The Giants of Pre-Sophistic Greek Philosophy

The Giants of Pre-Sophistic Greek Philosophy

Author: Felix M. Cleve

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2012-06-20

Total Pages: 372

ISBN-13: 9789401534598

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Again and again and again: PHILOSOPHIA FIAT, QUAE PHILOLOGIA FUIT! As a consequence of certain developments in these last hundred years, ancient philosophy has been slipping from the hands of philosophers to become finally an almost exclusive domain of philologists. This has been happening not only because a tremendous amount of genuinely philological work had to be done, and still is needed, in collecting and textually adjusting the pertinent material, but also because a thorough knowledge and command of the ancient languages has become ever more and more of a rarity among philosophers, unfortunately. From the viewpoint of philosophical culture, this is disastrous. For most philologists are in a state of innocence as far as philosophy is concerned. Of course, they themselves are not aware of it. But the tragicomical fact remains: They have all the answers and do not know the questions. And so, led astray by philosophical miscon ceptions, they even commit appalling philological blunders every once in a while.


Essays in Ancient Greek Philosophy II

Essays in Ancient Greek Philosophy II

Author: John Peter Anton

Publisher: SUNY Press

Published: 1971-01-01

Total Pages: 572

ISBN-13: 9780873956239

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Papers presented to the Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy since its beginnings in the 1950's.


Archaic Logic

Archaic Logic

Author: Raymond A. Prier

Publisher: Walter de Gruyter

Published: 2011-11-10

Total Pages: 177

ISBN-13: 3110805340

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Mythology for the Microcosm

Mythology for the Microcosm

Author: A. Brian Lasater

Publisher: Xlibris Corporation

Published: 2005-12

Total Pages: 607

ISBN-13: 1413486584

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About my book: Although there is nothing new under the sun, it is always useful to reevaluate old ideas and principles and express them in new and original ways. There are many books on the Kabala, but based on what I have seen and read, there is room for a comprehensive approach. Many authors leave out fundamental princi- ples altogether, like the authors who don't even mention the celestial bodies and the Zodiac. On the other hand, scholars of mythology, generally, do not even refer to astrology and the Kabala and, apparently do not recognise that the celestial bodies were the principle gods of the ancient pantheon. My approach has been to briefly discuss some of the fundamental elements of the old theologies and relate them to astrology and the Kabala from a modern perspective. Thus I have laid an essential foundation for the Kabala and astrology, and placed them the context of Greek and Roman mythology. Since I have adopted a broad perspective, the reader has a basis for pursuing these subjects in a variety of ways. I have not seen any other book that relates astrology and the Kabala to Greek and Roman mythology, the Bible, and then relates these to Mesopotamian and Egyptian mythology. The ancient theologies have many fundamental elements in common and these form key parts of the foundation of astrology and the Kabala. In addition, I have given a concise discussion of the Four Alchemical Elements, the Signs of the Zodiac and the Celestial Bodies, and placed them in a Kabalistic framework. To truly comprehend the Kabala and Astrology, it must be remembered that it is one com-plete whole, and it is broken down to make analysis practicable. Therefore I have discussed Creation and the Ten Sephiroth, the trinity in some of its forms as a sacred elements in Creation and in Man and Woman, the Four Elements and the Zodiac. Then from a mythological and theological perspective, I have looked briefly at Mesopotamia and Egyptian. As a counterweight to our cynical age, I have look-ed at the Golden Age of Atlantis, and the mythological heroes and heroines of the primordial past serve as exemplars, and encourage us to strive to attain some of Occidental Civilization's highest ideals. On the other hand, Atlantis is a warn-ing the misuse of knowledge and power leads to the destruction of civilization. Further, from a theological and mythical perspective, the Sephiroth were divine in-struments used in Creation. On a more mundane level, the Kabala and astrology are a means to know ourselves and obey the injunction, "Know Thyself" that used to be inscribed on Apollo's temple at Delphi. This book is based on the work of the ancients, whose writing is superb. The quotes in English, from the ancients, are the best part of the book, and it is a pleasure to read.


Two Dogmas of Philosophy and Other Essays in the Philosophy of Philosophy

Two Dogmas of Philosophy and Other Essays in the Philosophy of Philosophy

Author: Dennis A. Rohatyn

Publisher: Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press

Published: 1977

Total Pages: 208

ISBN-13: 9780838616734

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The major themes of this study are, first, that philosophy is not a technical enterprise or primarily a branch of knowledge, but a way of life; second, that philosophy cannot be understood apart from its history, and its history cannot be understood apart from the recognition that philosophy does designate a way of life.


Infinity in the Presocratics

Infinity in the Presocratics

Author: L. Sweeney

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2012-12-06

Total Pages: 254

ISBN-13: 9401027293

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Throughout the long centuries of western metaphysics the problem of the infinite has kept surfacing in different but important ways. It had confronted Greek philosophical speculation from earliest times. It appeared in the definition of the divine attributed to Thales in Diogenes Laertius (I, 36) under the description "that which has neither beginning nor end. " It was presented on the scroll of Anaximander with enough precision to allow doxographers to transmit it in the technical terminology of the unlimited (apeiron) and the indeterminate (aoriston). The respective quanti tative and qualitative implications of these terms could hardly avoid causing trouble. The formation of the words, moreover, was clearly negative or privative in bearing. Yet in the philosophical framework the notion in its earliest use meant something highly positive, signifying fruitful content for the first principle of all the things that have positive status in the universe. These tensions could not help but make themselves felt through the course of later Greek thought. In one extreme the notion of the infinite was refined in a way that left it appropriated to the Aristotelian category of quantity. In Aristotle (Phys. III 6-8) it came to appear as essentially re quiring imperfection and lack. It meant the capacity for never-ending increase. It was always potential, never completely actualized.


Philosophy History Sophistry

Philosophy History Sophistry

Author: Dennis A. Rohatyn

Publisher: Rodopi

Published: 1997

Total Pages: 248

ISBN-13: 9789042001756

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Post-modernism believes in nothing, not even unbelief. Hence it is a genial version of nihilism, and the flip side of despair. Like skepticism (from which it descends), it is healthy insofar as it rejects all dogmas; but unhealthy insofar as it substitutes its own, while eating its own essence. This book diagnoses this disease, and offers irony as its cure. What failure of nerve did to Hellenism, strength of character must do for the decline of the best. Humor, laughter, and detachment are the gifts of historical art, and of Socratic science. As we take refuge in the myth of truth, we must realize that there is no truth in myth, and no comfort in illusion, except the lie of immortality.