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GREEK PHILOSOPHY 2 | CLASS 3: JAN 9, 2017 I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S DR. MICHAEL GRIFFIN CLASSICS & PHILOSOPHY S O C R AT E S . A R T S . U B C . C A / 2 1 2 T O D AY • Overview of Greek Philosophy: 8th-4th centuries BCE • Socrates: The Founder OVERVIEW OF GREEK PHILOSOPHY 8TH-4TH CENTURIES BCE Socrates 469-399 BCE, Athens Zeno 334-262 BCE, Citium Plato 429-347 BCE, Athens Epictetus 55-135 CE, Rome Aristotle 384-322 BCE, Athens Marcus Aurelius 121-180 CE, Rome Crates & Hipparcheia c. 365-285 BCE, Athens Plotinus c. 204/5-270 CE, Rome THE MEDITERRANEAN WORLD THE 8TH-6TH CENTURIES BCE • The Hellenic (Greek) world was comprised of hundreds of individual poleis (city-states) • Every polis was culturally distinct ‣ Calendar ‣ Religion ‣ Dialectic ‣ Political system • What bound them together? ‣ Myth: expounded in the epic poetry of Homer & Hesiod ‣ Sport: Olympic Games, Delphic Games, Nemean Games ‣ Both exemplify a common world-view, a portrayal of excellence (ARETÊ) or a human life well-lived THE 5TH CENTURY • Classical Athens is the first ‘people-ruled’ polis (dēmokratia) in the Mediterranean world • She has achieved unchallenged naval authority and an empire which is labeled a ‘commonwealth’ • At the commercial and cultural crossroads of Italy, Greece, Egypt, and the Near East THE 5TH CENTURY • Traditional views are challenged, leading to a perceived erosion of moral values • The poets transmit traditional morality, while the sophists teach “wisdom” including rhetoric and political oratory, perceived as a new ‘technology’, to steer the ship of state for one’s own ends THE 5TH CENTURY • Socrates (469-399 BCE), the son of a stonemason, becomes one of the most visible figures in the democracy • His non-conformity (versus the poets), claims of ignorance (versus the sophists), and distinctive process of questionand-answer became the model for philosophia and shaped later philosophy & science THE 4TH CENTURY • In the 4th century, Plato (428-348 BCE) published a series of ‘dialogues of Socrates’ that were widely read, and founded the Academy • After Plato, a series of philosophers including Aristotle founded schools similar to the Academy and spread philosophia throughout the Mediterranean world S O C R AT E S THE FOUNDER S O C R AT E S • According to tradition, born to a stonemason named Sophroniscus in 469 BCE • “The Socratic problem”: Socrates wrote nothing, and we know about him only through Plato, Xenophon and Aristophanes, whose accounts vary widely • Developed a unique form of inquiry into human excellence (aretē) • Disclaimed wisdom (against sophists); denied that he “taught”; no fees • Methods based on question and answer (the elenchus), requiring unity or consistency (a) of one’s beliefs, and (b) of one’s beliefs and actions • Behaviour peculiar enough to warrant its own verb (sōkratein) (e.g., Aristophanes, Birds 1282) before philosophia generalized ‘Socraticism’. • Conversed with anyone, “rich or poor, citizen or foreigner” (Apology 23C) • Brought to trial in 399 BCE by two Athenians, Meletus and Anytus, on charges of “impiety and corrupting the young.” Portrayed in Apology by Plato & Xenophon.