Hellenistic Philosophy

This article provides a new edition of a passage from Philodemus' Index Academicorum which deals with the bequest and funeral of the Academic Crantor of Soli and depends on Antigonus of Carystus (PHerc. 1021, col. 16.37 – col. S.10). From the new readings it emerges that, like Diogenes Laertius, Philodemus too mentioned the bequest of twelve talents. Furthermore, the new readings help us to better understand the meaning of a verse related to Crantor's funeral.

Başlıkta “toplum karşıtlığının etiği” ifadesinin geçmesi ilk bakışta
şaşırtıcı ve tuhaf bulunabilir. Ancak sonraki felsefe ve düşünce tarihine
yön veren Yunanca terminoloji göz önünde tutulduğunda
etik terimi ilkin “kullanım, kullanıma dayalı alışkanlık veya deneyim”,
ikinci olaraksa ilk anlamdan hareketle “yönelim, eğilim veya
ahlâki karakter” anlamındaki ἦθος (êthos) sözcüğünden türemiş
olan ve ἦθος’a aitliği ve özgülüğü belirten ἠθικός (êthikos) sıfatının
çağdaş dillerdeki “ahlâk ilmi, ahlâk felsefesi” anlamında kullanılan
isimleşmiş halidir. Bu yüzden “toplum karşıtlığının etiği” ifadesiyle
Kinik filozofların bu yöndeki yaşam deneyimlerini, bu deneyimin
ahlâki yönünü ve her ikisini kapsayan bir ahlâk felsefesini
dile getirme imkânını buluyoruz.

Cicero criticizes Epicurus for writing a will and thus acting inconsistently with one of the basic tenets of his theory, namely that death is not an evil (De Finibus 2.101; De Natura Deorum 1.86). This analysis defends Epicurus' decision on the grounds that the performative nature of will writing allows the agent to experience personal pleasure by conferring a benefit to a friend and thus promoting the bonds of friendship.

The exhortation, “No longer drink only water, but use a little wine on account of your stomach and your frequent ailments” (1 Tim 5:23) is commonly seen as a rejection of extreme asceticism (as if it were an after-thought to the instructions regarding marriage and diet in 1 Tim 4:3), and treated with some perfunctory observations on the medicinal use of wine in antiquity. In this study, after discussing (a) the problems with the common reading of 5:23 as anti-ascetic polemic, I discuss (b) the literary context of instructions regarding how a youthful Timothy is to interact with older men, (c) the medicinal use of wine in terms of ancient humoral theory, (d) the application of humoral theory to youth and wine, and (e) abstinence from wine within a philosophical training regimen. I argue that in its context this verse makes sense as advice for a young minister.

This paper reviews the originality of Al-Farabi's achievement in harmonizing between the Greek Legacy of Philosophy and Islamic principles, his attempt should be appreciated even if the scholar did not reach the perfection level in such point. Al-Farabi was the first philosopher who sought to confront, and to bridge the Islamic religion, particularly the political philosophy that was revealed through a prophet-legislator (Prophet Muhammed PBUH), and the Classical Greek thought. His work presented such tolerance and openness of Islam to all kind of science and the world intellectual movement.

This course presents a broad survey of historical forces at work over the past 6,000 years, examining the manners in which human societies have organized themselves along categories of race, ethnicity, class, and gender to meet the challenges of the increasing human population and its demands on natural resources: thus, it examines continuity and change in societies over time, in different places, and among various peoples.

ART OF LIVING: Pierre Hadot and Michel Foucault promoted the idea that ancient philosophy is essentially an art of living. In particular, this thesis is usually applied to the big philosophical schools deriving from the Hellenistic period. Epicurus, most notably, is often read as a philosopher who only aims at the improvement of one's individual life.
In this article I articulate my doubts about this one-sided reading of ancient philosophy in general and Epicurus in particular.

„Lebenskunst und Naturforschung bei Epikur”, in: Gerhard Ernst (Hg.), Philosophie als Lebenskunst, Berlin: Suhrkamp 2016, 33-65.

Il libro di Cloe Taddei Ferretti verte sul rapporto interculturale tra due personaggi di spicco della tarda antichità: Ipazia di Alessandria, insigne filosofa pagana, e Sinesio di Cirene, suo allievo poi divenuto vescovo cristiano. Da questo rapporto straordinario tra esponenti di culture a quel tempo in aspro conflitto scaturisce, per il nostro presente, un'utile lezione di convivenza armonica nella diversità.

In che termini e in che misura possiamo parlare di determinismo nel pensiero di Epicuro di Samo? A partire da questa domanda, e dopo una celere ricostruzione della riflessione greca antica sul determinismo, il lavoro tenta di individuare modalità e localizzazione del problema del determinismo nella Fisica e nell'Etica di Epicurea. L'obiettivo è mostrare come la questione sul determinismo, vero e proprio tópos del dibattito filosofico ellenistico, si traduca nel sistema epicureo in una tensione e una ricerca d'equilibrio tra una determinata dottrina che ambisce a spiegare in modo "scientifico" il funzionamento del mondo fisico, e l'esigenza etico-pratica di elaborare una adeguata nozione di autodeterminazione umana, formulata nell'ambito di una peculiare filosofia della mente. /
In which terms can we discuss about determinism in Epicurus' philosophy? From this question and after a short overview of ancient Greek thoughts about determinism, the paper tries to individuate determinism issue in Epicurus' Physics and Ethics. The goal is to show how determinism issue, a very frequent topic of debate in Hellenistic philosophy, turns in Epicurus' thought in a conflict between a certain theory that aims to give "scientific" explanations of how physical world runs, and the ethical requirement of a adequate concept of human freedom, elaborated in the context of a unique philosophy of mind.

The aim of this paper is two fold. First, to properly understand the nature and extent of Philo’s inconsistencies in his conceptualization of the soul by examining the multiplicity of his ideas, not in order to illustrate their compatibility, but in order to properly consider their fundamental differences. The second aim of this paper stems necessarily from the first, and that is to explore contextual reasons for such inconsistencies. It is only by abandoning our own presuppositions and meeting Philo on his own ground that we may take another step—however humble—towards understanding Philo’s philosophical exegeses as he himself intended them to be understood. (This paper was produced as part of my MSt in Jewish Studies at the University of Oxford.)

Le sort de l’homme après la mort… Voilà donc un sujet sur lequel on s’interroge au moins une fois dans sa vie. Qu’est-ce qui attend l’homme après sa mort ? A-t-on vraiment tout imaginé ? L’homme tente-t-il de se donner bonne conscience ? A-t-on inventé l’histoire d’une vie après la mort dans l’objectif de mieux vivre son deuil avec l’espoir de revoir la personne que l’on a perdue dans un nouvel avenir ? Ou bien a-t-on nié l’existence d’une destination future dans l’espoir d’échapper aux conséquences de nos choix terrestres ?
L’Histoire de l’humanité est liée à la théologie de la même manière que l’histoire de la théologie est liée à celle de l’humanité. Voilà pourquoi certaines idées sont ancrées dans le patrimoine culturel ; et ainsi, que chacun le veuille ou non, il s’y trouve des concepts que la société ne peut effacer.
Voilà pourquoi la question du sort de l’homme après sa mort reste encore et toujours d’actualité. Nous comprenons qu’il est nécessaire de creuser la question, afin de discerner la pensée biblique de la tradition historique, et c’est dans ce brouillard informationnel que nous devons discerner l’esquisse de ce tableau biblique.
La question à laquelle ce travail de recherche veut répondre est celle-ci :
« Après des siècles d’histoire du christianisme, dans un monde en constante évolution, comment devons-nous comprendre la conception de la vie après la mort, suite à tous ces siècles d’histoires et d’influences de la part de l’Eglise sur la culture occidentale ? Que nous dit réellement la Bible finalement, quand nous faisons face à tant d’interprétations autant contradictoires les unes que les autres ? »

Although there is a clear historical connection, Jewish beliefs on the afterlife were never identical with what Christians held to be true. We must also consider to what degree Judaism actually influenced the development of the resurrection belief in Christianity. This forces us to ask another basic question, How typical of Judaism during this time was the belief in the resurrection, not least the belief in the resurrec- tion of the flesh? Does Judaism in early imperial times offer any clue for why early Christians chose this one form of belief in the afterlife and not anything else?

In the evocative book of Revelation. John shares a vision with his 7 scattered churches in Asia. And we have the privilege of listening in on what he saw ads what he told those who received his letters. Eventually he tells of a time near the "end" when Satan is let loose for thousand year period. Is this a case where God loses his mind and throws good judgement to the wind to let his old boy Satan go fly around and have fun before some interminable final destruction? Or is this still a vision where John uses commonly understood imagery to speak about a day of resurrection where the wicked are resurrected. A day when they think they are god with God and then find out they are not....Then what happens? If the wicked are seen as the satanas, as a Hebrew listener and speaker would have thought, is it possible John is telling of a day when they and the wickedness they represent will cease to exist? Email me for an eBook copy of the entire volume This is It Satan.... Is Finished! 613 pages of putting all the references to Satan back into their historical, cultural, and literary context.
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Musonius problématise la politique stoïcienne de manière originale. Sous la direction du maître, l’individu assimile les principes de la vertu et renoue, dans l’ascèse, avec l’impulsion fondamentale de l’oikeiôsis. Le mariage, modèle de toute relation, fonde la petite comme la grande cité qu’il préfigure.

This chapter examines the ancient Stoic theory of the physical composition of pneuma, how its composition relates to pneuma’s many causal roles in Stoic philosophy, and to what extent each of the first three leaders of the Stoic school accepted the claim that pneuma pervades the cosmos. I argue that pneuma is a compound of fire and air. Furthermore, many functions of pneuma can be reduced to the functions of these elements. Finally, it is likely that each of the early Stoics posited a pervasive cosmic pneuma. This paper also explores the nature of pneuma’s tensile movement and offers an account of fire and air’s roles in causing its motion.

This paper is dedicated to exploring the alleged difference between Cleanthes’ and Chrysippus’ accounts of the post-mortal survival of the souls and the conceptions of personal identity that these accounts underpin. I argue that while Cleanthes conceptualised the personal identity as grounded in the rational soul, Chrysippus conceptualised it as the being an embodied rational soul. I also suggest that this difference between the two early Stoics might have been due to his metaphysical commitments arising from his response to the Growing Argument put forth by the Academics rather than the critique of his teacher.

Trasducción española de  la ÉTICA EUDEMIA (Libros I, II y VIII) En el principio fue Anstótelus' . El filosofo por antonomasia, macslro do los que stibon, fundador du ciencias, padre de la filosofin occidonlal... Pero Aristóteles no esta al principio, sino al final. Su figura, todo lo gigantesca que se quiera, se perfila sobre el fondo de Platón, Sócrates y los presocraticos. En su ética se aúna lo mejor del espirmi griego' ni naturalismo , la atingencia a los hechos observados, el esfuerzo por entender la acción humana en su singularidad, la búsqueda de la felicidad como fin último de la vida. La gran cantidad de obras que acerca de la Etica Ludemi.i se suceden, y los tiabajos más recientes de acuerdo, por otra parte, con el criterio prevaleciente en la antiguedad greco latina tienden a subrayar el carácter imprescindible de esta Etica para el cabal conocimiento de la teoría moial aristotélica Aspectos que a lectores de otras épocas pudieron pasar desapercibidos nos resultan hoy del mayor interés: leflexionando sobre algo tan concreto y cercano a las aspiraciones de todos, como es la búsqueda de la felicidad, Aristóteles aplica un refinado instrumental critico que convierto al texto un modelo insuperable de análisis conceptual

Dialogo filosofico condotto secondo la prassi accademica, il De natura deorum, composto negli anni del ritiro dalla vita pubblica, si configura come una vera e propria summa del pensiero di Cicerone, sia sul piano filosofico sia su quello religioso, andando a costituire così un testo di estrema importanza per tutti coloro che intendono avvicinarsi allo studio della religione romana. L’opera, di cui si fornisce in questo volume una traduzione integrale in lingua italiana corredata di introduzione e note di commento, si articola in tre libri, scritti a partire dalla fine dell’estate del 45 a.C., dedicati a Marco Giunio Bruto, ognuno dei quali dedicato all’esposizione critica di ciascuna dottrina filosofica rappresentata da tre interlocutori: l’epicureo Velleio, lo stoico Balbo e l’accademico Cotta.

From the forthcoming collection: *Revisiting Aristotle's Fragments. New Essays on the Fragments of Aristotle's Lost Works*, ed. A-P. Mesquita, Brill, 2020.
In this paper I argue that several passages containing arguments from design that have been collected as fragments of Aristotle's lost dialogue *De Philosophia* are spurious. In the process, I highlight many of the common features and non-Aristotelian influences present in these passages.