Ancient Greek philosophy

1 Pre-Socratic philosophy
Main article: Pre-Socratic philosophy
The convention of terming those philosophers who were
active prior to Socrates the pre-Socratics gained currency
with the 1903 publication of Hermann Diels Fragmente
der Vorsokratiker, although the term did not originate
with him.[3] The term is considered philosophically useful
because what came to be known as the Athenian school
(composed of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle) signaled a
profound shift in the subject matter and methods of philosophy; Friedrich Nietzsche's thesis that this shift began
with Plato rather than with Socrates (hence his nomenclature of pre-Platonic philosophy) has not prevented
the predominance of the pre-Socratic distinction.[4]

Raphael's School of Athens.

The pre-Socratics were primarily concerned with

cosmology, ontology and mathematics. They were
Ancient Greek philosophy arose in the 6th century BCE distinguished from non-philosophers insofar as they
and continued throughout the Hellenistic period and the rejected mythological explanations in favor of reasoned
period in which Ancient Greece was part of the Roman discourse.[5]
Empire. It dealt with a wide variety of subjects, including
political philosophy, ethics, metaphysics, ontology, logic,
biology, rhetoric, and aesthetics.
1.1 Milesian school
Many philosophers today concede that Greek philosophy
has inuenced much of Western culture since its inception. Alfred North Whitehead once noted: The safest
general characterization of the European philosophical
tradition is that it consists of a series of footnotes to
Plato.[1] Clear, unbroken lines of inuence lead from
ancient Greek and Hellenistic philosophers to Early Islamic philosophy, the European Renaissance and the Age
of Enlightenment.

Main article: Milesian school

Thales of Miletus, regarded by Aristotle as the rst

philosopher,[6] held that all things arise from water.[7] It
is not because he gave a cosmogony that John Burnet calls
him the rst man of science, but because he gave a naturalistic explanation of the cosmos and supported it with
reasons.[8] According to tradition, Thales was able to preSome claim that Greek philosophy, in turn, was inu- dict an eclipse and taught the Egyptians how to measure
enced by the older wisdom literature and mythological the height of the pyramids.[9]
cosmogonies of the ancient Near East. Martin Litcheld Thales inspired the Milesian school of philosophy and
West gives qualied assent to this view, stating, con- was followed by Anaximander, who argued that the subtact with oriental cosmology and theology helped to lib- stratum or arche could not be water or any of the classical
erate the early Greek philosophers imagination; it cer- elements but was instead something unlimited or intainly gave them many suggestive ideas. But they taught denite (in Greek, the apeiron). He began from the
themselves to reason. Philosophy as we understand it is a observation that the world seems to consist of opposites
Greek creation.[2]
(e.g., hot and cold), yet a thing can become its opposite
Subsequent philosophic tradition was so inuenced by
Socrates (as presented by Plato) that it is conventional to
refer to philosophy developed prior to Socrates as preSocratic philosophy. The periods following this until
the wars of Alexander the Great are those of classical
Greek and Hellenistic philosophy.

(e.g., a hot thing cold). Therefore, they cannot truly be

opposites but rather must both be manifestations of some
underlying unity that is neither. This underlying unity
(substratum, arche) could not be any of the classical elements, since they were one extreme or another. For example, water is wet, the opposite of dry, while re is dry,
1

1 PRE-SOCRATIC PHILOSOPHY

the opposite of wet.[10] Anaximenes in turn held that the

arche was air, although John Burnet argues that by this
he meant that it was a transparent mist, the aether.[11] Despite their varied answers, the Milesian school was searching for a natural substance that would remain unchanged
despite appearing in dierent forms, and thus represents
one of the rst scientic attempts to answer the question
that would lead to the development of modern atomic theory; the Milesians, says Burnet, asked for the of
all things.[12]

1.2

Xenophanes

Main article: Xenophanes

metempsychosis, and consequently a respect for all animal life; much was made of the correspondence between
mathematics and the cosmos in a musical harmony.[19]

1.4 Heraclitus
Main article: Heraclitus
Heraclitus must have lived after Xenophanes and
Pythagoras, as he condemns them along with Homer as
proving that much learning cannot teach a man to think;
since Parmenides refers to him in the past tense, this
would place him in the 5th century BCE.[20] Contrary to
the Milesian school, who would have one stable element
at the root of all, Heraclitus taught that everything ows
or everything is in ux, the closest element to this ux
being re; he also extended the teaching that seeming opposites in fact are manifestations of a common substrate
to good and evil itself.[21]

Xenophanes was born in Ionia, where the Milesian school

was at its most powerful, and may have picked up some of
the Milesians cosmological theories as a result.[13] What
is known is that he argued that each of the phenomena
had a natural rather than divine explanation in a manner
reminiscent of Anaximanders theories and that there was
only one god, the world as a whole, and that he ridiculed
the anthropomorphism of the Greek religion by claiming
that cattle would claim that the gods looked like cattle, 1.5 Eleatic philosophy
horses like horses, and lions like lions, just as the Ethiopians claimed that the gods were snubnosed and black and Main article: Eleatics
the Thracians claimed they were pale and red-haired.[14]
Burnet says that Xenophanes was not, however, a scientic man, with many of his naturalistic explanations
having no further support than that they render the Homeric gods superuous or foolish.[15] He has been claimed
as an inuence on Eleatic philosophy, although that is disputed, and a precursor to Epicurus, a representative of a
total break between science and religion.[16]

Pythagoras lived at roughly the same time that Xenophanes did and, in contrast to the latter, the school that
he founded sought to reconcile religious belief and reason. Little is known about his life with any reliability,
however, and no writings of his survive, so it is possible
that he was simply a mystic whose successors introduced
rationalism into Pythagoreanism, that he was simply a
rationalist whose successors are responsible for the mysticism in Pythagoreanism, or that he was actually the author
of the doctrine; there is no way to know for certain.[17]

Parmenides of Elea cast his philosophy against those who

held it is and is not the same, and all things travel in opposite directions,presumably referring to Heraclitus
and those who followed him.[22] Whereas the doctrines
of the Milesian school, in suggesting that the substratum
could appear in a variety of dierent guises, implied that
everything that exists is corpuscular, Parmenides argued
that the rst principle of being was One, indivisible, and
unchanging.[23] Being, he argued, by denition implies
eternality, while only that which is can be thought; a thing
which is, moreover, cannot be more or less, and so the rarefaction and condensation of the Milesians is impossible
regarding Being; lastly, as movement requires that something exist apart from the thing moving (viz. the space
into which it moves), the One or Being cannot move, since
this would require that space both exist and not exist.[24]
While this doctrine is at odds with ordinary sensory experience, where things do indeed change and move, the
Eleatic school followed Parmenides in denying that sense
phenomena revealed the world as it actually was; instead,
the only thing with Being was thought, or the question of
whether something exists or not is one of whether it can
be thought.[25]

Pythagoras is said to have been a disciple of Anaximander

and to have imbibed the cosmological concerns of the Ionians, including the idea that the cosmos is constructed
of spheres, the importance of the innite, and that air
or aether is the arche of everything.[18] Pythagoreanism
also incorporated ascetic ideals, emphasizing purgation,

In support of this, Parmenides pupil Zeno of Elea attempted to prove that the concept of motion was absurd
and as such motion did not exist. He also attacked the
subsequent development of pluralism, arguing that it was
incompatible with Being.[26] His arguments are known as
Zenos paradoxes.

1.3

Pythagoreanism

Main article: Pythagoreanism

1.6

Pluralism and atomism

The power of Parmenides logic was such that some subsequent philosophers abandoned the monism of the Milesians, Xenophanes, Heraclitus, and Parmenides, where
one thing was the arche, and adopted pluralism, such as
Empedocles and Anaxagoras.[27] There were, they said,
multiple elements which were not reducible to one another and these were set in motion by love and strife (as
in Empedocles) or by Mind (as in Anaxagoras). Agreeing with Parmenides that there is no coming into being
or passing away, genesis or decay, they said that things
appear to come into being and pass away because the elements out of which they are composed assemble or disassemble while themselves being unchanging.[28]
Leucippus also proposed an ontological pluralism with a
cosmogony based on two main elements: the vacuum and
atoms. These, by means of their inherent movement, are
crossing the void and creating the real material bodies.
His theories were not well known by the time of Plato,
however, and they were ultimately incorporated into the
work of his student, Democritus.[29]

1.7

Sophistry

Main article: Sophists

2 Classical Greek philosophy

2.1 Socrates
Main article: Socrates
Socrates, born in Athens in the 5th century BCE, marks
a watershed in ancient Greek philosophy. Athens was a
center of learning, with sophists and philosophers traveling from across Greece to teach rhetoric, astronomy,
cosmology, geometry, and the like. The great statesman
Pericles was closely associated with this new learning and
a friend of Anaxagoras, however, and his political opponents struck at him by taking advantage of a conservative
reaction against the philosophers; it became a crime to investigate the things above the heavens or below the earth,
subjects considered impious. Anaxagoras is said to have
been charged and to have ed into exile when Socrates
was about twenty years of age.[32] There is a story that
Protagoras, too, was forced to ee and that the Athenians
burned his books.[33] Socrates, however, is the only subject recorded as charged under this law, convicted, and
sentenced to death in 399 BCE (see Trial of Socrates).
In the version of his defense speech presented by Plato,
he claims that it is the envy he arouses on account of his
being a philosopher that will convict him.
While philosophy was an established pursuit prior to
Socrates, Cicero credits him as the rst who brought
philosophy down from the heavens, placed it in cities, introduced it into families, and obliged it to examine into
life and morals, and good and evil.[34] By this account
he would be considered the founder of political philosophy.[35] The reasons for this turn toward political and
ethical subjects remain the object of much study.[36][37]

Sophistry arose from the juxtaposition of physis (nature)

and nomos (law). John Burnet posits its origin in the scientic progress of the previous centuries which suggested
that Being was radically dierent from what was experienced by the senses and, if comprehensible at all, was
not comprehensible in terms of order; the world in which
men lived, on the other hand, was one of law and order, The fact that many conversations involving Socrates (as
albeit of humankinds own making.[30] At the same time,
recounted by Plato and Xenophon) end without having
nature was constant, while what was by law diered from reached a rm conclusion, or aporetically,[38] has stimuone place to another and could be changed.
lated debate over the meaning of the Socratic method.[39]
The rst man to call himself a sophist, according to Plato, Socrates is said to have pursued this probing questionwas Protagoras, whom he presents as teaching that all and-answer style of examination on a number of topics,
virtue is conventional. It was Protagoras who claimed that usually attempting to arrive at a defensible and attractive
man is the measure of all things, of the things that are, denition of a virtue.
that they are, and of the things that are not, that they are While Socrates recorded conversations rarely provide
not, which Plato interprets as a radical perspectivism, a denite answer to the question under examination,
where some things seem to be one way for one person several maxims or paradoxes for which he has become
(and so actually are that way) and another way for an- known recur. Socrates taught that no one desires what is
other person (and so actually are that way as well); the bad, and so if anyone does something that truly is bad,
conclusion being that one cannot look to nature for guid- it must be unwillingly or out of ignorance; consequently,
ance regarding how to live ones life.[31]
all virtue is knowledge.[40][41] He frequently remarks on
Protagoras and subsequent sophists tended to teach
rhetoric as their primary vocation. Prodicus, Gorgias,
Hippias, and Thrasymachus appear in various Dialogues,
sometimes explicitly teaching that while nature provides
no ethical guidance, the guidance that the laws provide is
worthless, or that nature favors those who act against the
laws.

his own ignorance (claiming that he does not know what

courage is, for example). Plato presents him as distinguishing himself from the common run of mankind by
the fact that, while they know nothing noble and good,
they do not know that they do not know, whereas Socrates
knows and acknowledges that he knows nothing noble and
good.[42]

2 CLASSICAL GREEK PHILOSOPHY

Numerous subsequent philosophical movements were inspired by Socrates or his younger associates. Plato casts
Socrates as the main interlocutor in his dialogues, deriving from them the basis of Platonism (and by extension, Neoplatonism). Platos student Aristotle in turn criticized and built upon the doctrines he ascribed to Socrates
and Plato, forming the foundation of Aristotelianism.
Antisthenes founded the school that would come to be
known as Cynicism and accused Plato of distorting
Socrates teachings. Zeno of Citium in turn adapted the
ethics of Cynicism to articulate Stoicism. Epicurus studied with Platonic and Stoic teachers before renouncing all
previous philosophers (including Democritus, on whose
atomism the Epicurean philosophy relies). The philosophic movements that were to dominate the intellectual
life of the Roman empire were thus born in this febrile
period following Socrates activity, and either directly or
indirectly inuenced by him. They were also absorbed by
the expanding Muslim world in the 7th through 10th centuries CE, from which they returned to the West as foundations of Medieval philosophy and the Renaissance, as
discussed below.

2.2

noble lies; the Republic says that such a city is likely impossible, however, generally assuming that philosophers
would refuse to rule and the people would refuse to compel them to do so.[46]
Whereas the Republic is premised on a distinction between the sort of knowledge possessed by the philosopher and that possessed by the king or political man,
Socrates explores only the character of the philosopher;
in the Statesman, on the other hand, a participant referred
to as the Eleatic Stranger discusses the sort of knowledge possessed by the political man, while Socrates listens quietly.[46] Although rule by a wise man would be
preferable to rule by law, the wise cannot help but be
judged by the unwise, and so in practice, rule by law is
deemed necessary.
Both the Republic and the Statesman reveal the limitations of politics, raising the question of what political order would be best given those constraints; that question is
addressed in the Laws, a dialogue that does not take place
in Athens and from which Socrates is absent.[46] The character of the society described there is eminently conservative, a corrected or liberalized timocracy on the Spartan
or Cretan model or that of pre-democratic Athens.[46]

Plato

Platos dialogues also have metaphysical themes, the most

famous of which is his theory of forms. It holds that nonmaterial abstract (but substantial) forms (or ideas), and
Main article: Plato
not the material world of change known to us through our
physical senses, possess the highest and most fundamental
Plato was an Athenian of the generation after Socrates.
kind of reality.
Ancient tradition ascribes thirty-six dialogues and thirteen letters to him, although of these only twenty-four of Plato often uses long-form analogies (usually allegories)
the dialogues are now universally recognized as authentic; to explain his ideas; the most famous is perhaps the
most modern scholars believe that at least twenty-eight Allegory of the Cave. It likens most humans to peodialogues and two of the letters were in fact written by ple tied up in a cave, who look only at shadows on the
Plato, although all of the thirty-six dialogues have some walls and have no other conception of reality.[47] If they
defenders.[43] A further nine dialogues are ascribed to turned around, they would see what is casting the shadows
Plato but were considered spurious even in antiquity.[44] (and thereby gain a further dimension to their reality). If
some left the cave, they would see the outside world ilPlatos dialogues feature Socrates, although not always
luminated by the sun (representing the ultimate form of
as the leader of the conversation. (One dialogue, the
goodness and truth). If these travelers then re-entered the
Laws, instead contains an Athenian Stranger.) Along
cave, the people inside (who are still only familiar with
with Xenophon, Plato is the primary source of informathe shadows) would not be equipped to believe reports of
tion about Socrates life and beliefs and it is not always
this 'outside world'.[48] This story explains the theory of
easy to distinguish between the two. While the Socrates
forms with their dierent levels of reality, and advances
presented in the dialogues is often taken to be Platos
the view that philosopher-kings are wisest while most humouthpiece, Socrates reputation for irony, his caginess
mans are ignorant.[49] One student of Plato (who would
regarding his own opinions in the dialogues, and his ocbecome another of the most inuential philosophers of
casional absence from or minor role in the conversation
all time) stressed the implication that understanding reserve to conceal Platos doctrines.[45] Much of what is said
lies upon rst-hand observation:
about his doctrines is derived from what Aristotle reports
about them.
The political doctrine ascribed to Plato is derived from
the Republic, the Laws, and the Statesman. The rst of
these contains the suggestion that there will not be justice
in cities unless they are ruled by philosopher kings; those
responsible for enforcing the laws are compelled to hold
their women, children, and property in common; and the
individual is taught to pursue the common good through

2.3 Aristotle
Main article: Aristotle
Aristotle moved to Athens from his native Stageira in
367 BCE and began to study philosophy (perhaps even

5
rhetoric, under Isocrates), eventually enrolling at Platos
Academy.[50] He left Athens approximately twenty years
later to study botany and zoology, became a tutor of
Alexander the Great, and ultimately returned to Athens a
decade later to establish his own school: the Lyceum.[51]
At least twenty-nine of his treatises have survived, known
as the corpus Aristotelicum, and address a variety of subjects including logic, physics, optics, metaphysics, ethics,
rhetoric, politics, poetry, botany, and zoology.
Aristotle is often portrayed as disagreeing with his
teacher Plato (e.g., in Raphael's School of Athens). He
criticizes the regimes described in Platos Republic and
Laws,[52] and refers to the theory of forms as empty
words and poetic metaphors.[53] He is generally pre- The philosopher Pyrrho from Elis, in an anecdote taken from
sented as giving greater weight to empirical observation Sextus Empiricus' Pyrrhonic Sketches.
and practical concerns.
Aristotles fame was not great during the Hellenistic period, when Stoic logic was in vogue, but later peripatetic
commentators popularized his work, which eventually contributed heavily to Islamic, Jewish, and medieval Christian philosophy.[54] His inuence was such
that Avicenna referred to him simply as the Master";
Maimonides, Alfarabi, Averroes, and Aquinas as the
Philosopher.

Hellenistic philosophy

(upper) PIRRHO HELIENSIS

PLISTARCHI FILIVS
translation (from Latin): Phyrrho . Greek . Son of Plistarchus
(middle) OPORTERE SAPIENTEM
HANC ILLIVS IMITARI
SECVRITATEM translation (from Latin): It is right wisdom
then that all imitate this security (Phyrrho pointing at a
peaceful pig munching his food)
(lower) Whoever wants to apply the real wisdom, shall not
mind trepidation and misery

Main article: Hellenistic philosophy

During the Hellenistic and Roman periods, many dierent schools of thought developed in the Hellenistic world
and then the Greco-Roman world. There were Greeks,
Romans, Egyptians, Syrians and Arabs who contributed
to the development of Hellenistic philosophy. Elements
of Persian philosophy and Indian philosophy also had an
inuence. The most notable schools of Hellenistic philosophy were:

Epicureanism: Epicurus (Greek) and Lucretius (Roman)

Eclecticism: Cicero (Roman)

The spread of Christianity throughout the Roman

world, followed by the spread of Islam, ushered in the
end of Hellenistic philosophy and the beginnings of
Medieval philosophy, which was dominated by the three
Abrahamic traditions: Jewish philosophy, Christian phi Neoplatonism: Plotinus (Egyptian), Ammonius losophy, and early Islamic philosophy.
Saccas, Porphyry (Syrian), Zethos (Arab),
Iamblichus (Syrian), Proclus
Academic Skepticism:
Cicero (Roman)

Arcesilaus, Carneades,

4 Transmission of Greek philosophy under Islam

Pyrrhonian Skepticism: Pyrrho, Sextus Empiricus

Main article: Arab transmission of the Classics to the

West
Cynicism: Antisthenes, Diogenes of Sinope, Crates See also: Early Islamic philosophy and Latin translations
of Thebes (taught Zeno of Citium, founder of Sto- of the 12th century
icism)
Stoicism: Zeno of Citium, Cleanthes, Chrysippus,
Crates of Mallus (brought Stoicism to Rome c.
170 BCE), Panaetius, Posidonius, Seneca (Roman),
Epictetus (Greek/Roman), Marcus Aurelius (Roman)

During the Middle Ages, Greek ideas were largely forgotten in Western Europe (where, between the fall of
Rome and the East-West Schism, literacy in Greek had
declined sharply). Not long after the rst major expansion of Islam, however, the Abbasid caliphs authorized

6 NOTES

the gathering of Greek manuscripts and hired translators

to increase their prestige. Islamic philosophers such as
Al-Kindi (Alkindus), Al-Farabi (Alpharabius), Ibn Sina
(Avicenna) and Ibn Rushd (Averroes) reinterpreted these
works, and during the High Middle Ages Greek philosophy re-entered the West through translations from Arabic to Latin. The re-introduction of these philosophies,
accompanied by the new Arabic commentaries, had a
great inuence on Medieval philosophers such as Thomas
Aquinas.

See also

[16] Burnet, Greek Philosophy, 33, 36.

[17] Burnet, Greek Philosophy, 3738.
[18] Burnet, Greek Philosophy, 3839.
[19] Burnet, Greek Philosophy, 4049.
[20] Burnet, Greek Philosophy, 57.
[21] Burnet, Greek Philosophy, 5763.
[22] Burnet, Greek Philosophy, 64.
[23] Burnet, Greek Philosophy, 6667.
[24] Burnet, Greek Philosophy, 68.

Ancient philosophy

[25] Burnet, Greek Philosophy, 67.

Byzantine philosophy

[26] Burnet, Greek Philosophy, 82.

Dehellenization

[27] Burnet, Greek Philosophy, 69.

List of ancient Greek philosophers

[28] Burnet, Greek Philosophy, 70.

[29] Burnet, Greek Philosophy, 94.

Notes

[1] Alfred North Whitehead, Process and Reality, Part II,

Chap. I, Sect. I
[2] Grin, Jasper; Boardman, John; Murray, Oswyn (2001).
The Oxford history of Greece and the Hellenistic world.
Oxford [Oxfordshire]: Oxford University Press. p. 140.
ISBN 0-19-280137-6.
[3] Greg Whitlock, preface to The Pre-Platonic Philosophers,
by Friedrich Nietzsche (Urbana: University of Illinois
Press, 2001), xivxvi.
[4] Greg Whitlock, preface to The Pre-Platonic Philosophers,
by Friedrich Nietzsche (Urbana: University of Illinois
Press, 2001), xiiixix.
[5] John Burnet, Greek Philosophy: Thales to Plato, 3rd ed.
(London: A & C Black Ltd., 1920), 316. Scanned version from Internet Archive
[6] Aristotle, Metaphysics Alpha, 983b18.
[7] Aristotle, Metaphysics Alpha, 983 b6 811.
[8] Burnet, Greek Philosophy, 34, 18.
[9] Burnet, Greek Philosophy, 1820; Herodotus, Histories,
I.74.
[10] Burnet, Greek Philosophy, 2224.
[11] Burnet, Greek Philosophy, 21.
[12] Burnet, Greek Philosophy, 27.
[13] Burnet, Greek Philosophy, 35.
[14] Burnet, Greek Philosophy, 35; Diels-Kranz, Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker, Xenophanes frr. 15-16.
[15] Burnet, Greek Philosophy, 36.

[30] Burnet, Greek Philosophy, 10510.

[31] Burnet, Greek Philosophy, 11317.
[32] Debra Nails, The People of Plato (Indianapolis: Hackett,
2002), 24.
[33] Nails, People of Plato, 256.
[34] Marcus Tullius Cicero, Tusculan Disputations, V 1011
(or V IV).
[35] Leo Strauss, Natural Right and History (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1953), 120.
[36] Seth Benardete, The Argument of the Action (Chicago:
University of Chicago Press, 2000), 27796.
[37] Laurence Lampert, How Philosophy Became Socratic
(Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2010).
[38] Cf. Plato, Republic 336c & 337a, Theaetetus 150c,
Apology of Socrates 23a; Xenophon, Memorabilia 4.4.9;
Aristotle, Sophistical Refutations 183b7.
[39] W. K. C. Guthrie, The Greek Philosophers (London:
Methuen, 1950), 7375.
[40] Terence Irwin, The Development of Ethics, vol. 1 (Oxford:
Oxford University Press 2007), 14
[41] Gerasimos Santas, The Socratic Paradoxes, Philosophical Review 73 (1964): 14764, 147.
[42] Apology of Socrates 21d.
[43] John M. Cooper, ed., Complete Works, by Plato (Indianapolis: Hackett, 1997), vvi, viiixii, 163435.
[44] Cooper, ed., Complete Works, by Plato, vvi, viiixii.
[45] Leo Strauss, The City and Man (Chicago: University of
Chicago Press, 1964), 5051.

[46] Leo Strauss, Plato, in History of Political Philosophy,

ed. Leo Strauss and Joseph Cropsey, 3rd ed. (Chicago:
University of Chicago Press 1987): 3389.
[47] Plato - Allegory of the cave (PDF). classicalastrologer.les.wordpress.com.
[48] Allegory of the Cave. washington.edu.
[49] Garth Kemerling. Plato: The Republic 5-10. philosophypages.com.
[50] Carnes Lord, Introduction to The Politics, by Aristotle
(Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1984): 129.
[51] Bertrand Russell, A History of Western Philosophy (New
York: Simon & Schuster, 1972).
[52] Aristotle, Politics, bk. 2, ch. 16.
[53] Aristotle, Metaphysics, 991a2022.
[54] Robin Smith, "Aristotles Logic, Stanford Encyclopedia
of Philosophy (2007).

8 Further reading
Nightingale, Andrea Wilson, Spectacles of Truth in
Classical Greek Philosophy: Theoria in Its Cultural
Context, Cambridge University Press, 2004. ISBN
0-521-83825-8
Loudovikos, Nikolaos, Protopresbyter, Theological
History of the Ancient Hellenic Philosophy Presocratics, Socrates, Plato (in Greek), Pournaras Publishing, Athens, 2003, ISBN 960-242-296-3
The Hemlock Cup: Socrates, Athens and the Search
for the Good Life, by Bettany Hughes (2010) ISBN
0-224-07178-5
Luchte, James, Early Greek Thought: Before the
Dawn, in series, Bloomsbury Studies in Ancient Philosophy, Bloomsbury Publishing, London, 2011.
ISBN 978-0567353313

9 External links
7

References
Bakalis, Nikolaos (2005). Handbook of Greek
Philosophy: From Thales to the Stoics Analysis
and Fragments, Traord Publishing ISBN 1-41204843-5
John Burnet, Early Greek Philosophy, 1930.
William Keith Chambers Guthrie, A History of
Greek Philosophy: Volume 1, The Earlier Presocratics and the Pythagoreans, 1962.
Kierkegaard, Sren, On the Concept of Irony with
Continual Reference to Socrates, 1841.
Martin Litcheld West, Early Greek Philosophy and
the Orient, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1971.
Martin Litcheld West, The East Face of Helicon:
West Asiatic Elements in Greek Poetry and Myth, Oxford [England] ; New York: Clarendon Press, 1997.
Charles Freeman (1996). Egypt, Greece and Rome.
Oxford University Press.
A.A. Long. Hellenistic Philosophy. University of
California, 1992. (2nd Ed.)
Artur Rodziewicz, IDEA AND FORM.
. On the Foundations of the Philosophy of
Plato and the Presocratics (IDEA I FORMA.
. O fundamentach lozoi Platona i presokratykw) Wroclaw, 2012.
Baird, Forrest E.; Walter Kaufmann (2008). From
Plato to Derrida. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey:
Pearson Prentice Hall. ISBN 0-13-158591-6.

Ancient Greek Philosophy, entry in the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy

The Impact of Greek Culture on Normative Judaism
from the Hellenistic Period through the Middle Ages
c. 330 BCE- 1250 CE
Orphic Platonism

10

10
10.1

TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

Text

Ancient Greek philosophy Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Greek_philosophy?oldid=676001203 Contributors: Zundark,

The Anome, RK, Michael Hardy, Ixfd64, Pedant17, Robbot, Altenmann, Sverdrup, Nilmerg, Raeky, Everyking, WHEELER, Yahel~enwiki, Clossius, Utcursch, Andycjp, Hananeko, Sohailstyle, Antandrus, Beland, Karol Langner, Pmanderson, Ukexpat, Trevor MacInnis, Freakofnurture, CALR, DanielCD, Pasquale, Discospinster, FranksValli, FT2, Narsil, Paul August, Bender235, BACbKA, Deanos,
Wareh, BrokenSegue, Shenme, Pearle, Knucmo2, Alansohn, Sextus~enwiki, Ricky81682, WhiteC, Wtmitchell, Amorymeltzer, Bsadowski1, BlastOButter42, Alai, Zenithan, Japanese Searobin, OwenX, Woohookitty, TigerShark, Danmaz74, Eleassar777, Wikiklrsc, Bluemoose, Pprevos~enwiki, FreplySpang, Edison, JubalHarshaw, Amire80, Kalogeropoulos, Afterwriting, Matt Deres, Bgura, Sango123,
Crazycomputers, RexNL, Nick81, DVdm, The Rambling Man, Ssimsekler, Sceptre, Hairy Dude, Adam1213, RussBot, RJC, Markus
Schmaus, DanMS, CambridgeBayWeather, KSchutte, Deskana, Tommaisey, Moe Epsilon, Histprof, Botteville, Tomisti, Wknight94, Ultron, Zzuuzz, Arthur Rubin, Josh3580, Diddims, Robskin, Nlitement, Allens, Sardanaphalus, SmackBot, Jagged 85, Decimator~enwiki,
Josephprymak, Canthusus, HalfShadow, Hmains, Amatulic, Chris the speller, Bluebot, Persian Poet Gal, Jprg1966, Oli Filth, SchftyThree,
Whispering, Can't sleep, clown will eat me, Egsan Bacon, VMS Mosaic, GeorgeMoney, Addshore, Spencerhopper, Dreadstar, Salt Yeung,
Cyberevil, Frazzle, Minna Sora no Shita, Goodnightmush, Across.The.Synapse, Ryulong, Hu12, Levineps, Iridescent, Maestlin, Twas Now,
MJO, Courcelles, Tawkerbot2, Kurtan~enwiki, JForget, CmdrObot, Aherunar, NickW557, Kribbeh, Road Wizard, Gogo Dodo, DumbBOT, Gimmetrow, Thijs!bot, Epbr123, Mojo Hand, Marek69, Dfrg.msc, Grayshi, AbcXyz, Igorwindsor~enwiki, AntiVandalBot, Emeraldcityserendipity, D. Webb, Amads, Halfricanvt, Gkhan, Ericoides, TAnthony, Kipholbeck, Nikolaos Bakalis, Bongwarrior, VoABot II,
JNW, Renosecond, Bubba hotep, Catgut, Wrad, JaGa, CCS81, Cedricbear, MartinBot, PrestonH, LedgendGamer, J.delanoy, Trusilver,
Bongomatic, Maurice Carbonaro, Nigholith, Ncmvocalist, McSly, Bilbobee, Vinsfan368, VolkovBot, TreasuryTag, CWii, Macedonian, Je
G., JohnBlackburne, Soliloquial, Philip Trueman, Ldonna, Arpan123, Wikiisawesome, Coching, MDfoo, Falcon8765, Insanity Incarnate,
Alcmaeonid, Monty845, Xenovatis, PericlesofAthens, OsamaK, WereSpielChequers, Fabullus, Keilana, Radon210, Iain99, UncleMartin,
Le vin blanc, 3rdAlcove, WikipedianMarlith, Faithlessthewonderboy, ClueBot, Snigbrook, Foxj, The Thing That Should Not Be, Tizzle999,
Kristamaranatha, Blanchardb, RafaAzevedo, Singinglemon~enwiki, Falloutgirl15, Excirial, Hinko Gnito~enwiki, CrazyChemGuy, Jochenroth, Chiroubles, SchreiberBike, Light show, Catalographer, Thingg, Vegetator, Aitias, Kevala~enwiki, JS747, Avoided, Anturiaethwr,
HMFS, MystBot, Iranway, Addbot, Jojhutton, Captain-tucker, Ronhjones, Vishnava, Zarcadia, MrOllie, Favonian, Tide rolls, JEN9841,
Luckas-bot, Yobot, TaBOT-zerem, THEN WHO WAS PHONE?, AnakngAraw, Jim1138, IRP, Ulric1313, Materialscientist, ImperatorExercitus, Rtyq2, E2eamon, Clark89, Xqbot, Leabnm, Bandgjl, Nexeuitas, Necirsad, Linburats, History109, Erud, Pordaguit, Gensanders,
Lop0100, Grim23, Loveless, Achanast, Omnipaedista, RibotBOT, GNRY09, Gnuish, Tunkytown, Dougofborg, Ben346643, FrescoBot,
Isospin, Djrb1979, Pinethicket, Yahia.barie, Lehooo, Danwhite2010, Pollinosisss, Zenzor, Lotje, Reaper Eternal, Olivesrock, Shadowfang63, Matthewdavies, Skamecrazy123, DASHBot, EmausBot, Rami radwan, Gratel, 4meter4, Finn Bjrklid, TuHan-Bot, Wikipelli,
Ivostefanov, Mp390, FunkyCanute, 15turnsm, Allison Tragedy, Access Denied, Snaevar, Donner60, Orange Suede Sofa, ClueBot NG,
Cazmachine, Doh5678, CaroleHenson, Widr, Bahnheckl, Titodutta, David Macauley, MusikAnimal, Davidiad, VictoriaJBoorman, Mark
Arsten, CitationCleanerBot, Ilovepandabearssomuch, TheNuszAbides, Fmetites, Reburn2, Ducknish, Spiderman1028, Dillonmstein, Vanished user sdij4rtltkjasdk3, Dexbot, Interlude65, Sriharsh1234, Uberbacon12, Tawdjay, Camyoung54, Uggiehuggie616, Lliwwill5, Cowgirl01, Aubreybardo, Notsosoros, Apollon.musegetes, Scarlettail, Zeijani, TerryAlex, Philosopherian, Tylerstelle256, Girl9, SoSivr, KasparBot and Anonymous: 473

10.2

Images

File:Commons-logo.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg License: ? Contributors: ? Original

artist: ?
File:Petrarca-Meister_001.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d0/Petrarca-Meister_001.jpg License:
Public domain Contributors: The Yorck Project: 10.000 Meisterwerke der Malerei. DVD-ROM, 2002. ISBN 3936122202. Distributed by
DIRECTMEDIA Publishing GmbH. Original artist: Petrarca-Meister
File:Question_book-new.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/99/Question_book-new.svg License: Cc-by-sa-3.0
Contributors:
Created from scratch in Adobe Illustrator. Based on Image:Question book.png created by User:Equazcion Original artist:
Tkgd2007
File:Raphael_School_of_Athens.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c3/Raphael_School_of_Athens.jpg
License: Public domain Contributors: wikimedia commons Original artist: Raphael

10.3

Content license

Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0