History of Philosophy Commons^™

Second Cause In Posterior Analytics Ii.11, Evelyn Barker

The Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy Newsletter

I contend that the second cause of Posterior Analytics II.11 expresses Aristotle's doctrine of material cause as hypothetical necessity in Physics II. Aristotle presents two formulations of the second cause in Posterior Analytics II. 11, which he "clearly" means to be equivalent. These two formulations of the second cause, taken literally without reference to the definition of the syllogism, fit Aristotle's description of a material cause being "hypothetical necessity" in Physics II - that is, a necessary means to produce a goal. In Physics II.9 Aristotle's thesis that an elementary mathematical definition is a "hypothetical necessity" for the proof of …

Ousia In Metaphysics Vii And Viii: A Syntactic Study, Christopher Shields

The Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy Newsletter

The submitted paper IS the original abstract.

Energeia And Entelecheia: Their Conception, Development And Relation, Thomas Olshewsky

The Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy Newsletter

Stephen Menn, in his recent article on energeia and dynamis, has stirred the coals of recent controversy about understandings of Aristotle’s terms 'energeia' and ‘entelecheia', controversy about which he himself seemed totally oblivious. While he offered us careful explorations of Aristotle’s texts, he took no note of similar studies from over a quarter century ago by Chen Chuang-Hwan and by George Blair, nor of the more recent works by Blair, Daniel Graham and John Rist. So much the worse for his efforts, since these cover much of the same territory with conclusions rather divergent from his own. He has been …

Sagp-Ssips 1997, Anthony Preus

The Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy Newsletter

Program of the 1997 SAGP-SSIPS Conference

Macdonald On Aristotle On The Good, Jurgis Brakas

The Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy Newsletter

There is a passage in the Nicomachean Ethics (NE) that holds out the promise of giving us a profound insight into Aristotle’s view of the good. The problem is that the passage, A.6: 1096a23-29, has proved remarkably resistant to satisfactory interpretation, defying the efforts of scholars over the last eight decades. It argues, contra Plato, that the good cannot be one thing and, according to Irwin’s translation, reads as follows:

Further, good is spoken of in as many ways as being is spoken of. For it is spoken of in [the category of] what-it-is, as god and mind; in quality, …

Athetizing The Catharsis Clause In The Poetics, Gregory Scott

The Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy Newsletter

I start with Aristotle’s theory of definition in order to claim that Aristotle could not reasonably have included the catharsis clause in the definition of tragedy on his own strictures. Moreover, in case we could solve this problem, I expose some very serious shortcomings that result in the Poetics itself, which are never or rarely acknowledged, if the catharsis clause is kept. Finally, given statements of Strabo and Plutarch, I suggest that the clause was probably a mistaken interpolation by an editor who repaired a damaged Aristotelian manuscript or who imagined that he was augmenting deficient Aristotelian doctrine. M.D. Petrusevski …

What Does Pyrrhonism Have To Do With Pyrrho?, Richard Bett

The Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy Newsletter

I sketch the views of Pyrrho and Aenesidemus, as I understand them, indicating the differences between them, and between each of them and the view expressed in Outlines of Pyrrhonism. I shall then try to indicate how the transition between one view and the next might nonetheless have naturally taken place.

Aristotle On The Nature Of Logos, John P. Anton

The Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy Newsletter

Attention has been frequently drawn to the problems attending attempts "to trace a long progression of meanings in the history of the word logos" (Kerferd). Especially difficult proved the assigning to Aristotle a place in this long progression. One of the reasons is that we have yet to reconstruct his theory of logos. The difficulty is not so much with the complexity of the uses of the term in his works as it is with the widely recognized fact that he left no special treatise on the subject of a doctrine of logos, not to be confused with the instrumentalities …

Prior Analytics And Aristotle's Commitment To Logos, George Boger

The Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy Newsletter

Prior Analytics describes a natural deduction system as part of an underlying logic. It is a proof-theoretic treatise concerned principally to establish and to perfect a deduction system for science. Aristotle knew that deductions about matters pertaining to a given subject matter are content specific and that they employ a topic neutral deduction system; such a system makes evident that given sentences logically follow from other given sentences. One process of deduction is accomplished through taking pairs of given categorical sentences to generate immediate inferences according to prescribed rules, which categorical inferences are then added to the given sentences and …

Aristotle's Account Of The Virtue Of Courage In Nicomachean Ethics Iii.6-9, Howard J. Curzer

The Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy Newsletter

Aristotle's account of courage exhibits several general principles of his architectonic. First, Aristotle applies to courage what I have called the doctrine of disjoint spheres. (1) Each virtue has its own sphere completely separate from the spheres of all other virtues. Aristotle then goes on to narrow the sphere of courage by insisting correctly that courage governs only situations involving both fear and confidence. Aristotle does not make the mistake of further restricting courage to life-threatening situations. Like his accounts of other virtues, Aristotle's account of courage involves several different parameters. (2) Each virtue is a disposition for getting all …

Cicero, On Invention 1.51-77: Hypothetical Syllogistic And The Early Peripatetics, William W. Fortenbaugh

The Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy Newsletter

In the course of this paper, I shall say some things about Cicero’s discussion of induction, but my primary concern will be with his account of deduction. In particular, I want to call attention to Cicero’s argument for a quinquepartite analysis of deductive reasoning (Ded. 3). It is remarkable in that it makes elaborate use of the mixed hypothetical syllogism, and also of some importance in that it supplements our evidence for early Peripatetic interest in syllogisms of this land. Recent scholarship on the history of ancient logic has generally focused on later sources—like Alexander of Aphrodisias, Boethius, Philoponus and …

Impulse And Animal Action In Stoic Psychology, John A. Stevens

The Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy Newsletter

Even in orthodox Chrysippan epistemology, the Stoics believed that impulse can precede assent. Their doctrines on the propatheiai form a theory of temptation, in which impressions exert a force upon us to assent, just as the Academic critics of the Stoics argued. Close readings of De Fato 40-43 and Stobaeus do not actually bear out the consensus understanding of modern critics like Inwood that impulse is identical with, and can only occur with assent. Stevens collects more evidence and sets out the argument with greater clarity in his published version "Preliminary Impulse in Stoic Psychology", Ancient Philosophy 20.1 (2000) 139-168.

On Using The Past In Sextus Empiricus: The Case Of Democritus, Emidio Spinelli

The Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy Newsletter

If we draw the conclusions from a quick reconstruction of the presence of Democritean doxai in Sextus, we could underline that he seems to use them with the precise (and often explicit) intention of reaching at least two purposes, both functional to the attitude he constantly shows vis-à-vis philosophic past. These purposes are — it seems to me — the following:

a. the first one, that of taking advantage of D.'s doctrines as an integrating part of the diaphoniai that he builds (or that he inherits from the Pyrrhonian tradition which preceded him), always presenting D. as a Dogmatist among …

Sagp Newsletter 1996-97.2 November, Anthony Preus

The Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy Newsletter

Announcement of the SAGP Panels with the Eastern Division of the American Philosophical Association and with the American Philological Association for December 1996.

Aristotle And Chrysippus On The Physiology Of Human Action, Priscilla Sakezles

The Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy Newsletter

The early Stoics do not seem to have physiological theories about the workings of the human body. This is not surprising in light of Chrysippus' admission, reported by Galen, of his ignorance of anatomy. Yet a physiological theory explaining the mechanics of how the body moves in response to the soul's desires can be reconstructed from a handful of neglected fragments. Interestingly, the revealed theory is nearly identical to Aristotle's explanation in On the Motion of Animals of "how the soul moves the body in voluntary motion" (700bl0 and 703b3). In this paper I reconstruct the Stoic theory, and argue …

Aristotle On Civic Friendship, Robert Mayhew

The Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy Newsletter

Aristotle offers us no sustained account of civic friendship (πολιτική φιλία), only remarks scattered throughout the Nicomachean Ethics and Eudemian Ethics. In this paper I hope to make clear what his views on civic friendship are.

Citizens will feel affection for one another due to the mutual benefit they receive from living together in a city. They agree about what is advantageous for the city: who should rule, how the city should be run, etc.; and to the extent that they care about the common good, they all have one aim. In addition, the affection a citizen feels for his …

Sagp Newsletter 1995-96.4 April, Anthony Preus

The Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy Newsletter

Announcement of the SAGP panel with the Central Division of the American Philosophical Association in Chicago April 26, 1996.

The Emperor Julian (A.D. 331-363): His Life And His Neoplatonic Philosophy, Anthony W. Nattania

Institute for the Humanities Theses

The Neoplatonism of the Emperor Julian (A.D. 331-363) is critically compared to the Neoplatonism of Plotinus (A.D. 205-270). This is done by analyzing their concepts of First Principles, Fate and Destiny, Existence of the Divine Being, the Human Soul, Matter, Time and Eternity, the Contemplation of "The One," and "The One" itself. Julian's psychology is analyzed in light of his Neoplatonism, Mithrasism, and tragic life history. The historical aspects of the attempted pagan reformation during the reign of Julian (A.D. 360-363) is assessed for its historical effects on the Later Roman Empire and its successive generations, while the history of …

Sagp Newsletter 1995-96.3 March, Anthony Preus

The Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy Newsletter

Announcement of the panel of SAGP with the Pacific Division of the American Philosophical Association in Seattle, April 4, 1996.

Even Friends Cannot Have All Things In Common: Aristotle's Critique Of Plato's Republic, Christos C. Evangeliou

The Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy Newsletter

Aristotle considered as the core of Plato's ideal polity the proposal of communism in its double form, community of women and children and community of property for the guardians who, thus, would be able to provide the means to achieving the perfect unification of the state. Aristotle objected to these innovations and came out as a defender of common sense and common Greek political practice. His arguments were intended to show not only the impracticability of Plato's proposals and their incompatibility with common Greek practices but also their undesirability. He believed that, human nature being what it is, a political …

Material Alteration And Cognitive Activity In Aristotle's De Anima, John Sisko

The Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy Newsletter

In this paper, I would like to sketch my account of the relation between cognitive activity and material alteration within Aristotle's psychological theory. I will begin by suggesting a new framework through which to view the important issues (§2). I will then show that on Aristotle's account material alteration is required both for any episode of perception in animals taken generally (§3) and for any episode of thought in human beings (§4). Finally, I will examine Aristotle's rationale for supposing that material alteration is required for human thought (§5).

Plato's Theologia Revisited, Gerard Naddaf

The Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy Newsletter

The word theologia is attested for the first time in Plato’s Republic II, 379a4: Hoi tupoi peri theologias. According to Werner Jaeger (The Theology of the Early Greek Philosophers, Oxford 1947, 4-­‐13), Plato coined the word to support the introduction of a new doctrine which resulted from a conflict between the mythical and the natural (rational) approach to the problem of God. For Jaeger, the word theologia designates what Aristotle was later to call theologikê or “first philosophy (hê protê philosophia) – whence his translation of hoi tupoi peri theologias by “outlines of theology.” Victor Goldschmidt, for his part, in …

Sagp Newsletter 1995-96.2 November, Anthony Preus

The Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy Newsletter

Announcement of the panels of SAGP with the Eastern Division of the American Philosophical Association December 28 in New York and with the American Philological Association December 28 in San Diego.

Dialectic And Definition In Aristotle's Topics, May Sim

The Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy Newsletter

The middle term between dialectic and being is definition. Definitions are formulae of essences or substances. Thus, one’s view of substance will depend on one’s view of definition: what a definition is, and how it is acquired. Further, insofar as definitions are arrived at through dialectic, definitions depend on dialectic. That is, the specific procedure of dialectic shapes the mode of definition, and the mode of definition shapes the notion of being. Not only does dialectic shape being through definition, but being and knowledge of it also determines dialectic. In short, these three things go together: dialectic, definition and being. …

Aristotle's Child: Formation Through Genes, Oikos, Polis, Daryl Mcgowan Tress

The Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy Newsletter

The discussion of children in Pol VII and the linking of nature, habit and reason supports our thesis that Aristotle has a composite conception of the child and that it can be reconstituted by way of a linked examination of his analyses in the biology, ethics and politics.The child has his or her beginnings prior to birth and grows from unfinished to finished adulthood through linked phases. Each phase of development has its own telos - the complete human animal nature at birth, the complete ethical character later on, and the cultured, educationally complete person ready for adult life in …

Aristotle On The Αρχή Of Practical Reasoning: Countering The Influence Of Sub-Humeanism, Lynn Holt

The Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy Newsletter

My central aim is to show that Aristotle convincingly avoids what has been the linchpin of the dominant contemporary view of the starting point of practical reasoning: that practical reasoning must begin, both normatively and motivationally, with some desire or want (call this sub-Humeanism). My task is made more difficult by the presence of a now common interpretation of Aristotle himself in which desire is both normatively and motivationally super-ordinate. On this view, Aristotle cannot be a genuine alternative to the contemporary view, since he just is a contemporary: Aristotle is the first sub-Humean about practical reasoning.

In order to …

An Aristotelian Definition Of Friendship, Paul Schollmeier

The Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy Newsletter

My paper explicates the Aristotelian definition of friendship, and it demonstrates that friendship for Aristotle can be either altruistic or egoistic. Aristotelian friendship includes three species, one of which is altruistic and two of which are egoistic. Good friendship is essentially friendship, and it is for the sake of another. Useful and pleasant friendships are accidentally friendships, and they are for the sake of oneself.

Society For Ancient Greek Philosophy Bylaws, Sagp

The Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Sagp Newsletter 1994-95.3 March, Anthony Preus

The Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy Newsletter

Announcement of the SAGP panel with the Central Division of the American Philosophical Association for April 28, 1995, in Chicago.

Sagp Newsletter 1994-95.2 February, Anthony Preus

The Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy Newsletter

Announcement of the meeting of SAGP with the Pacific Division of the American Philosophical Association March 31, 1995, in San Francisco.