History of Philosophy Commons^™

The Failure Of Evolution In Antiquity, Devin Henry

Devin Henry

This paper traces the emergence and rejection of evolutionary thinking in antiquity. It examines Empedocles' original theory of evolution and why his ideas failed to gain traction among his predecessors.

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 …

Failure And Expertise In The Ancient Conception Of An Art, James Allen

The Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy Newsletter

The ancient notion of an art (τέχνη) embraced a wide range of pursuits from handicrafts like shoemaking and weaving to more exalted disciplines not excluding philosophy (cf. Plato Gorgias 486b; Hippolytus Refutatio. 570,8 DDG; Sext. Emp. Μ II13). Nevertheless, there was a sufficient amount of agreement about what was expected of an art to permit debates about whether different practices qualified as arts. According to the conception which made these debates possible, an art is a body of knowledge concerning a distinct subject matter which enables the artist to achieve a definite type of beneficial result. Obviously, the failure of …

Body And Soul In The Philosophy Of Plotinus, Audrey N. M. Rich

The Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy Newsletter

How did Plotinus conceive of the relation existing between the human soul and the human body? Plato did not give the impression of being vitally concerned about this question. Although Plotinus professes to be a follower of Plato, he is much more profoundly influenced in this instance by Aristotle. Besides owing much to Aristotle, Plotinus' account of sensation, pleasure and pain, and the emotions in general clearly shows the influence of the medical theories of Galen.

Plotinus' belief in reincarnation shows the more Platonic strain in his approach to the body-soul problem.