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Author: Paul Fairfield Publisher: Lexington Books ISBN: 1793614822 Category : Philosophy Languages : en Pages : 267
Book Description
Philosophical Reflections on Antiquity: Historical Change addresses the question of whether there is a logic of historical change, and whether the collapse of teleology should deter us from inquiring anew whether any recurring patterns and themes show themselves amid the complexity of historical life. Paul Fairfield argues that if any conception of universal history remains possible, it is one that rejects teleology and causal laws while identifying thematic tendencies that afford some semblance of unity, including the enduring phenomena that are interlocution, the struggle for predominance, and the endless back and forth that play out between them. This book examines the transitional periods of archaic Greece and late antiquity, the ostensible birth and death of the ancient west. Fairfield argues that an interpretation of the social, political, and intellectual history of these important turning points brings to light some philosophical understanding of the dynamics of change itself, observing that the transition from archaic to classical Greece was no miracle, while the end of the Roman era can no longer be conceived as a story of decline and fall. Rather, Fairfield posits, these were not complete breaks, but relative beginnings and endings in narratives that are ongoing. Scholars of philosophy, history, and anthropology will find this book particularly useful.
Author: Paul Fairfield Publisher: Lexington Books ISBN: 1793614822 Category : Philosophy Languages : en Pages : 267
Book Description
Philosophical Reflections on Antiquity: Historical Change addresses the question of whether there is a logic of historical change, and whether the collapse of teleology should deter us from inquiring anew whether any recurring patterns and themes show themselves amid the complexity of historical life. Paul Fairfield argues that if any conception of universal history remains possible, it is one that rejects teleology and causal laws while identifying thematic tendencies that afford some semblance of unity, including the enduring phenomena that are interlocution, the struggle for predominance, and the endless back and forth that play out between them. This book examines the transitional periods of archaic Greece and late antiquity, the ostensible birth and death of the ancient west. Fairfield argues that an interpretation of the social, political, and intellectual history of these important turning points brings to light some philosophical understanding of the dynamics of change itself, observing that the transition from archaic to classical Greece was no miracle, while the end of the Roman era can no longer be conceived as a story of decline and fall. Rather, Fairfield posits, these were not complete breaks, but relative beginnings and endings in narratives that are ongoing. Scholars of philosophy, history, and anthropology will find this book particularly useful.
Author: Cinzia Arruzza Publisher: BRILL ISBN: 9004324623 Category : Philosophy Languages : en Pages : 191
Book Description
Edited by Cinzia Arruzza and Dmitri Nikulin, Philosophy and Political Power in Antiquity is a collection of essays examining reflections by ancient philosophers on the implicit tension between political activity and the philosophical life from a variety of critical perspectives.
Author: Pierre Hadot Publisher: Harvard University Press ISBN: 9780674013735 Category : Philosophy Languages : en Pages : 390
Book Description
Hadot shows how the schools, trends, and ideas of ancient Greek and Roman philosophy strove to transform the individual's mode of perceiving and being in the world. For the ancients, philosophical theory and the philosophical way of life were inseparably linked. Hadot asks us to consider whether and how this connection might be reestablished today.
Author: Christopher Stead Publisher: Cambridge University Press ISBN: 9780521469555 Category : Philosophy Languages : en Pages : 278
Book Description
Christianity began as a little-known Jewish sect, but rose within 300 years to dominate the civilised world. It owed its rise in part to inspired moral leadership, but also to its success in assimilating, criticising and developing the philosophies of the day, which offered rationally approved life-styles and moral directives. Without abandoning their allegiance to their founder and to Holy Scripture, Christians could therefore present their faith as a 'new philosophy'. This book, which is written for non-specialist readers, provides a concise conspectus of the emergence of philosophy among the Greeks; an account of its continuance in early Christian times, and its influence on early Christian thought, especially in formulating the doctrines of the Trinity and the Incarnation; and finally a brief critical assessment of the philosophy of St Augustine - arguably the greatest philosopher of the first millennium.
Author: James Nicholas Jordan Publisher: Pearson ISBN: Category : Education Languages : en Pages : 516
Book Description
Twenty-six hundred years ago, among the Ionian Greeks, there arose the kind of reasoned inquiry after truth that characterizes philosophy in Western civilization. A path with many twists and turns (and desolate stretches as well) is traceable from this ancient beginning to the types of philosophy pursued in the West today. The aim of the present volume is to acquaint the reader with landmarks along this path as far as the end of the Middle Ages, until about 1350, when the Renaissance began its work of shaping the modern era. Western philosophers of the Ancient and Medieval periods have had great influence not only upon later philosophers but also upon the general culture of the West. Politics, religion, the arts, the sciences, the very notions that pass for common sense -- all have been complexly affected, directly and indirectly, by the philosophical methods and findings of Pythagoras, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Cicero, Plotinus, St. Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas, Ockham, and others to be examined herein. Some knowledge of these thinkers is essential to any real understanding of the whys and wherefores of Western cultural history. Moreover, because most of the philosophicl issues investigated in modern times first came up in Ancient or Medieval discussions, a grasp of the latter is necessary to a just estimate of more recent discussions and to an avoidance of blind alleys and delayed insights in one's own philosophical reflections. It is also true that the ideas and intellectual careers of Ancient and Medieval philosophers are matters of absorbing interest on their own account. Simply as personalities these thinkers are extraordinary, and their respective contributions toward overcoming the "reign of chaos and old night" are among the noblest of human achievements. - Introductory note.
Author: Boris Vezjak Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing ISBN: 1527570711 Category : Philosophy Languages : en Pages : 264
Book Description
Thought experiments by ancient philosophers are often open to debate: in what sense did their reasoning really concern thought experimentation? For instance, in Plato’s Republic, Glaucon uses the myth of Gyges to demonstrate why people who practice justice do so unwillingly. A challenge, posed to Socrates and provided through some sort of thought experiment by imagining the effects of using the ring of invisibility, was intended to answer the question of human nature and our basis for the inclination towards justice or injustice. This collection expands the current, but rare, topic of whether it is possible to articulate a discussion about thought experiments and their arguments from the historical perspective of philosophy and science. It may sometimes seem that, in a loose sense, any philosophical reflection can already be interpreted as some form of thought experiment. Although the functions of it are very diverse and complex, and often closely linked to other cognitive tools, such as visualization, imagination or idealization, the contributions in this book provide new insights into how the concept of a thought experiment coincides with more modern perceptions. The purpose of the book is to show how philosophers, already in antiquity, began to use thought experiments and argumentation to convey theories in an accessible manner and how philosophical hypotheses, often being subjective and impossible to prove through empirical evidence, helped to promote scientific knowledge and discoveries. Different authors develop several lines of argumentation, claiming that philosophical thinking can be understood by comparing it to scientific experimenting, or vice versa: if empirical evidence is usually necessary for science, thought experiments may be used to develop a hypothesis or to prepare for experimentation. The analysis of historical examples of thought experiments might also contribute to a better understanding of philosophical endeavour in antiquity as a whole.
Author: Publisher: BRILL ISBN: 9004429565 Category : Religion Languages : en Pages : 358
Book Description
The essays in Eastern Christianity and Late Antique Philosophy provide valuable insights into the central role of philosophical ideas in a period when paganism was in decline and Eastern Christians were forging their community identities.
Author: Mary Louise Gill Publisher: John Wiley & Sons ISBN: 1405188340 Category : Philosophy Languages : en Pages : 833
Book Description
A Companion to Ancient Philosophy provides a comprehensive and current overview of the history of ancient Greek and Roman philosophy from its origins until late antiquity. Comprises an extensive collection of original essays, featuring contributions from both rising stars and senior scholars of ancient philosophy Integrates analytic and continental traditions Explores the development of various disciplines, such as mathematics, logic, grammar, physics, and medicine, in relation to ancient philosophy Includes an illuminating introduction, bibliography, chronology, maps and an index
Author: John M. Cooper Publisher: Princeton University Press ISBN: 069115970X Category : Philosophy Languages : en Pages : 458
Book Description
This is a major reinterpretation of ancient philosophy that recovers the long Greek and Roman tradition of philosophy as a complete way of life--and not simply an intellectual discipline. Distinguished philosopher John Cooper traces how, for many ancient thinkers, philosophy was not just to be studied or even used to solve particular practical problems. Rather, philosophy--not just ethics but even logic and physical theory--was literally to be lived. Yet there was great disagreement about how to live philosophically: philosophy was not one but many, mutually opposed, ways of life. Examining this tradition from its establishment by Socrates in the fifth century BCE through Plotinus in the third century CE and the eclipse of pagan philosophy by Christianity, Pursuits of Wisdom examines six central philosophies of living--Socratic, Aristotelian, Stoic, Epicurean, Skeptic, and the Platonist life of late antiquity. The book describes the shared assumptions that allowed these thinkers to conceive of their philosophies as ways of life, as well as the distinctive ideas that led them to widely different conclusions about the best human life. Clearing up many common misperceptions and simplifications, Cooper explains in detail the Socratic devotion to philosophical discussion about human nature, human life, and human good; the Aristotelian focus on the true place of humans within the total system of the natural world; the Stoic commitment to dutifully accepting Zeus's plans; the Epicurean pursuit of pleasure through tranquil activities that exercise perception, thought, and feeling; the Skeptical eschewal of all critical reasoning in forming their beliefs; and, finally, the late Platonist emphasis on spiritual concerns and the eternal realm of Being. Pursuits of Wisdom is essential reading for anyone interested in understanding what the great philosophers of antiquity thought was the true purpose of philosophy--and of life.
Author: Paul Fairfield
Author: Paul Fairfield
Author: Cinzia Arruzza
Author: Pierre Hadot
Author: Christopher Stead
Author: James Nicholas Jordan
Author: Boris Vezjak
Author: 
Author: Mary Louise Gill
Author: John M. Cooper
Author: Alex Long