A Companion to Ancient Philosophy (eBook)

Mary Louise Gill is Professor of Philosophy and Classics at Brown University. She is the author of Aristotle on Substance: The Paradox of Unity (1989), Unity, Identity, and Explanation in Aristotle's Metaphysics (co-edited with Theodore Scaltsas and David Charles, 1994), Self-Motion: From Aristotle to Newton (co-edited with James G. Lennox, 1994), and Plato: Parmenides (with Paul Ryan, 1996). Pierre Pellegrin is Director of Research at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique in Paris. His authored works include Aristotle's Classification of Animals (1986), and Aristote: Le Philosophe et les Savoirs (2002).

Notes on Contributors viii

Acknowledgments xiv

Abbreviations xv

Chronology xvi

Maps xxvi

Introduction xxix

Part I: Early Greek Philosophy

1. The Beginnings of Science and Philosophy in Archaic Greece 3
Edward Hussey

2. Ancient Philosophy and the Doxographical Tradition 20
Jørgen Mejer

3. Parmenides and After: Unity and Plurality 34
Patricia Curd

4. The Concept of the Universal in Some Later Pre-Platonic Cosmologists 56
Alexander P. D. Mourelatos

5. The Sophistic Movement 77
Rachel Barney

Part II: Socrates, the Socratics, and Plato

6. Socrates 101
Donald R. Morrison

7. Minor Socratics 119
Fernanda Decleva Caizzi

8. The Platonic Dialogue 136
Christopher Gill

9. Plato's Ethics: Early and Middle Dialogues 151
Terry Penner

10. Plato's Political Philosophy: The Republic, the Statesman, and the Laws 170
Melissa Lane

11. Plato's Metaphysics and Dialectic 192
Noburu Notomi

12. Plato's Natural Philosophy and Metaphysics 212
Luc Brisson

Part III: Aristotle

13. The Aristotelian Way 235
Pierre Pellegrin

14. Aristotle's Logic and Theory of Science 245
Wolfgang Detel

15. Aristotle's Physics and Cosmology 270
István Bodnár and Pierre Pellegrin

16. Aristotle's Biology and Aristotle's Philosophy 292
James G. Lennox

17. Aristotle's Psychology 316
Victor Caston

18. First Philosophy in Aristotle 347
Mary Louise Gill

19. Aristotle's Ethics 374
Michael Pakaluk

20. Aristotle's Political Philosophy 393
David Keyt

Part IV: Philosophy in the Hellenistic Age

21. Philosophic Schools in Hellenistic and Roman Times 415
Thomas Bénatouïl

22. The Problem of Sources 430
Robert W. Sharples

23. The New Academy and its Rivals 448
Carlos Lévy

24. Pyrrhonism 465
Jacques Brunschwig

25. Epicureanism 486
Pierre-Marie Morel

26. Stoic Logic 505
Katerina Ierodiakonou

27. Stoic Ethics 530
Richard Bett

28. Hellenistic Cosmopolitanism 549
Eric Brown

Part V: Middle and Late Platonism

29. Middle Platonism 561
Marco Zambon

30. Plotinus 577
Luc Brisson and Jean-François Pradeau

31. What was Commentary in Late Antiquity? The Example of the Neoplatonic Commentators 597
Philippe Hoffmann

Part VI: Culture, Philosophy, and the Sciences

32. Greek Philosophy and Religion 625
Gábor Betegh

33. Philosophy of Language 640
Deborah K. W. Modrak

34. Ancient Medicine and its Contribution to the Philosophical Tradition 664
Pierre Pellegrin

35. Greek Mathematics to the Time of Euclid 686
Ian Mueller

Index Locorum 719

General Index 756

"This Companion does a good job of introducing
students to the study of ancient philosophy...This book will
give students a sense of what working in the area of ancient
philosophy involves and may encourage them to develop some of the
requisite skills themselves rather than simply furnish another
source for regurgitation." (The Classical Review, Vol
58 No. 1 2008)

"[T]he Companion draws together a wealth of material, presented
in accordance with the most recent scholarly standards for the
interpretation of ancient philosophical texts. The Companion will
be an excellent source-book for students interested in the study of
ancient philosophy, as well as for scholars who are rethinking
their views on well-known problems by considering the new
perspectives offered." (Bryn Mawr Classical Review)

"A Companion to Ancient Philosophy is an extremely
valuable aid for those interested in the study of ancient
philosophy. The articles, written by leading figures in the field,
provide the reader with a clear picture of the state of
contemporary scholarship on all aspects of philosophy in the
ancient world."

-Daniel Devereux, University of Virginia

"This is an essential book not only for its information content,
but equally importantly, for its elucidation of research
methodology. It offers something fresh and original even to those
who have studied the field for a lifetime."

-Enrico Berti, Università degli Studi di
Padova