Ancient Philosophy Thisistheremarkablestoryofthebirthofphilosophy,itsflourishingin the ancient Mediterranean world, and the development of ideas which haveshapedthecourseofWesternthoughtandsociety. Sir Anthony Kenny’s stimulating account begins with Pythagoras and Thales, and ends with St Augustine, who handed on the torch of philosophy to the Christian age. At the centre of the narrative are the twogreatWguresofPlatoandAristotle,whobetweenthemsettheagenda for philosophy for the next two millenia, and whose influence is as profoundtodayasever. Thefruitofalifetime’sscholarshipandinsight,AncientPhilosophysetsthe philosophers and their ideas in historical context, and explains the signiWcance andimpact ofeach wave of new ideas. It is the first volume inamagisterialnewseries,whichbringsthehistoryofphilosophyaliveto anyonewhowantstounderstandtherootsofWesterncivilization. SirAnthonyKennyhasbeenPresidentoftheBritishAcademy,and Pro-Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford. He has written many acclaimedbooksonthephilosophyofmind,thephilosophyofreligion, and the history of philosophy, including both scholarly and popular worksonAristotle,Aquinas,Descartes,andWittgenstein. ANewHistoryofWesternPhilosophy AnthonyKenny Volume1:AncientPhilosophy Volume3:TheRiseof ModernPhilosophy Volume2:Medieval Philosophy Volume4:PhilosophyintheModernWorld This page intentionally left blank A NEW HISTORY OF WESTERN PHILOSOPHY volume 1 Ancient Philosophy anthony kenny (cid:1) CLARENDON PRESS OXFORD 3 GreatClarendonStreet,Oxfordox26dp OxfordUniversityPressisadepartmentoftheUniversityofOxford. ItfurtherstheUniversity’sobjectiveofexcellenceinresearch,scholarship, andeducationbypublishingworldwidein OxfordNewYork Auckland CapeTown DaresSalaam HongKong Karachi KualaLumpur Madrid Melbourne MexicoCity Nairobi NewDelhi Shanghai Taipei Toronto WithoYcesin Argentina Austria Brazil Chile CzechRepublic France Greece Guatemala Hungary Italy Japan Poland Portugal Singapore SouthKorea Switzerland Thailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam OxfordisaregisteredtrademarkofOxfordUniversityPress intheUKandincertainothercountries PublishedintheUnitedStates byOxfordUniversityPressInc.,NewYork (cid:1)SirAnthonyKenny2004 Themoralrightsoftheauthorhavebeenasserted DatabaserightOxfordUniversityPress(maker) Firstpublished2004 Firstpublishedinpaperback2006 Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthispublicationmaybereproduced, storedinaretrievalsystem,ortransmitted,inanyformorbyanymeans, withoutthepriorpermissioninwritingofOxfordUniversityPress, orasexpresslypermittedbylaw,orundertermsagreedwiththeappropriate reprographicsrightsorganization.Enquiriesconcerningreproduction outsidethescopeoftheaboveshouldbesenttotheRightsDepartment, OxfordUniversityPress,attheaddressabove Youmustnotcirculatethisbookinanyotherbindingorcover andyoumustimposethissameconditiononanyacquirer BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationData Dataavailable LibraryofCongressCataloginginPublicationData Dataavailable TypesetbySPIPublisherServices,Pondicherry,India PrintedinGreatBritainonacid-freepaperby BiddlesLtd.,King’sLynn ISBN0–19–875273–3 978–0–19–875273–8 ISBN0–19–875272–5(Pbk.) 978–0–19–875272–1(Pbk.) 1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2 SUMMARY OF CONTENTS List of Contents vii Map x Introduction xi 1. Beginnings: From Pythagoras to Plato 1 2. Schools of Thought: From Aristotle to Augustine 65 3. How to Argue: Logic 116 4. Knowledge and its Limits: Epistemology 145 5. How Things Happen: Physics 178 6. What There Is: Metaphysics 199 7. Soul and Mind 229 8. How to Live: Ethics 257 9. God 289 Chronology 317 List of Abbreviations and Conventions 319 Bibliography 323 List of Illustrations 331 Index 335 This page intentionally left blank CONTENTS Map x Introduction xi 1. Beginnings: From Pythagoras to Plato 1 The Four Causes 1 The Milesians 4 The Pythagoreans 9 Xenophanes 11 Heraclitus 12 Parmenides and the Eleatics 17 Empedocles 20 Anaxagoras 24 The Atomists 26 The Sophists 28 Socrates 32 The Socrates of Xenophon 35 The Socrates of Plato 37 Socrates’ Own Philosophy 41 From Socrates to Plato 45 The Theory of Ideas 49 Plato’s Republic 56 The Laws and the Timaeus 60 2. Schools of Thought: From Aristotle to Augustine 65 Aristotle in the Academy 65 Aristotle the Biologist 69 The Lyceum and its Curriculum 73 Aristotle on Rhetoric and Poetry 75 Aristotle’s Ethical Treatises 79 Aristotle’s Political Theory 82 Aristotle’s Cosmology 87 The Legacy of Aristotle and Plato 89 Aristotle’s School 91 Epicurus 94 CONTENTS Stoicism 96 Scepticism in the Academy 100 Lucretius 101 Cicero 103 Judaism and Christianity 104 The Imperial Stoa 106 Early Christian Philosophy 109 The Revival of Platonism and Aristotelianism 111 Plotinus and Augustine 112 3. How to Argue: Logic 116 Aristotle’s Syllogistic 117 The de Interpretatione and the Categories 123 Aristotle on Time and Modality 129 Stoic Logic 136 4. Knowledge and its Limits: Epistemology 145 Presocratic Epistemology 145 Socrates, Knowledge, and Ignorance 148 Knowledge in the Theaetetus 152 Knowledge and Ideas 156 Aristotle on Science and Illusion 161 Epicurean Epistemology 166 Stoic Epistemology 169 Academic Scepticism 173 Pyrrhonian Scepticism 175 5. How Things Happen: Physics 178 The Continuum 178 Aristotle on Place 182 Aristotle on Motion 184 Aristotle on Time 186 Aristotle on Causation and Change 189 The Stoics on Causality 192 Causation and Determinism 194 Determinism and Freedom 196 6. What There Is: Metaphysics 199 Parmenides’ Ontology 200 viii CONTENTS Plato’s Ideas and their Troubles 205 Aristotelian Forms 216 Essence and Quiddity 218 Being and Existence 223 7. Soul and Mind 229 Pythagoras’ Metempsychosis 229 Perception and Thought 232 Immortality in Plato’s Phaedo 234 The Anatomy of the Soul 237 Plato on Sense-Perception 240 Aristotle’s Philosophical Psychology 241 Hellenistic Philosophy of Mind 248 Will, Mind, and Soul in Late Antiquity 251 8. How to Live: Ethics 257 Democritus the Moralist 257 Socrates on Virtue 260 Plato on Justice and Pleasure 264 Aristotle on Eudaimonia 266 Aristotle on Moral and Intellectual Virtue 269 Pleasure and Happiness 274 The Hedonism of Epicurus 277 Stoic Ethics 280 9. God 289 Xenophanes’ Natural Theology 289 Socrates and Plato on Piety 290 Plato’s Evolving Theology 293 Aristotle’s Unmoved Movers 296 The Gods of Epicurus and the Stoics 302 On Divination and Astrology 308 The Trinity of Plotinus 311 Chronology 317 List of Abbreviations and Conventions 319 Bibliography 323 List of Illustrations 331 Index 335 ix