Reason And Analysis In Ancient Greek Philosophy

This distinctive collection of original articles features contributions from many of the leading scholars of ancient Greek philosophy. They explore the concept of reason and the method of analysis and the central role they play in the philosophies of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. They engage with salient themes in metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, and political theory, as well as tracing links between each thinker’s ideas on selected topics. The volume contains analyses of Plato’s Socrates, focusing on his views of moral psychology, the obligation to obey the law, the foundations of politics, justice and retribution, and Socratic virtue. On Plato’s Republic, the discussions cover the relationship between politics and philosophy, the primacy of reason over the soul’s non-rational capacities, the analogy of the city and the soul, and our responsibility for choosing how we live our own lives. The anthology also probes Plato’s analysis of logos (reason or language) which underlies his philosophy including the theory of forms. A quartet of reflections explores Aristotelian themes including the connections between knowledge and belief, the nature of essence and function, and his theories of virtue and grace. The volume concludes with an insightful intellectual memoir by David Keyt which charts the rise of analytic classical scholarship in the past century and along the way provides entertaining anecdotes involving major figures in modern academic philosophy. Blending academic authority with creative flair and demonstrating the continuing interest of ancient Greek philosophy, this book will be a valuable addition to the libraries of all those studying and researching the origins of Western philosophy.

Essays in Ancient Greek Philosophy, Volume Two, reflects the refinements in scholarship and philosophical analysis that have impacted classical philosophy in recent years. It is a selection of the best papers presented at the annual meetings of the Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy during the last decade. The papers presented indicate a shift in accent from a predominant preference for the application of linguistic methods in the study of texts to a more intensified concern for contextual examinations of philosophical concepts. The works of both younger scholars and senior authors show a more liberal, yet controlled, use of historical and cultural elements in interpretation. The papers also reflect advances in scholarship in adjacent fields of Greek studies. From pre-Socratic to post-Aristotelian philosophers, the papers in this volume are intended to stimulate interest in the major accomplishments of classical philosophers. This work augments its companion volume Essays in Ancient Greek Philosophy.

THIS BOOK WILL HELP YOU• to appreciate the revolution in thinking brought about by the Ancient Greek philosophers, who sought to make sense of the world through analysis, reasoning and argument• to recognize the key ideas of the most significant philosophers and their contribution to Western thought• to learn about the philosophers’ lives, and their impact on society• to appreciate the value of questioning received wisdom and submitting it to rigorous analysisTo live in the modern world is to owe a debt of gratitude to the Ancient Greeks. Ancient Greece was one of the wellsprings of European civilization, and the Greeks were both the pioneers of rigorous analytical thought and the creators of prose and poetry that speak to us over the centuries.Materialism and idealism form the two major strands of Greek philosophy: thinking about the universe, nature and matter; and thinking about humanity, politics, justice, good and evil, and our relationship with the divine. The Greeks were the first to distinguish between myth and philosophy, and to develop a scientific method of enquiry. In ancient Greece ‘natural philosophers’ studied mathematics, physics, logic, cosmology, medicine, Politics, ethics and aesthetics. Democracy, atoms, copycat killings — the Greeks had opinions on these and many more, and their conclusions have often proved prescient. Cynicism and Stoicism are Greek philosophical schools whose names have passed into common parlance.This lucid introduction to Greek philosophy links important ideas to key personalities and places. It shows the development and movement of people and ideas around the Mediterranean world, from the time of the earliest pre Socratic philosophers, through Pythagoras, Heraclitus, and the Sophists to Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, the Cynics and the Stoics. Written in a clear and engaging style, it is a fascinating account of the major source of Western culture and today’s knowledge-based society.ACCESS THE WORLD'S PHILOSOPHIESSimple Guides: Philosophy is a series of concise introductions to the major philosophies of the world. Written by experts in the field, these accessible guides offer a fascinating account of the rich variety of arguments ideas and systems of thought articulated by different cultures in the attempt to explore and define the nature of reality, and the meaning, purpose and proper conduct of life.The Simple Guides will appeal to analytical thinkers and spiritual seekers alike. Taken together, they provide a basic introduction to the evolution of human thought, and a point of reference for further exploration and discovery. By offering essential insights into the world views of different societies, they also enable travellers to behave in a way that fosters mutual respect and understanding.

The essays in this volume treat a wide variety of fundamental topics and problems in ancient Greek philosophy. The scope of the section on pre-Socratic thought ranges over the views which these thinkers have on such areas of concern as religion, natural philosophy and science, cosmic periods, the nature of elements, theory of names, the concept of plurality, and the philosophy of mind. The essays dealing with the Platonic dialogues examine with unusual care a great number of central themes and discuss them in considerable depth: problems in language and logic, myth, reason, hypothesis, eros, friendship, reason, morality, society, art, the nature of soul, and immortality. In addition, they offer fresh discussions on a number of basic morphological, methodological, and philological issues related to philosophical arguments and introduce new aspects for a critical reexamination of controversies surrounding the doctrines and the authenticity of certain Platonic works. The essays on the philosophy of Aristotle are closely reasoned analyses of such basic themes as the universality of the sensible, the nature of kinesis, the problem of future contingencies, the meaning of qualitative change, the doctrine of phantasia, the essence of intelligence, and the metaphysical foundations for the ethical life. The essays on post-Aristotelian developments in ancient philosophy offer challenging and well-documented discussions on topics in the history of ancient logic, categorical thought, the ethical doctrines of ancient Scepticism, epistemological issues in the physical theory of the Epicureans, and basic concepts in the metaphysics of the neo-platonists.

Handbook of Greek Philosophy is a real guide for anyone who wants to know about Ancient Greek philosophy, but he does not know how to start. Since there are thousands of writings about it, the one who is eager to be informed of Greek philosophy, is all at sea. With the present study one can be gradually initiated into the main principles of the great philosophers, whose thought is the basis of the modern philosophical thought. Due to chronological presentation of the fifteen Greek philosophical schools, the reader can gradually get to the understanding of the philosophical terms and concepts, beginning with the simple (of Thales, Anaximander etc..) and proceeding to the most complex ones (Plato, Aristotle etc..). The original fragments, which have been carefully selected out of thousands, along with their thorough analysis, can enable the reader to fathom the reasoning of the Greek thinkers, and acquire a deep comprehension of their Gnoseology (Epistemology), Ontology and Ethics. With this substantial work of scholarship, both the student and the teacher of philosophy alike can find useful concepts, ideas and quotations, so as to broaden their knowledge and views of philosophy. Apart from that, this essay can help them to make a further inquiry concerning Ontology and Ethics of Greek Philosophy.

Becoming god was an ideal of many ancient Greek philosophers, as was the life of reason, which they equated with divinity. This book argues that their rival accounts of this equation depended on their divergent attitudes toward time. Affirming it, Heraclitus developed a paradoxical style of reasoning-chiasmus-that was the activity of his becoming god. Denying it as contradictory, Parmenides sought to purify thinking of all contradiction, offering eternity to those who would follow him. Plato did, fusing this pure style of reasoning-consistency-with a Pythagorean program of purification and divinization that would then influence philosophers from Aristotle to Kant. Those interested in Greek philosophical and religious thought will find fresh interpretations of its early figures, as well as a lucid presentation of the first and most influential attempts to link together divinity, rationality, and selfhood.

"A Critical History of Greek Philosophy" by W. T. Stace. Published by Good Press. Good Press publishes a wide range of titles that encompasses every genre. From well-known classics & literary fiction and non-fiction to forgotten−or yet undiscovered gems−of world literature, we issue the books that need to be read. Each Good Press edition has been meticulously edited and formatted to boost readability for all e-readers and devices. Our goal is to produce eBooks that are user-friendly and accessible to everyone in a high-quality digital format.

Plato's arguments are developed through complex exchanges between literary characters. Consequently, it is questionable that theses can be attributed to the author himself. Wolfsdorf has it that the answer to this dilema lies in transcending the divide and integrating the literary and philosophical dimensions of the texts.