12
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Accepted
Why did Pythagoras prohibit eating beans?
The prohibition concerned specifically fava beans (vicia faba), associated with hemolytic response (rupturing of red blood cells) in some people, called favism. In a milder form, it causes excessive ...
- 42.5k
10
votes
Was Socrates a monotheist?
In several places, most notably the discussion of the "Allegory of the Cave" in The Republic, Plato's Socrates identifies the Ideal of the Good as the singular source of all good things in ...
- 27k
10
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"There is no difference, if no difference can be detected"
This sounds like the identity of indiscernibles, (not to be confused with the indiscernibility of identicals) first formulated by Leibniz. If two objects have all their properties in common, then ...
- 3,784
8
votes
"There is no difference, if no difference can be detected"
tl;dr– This is a pretty basic observation that appears in a lot of ancient works. I'd guess that you might be thinking of Heraclitus, who was big into how "no man may step into the same river ...
- 1,939
6
votes
Did Greek philosophers know about Eastern philosophies?
The Ancient Greeks were definitely aware of Zoroastrianism-(in fact, the name, "Zoroaster", is a Greek translation of the original Farsi name, "Zarathustra").
The main reason why ...
- 852
6
votes
Accepted
Why is it true that anything that changes must be divisible according to Aristotle?
My expertise lies more towards the ethics side of things (especially with Aristotle), but I think Aristotle's point here generally makes sense so I will see if I can spell it out better. One ...
- 24.6k
6
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"Corresponding behaviour" in text on Socrates' philosophy
I'm put in mind of Socrates' speech in the Symposium, 201d- 212c, expressed as the report of a discourse of Diotima, the wise woman from Mantinea. I summarise from W.R.M. Lamb, Symposium, Loeb: ...
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6
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Is the temperance resulting from the socratic maxim "know thyself" always about knowing others?
As I see it, it's crucial to acknowledge the source of the maxim - from inscriptions on the Temple of Apollo at Delphi where this was 1st of 3 above the entrance, so held in the highest honour of all. ...
- 20.5k
5
votes
What was ancient Philosophy written on/with?
According to Quintilian (Inst. 8 6.64) and Diogenes Laertius (3.37), Plato probably first wrote on wax tablets, and then retranscribed them on papyrus.
The image of the wax tablet (Plato: Theaetetus, ...
5
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Accepted
What was ancient Philosophy written on/with?
Nobody knows what Plato wrote on because no originals survive.
However, papyrus was the standard at the time of Plato. You can check out some examples here. Leather was also used for writing in his ...
- 451
5
votes
Accepted
Does Aristotle think universals are identical to particulars?
Same locus [translated by R.P. Hardie and R.K. Gaye, from The Complete Works of Aristotle. Volume 1, the Revised Oxford Translation, edited by Jonathan Barnes, 1984]:
The universal is knowable in ...
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5
votes
Accepted
Did Ancient Greeks believed that only God can give Agape Love, the unconditional love for everyone?
Nygren believed and argued that agape, in the sense it bears in the New Testament, is a distinctively Christian notion, without counterpart in Ancient Greek or at any rate in Ancient Greek philosophy. ...
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4
votes
Is "the mind" in Phaedo the same as "Nous" in Neoplatonic philosophy?
By "mind" Anaxagoras meant a cosmic element, not merely the human mind. This can be seen in Socrates' account of his expectations from Anaxagoras, a bit after the passage that you quoted:
And I ...
- 7,311
4
votes
Why is Nietzsche so against Socrates?
Most philosophers - esp those who focus on Nietzsche do not believe that he disliked Socrates - see Kaufmann among many others [including me].
Kaufmann, Walter A. "Nietzsche's Admiration for Socrates....
- 41
4
votes
What Epictetus meant in "Enchiridon" XLVI?
Full quote :
46. Never call yourself a philosopher, nor talk a great deal among the unlearned about theorems, but act conformably to them. Thus, at an entertainment, don't talk how persons ought to ...
- 36.1k
4
votes
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Why were books of philosophy available in the orchestra in Platos time?
Orchestra in ancient Greece wasn't only the place of the theater between the stage and the viewers where the chorus was standing but also an open place near the market where books and other items were ...
- 1,324
4
votes
Was Socrates a monotheist?
Any answer about Socrates faces the difficulty that we do not have any texts written by Socrates but only texts written about Socrates.
Texts about Socrates have been written by Plato, by ...
- 24k
4
votes
Accepted
Do wholes tell us what the parts are?
I'm not familiar with Einstein's views on this topic, nor am I sure that we have enough of it in writing to definitively state what they are. So the best I can give you is a partial answer concerning ...
- 4,572
4
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Which ancient Greeks are known to have commentated on Zeno's Paradoxes?
The prime critic was Aristotle : 'Physics', VI.
Plato does not set out Zeno's arguments but in his dialogue, 'Parmenides', there is in connexion with the paradoxes some argument or interplay between ...
- 35.4k
4
votes
Accepted
Are there any ancient Greek philosophers with a 'complete' philosophy that never made it to prime time?
I'm not sure whether 'prime time' is their time or our time. For our own time I'd nominate Sextus Empiricus (160 - 210 CE) who wrote subtly and coherently on a wide range of philosophical topics, and ...
- 35.4k
4
votes
Accepted
What are the important questions about pre-socratic philosophy?
Jacob N. Graham provides this introduction to Presocratic thought:
Presocratic thought marks a decisive turn away from mythological accounts towards rational explanations of the cosmos. Indeed, ...
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4
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"There is no difference, if no difference can be detected"
The closest quote I can think of from ancient authors is Seneca's:"One thing must be separate from another if they are to be two" (Ep CXIII 4-5). But he allows merely numerical, not necessarily ...
- 42.5k
4
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"Corresponding behaviour" in text on Socrates' philosophy
It seems that Diogenes Laertius' passage is not often commented into Socrates' literature.
If we try with different translations, we may say that Socrates recommends to take care of appearance:
"...
- 36.1k
4
votes
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Does the Platonic triad originate with Plato?
No. Nor does it originate with other venerable authors commonly implicated, Plotinus, Aquinas, Ficino, etc. Plato's "triad", as read into Philebus, was supposedly Truth, Beauty and ...
- 42.5k
4
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Is the temperance resulting from the socratic maxim "know thyself" always about knowing others?
In the context of the question you ask and the quotation you provide, yes. It's true in the analytic sense. Remember, know thyself being uttered since ancient times whether as gnothi seauton or later ...
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