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Ancient Greek and Roman Philosophy
Edited by Monte Johnson (University of California, San Diego)
About this topic
| Summary | The subcategory of Ancient Greek and Roman Philosophy encompasses more than a 1000 year period (roughly the fifth century B.C. through fifth century A.D.) of continuous development of philosophical literature in Greek, Latin, and other languages. Ancient Greek philosophy is roughly divided by Historians of Philosophy into an "Archaic" or "Presocratic" period (up to the fifth century B.C.), a "Classical" period (throughout the fourth century, when the term "philosophy" came into use), a "Hellenistic" period (third and second centuries B.C.), and then the "late" period (extending from the end of the Hellenistic period down into later Greek and Latin literature in the fifth century A.D. or so). The late period includes the transition into the Medieval and Renaissance subcategory of philosophy. The "Archaic" period of Greek literature includes some of the earliest productions of world literature (the works of Homer and Hesiod), the earliest prose and natural science (Anaximander and the Milesians or Ionians), mathematical philosophy (Pythagoreans), medical literature (the Hippocratic Corpus), and deductive arguments (Parmenides and Zeno and the Eleatics), and persisting scientific theories (such as the theories of elements in Empedocles and atomism in Democritus). This "Archaic" period is traditionally designated by Historians of Philosophy as "Pre-Socratic Philosophy", even though some of the figures, such as Democritus, were contemporaries of Socrates. The works of the most important "Presocratics" and also contemporaries of Socrates called "Sophists" (such as Protagoras and Gorgias) have all been lost and survive only in collections of fragments. The Classical age of Greek philosophy includes the so-called "Sophists" (whose works are lost) and Socrates (who wrote nothing and was himself considered a "Sophist") and his numerous pupils, the so-called "Socratic Circle" (and their followers). Pupils of Socrates include Aristippus (and later the Cyrenaics), Antisthenes (and later the Cynics), Xenophon and Isocrates (who both left large literary corpuses including non-philosophical works), and Plato (whose entirely published literary output of philosophical prose dialogues has survived intact). Plato's pupil Aristotle (whose prose dialogues have been lost, but some of his scientific works have survived), whose death roughly coincided with Alexander the Great, is the defining point for the end of the Classical period. The "Hellenistic and Later Ancient Philosophy" subcategory thus begins those writing around or after Aristotle's death in 322 B.C., including Plato's successors and followers (the early Academics, Middle Platonists, and then so-called "Neoplatonists" such as Plotinus, Porphyry, and Proclus), Aristotle's successors and followers (Theophrastus and the Peripatetics) and later commentators (down to Simplicius and Philoponus); Diogenes of Sinope (and his followers, the Cynics); Zeno of Citium and the early Stoics, especially Chrysippus and later Posidonius, including the later adaptations of Stoicism in the Roman period by Seneca (in Latin) and Epictetus (in Greek); and Epicurus (and the Epicurean school, including its Roman uptake and propagation in Latin by Lucretius and in Greek by Philodemus). In this period is also the origin and early development of skepticism, both in the development of Plato's Academy (hence "Academic skeptics", including Cicero, who adapted much of Hellenistic philosophy in prose dialogues in Latin); and in other developments ("Pyrrhonists", culminating in the extensively preserved Greek works of Sextus Empiricus). Plato and Aristotle, in light of their large surviving Corpuses and subsequent influence on Medieval and Renaissance Philosophy are given specialized subcategories of their own divided into works and topics. |
| Key works | (Focused on English-language resources) For early Greek philosophy, see: Laks et al 2016: Early Greek Philosophy (9 volumes, edited and translated by André Laks and Glenn W. Most, et al. (Loeb Classical Library) and (in a single volume) McKirahan 1994: Philosophy before Socrates: an introduction with texts and commentary. For Plato: Cooper 1997: Plato: Complete Works (edited by J. Cooper and D. S. Hutchinson). For Aristotle: Barnes 1986: The Complete Works of Aristotle (the revised Oxford translation edited in two volumes by Jonathan Barnes). For Hellenistic and Later Philosophy: Inwood 1988: Hellenistic Philosophy: Introductory Readings (translated by Brad Inwood and Lloyd Gerson) and Long & Sedley 1987: The Hellenistic Philosophers: Volume 1, translation of the principal sources and philosophical commentary (by David Sedley and A. A. Long) with Long & Sedley 1989: The Hellenistic Philosophers: Volume 2, Greek and Latin Texts with Notes and Bibliography). For the influence of Plato and development of Academic philosophy: Boys-Stones 2017: Platonist Philosophy 80 BC to AD 250: An Introduction and Collection of Sources in Translation (by George Boys-Stones). For Aristotle commentators: Sorabji 2004: The Philosophy of the Commentators, 200-600 AD: a sourcebook (three volumes edited by Richard Sorabji). |
| Introductions | (Focused on English-language resources) Sedley 2003 is an overview of Greek and Roman Philosophy with excellent bibliographies; Sassi 2018 an account of the origins of Greek philosophy; Adamson 2014 an introduction to the Hippocratic Corpus, Plato and Aristotle; Kahn 1996 an interpretation of Plato's earlier dialogues; Kahn 2013 an interpretation of Plato's later dialogues; Shields 2014 an introduction to Aristotle; Sellars 2018: an introduction to Hellenistic philosophy; Sorabji 1997 an overview of Aristotle Commentators; Kenny 2006 a general history of ancient Western philosophy. Introductions to specialized topics in both monograph and anthology form are too numerous to mention, but outstanding recent examples include Nussbaum 1986 an overview of Hellenistic ethical theories; Annas 1992 an overview of Hellenistic psychology; and Sattler 2020 an overview of Classical physics. Those looking for introductions to ancient philosophy as a way of life might start with Sellars 2019 or Sherman 2021 for modern Stoicism and Austin 2022 for modern Epicureanism. |
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In this area
Subcategories
Pre-Socratic Philosophy (6,300 | 214)Keith Begley
Pythagoreans (624 | 372)
Xenophanes (26)
Anaxagoras (256)
Derveni Papyrus (6)
Classical Greek Philosophy (7,329 | 2,926)
Hellenistic and Later Ancient Philosophy (19,741 | 286)Dirk Baltzly
Peripatetics (588 | 174)
Epicureans (5,151 | 73)Tim O'Keefe
Epicureans: Metaphysics and Physics (568 | 9)
Epicureans: Epistemology (125 | 1)
Epicureans: Ethics (889 | 20)
Epicureans: Pleasure (210)
Epicureans: Virtues (14)
Epicureans: Death (192)
Epicureans: Ethics, Misc (186)
Epicureans, Misc (394)
Neoplatonists (3,922 | 1,126)
Simplicius (57)
John Philoponus (40)
Ammonius (15)
Porphyry (95)
Iamblichus (32)
Hypatia (3)
Syrianus (1)
Proclus (271)
Hermias (0)
Olympiodorus (4)
Damascius (33)
Byzantine Philosophy* (106)
Neoplatonists, Misc (243)
Ancient Doxographers (10 | 1)
Plato (23,668 | 3,312)
Plato: Metaphysics (1,933 | 237)
Plato: Epistemology (1,021 | 152)
Plato: Philosophy of Language (397 | 54)
Plato: Philosophy of Mind (965 | 119)
Plato: Pleasure (84)
Plato: Moral Psychology (177)
Plato: Eros (190)
Plato: Perception* (74)
Plato: Knowledge and Belief* (240)
Plato: Ethics (1,500 | 272)
Plato: Happiness (70)
Plato: Moral Virtue (266 | 130)
Plato: Friendship (97)
Plato: Moral Education (110)
Plato: Ethics, Misc (363)
Plato: Aesthetics (405 | 63)
Plato's Works (8,684 | 1,237)
Plato: Apology (114)
Plato: Clitophon (11)
Plato: Cratylus (135)
Plato: Crito (92)
Plato: Euthyphro (140)
Plato: Euthydemus (51)
Plato: Gorgias (289)
Plato: Hippias Major (51)
Plato: Hippias Minor (11)
Plato: Laches (34)
Plato: Laws (223)
Plato: Lysis (63)
Plato: Parmenides (294)
Plato: Phaedo (376)
Plato: Phaedrus (240)
Plato: Protagoras (170)
Plato: Republic (1,239)
Plato: Sophist (257)
Plato: Symposium (294)
Plato's Works, Misc (112)
Plato: Philosophical Method (1,565 | 182)
Plato: Induction (4)
Plato: Hypothesis (32)
Plato: Dialectic (149)
Plato: Sophistry (70)
Plato: Rhetoric (106)
Plato, Misc (835)
Aristotle (18,053 | 5,223)Caleb Cohoe
Aristotle: Logic and Philosophy of Language (1,328 | 575)
Aristotle: Syllogistic (117)
Aristotle: Demonstration (115)
Aristotle: Fallacies (25)
Aristotle: Induction (20)
Aristotle: Principles (110)
Aristotle's Works in Logic* (425 | 51)
Aristotle: Natural Science (1,548 | 388)Caleb Cohoe
Aristotle: Cosmology (71)
Aristotle: Biology (277)
Aristotle: Causation (183)
Aristotle: Chance (32)
Aristotle's Works in Natural Science* (375 | 15)
Aristotle: Epistemology (303 | 135)
Aristotle: Philosophy of Science (272 | 98)
Aristotle: Ethics (2,233 | 978)I Xuan Chong
Aristotle: The Good (71)
Aristotle: Happiness (107)
Aristotle: Character (93)
Aristotle: Pleasure (67)
Aristotle: Ethics, Misc (154)
Aristotle: Political Philosophy (396 | 327)
Aristotle: Philosophical Method (198 | 77)
Aristotle's Works (2,006 | 490)
Aristotle's Works in Ethics (295 | 21)
Aristotle's Works in Logic (425 | 51)
Aristotle and Other Philosophers (455 | 110)
Commentators on Aristotle (298 | 223)
Aristotle, Misc (319)
Ancient Greek and Roman Philosophy: Topics (2,908 | 99)
Ancient Greek and Roman Aesthetics (123 | 123)
Plato: Aesthetics* (405 | 63)
Aristotle: Aesthetics* (167 | 147)
Ancient Greek and Roman Logic (383 | 383)Robin Smith
Aristotle: Logic and Philosophy of Language* (1,328 | 575)
Ancient Greek and Roman Epistemology (76 | 76)
Epicureans: Epistemology* (125 | 1)
Plato: Epistemology* (1,021 | 152)
Aristotle: Epistemology* (303 | 135)
Ancient Greek and Roman Ethics (392 | 392)Michael Vazquez
Epicureans: Ethics* (889 | 20)
Plato: Ethics* (1,500 | 272)
Ancient Greek and Roman Metaphysics (155 | 155)
Plato: Metaphysics* (1,933 | 237)
Aristotle: Metaphysics* (1,775 | 705)
Ancient Greek and Roman Philosophy, Miscellaneous (2,151 | 963)
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