so. 01' beca", ',' b
tt d
"(EI
.
",115 ase
n,o 0 0 so
,t l. 111 , 7: 11,16a ) , J:laving })rought in the uotlOn of free chOice
(promresls) ' Ari s totl e -turned on a,
' "IIrst'
me
'
page 0 I Ih e h Istory o,f the age-o ld philoso phical controve rs
over the
of
To
sure, th e Stag irite has no
abou~ man s freedom In makmg a choi ce and th e relo
d
not ~l~\\' II le Sl' I
'
,
re
oes
uation as III any way disputable, yet the prerequ,ls.ltes for a philosophical problem are already there
GIVIng a ~etailed survey of virtues in th e co ntext of th~
comm~nal Ii~e ~f ancient society, Arist.otle foc uses his
attention on Jus~lce, He defines it as a mean bet.ween two
~~!remesl~~~~akl~g t~e ~aw and partialit.y in the attit.ude to
, equa s.
he Just IS mtermediate and the unjust is what
;~oJat~s .the proportio~; for the proportional is intermediate.
e JUs~ IS proportIOnal... Th is, then, is what the just is ~h~t~rVO~~I~~~~bthe unjust.. is that vio lates th~ prop?rtion"
). Now, since the law presc l'lbes virtuouS
"
be h aVlour
e g courage'
b, I ' , ,
which
COy' " II
h
III ate, Justice IS the highest vi r tue
e rs a at ers.
Comparing'
. I1 the law and equality Aristotle dis'h
JU st'~ce Wit
lnguls es two mam var' r
f"
'
butive. The aim of thl: ~es 0 Ju~tlce -co rrective and distri "
exchange of oods bel
?rmer I~ t? 'promote equalit.y in
with the amo~nt.
d ong;?g to IIldlvlduals in accordance
whereas the latter ~sn emq~~ Ity .of labo~r ~ontaincd therein,
cd
n
funds and olher benefltsPi/
III the dlst:lbution Of. COllllllO
( rank) of the par"
accordance With the SOCial worth
.
,
.
les concerned.
Aristotle s division of tl le virtue
'
of justice into two kinds
i :-; 1~l{hl
1"" '0
0'
fr~edom WI~1.
-,'"
. ,,,)
b~
doub~
Wil>l hi~Idy i"II~lralivl' IIf tiLl' ,0clOIl cOlldllio[l. ill ~Iav" ~ocidy
...... ilh I!'~ill illl'ljl1ality of il!'lllwllllwrs anll hl'refiilary privill'J;!l's
of till' fl'w Oil t"l' "'H' haud. ,tIId till' l'1jllali<;illlo!: ilLnlll'IWI' of
('olllllHulity ilild IIIIJl1l'Y nlation". 1)1\ !hl'lltIH'r. Ari ... tI,tll;" ('011
ception of jU!'itiC'1' II"HI~ llin'l'tly to and "wrges with hi:i
'\ I
I
..
...,Olllstl('
camps, as t IliS wou d put In Jeopal'dy tht, V('rv n:i",
..
. d
.J
SlIlC('of
I
... aq~ _.;orIN)': Its pres('r\'atlon ep.end~d enlirl'ly On wh{,lh
t('fi~li{' of
mall a~ a
the !:Itate would be capable of ke~lng III r1lC'rk Ihl' fore' h('r
!'trovf.' to destroy it.
--..
(Os t at
,?('
~n
I,
sy
0glsms,
I.e.
th
ose
ypot
I)['opositions
"8
tl
.
.
d
.
. .
.
u
1(' lr
premises an an assertortc prOpOSition as the conclusion Th
peripatetics made an important advance on th e Aristotel' e
syllogistic whi~h de~lt with _~ Ia~~ Or l~rms a!l~ paved ~f\~
\Va for tl~
Ole logiC of pro oSltlons, tl~_~ Il e~~na lbtl hig h:
est stage In the eve opment 0 t le anCient 10glcaTdoctri ne:-Though on the whole Theophras tu s wrote within the frame_
work of Aristotle's philosophical system, he can not be
denied originality and independence of thought. The Metaphysics by .Theophr~stu.s that came d own to us only in fragments provides convlnclIlg evidence for hi s c riti ca l ap proach
to many of the Aristotelian basic concepts and for a general
tendency to s trengthen the empirical s train of h is master's
teaching and tone down its transcf'ndentalis m. Even the
methods employed by the master and his pupil in dealing with
the matters of the first philosophy show a characteristic difference of their attitudes.
In contrast with Aristotle who usually s tart{'d the exposition of metaphysical problems with a s tatement of aporias Or
difficu~ties involved as if inviting the I'eadel' to join in their
~naly:sls and subsequent resolution (particularly illustrative
ill thiS respect is book 3 of his Metaphy sics), Theophl'as tus
appears to have focused his attention on the apol'ias mainly to
demonstrate the contradictions in his teachel" s doctrines and
to cal.1 i.n question the very possibility of recon c iling them.
Here I.S JUs~ one example. Aristotle, it may be recalled, practi c~lI~ Identified metap.hysics and theology regarding them ~s
havlIlg ~ common object of study, Expounding hi s master s
co nceptlOn"of ,Cod and first causes, Theophra s tu s gives this
~omment: It IS necessary, ~re.sumably, to recognize them by
~orne powf'r and some superiority to other things, as if it were
G(~d Lt,lat we W(>f(, ~pprchending; for the ruling principle of all
~lng>t~~O\lgh which all things both ar(> and ('ndur(', is divilw.
t It I~, pf'rhaps, casy to de!\Cribe them thlls but difficult
o( () ~o more dearly or mor(' convincingly" (Th~ophr, Met. I,
or
J 2
'th), Tht'I'\' arl' good rpil~)fI~ to dOllbt Thf'ophra!'itll~'!'i interest ill this prohll'lII, as wI,1I il!i hi~ ardour in thl' matt(>!'s of
faith in gl.'lll'ral. if only for tlll' fart that the later wrik'rs, {'.g.
eiCNO, acclJ~t'd him of atlH'iS\II and attl'lllpb to ascribe divin<'
pow{'rs now to Ihp Mind, now to Heavl.'n ...
Theophrastlls was qlli('k to lIollC(' the difficulties springing
from Aristotle's concept of God as transcendent prime mover_
If th(> mover is on(', why do the h('avcnly spheres move differ
ently? If the movers al'(, many, how arc we to explain lh('ir
relalions to OIH' Cod and thl.' harmony of hl.'avenly movement. . ?
Ali.<!.!n, hC!,w call we know if something occ_ur!' for a purpose, by
Ch-ance, or by necessity7If w(' cannot, shouldn't we look for
Hie cause of motion within the COsIllO!' it~elf rather than outside it? "Even among first things we evidently observed many
events that happen at random, e.-g. the facts that have been
nam ed, con nected with the changes of the earth: for we ~ee
here neither the better nor that which is for the sake of an end,
but s uch things seem to follow, if any thing_ some necessary
law; and there are many things of this sort in the air too, and
elsewhere" (Theophr, Met. IX, 34).
However, despi te his dissatisfaction with Aristotle's universa l teleology, Theophrastus did not go so far as; to chal
lenge it as a phil osoph ica l theory. Being essentially a naturalist philoso ph er, he rejected the tel eological explanation of
some natural phenomena , but did not call it in question as an
abstract principl e of the first philosophy. In his Physics
Theophrastus in fact di smissed th e concept of the unmoved
mover and came to rega rd t.he heat of the sun as_~h.e f~)f\nal
ca use of motion, Matter to him was~fcom'b1Yrn,(iO fiof three elements: ea l'th , water, and air. Fire dil1ered from other elements
in that it could not. exist without Oammable materials, Here
again he focuses on aporias. If nre is not self-sufflcient, how
can it be an element.? Hadn 't we better positlwotypes of fire
one pure "prime fire" residing in the above-lunar sphere and
the other "mixed," residing in the sub-lunar world? But
then, what is their relationship? Rai:<iLlg all these problems,
Theophrastus calls in question not ~_~v the_ ~mpedocl_~a':.fa
mous theor.~J:it roots," bill also its Aristotelian verSion.
~ Ml;ch allen lion was de\'oted by TlleophrastuSto the dl.'fence
of the objectivity of such sensible qualities as c~ld and 1.1Ot.
sweet and bit.ter. Nc. Ll.'veliing his criticism mamly "'gam!'.t
the Democriteans, Theophrastu s indicated that these qllalitil.'~
must be objective if they dl.'pend on the properti<'S of till'
II,
lH
ilnd not Oil accOllnt of lhost' J:!oo~b which an' tint IH'autiful. h~
of all goods there are ends. wilich an' thellls('/\'{':-;' t'li~iblf' for
thl'ir own .<;ak(' ..... But of th{>~(', all slIch as art' h<tlUliful 011 thpi
own account are laudable" (ibid .. t2'tBb). TIlt' l'OIlCPptioli ()~
morality dev('lopt'd by Eudl'mus betrays strong Plutonic infiu
(,!l('(' and may Iw\'(> been inspirC'd by Ari"totlC"s earty \\'01'1..'1.
Similarly to Theophrastu5 who gil\'(' a dNailed accollnt of
til(' opinions of physical philosophers, Eud('mus WI'ole a num_
her of works on the history of sCi<'I1('(': mathematics (arithme_
tic and geometry), astrQllomy, as \\'('11 as theology. Th(' extant
fragm'nls of th' work under the hypothetic tille On the Gods
a~cribed by Diog-enes Laertiu~ to Theophrastus C'Xpollnd the
theocosmogonies of Acusilaus. Epimenidcs. Ph'recydes. the
Orphics. the Persian magi and the Phoenicians. The fragments
also contain data on the mythology of Homer. Hcsiod and the
Egyptian", (see ~Iul. Ill. Eudem. fro J 17, 118).
(3) Aris/ozenus of Tarentum came to the Lyceum after exten~ive sludi('s of Pythagorean ism which must have accounted
for his interest in music and musical theory. However, in contrast with the abstract mathematical approach to music characteristic of the Pythagoreans, Aristoxenus considered musical harmony to be based on the perceptions of human voice
and maintained that the notes of the scale are to be judged not
by numbers, bllt by the ear. Besides musical treatises, he
wrote nil Nhics. Taking his cue from the Pythagorean conception of th(> soul as harmony, Aristozenus goes furthel' and
d'clarcs it a corporeal harmony. Accord ing to Cicero, "Aristoxenus, a musician and a philosopher. conceived the soul as
kind of internal strain akin to what is ca ll ed harmony in singing and playing string instruments" (Wehrli I I, fro 120a).
Even a more ('xplicit comment came down to us from the pen
of Lactantius Firmianus, a Christian writer of the late third
and (>arly fourth centuries A.D. who described Aristoxenus as
a thinker denying the existence of any soul, even in a living
body: "Jllst as the tension of strings in a string instrument
prodllC(>s concordant sounds and music which the musicians
('all harmony. so the combination of tissll(>s and the living
f MCf> ill tlw Ii m bs prod lI~es th e ab iii ty ror sen sa lion" (i bid., f r.
120c). Th(> ('xtanL eHllrai fragments of Aristoxenlls show
a str()fIg" Vf>in of the Pythagorean normativ(' ethics of duty.
liS
I ~nrld
"
1~1." tt'~("hitlg
1'\Jllill~frrim
. 1110:-1
ill\ok~h"1 II",
IIl~ all~1
th\"ItH' ;1j.!1'IlCY.
'
,r,
eh .. l,
~~~ ('1~PI~lI~,
~'~()rld
t('rn~:-;
,7.
1;V
II.' atollll~ts.
<
~amp ... a('lI<; (",IINI th
I
I
I
call~(' of illi \wing" (ibid,. fr ~8 <
.~' )~lt su )St<1I1('(> 111.'
anC1Pnt sources are not una~il ). At ,thIS P(~llIt, howl'\('1'. the
conceived qualities a . 1
m~\I~, Strato IS known to have
S
IIH' cnld i-: ",'latNI' to ~~ltierentllll certain ,,,"hstrata. nanwly,
\\ a ('I' till( tI > I t I ~
/'\'1(1"11('" Slrah) lIl<lint<li ,I I. II II) 0 11'1', Yrl 011 ... nnW
(Ioly ill wh'lt lIIon'<.; I nt(~ t ,l<lt rlI0\"(,IIu'nt is illh('I'I'1I1 1101
,
,1I11"II<lI""'fl'l
'
,
II W II(' I all p\i:-;lllIg
r,
Ihlll~ !:.
)
ing a body,
'I
14'
W INi'
intC'rC'st arr thl' ohjPC'lioll" of ~tralo to :\ri ... totl(,':conception of tim(' as tht' number or motion. A('('orrlin~ to
Stra 10, the \'('\')' nat u rt' of a nII III be I' exp re:, ... i n~ a d i ~rele \" al UP
is incompatibl(' with Ih(' nolions or time and mo\"em('111 which
arc ('onlinuolI". t\{h-all('ing his own conception of lilllP, Stra\(l
d('fliled it "as a 111(',l-:\lr(' of C'\"ery motion and re:,1 in:-o far a" it
is equi\"al(,lIt to all that mo\"Cs wht'n it keep~ moving and to all
that is at rE"st when it rl'main:-; ... ti.ltionary, and ther".fore all
C'v('nts occur in time" (ibid .. fr, 79a).
Strato dillC'rentiated bl'tw('l'\l time and what occur:, ill tim{'
Hence, a day, a night, a ypar t\"{' not part:- of tim(' hut real
processes, whercu'" time i!i only tllt'ir duration.
Strato tr('atN\ th(' activity of thc so1l1 in t('fmsof motion and
regarded s('nsation and thinking a~ mowillenb, On the t'\"i
dence of Sextus EllIpiriclIs, h(' reduced r('a!-'on to sensations,
whereas P l ll t ar('h affirmed that in Strato's opinion thinking
is d iffere nt f l'om se nsations sin('(' the latter do not enter a
m an's consciousness if h i~ mi nd is occupied (d. fr. 109 and
112). The l'l'C01H\ tes t imony i~ ('\'idl'lIt1y nNlr('l' th(' truth, as
Strato IIIH\('I'SCo1'('d the importancl' of the central organ or
ll1(,lIt<l1 acti\-il\" loratcd "\)('I\\"('t']\ tIll' t'\"l'hrows," Lt', ill tht'
brain. Accordi;lg to Stralo, it was tht" sC'at of breath (pnl'uma)
spreading {nUll tIl(' {'t'ntral pMt of lh(' hody to il-o Iwriplwry
along till' lIern's (thi-: rurioll~ tlt't,lil Wi.l~ ('\"idenlly an ('clIO of
th(' dis('o\"('I'Y malit' hy phy:-;iriall:< Hprnphilu:- ,lnd Erasi:,tra
tus). Strato madl' no basic di~tinction bNw('C'n the human and
animal souls and hl'ld thartlH.' SOIl\ does not sur\"i\'{' the b,)(ly,
or spt'('ial
1)O~:;ibl(>
'
II
(octrme.
(lWl'H'r, w('
I ,
I
I)l' I Il'n' thaI 1(' pro('('(>ded from a dC'flnit(' Undl'I'st 'IIl,~oll to
human ' na.1UI'l'
to the Arisl()1
'I'" . <hug of
.and
. suhscribed
.
.
I Inll ('Otic> I
oman
s activity as an Instrument for tl'ansfol'lllin 1
tp .101l
f
it)' into actuality (s('(' fr. 132). This is not much ~Ill~)l('.ntl(ll
~_gr.1H'lIl _~)g~~h(,I'_ ~\'ith \Veh.~li: "If onlv we (,Ollld\'~ can
\
OW
far Strato wenl III pUl'!'uing AI'islotle's all' kll
trend" (Wehrli I\', fl'. 77).
~ n 1I0pologic_/ \
now
PART THREE
,I
I From tht' (~n't'k IIelll'lli:o whirh mt',mt "to ~I)(,!lk Crt't'k" or ""to ad lik\,
a GrN'k."
,,!aT~~
('conotllir lift. (If Ut'i1t'nisti(' statl'!I was ba~ - - retat ion:o:; of matun' s!avf'rY. TIll' d~c.lin(> of the an~~"'"
, dn
the cmer",'I\(',' of t'THlrlllnllS IIHlllary and admJl~.
a
...
d . L'
.
f A_
'""s
st..rtino
from
thp
Mac('
olllan
I"mplre
0
('Ill P ~.,....
[;"'.
tI'aCIII8bIeo
the Gr('8t a nd ('nding with tilt' Homa.1I ,,,mplre .were
in the flfla! a nal ys is. \.() th" dHlnges lfl the baSIS of slave ow ....
. g socit.tv which showed a dt><H t('ndellr.y towards everi...~:nd estates and handicraft eco umnit'!I \I si ng slave labou.r. 'DIe
characteristic features of tllf' ('P?ch were the expanding~,:
force in all sp heres of productIOn . vast trade marke... do ...
dC'/e-loped money circ ulation and P?werful mo~arehiE2 A
huge bureaucralk apparatus and tralll~~ professlO.nall DB
to maintain the political power and military efticleac.,- 0
convt')-'s thl;' esst'llc(' o f the new ('I \"1 1I!-'1\ t 1011 n'IHt's('t11 i 1I g' a ('on:
:=
lr(,;.;;.;pd in
~\'a;.;
II
;I
fd
~~Ill,
H~lios RrodC'~~V~\?i~:r~~~~ts~~o~
31
T;
, I
, f'
.J
. III r vefl
11 till' dl'plll of ~1I. ~'\qui~itp -{anlt' .. ,
I
cur <
''-'
IIC "how
IIU II(' 'lIiI\ 011 tu lty V('!' or IIII
uy
1I ,III' ","1'11
.
I I
,111
-hody TIII'n' I
r 1111: illig luere ,Ifllll If;;;I'
i'lIl l OI S .
)1I.tP~i
('fP,\ 0'
1I111\'e.
1111'1"
IIIOllrIJPf\ (lVI'
'
I~V
I,olilw'!l
11111 JIll.'
Voha! ('fluid b
lid" JII ]fal . II
"h'ln("il'rlslic' of L.
II'
'r
I~e Ho'
'Ill hlllplr!'
,.
. .
I
I I
I
111<.
II "vpr " la\' p -o\\ lllng !'/)("lCly \'oaS a r('al Y ((UIIlIP!
OWl,
lil
'
II
It
I ail' at.tE'ml1ts to ('lIvlgora!!' and ('D~lSlJ (i!.-I.!.' It CQl.I ( 1!0t ~u
all(
-;. TIl(' ('c(-)flOmi(' foundation of thp Homan
LmpLrr
lid ~In ' f al'\ 111'..
I
.
('
<\lie! nlOn' ]'('vpill"d Its ilHlbility to m(-pl I If' mcrt'(lSIIIt{
[\lore Is of lir{' and pow(,I'ful forc('s spt to wnrk pn'parHlIt
de[\la:~~;11 to f<'ll(ialislI! , Till:' growth of pr()(\uftioll and.lhf'
,tlily
rt
<
sop
.
rkmell but "Ia\('" wl'rc lIot mterested In the
anu ingeniOus wo
".
t d i p uet.
, . llts of thl'ir work and had 110 incentlws 0 ('\:e 0 . S d'd
le~\ti('S. The prodll<'t~~ity pf their labour dr~'pped, and ~?, ~
~I~I: ;rofits of large ('stati-s. Th ... sla\"'-o~\'ner:"l :~ja~at~e" I~~~~
th em into s~all plots .for lea~l' ~~ 1~~~:I~I;r: payi~g th:. prothus tllrne~l IIIto coh~I:~ -~~alll~(,~~e produce. The- co\onalu!' and
prietor a b',g proportH .
f fret'dml'n III eitle~ were ineomthe increaslIlg proportlO~ U
tion" of the sla,e ~ysl('m. as
palihle w~th .the eF)~\fll~lIC ~e:~eolo'gical super5tructure. and
well as With Its po Itlea. a~ . had alread,' outlived ibeif and
testified to the fact that sla,er).
~ dua\lv taklll~ rool
'
r productIOnU wt're
gra
.
h
that new re Iatlons 0
d 'lIch conditions t l' re
in the heart of the old system.. ~ er sd liberali~m chararlt'r"('('ptH'lsm
an
I
ligious and p111'1 osop I' .'cal
1'.
.'
t hie for the :-;ecu arlsaistic of ea l'iy H('l\enIS\ll Hlld. '\~,~t~r:~~~om from religion ga\l'
lion of philosophy.and It:' ~(,~ill\:l' con~errHtion of phllo~()ph~:
way to the opposll(' Ir('l\(
. t) bolstN up i(it'ologlcally
.
I lh(' ,.
funt'tlon
( eon~ecratlon.
"
.
1
" ( ' I.
which was a~slgnl'(
d An\"
10\\("
the Emp ire, a lso co nsC'Cr,lt('.
,
.
is deadly to ph il osophy.
s thn! th(' tran:-;Iation of pili'
This is not to say. of cour. (';\i ion and the interpfl'tn!~OIl
losophy into th(' \;l1IgllH g(' of re. gl. II\" le'ld~ to the dec\l1le
.
.
\"aiOll" tt'rm~ (Hec. <
the
of its co ncepts In rt' I~'I " Thi ... translation ron~l~tl1lg In . ,
of philosophical th?"g 1t.... .1ll' and man of th(' epoch, I.~:
idealisation of Soclet). " t < \ ' " concept:-;. at ftr:-;t enahh~
into tit(' nil I\{ .
in turning tl' ''1Il
~
."llIelir!. Early Hel[,-msm p. ',::! (in
"I
ItlC'II'nl
.
t"
\ \.1'. LUSI'\. Ills/MY
.
n\l~~iiln)
, - ""'I
.,.
('III/pin'
0'
of Epicureanism
of Things) of
of
'NUl
'I
pn~:-;1 ,11'
~lIdl'
_'
.
"I,
I
')" ,
,\ :-;1111
pit qUl'stWII as
S I l.\ WI'S!' or a ('ow. ,SIllI'I' Ihis till' 'I.
II
' 0111\\;\1'11 '11 ,11'-, Is
11)11
",now
l'< gl' () f tlIt'll'
..
P rl'!-'llPI10St'.., our '
1
,
',1,\111'1'
S,trl'ss_ill,l{ tilt> sl'nslIal 1I<1ll1.I"I' 01' "lIl1tlCipHlill.IIS," Elli('Ut'u;
distlng'lIlshl'S Ihl'1lI from IOg'IC'al ('oll('Ppb wlllch ht' ith'll
' 111:-;1.111('1'.
.
I'or
Wl'
wou II
( not IW;\)I It' to
" "'1,"",
propl'rlil'!1
pns!'I'
~,
, " I,I'
. . WI'I"hl
. . . 'Hili "'01111' ollH'r
.
. . ('01111('("1
r, .
.. eI wilh !-h'qll' (EJli("lIru~ IIUI '!I IIIJI 'IllI'I'lfy Ihl'lIl). L,kt' 11.:-. prl"
I' 'l'~ "' nr Epi("lIrll~ spl'ak!! or i1lnlll~ i1~ ha\"1111{ IIIrtl'rt'nl ... h.lJws.
~):1\ 'I~" i'lI",i:-<l~ Ihal 1111' IIl1l11hl'l' of ~hapt':-; i~ fl.llill' (th"U'.t h
IIH'olllprt'Ilt'It ... lhl~ largl'). l:411Llrary to 1)1'11101'1'1\11:0; who W;I:-<
i\ll:-;\\,\' .. ('\1'11
iii'S \~-ith \\'o~ds: "It is ('ss('lIlial that thl' first IIWIII;d itn;:glf'
tiss(l('UlI('d wIlh l'<lch word sh.o\ll(~ hl' 1"t'g',u'dt'(1, alld 111\'1'1'
should Iw 110 nN'd of ('xplanatlon If w{' an' ['I'ally to 1111 VI' '\
stHlldal'(1 10 which to ['pfC'1' <l prohlem of in\'('sligatiOIl o~.
['dlpetiotl 01' a IIwlltal infen.' nn' .. ," (ihi,!., ;-3R). En'llI's !'('sull
from l11l' abs('n~(' of slIch "ru'sl 1lI(,lIt.1I illlag'('s" 01' [I'(un Ihl'ir
wrollg association wilh wOI'ds, IlpllCl' Illl' Epicul'('all lh('ol'Y of
indu('lion (,IHlCC I'IlC(~ ~\ith th(' l'st<lblishrn~1I1 of tlH' lIIellning
of words and the i'..plcul'can theory of SIf.p lS (''I)OllIHil'd in
Philod(,IlIIlS's tn'atisC',
Epicurlls maintains that pl'opll' ar(' ('apahl(' of dl'v('lol)ing
('orn'ct and ril"H !lotions relating to basic physieal and moral
prohh'llls, As r('gard:; spccir.c qu('stions of natural ~d('n('l',
such as til(' Ilw('hanisms of crlN,lial piWIlOIlWIlIl, id('ntiral
sellsr ('xpC'riPllcC' in this rH~'ld IlHly han' diil('I'('lIl inll'rprNa,
liollS, n('cogni:~;jng th(' hypoth('tic chal'actrr of OUI' kllowll'(lgr
of particular natural pll('nomena, Epicul'us al tl\(' S;l1l\i' tinll'
insists on Ihe ab~olutr cC'rtainty of til(' uuiHl'sal prill('iplt's
of th(' world.
Th('s(' ullin'rsal principl('s rxpoundNI hy EpiclIl'us in his
Il'ul'l' to lI('I'o<iotus <11'(' as follows: (I) Nothing ('oriIPS frolll
nothing:, and nothing rNurns to nothing; (2) The IIl1iwrs('
has always h('(,11 and will always hl' thr S(llllr as it i~ IIOW,
bl'CHlIS(, nothing rls(' (.'xiSL<; into which il could dwrq:.("{';
(:1) 1'hr lInivt'rs(' consisL" of horii('s and void; till' t'xi~lC'nce
of bodiC's is eonfll'lnrd by lIw ('\'i<l('n('(' of 111(' s(>rl:-l(ls amI lIH'
('xistellt(' of void is infrrrrd from UH'ir motion; ('i) Bodil':-l (II'C'
('ilil(,I' compounds or thr cornpoll('nL<; of compounds, i.C'.
illllivisihip (Inri IIllchang('ahlC' partiel('s (alOlll~); (5) Thl'
Ulliv('l'sl' is inr,uil(' both in th(' ('xl('nt of void ,111<1 ill tht'
llulIlbpr of its componrllts co mpounds and atoms, Tht'
Illlrnh('r of thl' worlds is also inllullIl'rahll',
So far IllI' pic\lJr(' drawn by EpiC"uI"LlS rt'IlH\in~ within
th(, l)l'rJII)('rit('an framC'work. TIl(' diilt'rl'llces bt'gin wht'll th('
philosopht'r tUI'US to till' propf'rtil's of atoms and thpi,' lIIotioll,
In (,Olltrast with I)Plllocritlls who 111'111 aloms to lip disting'lIish <lhll' hy .... hapI', arrallg('JIlPIII and positioll, in Epicllrus lilt')'
., ' I 10 h('Ii('w Ihal all aloll1 1'1111141 hI' as larJ,!:I' ,IS ,Ih(~ I'()SIIIO",
~t~~curll~ daillll'(\ Ihill aloll1:-; 11;111'1'1'1\ in ... i~.1' ~\",~lllIn ralh~'r
. 'row lill1;l~ l'I'llI;\illilllo{ :-;0 "'lI1al\ as 10 1)(' 11\\'ISlbll', If Ih,lt
11<11
.',,)lIIS
our.
w('n' II( " .~,"
,
' would 1)(' hOllnl1 tH conn> wilhlll
.
,1\('11,111
" I I,", ",c,IoI,'
hul this i~ I\l'vl'r ~{'I'rr In ht' tlw 1'(\"",
nOl,
.,~,
"11'
how an atom ("ould \)('('(11111' VlSI I l'
1, S, 1., II , , .......
. illl(, to illli\<,;rrp
...
c" ,'"""""
(ibid" :if)).
.'
I .. \ with
\V(' lu\v{' parliN notl'd Ihat I"pl('urll~, In ~on ra" , ..
.
I () I'
t, of "t'II"'lbl('
D(,lIlorritus, I'l'('ognlsl':o;
tit'
IJ{'C tlVI,
"
. ' 1'llallll1'~'
., ,I
If anything, Ihl'Y afl' altt'sl{'d 10 hy tht' SPOSI'S which, .\(r~)I;
,
to' l'p""r'ls afl' 1I1'\'N al fallit. III ordt'r 10 1I\'('rcolll~, t.ll
IIlg,
., P[t'dl'Cl'S"'Or and <11'('011111 f or tl'"
t,uai1llt's.
, . '", ,If Ili~
H:o;(
se('p ICI~
,
,.
I'
I' lUI:' Wii\'
'IS iuhl'l'('nl in bod it's, Epi(,lIrus had apparl'nl:> on), I f tl 'i'r
~Ipt'n to him to 1'('tiUCI' tlll'lll to thl' hasi~ PlroPrrl:e~~ H:)~\.
, , I \11(' ",izl' shapl' ,111(1 Wl'lg It 0 a 01 .,
compo'IIt'nbl"'[I'(: ~lh'l' ~ff(~r~'i\ dirtl'rl'nl ~ol\llion 10 till' PWh-)\,
('H'r, t j(' P \I osol (
'.
>.' I
of atoms
Irlll. li t, dt'clar~'s that ~ I.lotl,\, Ir,n~:\~~ln~~:('I;:~~r~~:li~lgllishing
but a 1j1l?lIlatlv{'I,Y .I~l~\ I W,l,~ ~o changl' and bound 10 pt'rish,
fealur('s, rhO\~gh IllS S{l ~~(\ . II i ... no l('s5 rl',,1 than 11ll'
its ('xi ... I('I1('t' III IhC' phYSL('.1 \\or (, . I'p,'nl'nts J'ILSt as it...
.
f t it, ,)('1'mall t'n ('01"
"
eXlst(,lIC(' 0 a 011\S,
'"
I"t' . f till' atoms thellls('ln's,
ljualitit's art' as real a", thl' qlll.~ 1 1(':-< .0. I' "Ie 'Ifl' objl'rtin'
"[ll"
\\ ('Ig
I , ,I", <"l'Il"'('S Ilow
Shapt', ('0 I 0111,",."
.\ ~ t, 'SlUt'" , .
.
' II',.
".)I'opCrlil's
. '[II so f
"" <,n' lll'r('(,IH'tI. '., b , - "
.
(lr'<\~' ,I h.
ch',nl1lng
1I
''''
('V('\'
IIH'v 111'Iollg !lol to ,,I I Oll\~. lIH'm..;e
. ' "\l':-;, "\c{'onling
10
'
'
.
.
.. II ' f,'olll thl'll" ('xlslrnc~, I
ohjects lI!ld <11"(' 11lSl'\ll.\I,\) ( . 1"
tlpir 0\\'11 pr('ulia1' IIll'llllS
Epicunls, "all. tlll'~{' 1)I"0p:,,,\I~!' i:i'.:,~~ \.O\"ide{\ alway:, til ,II Ihl'
of h('iller p('n'l'[vl'd alHl ("sllngl~. I' P , I 'I' I\('\"('r wr('~lt'd
...
I Ig WLlh 11i'1ll ,\1\1 ~
aggn:'galr hod;.'
goP!' a (l l .,
, "I"'l'I'l'n..;ioll as an aggr('g:atl'
,
\
S
(
'
(..'
,
'll)
.
.'
'UH'
0
f
fl'omtht'll1, I)I I 11[. \\1
,: '''I' If bo(h" (ihid., b, .
;I('11'1I1'('S Ihl' pntiu,\ t t l
i" tn';l\l'd
Of '11lllities
'
,
, . d S{'('lI!lI a1'\' ""llitil's
q'
..
TIll' ,lI'ohh'!Ll of prl1l1:\Iy .111 '. I.' .,.'", In hi ... ('\"l'S, Illl'
. 'I
It'IIt''' ' '\ I'" \( ..
'. I
l ' piclll'lI!"i in a SIIllI at I .
"
'l",nl 'lIlll I'SSI'IIIIi!
,
. .
I " II ,1 an' pl'rlll,
, '
)I}:-(
"I
,. ,lll",rol\llar\" <jl1i1ILlIl':O;
IJl" illlary, "ua\[IIl's f<In' I I
' 'I W ll'rl',I"'
.
k
' " I''''UI'('' "Wl' Illa t' It
tll th(, t'Xi!"iIt'lll't' II :III () IJtl 'N .
. IIOU I ,'uII'cllllg
1 ~..'
I I
1'\\' ('Ollll' ;lI\d go WII
. I
,I'
'1,,\111'(' of lht' w 10 I',
"
1 "I"I'II(',llt'r I I .
,I"
"r\<'ar
thaI ;U'l'U ('II ~ II~I\ 'I' . 'gl'l'glllt' and call b()(\y, nor \,\
",hieh WI' {,OInjll'l'ht'11i 111 [ '" ,Ig
'n
I,,
,
I
I
'"
[
I
'rl
IIn('f_
"I,HlI I lIlg 0 "pact' alH tllll(>.
It' ('Oriel' plio .. of space (v "I) ,
EpicUfliS is directly link{'d wilh motion mov('tnrnt ()I'[ I'"
spPt'd, ttll'rl' WOlild hi' 110 worifl as the atoms ('oldd IlPV"f
lIlt'l't and form ('olllpllsill' bmlil'!L ~in('(~ thl' world dot's ('xist as
a\lestl'd to by IHu-s{'nst's, Epicurus posib deriillation of atoms
from Ilwil' n'gular ('ourst', kind of a );pontanl'Olis minu\('
"SWl'rVl'" thai at'('ounts for till' rrnssing of their paths anll
('v{'nltlal cnllislolls. This wa); an important d'partufl' frolll
the> rigid-and fatali);tir t('aching of Oelllocritus that rnarkf'd
a nt'w ~lf'p forward i1\ th' do<"lrint' of ancient atomistic lIIat<ri
alislll and had fllr-rt'arhing COllst-'(IIlt'TlCI'S.
TIll' eritics of t~pi(,IIl'('<1I1ism and many historians of philos
ophy IIslIHlly I"ogartit'd th{' declination of the atoms nH're\y as
)( a trick for fln ad hoc pxpJ<!natioTl of the fQr.mallou oLcolllpositt'
boilil's. Young Marx was th('nrs(lo (fi~cern the signifIcance
of this conn'pl which is in fact central to the teaching of
Epicul"us. According to \1arx, "Ihe df'cfination of the atom
from the ,,,lraight line, is. narnt'iy, not a particular determi
nation which appears aCCidentally in Epicurean ph!lsi('.~. Ort
the contrary, the l(llt' which it t'xpresses goes throu/{h the
Il'hole Epicureal/ philosophy, in s!lch a way. howet'er, tliat, a.~
goes u'itlwul sayi1lg, lhe determination 0/ its appearance
depends on thf' domllin in which it is applied."l In physic,..
this law was dir('dt'd against the rigorou;; mechanistic
d{'termini);1ll of Ot'lllo('ritus with ils identification of calise and
n(>c('ssity. Thl' idca of tht' spontaneous ;;wer\"e of thl' atom,
Lt-', Ihl' possihility of random atomic beha\'iour was
tantamount to til(' I'{'('ogllition of chanc(' and nec('ssity in the
explanation of natural 111ll'Tlomrna. Chance. according to
Epicurlls, is by no mcalls tlH' absence of cause: if this wt'rl' so,
th(' 5\\'('1\'C wO\1ld rUIl countt'r to the first principl' of natural
philosophytht-' postllli\l{' "nothing out of t~o~hing," i,l'.
nothing without fl C_<\lIS'. The d('clinat!oll in ~-'~IC\1rllS doC's
have a caus(', but it is not 'xtrl'nal as With colliSIOn of atom~,
but infernal, inhel'enl, like tht' forc{' of gravity, in tIll' wry
essl'n('t' of tht" atOln. "Thl' Epit'III'{,lHl decUnation of tilt' at.om
thus cha",\rt-'fl tht' whole> inner slru('tllr(' of the domain of tIll'
atoms ..
Epicurlls strI'SS('S that chanet' should lIot bc indl'lllilll't\
with whal we (in flot know til{' cause of. It is objectiw ill
"
.
0 tlf'
,
Ibd
i1 OIllS ,all( . 0 if'S r('<llllfeS ~mpty SI?l.H't', ~OW(,H']" the qualifi.
ration.'"
of spac(' depend
on It.... r('loIllOlIS With maltpr'. "a ('Cor(.I
.
L~'
[1-'
11l~
I
,
d
..
~ 101(>
,r a S or time. an eXalllllll' It, ttl)piying ollr inluition to
tlille as we d~) to other things ... 1"01' indf'l'd this requires
~~ ,(!{,1ll0nstr:lllOll, but onl): r('~r~'.ion, t(l show that it is wilh
) .. and. IJig-hb and lIH>II' dlVISlOllS that WI' asso('iatc il
:111<: II~tlWIS(, also with internal fr('lings or uhs{'llce of fN'ling:
"1111 \\lth movemenls and stah's of r(>sL' ill ('ol1l1('('tion wilh
l H'st' .l(.Ist
.... 'I' k [ I'
'
,
I.,
' (.1""\;11
.... .\ "
llIl
0 t lIS VI'I'Y pt'rcrptIO/l as a pecu,
'Ia; kilid of accldl'llt, and in "irtllt' of this we call it !imp"
( '.p, .. d. Hrrod. 7'2. ta),
.
TIl(>
/lInst
important
d','
,
["
...
I
.
IS
II1CtlO1l
0
hPIClll'US from J)clllocri,
liS IS 11(' conceptIOn of ' I ,
,
'
.,'
,.
A'
1(> atom s w('lyllt ali tht, C'IIIS(' of
, S mo lOll
toms a' I"
r...
<
'
wards tI"
le,ton ling to ',plcurus, arr carril'd down.
\Clg I an( travf'1 pa . 11 'I ,
I
uniform SIWl'd.1
ra ( 0011(' anot IN at a
ill",', ,,"
)\
''''no
1\
I"'n'~",
\" 11111
r SI...
I I' It' 01I iI ' .ilion,
, [
II
Itllll
01'1'11:-<. i\ "a\,
'TO\ 'I"
,.
.'
\\ib
t" lint
th an a COIlJC'ctUI'(, ' lht' mort' .sOll's ,', \\l\:-;llotIlHl"
any lren d towards.\ I\liltht'mnlit'al p:\prl's..;illl r
1(11 IVl>U[
PI'o('('sses.
,.
I () prohahilislk
morC'
di~l'egal'd
l~ses
in~era
Ep~curus
~ilOn
accordn~gly,..,
~au~es
ph~nomena
:c~!~lal
II
I
:~:t
eac~
LI~es~
3. From
to Eth'ICS an d . Th('ology"
C PhYSICS
.
, ""
h" p lO t
a\ltt hrill~ that ri'!,I)S{' ,11111 ('HUh'lItl'd ill'qlll
t'~t'I'I,\t'{' whith fHIIStitlltf' ttlP tnll' Plld Hf lifl', Exaltiul.( philo.
SOphH' <I! knowlt'clgt'. E"i(~unls writt's; 'I.et 1111 one will'II
youn~ tll'lay to ~ttldy philosophy, nor wht'll Ill' is olt! ~row
wt'ary of his stuily. Fur no one ('an ('ome too NlrlV or ton
lalt' to Sl'('ure tht' tll'ulth of his sou\. And tllP Il~an who
says that Ih(' "Io!:i' for phi\o!'ophy has either not yf't ("Ollll' or
has ':t 0l \(' ~)y i!' likl' the man who says that till' <\~l' for
happllless l!i not Yl't cOllle to him, or has pas!'l'd away,.,'
(Ep. ad M'11 122), By providing scientific explaniltioll {or
natural phenomena in the world philosophy swe'ps asi(\{'
a\l fears that torment and degrade man's consciouslll'ss the
fears of gods, death, pUlltshment in another worlrl, etc. and
prevent him from being happy.
Happiness, according to Epicurus, is that which yields
. pleasure or~re.\ier from suffering. This ethical principl' deriv('s
\ from the Epicurean theory that Illan naturally strive:;, for
pleasure and avoids suffering ... And for thi!' cause we call
pleasure the beginning and end of the ble:;.sed life. For Wl'
recognise pleasure as the first good innate in U!', and from
pleasure we begin every act of choice and avoidance, and to
pleasure we return again. using the feeling as the standard by
which we judge every good" (ibid .. 128-t29). This ex.tract.
if considered out of its setting and irrespective of Epicurean
philosophy as a whole, might well give cau:;,e to reproach
Epicurus of on'-sidedness and advocacy of bas' instinct:;.,
particularly if we add to it another famous pas~age from his
treatise On the End of Life: "I know oat how 1 can conceive
the good, if I withdraw the pleasures of taste, and,withdraw
the pleasures of love, and withdraw the pleasures of hearing,
and withdraw the pleasurable emotions caused to sight by
beautiful form" (fr, to). This indeed looks like frank
advocacy of ordinary voluptuousness.
HowE'Vl'I', such reproach would be entirely undeserved
and not only because the statements quoted above may have
been made in the heat of an argument or intended to play up to
the tastes of the crowd. Far more important i~ the interpreta
tion of plea:sure, th' c{'ntral notion in tIll;' moral doctrin' of
Epicurean Garden, which has nothing io common with coan,(>'
ness and vulgarity not infrequently ascribed to it. According
to Epicurus, "it is not possible to live pleasantly without
~iving prudently and honourably and justly (oor again to live
a life of prudence, honour. and justice) without livin~
hUIlWIl
'"
"
t
1
I
(L
Though mall see k5 p IeasurE.'. , Wl'mlls ('onsl( PI' t I<Il of Ill-sir!.'s
some are natural. others valll, and of till' natural SQUIl' ure
of lacking 10 t h e
lIelltly gavl' r,aUSl' (or acc\l~lIIg I;JPICUlliS
I
~cientifl(, iNver and being rather easy:goi.ng ab?ut the latl1~r
foundat.ion oi his ethical theory. ThiS \,lew~o\Ot. can la\.,~
be regarded as tenable. Far from underestllnal1.ng pOSI I~C
\I S(,leneC, Epirurtls was against. gr.oundless ciallHs to ~
knowledge of ab!"iolutc truth bordenng on myth and lendlOg
to turn into a dogma.
. .
d
d
Second, r3pieurll!"i r!.'jected the idea of ~1\'10~ 1;lfO'I en.~eu:ry
C
denied any influence of g,ods on Olen 5 sa a:lr~;s t;~~~ry of
Epicurus cOHceded the \;"'Xlstcoce of god. ["
Ie' belief
knowledge demanded an objecli,ve cause 0. peo~ fr~U\ real
First
t ..
... ub~lanc('.
Itr is usC'lc ... s to Iu'ullilhl,' II II' g'ods , I
r
any b('1I('lIt5 .rom thrlll- V('I IIIt'lI 11111 'I '
,til 1'\1""'1
:.
s \1'11I'I'all'lI
'I '
tIe:.;
I
}('C'r IIlteliectual dt'lIght In Iht'I'I' , , II
1\ III
f
"'dbl'f'
(\(t't'IH'1',
I
f
II)
~n.
Oil',
(>'S,5
',"IlIl\~l rlal _
of bplcurus. They III ('\ISt. Tlll'll "'" ,,", "Irl, 110 IU'lio r,
r
I.
..,
h
.
~
/I P (/~l
vree,,' art ' t e archNYI)t'~ "f II",L"
. Ie J{nd .... 11/
b
I
'II
.
'
.-,(
1ll', ... !"I"
em O().. II
nowadays tllf' idl'al of llt'1.lu :.
PIPl'P," that
ac.s~h('tlc. e~sellc(, of the EpiclIn'un Rods wus li~;(' 110,\HI\'(,I'. tlw
th;'r religIOus ('58'11('(,.
.
lot.\1 dl'lIial of
fhe moral theory of EpiClII'U'" nol 01 I I .
and Imperturbability in the fuce of the ~', : " 1('1 calm of mind
ill this sense is the master of hi' 0 VI(,I~d'Slll~{ e~ of life, Man
resol t
' .
s wn
estlJlY Hell
h
.u.e opposItion of Epicurus not only to LI ',' r ' ce, t e
of, d1\:me providence, but also to the fatu;~s Ie IglOUS Idea
SCientists hypostatising neccsgity A
d'
m of natUral
"witl
I"
I
'
,
CCOI' Ing to Ep'
1 us les t Ie chief power in deter
' ,
Jcurus,
which happen by necessity and so . J~Jnll~g ~v('nts, some of
(Ep. ad Men 133) WI'I
ale wllllln our control"
.
,
11 e llecesglty cannot b
II d
account, a wise man "sees that ch ~.,
e ca c to
which is in our control is subject ~nce IS IIlconstant, but that
naturally a.tt~~hed praise and blaJl~e~o (~~~~te) r, and to it are
The possibility of man's choice f
".
according to Epicurus from thO a c~l.lrS~?f actIOn derives,
b?th natural and sociai processe e I~~uh tlP"Clt~ .of causes of
hiS objections a ains h
s.
ereas Eplcurus raised
cists" (E~. ad rt~en, ~~4), I~~:ura/I explan~tions of the ."physilevelled hiS criticism dire tl
0 ~wer D.lOgenes of Olnoanda
lh.e belief in rigid necessit c a~dat emo~rlt~s c?n.tending that
With exhortation bl
y,
predestl~atlOn IS IIlcompat ible
(I. 39). Epicuru~ w:n~e 01 even pu.nlsh~nent of cl'iminals
In:
ti
",
Epirl I
:IWllrf'1H'~~
,"
s~al.1C('s
the .s~me thlng doC's not turn oul to bC' just for all"
(,b,d., XXXI I ).
Ii. RomAn Epi('ureanbm
"
"
/
273
..
---,
that:h
276
Chapter 2
Stoicism
5. History of Stoicism
c/
Djale~ti/
and others. They also survived only in fragments" (s('(' SVF "
p. 137-139, indicating 57 titles of Cleanthes's works). "
The third and Illost prominent represcntative of the Early
Stoa was Cleanthes's successor ell rysippus [rom Soli in Cilicia
(c. 280-205 B.C.). Tradition says that he was originally an
athlete (runner) and credits him with 705 books, of which
more than 300 were devoted to logic. According to Diogenes
Laertius, "so renowned was he for dialectic that most people
thought, if the gods took to dialectic, they would adopt no
other system than that of Chrysippus" (Diog. L. VII, 180).
His importance for Stoic philosophy was acknowledged in the
saying "Had there been no Chrysippus, there would be no
Stoa." All that hao: survived of his original writings are
isolated fragments of 66 of his books (See SVF, III, pp.
\94-205) .
Other members of the Early Stoa were Zeno's pupils Ariston, Herillus, Persaeus, and others, as well as Zeno's and
Cleanthes's pupil Sphaerus of Bosporus. or Chrysippus's followers mention should be made of Diogenes the Babylonian of
Selucia and Antipater of Tarsus, who were known as the first
teachers of Stoicism in Rome.
. Already th: early Stoics divided their philosophical system
Int? three main parts: logic, physics and et.hics, They likened
phllo.sophy to an egg in which t.he yo lk is ethics, the white is
phYSICS and t.he. shell is logic, or to an animal's organism wit.h
the bones and sinews corresponding to logic, the flesh t.o et.h ics
a.nd the s?ul to physics. Unlike Zeno who sta lted the expositlO~ of hiS s~stem from logic and passed to physiCS and to
ethlc~, ChryslPPus proceeded from logic to ethics, and then to
p~~s~cs. Whatever the sequence, all the Stoics held that these
~Ivls;ons constit~ted an i~tegral whole, logic binding the sysem and protectmg phYSICS and ethics, physics revealing the
~truc~ure o~ the .unlverse, and ethics teaching true wisdom
Identlc~l .wIth virtue and based on the dictates of nature.
As ~lstInct from the original philosophy of the Early Stoa,
th(' Middle Stoa represented by Panaetius of Rhodes and
lHI
)f
fir-
f('":I"
smaller spheres. Of notions obtained by transposition, creatures with eyes on the chest would be an instance, wh ile the
centaur exemplifies those reached by composition, and death
those due to contrariety" (Diog. L. VII, 52-53).
\
./
Zeno and Cleanthes took the view that an object imp resses
itself upon the soul as a signet ring is impressed into \':ax.
Chrysippus rejected this simile as. r~lisJeading, argu ing that if
the soul were like a piece oT wax it could not 'receive more
than one impression at a time and even tbat would be obliterated by new impressions which is not the case. He contended that the soul affected by an external object undergoes
a change or a modification and offered tbeir classification.
According to Chrysippus, first comes direct perception or
"phantasia" which is true as it is produced directly by an
object, then follows "phantastikon" or a mind picture produced by imagination and, finally, "phantasm" or wild fancy
arising in the mind in a state of insanity or frenzy (SVF, fr.
54) .
According to the Stoics, sensations and presentations or
impressions are common to both human beings and animals,
yet the former have also concerts which are defined as
presentations formed by the reasoning of a rational animal (fr.
~3). A .con~ept is thus an image of an object based on its
ImpressIOn. III the soul, or, according to Chrysippus, on the
correspond 109 modification of the soul. As is evidenced from
t1~e abode, th~ S.toics.con~eived cognition as an active process:
given fre~ re~n lmaglOatlOn may run wild. The objectivity of
a perceptIOn Implies the individual's "consent" and the act of
cognition including such "consent" or apprehension was
called by. them katal.epsi~. He.nce, kataleptic phantasia or
apprehenSive perceptIOn Identlfipd as such by its clarity
became for the Stoi_cs the criterioll.of truth: it derives from an
~xtern~J object causing a change in the individual's sou l and
I!> rf'addy accepted by him as authentic. Significantly, in the
~81
As might be expected, the Stoics offered a rational account of the universe with a strong materialist tendency. They
maintained that all things are bodies and denied the independent existence of incorporeal entities. In their view, lekton
can only exist in relation to thought and word, place and tiPH'
in relation to matter and its states, whereas void is not-I.
ing. Categories therefore are applicable to bodies only. The
~atter of every individual body is a part of universal primordial matter or substance (substratum). Each particular substance or body has a peculiar quality which makes it what it is.
The maio qualities which give the body its specific nature are
ho.t and cold~ dry and mo~st. They are corporeal like every
thing that eXIsts and constitute breath or pneuma which uoi286
')"
_ o.
we see when the light between th~~ visual organ and the ohket
stretches in the form of a cone ... hl' apl'x of till' cont' in th(' air
is at the eye, the base at the o~J('ct ~('en. Th~lS tilt' thing sef'1l
is reported to us by the medtum of thl' sir stretching out
towards it, as if by a stick ... We hear when the air between the
sonant body and the organ of hearing sufi'fs concus~ion
a vibration which spreads spherically and th(,ll forms wave~
and strikes upon the ears, just as the water in a reservoir forms
wavy circles when a stone is thrown into it... They consider
that the passions are caused by the variations of the vital
breath" (Diog. L. VII, 157, 158).
Such views seem to suggest that the Stoics recognised the
mortality of the soul dispersing or evaporating after death.
Yet their conception of soul as a body led them to a different
conclusion. On the evidence of Diogenes Laertius, "the soul is
a nature capable of perception. And they regard it as the
breath of life, congenital with us; from which they infer first
that it isa body and secondly that it survives death. Yet it is
perishable, though the soul of the universe, of which the
individual souls of animals are parts, is indestructible ...
Cleanthes indeed holds that all souls continue to exist until
the general conflagration; but Chrysippus says that only the
souls of the wise do so" (Diog. L. VII, 156-157).
This passage gives us a glimpse of the contradictions the
Stoics vainly sought to reconcile in their doctrine of soul:
material by nature, the soul survives the death of the body;
though divine, the individual soul is mortal whereas, again,
the soul of the universe is indestructible ...
Equally great are the difficulties besetting Stoic theology.
Dissolved, after the pantheistic fashion, in the universe
and mixed with matter, God turns out to be alien to the world,
as it survives the 'fonfiagration. Being immortal and eternal,
God is at the same time mutable. Called Zeus, it is in fact
nothing but an allegory-like, for that matter, all other gods ...
On the evidence of Philodemus, Chrysippus maintained
that the gods are nothing else than allegorical characters,
yet the Stoics recognised the existence of gods adducing t~e
argument from general consent. Seeking to substantiate thiS
argument, Zeno discoursed thus: "One may reasonably
honour the Gods; but those who are nonexistent one may
not reasonably honour; therefore Gods exist" (Sext. Adv.
math. IX, 133). Cleanthes, for his part, argues the existence
of god from degrees of perfection: "If one nature is better
than another, there will be some best nature ... God therefore
a
nature gu
. .
. .
Now the "nature" of the Stoics, it may be recalled, IS governed by necessit.y or fate. If this is so and man's every
, See F. Copll'~ton, A Ilislory of Philosophy. Yol. II. part 2, Imaltl',
'"
fo Ie. rd 'Ity o! Ii IOlan n.... un. ACC .:.ml 19!.O Clean,hes. there
is n I middle between v. tu~ and vice (_"VF I fr. 566)
Dc pile t If> n
rll ifiCHu on or t 11" 1 toWf!"~ t~f> good
the 'y rtuolls C ,. lound t41 remain virtuou~ ana 1e vicious ire
bound to remam vb jous. Th' Joctr:ne in fact re,ected the
po" I )ility of any gndual progre" towwl"l perf~ction and
divll.led all ppoplc Ill.o two c as-,e'5, the t'ew sagf><;. and the
vast majority of fools. It was aimed ag3l1s 1 the perlpe ctic~
who believed II a possiLllity ...r mao's gradual perfpc'ion or
degradation.
As time went OU, the StOICS had to modify he asperity of
their original attitut.le hecause the idea sage was no longer a
human being. Exaltiug his perfection, the Stoics in fact played
into their opponents' hands, since the failure of the average
Stoic to live up to the set standards became only two obvious,
and this ran counter to the practical purpose of any moral
theory which always aims at man's improvement or, at least,
at teaching him to differentiate between the good and the bad.
The rigorous adherence to the initial ethic principles threatened to undermine the influence of Stoicism (as well as
Cynicism) .
Having realised this danger, the Stoics made considerable
changes in their teaching. First of ali, they revised their
conception of the morally indifferent things (adiaphora)
by dividing them into those according with nature and those
running counter to its demands, i.e. into the "preferable"
and" not preferable." For instance, though wealth and poverty, good health and illness are indifferent in moral terms, it is
better to be wealthy and healthy than poor and sick. As a
result, the Stoics no longer condemned men's .interest in thl"
"preferables" provided their actions were gUided by moral
motives.
This explains why the later Stoics insisted on the assessment of man's motives and began to distinguish not only be"
tween virtuous and VICIOUS. but also between "proper" and
obligatory actions (kalhekonla). ~lan 's obligalions. E'1~SUy
from the law, but a proper action is \irluous only If Il I~
prompted by moral considerations. The assessment of an
action which has not been performed because of external
interference depends on the presence or abse,?-ce of a moral
motive. Hence, in the Stoics' opinion. the- ac.tlOns of a ,trulr,
wise man are always moral, whereas the actIOns of a fool
are merely "proper."
,,,
. Por all the attempts of the Stoics to m~d erat(l th(>ir extreme
VICWS and ca ter to common sense, th ei r moral philo:sophy
abounds in contrad ictions. For instance, the know ledge of
virtue ('omes to man "by nature," but it can also be acq uired
from experience. Reason can generalise from particular instances to the good as a whole and profit by experience, yet
there is a gulf between the virtuous and the vicious. This gulf
is unbridgeable, yet the Stoics assert the equality of people
(including the equality of men and women) who have similar
virtues and vices. Contrary to Cleanthes who regard s virtue as
an inherent quality of man, Chrysippus asserts that it can be
lost through insanity or drunkenness ...
All these conflicting views cannot be reconciled but are
easily accountable for. They reflect the universal but hopeles~ pro~st of the lower. strata .of Hellenistic slave-owning
~oc~e~y iO the face of blind SOCIal forces threatening every
IDdlvldual and making his existence se nseless. This, incidentally, is one of the reasons why Stoic natural philosophy canno~ be reduced to the physics of the pre-Soc ratic thinkers de~plte..their obvious affinity. The impotence of logos, its
lfla~lhty to change the preordained destiny of man led the
~tOICS to the identification of logos with its opposite, the
Inscrutable fate, and was in fact nothing but the expression
of man's wretchedness and despondency. Yet the way out
proposed by the Stoics had little in common with the
Epicurean ataraxia or escape from the world. The Stoic
imperturbability of soul irrespective of what may happen to
~he body was based on a different conception of nature which,
In ~urn, led to a different understanding of man's place in
sOCiety. Contrary to commonly held views the Stoics did
not preach apathy in the face of blind for~es, but stressed
th e ne~d for.a m~n t.o fulnl his duty under any Cil'CuOlstall~'(>s
accepting with dignity whatever the fate has in s tore for hlln .
As ~istinct from the Epicureans who regarded the universe
as an Interplay o.! se~seless atoms and a man as a free agent
b~lUnd by no ?bhgatiOn~ to anyone and concerned only with
himself and hIS humble Ideal of pleasure the Stoics conceived
th.e world as an organic ~hole with its o~n logos and were inclllled, by reason of their pantheistic determinism, to view
~ociety
.I
liill
,..
h m~~l
Will
\d"
.
U der our control are conception,
are not under our .
. n , rd everything what is our
choice, .desire, averSion, and. I~ ~t:re ~ur body, our pro"perly,
own dOing; not under o~r con r d everything that is not our
reputation, office, and, III ~ Wt~ 'gs under our control are by
own doing. Furth~rmor~l t ned u'~impeded: while the things
nature free, unhillderr a k ~ef\'ilc subject to hindrance,
not under our co~~r(k are w~) ';" man \hould thererore rely
h
and not our ow,:,
... ne.
~Indt'r hi"- control. "then no onl'
only on those tl1ungs tha\ a:~mpul"ion upon you, no one wil\
will evN be ah e to exer
.
..1\ [i~d fault with no
.
au will blame no one, \\1
.
.'11
hlOder.you, Y
I I nothing against your will, you .... '.
one, will do ah~lo ute Y. no onl' will harm you. [or nl'ith('r IS
hav(> no persona I'nrlO) ,
I ' " ('h'd)
there any harm that can toue I ) OU
I I , .
1'I11e~
man, as
t
I
Clwp!rr .1
Scepticism
10. Early
Pyrrhoni~m
;1 "I
a ~~~e::e~~ical moml'lIt i:-; bound to be neg~t(>d, dialect.ically "sublated," a:-; it were, if phllo:-;ophy strl .... E's to attalD
d~" PlliluC')lIte. Band_ 11
, ,,:: ,
r('sl knowll"dge and i!' nut coull'lIl 10 hll!.:' .10\\ II III 101;11 S('P .
cism. i.e. H it is "positive" and doC's lIot turll Iht "IIIO'IH/I~:
into its. principle and conclu~ion a:-; was tilt' C<l!'(, \\~~h
Pyrrhonlsm.
(1) Pyrrho of Elis (c. 360-270 B.C.) i.s known to ha'
been. a mediocre painter who .went in ror philosophy ah:~
hearmg the lectures of Megarlsn Bryson and l)l'moCfitll!l'
follower A~axarc~us ..Traditio~ tE'lls us that h(> travelll'c! wi'th
Alexander s armies mto India where he was influenced
by the ascetic "Gymnosophists" (naked philosophers). According to Diogenes Laertius, "this led him to adopt a most
noble philosophy ... taking the form of agnosticism, and
suspension of judgement. He denied that anything was
honourable or dishonourable, just or unjust. And so, univer.
sally, he held that there is nothing really existent. but custom
and convention govern human action; for no single thing is in
itself any more this than that" (Diog. L. IX. 61). On the same
evidence, Pyrrho was entirely heedless of his surroundings
to the extent that he would not look where he was going and
it was only due to his friends' care that he did not get killed or
maimed in an accident. According to other sources, however,
heroic indifference to external circumstances preached by
Pyrrho in theory was not his standard in practical life.
Pyrrho appears to have written nothing and we owe our
knowledge of his views to Timon of Phlius, Pyrrho's pupil.
\ On his evidence, Pyrrho taught that a man wishing to be hap
" py should know the answers to three questions: first, how
things are constituted; second, what attitude we should adopt
to them; and third, how we can profit by such attitude.
Regarding the first question, he held that things are
inexpressible, indistinguishable, and unstable. Ollr sensations
of things are mutually contradictory and we cannot know the
true from the false ones. We know but the appearances of
things, and opinions are not to be trusted. The answer to the
second question ensues from the answer to the first one. A wise
ma.R should refrain from judgements. since all knowledge
claims are equally probable. As a result of such silence or
aphula he will be no longer frustrah>d over insoluble
probl.eDl8 and ~t~in the state of complete imperturbability or
happiness. ThiS IS the answer to the third qll(>~tion (Vog. III,
10878) .
Hence. the goal of life is ataraxia, serene contentnH'nt. and
the means is the suspension of any judgement and aphasia.
'fl',
I F I
tely a man in his right mind cannot be a consistenl sceptic:
un the o~v~~:nc' 'of the SlIme Diogenes Laprtius "one' he (PyrJ'ho) got
SourCl~. it
cpn'llfles.
enraged in his sister'. cause ... and he told the man who blamed bim tha.~
It was not over a weak woman lhal one ~holiid di~play inrlinrrl'nrl'
(ibid., IX. 66)
iy , from the universal agreel~ee~J'o~~;'se; thirdly, from tite abthe orderly arrangen~~nt\~: ~enial of the existence of deity.:
s urd consequences
dermining the opposing arguments
fourthly and last~,) b~~::e of these arguments seems convincI d d there are atheists and there are
(Adv. math. IX,
iog to Carneades. n .l.'e 'about Besides we cannot prove
. in a thing
,
. tence.
tribes we k n ow .not hf109 a belief
to its e:os
anything by arguing. rr:;l to the reason and divinity of the
. ooe cannot 10
\ galll,
11
.
.
a bl e as t I1e arguments agamst
It.
un .
0\
than the whole and the Mme; (or substance is both whole and
part, whole i~ th~, Universe, but part in the nature of th.is
particular allimal (Sext. Ad\,. math, IX, 337). Yet m
contrast with Heraclitus who focused his attention on the
dialectical contradiction and then reasoned upward to Logos
as the law of all being, Aenesidemus draws from this statement an entirely different conclusion in [ull accord with
Sceptical tradition as is seen from the next few lines obviously
reproducing his own words: "And if so, we must declare that
no whole exists. From which it follows that no part, either,
exists. For each of these is a relative, an~ when ?ne of a pair.o.~
r('\atiws is abolislw(\, th(' othrr also IS abohshrd wllh It
(Sex1. Ad\'. math. IX. 357.)
.
.
.
Sceptic Agrippa known only (rom a mentIOn In DlOgenes
Laertius (Sextus Empiricus speaks impersonally of the "~a
test Sceptics"') introduced ftve more tropes (modes) cast~ng
doubt on the possibility of knowledg~ and ':resu.ltmg
respectively froRl disagrrement, e.xtenslOn "ad .lIlfinltum,
relativity, hypothesis and reciprocallllference (DlOg. L. IX,
88). Th(' first trope rrfers to dissent am.oog philosophers,
the second invokl's inflOite r('gress of ~remlses and proofs (to
prove a conclusion we nt'ed prf'mISeS, the~e ~hemselves
require proofs, and so on ad inflllitum). The third IS b~sed ~n
the assertion that every object can only ~e per~el\('d I~
conjunction with others and is therefore tncogn.lsable b:y
'ts If tbe trope "from hypothesis" is directed agalllst those
~heO 'wish to avoid inftnite regress an? "take the most
elementary of things as of themselves ent1ltled ~oll creddepntceth~
.
.
I
b
e some one e se WI a 0
willch IS use eS5,. }C~U~
IX 89) The last trope "from
contrary hypotheSIS" (Ibld.-,
'ar uill in a circle as 'lIhen,
reciprocal inferen~e pertalll~ tOexi:tenc~ of channels in the
for instance, one IIlfers ~f~u~lIces allegedly coming from
sense organ.s from Ithe
the effluences are argued from
external objects, w \ereas
the existence of channel.s I hows that Agrippa's troprs
Even this ~horL. reci ta s nal sed by Aenesidemus. The
partially COi~lcl~e wltl~ those a ch~racter, since the last ftve
distinction hes In theIr
.
deal not so
The
are
'
dE'mollstrated.
connected with
last staj;!;e of anciE'lIt Scepticism is
315
Carnead~~.
t,h!ire~e~g~r~e!'.a~t~p:h~':~h:~O:P:r~\ll~fn~';;-'~O~1
;.t~h~e
Scepticism W as one of the
h that
arose on _
of the Hellenistic epoc
~~d:~:e~~~~:~;~o~~~t~~i;':":!p~f;~~~e~~:~eth~
~~:!~~}~~i
and reasonableness pr.
. Hellenistic states on I G k
III
' 1 onditlo ns lD
. 1 period 0
ree
influence of SOCia c
t
In the class lca
d'ngly
.
.
Gre ek charac cr.
d act accor I
harmoniOUS G k's ideal was to knoW an lairoed the motto
history, the re~
the Epicurean proc
d
uiesce:'
In the Hell enistlc a~~nd t
ic " 0 knowi~~ conclusion.
"to know a~d ev~de'in this tren to a 10!itS his ignorance
Th? SceptiC,. b~l;ogobfective knowledgeh~dcan by suspend.jng
waives all claim.
. d to live as best as
ense or practical
and makes up lll~~~~ing to cu:;toro. common s
judgement and a
1 however, could meel
experience.
hilosophi cal school~' Roman Empire. Th('
None of these P . I demands 0 tie
, I and ideologic a
the SOCia
Hellenistic philosophy.
r ,\
I'll III
lute
Chllp/t'r 4
F:tI{'dit'i~tn
to Phil(ll!oOphi .. o.R('Ii~iou~
S)rl('r('ti~nl
.k
"/('f!!)
'
'"
I
I
TI
0,
21
:! I
'
Disputaliones).
Discollnw (:1f'ld,-mica) 811tl HallY
.
Academic
?t I1('rs..C:Irero ~ alln wa~ to {'xlrHct [nun Itwlll t Ii' 'bC~I,"
1.(', th",
truth. He shows d~r("rl'H(,t: ('Wil to thllsr 11'.ldling.
h(, does not approve '.g. EPH'UfN\l\lsm) 'Ullt ill his 'l'ntlitio I
prcs('r\'('s both their idt'lls and arguII\rub. lIowt'vt'f. t"POIlIUI
ing the "i('w5 of Gr('('k lhink('rs. Cirt'ro tIm's not (,Ollt.tll'
hims('.1f to their repr~du('tion in Latin in fart Ill' intt'rprcts
them 111 accordance with the world outlook of n Homan riti7:cn.
Thus he gives !:1operial prominen('~ to the Stoic COIH't'ption of
"
the "proper" which is by no mean~ crurial for Stoic philo:;ophy-and turns it into "duty" (officium) ronl.~il\g his attention
on the duties and norms of behaviour of a "worthy cilizl'Il,"
Cicero regarded philosophical studies as "the food of Ihe
young, the diversion of the old, an adornment to success,
a refuge for consolationin adversity," In his opinion, philoso
phy achieves these ends by different methods and it is
important that we know the ways proposed by different
thinkers and schools, For instance, consolation can be
achieved by showing that evil does not exist. as claimed by
Cleanthes, or that it is not considerable as contended by the
peripatetics; the Epicureans propose to turD attention to the
good and disregard evil, the Cyrenaics teach to take pain as
a matter of course, whereas Chrysippus believes that grief can
be relieved by persuading its victims that indulgence in it
does not accord with man's dignity and fulfilment of his
proper duties. Still others seek to combine variou~ methods
since different people respond to different therapies--and so,
Cicero concludes. he also offers a single consolation joining
together all methods (Cic. Tusc. Ill, 31),
Similar attitude is adopted by Cicero towards other philosophical problems, as he believes together with the peripatetics and academics that "all things should be viewed from
opposite sides" (ibid., 11,3). Naturally, with this approach
he could not but fall in with the probability principle of the
academic Sceptics combining it, however, with the Stoic
conceptions of nature and with rather dogmatic ethical
principles-traceable, again, to the innuence of Stoicism. In
Cicero's eyes nature is a great harmonious whole purposefully
arranged and pervaded with reason. He subscribes to Plato's
doc-trine of immortal soul on the grounds that a self-moving
cause cannot cease to exist: "Since the soul is always active
and has no source of motion bpcause it is itsl'Ir sl'lf-tnoving.
its motion will have no (,Ild" (Cic. D(' Sl'IH-'(,t. XXI, 78), To
a~~~~i~~tOs~l:ht:~~~~r
L"
[0;'
t.
attributed to [ate.
.
of gods a nd their
Thus the nco_Pythagorean cOnllce,po'nlOnof Stoic pantheism.
. a clea r re ec I
relations to man I S
tI e world and men are possessm
God does not stan~ apart froh . I artaking of the divine subelr p. "
cd O f reason by virtue."0 t "ether
stan ce-'uppermost air or
about 90 \"arioug ncoWe know la r gely by na.me on Y,' - -n the main idrntical
,
.
I Their con ten IS I
h ,
P ythagorea n treatises.
I xander Polyhistor. except t a
with what we ha ve f.rom A: e e llt combinations of v l ew~
different authors give. differ For inslanrc. Ocelli Ll1ctw.,
borrowed [rom the sa me sO ll;~e~i the Universe (De /l/lIl'erst
in hi s treati se On the Natu ristotelian idea of the ungen?natura) co ncentra~es on th~
close ly foll ows Aristotle III
rated and everlasting worl
of genesiS and decay, concl ~d
describing particular processe~rom Aristotle's On Gene~atLO~
in~ his work with a passa g ,\Ii
Lucani,
1)('
unlvel'SI
and Corruption
(see 38(j~~06). Frolll Xeno('\'C\lcJo; al~d tl\('
natura, 11,3-6. Mull , ~f .
Ocelli borroWS the doctnne ~f
S toics (evidently pose! OIlIU"':' the heaven , the earth. and t. e
ree pa-rlS of the lInlVe rS~ ) and divide:;, acconlingly, ,\11
'h
,
above-earth space (metarsLOIl
d demons
( d
\1)1 ., III . 3)
'.
.
.
ds men , an
be lOgs IDtO go,
.
. der Griuhel1. Band lit. 2. Tt'il.
:nd
13.
Judai~m
and
Gr~k
\ 01 \le..:. ndri.
PhilOlOOp h y. Ph .0
,,'c'
'\1
:1:.."1
<
(
creatIOn. 1.(' . the world and man. I
.
However . in line with th' Stoic tradition , Philo also describes lo~os as the inherent law and th e "~old" of the world,
as the Ulliversal reason that gover ns the cosmos in the sa me
way as man' s mind controls the movement of the body. The
world and mall are respectively the macrocosmos and microcosmos. ~Y hi s ration,a l :!;oul man assimilates to divine logos,
and by IllS body consisting of elements, to the cosmos as the
abode or body of logos. Borrow ing libe rall y from Stoicism
Philo asse rts that every man carries a particle of the divin~
!ogos ~see Philo De of. m. VI. 146) and that the logos moves
to a circle called fate by most peop le (Quod deus immut.
XXVI, 1(6). I n his desc ription Philo does not omit even such
S toic c haracteristics of logos as "seminal and generative." Selecti ng freely from H e ll en istic philosophy whatever concepts
he deemed reasonable, Philo,however.showed great caution
when it came to the conception of God, central to the sc riptural tradition. For instance, in opposition to the Stoics who identified the world with God. Philo adheres to the idea of creation
and turns for support to Platonism. In hi s opinion, god knew
that a good world coul d not be created without an archetype.
therefore he first produced the intelligib le world of Ideas
incorporeal and divine. The Idea s ex isted from eternity as
thoughts of god and occupied no space -ve ry much like the
image of a city to be built that the arc hitect first sees with li s
mind's eye. So, god models the sensible world upon the wo rld
of Ideas in accordance with Plato, yet contrary to Plato the
world of Ideas is created by god too - this time in accordance
with the Scriptures,
Another big problem that faced Philo was how to accou nt
for the generation o[ the corporeal from the divine , the imperfect a~d tempor~1 from the perfect and eternal. Seeking to
reconcile the sCflptural dogma of creation from nothing with
th e deep- rooted Greek conception of pre-existin g matter (even
. J)" .. rrihin~
,,'
b-- I -
II
The two centuries that separated Philo from the neo-Platonics were marked by the increasing influence of Platonism as
the leading trend in the eclectic philosophy of the peri~d.
A typical representative of such philosophy based on StOIC,
neo-Pythagorean and peripatetic elements was Plutarch of
Chaeronea (c. 46-c. 127 A.D.) known also as a biographer a nd
a moralist who violently denounced Epicureanism an.d
attacked, somewhat less bitterly, the Stoics. Offering hiS
interpretation of the Platonic doctrine of the World Soul, he
contended that God did not make the body impermeable, nor
the soul capable of perceiving and thinking. Both the~e
principles existed from eternity but were in a chaotic state III
darkness and disorderliness, devoid of perfection and measure.
God put them in order and harmonised in accordance
With. numerical relationships, thereby creating the living and
movlDg cosmos, the most perfect of all creations.
Friedrich Engels. "Bruno Baut'r und da~ Urchrislonlum" in: Karl
\1arx, Frit'drich Engels, Werke, Blind 10, Dietl V(lflag. Berlin. 1062, S. 298.
I
Ts2
mylh-and retigion.
d the world, Plutarch borTo form a link betweend Go.d aXoenocrates) the idea of goold
rows (evidentIy rr maca
o . . emlc "sub-lunar wor Id" an d deve
_. ~
and bad demons abidtng In thedOWing demons with quah~le:
ops a detailed demono~ogy ~~ ascribe to the supreme de,~~;
or
men punishing themI . "
he ob viously does not arlo.
. the Ives
. to "exp atn
demons interfere I~ crimes. This ~~ablesbh;I? fs including
various offences an
f superstitIOUS e Ie ,
.
f
all sorts 0
.
I
l
and Just y.
0 hedes and mlrac es.
ic pythagorean,
fortune-telling 'l prt"~ combination of Plato". tc of Maximus
A similar e~ ee \c elements is char?ctefl:h~ well known
Stoic and pen~atetA uleius who, bes1de;rote On Plato and
0/ Tyrus, Luctu~
Golden ss , als~Wle), On the World
Metamorp/~ose( ~e Plalone et. elUS ~~~ell as of AlbiTltt$ llnd
His Teachmg 0 Irlterpretal torl , aC
l"us Celsus (second
(De Mundo), . It Platonist Au!uS tr::~ons in his attacks
Atticus. Eclecttc d tile doctrine 0
.
'nfiucnce of the
D) use
.
the growing I
bT
century A" . tyattributlng
d
ns' names and a I I
,nst Christlanl
ledge of the emo
aga
I ir knOW
Christians to t le. theurgy.
r A.D.), one of th('
em
ty to usc .th ! I~pamea ~secon~te~~~~ Zo assimilate PlatonNurnentuS ~ nco. Platonism, a
.iXl
forcrunn('fS 0
The
:t
{flfll',HI
'Jrnl'ral~.
rf'fI'rl'n('f',~
Plotinu~'s
:~d~~:r::,,;,~~::~cn~ u~~r~:re~
~~I~~di i~il~'i I~~:~~~,'~~~. s~d;~
rn
I~5 entirely
a two
i:s~n i~ i~
~~Ii~~~:epr~~u('ed
Or'tll'~~he sa'm~
tO~II~S g:n~~ates'
l~l,em
ud
tbabowled...
&helmowv-1mowD.
_he&he .. meu
&he Inlellitlble.
be. DO Iru&b" (V,
&he NoUl ..nerates &be
"I(8l101', &be I18nsible world
. .H8Dee, the NOllI is
muy, i.e. u the one-many (V,
&be NoUl roughly corresponds
of Idua. However, in
&hem u I18U-sufftcient
... Inlelligibles &het do
(V
5), i.e. u &bouahIB
1Itr.88 on &be hi.....,.,y of
This
(Nm
tl
c of bodu's prac I
I h
senses, t h e Imag s
:' them with ideas, it r('\"ea s t e
differenti~tes them. ~~lllpa~III~lst as the One reveals itsE'if
general III the mdlvldual. .J
r the ~ous which then
t"
in the Hlt'a" 0
'
through emana 10,n .
he Wo~ld Soul's logos. so human
manifest thems('hcs. III t.
ber of individual concepL'!.
In anum
..
, d
r id s.the Idea
thou~htuno
. fthinkingconsists~n.-'.Itls.a(:o~)("'This IS what the dHllect~c.O
defme each tiling m logos: 1.('.
ing to Plotinus, t~(' ability to stating what it is and indlea.t
both verbally and III thought,
things anti what it has III
"
by what it differs from ot ler h"" 'roces s how('v('r, th('
mg
(I 3 /1) In I IS P . . ,
.
common with thl'~l
':
. 'IINi.d and this ('nables reason
ndividllal rcvcais Itself"as tldl(, ~. from thr particular to the
,
"t. "dcscrnt an rlS'
to retrace I S '
.
cneral.
. d rofOllnd idea: the prlll~~ry con
g This is an illlPortant al: .PH. for its logical partltlOli and
1 tion of the gCIIN<l (".a s. orMr to permit it:; subse
tl:
br
~~:~:~~;:0~1~~
tii~::(';S
s~
~:'II\~~,I:~~~~[~~II~[;;~~:S~I~1
:C~:ll~~t~f
t~::
qu
I I ('wa scos
way
to know
C(
, Ih~lr;ld
~.;\~ h~~
, 'b,'
. ,
,,;,\1
'.r
idl.'alism, The aSCl.'llt frolll tht' i.,dividuill to III(' part ic ular and
fllrthl.'r to thl.' IIni\'('r.-;aI wa S- for him flot thl' path o f " s uLla
lion," i.e, simultaneous negation and pr('sl.'rvation of the
individual in the univer~al. bllt a path of its dissolution and
oblivion. Plato's dialectic became for 1.)lot.jn~ s a. s tepPing
stone to mysticism: the final goal for hun IS IrratIonal (he
believes it to be suprarational) ecstasy in whi c h all thought
disappears and man's soul loses its identity melting into the
One. Porphyry tells us in his Life of Plotinus that the
philosopher attained to such ecstasy four times and regarded
Lh(' mystical union with the Absolute to be the climax of
man's life. Yet mystical intuition is the opposite of rational
thought. Insisting, according to Hegel, on the need to discard
reason in ord~r to attain to truth ! and claiming irrationality
to be the highest form of cognition, myslicism is till' death of
any philosophy,
...__
st~ps
tran' ill ttl(' histflr)' of ~hi, l()sophY and were the obj('ct of mu('h
(I('hat' in lat'r f l'llturlt's ,
. I statu~ of genera
Hai"iing t)I(' rllH'stlOn of th(' ontol0f'ca . I ' otion~ and
.. , s l'xllrt'SsP(1 in the form 0 genera n
.
and "iPl.CU "
I. e inrip endent existenc' or ar' pres{'nt
wondcrHlg If th('(Yp ItIV h I. ria) Porphyry in fact (or{'shad.
only in thought
orp , s,'
,
lIliversals that divided
owe d th' I1l'dipval cOlltr()ver~y r~~ lnd realists (the former
the philosophers into till' nobmlOa IS sa~es whereas the latt('r
believed th(' universals to .c mere n
,
bJ'ectivc 'xistencc).
,
b l
d I asst:!rte t wlr 0
.
th ontological questIOn, U
'-- Porphyry do('s not, answer, C f cate ories rejected by
restores thl.' Aristot('ila~ doctrl~: 0 on thge logical relation
Plotinus and focuses hiS ~tten lOllI _ g the terms ("five
.
Ie'5
between genera an(I ,species
. . ana
d ysm
tanding of Anslot
..
to . the
Ita) ,
words)
c~sen t'al
I
.
. un,'nersdirff.>rt'nc(> ( dU
I er(n
Categorie$: genus. Sp'Cll'S, sP),(ll<'1 -"parable accidl'nl. lit'
-b t (p,opnlllfl. , ttol l (the
:,o.
dOff
t
essential attfl u I.'
many and I eren
describes the genus a~ rel~tmg
The genus is predicated
and a sserts it to be theIr su ~tance.
'n ,.Iation of oxen,
-b'
'sa genus I
..
of species (a IivlIlg e~llg. ':d I. (every ox is a Imng
horses, {'tc,) and of lII.dlVl, uar:dicated of individuals, In
being), whereas the sp~cles IS {both species and indivi?uals,
turn a difT('rentia is predl,cable 0 resented by Porphyry In ~.he
The 'result of this analYSIS ~vas P("The Tree of Porphyry )
of notions
form 0 f a py ramid
<
A
(Jubit.an<fli
.,
.,
Incorpornl
Corporeal
L;"in~
AoeD
AOCD
'~nslble
~nJib'e
ABCD
Ration.l
ABCOE
.mllo.....
ABCDEI'
S.)rrall'.~,
Pial"
1111' I
, )IIH'r i\Hli\itll\al~
,
h subordination and coortli
I t IS
-a graphic illuslrall~)nllto
~
Ct'
thl' classical prOCt'dUfl'
I' as \\ (>
as
0
uatlon of conccp s, .
\
expressions of "true" religion subject to allegorical interpretation. A vivid example of such interpretation is Porphyry's
work De antra nympharum (On the Cave of the Nymphs) in
which he discloses the "hidden meaning" of Homer's descripof a cave (The Odyssey, Xfll, 102112)
tion
'f' \'
)g. I I tr
\ 'I!I~
(:,.
ker
,. ,
conceived
SlI
I H
,If)1
HOlllan
Empire'b'
. d ta'l the proc('ss of emanation and turning
OesCfI In,g 10 e I
h'
hy of souls--- gods, angels.
the world IIlto a ~r'at'li le~)~~~lu~ gives free rein to hi:-;
demons, ,hero'~ a,1I me
enNal scheme laid dowl.' b.y
imagi~atlOn wlth~~r ~~:regare some important features III hiS
Jamb\lchus, H?w.e
i'sh him {rom his predecessors.
system that dlstlOgu .
s the emanation of one of th('
First, he regard~er~~~~;er~~linate, the determin('d a~HI .tl~~
triads formed by t Matter is no longer conceived as e~d, I,t IS
mixture of the two,
d
., "roelus adopts the StOIC VI('W
" As re"ar S eVI ,
.
",
"indifferent.
.,.,
P'
I
.
IS)
and
asserts
that
It
rf'SU
'
by
late
a
OOIS
.
,
hy
(also expre~sr d
. , s brtwt't'n good t'ntitil'S gl'lwratl'E .
bv pn)(luC"t of ('ontI"Hdi('\ion~
from illf'vitahlt' ('onnl~t. '.
the highest po\~('r, , Ilcl~~e tI(sec Procl, In Remp. 358ff., J){'(',
for their eXIS
.
.
.
necesS a ry
dubiL 123 ff.).,
'v s the process of emanation as
Second, Proclu~ ~oncel e_ followed by the return of many
escentof th' One.llltO many ver st{' of this pro('t'~S us
the One and
f(';nains in tllf' {'manat
~n~o
.1Il~rr~~~m:I13~d
'
h~
3:-;
his
"
II
cxperlcnc~.f . phicai <ioclrilles. This experienr(' was. IHg 1 Y
abstrac~ P 11. OSOn both sidl's: a lUali was heipll'ss, lI11s.cl"ahlr
contra?~ctol~
illusory frc('dom, yet omnipot('nl III till'
and pItiful 111 "di'vine" Empel'or, whereas socif'ty or,. rathN,
pergon o~ thr
. ,"
rstrangrd naturr of gorwl man
r. plrt' rrprNH'1I IIlg . ~
.
1 " 1 'rv
thr I~m
I
,I
of
idlliising
and
annl1l
ilhng t'V{ .
lr
)0
was ,apab.
I ' I" r lorinrss lies ilt tht' root of thr
individual.
ll
This profOll ( (on II.\( 1.(' IT bl:: Ollr and its links with
" ar(,h for t H' lIle. aI" ,"I"al 11('0('(' the a bso ItlllSil
""
on"lanl
sr
C .
. I
,ltlundf'H'rYIIHI\\{
.
.rrHi
the lllal I ,Olll'
\VOlIIH' ('Olln{'
" ,"10 ",I,""< .< 11 indi\"idll<lb
"parllrl\l;llt'
.
I ,I'
f
lioll 0 1 H
k' r"1 . I Ihr n'tllrll. rt\'t'r~I()1I to illY I I. II
in" or "PI;\.~~""Ir~':)tru:.tlll:i\"I~ of 1lI~tholngir<lllhil1ki[\g h;\~I'd nil
)(
"
\is
,I,"
P hil()~OP
II..
I"
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