Ancient Greek and Roman Philosophy

I offer a new interpretation of the passages where Aristotle maintains that intellectual activity employs φαντάσµατα (images). In theoretical understanding of mathematical and natural beings, we usually need to consciously employ appropriate φαντάσµατα in order to grasp explanatory connections. Aristotle does not, however, commit himself to thinking that images are required for exercising all theoretical understanding: understanding immaterial things, in particular, may not involve φαντάσµατα. Thus the connection that Aristotle makes between images and understanding does not rule out the possibility (...) that human intellectual activity could occur apart from the body. (shrink)

This paper presents a detailed reconstruction of Theophrastus’ account of human ontogeny, which is built around Aristotle’s notoriously difficult claim in Generation of Animals II 3 that “νοῦς alone enters from without”. I argue that this account (which is known to us via quotes from Theophrastus’ de Anima II and On Motion I) provides a viable alternative to the traditional trilemma between naturalist traducianism, creationism, and pre-existence, as well as offering an attractive but so far unappreciated interpretation of Aristotle’s account (...) of human ontogeny. More specifically, I argue that the extant evidence poses a challenge to the two dominant interpretations of “νοῦς from without” in the last decades: a dialectical one, according to which Aristotle ultimately rejects this claim, and a naturalizing one (often inspired by Alexander of Aphrodisias) that obliterates the essential difference between νοῦς and the other parts of the soul. (shrink)

El Evangelio de Felipe ocupa el tercer lugar en el Códice II de la Biblioteca de Nag Hammadi, compuesto por otros seis tratados que en orden cronológico se disponen de la siguiente manera: Apócrifo (libro secreto) de Juan (versión larga); Evangelio de Tomás; Hipóstasis de los arcontes; Sobre el origen del mundo (primera copia); Exposición sobre el alma y Libro de Tomás, el Atleta. El Evangelio de Felipe es el más “sacramental” de los evangelios gnósticos, ya que los cinco ritos (...) principales: bautismo, unción, eucaristía, redención y cámara nupcial se mencionan de manera directa como componentes de un solo misterio. Sus descripciones están precedidas por antropomorfismos de Dios, tales como “tintorero” y “antropófago”, a la vez que por nombres asignados a las realidades divinas que encierran un sentido esotérico propio de la escuela valentiniana. (shrink)

El objetivo de este artículo es estudiar las llamadas Achaica de Polibio (2.37-70). Se propone dejar de lado indemostrables hipótesis, tanto sobre una escritura independiente, como también con respecto a la supuesta inserción tardía e inorgánica de este texto en las Historias. En cambio, se busca relacionar las Achaica con la situación histórica en Grecia en ca. 150 a.C. a fin de entender la construcción discursiva de una imagen internacional de los aqueos fundada en una fama histórica de pístis y (...) philanthropía como una respuesta del historiador aqueo a una situación amenazante contemporánea sobre la Confederación aquea por parte de Roma. (shrink)

El objetivo de este trabajo es analizar la recepción de la obra de Tucídides a principios del siglo XXI en el contexto de la intervención militar estadounidense en Irak y la discusión sobre el carácter imperial de Estados Unidos. Se observa un empleo de la historia de la Atenas clásica y de su imperio, en pos de incidir en los debates políticos, en donde se le asigna al pasado las funciones de “legitimación” y “advertencia”. Se concluye que el imperio ateniense (...) configuró un modelo alternativo de imperio, enunciado como hegemonía, para aquellos académicos y analistas reacios a comparar a los Estados Unidos con el modelo romano. (shrink)

En el célebre libro inicial de la Política Aristóteles aborda diferentes temas entre los que se destaca el estudio de la economía y la crematística (Pol. A 8-11). Un elemento clave de su argumento consiste en distinguir en primer lugar entre las dos disciplinas y, a continuación, entre dos tipos diversos de crematística (crematística1 y crematística2). El eje sobre el que se asienta su argumento para discriminar entre ellas consiste en señalar que la crematística1 persigue la riqueza genuina (o verdadera, (...) ἀληθινὸς πλοῦτος, Pol. A 8, 1256b30-1), mientras que la crematística2 va más allá de los límites razonables al no tener un fin delimitado en la persecución de los bienes materiales. Nuestra investigación pretende mostrar que la justificación última de la riqueza verdadera se encuentra en la definición de ciudad que fue desarrollada en los capítulos iniciales (Pol. A 1-2). De este modo, pretendemos defender como hipótesis general que Aristóteles utiliza las definiciones propuestas en los tramos iniciales del libro como auténticos principios explicativos y, así, que todo el argumento se encuentra orquestado de acuerdo con dichas asunciones. (shrink)

Las Imágenes de Filóstrato contienen un número importante de escenas violentas, entre las que se destaca la serie dedicada a Heracles (2.21, 23, 25). La mayor parte de la crítica ha interpretado este motivo como actualización de los ideales heroicos del pasado griego en la paideia de la elite imperial; otras lecturas proponen leer las ecfráseis como expresiones de una estética del horror más amplia, que afecta a la iconografía escultórica de los siglos II y III d.C., y que se (...) vincula con el espectáculo del furor como entretenimiento, propio de la ideología del poder de estos años del Imperio. El presente trabajo busca reconsiderar las hipótesis a partir de los vínculos entre ferocidad, fuerza, atletismo y espectáculo según la estética visual y la secuencialidad de las ecfráseis en la galería y en continuidad con la obra Gimnástico, donde estos tópicos resultan programáticos. (shrink)

Reseña de: Un corpus olvidado: la tragedia fragmentaria y sus héroes, Colección Estudios Sociales y Humanidades, Bahía Blanca: Editorial de la Universidad Nacional del Sur (Ediuns), 2020, 196 pp. ISBN: 978-987-655-251-6. ISBN electrónico: 978-987-655-260-8.

Bryson of Heraclea and Polyxenus have received little attention from scholars. Sources on these philosophers are few and difficult to interpret. However, they present interesting dialectical arguments that concern some of Plato’s and Aristotle’s most important theoretical elaborations: Bryson’s arguments on the issue of semantic ambiguity were explicitly discussed by Aristotle, and Polyxenus is credited with a particular version of the Third Man argument. My purpose in this paper is to reconstruct the historical background of these two philosophers and to (...) analyze the philosophical implications of the arguments that the ancient tradition ascribes to them. (shrink)

At Outlines of Pyrrhonism (PH) 2.227–8, Sextus Empiricus argues that certain entities which his adversaries hold to be one and the same for different individuals are in fact not. This he does by, among other things, considering the truth-value of sentences of which the subject is a common noun, thereby drawing an interesting connection between metaphysics and semantics. In this article, I provide a careful analysis of Sextus’ arguments at PH 2.227–8 and explore the origins and limits of such a (...) connection. In particular, I argue that Sextus’ argument at PH 2.227 probably reflects a Stoic argument against Aristotelian essences, thereby relying on specifically Stoic doctrines about universals and common nouns, whereas his next argument at PH 2.228 targets accidents. If this is true, it follows that the overall structure of PH 2.227–8 fits well with the typically Aristotelian distinction between essence and accident. (shrink)

This paper evaluates Pierre Hadot’s concept of ‘philosophy as a way of life’ (PWL) as a tool to critique academic philosophy. Firstly, I will provide a concise overview of Hadot’s critique through a discussion of two lesser-known texts. I will go on to submit that PWL, contrary to what its name might imply, does not primarily distinguish between philosophical theory and practice. Instead, through an exploration of relevant secondary sources, I will emphasize PWL’s focus on the spiritual dimension of philosophy, (...) or rather the lack thereof in the modern research university. A return to philosophy as a way of life, then, does not imply emancipation from the university as such, but rather from contemporary academia’s research practices and standards. Only then can philosophy rekindle its true essence, namely transforming the lives and worlds of many. (shrink)

In this article, I claim that the treatise known as περὶ πνεύματος/De spiritu (481a-486b Bekker) was written by Theophrastus. My overall argument unfolds in three stages: first, I briefly summarize the arguments against De spiritu’s authenticity in Aristotle’s corpus. This summary will lead to my first argument which uses the very same reasons that prove the non-Aristotelian authorship to claim the Theophrastean one, in particular linguistic aspects of the text (§2). Next, I will focus on chronology, by discussing the mention (...) of one Aristogenes to show that Aristotle could not have known this individual (§3). Third and last, I will examine various aspects of the work that demonstrate stylistic and argumentative connections (§4), as well as doctrinal affinities with the works of Theophrastus, although some have attributed it to Strato (§5). On the basis of these arguments, I conclude that the weight of the evidence makes On Breath a work by Theophrastus (or his circle) rather than one composed by Aristotle. (shrink)

In the ethical texts, Aristotle claims that all instances of choice (prohairesis) must be preceded by deliberation, but it is not clear why he believes this. This paper offers an explanation of that commitment, drawing heavily from the De Anima and showing that the account emerging from there complements that of the ethical texts. The view is that the deliberative faculty has the capacity to manipulate reasons combinatorially, while the perceptual/desiderative faculty does not, and choice requires the combinatorial manipulation of (...) reasons. (shrink)

Athenaeus of Attaleia (fl. mid-first century BC) offers a fascinating example of the interest among Graeco-Roman physicians in marking out the boundaries between medicine and philosophy. As founder of the so-called Pneumatist medical sect, he was deeply influenced by contemporary Stoicism. A number of surviving ancient testimonia tell us that he held a distinctive view on the question of how far medicine should analyse the composition of the human body. Rather than having recourse to the Stoic cosmic elements fire, air, (...) earth and water, he maintained that in the context of the medical art, the relevant elements were the elemental qualities hot, cold, wet and dry. This paper is an attempt to pin down Athenaeus’ position on these issues, and his motivations for holding it, despite a number of conflicting and problematic claims in the surviving evidence. (shrink)

The life and teachings of Diogenes of Sinope, the Greek philosopher who gave rise to classical Cynicism, deserve careful consideration because of their relevance to contemporary ethical issues. The task of reconstructing the philosopher's life, however, is exceedingly difficult, because in his case, more than in those of other ancient philosophers, we must deal not only with the scarcity of reliable sources and testimonies, but also with the mountains of anecdotal and fictional accounts that are responsible for the creation of (...) a veritable literary legend around the Cynic who once lived in a tub. This comprehensive study reconstructs his biography on the basis of classical and Arabic sources, identifies the main ideas and principles of his philosophy, and shows the application of his philosophical message for our contemporary world. It also includes an extensively annotated translation of Diogenes Laertius' Life of Diogenes of Sinope, which is our principal source of information about the philosopher. (shrink)