Greek Thought Research Articles

Being Between

This essay argues that comparative and transcultural philosophy are interdependent, and so opting for only one of the two is an impossibility. The comparative approach persists as long as we distinguish identities and make differences. As long as people do not speak only one language, the need to move between different languages and to translate, and thus the need to relate and compare different possibilities of philosophical articulation, will remain. Any attempt to free oneself from the problem of cultural identity is doomed to failure, as it leads to further entrapment in the very same problem. Comparative philosophy works with more or less fixed identities, transcultural philosophy transforms them and thereby creates new identities. Those two approaches combined constitute what I call intercultural philosophy. In this essay I try to explain the relation between comparative and transcultural philosophy by connecting François Jullien’s “comparative” and Martin Heidegger’s “transcultural” understanding of “Being” (Sein) and “Between” (Zwischen). In part 1 I argue that by turning Between and Being into opposing paradigms of Chinese and Greek thinking, respectively, Jullien causes both to become more or less fixed representatives of different cultural identities within a comparative framework: Greek thinking ossifies into traditional metaphysics, and Chinese thinking ossifies into the non-metaphysical thinking of immanence. Part 2 argues that Heidegger takes a decisively different direction. He explores the Between in Being, and even makes an attempt to think of Being as Between. Heidegger’s invocation of “Greekdom” is undoubtedly Eurocentric. But, ironically, Heidegger’s “Greek thinking” is less Eurocentric than Jullien’s “Chinese thinking”, because he discovers the “Chinese” Between in the midst of “Greek” Being. Part 3 touches upon the task of speaking about European philosophy in Chinese terms. While modern Chinese philosophers frequently speak about Chinese philosophy in European terms, Heidegger’s work points to the possibility of speaking about European philosophy in Chinese terms. Because Jullien and Heidegger both connect Greek and Chinese thought, it seems to me that the discussion of their different approaches is helpful in clarifying perspectives for intercultural philosophy between China and Europe.

Deconstruction of a Dialogue

It is common knowledge that Martin Heidegger’s attempts at engaging non-Western philosophy are very much a construct of his own making. This article in no way seeks to disagree with those observations, but argues two things: first, that Heidegger’s “dialogue” with his two main other sources of inspiration, the ancient Greek thinkers and the German poets, is not different in kind or in principle from his engagement with East Asia. One can of course quite easily argue that Heidegger’s main interest was the ancient Greek thinkers, and then the poets, and only lastly Asia. But this hierarchy in preference does not make Heidegger’s approach different in kind or in principle. Second, I argue that there is an important place in comparative philosophy for the type of thinking displayed by Heidegger in this kind of Auseinandersetzung (confrontation) with—and “appropriation” of—Asian (or Greek, or Poetic) thought.

The Seduction of Etymology: Heidegger’s Philosophical Cognates

The use of etymology is an essential characteristic of the writing of Martin Heidegger. Believing that ordinary language had lost its power to express certain philosophical ideas, Heidegger often looked to earlier meanings of words or parsed derived words in order to analyze separate morphemes. An appreciation of this approach is central in understanding Heidegger’s work. He also believed that etymologizing was essential in interpreting the works of the writers to whom he felt most akin: Pre-Socratic philosophers such as Anaximander, Heraclitus, and Parmenides. These early Greek thinkers were clearly using language in a new way, and many of their works exist only in fragments. The meanings of particular words and phrases is thus often unclear, and it is possible that etymology could provide some indication of the writer’s intention. Many of Heidegger’s etymologies, however, are far from standard and are used to produce novel and often unusual interpretations. The present paper will review a number of Heidegger’s etymologies (of varying authenticity), the manner in which he arrived at them, and their import in the interpretation of certain texts. The general question will then be taken up concerning the legitimate uses and abuses of etymology in such interpretation.

The feminine in early Greek philosophy (Part one: Homer, Homeric tradition, Hesiod, Derveni Papyrus)

This paper forms the first part of broader research dealing with the possibilities for a feminine ????, i.e., the starting point or source for a change, in early Greek thinking. Thus, it involves comparative analyses of the material provided by Homer, The Homeric hymn to Apollo, Hesiod?s Theogony and the Derveni Papyrus, the latter text being ?the only one that can, without the shadow of a doubt, be described as ?Orphic?? (Brisson, 2019). The work on the sources resulted in endorsing the following interpretative hypothesis: In the analysed cosmogonies, the concept of ???? is linked and - as I would argue - dependant upon the phenomenon of parthenogenesis, i.e., reproduction without fertilisation, implying a kind of a biological ?self-sufficiency?. Consequently, the employed research strategy throughout the paper consisted of the two following tasks: 1) to assess the feminine emergence as the ???? in light of parthenogenesis; 2) employing the same criterion, to assess the relationship between the feminine and the masculine. The main results thus obtained show that: 1) apart from the fact that none of the analysed cosmogonies posited the feminine and the masculine in the relationship of equality, 2) the role of the feminine otherwise resists putting into ?patterns?, including its position in the so-called paternalistic Homeric tradition. Whether these results will change with the further inclusion of sources or remain as nuanced as they now are, remains to be seen in future research.

ПЕРЕКЛАД "АПОФТЕГМ" АНАХАРСІСА СКІФСЬКОГО

For the first time, the translation (from ancient Greek and Latin) into Ukrainian of the entire body of reasoning and fragments available today, which are attributed to the outstanding early Greek philosopher Anacharsis of Scythia (VIII-VI centuries BC), is presented. It was found that the majority of apophthegms are built according to the principle of antithesis: in order for a thought to arise, the thinker needs to move away from the opponent's thought, and then refute it. It was established that this pre-Socratic paid little attention to the classical problem of the philosophical searches of pre-classical ancient Greek thinkers – ontology (cosmology), while ethical-anthropological and socio-political topics played an important role for him.

Проблема времени в работах П.П. Гайденко

The question of time can be attributed as one of the most important in the works of P.P. Gaidenko. Almost from the very beginning of her philosophical activity it was constantly in the center of her attention. The article briefly traces the main milestones in her consideration of the problem of time – from a dissertation on the philosophy of Heidegger (1963) to a generalizing book “Time. Duration. Eternity. The Problem of Time in European Philosophy and Science” (2006), which sums up many years of Piama Pavlovna’s research on this topic. Here the names of three great Greek thinkers – Plato, Aristotle and Plotinus – appear as symbols of various approaches to understanding time. For a long time, it de­termined the lines of further theoretical research. In the book the internal seman­tic echoes that permeate the entire text are very important. Piama P. Gaidenko shows how some models of the interpretation of time, proposed in Antiquity and then in medieval philosophy, are reproduced in various forms in subsequent eras and testify to the complex interaction of philosophical traditions as well as to a change in ways of thinking. The main lines of research outlined in the book clearly show both continuity and differences in approaches to the philosophical understanding of time in different periods. The book expresses not only the phi­losophical, but also the personal position of Piama P. Gaidenko, which was clearly manifested in the interpretation of the question of the relationship be­tween time and eternity. In this sense, of particular interest is the critique of the characteristic tendency of the philosophy of process, which is reflected in the denial of eternity or understanding it simply as infinite time.

Managing Autonomy With Aristotle: The Contribution of Greek Thought To A Contemporary Management Problem

When dealing with the management of autonomy, the theory of organisations neglects what employees’ decisions are about, or at least does not take it into account in all its aspects, which prevents it from offering a complete and ordered vision of the subject. This research sets out to fill this gap by mobilising the four causalities of a being as defined by Greek philosophy.

The Political Welfare: Theory and Practice in Ancient Greek Thought, From the Origins to Socrates

Résumé Entre le septième et le cinquième siècle avant J.-C. des penseurs grecs, des « Sept Sages » à Socrate, ont exprimé des idées politiques intéressantes. Plusieurs parmi eux ont aussi participé activement dans la vie publique, préoccupés essentiellement par la question cruciale : quelle est la meilleure manière de réaliser l’ eudaimonia, ou le eu zen , de la cité ? Ici je présente quelques exemples représentatifs des contributions théoriques et/ou pratiques des Présocratiques et de Socrate à la « vie bonne » de la cité, selon cinq différentes possibilités d’action. Quelques points communs détectés parmi leurs positions sont également exposés.

How Style Met the City

Abstract The modern concept of style is a complex one and is difficult to map fully onto a corresponding notion in ancient Greek thinking and vocabulary. This paper sets out to examine both the common understandings of this term in contemporary scholarship and the ancient sensitivities to what we may call stylistic phenomena – the multi-levelled features that may be conceptualized as characterizing the ‘how’ as opposed to the ‘what’. The paper moves on to show in what ways style and ancient stylistics are related to the city, that is to say, to the use of language in the culturally-defined communicative contexts for which texts were produced and circulated in classical Athens. In the final section, this paper briefly reviews recent approaches and perspectives in the stylistics of Greek oratory and lays out the framework of this special issue.

A FEW POINTS ABOUT AXIOMATICS OF EDUCATION

Postulates and axioms have been used as a means of knowledge since ancient times. The well-known ancient Greek thinkers Aristotle, Plato, Euclid, and others used this cognitive tool. As an example, we all know – Euclid’s postulates. Although mathematicians consider him the pioneer of mathematics, one of the most famous mathematicians, nevertheless, it is more appropriate to consider Euclid as a Greek philosopher, who presented the most important postulates and axioms in his book "Elements". The prevailing opinion is that in essence it is exactly enough to prove all mathematical statements. Even though that the most perfect axiomatics is classical Euclidian geometry, there is an alternative here, i.e., modern non-Euclidean geometry.

Evolution of Water Technologies and Corresponding Philosophy and Sciences Focusing on the Hellenic World through the Millennia

In this review, hydro-technological advancements in the Hellenic world throughout the millennia are considered in relation to the scientific developments and perceptions of the natural world articulated by Greek thinkers. Starting with the advanced hydro technologies of the Minoan civilization, this review presents the state-of-the-art evaluation of the hydro technologies in Greek historical contexts. More precisely, this review focus on how, when, and where modern hydro technologies developed based on ancient technological achievements, and subsequently when technological achievements were totally forgotten in specific periods, such as the Iron Age (ca 1200–800 BC), only to be reinvented or rediscovered in subsequent periods. In most cases, information has been collected from different sources and was cross-matched with each other. The results observed from the literature and material evidence are compiled and presented in the form of a critical review study. With a few examples, comparisons to hydrologic and hydraulic developments in other civilizations are considered and discussed.

The Concept of Motion in Ancient Greek Thought: Foundations in Logic, Method, and Mathematics

<i>The Concept of Motion in Ancient Greek Thought: Foundations in Logic, Method, and Mathematics</i>

Dependence and transposition: Orientalist representations of the Arabs in modern Greek culture

This article analyses Greek orientalism towards the Arabs from the end of the eighteenth to the late twentieth century. It examines an extensive body of texts, beginning with Adamantios Korais’ rallying call for Bonaparte’s invasion of Egypt and ending with the post-Suez attacks on Nasser’s anti-colonial policies by leading post-war Greek writers. The analysis approaches the representations of the Arabs as a branch of a wider Greek orientalist discourse that, for the most part, has focused historically on the Turks. In so doing, it conceptualizes Greek orientalism as partly a ‘borrowed construction’, internalized in Greek discourse from European colonial ideology, and partly as an articulation of what Edward Said has called an imperial ‘structure of feeling’, which in the case of Greece emanates from the irredentist/neo-Byzantine expansionist vision of Megali Idea. The analysis deploys the concepts of ‘internalized’ and ‘transposed orientalism’ to denote a process whereby a particular culture, like that of modern Greece, which is itself the object of western orientalist depiction, first embraces this demeaning image of itself and then, in an attempt to mitigate it, projects it in upon other neighbouring cultures that are perceived to be inferior to or less ‘westernized’ than its own. Finally, the article examines the role of Egyptian-Greek writers in the construction of this discourse as cultural mediators who, in contrast to other Greek thinkers and artists, had a direct experience of interacting with modern Arab culture.

Philosophical Theories of Colour in Ancient Greek Thought – and Their Relevance Today

Our modern scientific explanation of colour as a subjective impression has replaced a ‘pre-theoretical’ notion of colour as an intrinsic property of objects, which was mainstream in ancient thought. Why have we lost such pre-theoretical notion, and what have we lost by losing it? I argue that most ancient Greek philosophers exploited this pre-theoretical assumption – one that was obvious to them – in terms and ways that are still worthy of attention in the context of contemporary philosophy of colour. I offer an in-depth analysis of the theories of a number of early Greek philosophers, as well as of Plato in the Timaeus, showing that they tend to share the idea that colour is an essential property of external bodies and therefore plays a causal role in perception. Then I focus on a comparison between Democritus’ stance and Aristotle’s in order to highlight a significant contrast between the two. Democritus' theory is an exception in ancient thought because it traces the colour phenomenon back to a refraction of atmospheric light through atomic aggregates. Aristotle, instead, posits the presence of colour and light in the bodies themselves. Finally, I interpret Aristotle's account as the most complex attempt in ancient thought to weld together what we call the ‘manifest image’ of colour and its ‘scientific image’.

Platon’un Etik ve Politik Düzensizliği Çevreleyen Varlık Anlayışı

From the very first ancient Greek thinkers on, it has always been a philosophically central activity to think on the universe, man and society comprehensively. These three problem nets were scrutinized also in Plato’s work exhaustively. Platonic system supposes the philosopher to philosophize by drawing on Ideas and this activity is on the one hand deals with the universe and with the man and social order on the other. In this regard, emergence of the existing things (ta onta) is examined in a way that links these to Demiurgos’ activity, who itself is not an existing thing. Nevertheless, there is a resemblance between Demiurgos’ deeds and the philosopher king’s duty, who is supposed to conceive the latter via reason: Both agents are masters of giving a form. Just as Demiurgos had projected Ideas upon the natural material and thus given the universe an order and done well, the philosopher king should, upon that ontological ground, form a city-state, where its settlers are able to live a just and happy life. In this essay, Plato’s thoughts on being and becoming are examined by including the ethical and political motivation behind these metaphysical conclusions.

A critical exposition of Bergson's process philosophy

This paper is a critical and expository study of the basic ideas in the process thought of Henri Bergson. Process philosophy is one of the oldest traditions in metaphysics, traceable to the doctrine of Heraclitus, an ancient Greek thinker. It is opposed to the idea of the Milesian thinkers like Thales and Anaximenes, who believed that reality consists of an unchanging substance that persists. Overtime, the view that reality is a novelty and, as such creative became a discourse of interest, either implicitly or explicitly, for many philosophers in the different epochs of western philosophy. As a result, different ideas emerged in an attempt to explain processes. However, these ideas have been discovered to point toward two directions – mechanism and finalism. As against this stance which pointed toward an end to the creative and novel posture of reality, Henri Bergson came up with his philosophy of multiple virtualities. However, how successful was his project? In this paper, therefore, we critically assess some strengths and weaknesses of the basic ideas in his thought process. However, though we have noted some inherent problems in his thought, Bergson’s idea of reality as multiple virtualities gives room to reality as continually processual, overcoming the mechanistic or finalistic you of other thinkers.

The extreme southern origins of globality: Circumnavigation, habitability, and geopolitics

AbstractThis article analyses how the first circumnavigation of the world, from 1519 to 1522, introduced South America as a key space in the formation of the ‘global’, thus producing a historical point of inflection. We examine the commercial and political plans and networks that began to function as a result of this new connectivity, which turned the American continent into a major global axis. The analysis focuses on the way in which this voyage gave new prominence to an unexplored region of the world, namely the southernmost tip of America, thus changing the notion of habitability that had prevailed for centuries in Europe. These changes questioned the authority of ‘ancient’ Greek thinkers and strengthened a European historical narrative that appropriated the discovered territories and distinguished the extreme southern part of America from other southern regions, as symbolized through figures such as the Patagonian giants. I consider these changes based on evidence from Spanish sources.

Review Article

Review Article

Blood and the Awareness of Perception. From Early Greek Thought to Plato’sTimaeus

AbstractIn this paper I first address what I consider a central issue in the account of perception in Plato’sTimaeus, namely, how thepathematapass through the body to reach the soul, and thus becomeaistheseis. My point in Section 1 is that in tackling this issue Plato aims to provide a firm physiological basis to the notion of perception that starts to emerge in theTheaetetusand thePhilebusand is crucial to the late development of his theory of cognition. In the ensuing section I try to put the account of perception in theTimaeusinto a historical perspective, aiming to highlight two points: a) Plato’s description of the way in which sensible impressions “travel” inside the body and interact with its parts and other constituents is largely indebted to previous theories, such as those we find, for example, in Empedocles and a few Hippocratic writers; b) The leading role in this story (where internal air plays a significant supporting role) is played by blood flowing through the vascular system and thus performing a crucial cognitive function. Moreover, emphasizing the role of blood as well as analyzing the elaborate way in which perceptions are transmitted through the body to the soul proves vital to appreciate (in Section 3) the cognitive status of the lower parts of the soul (which are more involved in perception) and their relation to reason. Overall, the paper adds further elements to our understanding of Plato’s embodied approach to cognition.I had already written (and submitted) this article when Johansen (2021) was published. The latter’s approach to the role of blood in Plato’s physiology of knowledge in theTimaeusconverges in part with mine (as I was pleased to find out), partly due to our overlapping sources and bibliography.

ÇAĞDAŞ TÜRK DİLLERİNDE TÜREMİŞ SÖZCÜKLERİN İNCELENMESİ

The history of word derivation by morphological method in Turkic languages begins with the research history of the word. The discussions on this subject in the ancient Greek linguistics schools were taken one step further and opinions were expressed about the structure of the language and discourses were developed around the purposes of the language. In fact, the debates developed to such a point that some Greek thinkers, especially Plato and Aristotle, expressed their views on the origin of language, the relationship between words and the concepts they represent, and started philosophical discussions on the subject. The word phenomenon, which is handled in a more philosophical context, has been evaluated with Ferdinand de Saussure on a different plane, around different linguistic attitudes. After that, linguistic and, in a narrower sense, lexicographic studies were initiated in the contemporary approach. In Turkish dictionaries, a word is defined as a "meaningful sound or combination of sounds. In the sources, a word is defined as "a single sound or group of sounds that has a meaning or grammatical function and is processed alone". In studies, words are defined as "concepts consisting of one or more syllables and having different meanings for each language" in terms of meaning and syllable. Linguists distinguish between lexical and grammatical word types and evaluate words with inflectional suffixes around the second definition. In the article, the history of researching word derivation by morphology method in Turkish languages, and approaches to word derivation in morphology were investigated. In the writing of the article, a comparative method was used by making use of different scientific sources. Key words: derived word, morphology, Turkish language, research, affix, root