THE COSMIC REPUBLIC Notes for a Non-Peripatetic History of the Birth of Philosophy in Greece

Capizzi, Antonio

ISBN 10: 9070265559 / ISBN 13: 9789070265557

Published by J. C. Gieben, 1990

About this Item

Dust-soiling to top of textblock. Some foxing to endpapers and DJ. Small closed tear (1cm) to upper corner of DJ. ; Philosophica, Vol. 3; 521 pages; According to Aristotle, philosophy had come into being in the VIth century with Thales, just as a mere, disinterested pursuit of truth, a curiosity for great problems (those eventually called "metaphysical" ones) which were substantially identical with those which Aristotle himself and his school were now raising. This abstract reading is very similar to that which views Greek poets as inspired by "eternal beauty" or by "art's for art sake" and which is nowadays completely discredited and given up by scholars of the history of literature. Against this view the present text proposes a new reading of the "archaic" presocratic scientists: in fact, it is about those "sages" who lived on the boundaries of the Greek-speaking world before the concentration of such people in Periclean Athens. They were closely linked to their native towns (Miletus, Ephesus, Croto, Vele, Acragas) where they held high office; here there oral teaching and the public reading of their texts were followed closely by their fellow citizens. Thus the picture of the "cosmic republic" arises: to the "cosmic monarchy" of Homer and Hesiod (the mythical world with Zeus as the king, gods as the ministers and nature as the subject) a different mythical world succeeds. Here the earth, the sea, the sky, the human body and, generally, the "existing thing," all behave like isonomic ("republican") towns or like the governing body of these towns. Philosophy will arise later, in Athens of the Vth century.

Seller Inventory # 9289

Bibliographic Details

• Title: THE COSMIC REPUBLIC Notes for a Non-Peripatetic History of the Birth of Philosophy in Greece
• Publisher: J. C. Gieben
• Publication Date: 1990
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 9070265559
• ISBN 13: 9789070265557
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: Very Good+
• Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good+
• Weight: 2.05 pounds
• Seller catalogs:
  • Greek History
  • Philosophy

About this title

Synopsis

According to Aristotle, philosophy had come into being in the VIth century with Thales, just as a mere, disinterested pursuit of truth, a curiosity for great problems (those even-tually called "metaphysical" ones) which were substantially identical with those which Aristotle himself and his school were now raising. This abstract reading is very similar to that which views Greek poets as inspired by "eternal beauty" or by "art's for art sake" and which is nowadays completely discredited and given up by scholars of the history of literature. Against this view the present text pro-poses a new reading of the "archaic" presocratic scientists: in fact, it is about those "sages" who lived on the bound-aries of the Greek-speaking world before the concentration of such people in Periclean Athens. They were closely linked to their native towns (Miletus, Ephesus, Croto, Vele, Acragas) where they held high office; here there oral teaching and the public reading of their texts were followed closely by their fellow citizens. Thus the picture of the "cosmic republic" arises: to the "cosmic monarchy" of Homer and Hesiod (the mythical world with Zeus as the king, gods as the ministers and nature as the subject) a different mythical world succeeds. Here the earth, the sea, the sky, the human body and, generally, the "existing thing", all behave like isonomic ("republican") towns or like the governing body of these towns. Philosophy will arise later, in Athens of the Vth century.