Questions tagged [greeks]
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Gnosis vs. Episteme - Is there a change over time periods in Ancient Greek Philosophy?
"Episteme" is the word of choice in Plato, generally (although there are a few instances of "Gnosis" here and there)
By contrast, "Gnosis" is far more frequent among ...
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Is there an “algorithm” philosophy? Perhaps between relativism and pragmatism?
I’m looking for philosophy that has the agent as central in characterizing knowledge, but is not as relative as relativism as knowledge will come from algorithms, and before pragmatism. I don’t think ...
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Did it take till the likes of Lakoff and the 20th-21st century to have truly direct naturalized reasons for logic and math?
I’m finding George Lakoff and cohorts unique (but maybe that’s my lack of looking enough) in that they seem among the first to posit a direct, naturalized account of logic and mathematics, as ...
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Would any of Augustine's contemporaries disagree that "all men desire happiness"?
Augustine of Hippo said:
It is the decided opinion of all who use their brains, that all men desire to be happy. But who are happy, or how they become so, these are questions about which the weakness ...
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Famous Philosophical Riddles/Problems throughout History
I am looking to learn more about famous philosophical riddles/problems throughout history.
For example - problems similar to:
Epicurean Problem of Evil
Buridan's Donkey
Pascal's Wager
Trolley Problem
...
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Did any ancient Greek philosophers condemn fornication?
Did any ancient Greek philosophers condemn fornication (illicit sexual intercourse outside of marriage) or marital infidelity?
Plato was against acts of sodomy, saying they are "contrary to ...
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Did Muslim Philosophers copy the Greek Philosophy?
First let’s talk about thought, so there are two basic parameters for judging a thought or methodology is original or not?
Critical attitude of that thought (If any thought contains the germs of ...
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Is Socrates' wisdom intrinsically valuable?
I don't mean specifically felicity etc. at philosophy, but whether a state of ambivalence toward death, while alive, can be intrinsically valuable because of some knowledge or wisdom that ambivalence ...
user57343
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What are some good books about the concept of 'logos' in ancient Greek philosophy?
I am trying to do some reading on the concept of 'logos' in Greek philosophy before the time of Philo of Alexandria. Every time I try to search for "Books about Logos" or even "Books ...
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What does sensible images being "not material but spatial" mean in Plato's theory?
I'm reading W. T. Jones' "A History of Western Philosophy Vol 1: The Classical Mind". In page 152 there is a passage that says (in explaining Plato's theory of Physics):
It is also ...
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Are there visual symbols from ancient Greece that symbolize infinity?
I thought meander ornaments symbolize infinity, but I can't find any citable evidence of this. Are there any other visual symbols that are originally from ancient Greece?
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Did alchemy originate from the ancient Greeks?
Did alchemy originate from the ancient Greeks? I heard alchemy is based on ancient Greek philosophy. Is this true?
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What was the need to create the concept of art and science? [closed]
It sounds like a very basic question, but I have often wondered why the concept of art and science exist as two distinct disciplines when there is actually very little to distinguish or separate the ...
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Is Thales's claim that everything starts with water/wetness, in ontological meaning, in agreement with his claim that: "Everything is full of gods"?
Thales claimed water as his arche, but Aristotle says that he also said that "Everything is full of gods". Are those two claims in agreement?
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What influence did Socrates and Plato have on ancient Greece?
We know that Socrates and Plato are two of the most influential Greek philosophers in current Western society. But what influence did they have in the Greece of their time and subsequent centuries? ...
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Why are theories of Greek philosophers so ineffectual?
The philosophy of science is to explain many natural phenomena with simple and least number of axioms(=hypothesis).
As Albert Einstein writes in his book, The Evolution of Physics at page number 56:
...
user44243
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Is there any Ancient Greek philosopher that we know came from an underprivileged background?
I heard the claim that Ancient Greek philosophers were generally rich guys who had too much free time on their hands and hence engaged in philosophy, while most people at the time lived very difficult ...
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Academic consensus on Egypt as origins/impetus of Ancient Greek philosophy
My question concerns the controversial thesis about Ancient Egypt being the origin or cause of Ancient Greek Philosophy.
I understand that the pendulum has swung on this issue several times - my ...
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Simplicius of Cilicia - Citation System
I am reading the wonderful "The Texts of Early Greek Philosophy" (Daniel W. Graham).
There are frequent excerpts from Simplicius' commentary on Aristotle's Physics.
I would like to look up the ...
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Which Greek Philosopher talked about most men falling in between good and evil?
I am doing an assignment and I am looking to quote a Greek philosopher who said that some men are evil and some men are good but most fall in between good and evil.
I don't know if it was Socrates, ...
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According to Plato, can there be forms for a certain class of particulars?
In the beginning of Parmenides, Plato seems to think that most, or possibly all, particulars do not have corresponding forms; but he is not very explicit about why. My question is, does it not make ...
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How does Plato's theory of forms relate to his epistemology and philosophy of language?
In dialogues like Cratylus and Theatatus, it seems to me that Plato paints a very skeptical picture of our capacity to know or articulate knowledge. In Cratylus he doubts the possibility of language ...
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Good Translations of the Organon
I can't seem to find a translation of Aristotle's famous Organon that is consistently given good reviews. Does anyone have any recommendations?
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The concept of nature in the Greek philosophy
My question is: Is it possible to point to a development in the concept of "nature" in the period between pre-Socratic philosophers and Aristotle (inclusive)?
Thank you very much.
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Are beautiful things difficult?
As you may already know, the dialogue Hippias Major ends with the following asseveration by Socrates:
So, I think, Hippias, that I have been benefited by conversation with both of you, for I think ...
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Book recommendation for Diogenes of Sinope
I'm curious what guys have to say when I ask of a book recommendation which surrounds Diogenes of Sinope. He seems to be a truly mystical character, but there has to be a canonical representation of ...
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Are there historical connections between the concepts of apatheia/ataraxia and nirvana?
These concepts seem very similar to me: loosely speaking, it's all about how limiting our desires is good. Knowing that there was contact between ancient Greece and ancient India, could it be that one ...
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Aristotle's explanation of change
I am a bit confused as to how Aristotle accounts for change (accidental and substantial). I seem to understand the idea of a substance being the compound of material and form to some degree, but how ...
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Are there any Good Compilations of Socrates?
Fellow Thinkers, does anyone know of a book that has compiled all the main sources that we know Socrates from (Plato, Xenophon, Aristophanes, ...)?
Thank you for your time. - SDH
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Who said, "a parliament with no opposition should be dissolved"?
I've found a reference in a Jewish text from the mid-19th century to a "gentile sage" (an expression usually referring to a Greek philosopher, but it could be any non-Jewish person really) who said ...
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What does the "the same thinking thing in men" fragment of Parmenides's poem mean?
This is Fragment 16 of Parmenides's poem in full:
In fact as each man governs a mixture of organs subject to errors,
so a mind governs men; in fact the same
thinking thing in men, both in ...
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What tends to be the opinion on Heidegger's analysis of Greek philosophy?
What tends to be the opinion on Heidegger's analysis of Greek philosophy? What do experts in the (classical) history of philosophy make of his statements about ancient Greek philosophy?
user38026
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Was there any philosopher named Lexiphagoras?
I am reading this book: There's A Word For It! and the author Charles Harrington Elster claims that a particular excerpt was written by an ancient Greek philosopher Lexiphagoras of Alphasia.
I did ...
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From dialogue to monologue : Why (Platonic) Socrates claims to know nothing but manages to give book-length speeches all the time?
This inconsistency is very confusing to me. Socrates takes pride in knowing that he knows nothing. But if that is the case, how is he able to, as he often does, give book-length of "truth" (as opposed ...
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Are there any ancient Greek philosophers with a 'complete' philosophy that never made it to prime time?
There are at least a couple-dozen Greek Philosophers (in my estimation) whose ideas were both popular and comprehensive enough that they were taught throughout antiquity. Pythagoras, Democritus, Plato,...
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Where can I access or purchase Aristotelis Opera (edited by Immanuel Bekker)?
I have been trying to find the following as I am very interested in reading Aristotle in the original Greek:
Aristotle. Aristotelis opera. Edited by Immanuel Bekker, Christian August Brandis, and ...
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Morality of infanticide
The Spartans had a tradition of discarding infants that were physically weak or deformed. When I was younger, I thought this practice is cruel and absolutely immoral. But nowadays I'm not so sure. In ...
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Pandora's Box: Is hope evil? [closed]
I know, most questions here are more sophisticated, but this question sparked in my mind some time ago:
Is hope a bad thing?
The reason I got to this idea is that I had a hard time with lots of ...
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For Aristotle, how and why does friction generate heat?
I'm still a bit new to Aristotle, so this question may be imperfect:
In Meteorology, Aristotle uses friction to explain how the sun generates heat. Although it's composed of aether, and not fire, ...
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Of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle, who is generally considered the better philosopher?
Of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle, who is generally considered the better philosopher? My apologies if too up for debate for any philosopher to have ever answered, as I can only find the answers of ...
user35983
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How many Greek gods are there in Greek mythology? [closed]
I was wondering how many Greek gods there were. I'm working on a Greek school protect and need the answer. Thanks!
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What did Nietzsche mean when he said "There is an enormous strain and distance between envy and friendship, between self-contempt and pride"?
In the book The Dawn of Day, Aphorism 69, Nietzsche said
Inimitable.—There is an enormous strain and distance between envy and friendship, between self-contempt and pride: the Greek lived in the ...
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When confronted with early Islamic philosophy, would one's time be better spent just reading Aristotle, Plato, Plotinus?
I have been reading Avicenna, al-Razi, al-Kindi, and others, and I have noticed that almost nothing is an original work in the realm of philosophy, especially as it applies to metaphysics.
al-Farabi ...
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Can I get more background on quote from Democritus?
The quote from philosopher Democritus is:
[I would] rather discover one cause than gain the kingdom of Persia.
or
I would rather discover a single demonstration [in geometry] than become king ...
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What was Borges referring to when he said “I have known what the Greeks do not know, incertitude.”? [closed]
Taken from opening paragraph of Labyrinths.
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What does this excerpt from Plato's Republic mean?
This excerpt is from Book II, concerning Plato's reasoning for censoring a certain story of Hesiod's:
The doings of Cronus, and the sufferings which in turn his son inflicted upon him, even if they ...
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How similar were Epicureans and Stoics to Buddhism on suffering?
One of the main goals of the Buddhist philosophy/religion is to be free of suffering.
Buddhism identifies ego, desire, non acceptance of impermanence, ignorance and all negative emotions(because the ...
user22051
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Which ancient Greeks are known to have commentated on Zeno's Paradoxes?
The Stanford Encycl. of Philosophy mentions that we know of Zeno's work only through various secondary sources, "principally through Aristotle and his commentators."
I was wondering, which other ...
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What translation of Lysistrata to read?
I have decided to read some Greek philosophy and chose to start with Lysistrata by Aristophanes but could not determine which translation would be truest to the original Greek version.
Some ...
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What did the Greeks call the "trial and error" reasoning process?
What did the Greeks call the "trial and error" reasoning process?
Bruce Aune's review of Wilson's Peirce's Empiricism: Its Roots and Its Originality claims "The name 'empirici' is in fact traceable ...
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