COSMOPOLITANISM AND PATRIOTISM IN EARLY HELLENISTIC PHILOSOPHY: SOCIO-HISTORICAL FACTOR

2020 ◽  
pp. 135-139
Author(s):  
Vladimir Brovkin

It is established that in Early Hellenistic philosophy the opposition between two tendencies – Patriotic and cosmopolitan increased. Patriotic values have retained their influence. The exponents of Patriotic ideas were Aristotle, Xenocrates, Anniceris, Menedemus, and partially the early stoics. At the same time, the positions of cosmopolitanism, which was represented in the philosophy of the cynics, the early Stoics, and Theodorus, also strengthened. It is also established that the formation of Hellenistic monarchies influenced the development of both tendencies. The rapprochement of the Greeks with the peoples of the East con-tributed to the spread of cosmopolitan ideas. And the Foundation of Greek cities in the Hellenistic States contributed to the preservation of Polis values, one of which was patriotism.

Author(s):  
C. D. Elledge

The only early Jewish author to have written a surviving description of what his contemporaries believed about the afterlife was Josephus, yet his testimonies about the afterlife are complex historical, literary, and apologetic descriptions. They cannot be immediately corroborated by contemporary writings; nor should they be exclusively categorized as a purely Hellenizing literary construction that had no relationship to actual Jewish eschatological beliefs. To understand his testimonies to the afterlife, it is ultimately necessary to address how Josephus wrote about the afterlife. This chapter argues that his treatment of the afterlife can be reasonably explained as an apologetic cultural translation that made use of established doxographic and ethnographic techniques. His descriptions of the afterlife are, thus, an important window into his own compositional methods. In translating Jewish eschatological hopes into the categories of Hellenistic philosophy, Josephus also anticipates the strategies of later Christian apologists.


Numen ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 63 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 147-166
Author(s):  
Tuomo Lankila

This article is inspired by Peter Van Nuffelen’s comparison between post-Hellenistic philosophy and Neoplatonism. The article defends the thesis of a fundamental break between ancient religions and new universal religions which became prevalent at the end of late antiquity. This break concerns not only fundamental doctrines but also the principles of how religious communities were constituted. There was a shift from the world of practice-oriented and reciprocally recognizing cults to the world of exclusive theocracies whose mindset emphasizes doctrinal confession. Some seeds of such a “doxastic turn” are to be seen in the post-Hellenistic philosophy and especially in the dogmatic tendencies of Middle Platonism. Thus, there is an observable route from the post-Hellenistic thought towards late ancient universal religions.Neoplatonism’s role in this historical drama is not that of precursor but, rather, it represents a deviation from the main line.


2013 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Budi Astuti ◽  
Anna Retno Wuryastuti

Penemuan jejak masa lalu atas keberadaan suatu bentuk budaya, merupakan suatu fenomena yang sangat bernilai. Hal ini dapat melengkapi upaya menelusuri jejak masa lalu dengan ditemukannya susunan materi gerak untuk visualisasi teks tarinya. Namun demikian tafsir kebudayaan atas penemuan jejak masa lalu tersebut tidak bisa meninggalkan faktor kesejarahannya. Dalam kajian teks bedhaya Sumreg ini diketahui susunan materi gerak Bedhaya Sumreg dan keterkaitan makna sumreg dengan pola lantai dan pola gendhing pengiringnya. Pola-pola gendhing yang ditampilkan secara struktural tetap menggunakan tata aturan baku yang sampai sekarang lazim disebut dengan lampah bedhayan. Bedaya yang dianggap pusaka ini diungkapkan tidak hanya materi tekstualnya saja tetapi juga mencakup materi kontekstualnya.Kata kunci: bedhaya Sumreg, tari Yogyakarta, tari pusaka.ABSTRACTBedhaya Sumreg of Yogyakarta Palace. The discovery of the past existence traces of a culture is trully a valuable phenomenon. This may complete the efforts to trace the past with the discovery of the structure of motion for the textvisualization of a dance. However, the interpretation of culture on the discovery of traces of the past cannot abandon the historical factor. The textual study of Bedhaya (traditional dance) Sumreg has identifi ed the motional structure of Bedhaya Sumreg and the linkage of Sumreg meaning with the fl oor pattern and gendhing (the accompanied music). Thepatterns of gendhing structurally shown remain applying predefi ned set of rules, commonly known as lampah bedhayan (rules in dancing). Bedhaya (traditional dance) is considered a heritage and is revealed not only its textual material but also the contextual one.Keywords: bedhaya Sumreg, Yogyakarta dance, dance heritage.


2020 ◽  
Vol 20 ◽  
Author(s):  
Цветана [Tzvetana] Георгиева [Georgieva]

Ivan Grozev and the “New Cultural Race” in the Aesthetic Religious Project of Bulgarian ModernismThe aesthetic-religious views of Ivan Grozev, a Bulgarian writer, poet and spiritual awakener, combine various aspects whose unifying center is the mystical ability of man to reach God: the Christian idea of man’s aspiration for God; theosophical and Masonic conceptions; and elements of Hellenistic philosophy and mystery. In his articles and studies that he published in the journal Hyperion, Ivan Grozev promoted ideas about the poet as “a priest and a prophet”, his “worldly sacrifice”, and “the steps towards godly knowledge” (scientist, genius, mystic). As a true Theosophist, he contrasts his utilitarian times with the spiritual from past eras (reason vs. mysticism), affirming the idea of a “New Heaven” and a “New Cultural Race” for the devoted ones. The Bulgarian modern consciousness from the late 19th and early 20th century perceived such ideas as a new type of religion of the aesthetic, and at the same time as a new ethic of the creator (prophet, Übermensch in the sense of Nietzsche or Rudolf Steiner) as a necessity of spiritual creation of a new cultural race that abandons mercantilism for the sake of ideal values. Iwan Grozew i „nowa rasa kulturowa” w religijno-estetycznym projekcie bułgarskiego modernizmuPoglądy estetyczno-religijne Iwana Grozewa, bułgarskiego pisarza, poety, działacza na rzecz duchowego przebudzenia społeczeństwa, łączą aspekty chrześcijańskiej idei dążenia człowieka do Boga, koncepcje teozoficzne i masońskie, elementy hellenistycznej filozofii i misteriów, a ich wspólnym jądrem jest mistyczna zdolność człowieka, aby dotrzeć do Boga. W artykułach i studiach publikowanych na łamach czasopisma „Хиперион” Iwan Grozew propaguje idee dotyczące poety „kapłana i proroka” i jego „ziemskiej ofiary”, „kroków w kierunku boskiej wiedzy” (naukowiec, geniusz, mistyk); jako wyznawca teozofii, utylitarne czasy, w jakich żyje, przeciwstawia epokom duchowym z przeszłości (rozum przeciwko mistycyzmowi), potwierdzając ideę „nowego nieba” i „nowej rasy kulturowej” dla osób poświęconych. W bułgarskiej świadomości modernistycznej przełomu XIX i XX wieku takie idee postrzegane były jako nowy rodzaj religii estetycznej, a jednocześnie jako nowa etyka twórcy (proroka, nadczłowieka w rozumieniu Friedricha Nietzschego lub Rudolfa Steinera), pojęta jako konieczność duchowego stworzenia nowej rasy kulturowej, która odrzuca postawę merkantylną w imię wartości idealnych.


2013 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-66
Author(s):  
Laura Quick

This article seeks to establish that the ‘strong’ meaning of the verbal forms derived from שנא in the Genesis Apocryphon and the book of Daniel is of a dramatic, even violent, change; when used to denote a ‘change’ in mind or countenance, this refers to mental anguish, and so opens up a hitherto overlooked connection between this Jewish literature and the Hellenistic science of physiognomy. The semantic input of this Hellenistic context is important for a better understanding of the range of this Aramaic lexeme, and of the other lexeme employed to denote a ‘change’ by these two early Jewish texts, חלף. Thus this article will attempt to demonstrate the importance of the wider cultural context in which lexemes articulate their meaning.


2021 ◽  
pp. 5-17
Author(s):  
Vladimir Brovkin

It is established that the question of the preferred way of life was actualized in the early Hellenistic philosophy. For many philosophers, the contemplative and the active life were equivalent. This position was held by Demetrius of Phalerum, early Stoics, probably Xenocrates and Menedemus of Eretria. Dicaearchus preferred an active life. Aristotle, Theophrastus, and Epicurus preferred the contemplative life. Unlike Aristotle and Theophrastus, Epicurus viewed the contemplative life not as an end, but only as a means of achieving serenity. It was also found that the high value of active life in early Hellenistic philosophy was due to the preservation of the polis system and the formation of Hellenistic monarchies, which opened up wide opportunities for philosophers to participate in political activities. The desire for a contemplative life was associated with the crisis of the polis system.


Classics ◽  
2021 ◽  

Cicero (106–43 bce) was a Roman statesman, orator, and philosopher. As well as speeches, letters, and rhetorical treatises, Cicero wrote numerous philosophical works. These can be divided into two periods—those written before the civil war between Julius Caesar and Pompey the Great (pre-49 bce), and those written during and after it (46 bce onward). Those written before are in dialogue form and the central topics are political: the ideal orator (De Oratore), the best citizen and the best state (De Re Publica), the best laws (De Legibus). Those following are predominately part of an ambitious project to bring philosophy to Rome in a systematic fashion; they are also mainly in dialogue form. Cicero composed an exhortation to philosophy (Hortensius), followed by books on epistemology (Academica, Lucullus) and works on broadly ethical concerns—the nature of good and evil (De Finibus); honor and glory (De Gloria); old age and friendship (De Senectute, De Amicitia); the soul, death, and suffering (Tusculans); consolation (Consolatio); the nature of the gods, divination, and providence (De Natura Deorum, De Divinatione, De Fato). Cicero’s final philosophical work is the De Officiis, presented as a letter to his son. Philosophy also figures prominently throughout Cicero’s letters, speeches, and rhetorical works. Indeed, it should be noted that Cicero felt his rhetorical works Orator and Brutus should be included in his philosophical corpus (Div. 2.4). There are two schools of thought on the novelty and value of Cicero’s philosophical works: (1) he is essentially just repackaging Greek material in Latin, offering renditions of existing ideas that are invaluable for saving much of the lost tradition of Hellenistic philosophy; (2) he is doing something more than that, developing distinctive philosophical contributions of his own. Most recent studies stress the innovative elements of Cicero’s philosophical thinking. Cicero’s own philosophical convictions are varied. Stoicism figures largely, as does his sympathy with Plato, Aristotle, and the Academic and Peripatetic traditions that follow them. He is strongly anti-Epicurean in both periods of his philosophical activity. Most scholars maintain that he is a pragmatic and flexible Academic skeptic, who weighs both sides of every argument and gives his assent to whatever he finds most compelling given the particular circumstances. Ostensibly a lack of political opportunity motivated Cicero to write philosophy. In the prefaces to his philosophical works he insists that it is not an escape from politics, but an intervention in it by other means.


Author(s):  
Benjamin Gray

This chapter discusses methods and problems in reconstructing an inclusive, dynamic picture of the political thought and debates of the Hellenistic cities (c. 323– 31 BC), drawing on theories and models from modern political and social theory. It shows the benefits of integrating together the widest range of possible evidence, from Hellenistic philosophy to the most everyday inscriptions, in order to reconstruct for the Hellenistic world the kind of complex, wide-ranging picture of political thought advocated by P. Rosanvallon and others in the study of modern political thinking. When studied in this way, the political thinking and rhetoric of Hellenistic philosophers, intellectuals and citizens reveal attempts to reconcile the Greek polis with ideals of cosmopolitanism and social inclusion, without diluting political vitality. As evidence for this political vitality, the paper demonstrates is the fruitful interlocking and mutual counterbalancing within the Hellenistic public sphere of the three types of political discourse studied in turn in Ober’s trilogy on Classical Athens: political lobbying and negotiation, including rival attempts to shape civic values; philosophical and critical reflection about the foundations of politics; and rationalistic consideration of efficiency, especially the devising and advertisement of incentives.


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