Socrates

Classics ◽  
2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dimitri El Murr
Keyword(s):  
History Of Philosophy ◽  
Athenian Democracy ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
Philosophical Inquiry ◽  
Entire Life ◽  
Time Period ◽  
History Of ◽  
Source Of Information ◽  
Striking Contrast

Socrates of Athens (470/469–399 bce) is perhaps the most famous philosopher of all time. Yet there is a striking contrast between his extraordinary celebrity and what we know for certain about him. We know for sure that he spent his entire life in Athens, philosophizing in public and private places. We also know that he left no written works. What we know of his life and teaching comes only for a small part through the writings of contemporaries (notably Aristophanes), and mostly through the works of his many disciples, among whom stand the most prominent philosophers of the time (Plato, Antisthenes, Aristippus, Xenophon, Aeschines of Sphettos). None of these witnesses was concerned to record what Socrates did and said according to the modern standards of accurateness. Rather, each of them depicted his own view of Socrates, competing with one another as to which portrait rendered the true spirit of Socraticism. Most of what we know of Socrates also comes from later sources, which in turn depend on the writings of his contemporaries, most of which have been lost. Therefore, as a consequence of Socrates’ exceptional impact and avoidance of writing down his own thoughts, there is neither direct nor neutral access to Socrates’ life and doctrine. Every author, every school of thought, and every time period has shaped its own Socrates, according to its own agenda. Does this mean that the quest for the historical Socrates is ill-founded and the true Socrates irremediably lost? Some scholars think it does. At the very least, it seems safe to say that the study of Socrates is not separable from what is now known as the “Socratic Question.” On Socrates’ philosophical input, what does seem clear is that he introduced a major breakthrough in the history of philosophy. According to two distinct traditions in Antiquity, Socrates indeed shifted both the object and the method of philosophical inquiry. According to Cicero (and Xenophon), Socrates was the first who brought down philosophy from the heavens and placed it in cities (Tusc. V, 10). According to Aristotle (in Metaphysics), he was the first to concern himself with definitions. Both interests are amply evidenced in our main extant source of information on Socrates, which is also the trickiest to handle: the Platonic dialogues. Another reason explaining Socrates’ celebrity over the last twenty-five centuries is the most famous episode of his life, namely his death. In 399 bce, Socrates was tried, and sentenced to drink hemlock, by an Athenian popular jury of five hundred citizens. Why he was executed by the Athenian democracy remains a hotly disputed issue. Yet, even more than the portrait of Socrates as the irrepressible gadfly and soul-examiner of Athens, it is his death, and notably Plato’s dramatization of it as the martyrdom of philosophy, that made him the legend and the mystery he still is.

Philosophy today: cries of alarm and prospects of progress

SATS ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 97-116
Author(s):  
Paolo Parrini
Keyword(s):  
Social Context ◽  
Critical State ◽  
History Of Philosophy ◽  
Historical Survey ◽  
Philosophical Inquiry ◽  
Philosophy Today ◽  
History Of ◽  
New Challenges ◽  
The Way

AbstractToday’s critical state of philosophy is examined by considering two of its aspects: the way in which philosophy presently is ever more typically practised (increasing professionalism and specialisation) and the new challenges it has to face to keep up with the changed scientific, and more generally cultural and social context. The essay outlines some prospects of progress in the light of those which still now can be considered the proper tasks of philosophical inquiry. Such tasks are singled out through an historical survey of the original characters of philosophy and an appraisal of its theoretical motivations. The importance of the history of philosophy and the necessity of achieving a virtuous relation among the various philosophical disciplines are stressed to contrast the dangers of excess specialisation and professionalism.

Philosophy for Girls

2020 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
Political Philosophy ◽  
History Of Philosophy ◽  
Philosophical Inquiry ◽  
Women's Voices ◽  
Secondary Sources ◽  
Knowing That ◽  
History Of ◽  
Pluralistic Approach ◽  
Women Philosophers

Written by twenty expert women in philosophy and representing a diverse and pluralistic approach to philosophy as a discipline, this book engages girls and women ages sixteen to twenty-four, as well as university and high school educators and students who want a change from standard anthologies that include few or no women. The book is divided into four sections that correspond to major fields in philosophy—metaphysics, epistemology, social and political philosophy, and ethics—but the chapters within those sections provide fresh ways of understanding those fields.Every chapter begins with a lively anecdote about a girl or woman in literature, myth, history, science, or art. Chapters are dominated by women’s voices, with nearly all primary and secondary sources used coming from women in the history of philosophy and a diverse set of contemporary women philosophers. All chapters offer the authors’ distinct philosophical perspectives written in their own voices and styles, representing diverse training, backgrounds, and interests. The introduction and prologue explicitly invite the book’s readers to engage in philosophical conversation and reflection, thus setting the stage for continued contemplation and dialogue beyond the book itself. The result is a rigorous yet accessible entry point into serious philosophical contemplation designed to embolden and strengthen its readers’ own senses of philosophical inquiry and competence. The book’s readers will feel confident in knowing that expert women affirm an equitable and just intellectual landscape for all and thus have lovingly collaborated to write this book.

What is critique in Kant’s Critical philosophy

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 156-172
Author(s):  
Nawzad Jamal Faraj
Keyword(s):  
History Of Philosophy ◽  
Main Task ◽  
Main Question ◽  
Critical Philosophy ◽  
Philosophical Perspective ◽  
Philosophical Inquiry ◽  
History Of

This paper tries to answer a main question: what is critics and criticism? It is obvious that Kant’s philosophy marked by “Criticism” which is defined as a philosophical turn in the history of philosophy. In Kant’s philosophy critic is not just a title of his three main books, but it is his way of look at philosophy and the role of philosopher. In other words, the main task of philosophy and philosophizing, it is not defending or interpreting a single philosophical perspective, but it is to judge and criticize all kinds of philosophical enquires. This mean that since Kant’s approach, philosophical inquiry has taken another direction: toward the critic of philosophical subjects. Philosophy have to start with critic of reason and its scope. And reason alone is in charge of criticizing. In other words, reason is the suspicious guilty one and the defender in the court of reason.

Modelyuvannya istorychnoho slovnyka polonizmiv (na materiali pivnichnoukrayins'kykh pam'yatok XVI–XVII st.)

2021 ◽  
pp. 161-177
Author(s):  
Valentyna Tytarenko
Keyword(s):  
Point Of View ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
Lexical Meaning ◽  
Foreign Word ◽  
Ethical Point ◽  
History Of ◽  
Polish Language ◽  
Confessional Literature ◽  
Source Of Information ◽  
Unambiguous Interpretation

This article substantiates the relevance of the historical dictionary of words borrowed from the Polish language, describes the principles of its construction, the structure of the dictionary articles. The main purpose of the dictionary is to collectively present the Polonisms that functioned in the northern Ukrainian records of the XVI–XVII centuries as well as to indicate origins, semantics, chronology, territory, etc. The register of lexicographical work will include Polonisms found in the records of the XVI–XVII centuries. Borrowed words will be selected from the etymological source, etymon will be added to them, each lexical meaning will be illustrated, the location and time of writing the record will be indicated. If necessary, the words will be given a broader commentary on the semantics, phonetic or grammatical design, etc. Today, its file contains about 800 words of Polish origin, found in various texts of the XVI–XVII centuries in northern Ukrainian area (acts of city, sub-chamber and district governments in Volodymyr-Volynskyi, Lutsk, Zhytomyr, Ovruch, Kyiv, diplomas, universals both public and private; texts of various genres: fiction, polemical, confessional literature). In the publication we substantiate that before borrowing there must be an indication of the source of information (relevant etymological dictionaries or other work), because, firstly, it confirms the origin of foreign words, and secondly, from an ethical point of view, researchers often do not trace history of a foreign word, and on the basis of existing studies of etymologists, respectively, there should be a vocation, and thirdly, a number of tokens in Ukrainian linguistics do not have an unambiguous interpretation, so the researcher of borrowings thus illustrates whose views he adheres or has his own opinion.

scholarly journals Ryle’s “Intellectualist Legend” in Historical Context

2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Kremer
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
21St Century ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
History Of Philosophy ◽  
Third Way ◽  
Philosophical Inquiry ◽  
Knowing That ◽  
Timothy Williamson ◽  
The Social ◽  
History Of

Gilbert Ryle’s distinction between knowledge-how and knowledge-that emerged from his criticism of the “intellectualist legend” that to do something intelligently is “to do a bit of theory and then to do a bit of practice,” and became a philosophical commonplace in the second half of the last century. In this century Jason Stanley (initially with Timothy Williamson) has attacked Ryle’s distinction, arguing that “knowing-how is a species of knowing-that,” and accusing Ryle of setting up a straw man in his critique of “intellectualism.” Examining the use of the terms “intellectualism” and “anti-intellectualism” in the first half of the 20th century, in a wide-ranging debate in the social sciences as well as in philosophy, I show that Ryle was not criticizing a straw man, but a live historical position. In the context of this controversy, Ryle’s position represents a third way between “intellectualism” and “anti-intellectualism,” an option that has largely gone missing in the 21st century discussion. This argument illustrates how history can inform the history of philosophy, and how the history of philosophy can inform contemporary philosophical inquiry.

Reindeer Imagery in the Making at Ust’-Polui in Arctic Siberia

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-21
Author(s):  
Tatiana Nomokonova ◽  
Robert J. Losey ◽  
Natalia V. Fedorova ◽  
Andrei V. Gusev ◽  
Dmitry V. Arzyutov
Keyword(s):  
Iron Age ◽  
Northern Eurasia ◽  
Working Relationships ◽  
Animal Domestication ◽  
Time Period ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Source Of Information ◽  
Arctic Siberia

The history of reindeer domestication is a critical topic in the study of human-animal relationships across Northern Eurasia. The Iamal-Nenets region of Arctic Siberia, now a global centre of reindeer pastoralism, has been the subject of much recent research on reindeer domestication. However, tracking the beginnings of reindeer domestication in this region and elsewhere in Eurasia has proved challenging. Archaeological imagery is an under-utilized source of information for exploring animal domestication. In this paper we explore the abundant reindeer imagery found at the Iron Age site of Ust’-Polui in Iamal, dating from ~260 bce to ce 140. While reindeer were hunted in Siberia long before the occupation of Ust’-Polui, portable reindeer imagery appears abruptly at this time period, co-occurring at the site with equipment thought to be for training transport reindeer. Training and working with transport reindeer required long-term engagement with specific animals that became well known and precious to their human keepers. Creating, utilizing and depositing the reindeer imagery objects at Ust’-Polui was a way of acknowledging critical new working relationships with specific domestic reindeer.

Eye of the Universe: Henry Sidgwick and the Problem Public

Utilitas ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 155-188
Author(s):  
Bart Schultz
Keyword(s):  
History Of Philosophy ◽  
Same Sex ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
The Public ◽  
Ethical Concerns ◽  
Intellectual Honesty ◽  
Henry Sidgwick ◽  
History Of ◽  
John Addington Symonds ◽  
The Universe

Henry Sidgwick has gone down in the history of philosophy as both the great, classical utilitarian moral theorist who authored The Methods of Ethics, and an outstanding exemplar of intellectual honesty and integrity, one whose personal virtues were inseparable from his philosophical strengths and method. Yet this construction of Sidgwick the philosopher has been based on a too limited understanding of Sidgwick's casuistry and leading practical ethical concerns. As his friendship with John Addington Symonds reveals, Sidgwick was deeply entangled in an effort to negotiate the proper spheres of the public and private, not only in philosophical and religious matters, but also with respect to explosive questions of sexuality – particularly same sex actions and identities, as celebrated by Symonds and other champions of Oxford Hellenism and Whitmania. His willingness to mislead the public about such issues suggests that Sidgwick's utilitarian casuistry was rather more complex and esoteric than has been recognized.

scholarly journals Freshest Advices on What To Do With the Historical Method in Philosophy When Using It to Study a Little Bit of Philosophy That Has Been Lost to History

2012 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 106-118
Author(s):  
Bennett Gilbert ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Original Work ◽  
History Of Philosophy ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Moral Imperative ◽  
Research Project ◽  
Philosophical Inquiry ◽  
Historical Method ◽  
The Past ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Relationship

The paper explores the question of the relationship between the practice of original philosophical inquiry and the study of the history of philosophy. It is written from my point of view as someone starting a research project in the history of philosophy that calls this issue into question, in order to review my starting positions. I argue: first, that any philosopher is sufficiently embedded in culture that her practice is necessarily historical; second, that original work is in fact in part a reconstruction by reinterpretation of the past and that therefore it bears some relation to historiographic techniques for the restoration of damaged objects and texts; and third that the special oddities of the relations of present and past do not fail to ensnare the philosopher, who must restore the past but freely break from it. I describe this relationship as proleptic. Finally, I argue that this is a moral imperative in writing philosophy, derived from the imperative to be honest.

The Tempo and mode(S) of Prebiotic Evolution

1997 ◽  
Vol 161 ◽  
pp. 419-429 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonio Lazcano
Keyword(s):  
Origin Of Life ◽  
Organic Compounds ◽  
Biological Evolution ◽  
Current Evidence ◽  
Early Diversification ◽  
Time Period ◽  
The Galaxy ◽  
History Of ◽  
Widespread Phenomenon ◽  
The Origin Of Life

AbstractDifferent current ideas on the origin of life are critically examined. Comparison of the now fashionable FeS/H2S pyrite-based autotrophic theory of the origin of life with the heterotrophic viewpoint suggest that the later is still the most fertile explanation for the emergence of life. However, the theory of chemical evolution and heterotrophic origins of life requires major updating, which should include the abandonment of the idea that the appearance of life was a slow process involving billions of years. Stability of organic compounds and the genetics of bacteria suggest that the origin and early diversification of life took place in a time period of the order of 10 million years. Current evidence suggest that the abiotic synthesis of organic compounds may be a widespread phenomenon in the Galaxy and may have a deterministic nature. However, the history of the biosphere does not exhibits any obvious trend towards greater complexity or «higher» forms of life. Therefore, the role of contingency in biological evolution should not be understimated in the discussions of the possibilities of life in the Universe.

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