A Beginner's History of Philosophy, Vol. 1: Ancient and Mediæval PhilosophyCushman, Herbert Ernest
Philosophy
A Beginner's History of Philosophy, Vol. 1: Ancient and Mediæval Philosophy
Cushman, Herbert Ernest
Philosophy -- History
=The Divisions of Ancient Philosophy.= The history of ancient
philosophy falls naturally into two large divisions: pure Greek
philosophy and Hellenic-Roman philosophy (or Greek philosophy in
the Roman world). The date, 322 B. C., the death of Aristotle, which
marks the line between these two periods, is one of the milestones of
history. Alexander the Great had died in 323 B. C. The coincidence of
the deaths of Aristotle and Alexander not only suggests their intimate
relations as teacher and pupil during their lives, but it throws into
contrast Greek civilization before and after them. Before Aristotle and
Alexander culture was the product entirely of the pure Greek spirit;
after them ancient culture was the complex product of many factors――of
Greek and Roman civilizations, and many Oriental religions, including
Christianity. Before Aristotle and Alexander, ancient culture was
characterized by a love of knowledge for its own sake, by freedom from
ulterior ends either of service or of use; after these great makers of
history, culture became attenuated to work in the special sciences and
enslaved to practical questions. Before Aristotle and Alexander, the
Greek city-states had arisen to political power; after Aristotle and
Alexander, Greece declined politically and was absorbed into the Roman
empire.
=The Literary Sources of Ancient Philosophy.[2]= The literary sources
of ancient philosophy are three: (1) the primary sources, or original
writings; (2) the secondary sources, or reports of the original writers
obtained indirectly, or through other writers; (3) the interpretations
of reliable modern historians of philosophy. The specialist in
philosophy will, of course, go to the first two sources for his
information. Other students will find many accurate modern histories
of ancient philosophy. The student should have at hand the translations
of the histories of Zeller, Windelband, Weber, Eucken, Ueberweg; those
of the Englishmen, Burnet and Fairbanks; of the Americans, Rogers and
Turner.
“The writings of the early Greek philosophers of the pre-Socratic
period exist now only in fragments. The complete works of Plato are
still extant; so also are the most important works of Aristotle, and
certain others which belong to the Stoic, Epicurean, Skeptic, and
neo-Platonic schools. We possess the principal works of most of the
philosophers of the Christian period in sufficient completeness.”[3]
The secondary sources include quotations and comments upon earlier
philosophers found in the writings of Plato, Aristotle, the
Stoics, Skeptics, neo-Platonists, and the so-called doxographers.
Doxography――the commentating upon and collating of the works of former
times――developed enormously in Alexandria, Pergamos, and Rhodes just
after Aristotle. The founder of this work was Theophrastus, who was
a disciple of Aristotle and his successor in the Lyceum. Among the
important doxographers were Plutarch, Stobæus, and Aetios.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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