Greek Philosophy Study
January 17, 2008
I received an undergraduate degree in philosophy with an emphasis in ancient Greek philosophy. I spent quite a bit of time studying the writings of two Presocratic philosophers, Heraclitus and Parmenides. A friend of mine, planning to pursue a Ph.D. in philosophy, began an independent study of ancient Greek philosophy in Fall 2006. He asked me to participate, and I agreed to read through the texts and discuss them with him.
We finished the readings of Plato by January 2007, about halfway through the materials, when his plans changed and we stopped the study. I took a break from it for awhile, picked back up with Aristotle in October 2007, and finished all the readings this week.
The reading list for the study contained the following readings:
- Textbook: History of Philosophy, Vol. 1 by Frederick Copleston
- Textbook: Blackwell Guide to Ancient Philosophy
- Presocratics: Early Greek Philosophy by Jonathan Barnes
- Plato: Dialogues (Apology, Euthyphro, Protagoras, Phaedo, and Symposium), Republic, Timaeus, and Parmenides
- Stoicism: Handbook of Epictetus
- Skepticism: Sextus Empiricus (Outlines of Pyrrohnism, Book 1)
- (Neo)Platonism: Neoplatonic Philosophy (Plotinus and Iamblichus)
(Also included were quite a few of the works of Aristotle, but I decided to skip them and just read the relevant sections from the two textbooks.)
I definitely achieved my primary goal for the study: familiarity with the background and the texts of the (Neo)Platonists, especially the mystical aspects. (Neo)Platonism was an intellectual philosophical system, accompanied by mystical practices and in some cases religious rituals from Egypt, intended to enlighten and purify the soul. The texts by Plotinus and Iamblichus were incredibly dense and difficult to read, but the notes and introductory material helped me muddle through and make some sense of them.
Philosophy departments present Plato as a cold rationalist and metaphysician, explaining away his more spiritual and religious elements, and they skip over the (Neo)Platonists almost entirely. (Neo)Platonism ended with the closing of the Academy by the Christian Emperor Justinian, but (Neo)Platonic ideas continued to influence Christian, Jewish, and Islamic philosophers and mystics throughout the Middle Ages.
I expected good things from the (Neo)Platonism material, but the skepticism material really surprised me. I really did not have a good understanding of their views, their history, or how they fit into the rest of the Hellenistic period. As I read, I personally felt a great deal of affinity with their attacks on dogmatism and their emphasis on practical living.
This study definitely broadened my knowledge, and I’m glad I made the time for it. I enjoyed re-reading the Presocratics and Plato, digging deeper into their ideas. My first reading of the Skeptics and the (Neo)Platonists was truly fascinating, exposing me to additional developments in the history of ancient Greek philosophy.