Readings in Ancient Greek Philosophy (2014) PDF

INTRODUCTION This anthology is intended to introduce readers to a broad selection of the writings of some of the gr...

INTRODUCTION This anthology is intended to introduce readers to a broad selection of the writings of some of the greatest of the ancient Greek philosophers— Heraclitus, Parmenides, Democritus, Protagoras, Plato, Aristotle, and many others. Together these thinkers brought about one of the most signif- icant revolutions we know of, one that set the Western world on a path that—with minor and not so minor deviations—it has followed ever since. What they did, to put it boldly and oversimply, was to invent critical rationality and embody it in a tradition; for the theories they advanced, whether on the nature and origins of the cosmos or on ethics and politics, were not offered as gospels to be accepted on divine or human authority but as rational products to be accepted or rejected on the basis of evidence and argument: do not listen to me, Heraclitus says, but to my account. Every university and college, every intellectual discipline and scientific advance, every step toward freedom and away from ignorance, supersti- tion, and enslavement to repressive dogma is eloquent testimony to the power of their invention. If they had not existed, our world would not exist. Obviously, there is more to say about the achievements of Greek phi- losophy than this. But bold and oversimple as our claim is, and standing in need of modification and elaboration as it does, it points nonetheless to Copyright © 2014. Hackett Publishing Company, Incorporated. All rights reserved. something central and vital, something that will surely be borne in upon any reader of the texts collected here: the world of Greek philosophy is an argumentative world. As we weigh and consider the ideas and evaluate the arguments con- tained in the following pages, we will find ourselves thinking about the ultimate structure of reality, about the mind, about the nature of knowl- edge and scientific theorizing, about ethical values, and about the best kind of society for people to live in. Some of what we uncover we will no doubt find congenial; some we will want to criticize or reject. But as long as evidence and argument remain our touchstone, we will be joining in the enterprise that these philosophers both invented and did so much to develop. In the process, we will be to some degree becoming what some of them thought was the best thing to be—fully rational human beings. This may sound attractive, but it may also seem one-sided, so it is perhaps important to add that the critical rationality vital to success- ful theorizing, while it is recommended as a very important ingredient in viii Readings in Ancient Greek Philosophy : From Thales to Aristotle, edited by S. Marc Cohen, et al., Hackett Publishing Company, Incorporated, 2014. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/york/detail.action?docID=670171. Created from york on 2024-12-05 16:15:26.  INTRODUCTION ix the best kind of life, is certainly not all that is recommended to us by these philosophers. For many of them, a successful life is one in which all the elements in our characters—needs, desires, emotions, and beliefs— are harmoniously integrated and in which we ourselves are harmoniously integrated with others into a flourishing society that is itself in har- mony with the larger world of which it is a part. Moreover, many of the Greek philosophers—like their fellow poets and tragedians—recognized that there were profoundly nonrational elements in the world: the same Heraclitus who asks us to listen to his account also reminds us that “The Lord whose oracle is at Delphi neither speaks nor conceals, but gives a sign”; Socrates, the patron saint of rational self-scrutiny, is also a holy man, a servant of Apollo. Indeed, one of the most attractive features of Greek philosophy is its inclusivity, its manifest wish to see the world whole and see it right. Few contemporary philosophers offer us such all- encompassing visions of ourselves and our world as we find in Plato and Aristotle; few have the audacity to reach as far or as wide as the great Presocratics. That is not, surely, the only reason to make friends with these splendid thinkers, but it is, nonetheless, one major reason why they have never lost their power to challenge, inspire, and enlighten those who do befriend them. We have divided the selection of readings into three sections, each with a separate introduction. Patricia Curd is primarily responsible for the sec- tion on the Presocratics and Sophists; David Reeve for the section on Plato; and Marc Cohen for the section on Aristotle. An excellent anthology of later Greek philosophical writers, which nicely complements this one, is B. Inwood and L. P. Gerson (eds.), Hellenistic Philosophy: Introductory Read- ings, second edition (Indianapolis: Hackett, 1997). Copyright © 2014. Hackett Publishing Company, Incorporated. All rights reserved. The fourth edition of Readings in Ancient Greek Philosophy features an ex- tensive revision in the Presocratics unit, which had been untouched since the appearance of the first edition in 1995. Since then, Presocratic studies have grown rapidly. Exciting new material has been discovered: the Strasbourg Papyrus with its previously unknown lines of Empedocles, and the Derveni Papyrus, which shows how Presocratic philosophy was adopted into the wider intellectual world of ancient Greece. There have been new studies published, and numerous international conferences: scholars have asked novel questions, and offered fresh interpretations. For Readings in Ancient Greek Philosophy, the most important development has been Richard D. McKirahan’s complete revision of his excellent volume, Philosophy Before Socrates, for its second edition. The translations prepared for that volume form the backbone of the Presocratics unit of this one. In addition, all of the introductory material to this unit has been revised (in many cases to take advantage of recent interpretations), and much of Readings in Ancient Greek Philosophy : From Thales to Aristotle, edited by S. Marc Cohen, et al., Hackett Publishing Company, Incorporated, 2014. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/york/detail.action?docID=670171. Created from york on 2024-12-05 16:15:26.  x INTRODUCTION the new material that has come to light (especially on Empedocles) has been included. The fragments in the Heraclitus and Empedocles chapters have been reordered, and the chapter on the Sophists has been changed in order to provide longer selections and a view of the Sophists more in keeping with contemporary scholarship. Finally, this edition includes the text of the intriguing Derveni Papyrus. References to the Greek philosophers make use of certain standard edi- tions of their words. Thus references to the Presocratics employ “Diels- Kranz numbers” because H. Diels and W. Kranz, Die Fragmente der Vor- sokratiker (1903) was the first authoritative collection of Presocratic Texts. Testimonia about a philosopher written by someone else are identified by the letter “A,” and fragments of the philosopher’s own works by the letter “B.” “22A2,” for instance, refers to the second of the testimonia listed on Heraclitus, to whom the number 22 is assigned; 28B1 refers to the first fragment of Parmenides. References to Plato are to the edition of his works produced by Henri Estienne (known as Stephanus) in 1578, and are given by title and “Stephanus page number” (e.g., Republic 464d). References to Aristotle are to Immanuel Bekker’s edition (1831) and are given by title and “Bekker page and line number” (e.g., Politics 1252a10). Copyright © 2014. Hackett Publishing Company, Incorporated. All rights reserved. Readings in Ancient Greek Philosophy : From Thales to Aristotle, edited by S. Marc Cohen, et al., Hackett Publishing Company, Incorporated, 2014. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/york/detail.action?docID=670171. Created from york on 2024-12-05 16:15:26.