Provides an accessible introduction to ancient Greek philosophy, enhanced with new features and content
Retrieving the Ancients offers a clear and engaging narrative of one of the most fertile periods in the history of human thought, beginning with the Ionian Philosophers of the sixth century and concluding with the works of Aristotle. Organized chronologically, this student-friendly textbook approaches Greek philosophy as an illuminating conversation in which each key thinker–including Thales, Pythagoras, Democritus, Socrates, and Plato–engages with, responds to, and moves beyond his predecessor. Throughout the text, author David Roochnik highlights how this conversation remains as relevant and urgent to modern readers as ever.
Now in its second edition, Retrieving the Ancients features an entirely new epilogue that introduces Stoicism, Epicureanism, Skepticism, Cynicism, and various schools of thought that emerged after Aristotle, as well as a useful appendix designed to help students write philosophically. This edition offers expanded online teaching resources for instructors, including a downloadable web pack with sample syllabi.
* Offers a compelling, readable, and humorous introduction to ancient Greek philosophy
* Approaches the history of ancient Greek philosophy dialectically
* Illustrates how the works of the ancients are as valuable today as ever
* Includes an accessible, modern introduction to Hellenistic philosophers, new to this edition
Offering a sophisticated yet accessible account of the first philosophers of the West, Retrieving the Ancients: An Introduction to Greek Philosophy, Second Edition is an ideal textbook for introductory and intermediate undergraduate courses in Ancient Greek Philosophy, as well as general courses in Ancient Philosophy.
Table des matières
Prologue viii
Introduction 1
Two Reasons to Study Ancient Greek Philosophy 1
The Organization and Strategy of This Book 7
1 The Presocratics 11
Preliminaries 11
Before the Beginning: Hesiod 12
The Ionian Philosophers of the Sixth Century 18
a) The Beginning: Thales of Miletus 18
b) The First Debate: Anaximander v. Anaximenes 22
c) Sixth-Century Rationalism: Xenophanes and Pythagoras 26
d) The Crisis of Sixth-Century Philosophy 31
Heraclitus and Parmenides: Extreme Solutions 33
a) Heraclitus: Lover of Flux 33
b) Parmenides: Champion of Being 42
Fifth-Century Elementalism 51
a) Democritus: Atomic Theory 52
b) Empedocles: Evolution 61
c) Anaxagoras 65
2 The Sophists and Socrates 69
A New Beginning: The Sophists 69
Protagoras 71
Gorgias 79
Socrates 83
3 Plato 95
Preliminaries 95
Plato’s Critique of the Presocratics 98
Plato’s Critique of the Sophists 105
a) The ‘Self-Reference’ Argument 106
b) The Reductio ad Absurdum 107
c) ‘What is it?’ 112
d) ‘The Old Quarrel’: Philosophy v. Sophistry 119
Recollection 120
a) The Phaedo 120
b) The Meno 125
The Divided Line and the Form of the Good 132
a) The Divided Line 132
b) The Form of the Good 138
Eros 140
The Political Implications of the Forms 153
4 Aristotle 167
Preliminaries 167
Aristotle’s Conception of Nature 173
a) ‘By Nature’ 173
b) Form and Matter 182
c) The Four Causes 186
Aristotle’s Psychology 194
Teleological Ethics 208
a) Moral Virtue 208
b) Intellectual Virtue 220
Natural Politics 224
a) The Political Animal 224
b) Best Life; Best City 231
Conclusion 235
Epilogue 241
Appendix 257
References 269
Index 275
A propos de l’auteur
DAVID ROOCHNIK is Emeritus Professor of Philosophy at Boston University. He has published numerous books and articles on ancient Greek philosophy and literature, rhetoric, post-modernism, and the nature of philosophy. His books include Retrieving Aristotle in an Age of Crisis, Thinking Philosophically: An Introduction to the Great Debates, Beautiful City: The Dialectical Character of Plato’s Republic, and Eat, Drink, Think: What Ancient Greece Can Tell Us About Food and Wine.
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