Ancient Philosophy

Ancient Philosophy#

Sections#

[W] Pherecydes of Syros φερεκύδης ὁ σύριος (6th century bce)

  • [W] chthónie χθόνιε “in, under, beneath the earth”

  • zas “life”

  • chronos χρόνος time

  • [W] ophion ὀφίων

  • oceanós/ogenós ὠκεανός/ὠγενός

[W] Xenophon of Athens ξενοφῶν (430-355 bce)

  • [W] Hiero ἱέρων

  • [W] Memorabilia ἀπομνημονεύματα

  • [W] Oeconomicus οἰκονομικός

  • [W] Symposium συμπόσιον

Dramatists#

  • [W] Aeschylus αἰσχύλος (525-456 bce)

  • [W] Aristophanes ἀριστοφάνης (446-386 bce)

    • [W] The Clouds

  • [W] Euripides (480-406 bce)

  • [W] Sophocles (497-406 bce)

  • [W] Ancient Greek Comedy

  • [W] Old Comedy

Poets#

  • [W] Archilochus (c. 680-645 BCE)

  • [W] Hesiod (750-650 BCE)

    • [W] Theogony

    • [W] Works and Days

  • [W] Homer (floruit 8th Century BCE)

    • [W] Iliad

    • [W] Odyssey

  • [W] Pindar (c. 518-438 BCE)

  • [W] Sappho (c. 630-570 BCE)

  • [W] Semonides of Amorgos (7th century bce)

  • [W] Solon (c. 630-560 BCE)

  • [W] Thespis (floruit 6th Century BCE)

  • [W] Dactylic Hexameter

  • [W] Epic Cycle

  • [W] Homeric Hymns

Pre Socratic#

[W][S] Pre Socratic

  • [W] Ionian - “material monism”, non supernatural explanation about natural phenomena

    • Milesian

      • [W] Thales of Miletus ὁ μιλήσιος (625-545 bce) - WATERY origins

        • concepts

          • [W] Intercept Theorem

          • [W] Know Thyself γωῶθι σαυτόν

          • [W] Seven Sages

          • [W] Thales’ Eclipse

          • [W] Thales’ Theorem

      • [W] Anaximander of Miletus ἀναξίμανδρος ὁ μιλήσιος - APERION the unbounded indeterminate

      • [W] Anaximenes of Miletus ἀναξιμένης ὁ μιλήσιος - AIRY breathy condensation and rarefaction

    • [W][S] Heraclitus of Ephesus (540-480 BCE) - FIERY FLUX heating and cooling

    • [W][S] Anaxagoras of Clazomenae (5th Century BCE)

      • concepts

        • [W] Nous

        • [W] Panspermia

    • [W] Archelaus

  • [W] Italianism

    • [W][S] Alcmaeon of Croton (5th Century BCE)

    • [W][S] Xenophanes of Colophon (c. 570-478 BCE) - earth and water

    • [W][S] Empedocles of Acragas (5th Century BCE)

    • [W] Pythagoreanism

      • [W] Archytas ἀρχύτας (c. 435-360 BCE)

      • [W][S] Pythagoras of Samos (c. 570-495 BCE)

      • [W] Pythagorean astronomical system

      • [W] Philolaus of Croton (c. 470-385 BCE)

        • [W] Central Fire

        • [W] Heliocentrism

    • [W] Eleatic

      • [W][S] Parmenides of Elea (c. 6th-5th Centuries BCE)

      • [W] Zeno of Elea ζήνων ὁ ἐλεάτης (c. 495-430 BCE)

        • [W][S] Zeno, paradoxes

      • [W] Melissus of Samos

    • [W][S] Atomism

      • [W][S] Leucippus

      • [W][S] Democritus

      • [W][S] Epicurus ἐπίκουρος (c. 341-270 BCE)

      • [W][S] Lucretius

      • concepts

        • [S][W] Atom

        • [S][W] Atomism

        • [S][W] Atomism, 17th-20th centuries

        • [S][W] Atomism, Ancient

Plato#

  • [S][W] Plato

    • [S] Plato’s Ethics and Politics in the Republic

    • [S] Plato’s Middle Period Metaphysics and Epistemology

    • [S] Plato’s Timaeus

    • [S] Ancient Theories of Soul

  • [W] Apology

  • [W] Charmides

  • [W] Cratylus

  • [W] Critias

  • [W] Crito

  • [W] Euthydemus

  • [W] Euthyphro

  • [W] Gorgias

  • [W] Hippias Major

  • [W] Hippias Minor

  • [W] Ion

  • [W] Laches

  • [W] Laws

  • [W] Lysis

  • [W] Meno

  • [W] Parmenides

  • [W] Phaedo

  • [W] Phaedrus

  • [W] Philebus

  • [W] Protagoras

  • [W] Republic

  • [W] Sophist

  • [W] Statesman

  • [W] Symposium

  • [W] Theaetetus

  • [W] Timaeus

Terms

  • [W] The Academy

  • [W] Allegory of the Cave

  • [W] Analogy of the Divided Line

  • [W] Analogy of the Sun

  • [W] Atlantis

  • [W] Demiurge [δημιουργος]

  • [W] Evenor Ευηνωρ

  • [W] Idea of the Good [η του αγαθου ιδεα]

  • [W] Myth of Er

  • [W] Philosopher King

  • [W] Platonism

  • [W] Theory of Forms

Aristotle#

[S][W] Aristotle

  • [W][S] Aristotle’s Biology

  • [W][S] Aristotle’s Ethics

  • [W][S] Aristotle’s Philosophy of Nature

  • [W][S] Aristotle’s Physics

  • [W][S] Aristotle’s Psychology

  • [ s ] A Fundamental Problem about Hylomorphism

[W] Corpus Aristotelicum

  • [W] Eudemian Ethics ἠθικὰ εὐδήμεια (Ethica Eudemia)

  • [W] History of Animals τῶν περὶ τὰ ζῷα ἱστοριῶν (Historia Animalium)

  • [W] Metaphysics τὰ μετὰ τὰ φυσικά (Metaphysica)

  • [W] Meteorology μετεωρολογικά (Meteorologica)

  • [W] Nichomachean Ethics ἠθικὰ νικομάχεια

  • [W] On Generation and Corruption περὶ γενέσεως καὶ φθορᾶς (De Generatione et Corruptione)

  • [W] On the Generation of Animals περὶ ζῴων γενέσεως (De Generatione Animalium)

  • [W] On the Heavens περὶ οὐρανοῦ (De Caelo)

  • [W] On the Motion of Animals περὶ ζῴων κινήσεως (De Motu Animalium)

  • [W] On the Parts of Animals περὶ ζῴων μορίων (De Partibus Animalium)

  • [W] On the Soul περὶ ψυχῆς (De Anima)

  • [W] Poetics περὶ ποιητικῆς (De Poetica)

  • [W] Politics πολιτικά (Politics)

  • [W] Physics φυσικὴ ἀκρόασις (Physica)

  • [W] Rhetoric ῥητορική (Ars Rhetorica)

[W] Organon ὄργανον

  • [W] Categories κατηγορίαι (Categoriae)

  • [W] On Interpretation περὶ ἑρμηνείας (De Interpretatione)

  • [W] Posterior Analytics ἀναλυτικὰ ὕστερα (Analytica Posteriora)

  • [W] Prior Analytics ἀναλυτικὰ πρότερα (Analytica Priora)

  • [W] Sophistical Refutations σοφιστικοὶ ἔλεγχοι (De Sophisticis Elenchis)

  • [W] Topics τοπικά (Topica)

Logic

  • [W] Apodeictic ἀποδεικτικός “capable of demonstration”

  • [W] Assertoric

  • [W] Categorical Proposition

  • [W] Square of Opposition

  • [W] Syllogism συλλογισμός

  • [W] Term Logic

Terms

  • [W] Actuality

  • [W] Aether [αιθηρ] pure air/sky, fresh air/sky

  • [W] Celestial Spheres

  • [W] Celestial Spheres, dynamics

  • [W] Commentaries on Aristotle

  • [W] Concentric Spheres

  • [W] Firmament

  • [W] Four Causes

  • [W] Great Chain of Being

  • [W] Hylomorphism

  • [W] Hylozoism

  • [W] Lyceum

  • [W] Material Monism

  • [W] Minima Naturalia

  • [W] Ousia

  • [W] Peripatetic School

  • [W] Peripatos

  • [W] Potentiality

  • [W] Principle of Individuation

  • [W] Pseudo Aristotle

  • [W] Sphere of Fire

  • [W] Sublunary Sphere

  • [W] Substantial Form

Hellenistic#

[W] Hellenistic

  • [W] Cynicism

  • [W] Cyrenaics

  • [W] Elian-Eretrian

    • [W] Phaedo of Elis φαίδων ὁ ἠλεῖος (floruit 4th Century BCE)

    • [W] Menedemus of Eretria μενέδημος ὁ ἐρετριεύς (c. 345-261 BCE)

  • [W] Epicureanism

    • [W] Hedonism

  • [W] Megarianism (Dialectic)

    • [W] Diodorus Cronus διόδωρος κρόνος (floruit 3rd Century BCE)

    • [W] Eubilides of Miletus εὑβουλίδης (floruit 4th Century BCE)

      • [W] Sorites Paradox σωρείτης < σωρός “heap”

    • [W] Euclid of Megara εὐκλείδης (c. 435-365 BCE)

    • [W] Philo φίλων (floruit 3rd Century BCE)

    • [W] Stilpo στίλπων (c. 360-280 BCE)

  • [W] Peripateticism περιπατητικός

    • [W] Andronicus of Rhodes (floruit 60 BCE)

    • [W] Lyceum λύκειον

    • [W] Strato of Lampsacus στράτων ὁ λαμψακηνός (c. 335-269 BCE)

    • [W] Theophrastus θεόφραστος (c. 371-287 BCE)

  • [W] Pyrrhonism

    • [W] Aenesidemus αἰνησίδημος

    • [W] Agrippa ἀγρίππας (floruit 1st Century)

      • [W] Agrippa’s Trilemma

    • [W] Pyrrho of Elis

    • [W] Sextus Empiricus

    • [W] Suspension of Judgment

  • [W][S] Skepticism

    • [W] Carneades καρνεάδης (c. 214-129 BCE)

  • Sophism

    • [W] Antiphon of Rhamnus ἀντιφῶν ὁ ῥαμνούσιος (c. 480-411 BCE)

    • [W] Cratylus κρατύλος (floruit 5th Century BCE)

      • [W] Cratylism

    • [W] Hippias of Elis ἱππίας ὁ ἠλεῖος (floruit 5th Century BCE)

    • [W] Protagoras πρωταγόρας (c. 490-420 BCE)

    • [W] Thrasymachus θρασύμαχος (c. 459-400 BCE)

  • [W] Stoicism

    • [W] Chrysippus of Soli χρύσιππος ὁ σολεύς (c. 279-206 BCE)

    • [W] Cleanthes of Assos κλεάνθης (c. 330-230 BCE)

    • [W] Epictetus ἐπίκτητος (c. 50-135)

      • [W] Discourses of Epictetus

      • [W] Enchiridion of Epictetus

    • [W] Zeno of Citium ζήνων ὁ κιτιεύς (c. 334-262 BCE)

    • [W] Stoic Logic

    • [W] Stoic Physics

Neoplatonism and Doxography#

[W] Neoplatonism

  • [W] Clement of Alexandria κλήμης ὁ ἀλεξανδρεύς (150-215)

  • [W] Diogenes Laertius διογένης λαέρτιος (3rd century)

  • [W] Hippolytus of Rome ἱππόλυτος (170-235)

  • [W] Plotinus πλωτῖνος (204-270)

  • [W] Proclus πρόκλος ὁ διάδοχος (412-485)

  • [W] Pseudo-Plutarch

  • [W] Simplicius of Cilicia σιμπλίκιος ὁ κίλιξ (480-560)

Resources#

[H] Open Greek & Latin

[H] Loeb Classical Library HUP

[H] Perseus Digital Library 4.0

[H] Scaife Viewer (Perseus Digital Library 5.0)

Texts#

Kahn, Charles. (2016). Plato and the Post-Socratic Dialogue: The Return to the Philosophy of Nature. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Kahn, Charles. (2009). Essays on Being. Oxford University Press.

Kahn, Charles. (2001). Pythagoras and the Pythagoreans: A Brief History. Hackett.

Kahn, Charles. (1996). Plato and the Socratic Dialogue: The Philosophical Use of a Literary Form. Cambridge University Press.

Kahn, Charles. (1979). The Art and Thought of Heraclitus: An Edition of the Fragments with Translation and Commentary. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Kahn, Charles. (1960). Anaximander and the Origins of Greek Cosmology. Hackett.

Klein, Jacob. (1968). Greek Mathematical Thought and the Origin of Algebra. MIT Press.

Moore, Christopher. (2019). Calling Philosophers Names: On the Origin of a Discipline. Princeton University Press.

Moore, Christopher. (2019). Socrates and Self-Knowledge. Cambridge University Press.

Sallis, John. (2022). Ethicality and Imagination: On Luminous Abodes. Indiana University Press.

Sallis, John. (2020). Chorology: On Beginning in Plato’s Timaeus. Indiana University Press.

Sallis, John. (2016). The Figure of Nature: On Greek Origins. Indiana University Press.

Sallis, John. (1996). Being and Logos: Reading the Platonic Dialogues. Indiana University Press.

Sentesy, Mark. (2022). “Being, Identity, and Difference in Heraclitus and Parmenides”. Ancient Philosophy Today.

Sentesy, Mark. (2020). Aristotle’s Ontology of Change. Northwestern University Press.

Sentesy, Mark. (2018). “Are Potency and Actuality Compatible in Aristotle?”.

Sentesy, Mark. (2017). “The Now and the Relation between Motion and Time in Aristotle: A Systematic Reconstruction”. Apeiron.

Sentesy, Mark. (2012). “On the Many Senses of Potency According to Aristotle”.

Vlastos, Gregory. (2005). Plato’s Universe.

Vlastos, Gregory. (1995). Studies in Greek Philosophy Volume II: Socrates, Plato, and Their Tradition. Princeton University Press.

Vlastos, Gregory. (1995). Studies in Greek Philosophy Volume I: the Presocratics. Princeton University Press.

Vlastos, Gregory. (1994). Socratic Studies. Cambridge University Press.

Vlastos, Gregory. (1991). Socrates, Ironist and Moral Philosopher. Cornell University Press.

Vlastos, Gregory. (1973). Platonic Studies. Princeton University Press.

Vlastos, Gregory. (1971/1980). The Philosophy of Socrates: a Collection of Critical Essays. University of Notre Dame Press.

Wilson, Malcolm. (2016). Structure and Method in Aristotle’s Meteorologica: A More Disorderly Nature. Cambridge University Press.

Wilson, Malcolm. (2000). Aristotle’s Theory of the Unity of Science. University of Toronto Press.

Hippocrates, Heracleitus. Nature of Man. Regimen in Health. Humours. Aphorisms. Regimen 1-3. Dreams. Heracleitus: On the Universe. Translated by W. H. S. Jones. Loeb Classical Library 150. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1931.

Publishers

  • Focus Philosophical Library

  • Hackett

  • Loeb Classical Library

  • Phoenix Presocratic Series

Parmenides

Figures#

  • [H][W] Friedlander, Paul

  • [H][W] Jacobsen, Thorkild (1904-1993)

  • [H][W] Kahn, Charles

  • [H][W] Klein, Jacob (1899-1978)

  • [H][W] Lebedev, Andrei https://crete.academia.edu/AndreiLebedev

  • [H][W] Moore, Christopher

  • [H][W] Reeve, C. D. C.

  • [H][W] Schmidt, Dennis

  • [H][W] Sentesy, Mark

  • [H][W] Sallis, John

  • [H][W] Vlastos, Gregory (1907-1991)

  • [H][W] Wilson, Malcolm

Terms#

  • [W] Academic Skepticism

  • [W] Agora

  • [W] Ancient Philosophy

  • [W] Ancient Greek Philosophy

  • [W] Ancient Roman Philosophy

  • [W] Dialectic

  • [W] Diels-Kranz Numbering

  • [W] Diogenes Laertius

  • [W][S] Doxography of ancient philosophy

  • [W] Elements, Classical

  • [W] Endurantism

  • [W] Hylomorphism

  • [W] Hylozoism

  • [W] Hypostasis

  • [W] I know that I know nothing

  • [W] Ignoramus et ignorabimus

  • [W][S] Mereology

  • [W] Metaphysics

  • [W] Monism

  • [W] Naturalism

  • [W] Nature

  • [W] Philosophy of Nature

  • [W] Pseudepigrapha

  • [W] Ship of Theseus

  • [W] Suspension of Judgment

  • [W] Testimonia

  • [W][S] Ancient Theories of Soul

  • [W] Atomism

  • [W] Dialectical Materialism

  • [W] Dialectical Monism

  • [W] Material Monism

  • [W] Materialism

  • [W] Monism

  • [W][S] Presocratic Philosophy

  • [W] Aphorism

  • [W] Floruit

  • [W] Tempore

Notes#

Archaeologists and the Origins of Greek Philosophy [02/14]

  • Thales and Anaximander

Logos and Dynamic Structure [02/16]

  • Heraclitus 1-50

Dynamic Dualism, Mystic Monism [02/21]

  • Heraclitus 51-122

  • Parmenides 1-7

Parmenides [02/23]

  • Parmenides 1-8

Parmenides and Democritus [02/28]

  • Parmenides 9-19

  • Democritus

Plato on Nature and the Good [03/02]

  • Protagoras 320d-323a

  • Republic II 368c-376d X 608d-end

Plato on the Morality of Nature [03/14]

  • Republic X 608d-end

  • Timaeus 0-29d

Intellectual Crafting of Nature [03/16]

  • Timaeus 27c-47e

Matter as Blank

  • Timaeus 47e-53c

Structure of Material

  • Friedlander’s Plato as Physicist

ARISTOTLE

[03-30] the possibility of understanding nature

  • Physics I chs. 1-3,7-9 (the elements involved in the description of genesis)

  • Metaphysics I.1

  • Posterior Analytics II.19

[04-04] elements and causes of nature

  • Metaphysics V.1-3 (source, cause, element)

  • Physics II.3,7-8 (four causes)

  • Heidegger, Question Concerning Technology (selection on four causes)

  • Gotthelf, Aristotle on Final Causality

[04-06] nature as cause

  • Physics II.1-2

  • Metaphysics V.4

  • Heidegger, Aristotle’s Physics

[04-11] meanings of being and necessary vs contingent cause

  • Metaphysics V.5,7-8;VI.1-4

[04-13] beyond materialism

  • Metaphysics IV.1-2 to 1003b18;VII.17 (the insufficiency of the elements);VIII.1-2,6 (the response to atomism)

[04-13] the problem of mechanism and emergence

  • Physics II.4-6,9 (nature and the automatic)

  • Parts of Animals II.6 (Empedocles)

[04-18] the definition of motion

  • Physics III.1-3

  • Brague’s “Aristotle’s definition of motion and its ontological implications”

  • Charles’ “Aristotle’s processes”

  • Sentesy’s “The Demonstration of Change in Physics III.1-2”

[04-25] the deduction of the first mover

  • Physics VIII.1-6,7-10

[04-27] the first mover

  • Metaphysics XII.6-7

SYLLABUS

[03-21] matter; prime matter; artifice; nature

  • Physics I.7-9 (elements involved in the description of genesis)

  • Physics II.3 (four causes)

  • Metaphysics VII.7-9 (the preexistence of material and form)

  • Heidegger, Question Concerning Technology (selection on four causes)

[03-23] the problem of mechanism and emergence

  • Physics II.4-9 (nature and the automatic)

  • Parts of Animals II.6 (Empedocles)

  • Lennox, On the Emergence of Material Complexity

  • Gotthelf, Aristotle on Final Causality

[03-28] nature as an emergent source of motion

  • Physics II.1-2

  • Metaphysics V.4-5

  • Heidegger, Aristotle’s Physics

  • Sentesy, Aristotle and Empedocles

[03-30] beyond atomism to potency and activity

  • Metaphysics IV.1-2 to 1003b18

  • Metaphysics V.7-8 (being; substance)

  • Metaphysics VII.17 (insufficiency of elements)

  • Metaphysics VIII.1-2,6 (response to atomism)

  • Brague, Aristotle’s Definition of Motion and Its Ontological Implications

[04-04] the two problems of the soul

  • On the Soul I.1-5

[04-06] life

  • On the Soul II.1-5

  • Metaphysics IX.7-8 (potency and activity)

[04-11] perception and its media

  • On the Soul II.6-12

[04-13] imagination; perception as the model for thought; active and passive intellect

  • On the Soul III.1-5

[04-18] soul, as experience/thought and the source of movement; god

  • On the Soul III.6-13

  • Metaphysics XII

Contents