Was Democritus a Pythagorean? The Case of psychē

Méthexis ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-31
Author(s):  
Gabriele Cornelli ◽  
Gustavo Laet Gomes

Abstract According to Glaucus of Rhegium Democritus was “a disciple of a Pythagorean” (dk 68 A1, 38). The tetralogical catalog of his works prepared by Thrasylus begins its section on ethics with the three following works: Pythagoras; On the Disposition of the Wise Man; On the Things in Hades (dk 68 B0a–c). The very order of the first three ethical works of Democritus could point to some sort of dependence on Pythagoreanism. This was suggested earlier by Frank (1923: 67), who believes that this is due to the fact that Democritus saw Pythagoras as basically the founder of an ethic-religious sect. Without being forced to agree with Frank, it is undeniable that there are many similarities between Pythagorean and Democritean ethics. The Democritean sentences that speak about the sense of shame before oneself as a way of preventing evil deeds (dk 68 B84, 244, and 264) recalls the practice of anamnesis, the examination of conscience in the Pythagorean tradition. Even more important are the parallel uses of measure as a basis for ethical reasoning. This paper aims to review this connection between Pythagorean traditions and Democritus, examining what emerges as the most probable core issue to determine how close this relation between atomists and Pythagoreans could have been: the Aristotelian testimony (de An. 1.2 404a16-20 [dk 58 B40]) on the material conception of the Pythagorean soul. In fact, a corpuscular conception of the soul (“dust in the air”), foreshadowing the psychology of Democritus, is attributed to the Pythagoreans. Is the argument of de An. 1.2 404a16-20 a misunderstanding by Aristotle? Or does this testimony represent an actual dialogue that Pythagoreans were having with atomists in the fifth century bce?

1927 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 97-101
Author(s):  
S. Casson

The Thracian tribe Bessoi are spoken of in Herodotus (vii, III, 22) as if they were a religious sect or subdivision of the larger Thracian trib e of Satrai—Βησσοί δὲ τῶν Σατρέων εἰσὶ οἱ προφητεύοντες τοῦ ἱροῦ (on Pangaion). Whether they were of wider distribution in the fifth-century B.C. is not known, but in the time of Livy and Pliny they seem to have been considered a large tribe. According to Pliny they lived on the left bank of the Strymon, which naturally includes their Pangaean settlement, while Strabo places them slightly further inland on Haimos—τὸ πλέον τοῦ ὄρους νέμονται τοῦ Αἵμου—and even on its northern slopes along the upper waters of the Hebros. We are thus able to identify them as being in their original home until the early years of our era. They were subdued by M. Lucullus in 72 B.C., and later by C. Octavius in 60 B.C. In 29-28 B.C. M. Licinius Crassus handed their sanctuary to the care of the Romanophil Odrysai.


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 83-86
Author(s):  
Ming-Jui Yeh

This paper comments on Naoki Ikegami’s editorial entitled "Financing long-term care: lessons from Japan." Adding to the editorial, this paper focuses on analyzing the political and cultural foundations of long-term care (LTC) reform. Intergenerational solidarity and inclusive, prudential public deliberation are needed for the establishment or reform of LTC systems. Among various lines of ethical reasoning related to LTC, Confucian ethics and other familist ethics are specifically important in the societies that share these values. The core issue in the debates around LTC reform is how to (re-)define the scope of social entitlements and accordingly to allocate the responsibility for care between states and families, between social groups, and between generations with limited resources.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-37
Author(s):  
Syarifudin Syarifudin

Each religious sect has its own characteristics, whether fundamental, radical, or religious. One of them is Insan Al-Kamil Congregation, which is in Cijati, South Cikareo Village, Wado District, Sumedang Regency. This congregation is Sufism with the concept of self-purification as the subject of its teachings. So, the purpose of this study is to reveal how the origin of Insan Al-Kamil Congregation, the concept of its purification, and the procedures of achieving its purification. This research uses a descriptive qualitative method with a normative theological approach as the blade of analysis. In addition, the data generated is the result of observation, interviews, and document studies. From the collected data, Jamaah Insan Al-Kamil adheres to the core teachings of Islam and is the tenth regeneration of Islam Teachings, which refers to the Prophet Muhammad SAW. According to this congregation, self-perfection becomes an obligation that must be achieved by human beings in order to remember Allah when life is done. The process of self-purification is done when human beings still live in the world by knowing His God. Therefore, the peak of self-purification is called Insan Kamil. 


2018 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 259-267
Author(s):  
Paul J. D'Ambrosio

This review article defends Brook Ziporyn against the charge, quite common in graduate classroom discussions, if not in print, that his readings of early Chinese philosophy are ‘overly Buddhist’. These readings are found in his three most recent books: Ironies of Oneness and Difference: Coherence in Early Chinese Thought, Beyond Oneness and Difference: Li and Coherence in Chinese Buddhist Thought and Its Antecedents, and Emptiness and Omnipresence: An Essential Introduction to Tiantai Buddhism. His readings are clearly Buddhist-influenced, but this is not in and of itself problematic. The core issue is rather to what degree these ‘Buddhist elements’ are actually already existent in, and have subsequently been carried over from, early Chinese thought in the development of Chinese Buddhism. Indeed, some scholars of Chinese Buddhism have pointed out that much of the vocabulary, concepts, and logic used in schools such as Tiantai may owe more to Daoist influences than to Buddhist ones. Accordingly, Ziporyn’s ‘overly Buddhist’ approach might simply be an avenue of interpretation that is actually quite in line with the thinking in the early texts themselves, albeit one that is less familiar (i.e. an early Chinese Buddhist or Ziporyn’s approach). The article also aims to show how Ziporyn’s theory concerning the importance of ‘coherence’ in early and later Chinese philosophy is also quite important in his above work on Tiantai Buddhism, Emptiness and Omnipresence. While in this work Ziporyn almost entirely abstains from using the language of coherence, much of it actually rests on a strong coherence-based foundation, thereby demonstrating not Ziporyn’s own prejudice, but rather the thoroughgoing importance and versatility of his arguments on coherence. Indeed, understanding the importance of coherence in his readings of Tiantai Buddhism (despite the fact that he does not explicitly use coherence-related vocabulary) only bolsters the defense against the claims that he makes ‘overly Buddhist’ readings of early Chinese philosophy.


2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 101-115
Author(s):  
Munawir Munawir

Non-Muslim leadership becomes a problematic issue in the context of inter-religious relations in Indonesia, especially for Muslims in conducting religious-social-political relations with non- Muslims. The problematic position of this non-Muslim leadership issue is the state constitution allows but the religious constitution (based on the textuality of the Qur'an) forbids. How does M. Quraish Shihab respond as well as answer the problematic of the people in the case? It is this core issue that will be tested by the answer through this research. Using the descriptive-inferential method and the philosophical-historical approach (philosophical and historical approach), the conclusion that M. Quraish Shihab in interpreting the verses (ban) of non-Muslim leadership (Surat al-Maidah: 51, QS Ali 'Imran: 28, and QS al-Mumtahanah: 1) is contextual, or in other words, the verses are understood to be sociological and not theological. Therefore he allows non-Muslim leadership as long as the non-Muslims are not of a hostile group of Islam, even he does not allow the leadership of a Muslim if a Muslim is actually injurious Islam and harms the interests of Muslims.


Vox Patrum ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 56 ◽  
pp. 449-464
Author(s):  
Orazio Antonio Bologna
Keyword(s):  
Don Juan ◽  

In Athens in the late and early fifth century B.C. Eratosthenes, a well-known real Don Juan was killed. He sets his eyes on a young wife and seduces her, she is the wife of Euphiletus, a modest farmer, who spent a lot of time in countryside, away from his wife. Euphiletus, after the birth of his (first) son, places full faith in his wife. Having been in­formed about the affair, he catches her in adultery and, in front of some witnesses, kills Eratosthenes. The victim’s relatives hold a trial against the murderer, who before the Court gives a brilliant oration, written by Lysia one of the greatest orators of Athens.


1980 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 195-211 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucinda Neuru ◽  
D. Kyle ◽  
A. Demers ◽  
John Walker Hayes
Keyword(s):  

1995 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 139-153
Author(s):  
Charles D. Orzech
Keyword(s):  

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