Presocratic Research Articles

Empedokles in Nietzsches Dramenentwürfen

Abstract Empedocles in the Face of Mythological Deities. A Reading of Nietzsche’s Dramatic Drafts. This article examines Nietzsche’s interest in Empedocles. Less prominent in Nietzsche’s thought than other pre-Socratic philosophers, Empedocles is difficult to classify. He is characterized by his tensions and ambivalence. By examining Nietzsche’s various drafts for a drama about the death of the philosopher from Agrigento, I will show how philological studies combine with Nietzsche’s philosophical thinking to question Empedocles’ ambivalence toward mythological divinities. Art of staging, excessive desire for knowledge, expression of disgust with existence, recognition of the true measure of the living: the death of Empedocles is as ambiguous for Nietzsche as his conception of nature, torn between wonder, demystification and poetic fervor.

Becoming Simple and Honest: Nietzsche’s Practice of Spontaneous Life Writing

ABSTRACT Nietzsche (1844–1900) struggles with complexity and many-sidedness throughout his life. He is a nuanced thinker who offers fragments instead of a rigid philosophical system, yet he admires the ‘virtuous energy’ with which systematic thinkers, especially the pre-Socratic philosophers, express themselves. His ability to write with comparable energy is hindered by university philosophy, which privileges restraint and consistency. Therefore, he adopts a practice of spontaneous life writing in order to become simple and honest in thought and life. Inspired by figures such as Emerson, Diogenes, and Sterne, he grasps the ‘nearest shoddy words’ and continually produces new insights in disjointed monologues and aphorisms. Nietzsche's vague metaphors, loose language, inconsistency, and hyperbole stem from this practice, and his autobiography, Ecce Homo (1888), is the closest that he ever comes to rekindling the energy of the pre-Socratics.

From Mythos to Logos: Pre-Socratic Philosophers and the Birth of Rational Inquiry

This paper examines the important shift from mythological to philosophical thought instigated by pre-Socratic philosophers in ancient Greece by examining influential figures such as Thales, Anaximander, and Heraclitus in their pioneering efforts at rational analysis. The theories of these philosophers challenged the traditional mythical descriptions of the universe and man's existence, initiating the paradigm shift from mythos (myth) to logos (logic) that reshaped philosophical discourse and laid the foundations for Western philosophical traditions. This paper seeks to reveal the nature of pre-Socratic rational thought and its lasting impact on the history of Western philosophy. It emphasizes the importance of the contributions of pre-Socratic philosophers to the promotion of critical thinking, empiricism, and logical reasoning. Finally, the paper emphasizes the role of the pre-Socratic period in the development of Western philosophy and philosophical approaches to inquiry.

Revisiting the origin of critical thinking

There are two popular views regarding the origin of critical thinking: (1) The concept of critical thinking began with Socrates and his Socratic method of questioning. (2) The term ‘critical thinking’ was first introduced by John Dewey in 1910 in his book How We Think. This paper argues that both claims are incorrect. Firstly, critical reflection was a distinguishing characteristic of the Presocratic philosophers, setting them apart from earlier traditions. Therefore, they should be recognized as even earlier pioneers of critical thinking. Secondly, John Dewey not only used the term ‘critical thinking’ before 1910, but there were also other authors who used it before him. The meaning of ‘critical thinking’ at the turn of the twentieth century was shaped by various traditions of linguistic usage, including literary criticism, science and medicine, and Kantian philosophy.

Giordano Bruno, universal animation and living atoms

ABSTRACT One of the most striking features of Giordano Bruno’s philosophy is the marriage of universal animation with atomism. This unusual combination produced an extraordinary image of the universe, which was governed by the World-Soul and its universal intellect along with an infinite number of living atoms or corpuscles, animated by their internal spiritual principle. After examining Bruno’s principal arguments on the World-Soul, universal animation and living atoms or corpuscles, this article explores two possible sources among the works of his near-contemporaries. The first author, Agostino Steuco, tried to reconcile the doctrine of the World-Soul with Christianity, integrating the idea of Anaxagoras on the cosmic mind as the demiurgic agent of the universe. The second figure, Jacob Schegk, further elaborated his unusual atomistic or corpuscular reinterpretation of this Presocratic philosopher’s ideas.

WOMEN’S EQUALITY: THE FINAL REDEMPTION

The aim of this paper is to correct a historical error, one that I will argue is at the heart of the contemporary feminist movement: the ancient claim, grounded in a flawed understanding of the reproductive act, that woman is inferior to man. I will show that the lineage of this can be traced as far back as the pre-Socratic philosophers, finally finding its earliest concrete expression in a claim most have either dismissed, forgotten, or never heard: Aristotle’s argument that women are merely “malformed males” and are therefore “inferior to man”. The theory found support in the first century with a historical interpretation of Genesis 2:18-23, traceable in particular to the Hellenistic Jewish philosopher, Philo (BC 13-AD 54). Philo’s own theory about woman echoed that of Aristotle’s; his legacy includes the vague feeling that Scripture itself declares that, since woman is created after man, she is necessarily subservient to him. She becomes, as it were, the “second sex”. The combination of Aristotle and Philo proved too persuasive even for the mind of St. Thomas Aquinas and the theory accelerated and then spread through the university system inaugurated during the Middle Ages, subsequently informing the social structures and norms of Western civilization, going mostly unchallenged throughout human history, silently persisting even into the present time. This error represents what can be called a chronic “wound” in our intellectual tradition. And it is a wound that must be healed. I argue that the antidote is to correct this account and that it can be defeated on its own terms. Through the lens of Hebraic and Aristotelian-Thomistic anthropology, and building on the insights of St. John Paul II, I provide a robust, philosophically and theologically grounded account of man and woman from within the Catholic exegetical tradition, showing that man and woman are both equally human, equally endowed with intellect, will, and freedom while at the same time reflecting two different ways of being in the world.

REPREZENTAREA VRĂJITORULUI/ VRACIULUI ȘI A ÎNȚELEPTULUI ÎN LITERATURĂ ȘI SOCIETATE

Establishing a relationship between the witch or witchdoctor and the sage is not immediately evident. To most modern men the witch is simply a wretched wight devoid of knowledge and insight of modern life, whereas the sage or the intellectual is the great thinker, a custodian of Western ideologies and theories who supposedly does not believe in witchcraft and even questions the existence of God. The word sage is derived from the Latin verb sapere whose other meaning is “to have a good taste”. On the contrary, when one goes back in space and time to the period referred to as “once upon a time” in fairy tales, one discovers that the witch and the sage were indivisible; in fact they were one and the same person. This is clearly evinced in the etymology of some words of Indo-European origin. In fact, the distinction between witch and sage is flimsy and transparent, sharing the same semantic area with the following words: wizard, druid, fili, wicca, sorcerer, juggler, powwow, lamia and lilith. To the modern mind it strains belief to hear that the span of the word witch has roots in the sacred domain, that of priesthood, shamanism and sainthood for example. The truth is that the sage and the witch emerged from a common past. For example, the early pre-Socratic philosophers were shamanic practitioners first and wise men second. The parting of the ways is not as clear-cut in Arabic cultures where the ulana are learned in sacred scriptures and at the same time, learned in science, thus harking back to the past when the duality between sacred and secular did not exist. The medieval alchemist, forerunner of today’s scientist, is another case in point; and of course it is well-known that in many old cultures the priest class or caste were not only repositories of religious authority and initiated into sacred mysteries, but living repositories of all forms of specialised knowledge, including the art of writing. Acknowledged philosophers and writers among which Virgil, Shakespeare, Hugo, Apollinaire also write about it.

Analisis Pengaruh Falsafah al-Sufasta’iyyah dalam Filem Mentega Terbang Menurut Perspektif Falsafah Islam dan Ilmu Kalam Analysis of the Influence of Sophism Philosophy in the Mentega Terbang Film According to the Perspective of Islamic Philosophy and Kalam

The philosophy of sophists is a thought that was started by a pre-Socratic philosopher named Protagoras (d. 420 BC). This thought became an epidemic of thought for the Greek civilization in understanding the concept of truth and the essence of thing. The sophists thought brought by Protagoras became the foundation stone for the philosophy of skepticism and also relativism thus urging the Greek philosophers to came up with science of logic to prove the reality. Nevertheless, this thought is still found in the past and present. On November 28, 2021, a controversial film titled Mentega Terbang was shown and it touched the sensitivity of Islam in particular. Therefore, this article was written to analyze and criticize the influence of that philosophy on this film through the method of literature review and data content analysis from the film from the perspective of islamic philospohy and knowledge of kalam. The results of the study found the elements and influence of sophists philosophy on this film despite with new variations and narrative. This indirectly proves the role of the knowledge of kalam in facing the doubts and threats of faith in today's age.

“God Is One” or “the One Is God” in Hellenistic Jewish and Greco-Roman Theology

Abstract “God is one” is the theological foundation of many of the world’s religions. The Greek version of this expression, heis theos, was especially significant to ancient religious development. Past scholarship has tended to place its emergence early, among the sixth century BCE Presocratic philosophers. In this article, I argue that the expression “God is one” in Greek likely develops later, in Jewish writings of the Hellenistic period. My work supports a minority opinion in the scholarship that attributions in second century Christian apologetics of this expression to Presocratics such as Xenophanes should not be relied upon. Rather, I suggest that the expression heis theos emerged in the context of second to first century BCE Alexandrian Jewish theology in conversation with ideas from Greek philosophy.

Seasons and Human Health in the Hippocratic <em>Airs, Waters, and Places</em> and Hesiod’s <em>Works and Days</em>

This essay focuses on the doctor’s knowledge of seasonal patterns and their impact on human health in the Hippocratic Waters, Airs, and Places. Knowledge of the seasonal factor requires the doctor to master the general and the particular, to take the yearly period and scan it in two bi-seasonal periods with focus on summer and winter as the expected times for the outbreak of the diseases. Such looking-forward analytical operation is inscribed in the doctor’s capacity for pronoia. Due parallels are drawn between the doctor and the seer, on the one hand, and the Presocratic philosopher, on the other. Attention is also given to the early description of winter in Hesiod’s Works and Days: with its detrimental effects on human (and animal) bodies, it emerges as a poetic antecedent of the Hippocratic doctor’s knowledge.

Bruno Latour’s Detour

In this article, I argue that the work of Bruno Latour has straddled two conflicting intellectual traditions: the relativism of 20th-century postmodernism (which deconstructed the realist pretensions of scientism) and the realism of 21st-century New Materialism (which seeks to sublate the postmodern linguistic turn and embrace science alongside critical theory). I connect these twin tendencies to their ancient precursors among the Greek sophists and presocratic philosophers and argue that Latour’s strange position between relativism and realism recalls the historical tension between the philosophical and rhetorical traditions. Latour has embodied both of these intellectual currents, shifting only his focus but never his commitment to deconstructing the distinction between nature and culture. By connecting the conflicting tendencies of postmodernism and New Materialism back to the ancient sophists and presocratic philosophers, I argue that Latour effectively ontologizes rhetorical persuasion as the ‘language’ of every being, human and nonhuman alike.

Panta rhei (Πάντα ῥεῖ), or everything flows with long COVID

Heraclitus, the Greek, pre-Socratic philosopher (figure 1), believed the world was ultimately made of fire, a metaphor for change. He wrote five centuries BC: panta rhei (Πάντα ῥεῖ, “everything flows”), exemplifying it with his quote: “No man ever steps in the same river twice.” No long COVID patient ever steps in the same river twice, as their condition changes continuously due to its natural history, or because of treatment http://bit.ly/3QMFhyK

The Heideggerian Ontology and The Exposure of The Being in the “Poetic Dwelling”

The Heideggerian metaphysical ontology aims, above all, to reconceptualise the relationship between Being and being and to relate this founding corellation to human existence. For Heideggarian analysis, the authentic school of thought of the ancient Greeks has been forgotten, discarded, with this very act, itself, being silenced. Thus, the initial concept of Being, as thought up by Plato or the pre-Socratic philosophers, was replaced with that of being, resulting in the confusion of the two. Therefore, for more than two thousand years, the tradition of Western philosophy would discuss Being, but in reality the concept at stake was that of being. The Being, as a primordial reality without which absolutely nothing can be thought and uttered, not even Nothingness itself, was excluded from the exercise of meditation, being confused with beings, with ephemeral existences, be they material or animated. While looking for answers regarding the inquiry into the nature of Being, beings were wrongly looked at. But the Being continued to manifest its luminosity, in the sense evoked by Heideggerian metaphysics, especially around man, the only being of a special type, located in the opening of the Being, (Da-Sein) which can be reoriented from beings to Being, becoming, according to Heidegger, the shepherd of Being. Only in this way does he realize that his existence is a poetic one, that is, open to the non-hiding of the Being, in the sense of Heideggerian terminology. What is this type of poetic universally-human existence, so that it does not belong only to the poet, why was it forgotten along with the Being and what danger threatens modern man through this forgetfulness evoked by Heidegger? This article aims to capture some aspects of the conceptual area of these topics.

Everydayness, and: Other Definitions of Basic Concepts

Everydayness, and: Other Definitions of Basic Concepts Dan Beachy-Quick (bio) Keywords Dan Beachy-Quick, poetry, existentialism, life, teeth, sun, arrow, geometry, snow EVERYDAYNESS eternity is different than anhour I know you know this too thesun-bright teeth the mouth’s inherentnight what is ours— the authentic life echoes as ifin ruins voices entangled is what isa cloud the they-cloud that rains opinion down—sun too distant too hot the sunevery morning lost in light as if light were thought— it is and also it isnot time the intricate knot a voice pullstighter— [End Page 131] thistle & column both blossom into snow& drift away— another thistle waits its purple hour— another tomorrow waits its eternalyesterday now the eye blinks its moment &the arch of the foot echoes the broken arch as does the brow echo the archer’s bow— a stone arm draws back the tense string ofall this always emptier space— blank eye brokennose & mouth complete the face—& the lips part a breath inthe inarticulate blank [End Page 132] OTHER DEFINITIONS OF BASIC CONCEPTS Now the arrow. Now the wave. Now the turtle.Now heat fills up the garden pears weepingpride into love. Now the hare. Now the bone confessesonce I was as quick as foxes in the hills. Now my ownshadow counts the hours. Now no-man is gnomon.Now truth forgets the invisible hierarchies—orbits of planets around a star that does or does notexist. Geometry counts his child’s fingers:now, now, now. There is the brightness of day—an hour so bright a leaf can be the sun it eats.Then there is the night. Then, then, then, the mooncounts the fingers of her children. Then the pyramidsbecome pillars of snow. Then snow is a slow now.Then the world is thistle-down. Then those words: I know. [End Page 133] Dan Beachy-Quick dan beachy-quick is a poet, essayist, and translator. A translation of Sappho, Wind—Oak—Mountain is forthcoming from Tupelo Press, and a collection of pre-Socratic philosophy, The Thinking Root, is forthcoming from Milkweed Editions. His work has been supported by the Manfort, Lannan, and Guggenheim Foundations. He teaches at Colorado State University, where he is a University Distinguished Teaching Scholar. Copyright © 2023 The Massachusetts Review, Inc

Transduction of The Laws of Logomachy

This article is the first in a series that develops the concept of logomachy. Logomachy is a philosophy of semantics or sense that takes into consideration the thermodynamic status of things in the world (their qumanity). In particular, this article, looks at Gilbert Simondon’s claim that the laws of thought (Identity, Contradiction and the Excluded Middle) do not hold once certain thermodynamic states such as metastability (in between stability and instability) are taken into account. This article formulates, through a method I term transduction (the mutual development of concepts between domains), novel logical laws that fit more adequately the way things thermodynamically are in the world. To do this, the article turns to the presocratic philosopher Heraclitus to rethink the logos as a conflictual site of meaning where things, and their capacity to make-sense, is conditioned by energetic investment, where difference is the condition of sameness.

Plato and Aristotle were not the first contributors in ancient Greece to the study of the "good" and discussion preceding them can be found among the pre-Socratic philosophers. In Western civilisation, the basic meanings of κακός and ἀγαθός are "bad, cowardly" and "good, brave, capable", and their absolute sense emerges only around 400 BC, with Pre-Socratic philosophy, in particular Democritus.[4]

Plato and Aristotle were not the first contributors in ancient Greece to the study of the "good" and discussion preceding them can be found among the pre-Socratic philosophers. In Western civilisation, the basic meanings of κακός and ἀγαθός are "bad, cowardly" and "good, brave, capable", and their absolute sense emerges only around 400 BC, with Pre-Socratic philosophy, in particular Democritus.[4]

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.

Tom Mackenzie: Poetry and Poetics in the Presocratic Philosophers. Reading Xenophanes, Parmenides and Empedocles as Literature.

Tom Mackenzie: Poetry and Poetics in the Presocratic Philosophers. Reading Xenophanes, Parmenides and Empedocles as Literature.

Elemental Air in French Poetry and American Nature Writing

This article discusses elemental air in twentieth-century French poetry and American nature writing, focusing on a comparison of human breathing to wind. Beginning with an overview of Pre-Socratic philosopher Anaximines, it examines select French poets’ expressions about wind. It turns to American nature writers' extensive experiences in the air outdoors. It looks at wind in the desert, prairie, forest, and Alaskan Sierra. Gaston Bachelard’s observations of air in motion serve as a segue to a discussion of elemental phenomenology. Building on the written expressions and experiences of French poets and American nature writers, the section on elemental phenomenology presents the importance of elemental air in philosophy but also in how one feels the many faces of wind and lives with and enjoys it.

Notes on Job 3

In a reading of Job’s opening complaint in the third chapter of the Biblical book that avoids unnecessary emendation of the Hebrew text, it is suggested that the author attributes to Job the fatalistic belief that days are ordained to be good or evil and supernatural beings preside over such divisions of time. Accordingly, Job asserts that the sea monster Leviathan is destined to rise at the apocalyptic end of days and there are sorcerers whose spells are to raise him from the deeps. Along the same lines, the text introduces the striking image of edifices doomed even before their erection to become ruins. It is argued further that Job should be read as a satirical encounter with the Psalter in particular and with other, earlier texts of Scripture. Job is an eloquent, even witty tragic hero; his three friends, with their timid, conventional morality, resemble a Greek chorus: with introductions that look very like stage directions for characters, the book of Job displays a dramatic character, and can be compared in that respect to the classical Athenian theater. Passages from the pre-Socratic philosopher Heraclitus of Ephesus are also cited in the discussion. At several points, lyrics of English and American Romantic poets are adduced that resonate with the imagination of the author of the oration.