On the birth of the classical philosophy and the origins of the European civilization (aspects of the problem)

Abstract

The article examines the birth of the Classical philosophy that simultaneously was the beginning of the European civilization. The issue has multiple aspects, especially as a lot of new studies emphasize the Eastern influence on the origins of the Classical philosophy and scholarly discussions ponder upon cultural differences and civilizational self-determination. Particular attention is paid to the characteristic of the Minoan civilization that both inherited the Eastern culture and discovered Europe. As compared to the East, Crete and Mycenae turned out to be instable social phenomena under the Aegean islandic conditions. However, the nautical piracy that could not be localized was a new cultural event demonstrated in individual behaviour and agonistic personality vividly represented in Homer’s poems. The author traces how collective spirit and mystical unity were switching to individualized behaviour and agonistic personality which lets him analyse aspects of the genesis of philosophy related to the development of lyrical poetry, legal consciousness and self-consciousness. This lets one overcome limits of the ‘physical’ interpretation of the Early Greek philosophy according to Aristotle and see a wider literary and historical context of its genesis. Self-immersion and reflections on the attitude to the world and one’s own self, to the cosmos, polis and God became foundations for the new philosophy that addressed the eternal issues of being. Human knowledge that starts with surprise, according to Aristotle, revealed new aspects of the genesis of the Greek philosophy. The issue of substance, relations between multiple things and their basis constitute the philosophical knowledge. Substantialism was the leading principle for the new philosophy that turned to explanations of the causes and gave birth to the rational knowledge and European science. The resulting philosophy is at the centre of the European cultural paradigm whose key elements are law, education, and personality.