φ ι λ ο σ ο φ ί α

D R M I C H A E L G R I F F I N U B C C N E R S amp P H I L O S O P H Y M I C H A E L G R I F F I N U B C C A

W W W S P R I N G AT D E L P H I C O MDiotima teaching Socrates (detail) bull Franc Kavčič oil on canvas before 1810 CE

L E C T U R E 2 A N C I E N T H E R O I S M amp T H E P R E - S O C R AT I C S

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

H E L L A S 6 T H - 5 T H C E N T U R I E S B C Ebull The Hellenic (Greek) world was comprised of hundreds of

individual poleis (city-states)bull Every polis was culturally distinct Calendar Religion Dialect Political system

bull What bound them together Myth expounded in the epic poetry of

Homer amp Hesiod Sport Olympic Games Delphic Games Nemean Games Both exemplify a common world-view a portrayal of

excellence (ARETEcirc) or a human life well-lived

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

THE ROAD TO PHILOSOP HY

The Hero of Lyric Poets of the Polis (6th century)

bull According to the lyric poets of the polis culture such as Pindar Simonides Tyrtaeus and Sappho (7th-6th century BCE)

bull Pursues collective good of the polis based on strong ties of interdependent responsibility amp cooperation in a just world governed by the gods

Individual Freedom The ldquoSophistsrdquo (5th century)

bull Sources in thinkers like Protagoras and Gorgias (5th century BCE predominantly working in Athens) constructed as a category by Platorsquos later writings

bull Pursues individual advantage based on their personal beliefs and wits using persuasion and power skepticism of traditional values

Vulnerability The Hero of Tragedy (5th century)

bull Iconic examples include Sophoclesrsquo Oedipus and Aeschylusrsquo Agamemnon and Orestes

bull Pursuit of individual amp collective good in a world of apparently conflicting divine values sometimes hampered by their own lack of self-knowledge

I N T E R D E P E N D E N C Y I N T R O D U C E S V U L N E R A B I L I T Y W H I C H M AY B E

C E L E B R AT E D O R R E S I S T E D

The Hero of Epic Homer and Hesiod (8th century)

bull Found in the epic Iliad and Odyssey attributed to Homer (c 8th century BCE) examples include the powerful Achilles and thoughtful persuasive Odysseus

bull Pursues individual honour (timē) in a just world governed by the gods

CH

IGI V

AS

E C

70

0 B

CE

The Hero of Reason The ldquoPresocratics (6th-5th cent)

bull Founding figures including Thales Anaximander Anaximenes Pythagoras Heraclitus Parmenides Seeking to understand the basic original causes (aitiai) of the world through reason

I S T H E W O R L D G E N U I N E LY

I N T E L L I G I B L E T O R E A S O N

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

T H E E P I C P O E T S8 T H - 7 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

HomerHesiod

R E V I E W T H E R H A P S O D E S

bull Community of oral poets working from memory

bull Homer

bull Name traditionally given to the author or authors of (at least) two epic poems set in the Bronze Age

bull Iliad and Odyssey

bull Hesiod A farmer-poet

bull Boeotia Greece 8th century BCE

bull Author of two epic poems

bull Theogony beginning of the cosmos [Narrated in Class 1 to the Rise of Zeus]

bull Works amp Days advice on human life

bull Modes of knowing Divine inspiration (the Muses)

bull Ideal of excellence Heros pursuit of honour (kleos timē)

HESIOD (PS-SENECA) ROMAN BRONZE NATIONAL ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM

OF NAPLES

BOEOTIA IN GREECE

larr L A S T W E E K

larr T O D AY

Paris and Helen by Vincenzo dersquo Rossi (1560)

David The Love of Helen amp Paris (1788)

Paris and Helen from Troy (2004)

H O M E R rsquo S I L I A D amp O D Y S S E Y

Enrique Simonet - El Juicio de Paris - 1904

Aeschylus Agamemnon (458 BCE) and Euripides Iphigeneia at Aulis (405 BCE) The Sacrifice of Iphigeneia by Francesco Fontebasso bull 1749 oil on canvas

Sing goddess the anger of Peleusrsquo sun Achilleus and its devastation which put pains thousandfold upon the Achaians

hurled in their multitudes to the house of Hades strong souls of heroes but gave their bodies to be the delicate feasting of dogs of all birds and the will of Zeus was accomplished since that time when first there stood in division of conflict

Atreus son the lord of men and brilliant Achilleus

microῆνιν ἄειδε θεὰ Πηληϊάδεω Ἀχιλῆοςοὐλοmicroένην ἣ microυρί Ἀχαιοῖς ἄλγε ἔθηκε πολλὰς δ ἰφθίmicroους ψυχὰς Ἄϊδι προΐαψενἡρώων αὐτοὺς δὲ ἑλώρια τεῦχε κύνεσσιν οἰωνοῖσί τε πᾶσι Διὸς δ ἐτελείετο βουλή ἐξ οὗ δὴ τὰ πρῶτα διαστήτην ἐρίσαντε

Ἀτρεΐδης τε ἄναξ ἀνδρῶν καὶ δῖος Ἀχιλλεύς

H O M E R I L I A D 1 1 - 7 ( T R L AT T I M O R E )

Chryses prays to Apollo

Achilles amp Hector by G

enzoman D

eviantArtcom

Achilles versus Hector from

Troy (2004)Achilles versus H

ector Attic Vase c 500 BCE

Troy in Flames Completed 1762 by Johann Georg Trautmann (1713-1969)

Ulysses and the Sirens John William Waterhouse 1891

Johann Heinrich Wilhelm Tischbein Odysseus und Penelope

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The quest for immortality

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Divine causation

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

H O M E R I L I A D 9 4 1 0 - 4 1 6

For my mother Thetis the goddess of the silver feet tells me I carry two sorts of destiny toward the day of my death Either

if I stay here and fight beside the city of the Trojans my return home is gone but my glory (kleos) shall be everlasting

but if I return home to the beloved land of my fathers the excellence (esthlon) of my glory is gone but there will be a long life

left for me and my end in death will not come to me quickly

P I N D A R P Y T H 8 9 5 - 9 7

Creatures of the passing day What is any one What is any one not Shadows dream is man But when the radiance given of Zeus comes

there is a bright light upon men and life is sweet

A R E TĒ T I MĒ K L E O S

T H E Q U E S T F O R I M M O R TA L I T Y

S C E N E F R O M T R O Y ( W B 2 0 0 4 ) A C H I L L E S S U M M O N E D B Y A G A M E M N O N Y O U T U B E C O M W AT C H V = R 7 2 K B D G R T D 4

S C E N E F R O M T R O Y ( W B 2 0 0 4 ) A C H I L L E S A N D H E C T O R D U E L Y O U T U B E C O M W AT C H V = N Q 6 2 F R K 7 4 U 0

Athena Achilles Hector Apollo

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Divine causation

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

A G A M E M N O N AT H O M E R I L I A D 1 1 8 1 - 1 8 7

hellip[H]ere is my threat to you Even as Phoibos Apollo is taking away my Chryseis

hellip I shall take the fair-cheeked Briseis your prize I myself going to your shelter that you may learn well how much greater I am than you and another man may shrink back

from likening himself to me and contending against mersquo

A C H I L L E S AT H O M E R I L I A D 9 6 4 6 - 4 8 S E E A L S O 1 6 5 9

Yet still the heart in me swells up in anger when I remember the disgrace that he wrought upon me before the Argives

the son of Atreus as if I were some wanderer without honour (atimētos metanastēs)

Achilleus in amazement turned about and straightway knew Pallas Athene and the terrible eyes shining

He uttered winged words and addressed her Why have you come now o child of Zeus of the aegis once more Is it that you may see

the outrageousness (hubris) of the son of Atreus Agamemnonrsquohellip

A C H I L L E S AT H O M E R I L I A D 1 1 9 9 - 2 0 3

O D Y S S E U S AT H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 2 2 3 5 - 4 1

You dogs You never thought Id come back home from the kingdom of the Trojans so you ravaged my house

lay in bed by force beside my women slaves my women and wooed my wife illicitly though I was alive

fearing neither the gods who hold wide heaven nor that thered be any mens censure thereafter

Now the moment of destruction hangs over you one and all

The slaughter of the suitors by Odysseus and Telemachus 1812 Louis Vincent Palliere

Death of the suitors Athenian red-figure cup c 450-440 BC

A W H A D K I N S ldquo H O M E R I C E T H I C S rdquo I N I M O R R I S amp B P O W E L L ( E D S )

A N E W C O M PA N I O N T O H O M E R ( B R I L L 1 9 9 6 ) 7 0 4 - 5

ldquoThe Homeric hero deprived of any significant quantity of timē reacts violently

aware as he is of the bottom of the scale [the metanastēs]hellip the primary function of the

agathos [good person hero] is to defend his timē with all the resources at his commandrdquo

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Divine causation

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

H U B R I S N E M E S I S

Nemesis by Gheorghe Tattarescu (1853)

Hesiod Works amp Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

Piteously she transfixed by his crooked claws was lamenting When the imperious hawk addressed her in arrogant parlance Why little lady such shrieks One stronger than you now has got you Where you are going Ill take you myself though you are a songstress For as I please Ill make you my dinner or give you your freedom Witless is one who attempts to strive against those who are stronger When he is stripped of the prize its injury added to insult Thus said the fast-flying hawk that bird with the generous wing-span

Pay more attention to justice and curb high-handedness [brother] Violence ill suits those who are lowly not even the noble Person can lightly endure it it weighs on a person whos fallen Into affliction Its better to take your way on the other Road which conduces to right For outrage (hubris) surrenders to justice (dikē)hellip

W E A R E I N Z E U S rsquo JUST W O R L D D E S C R I B E D I N THEOGONY

S I D E B A R D I V I N E C A U S AT I O N

bull The Homeric and Hesiodic herorsquos individual mission only makes sense in a world governed by gods (theoi)

bull Homer Iliad The gods are primarily responsiblecausal of events (aitios)

bull Early Greek science begins here theoi subsequently naturalized as consistent patterns of regularity in human and natural experience (elements laws)

bull Homer Odyssey Humans are (also) responsiblecausal for our own actions

bull How do we use our freedom

AT H E N A A N D O D Y S S E U S T H E O D Y S S E Y ( N B C 1 9 9 7 )

H O M E R I L I A D 5 1 2 3

Athena drew near to his side and spoke to him in winged words Have courage for I have drawn the mist from your eyes

that you may discern in truth gods from humans

So they spoke but Priam aloud called out to Helen Come over where I am dear child and sit down beside me

to look at your husband of time past your friends and your people I am not blaming you (ou ti moi aitiē essi) to me the gods are

responsible (theoihellipaitioi) who drove upon me this sorrowful war against the Achaians

H O M E R I L I A D 3 1 6 4

S I D E B A R D I V I N E C A U S AT I O N

Zeus is probably responsible (aitios) who gives to men who work for bread to each one however he wishes

H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 1 3 4 8 [ T E L E M A C H U S S P E A K S ]

How mortals now blame [from aitios] gods for they say that evils are from us Yet they themselves

have woes beyond their lot by their own recklessnesshellip

H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 1 3 2 [ Z E U S S P E A K S ]

Tell me of these things Muses that dwell on the heights of Olympus From the origin (archē) and say which first of them came into beinghellip

H E S I O D T H E O G O N Y 1 1 4

Responsibility lies with the one who makes the choice the god is blameless (theos anaitios)

P L AT O R E P U B L I C 1 0 6 1 7 E

S I D E B A R D I V I N E C A U S AT I O N

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Divine causation

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

O D Y S S E U S T O P O LY P H E M U S H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 9 2 6 9 - 7 1

But revere the gods most noble one We are supplicants (hiketai) to you Zeus is the avenger (epitimētōr) of suppliants and strangers

the guest god who attends venerable strangers

W E A R E I N Z E U S rsquo W O R L D ( A S D E S C R I B E D I N THEOGONY )

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

T H E LY R I C P O E T SC 6 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Pindar of Thebes

Simonides of Ceos

Sappho of Lesbos

LY R I C I N T R O D U C T I O N

bull Occasional poetry

bull Often sung to the lyre (lyrē) in varied meters

bull CHORAL LYRIC

bull Dancing choruses at religious festivals contests family events

bull Enforcing collective civic values

bull MONODIC LYRIC

bull Individual performance

bull Personal in emotion amp outlookBrygos Painter c 490 BCE

Sappho and Alcaeus

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

Creatures of the passing day What is any one What is any one not Shadows dream is man But when the radiance given of Zeus comes

there is a bright light upon men and life is sweet

P I N D A R P Y T H 8 9 5 - 9 7

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

I praise and embrace everyone who willingly does nothing base (aischron) but with necessity not even the gods fight A man not too helpless suffices for me one who knows the justice that benefits the

city (polis) a sound and healthy man I will not lay blame for the generation of fools is limitless Everything is noble (kala) with which

base deeds are not mingled

S I M O N I D E S 5 4 2 2 7 - 4 0

Simonides is criticizing the traditional definition of the good noble or successful man (agathos esthlos) Such goodness or nobility depends upon external achievements and possessions (wealth honour prowess in battle) which are too insecure to form a real basis for human excellence Instead Simonides stresses intention justice that benefits the city acknowledgement of the fragility of lifehellip

C S E G A L ldquo C H O R A L LY R I C I N T H E F I F T H C E N T U R Y rdquo I N P E E A S T E R L I N G amp B M W K N O X T H E C A M B R I D G E H I S T O R Y O F

C L A S S I C A L L I T E R AT U R E I ( C A M B R I D G E 2 0 0 8 ) 2 2 4

LY R I C C O N T E X T

Hoplites in phalanx formation From the Chigi Vase proto-Corinthian pitcher ca 650-640 BC

3 0 0 ( W A R N E R B R O S 2 0 0 6 ) ldquo W H AT I S Y O U R P R O F E S S I O N rdquo

W W W Y O U T U B E C O M W AT C H V = A N A 3 C O 8 3 _ G K

3 0 0 ( W A R N E R B R O S 2 0 0 6 ) ldquo F I G H T I N T H E S H A D E rdquo

Y O U T U B E 4 J K P G D D M A R S T = 1 2 4

τοιόνδ ἄνθος Περσίδος αἴας οἴχεται ἀνδρῶν

οὓς πέρι πᾶσα χθὼν Ἀσιῆτις ρέψασα πόθῳ στένεται microαλερῷ τοκέης τ ἄλοχοί θ ἡmicroερολεγδὸν τείνοντα χρόνον τροmicroέονται

A E S C H Y L U S P E R S A I 5 9 - 6 4 C P I L I A D 9 4 1 0 - 1 6

S E E C A S E Y D U Eacute T H E C A P T I V E W O M A N rsquo S L A M E N T I N G R E E K T R A G E DY C H 2

Such is the flower [anthos] of the Persian land such is the flower of men that has disappeared

The entire land of Asia laments the men she nourished with fierce

longing [pothos] Parents and wives counting the days

tremble at the increasing length of time

P I N D A R

bull Born near Thebes c 518 BCE

bull Composed important epinician odes (epi-nikia for-a-victory in a contest)

bull Depicts the gods as maintaining civic values of justice (O 1 P 1-3 P 8) compassionate (N 10) and forgiving (O 7456) guardians of polis morality

bull Celebrated ldquoroughrdquo style

bull ldquoA soaring eaglehellip a rushing streamrdquo (Horace Od 42) ldquoA vast firerdquo (Longinus Sublime 335)

Bust of the lyric poet Pindar Roman copy from original of the mid-5 century BC

F I F T H - C E N T U R Y C H O R A L LY R I C

A C O R N T O O A K T R E E N E I L B R O M H A L L bull y o u t u b e Z K 4 L j U R t a D w

Some people pray for gold others for limitless lands but I pray to please my fellow citizens and then to cover my limbs in earth

having praised the praiseworthy and scattered reproof on the wicked Excellence soars upward like a tree fed on fresh dews

lifted among the wise and just toward the liquid upper air The need for friends comes in many forms

it is most valued in times of trouble but joy too craves to look upon trusty support

P I N D A R N E M E A N 8 3 6 - 4 3

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

F R A G I L I T Ybull How can we be praiseworthy if we are vulnerable (to circumstances)

bull [The poetic world-view and Pindarrsquos career as praise poet of aretē require] ldquothe belief that the excellence of a good person is something of that persons own for whose possession and exercise that person can appropriately be held accountablerdquo (Nussbaum 1)

bull But ldquoHow can we be givers and receivers of praise if our worth ishellip a plant in need of wateringrdquo (2)

bull ldquoWe need to be born with adequate capacities to live in fostering natural and social circumstances to stay clear of abrupt catastrophe to develop confirming associations with other human beingsrdquo (1)

bull A further complication ldquoThe tenderness of a plant is not the dazzling hardness of a gemrdquo perhaps ldquopart of the peculiar beauty of human excellence just is its vulnerabilityrdquo (2)

M A R T H A N U S S B A U M T H E F R A G I L I T Y O F G O O D N E S S C H 1 L U C K amp E T H I C S

T H E P O W E R O F R E A S O N [T]here is the consolation that so far Pindar has apparently left something out However much human beings resemble lower forms of life we are unlike we want to insist in one crucial respect We have reason We are able to deliberate and choose to make a plan in which ends are ranked to decide actively what is to have value and how much All this must count for something If it is true that a lot about us is messy needy uncontrolled rooted in the dirt and standing helplessly in the rain it is also true that there is something about us that is pure and purely active something that we could think of as divine immortal intelligible unitary indissoluble ever self-consistent and invariablelsquo [Plato Phaedo 80B] It seems possible that this rational element in us can rule and guide the rest thereby saving the whole person from living at the mercy of luck

N U S S B A U M F R A G I L I T Y 2

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S S O P H I S T S A N D T R A G E D I A N SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Athens

AT H E N S rsquo A C R O P O L I S A S I M A G I N E D B Y L E O V O N K L E N Z E O I L O N C A N VA S 1 8 4 6 N E U E P I N A K O T H E K

A S S A S S I N rsquo S C R E E D O D Y S S E Y bull A T O U R O F AT H E N S U B I S O F T ( 2 0 1 8 )

bull Athens is the first lsquopeople-ruledrsquo polis (dēmokratia) in the Mediterranean world

bull She has achieved unchallenged naval authority and an empire which is labeled a lsquocommonwealthrsquo

bull At the commercial and cultural crossroads of Italy Greece Egypt and the Near East

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

S P E E C H A N D D E M O C R A C Y

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

bull In this cosmopolitan environment traditional views are challenged leading to a perceived erosion of moral values

bull The rhapsodes use poetic forms to transmit traditional morality

bull The tragedians use poetic forms to explore amp challenge mythrsquos assumptions

bull The sophists teach ldquowisdomrdquo (sophia) including rhetoric and political oratory perceived as a new lsquotechnologyrsquo to steer the ship of state for onersquos own ends

bull Use onersquos own wits ldquoA person is the measure of all thingsrdquo Protagoras B1

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

T R A G E D Y V U L N E R A B I L I T Y A N D R E A S O NC 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E AT H E N S

Aeschylus Agamemnon (458 BCE) and Euripides Iphigeneia at Aulis (405 BCE) The Sacrifice of Iphigeneia by Francesco Fontebasso bull 1749 oil on canvas

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousnesshellip what is great is fragile andhellip what is necessary may be destructivehellip

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

In such cases we see a wrong action committed without any direct physical compulsion and in full knowledge of its nature by a person whose ethical character or commitments would otherwise dispose him to reject the acthellip circumstanceshellip prevent the adequate fulfillment of two valid ethical claims

N U S S B A U M 2 5

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

[Aeschylus in Agamemnon] shows us not so much a solution to the problem of practical conflict as the richness and depth of the problem itself (This achievement is closely connected with his poetic resources which put the scene vividly before us show us debate about it and evoke in us responses important to its assessment)

The best the agent can do is to have his suffering the natural expression of his goodness of character and not to stifle these responses out of misguided optimism The best we (the Chorus) can do for him is to respect the gravity of his predicament to respect the responses that express his goodness and to think about his case as showing a possibility for human life in general

N U S S B A U M 4 9 - 5 0

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

bull In a world that allows such dilemmas are there truly gods with a coherent vision for the world

bull Can individual reason and ingenuity suffice for a good life

T H E S O P H I S T SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Hesiod Works amp Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale Piteously she transfixed by his crooked claws was lamenting When the imperious hawk addressed her in arrogant parlance Why little lady such shrieks One stronger than you now has got you Where you are going Ill take you myself though you are a songstress For as I please Ill make you my dinner or give you your freedom Witless is one who attempts to strive against those who are stronger When he is stripped of the prize its injury added to insult Thus said the fast-flying hawk that bird with the generous wing-spanPay more attention to justice and curb high-handedness [brother] Violence ill suits men who are lowly not even the noble Man can lightly endure it it weighs on a person whos fallen Into affliction Its better to take your way on the other Road which conduces to right For outrage (hubris) surrenders to

justice (dikē)hellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Thucydides History 584-116 The Melian Dialogue ATHENIANS [Y]ou know as well as we do that when these matters are discussed by practical people the standard of justice depends on the equality of power to compel and that in fact the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they musthellip Our opinion of the gods and our knowledge of men lead us to conclude that it is a general and necessary law of nature to rule whatever one can This is not a law that we made ourselves nor were we the first to act upon it when it was made We found it already in existence and we shall leave it to exist for ever among those who come after us

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos

advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Republic I 343A-D Thrasymachusrsquo complaint Tell me Socrates do you still have a wet nursehellip Because shersquos letting you run around with a snotty nose and doesnrsquot wipe it when she needs tohellip You think that shepherds and cowherds seek the good of their sheep and cattle and fatten them and take care of them looking to something other than their masterrsquos good and their own Moreover you believe that rulershellip think of something besides their own advantage You are so far from understandinghellip that you donrsquot realize that justice is really the good of another the advantage of the stronger and the ruler and harmful to the one who obeys and serves Injustice is the opposite it rules the truly simple and just and those it rules do what is to the advantage of the other and stronger and they make the one they serve happy but themselves not at all You must look at it as follows my most simple Socrates A just man always gets less than an unjust onehellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Gorgias 482C-484C Callicles on nature and convention [Y]oursquore in fact bringing the discussion around to the sort of crowd-pleasing vulgarities that are admirable only by law [nomos also translatable ldquoconventionrdquo or ldquocustomrdquo] and not by nature And these nature and law are for the most part opposed to each otherhellip I believe that the people who institute our laws are the weak and the many So they institute laws and assign praise and blame with themselves and their own advantage in mind As a way of frightening the more powerfulhellip out of getting a greater share than they they say that getting more than onersquos share is ldquoshamefulrdquo and ldquounjusthelliprdquo But surely if a man whose nature is equal to it arises he will shake off tear apart and escape all this he will trample underfoot our documents our tricks and charms and all our laws that violate nature He the slave will rise up and be revealed as our master and here the justice of nature will shine forth

The New Teachers of Athens

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

P R E - S O C R AT I C ldquo P H I L O S O P H E R S 6 T H - 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

P R E - S O C R AT I C P H I L O S O P H E R S

bull Though not usually calling themselves ldquophilosophersrdquo they seemed to have contributed inspiration for Socratesrsquo method of free inquiry applying logos

bull Scholars adopt different views of what constitutes their innovation and ldquophilosophicalrdquo method (see readings)

bull Basing views on argument and evidence

bull De-ldquomythologizationrdquo

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Miletus

E A R LY P H I L O S O P H Y A N C I E N T M I L E T U S

M I L E T U S

bull Wealthy city-state in Asia Minor

bull Key city for trading and shipping between Near East amp Greece

bull Ionian Greek culture

bull Freedom of thought

bull Open political debate

bull Wealth (for some) providing leisure

bull Thales and his successors Anaximander Anaximenes

bull ldquoPhilosophicalrdquo investigation

bull Later Presocratics Heraclitus ParmenidesldquoORIENTALIZINGrdquo POTTERY

The Milesian school strikes a new note unheard before It has a fresh sense of the meaning of truth ndash a feeling for the sort of thing it is reasonable to suppose The hypothesis it characteristically deals in is concerned with the nature of the one primary stuff the Milesians seem to make a great conscious effort to get at something which really does exist They strike us as throwing off the vast symbolic visions of mythology and waking clear-headed to see and touch real things If we have a rational temperament we feel at once a refreshment Here at last is a statement about the world which is meant and offered as true ndash a logos [explanation] not a mythos [story]

ndash F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952 ed) 42

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The questions which excited them were of this kind Can this apparently confused and disordered world be reduced to simpler principles so that our reason can grasp what it is and how it works What is it made of How does change take place They abandoned mythological and substituted intellectual solutions [It] was no longer satisfying to say that storms were roused by the wrath of Poseidon or death caused by the arrows of Apollo or Artemis A world ruled by anthropomorphic gods human in their passions was a world ruled by caprice Philosophy and science start with the bold confession of faith that not caprice but an inherent orderliness underlies the phenomena and the explanation of nature is to be sought within nature itself ndashWKC Guthrie History of Greek Philosophy (Cambridge 1969) 1 44-45

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

Thales of Miletus

bull Lived late 7th-6th centurybull Born to a Phoenician aristocratic

family ndash so leisurebull Traveled to Egypt and Babylon (by

tradition)bull Legendary wisdombull ldquoFounder of Western philosophyrdquo

bull First to seek an ldquooriginal causerdquo (archecirc)

bull to explain how unseen facts caused visible results without appeal to mythology

bull To provide generalizable proofs or laws

Thales of Miletus

AstronomyMathematicsWater as the archecircAll things are full of gods

bull Traditionally Thalesrsquo star student

bull 25 years old during Thalesrsquo eclipse (585 BCE)

bull Lived c 610-540 BCE

bull ldquoFirst to draw the inhabited world on a tabletrdquo (first mapmaker)

bull Unambiguously our first ldquophilosopherrdquo by standards of demythologization originality generality and observation

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

ldquoAnaximander has expurgated the supernatural with a boldness and completeness to which many of his successors failed to attain The primary order is still said to be lsquoaccording to what is ordainedrsquo it is still a moral order in which Justice prevails but the will of the personal God has disappeared and its place is partly taken by a natural cause the eternal motionrdquo

- F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952) 41 Anaximander relief 1st century AD

Rome Museo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Key contributions

bull Physics the archecircbull Cosmologybull ldquoEvolutionrdquobull Astronomy and Cartography

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Anaximander said that the APEIRON [indefinite unlimited] was the ARCHE and the element of things that are and he was the first to introduce this name for the ARCHE He says that the ARCHE is neither water nor any other of the things called elements but some other nature called APEIRON out of which come to be all the heavens and the worlds in them (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2413-18)

The things that are perish into the things out of which they come to be according to necessity for ldquothey pay penalty and retribution to one another according to their injustice in accordance with the ordering of timerdquo as he says in rather poetical language (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2418-21)

Anaximander of Miletus

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The ARCHE

bull One and unlimitedbull But not undefined Itrsquos AIR

Anaximenes of Miletus

bull Not opposites but a continuum FIRE AIR larr WIND larr CLOUD larr WATER larr EARTH larr STONEbull ldquoLooseningrdquo and ldquotighteningrdquo explain hot and cold

H E R A C L I T U S B 1 0 1 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 3 7 )

I searched out myself

Listening not to me but to the logos it is wise to agree that all things are one

H E R A C L I T U S B 5 0 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 1 1 )

E X A M P L E S

THE ROAD TO PHILOSOP HY

The Hero of Lyric Poets of the Polis (6th century)

bull According to the lyric poets of the polis culture such as Pindar Simonides Tyrtaeus and Sappho (7th-6th century BCE)

bull Pursues collective good of the polis based on strong ties of interdependent responsibility amp cooperation in a just world governed by the gods

Individual Freedom The ldquoSophistsrdquo (5th century)

bull Sources in thinkers like Protagoras and Gorgias (5th century BCE predominantly working in Athens) constructed as a category by Platorsquos later writings

bull Pursues individual advantage based on their personal beliefs and wits using persuasion and power skepticism of traditional values

Vulnerability The Hero of Tragedy (5th century)

bull Iconic examples include Sophoclesrsquo Oedipus and Aeschylusrsquo Agamemnon and Orestes

bull Pursuit of individual amp collective good in a world of apparently conflicting divine values sometimes hampered by their own lack of self-knowledge

I N T E R D E P E N D E N C Y I N T R O D U C E S V U L N E R A B I L I T Y W H I C H M AY B E

C E L E B R AT E D O R R E S I S T E D

The Hero of Epic Homer and Hesiod (8th century)

bull Found in the epic Iliad and Odyssey attributed to Homer (c 8th century BCE) examples include the powerful Achilles and thoughtful persuasive Odysseus

bull Pursues individual honour (timē) in a just world governed by the gods

CH

IGI V

AS

E C

70

0 B

CE

The Hero of Reason The ldquoPresocratics (6th-5th cent)

bull Founding figures including Thales Anaximander Anaximenes Pythagoras Heraclitus Parmenides Seeking to understand the basic original causes (aitiai) of the world through reason

I S T H E W O R L D G E N U I N E LY

I N T E L L I G I B L E T O R E A S O N

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Born in Athens to a stonemason named Sophroniscus in 469 BCE

bull ldquoSocratic problemrdquo Socrates wrote nothing we know about him through Plato Xenophon and Aristophanes whose accounts vary

bull Conversed with anyone ldquorich or poor citizen or foreignerrdquo (Apology 23C)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Non-conformity reliance on individual values and wits (contrast with the earlier poets and rhapsodes)

bull Claims of ignorance interest in shared truth and not only persuasion and resistance of ldquoselfish morality (contrast with the sophists)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Methods based on question and answer (the elenchus) requiring unity or consistency (a) of onersquos beliefs and (b) of onersquos beliefs and actions

bull Behaviour peculiar enough to warrant its own verb (sōkratein) (Arist Birds 1282) before generalized philosophia

bull Brought to trial in 399 BCE by two Athenians Meletus and Anytus charged with ldquoimpiety and corrupting the youngrdquo

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

S O C R AT E S C R I T O 4 6 A

I am the kind of person who listens to nothing within me but the logos that on reflection seems

best to me

L O G O S R E A S O N VA L U E C O N S C I E N C E M E A N I N G

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousness A sense of such significances that what is great is fragile and that what is necessary may be destructive which is present in the literature of the fifth century and earlier has disappeared [later] from the ethics of the philosophers and perhaps altogether from their minds Greek philosophy in its sustained pursuit of rational self-sufficiency does turn its back on kinds of human experience and human necessity of which Greek literature itself offers the purest if not the richest expression

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y A N D P H I L O S O P H Y

The continuity between Greek tragedy and Greek philosophy on these questions is however far greater than Williams has allowed On the one hand inside tragedy itself we find arresting portrayals of the human ambition to rational self-sufficiency we come to understand the ways in which problems of exposure motivate this ambition On the other Platos philosophical search for a self- sufficient good life is motivated by a keen sense of these same problems Far from having forgotten about what tragedy describes he sees the problems of exposure so clearly that only a radical solution seems adequate to their depth Nor is he naiumlve about the costs of this solution

N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y P R A C T I C A L C O N F L I C T

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identical which is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A)

Socrates ldquoencourages Euthyphro [a pious Greek] to revise tradition by considering as binding only those requirements concerning which there is divine unanimity he expresses further his own doubt as to whether gods really do disagreerdquo (Nussbaum 30)

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identicalwhich is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A Nussbaum 25)

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

H E L L A S 6 T H - 5 T H C E N T U R I E S B C Ebull The Hellenic (Greek) world was comprised of hundreds of

individual poleis (city-states)bull Every polis was culturally distinct Calendar Religion Dialect Political system

bull What bound them together Myth expounded in the epic poetry of

Homer amp Hesiod Sport Olympic Games Delphic Games Nemean Games Both exemplify a common world-view a portrayal of

excellence (ARETEcirc) or a human life well-lived

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

THE ROAD TO PHILOSOP HY

The Hero of Lyric Poets of the Polis (6th century)

bull According to the lyric poets of the polis culture such as Pindar Simonides Tyrtaeus and Sappho (7th-6th century BCE)

bull Pursues collective good of the polis based on strong ties of interdependent responsibility amp cooperation in a just world governed by the gods

Individual Freedom The ldquoSophistsrdquo (5th century)

bull Sources in thinkers like Protagoras and Gorgias (5th century BCE predominantly working in Athens) constructed as a category by Platorsquos later writings

bull Pursues individual advantage based on their personal beliefs and wits using persuasion and power skepticism of traditional values

Vulnerability The Hero of Tragedy (5th century)

bull Iconic examples include Sophoclesrsquo Oedipus and Aeschylusrsquo Agamemnon and Orestes

bull Pursuit of individual amp collective good in a world of apparently conflicting divine values sometimes hampered by their own lack of self-knowledge

I N T E R D E P E N D E N C Y I N T R O D U C E S V U L N E R A B I L I T Y W H I C H M AY B E

C E L E B R AT E D O R R E S I S T E D

The Hero of Epic Homer and Hesiod (8th century)

bull Found in the epic Iliad and Odyssey attributed to Homer (c 8th century BCE) examples include the powerful Achilles and thoughtful persuasive Odysseus

bull Pursues individual honour (timē) in a just world governed by the gods

CH

IGI V

AS

E C

70

0 B

CE

The Hero of Reason The ldquoPresocratics (6th-5th cent)

bull Founding figures including Thales Anaximander Anaximenes Pythagoras Heraclitus Parmenides Seeking to understand the basic original causes (aitiai) of the world through reason

I S T H E W O R L D G E N U I N E LY

I N T E L L I G I B L E T O R E A S O N

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

T H E E P I C P O E T S8 T H - 7 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

HomerHesiod

R E V I E W T H E R H A P S O D E S

bull Community of oral poets working from memory

bull Homer

bull Name traditionally given to the author or authors of (at least) two epic poems set in the Bronze Age

bull Iliad and Odyssey

bull Hesiod A farmer-poet

bull Boeotia Greece 8th century BCE

bull Author of two epic poems

bull Theogony beginning of the cosmos [Narrated in Class 1 to the Rise of Zeus]

bull Works amp Days advice on human life

bull Modes of knowing Divine inspiration (the Muses)

bull Ideal of excellence Heros pursuit of honour (kleos timē)

HESIOD (PS-SENECA) ROMAN BRONZE NATIONAL ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM

OF NAPLES

BOEOTIA IN GREECE

larr L A S T W E E K

larr T O D AY

Paris and Helen by Vincenzo dersquo Rossi (1560)

David The Love of Helen amp Paris (1788)

Paris and Helen from Troy (2004)

H O M E R rsquo S I L I A D amp O D Y S S E Y

Enrique Simonet - El Juicio de Paris - 1904

Aeschylus Agamemnon (458 BCE) and Euripides Iphigeneia at Aulis (405 BCE) The Sacrifice of Iphigeneia by Francesco Fontebasso bull 1749 oil on canvas

Sing goddess the anger of Peleusrsquo sun Achilleus and its devastation which put pains thousandfold upon the Achaians

hurled in their multitudes to the house of Hades strong souls of heroes but gave their bodies to be the delicate feasting of dogs of all birds and the will of Zeus was accomplished since that time when first there stood in division of conflict

Atreus son the lord of men and brilliant Achilleus

microῆνιν ἄειδε θεὰ Πηληϊάδεω Ἀχιλῆοςοὐλοmicroένην ἣ microυρί Ἀχαιοῖς ἄλγε ἔθηκε πολλὰς δ ἰφθίmicroους ψυχὰς Ἄϊδι προΐαψενἡρώων αὐτοὺς δὲ ἑλώρια τεῦχε κύνεσσιν οἰωνοῖσί τε πᾶσι Διὸς δ ἐτελείετο βουλή ἐξ οὗ δὴ τὰ πρῶτα διαστήτην ἐρίσαντε

Ἀτρεΐδης τε ἄναξ ἀνδρῶν καὶ δῖος Ἀχιλλεύς

H O M E R I L I A D 1 1 - 7 ( T R L AT T I M O R E )

Chryses prays to Apollo

Achilles amp Hector by G

enzoman D

eviantArtcom

Achilles versus Hector from

Troy (2004)Achilles versus H

ector Attic Vase c 500 BCE

Troy in Flames Completed 1762 by Johann Georg Trautmann (1713-1969)

Ulysses and the Sirens John William Waterhouse 1891

Johann Heinrich Wilhelm Tischbein Odysseus und Penelope

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The quest for immortality

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Divine causation

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

H O M E R I L I A D 9 4 1 0 - 4 1 6

For my mother Thetis the goddess of the silver feet tells me I carry two sorts of destiny toward the day of my death Either

if I stay here and fight beside the city of the Trojans my return home is gone but my glory (kleos) shall be everlasting

but if I return home to the beloved land of my fathers the excellence (esthlon) of my glory is gone but there will be a long life

left for me and my end in death will not come to me quickly

P I N D A R P Y T H 8 9 5 - 9 7

Creatures of the passing day What is any one What is any one not Shadows dream is man But when the radiance given of Zeus comes

there is a bright light upon men and life is sweet

A R E TĒ T I MĒ K L E O S

T H E Q U E S T F O R I M M O R TA L I T Y

S C E N E F R O M T R O Y ( W B 2 0 0 4 ) A C H I L L E S S U M M O N E D B Y A G A M E M N O N Y O U T U B E C O M W AT C H V = R 7 2 K B D G R T D 4

S C E N E F R O M T R O Y ( W B 2 0 0 4 ) A C H I L L E S A N D H E C T O R D U E L Y O U T U B E C O M W AT C H V = N Q 6 2 F R K 7 4 U 0

Athena Achilles Hector Apollo

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Divine causation

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

A G A M E M N O N AT H O M E R I L I A D 1 1 8 1 - 1 8 7

hellip[H]ere is my threat to you Even as Phoibos Apollo is taking away my Chryseis

hellip I shall take the fair-cheeked Briseis your prize I myself going to your shelter that you may learn well how much greater I am than you and another man may shrink back

from likening himself to me and contending against mersquo

A C H I L L E S AT H O M E R I L I A D 9 6 4 6 - 4 8 S E E A L S O 1 6 5 9

Yet still the heart in me swells up in anger when I remember the disgrace that he wrought upon me before the Argives

the son of Atreus as if I were some wanderer without honour (atimētos metanastēs)

Achilleus in amazement turned about and straightway knew Pallas Athene and the terrible eyes shining

He uttered winged words and addressed her Why have you come now o child of Zeus of the aegis once more Is it that you may see

the outrageousness (hubris) of the son of Atreus Agamemnonrsquohellip

A C H I L L E S AT H O M E R I L I A D 1 1 9 9 - 2 0 3

O D Y S S E U S AT H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 2 2 3 5 - 4 1

You dogs You never thought Id come back home from the kingdom of the Trojans so you ravaged my house

lay in bed by force beside my women slaves my women and wooed my wife illicitly though I was alive

fearing neither the gods who hold wide heaven nor that thered be any mens censure thereafter

Now the moment of destruction hangs over you one and all

The slaughter of the suitors by Odysseus and Telemachus 1812 Louis Vincent Palliere

Death of the suitors Athenian red-figure cup c 450-440 BC

A W H A D K I N S ldquo H O M E R I C E T H I C S rdquo I N I M O R R I S amp B P O W E L L ( E D S )

A N E W C O M PA N I O N T O H O M E R ( B R I L L 1 9 9 6 ) 7 0 4 - 5

ldquoThe Homeric hero deprived of any significant quantity of timē reacts violently

aware as he is of the bottom of the scale [the metanastēs]hellip the primary function of the

agathos [good person hero] is to defend his timē with all the resources at his commandrdquo

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Divine causation

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

H U B R I S N E M E S I S

Nemesis by Gheorghe Tattarescu (1853)

Hesiod Works amp Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

Piteously she transfixed by his crooked claws was lamenting When the imperious hawk addressed her in arrogant parlance Why little lady such shrieks One stronger than you now has got you Where you are going Ill take you myself though you are a songstress For as I please Ill make you my dinner or give you your freedom Witless is one who attempts to strive against those who are stronger When he is stripped of the prize its injury added to insult Thus said the fast-flying hawk that bird with the generous wing-span

Pay more attention to justice and curb high-handedness [brother] Violence ill suits those who are lowly not even the noble Person can lightly endure it it weighs on a person whos fallen Into affliction Its better to take your way on the other Road which conduces to right For outrage (hubris) surrenders to justice (dikē)hellip

W E A R E I N Z E U S rsquo JUST W O R L D D E S C R I B E D I N THEOGONY

S I D E B A R D I V I N E C A U S AT I O N

bull The Homeric and Hesiodic herorsquos individual mission only makes sense in a world governed by gods (theoi)

bull Homer Iliad The gods are primarily responsiblecausal of events (aitios)

bull Early Greek science begins here theoi subsequently naturalized as consistent patterns of regularity in human and natural experience (elements laws)

bull Homer Odyssey Humans are (also) responsiblecausal for our own actions

bull How do we use our freedom

AT H E N A A N D O D Y S S E U S T H E O D Y S S E Y ( N B C 1 9 9 7 )

H O M E R I L I A D 5 1 2 3

Athena drew near to his side and spoke to him in winged words Have courage for I have drawn the mist from your eyes

that you may discern in truth gods from humans

So they spoke but Priam aloud called out to Helen Come over where I am dear child and sit down beside me

to look at your husband of time past your friends and your people I am not blaming you (ou ti moi aitiē essi) to me the gods are

responsible (theoihellipaitioi) who drove upon me this sorrowful war against the Achaians

H O M E R I L I A D 3 1 6 4

S I D E B A R D I V I N E C A U S AT I O N

Zeus is probably responsible (aitios) who gives to men who work for bread to each one however he wishes

H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 1 3 4 8 [ T E L E M A C H U S S P E A K S ]

How mortals now blame [from aitios] gods for they say that evils are from us Yet they themselves

have woes beyond their lot by their own recklessnesshellip

H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 1 3 2 [ Z E U S S P E A K S ]

Tell me of these things Muses that dwell on the heights of Olympus From the origin (archē) and say which first of them came into beinghellip

H E S I O D T H E O G O N Y 1 1 4

Responsibility lies with the one who makes the choice the god is blameless (theos anaitios)

P L AT O R E P U B L I C 1 0 6 1 7 E

S I D E B A R D I V I N E C A U S AT I O N

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Divine causation

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

O D Y S S E U S T O P O LY P H E M U S H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 9 2 6 9 - 7 1

But revere the gods most noble one We are supplicants (hiketai) to you Zeus is the avenger (epitimētōr) of suppliants and strangers

the guest god who attends venerable strangers

W E A R E I N Z E U S rsquo W O R L D ( A S D E S C R I B E D I N THEOGONY )

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

T H E LY R I C P O E T SC 6 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Pindar of Thebes

Simonides of Ceos

Sappho of Lesbos

LY R I C I N T R O D U C T I O N

bull Occasional poetry

bull Often sung to the lyre (lyrē) in varied meters

bull CHORAL LYRIC

bull Dancing choruses at religious festivals contests family events

bull Enforcing collective civic values

bull MONODIC LYRIC

bull Individual performance

bull Personal in emotion amp outlookBrygos Painter c 490 BCE

Sappho and Alcaeus

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

Creatures of the passing day What is any one What is any one not Shadows dream is man But when the radiance given of Zeus comes

there is a bright light upon men and life is sweet

P I N D A R P Y T H 8 9 5 - 9 7

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

I praise and embrace everyone who willingly does nothing base (aischron) but with necessity not even the gods fight A man not too helpless suffices for me one who knows the justice that benefits the

city (polis) a sound and healthy man I will not lay blame for the generation of fools is limitless Everything is noble (kala) with which

base deeds are not mingled

S I M O N I D E S 5 4 2 2 7 - 4 0

Simonides is criticizing the traditional definition of the good noble or successful man (agathos esthlos) Such goodness or nobility depends upon external achievements and possessions (wealth honour prowess in battle) which are too insecure to form a real basis for human excellence Instead Simonides stresses intention justice that benefits the city acknowledgement of the fragility of lifehellip

C S E G A L ldquo C H O R A L LY R I C I N T H E F I F T H C E N T U R Y rdquo I N P E E A S T E R L I N G amp B M W K N O X T H E C A M B R I D G E H I S T O R Y O F

C L A S S I C A L L I T E R AT U R E I ( C A M B R I D G E 2 0 0 8 ) 2 2 4

LY R I C C O N T E X T

Hoplites in phalanx formation From the Chigi Vase proto-Corinthian pitcher ca 650-640 BC

3 0 0 ( W A R N E R B R O S 2 0 0 6 ) ldquo W H AT I S Y O U R P R O F E S S I O N rdquo

W W W Y O U T U B E C O M W AT C H V = A N A 3 C O 8 3 _ G K

3 0 0 ( W A R N E R B R O S 2 0 0 6 ) ldquo F I G H T I N T H E S H A D E rdquo

Y O U T U B E 4 J K P G D D M A R S T = 1 2 4

τοιόνδ ἄνθος Περσίδος αἴας οἴχεται ἀνδρῶν

οὓς πέρι πᾶσα χθὼν Ἀσιῆτις ρέψασα πόθῳ στένεται microαλερῷ τοκέης τ ἄλοχοί θ ἡmicroερολεγδὸν τείνοντα χρόνον τροmicroέονται

A E S C H Y L U S P E R S A I 5 9 - 6 4 C P I L I A D 9 4 1 0 - 1 6

S E E C A S E Y D U Eacute T H E C A P T I V E W O M A N rsquo S L A M E N T I N G R E E K T R A G E DY C H 2

Such is the flower [anthos] of the Persian land such is the flower of men that has disappeared

The entire land of Asia laments the men she nourished with fierce

longing [pothos] Parents and wives counting the days

tremble at the increasing length of time

P I N D A R

bull Born near Thebes c 518 BCE

bull Composed important epinician odes (epi-nikia for-a-victory in a contest)

bull Depicts the gods as maintaining civic values of justice (O 1 P 1-3 P 8) compassionate (N 10) and forgiving (O 7456) guardians of polis morality

bull Celebrated ldquoroughrdquo style

bull ldquoA soaring eaglehellip a rushing streamrdquo (Horace Od 42) ldquoA vast firerdquo (Longinus Sublime 335)

Bust of the lyric poet Pindar Roman copy from original of the mid-5 century BC

F I F T H - C E N T U R Y C H O R A L LY R I C

A C O R N T O O A K T R E E N E I L B R O M H A L L bull y o u t u b e Z K 4 L j U R t a D w

Some people pray for gold others for limitless lands but I pray to please my fellow citizens and then to cover my limbs in earth

having praised the praiseworthy and scattered reproof on the wicked Excellence soars upward like a tree fed on fresh dews

lifted among the wise and just toward the liquid upper air The need for friends comes in many forms

it is most valued in times of trouble but joy too craves to look upon trusty support

P I N D A R N E M E A N 8 3 6 - 4 3

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

F R A G I L I T Ybull How can we be praiseworthy if we are vulnerable (to circumstances)

bull [The poetic world-view and Pindarrsquos career as praise poet of aretē require] ldquothe belief that the excellence of a good person is something of that persons own for whose possession and exercise that person can appropriately be held accountablerdquo (Nussbaum 1)

bull But ldquoHow can we be givers and receivers of praise if our worth ishellip a plant in need of wateringrdquo (2)

bull ldquoWe need to be born with adequate capacities to live in fostering natural and social circumstances to stay clear of abrupt catastrophe to develop confirming associations with other human beingsrdquo (1)

bull A further complication ldquoThe tenderness of a plant is not the dazzling hardness of a gemrdquo perhaps ldquopart of the peculiar beauty of human excellence just is its vulnerabilityrdquo (2)

M A R T H A N U S S B A U M T H E F R A G I L I T Y O F G O O D N E S S C H 1 L U C K amp E T H I C S

T H E P O W E R O F R E A S O N [T]here is the consolation that so far Pindar has apparently left something out However much human beings resemble lower forms of life we are unlike we want to insist in one crucial respect We have reason We are able to deliberate and choose to make a plan in which ends are ranked to decide actively what is to have value and how much All this must count for something If it is true that a lot about us is messy needy uncontrolled rooted in the dirt and standing helplessly in the rain it is also true that there is something about us that is pure and purely active something that we could think of as divine immortal intelligible unitary indissoluble ever self-consistent and invariablelsquo [Plato Phaedo 80B] It seems possible that this rational element in us can rule and guide the rest thereby saving the whole person from living at the mercy of luck

N U S S B A U M F R A G I L I T Y 2

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S S O P H I S T S A N D T R A G E D I A N SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Athens

AT H E N S rsquo A C R O P O L I S A S I M A G I N E D B Y L E O V O N K L E N Z E O I L O N C A N VA S 1 8 4 6 N E U E P I N A K O T H E K

A S S A S S I N rsquo S C R E E D O D Y S S E Y bull A T O U R O F AT H E N S U B I S O F T ( 2 0 1 8 )

bull Athens is the first lsquopeople-ruledrsquo polis (dēmokratia) in the Mediterranean world

bull She has achieved unchallenged naval authority and an empire which is labeled a lsquocommonwealthrsquo

bull At the commercial and cultural crossroads of Italy Greece Egypt and the Near East

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

S P E E C H A N D D E M O C R A C Y

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

bull In this cosmopolitan environment traditional views are challenged leading to a perceived erosion of moral values

bull The rhapsodes use poetic forms to transmit traditional morality

bull The tragedians use poetic forms to explore amp challenge mythrsquos assumptions

bull The sophists teach ldquowisdomrdquo (sophia) including rhetoric and political oratory perceived as a new lsquotechnologyrsquo to steer the ship of state for onersquos own ends

bull Use onersquos own wits ldquoA person is the measure of all thingsrdquo Protagoras B1

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

T R A G E D Y V U L N E R A B I L I T Y A N D R E A S O NC 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E AT H E N S

Aeschylus Agamemnon (458 BCE) and Euripides Iphigeneia at Aulis (405 BCE) The Sacrifice of Iphigeneia by Francesco Fontebasso bull 1749 oil on canvas

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousnesshellip what is great is fragile andhellip what is necessary may be destructivehellip

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

In such cases we see a wrong action committed without any direct physical compulsion and in full knowledge of its nature by a person whose ethical character or commitments would otherwise dispose him to reject the acthellip circumstanceshellip prevent the adequate fulfillment of two valid ethical claims

N U S S B A U M 2 5

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

[Aeschylus in Agamemnon] shows us not so much a solution to the problem of practical conflict as the richness and depth of the problem itself (This achievement is closely connected with his poetic resources which put the scene vividly before us show us debate about it and evoke in us responses important to its assessment)

The best the agent can do is to have his suffering the natural expression of his goodness of character and not to stifle these responses out of misguided optimism The best we (the Chorus) can do for him is to respect the gravity of his predicament to respect the responses that express his goodness and to think about his case as showing a possibility for human life in general

N U S S B A U M 4 9 - 5 0

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

bull In a world that allows such dilemmas are there truly gods with a coherent vision for the world

bull Can individual reason and ingenuity suffice for a good life

T H E S O P H I S T SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Hesiod Works amp Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale Piteously she transfixed by his crooked claws was lamenting When the imperious hawk addressed her in arrogant parlance Why little lady such shrieks One stronger than you now has got you Where you are going Ill take you myself though you are a songstress For as I please Ill make you my dinner or give you your freedom Witless is one who attempts to strive against those who are stronger When he is stripped of the prize its injury added to insult Thus said the fast-flying hawk that bird with the generous wing-spanPay more attention to justice and curb high-handedness [brother] Violence ill suits men who are lowly not even the noble Man can lightly endure it it weighs on a person whos fallen Into affliction Its better to take your way on the other Road which conduces to right For outrage (hubris) surrenders to

justice (dikē)hellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Thucydides History 584-116 The Melian Dialogue ATHENIANS [Y]ou know as well as we do that when these matters are discussed by practical people the standard of justice depends on the equality of power to compel and that in fact the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they musthellip Our opinion of the gods and our knowledge of men lead us to conclude that it is a general and necessary law of nature to rule whatever one can This is not a law that we made ourselves nor were we the first to act upon it when it was made We found it already in existence and we shall leave it to exist for ever among those who come after us

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos

advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Republic I 343A-D Thrasymachusrsquo complaint Tell me Socrates do you still have a wet nursehellip Because shersquos letting you run around with a snotty nose and doesnrsquot wipe it when she needs tohellip You think that shepherds and cowherds seek the good of their sheep and cattle and fatten them and take care of them looking to something other than their masterrsquos good and their own Moreover you believe that rulershellip think of something besides their own advantage You are so far from understandinghellip that you donrsquot realize that justice is really the good of another the advantage of the stronger and the ruler and harmful to the one who obeys and serves Injustice is the opposite it rules the truly simple and just and those it rules do what is to the advantage of the other and stronger and they make the one they serve happy but themselves not at all You must look at it as follows my most simple Socrates A just man always gets less than an unjust onehellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Gorgias 482C-484C Callicles on nature and convention [Y]oursquore in fact bringing the discussion around to the sort of crowd-pleasing vulgarities that are admirable only by law [nomos also translatable ldquoconventionrdquo or ldquocustomrdquo] and not by nature And these nature and law are for the most part opposed to each otherhellip I believe that the people who institute our laws are the weak and the many So they institute laws and assign praise and blame with themselves and their own advantage in mind As a way of frightening the more powerfulhellip out of getting a greater share than they they say that getting more than onersquos share is ldquoshamefulrdquo and ldquounjusthelliprdquo But surely if a man whose nature is equal to it arises he will shake off tear apart and escape all this he will trample underfoot our documents our tricks and charms and all our laws that violate nature He the slave will rise up and be revealed as our master and here the justice of nature will shine forth

The New Teachers of Athens

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

P R E - S O C R AT I C ldquo P H I L O S O P H E R S 6 T H - 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

P R E - S O C R AT I C P H I L O S O P H E R S

bull Though not usually calling themselves ldquophilosophersrdquo they seemed to have contributed inspiration for Socratesrsquo method of free inquiry applying logos

bull Scholars adopt different views of what constitutes their innovation and ldquophilosophicalrdquo method (see readings)

bull Basing views on argument and evidence

bull De-ldquomythologizationrdquo

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Miletus

E A R LY P H I L O S O P H Y A N C I E N T M I L E T U S

M I L E T U S

bull Wealthy city-state in Asia Minor

bull Key city for trading and shipping between Near East amp Greece

bull Ionian Greek culture

bull Freedom of thought

bull Open political debate

bull Wealth (for some) providing leisure

bull Thales and his successors Anaximander Anaximenes

bull ldquoPhilosophicalrdquo investigation

bull Later Presocratics Heraclitus ParmenidesldquoORIENTALIZINGrdquo POTTERY

The Milesian school strikes a new note unheard before It has a fresh sense of the meaning of truth ndash a feeling for the sort of thing it is reasonable to suppose The hypothesis it characteristically deals in is concerned with the nature of the one primary stuff the Milesians seem to make a great conscious effort to get at something which really does exist They strike us as throwing off the vast symbolic visions of mythology and waking clear-headed to see and touch real things If we have a rational temperament we feel at once a refreshment Here at last is a statement about the world which is meant and offered as true ndash a logos [explanation] not a mythos [story]

ndash F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952 ed) 42

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The questions which excited them were of this kind Can this apparently confused and disordered world be reduced to simpler principles so that our reason can grasp what it is and how it works What is it made of How does change take place They abandoned mythological and substituted intellectual solutions [It] was no longer satisfying to say that storms were roused by the wrath of Poseidon or death caused by the arrows of Apollo or Artemis A world ruled by anthropomorphic gods human in their passions was a world ruled by caprice Philosophy and science start with the bold confession of faith that not caprice but an inherent orderliness underlies the phenomena and the explanation of nature is to be sought within nature itself ndashWKC Guthrie History of Greek Philosophy (Cambridge 1969) 1 44-45

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

Thales of Miletus

bull Lived late 7th-6th centurybull Born to a Phoenician aristocratic

family ndash so leisurebull Traveled to Egypt and Babylon (by

tradition)bull Legendary wisdombull ldquoFounder of Western philosophyrdquo

bull First to seek an ldquooriginal causerdquo (archecirc)

bull to explain how unseen facts caused visible results without appeal to mythology

bull To provide generalizable proofs or laws

Thales of Miletus

AstronomyMathematicsWater as the archecircAll things are full of gods

bull Traditionally Thalesrsquo star student

bull 25 years old during Thalesrsquo eclipse (585 BCE)

bull Lived c 610-540 BCE

bull ldquoFirst to draw the inhabited world on a tabletrdquo (first mapmaker)

bull Unambiguously our first ldquophilosopherrdquo by standards of demythologization originality generality and observation

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

ldquoAnaximander has expurgated the supernatural with a boldness and completeness to which many of his successors failed to attain The primary order is still said to be lsquoaccording to what is ordainedrsquo it is still a moral order in which Justice prevails but the will of the personal God has disappeared and its place is partly taken by a natural cause the eternal motionrdquo

- F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952) 41 Anaximander relief 1st century AD

Rome Museo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Key contributions

bull Physics the archecircbull Cosmologybull ldquoEvolutionrdquobull Astronomy and Cartography

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Anaximander said that the APEIRON [indefinite unlimited] was the ARCHE and the element of things that are and he was the first to introduce this name for the ARCHE He says that the ARCHE is neither water nor any other of the things called elements but some other nature called APEIRON out of which come to be all the heavens and the worlds in them (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2413-18)

The things that are perish into the things out of which they come to be according to necessity for ldquothey pay penalty and retribution to one another according to their injustice in accordance with the ordering of timerdquo as he says in rather poetical language (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2418-21)

Anaximander of Miletus

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The ARCHE

bull One and unlimitedbull But not undefined Itrsquos AIR

Anaximenes of Miletus

bull Not opposites but a continuum FIRE AIR larr WIND larr CLOUD larr WATER larr EARTH larr STONEbull ldquoLooseningrdquo and ldquotighteningrdquo explain hot and cold

H E R A C L I T U S B 1 0 1 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 3 7 )

I searched out myself

Listening not to me but to the logos it is wise to agree that all things are one

H E R A C L I T U S B 5 0 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 1 1 )

E X A M P L E S

THE ROAD TO PHILOSOP HY

The Hero of Lyric Poets of the Polis (6th century)

bull According to the lyric poets of the polis culture such as Pindar Simonides Tyrtaeus and Sappho (7th-6th century BCE)

bull Pursues collective good of the polis based on strong ties of interdependent responsibility amp cooperation in a just world governed by the gods

Individual Freedom The ldquoSophistsrdquo (5th century)

bull Sources in thinkers like Protagoras and Gorgias (5th century BCE predominantly working in Athens) constructed as a category by Platorsquos later writings

bull Pursues individual advantage based on their personal beliefs and wits using persuasion and power skepticism of traditional values

Vulnerability The Hero of Tragedy (5th century)

bull Iconic examples include Sophoclesrsquo Oedipus and Aeschylusrsquo Agamemnon and Orestes

bull Pursuit of individual amp collective good in a world of apparently conflicting divine values sometimes hampered by their own lack of self-knowledge

I N T E R D E P E N D E N C Y I N T R O D U C E S V U L N E R A B I L I T Y W H I C H M AY B E

C E L E B R AT E D O R R E S I S T E D

The Hero of Epic Homer and Hesiod (8th century)

bull Found in the epic Iliad and Odyssey attributed to Homer (c 8th century BCE) examples include the powerful Achilles and thoughtful persuasive Odysseus

bull Pursues individual honour (timē) in a just world governed by the gods

CH

IGI V

AS

E C

70

0 B

CE

The Hero of Reason The ldquoPresocratics (6th-5th cent)

bull Founding figures including Thales Anaximander Anaximenes Pythagoras Heraclitus Parmenides Seeking to understand the basic original causes (aitiai) of the world through reason

I S T H E W O R L D G E N U I N E LY

I N T E L L I G I B L E T O R E A S O N

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Born in Athens to a stonemason named Sophroniscus in 469 BCE

bull ldquoSocratic problemrdquo Socrates wrote nothing we know about him through Plato Xenophon and Aristophanes whose accounts vary

bull Conversed with anyone ldquorich or poor citizen or foreignerrdquo (Apology 23C)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Non-conformity reliance on individual values and wits (contrast with the earlier poets and rhapsodes)

bull Claims of ignorance interest in shared truth and not only persuasion and resistance of ldquoselfish morality (contrast with the sophists)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Methods based on question and answer (the elenchus) requiring unity or consistency (a) of onersquos beliefs and (b) of onersquos beliefs and actions

bull Behaviour peculiar enough to warrant its own verb (sōkratein) (Arist Birds 1282) before generalized philosophia

bull Brought to trial in 399 BCE by two Athenians Meletus and Anytus charged with ldquoimpiety and corrupting the youngrdquo

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

S O C R AT E S C R I T O 4 6 A

I am the kind of person who listens to nothing within me but the logos that on reflection seems

best to me

L O G O S R E A S O N VA L U E C O N S C I E N C E M E A N I N G

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousness A sense of such significances that what is great is fragile and that what is necessary may be destructive which is present in the literature of the fifth century and earlier has disappeared [later] from the ethics of the philosophers and perhaps altogether from their minds Greek philosophy in its sustained pursuit of rational self-sufficiency does turn its back on kinds of human experience and human necessity of which Greek literature itself offers the purest if not the richest expression

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y A N D P H I L O S O P H Y

The continuity between Greek tragedy and Greek philosophy on these questions is however far greater than Williams has allowed On the one hand inside tragedy itself we find arresting portrayals of the human ambition to rational self-sufficiency we come to understand the ways in which problems of exposure motivate this ambition On the other Platos philosophical search for a self- sufficient good life is motivated by a keen sense of these same problems Far from having forgotten about what tragedy describes he sees the problems of exposure so clearly that only a radical solution seems adequate to their depth Nor is he naiumlve about the costs of this solution

N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y P R A C T I C A L C O N F L I C T

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identical which is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A)

Socrates ldquoencourages Euthyphro [a pious Greek] to revise tradition by considering as binding only those requirements concerning which there is divine unanimity he expresses further his own doubt as to whether gods really do disagreerdquo (Nussbaum 30)

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identicalwhich is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A Nussbaum 25)

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

H E L L A S 6 T H - 5 T H C E N T U R I E S B C Ebull The Hellenic (Greek) world was comprised of hundreds of

individual poleis (city-states)bull Every polis was culturally distinct Calendar Religion Dialect Political system

bull What bound them together Myth expounded in the epic poetry of

Homer amp Hesiod Sport Olympic Games Delphic Games Nemean Games Both exemplify a common world-view a portrayal of

excellence (ARETEcirc) or a human life well-lived

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

THE ROAD TO PHILOSOP HY

The Hero of Lyric Poets of the Polis (6th century)

bull According to the lyric poets of the polis culture such as Pindar Simonides Tyrtaeus and Sappho (7th-6th century BCE)

bull Pursues collective good of the polis based on strong ties of interdependent responsibility amp cooperation in a just world governed by the gods

Individual Freedom The ldquoSophistsrdquo (5th century)

bull Sources in thinkers like Protagoras and Gorgias (5th century BCE predominantly working in Athens) constructed as a category by Platorsquos later writings

bull Pursues individual advantage based on their personal beliefs and wits using persuasion and power skepticism of traditional values

Vulnerability The Hero of Tragedy (5th century)

bull Iconic examples include Sophoclesrsquo Oedipus and Aeschylusrsquo Agamemnon and Orestes

bull Pursuit of individual amp collective good in a world of apparently conflicting divine values sometimes hampered by their own lack of self-knowledge

I N T E R D E P E N D E N C Y I N T R O D U C E S V U L N E R A B I L I T Y W H I C H M AY B E

C E L E B R AT E D O R R E S I S T E D

The Hero of Epic Homer and Hesiod (8th century)

bull Found in the epic Iliad and Odyssey attributed to Homer (c 8th century BCE) examples include the powerful Achilles and thoughtful persuasive Odysseus

bull Pursues individual honour (timē) in a just world governed by the gods

CH

IGI V

AS

E C

70

0 B

CE

The Hero of Reason The ldquoPresocratics (6th-5th cent)

bull Founding figures including Thales Anaximander Anaximenes Pythagoras Heraclitus Parmenides Seeking to understand the basic original causes (aitiai) of the world through reason

I S T H E W O R L D G E N U I N E LY

I N T E L L I G I B L E T O R E A S O N

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

T H E E P I C P O E T S8 T H - 7 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

HomerHesiod

R E V I E W T H E R H A P S O D E S

bull Community of oral poets working from memory

bull Homer

bull Name traditionally given to the author or authors of (at least) two epic poems set in the Bronze Age

bull Iliad and Odyssey

bull Hesiod A farmer-poet

bull Boeotia Greece 8th century BCE

bull Author of two epic poems

bull Theogony beginning of the cosmos [Narrated in Class 1 to the Rise of Zeus]

bull Works amp Days advice on human life

bull Modes of knowing Divine inspiration (the Muses)

bull Ideal of excellence Heros pursuit of honour (kleos timē)

HESIOD (PS-SENECA) ROMAN BRONZE NATIONAL ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM

OF NAPLES

BOEOTIA IN GREECE

larr L A S T W E E K

larr T O D AY

Paris and Helen by Vincenzo dersquo Rossi (1560)

David The Love of Helen amp Paris (1788)

Paris and Helen from Troy (2004)

H O M E R rsquo S I L I A D amp O D Y S S E Y

Enrique Simonet - El Juicio de Paris - 1904

Aeschylus Agamemnon (458 BCE) and Euripides Iphigeneia at Aulis (405 BCE) The Sacrifice of Iphigeneia by Francesco Fontebasso bull 1749 oil on canvas

Sing goddess the anger of Peleusrsquo sun Achilleus and its devastation which put pains thousandfold upon the Achaians

hurled in their multitudes to the house of Hades strong souls of heroes but gave their bodies to be the delicate feasting of dogs of all birds and the will of Zeus was accomplished since that time when first there stood in division of conflict

Atreus son the lord of men and brilliant Achilleus

microῆνιν ἄειδε θεὰ Πηληϊάδεω Ἀχιλῆοςοὐλοmicroένην ἣ microυρί Ἀχαιοῖς ἄλγε ἔθηκε πολλὰς δ ἰφθίmicroους ψυχὰς Ἄϊδι προΐαψενἡρώων αὐτοὺς δὲ ἑλώρια τεῦχε κύνεσσιν οἰωνοῖσί τε πᾶσι Διὸς δ ἐτελείετο βουλή ἐξ οὗ δὴ τὰ πρῶτα διαστήτην ἐρίσαντε

Ἀτρεΐδης τε ἄναξ ἀνδρῶν καὶ δῖος Ἀχιλλεύς

H O M E R I L I A D 1 1 - 7 ( T R L AT T I M O R E )

Chryses prays to Apollo

Achilles amp Hector by G

enzoman D

eviantArtcom

Achilles versus Hector from

Troy (2004)Achilles versus H

ector Attic Vase c 500 BCE

Troy in Flames Completed 1762 by Johann Georg Trautmann (1713-1969)

Ulysses and the Sirens John William Waterhouse 1891

Johann Heinrich Wilhelm Tischbein Odysseus und Penelope

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The quest for immortality

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Divine causation

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

H O M E R I L I A D 9 4 1 0 - 4 1 6

For my mother Thetis the goddess of the silver feet tells me I carry two sorts of destiny toward the day of my death Either

if I stay here and fight beside the city of the Trojans my return home is gone but my glory (kleos) shall be everlasting

but if I return home to the beloved land of my fathers the excellence (esthlon) of my glory is gone but there will be a long life

left for me and my end in death will not come to me quickly

P I N D A R P Y T H 8 9 5 - 9 7

Creatures of the passing day What is any one What is any one not Shadows dream is man But when the radiance given of Zeus comes

there is a bright light upon men and life is sweet

A R E TĒ T I MĒ K L E O S

T H E Q U E S T F O R I M M O R TA L I T Y

S C E N E F R O M T R O Y ( W B 2 0 0 4 ) A C H I L L E S S U M M O N E D B Y A G A M E M N O N Y O U T U B E C O M W AT C H V = R 7 2 K B D G R T D 4

S C E N E F R O M T R O Y ( W B 2 0 0 4 ) A C H I L L E S A N D H E C T O R D U E L Y O U T U B E C O M W AT C H V = N Q 6 2 F R K 7 4 U 0

Athena Achilles Hector Apollo

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Divine causation

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

A G A M E M N O N AT H O M E R I L I A D 1 1 8 1 - 1 8 7

hellip[H]ere is my threat to you Even as Phoibos Apollo is taking away my Chryseis

hellip I shall take the fair-cheeked Briseis your prize I myself going to your shelter that you may learn well how much greater I am than you and another man may shrink back

from likening himself to me and contending against mersquo

A C H I L L E S AT H O M E R I L I A D 9 6 4 6 - 4 8 S E E A L S O 1 6 5 9

Yet still the heart in me swells up in anger when I remember the disgrace that he wrought upon me before the Argives

the son of Atreus as if I were some wanderer without honour (atimētos metanastēs)

Achilleus in amazement turned about and straightway knew Pallas Athene and the terrible eyes shining

He uttered winged words and addressed her Why have you come now o child of Zeus of the aegis once more Is it that you may see

the outrageousness (hubris) of the son of Atreus Agamemnonrsquohellip

A C H I L L E S AT H O M E R I L I A D 1 1 9 9 - 2 0 3

O D Y S S E U S AT H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 2 2 3 5 - 4 1

You dogs You never thought Id come back home from the kingdom of the Trojans so you ravaged my house

lay in bed by force beside my women slaves my women and wooed my wife illicitly though I was alive

fearing neither the gods who hold wide heaven nor that thered be any mens censure thereafter

Now the moment of destruction hangs over you one and all

The slaughter of the suitors by Odysseus and Telemachus 1812 Louis Vincent Palliere

Death of the suitors Athenian red-figure cup c 450-440 BC

A W H A D K I N S ldquo H O M E R I C E T H I C S rdquo I N I M O R R I S amp B P O W E L L ( E D S )

A N E W C O M PA N I O N T O H O M E R ( B R I L L 1 9 9 6 ) 7 0 4 - 5

ldquoThe Homeric hero deprived of any significant quantity of timē reacts violently

aware as he is of the bottom of the scale [the metanastēs]hellip the primary function of the

agathos [good person hero] is to defend his timē with all the resources at his commandrdquo

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Divine causation

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

H U B R I S N E M E S I S

Nemesis by Gheorghe Tattarescu (1853)

Hesiod Works amp Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

Piteously she transfixed by his crooked claws was lamenting When the imperious hawk addressed her in arrogant parlance Why little lady such shrieks One stronger than you now has got you Where you are going Ill take you myself though you are a songstress For as I please Ill make you my dinner or give you your freedom Witless is one who attempts to strive against those who are stronger When he is stripped of the prize its injury added to insult Thus said the fast-flying hawk that bird with the generous wing-span

Pay more attention to justice and curb high-handedness [brother] Violence ill suits those who are lowly not even the noble Person can lightly endure it it weighs on a person whos fallen Into affliction Its better to take your way on the other Road which conduces to right For outrage (hubris) surrenders to justice (dikē)hellip

W E A R E I N Z E U S rsquo JUST W O R L D D E S C R I B E D I N THEOGONY

S I D E B A R D I V I N E C A U S AT I O N

bull The Homeric and Hesiodic herorsquos individual mission only makes sense in a world governed by gods (theoi)

bull Homer Iliad The gods are primarily responsiblecausal of events (aitios)

bull Early Greek science begins here theoi subsequently naturalized as consistent patterns of regularity in human and natural experience (elements laws)

bull Homer Odyssey Humans are (also) responsiblecausal for our own actions

bull How do we use our freedom

AT H E N A A N D O D Y S S E U S T H E O D Y S S E Y ( N B C 1 9 9 7 )

H O M E R I L I A D 5 1 2 3

Athena drew near to his side and spoke to him in winged words Have courage for I have drawn the mist from your eyes

that you may discern in truth gods from humans

So they spoke but Priam aloud called out to Helen Come over where I am dear child and sit down beside me

to look at your husband of time past your friends and your people I am not blaming you (ou ti moi aitiē essi) to me the gods are

responsible (theoihellipaitioi) who drove upon me this sorrowful war against the Achaians

H O M E R I L I A D 3 1 6 4

S I D E B A R D I V I N E C A U S AT I O N

Zeus is probably responsible (aitios) who gives to men who work for bread to each one however he wishes

H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 1 3 4 8 [ T E L E M A C H U S S P E A K S ]

How mortals now blame [from aitios] gods for they say that evils are from us Yet they themselves

have woes beyond their lot by their own recklessnesshellip

H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 1 3 2 [ Z E U S S P E A K S ]

Tell me of these things Muses that dwell on the heights of Olympus From the origin (archē) and say which first of them came into beinghellip

H E S I O D T H E O G O N Y 1 1 4

Responsibility lies with the one who makes the choice the god is blameless (theos anaitios)

P L AT O R E P U B L I C 1 0 6 1 7 E

S I D E B A R D I V I N E C A U S AT I O N

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Divine causation

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

O D Y S S E U S T O P O LY P H E M U S H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 9 2 6 9 - 7 1

But revere the gods most noble one We are supplicants (hiketai) to you Zeus is the avenger (epitimētōr) of suppliants and strangers

the guest god who attends venerable strangers

W E A R E I N Z E U S rsquo W O R L D ( A S D E S C R I B E D I N THEOGONY )

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

T H E LY R I C P O E T SC 6 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Pindar of Thebes

Simonides of Ceos

Sappho of Lesbos

LY R I C I N T R O D U C T I O N

bull Occasional poetry

bull Often sung to the lyre (lyrē) in varied meters

bull CHORAL LYRIC

bull Dancing choruses at religious festivals contests family events

bull Enforcing collective civic values

bull MONODIC LYRIC

bull Individual performance

bull Personal in emotion amp outlookBrygos Painter c 490 BCE

Sappho and Alcaeus

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

Creatures of the passing day What is any one What is any one not Shadows dream is man But when the radiance given of Zeus comes

there is a bright light upon men and life is sweet

P I N D A R P Y T H 8 9 5 - 9 7

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

I praise and embrace everyone who willingly does nothing base (aischron) but with necessity not even the gods fight A man not too helpless suffices for me one who knows the justice that benefits the

city (polis) a sound and healthy man I will not lay blame for the generation of fools is limitless Everything is noble (kala) with which

base deeds are not mingled

S I M O N I D E S 5 4 2 2 7 - 4 0

Simonides is criticizing the traditional definition of the good noble or successful man (agathos esthlos) Such goodness or nobility depends upon external achievements and possessions (wealth honour prowess in battle) which are too insecure to form a real basis for human excellence Instead Simonides stresses intention justice that benefits the city acknowledgement of the fragility of lifehellip

C S E G A L ldquo C H O R A L LY R I C I N T H E F I F T H C E N T U R Y rdquo I N P E E A S T E R L I N G amp B M W K N O X T H E C A M B R I D G E H I S T O R Y O F

C L A S S I C A L L I T E R AT U R E I ( C A M B R I D G E 2 0 0 8 ) 2 2 4

LY R I C C O N T E X T

Hoplites in phalanx formation From the Chigi Vase proto-Corinthian pitcher ca 650-640 BC

3 0 0 ( W A R N E R B R O S 2 0 0 6 ) ldquo W H AT I S Y O U R P R O F E S S I O N rdquo

W W W Y O U T U B E C O M W AT C H V = A N A 3 C O 8 3 _ G K

3 0 0 ( W A R N E R B R O S 2 0 0 6 ) ldquo F I G H T I N T H E S H A D E rdquo

Y O U T U B E 4 J K P G D D M A R S T = 1 2 4

τοιόνδ ἄνθος Περσίδος αἴας οἴχεται ἀνδρῶν

οὓς πέρι πᾶσα χθὼν Ἀσιῆτις ρέψασα πόθῳ στένεται microαλερῷ τοκέης τ ἄλοχοί θ ἡmicroερολεγδὸν τείνοντα χρόνον τροmicroέονται

A E S C H Y L U S P E R S A I 5 9 - 6 4 C P I L I A D 9 4 1 0 - 1 6

S E E C A S E Y D U Eacute T H E C A P T I V E W O M A N rsquo S L A M E N T I N G R E E K T R A G E DY C H 2

Such is the flower [anthos] of the Persian land such is the flower of men that has disappeared

The entire land of Asia laments the men she nourished with fierce

longing [pothos] Parents and wives counting the days

tremble at the increasing length of time

P I N D A R

bull Born near Thebes c 518 BCE

bull Composed important epinician odes (epi-nikia for-a-victory in a contest)

bull Depicts the gods as maintaining civic values of justice (O 1 P 1-3 P 8) compassionate (N 10) and forgiving (O 7456) guardians of polis morality

bull Celebrated ldquoroughrdquo style

bull ldquoA soaring eaglehellip a rushing streamrdquo (Horace Od 42) ldquoA vast firerdquo (Longinus Sublime 335)

Bust of the lyric poet Pindar Roman copy from original of the mid-5 century BC

F I F T H - C E N T U R Y C H O R A L LY R I C

A C O R N T O O A K T R E E N E I L B R O M H A L L bull y o u t u b e Z K 4 L j U R t a D w

Some people pray for gold others for limitless lands but I pray to please my fellow citizens and then to cover my limbs in earth

having praised the praiseworthy and scattered reproof on the wicked Excellence soars upward like a tree fed on fresh dews

lifted among the wise and just toward the liquid upper air The need for friends comes in many forms

it is most valued in times of trouble but joy too craves to look upon trusty support

P I N D A R N E M E A N 8 3 6 - 4 3

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

F R A G I L I T Ybull How can we be praiseworthy if we are vulnerable (to circumstances)

bull [The poetic world-view and Pindarrsquos career as praise poet of aretē require] ldquothe belief that the excellence of a good person is something of that persons own for whose possession and exercise that person can appropriately be held accountablerdquo (Nussbaum 1)

bull But ldquoHow can we be givers and receivers of praise if our worth ishellip a plant in need of wateringrdquo (2)

bull ldquoWe need to be born with adequate capacities to live in fostering natural and social circumstances to stay clear of abrupt catastrophe to develop confirming associations with other human beingsrdquo (1)

bull A further complication ldquoThe tenderness of a plant is not the dazzling hardness of a gemrdquo perhaps ldquopart of the peculiar beauty of human excellence just is its vulnerabilityrdquo (2)

M A R T H A N U S S B A U M T H E F R A G I L I T Y O F G O O D N E S S C H 1 L U C K amp E T H I C S

T H E P O W E R O F R E A S O N [T]here is the consolation that so far Pindar has apparently left something out However much human beings resemble lower forms of life we are unlike we want to insist in one crucial respect We have reason We are able to deliberate and choose to make a plan in which ends are ranked to decide actively what is to have value and how much All this must count for something If it is true that a lot about us is messy needy uncontrolled rooted in the dirt and standing helplessly in the rain it is also true that there is something about us that is pure and purely active something that we could think of as divine immortal intelligible unitary indissoluble ever self-consistent and invariablelsquo [Plato Phaedo 80B] It seems possible that this rational element in us can rule and guide the rest thereby saving the whole person from living at the mercy of luck

N U S S B A U M F R A G I L I T Y 2

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S S O P H I S T S A N D T R A G E D I A N SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Athens

AT H E N S rsquo A C R O P O L I S A S I M A G I N E D B Y L E O V O N K L E N Z E O I L O N C A N VA S 1 8 4 6 N E U E P I N A K O T H E K

A S S A S S I N rsquo S C R E E D O D Y S S E Y bull A T O U R O F AT H E N S U B I S O F T ( 2 0 1 8 )

bull Athens is the first lsquopeople-ruledrsquo polis (dēmokratia) in the Mediterranean world

bull She has achieved unchallenged naval authority and an empire which is labeled a lsquocommonwealthrsquo

bull At the commercial and cultural crossroads of Italy Greece Egypt and the Near East

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

S P E E C H A N D D E M O C R A C Y

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

bull In this cosmopolitan environment traditional views are challenged leading to a perceived erosion of moral values

bull The rhapsodes use poetic forms to transmit traditional morality

bull The tragedians use poetic forms to explore amp challenge mythrsquos assumptions

bull The sophists teach ldquowisdomrdquo (sophia) including rhetoric and political oratory perceived as a new lsquotechnologyrsquo to steer the ship of state for onersquos own ends

bull Use onersquos own wits ldquoA person is the measure of all thingsrdquo Protagoras B1

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

T R A G E D Y V U L N E R A B I L I T Y A N D R E A S O NC 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E AT H E N S

Aeschylus Agamemnon (458 BCE) and Euripides Iphigeneia at Aulis (405 BCE) The Sacrifice of Iphigeneia by Francesco Fontebasso bull 1749 oil on canvas

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousnesshellip what is great is fragile andhellip what is necessary may be destructivehellip

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

In such cases we see a wrong action committed without any direct physical compulsion and in full knowledge of its nature by a person whose ethical character or commitments would otherwise dispose him to reject the acthellip circumstanceshellip prevent the adequate fulfillment of two valid ethical claims

N U S S B A U M 2 5

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

[Aeschylus in Agamemnon] shows us not so much a solution to the problem of practical conflict as the richness and depth of the problem itself (This achievement is closely connected with his poetic resources which put the scene vividly before us show us debate about it and evoke in us responses important to its assessment)

The best the agent can do is to have his suffering the natural expression of his goodness of character and not to stifle these responses out of misguided optimism The best we (the Chorus) can do for him is to respect the gravity of his predicament to respect the responses that express his goodness and to think about his case as showing a possibility for human life in general

N U S S B A U M 4 9 - 5 0

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

bull In a world that allows such dilemmas are there truly gods with a coherent vision for the world

bull Can individual reason and ingenuity suffice for a good life

T H E S O P H I S T SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Hesiod Works amp Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale Piteously she transfixed by his crooked claws was lamenting When the imperious hawk addressed her in arrogant parlance Why little lady such shrieks One stronger than you now has got you Where you are going Ill take you myself though you are a songstress For as I please Ill make you my dinner or give you your freedom Witless is one who attempts to strive against those who are stronger When he is stripped of the prize its injury added to insult Thus said the fast-flying hawk that bird with the generous wing-spanPay more attention to justice and curb high-handedness [brother] Violence ill suits men who are lowly not even the noble Man can lightly endure it it weighs on a person whos fallen Into affliction Its better to take your way on the other Road which conduces to right For outrage (hubris) surrenders to

justice (dikē)hellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Thucydides History 584-116 The Melian Dialogue ATHENIANS [Y]ou know as well as we do that when these matters are discussed by practical people the standard of justice depends on the equality of power to compel and that in fact the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they musthellip Our opinion of the gods and our knowledge of men lead us to conclude that it is a general and necessary law of nature to rule whatever one can This is not a law that we made ourselves nor were we the first to act upon it when it was made We found it already in existence and we shall leave it to exist for ever among those who come after us

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos

advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Republic I 343A-D Thrasymachusrsquo complaint Tell me Socrates do you still have a wet nursehellip Because shersquos letting you run around with a snotty nose and doesnrsquot wipe it when she needs tohellip You think that shepherds and cowherds seek the good of their sheep and cattle and fatten them and take care of them looking to something other than their masterrsquos good and their own Moreover you believe that rulershellip think of something besides their own advantage You are so far from understandinghellip that you donrsquot realize that justice is really the good of another the advantage of the stronger and the ruler and harmful to the one who obeys and serves Injustice is the opposite it rules the truly simple and just and those it rules do what is to the advantage of the other and stronger and they make the one they serve happy but themselves not at all You must look at it as follows my most simple Socrates A just man always gets less than an unjust onehellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Gorgias 482C-484C Callicles on nature and convention [Y]oursquore in fact bringing the discussion around to the sort of crowd-pleasing vulgarities that are admirable only by law [nomos also translatable ldquoconventionrdquo or ldquocustomrdquo] and not by nature And these nature and law are for the most part opposed to each otherhellip I believe that the people who institute our laws are the weak and the many So they institute laws and assign praise and blame with themselves and their own advantage in mind As a way of frightening the more powerfulhellip out of getting a greater share than they they say that getting more than onersquos share is ldquoshamefulrdquo and ldquounjusthelliprdquo But surely if a man whose nature is equal to it arises he will shake off tear apart and escape all this he will trample underfoot our documents our tricks and charms and all our laws that violate nature He the slave will rise up and be revealed as our master and here the justice of nature will shine forth

The New Teachers of Athens

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

P R E - S O C R AT I C ldquo P H I L O S O P H E R S 6 T H - 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

P R E - S O C R AT I C P H I L O S O P H E R S

bull Though not usually calling themselves ldquophilosophersrdquo they seemed to have contributed inspiration for Socratesrsquo method of free inquiry applying logos

bull Scholars adopt different views of what constitutes their innovation and ldquophilosophicalrdquo method (see readings)

bull Basing views on argument and evidence

bull De-ldquomythologizationrdquo

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Miletus

E A R LY P H I L O S O P H Y A N C I E N T M I L E T U S

M I L E T U S

bull Wealthy city-state in Asia Minor

bull Key city for trading and shipping between Near East amp Greece

bull Ionian Greek culture

bull Freedom of thought

bull Open political debate

bull Wealth (for some) providing leisure

bull Thales and his successors Anaximander Anaximenes

bull ldquoPhilosophicalrdquo investigation

bull Later Presocratics Heraclitus ParmenidesldquoORIENTALIZINGrdquo POTTERY

The Milesian school strikes a new note unheard before It has a fresh sense of the meaning of truth ndash a feeling for the sort of thing it is reasonable to suppose The hypothesis it characteristically deals in is concerned with the nature of the one primary stuff the Milesians seem to make a great conscious effort to get at something which really does exist They strike us as throwing off the vast symbolic visions of mythology and waking clear-headed to see and touch real things If we have a rational temperament we feel at once a refreshment Here at last is a statement about the world which is meant and offered as true ndash a logos [explanation] not a mythos [story]

ndash F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952 ed) 42

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The questions which excited them were of this kind Can this apparently confused and disordered world be reduced to simpler principles so that our reason can grasp what it is and how it works What is it made of How does change take place They abandoned mythological and substituted intellectual solutions [It] was no longer satisfying to say that storms were roused by the wrath of Poseidon or death caused by the arrows of Apollo or Artemis A world ruled by anthropomorphic gods human in their passions was a world ruled by caprice Philosophy and science start with the bold confession of faith that not caprice but an inherent orderliness underlies the phenomena and the explanation of nature is to be sought within nature itself ndashWKC Guthrie History of Greek Philosophy (Cambridge 1969) 1 44-45

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

Thales of Miletus

bull Lived late 7th-6th centurybull Born to a Phoenician aristocratic

family ndash so leisurebull Traveled to Egypt and Babylon (by

tradition)bull Legendary wisdombull ldquoFounder of Western philosophyrdquo

bull First to seek an ldquooriginal causerdquo (archecirc)

bull to explain how unseen facts caused visible results without appeal to mythology

bull To provide generalizable proofs or laws

Thales of Miletus

AstronomyMathematicsWater as the archecircAll things are full of gods

bull Traditionally Thalesrsquo star student

bull 25 years old during Thalesrsquo eclipse (585 BCE)

bull Lived c 610-540 BCE

bull ldquoFirst to draw the inhabited world on a tabletrdquo (first mapmaker)

bull Unambiguously our first ldquophilosopherrdquo by standards of demythologization originality generality and observation

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

ldquoAnaximander has expurgated the supernatural with a boldness and completeness to which many of his successors failed to attain The primary order is still said to be lsquoaccording to what is ordainedrsquo it is still a moral order in which Justice prevails but the will of the personal God has disappeared and its place is partly taken by a natural cause the eternal motionrdquo

- F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952) 41 Anaximander relief 1st century AD

Rome Museo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Key contributions

bull Physics the archecircbull Cosmologybull ldquoEvolutionrdquobull Astronomy and Cartography

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Anaximander said that the APEIRON [indefinite unlimited] was the ARCHE and the element of things that are and he was the first to introduce this name for the ARCHE He says that the ARCHE is neither water nor any other of the things called elements but some other nature called APEIRON out of which come to be all the heavens and the worlds in them (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2413-18)

The things that are perish into the things out of which they come to be according to necessity for ldquothey pay penalty and retribution to one another according to their injustice in accordance with the ordering of timerdquo as he says in rather poetical language (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2418-21)

Anaximander of Miletus

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The ARCHE

bull One and unlimitedbull But not undefined Itrsquos AIR

Anaximenes of Miletus

bull Not opposites but a continuum FIRE AIR larr WIND larr CLOUD larr WATER larr EARTH larr STONEbull ldquoLooseningrdquo and ldquotighteningrdquo explain hot and cold

H E R A C L I T U S B 1 0 1 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 3 7 )

I searched out myself

Listening not to me but to the logos it is wise to agree that all things are one

H E R A C L I T U S B 5 0 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 1 1 )

E X A M P L E S

THE ROAD TO PHILOSOP HY

The Hero of Lyric Poets of the Polis (6th century)

bull According to the lyric poets of the polis culture such as Pindar Simonides Tyrtaeus and Sappho (7th-6th century BCE)

bull Pursues collective good of the polis based on strong ties of interdependent responsibility amp cooperation in a just world governed by the gods

Individual Freedom The ldquoSophistsrdquo (5th century)

bull Sources in thinkers like Protagoras and Gorgias (5th century BCE predominantly working in Athens) constructed as a category by Platorsquos later writings

bull Pursues individual advantage based on their personal beliefs and wits using persuasion and power skepticism of traditional values

Vulnerability The Hero of Tragedy (5th century)

bull Iconic examples include Sophoclesrsquo Oedipus and Aeschylusrsquo Agamemnon and Orestes

bull Pursuit of individual amp collective good in a world of apparently conflicting divine values sometimes hampered by their own lack of self-knowledge

I N T E R D E P E N D E N C Y I N T R O D U C E S V U L N E R A B I L I T Y W H I C H M AY B E

C E L E B R AT E D O R R E S I S T E D

The Hero of Epic Homer and Hesiod (8th century)

bull Found in the epic Iliad and Odyssey attributed to Homer (c 8th century BCE) examples include the powerful Achilles and thoughtful persuasive Odysseus

bull Pursues individual honour (timē) in a just world governed by the gods

CH

IGI V

AS

E C

70

0 B

CE

The Hero of Reason The ldquoPresocratics (6th-5th cent)

bull Founding figures including Thales Anaximander Anaximenes Pythagoras Heraclitus Parmenides Seeking to understand the basic original causes (aitiai) of the world through reason

I S T H E W O R L D G E N U I N E LY

I N T E L L I G I B L E T O R E A S O N

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Born in Athens to a stonemason named Sophroniscus in 469 BCE

bull ldquoSocratic problemrdquo Socrates wrote nothing we know about him through Plato Xenophon and Aristophanes whose accounts vary

bull Conversed with anyone ldquorich or poor citizen or foreignerrdquo (Apology 23C)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Non-conformity reliance on individual values and wits (contrast with the earlier poets and rhapsodes)

bull Claims of ignorance interest in shared truth and not only persuasion and resistance of ldquoselfish morality (contrast with the sophists)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Methods based on question and answer (the elenchus) requiring unity or consistency (a) of onersquos beliefs and (b) of onersquos beliefs and actions

bull Behaviour peculiar enough to warrant its own verb (sōkratein) (Arist Birds 1282) before generalized philosophia

bull Brought to trial in 399 BCE by two Athenians Meletus and Anytus charged with ldquoimpiety and corrupting the youngrdquo

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

S O C R AT E S C R I T O 4 6 A

I am the kind of person who listens to nothing within me but the logos that on reflection seems

best to me

L O G O S R E A S O N VA L U E C O N S C I E N C E M E A N I N G

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousness A sense of such significances that what is great is fragile and that what is necessary may be destructive which is present in the literature of the fifth century and earlier has disappeared [later] from the ethics of the philosophers and perhaps altogether from their minds Greek philosophy in its sustained pursuit of rational self-sufficiency does turn its back on kinds of human experience and human necessity of which Greek literature itself offers the purest if not the richest expression

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y A N D P H I L O S O P H Y

The continuity between Greek tragedy and Greek philosophy on these questions is however far greater than Williams has allowed On the one hand inside tragedy itself we find arresting portrayals of the human ambition to rational self-sufficiency we come to understand the ways in which problems of exposure motivate this ambition On the other Platos philosophical search for a self- sufficient good life is motivated by a keen sense of these same problems Far from having forgotten about what tragedy describes he sees the problems of exposure so clearly that only a radical solution seems adequate to their depth Nor is he naiumlve about the costs of this solution

N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y P R A C T I C A L C O N F L I C T

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identical which is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A)

Socrates ldquoencourages Euthyphro [a pious Greek] to revise tradition by considering as binding only those requirements concerning which there is divine unanimity he expresses further his own doubt as to whether gods really do disagreerdquo (Nussbaum 30)

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identicalwhich is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A Nussbaum 25)

H E L L A S 6 T H - 5 T H C E N T U R I E S B C Ebull The Hellenic (Greek) world was comprised of hundreds of

individual poleis (city-states)bull Every polis was culturally distinct Calendar Religion Dialect Political system

bull What bound them together Myth expounded in the epic poetry of

Homer amp Hesiod Sport Olympic Games Delphic Games Nemean Games Both exemplify a common world-view a portrayal of

excellence (ARETEcirc) or a human life well-lived

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

THE ROAD TO PHILOSOP HY

The Hero of Lyric Poets of the Polis (6th century)

bull According to the lyric poets of the polis culture such as Pindar Simonides Tyrtaeus and Sappho (7th-6th century BCE)

bull Pursues collective good of the polis based on strong ties of interdependent responsibility amp cooperation in a just world governed by the gods

Individual Freedom The ldquoSophistsrdquo (5th century)

bull Sources in thinkers like Protagoras and Gorgias (5th century BCE predominantly working in Athens) constructed as a category by Platorsquos later writings

bull Pursues individual advantage based on their personal beliefs and wits using persuasion and power skepticism of traditional values

Vulnerability The Hero of Tragedy (5th century)

bull Iconic examples include Sophoclesrsquo Oedipus and Aeschylusrsquo Agamemnon and Orestes

bull Pursuit of individual amp collective good in a world of apparently conflicting divine values sometimes hampered by their own lack of self-knowledge

I N T E R D E P E N D E N C Y I N T R O D U C E S V U L N E R A B I L I T Y W H I C H M AY B E

C E L E B R AT E D O R R E S I S T E D

The Hero of Epic Homer and Hesiod (8th century)

bull Found in the epic Iliad and Odyssey attributed to Homer (c 8th century BCE) examples include the powerful Achilles and thoughtful persuasive Odysseus

bull Pursues individual honour (timē) in a just world governed by the gods

CH

IGI V

AS

E C

70

0 B

CE

The Hero of Reason The ldquoPresocratics (6th-5th cent)

bull Founding figures including Thales Anaximander Anaximenes Pythagoras Heraclitus Parmenides Seeking to understand the basic original causes (aitiai) of the world through reason

I S T H E W O R L D G E N U I N E LY

I N T E L L I G I B L E T O R E A S O N

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

T H E E P I C P O E T S8 T H - 7 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

HomerHesiod

R E V I E W T H E R H A P S O D E S

bull Community of oral poets working from memory

bull Homer

bull Name traditionally given to the author or authors of (at least) two epic poems set in the Bronze Age

bull Iliad and Odyssey

bull Hesiod A farmer-poet

bull Boeotia Greece 8th century BCE

bull Author of two epic poems

bull Theogony beginning of the cosmos [Narrated in Class 1 to the Rise of Zeus]

bull Works amp Days advice on human life

bull Modes of knowing Divine inspiration (the Muses)

bull Ideal of excellence Heros pursuit of honour (kleos timē)

HESIOD (PS-SENECA) ROMAN BRONZE NATIONAL ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM

OF NAPLES

BOEOTIA IN GREECE

larr L A S T W E E K

larr T O D AY

Paris and Helen by Vincenzo dersquo Rossi (1560)

David The Love of Helen amp Paris (1788)

Paris and Helen from Troy (2004)

H O M E R rsquo S I L I A D amp O D Y S S E Y

Enrique Simonet - El Juicio de Paris - 1904

Aeschylus Agamemnon (458 BCE) and Euripides Iphigeneia at Aulis (405 BCE) The Sacrifice of Iphigeneia by Francesco Fontebasso bull 1749 oil on canvas

Sing goddess the anger of Peleusrsquo sun Achilleus and its devastation which put pains thousandfold upon the Achaians

hurled in their multitudes to the house of Hades strong souls of heroes but gave their bodies to be the delicate feasting of dogs of all birds and the will of Zeus was accomplished since that time when first there stood in division of conflict

Atreus son the lord of men and brilliant Achilleus

microῆνιν ἄειδε θεὰ Πηληϊάδεω Ἀχιλῆοςοὐλοmicroένην ἣ microυρί Ἀχαιοῖς ἄλγε ἔθηκε πολλὰς δ ἰφθίmicroους ψυχὰς Ἄϊδι προΐαψενἡρώων αὐτοὺς δὲ ἑλώρια τεῦχε κύνεσσιν οἰωνοῖσί τε πᾶσι Διὸς δ ἐτελείετο βουλή ἐξ οὗ δὴ τὰ πρῶτα διαστήτην ἐρίσαντε

Ἀτρεΐδης τε ἄναξ ἀνδρῶν καὶ δῖος Ἀχιλλεύς

H O M E R I L I A D 1 1 - 7 ( T R L AT T I M O R E )

Chryses prays to Apollo

Achilles amp Hector by G

enzoman D

eviantArtcom

Achilles versus Hector from

Troy (2004)Achilles versus H

ector Attic Vase c 500 BCE

Troy in Flames Completed 1762 by Johann Georg Trautmann (1713-1969)

Ulysses and the Sirens John William Waterhouse 1891

Johann Heinrich Wilhelm Tischbein Odysseus und Penelope

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The quest for immortality

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Divine causation

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

H O M E R I L I A D 9 4 1 0 - 4 1 6

For my mother Thetis the goddess of the silver feet tells me I carry two sorts of destiny toward the day of my death Either

if I stay here and fight beside the city of the Trojans my return home is gone but my glory (kleos) shall be everlasting

but if I return home to the beloved land of my fathers the excellence (esthlon) of my glory is gone but there will be a long life

left for me and my end in death will not come to me quickly

P I N D A R P Y T H 8 9 5 - 9 7

Creatures of the passing day What is any one What is any one not Shadows dream is man But when the radiance given of Zeus comes

there is a bright light upon men and life is sweet

A R E TĒ T I MĒ K L E O S

T H E Q U E S T F O R I M M O R TA L I T Y

S C E N E F R O M T R O Y ( W B 2 0 0 4 ) A C H I L L E S S U M M O N E D B Y A G A M E M N O N Y O U T U B E C O M W AT C H V = R 7 2 K B D G R T D 4

S C E N E F R O M T R O Y ( W B 2 0 0 4 ) A C H I L L E S A N D H E C T O R D U E L Y O U T U B E C O M W AT C H V = N Q 6 2 F R K 7 4 U 0

Athena Achilles Hector Apollo

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Divine causation

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

A G A M E M N O N AT H O M E R I L I A D 1 1 8 1 - 1 8 7

hellip[H]ere is my threat to you Even as Phoibos Apollo is taking away my Chryseis

hellip I shall take the fair-cheeked Briseis your prize I myself going to your shelter that you may learn well how much greater I am than you and another man may shrink back

from likening himself to me and contending against mersquo

A C H I L L E S AT H O M E R I L I A D 9 6 4 6 - 4 8 S E E A L S O 1 6 5 9

Yet still the heart in me swells up in anger when I remember the disgrace that he wrought upon me before the Argives

the son of Atreus as if I were some wanderer without honour (atimētos metanastēs)

Achilleus in amazement turned about and straightway knew Pallas Athene and the terrible eyes shining

He uttered winged words and addressed her Why have you come now o child of Zeus of the aegis once more Is it that you may see

the outrageousness (hubris) of the son of Atreus Agamemnonrsquohellip

A C H I L L E S AT H O M E R I L I A D 1 1 9 9 - 2 0 3

O D Y S S E U S AT H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 2 2 3 5 - 4 1

You dogs You never thought Id come back home from the kingdom of the Trojans so you ravaged my house

lay in bed by force beside my women slaves my women and wooed my wife illicitly though I was alive

fearing neither the gods who hold wide heaven nor that thered be any mens censure thereafter

Now the moment of destruction hangs over you one and all

The slaughter of the suitors by Odysseus and Telemachus 1812 Louis Vincent Palliere

Death of the suitors Athenian red-figure cup c 450-440 BC

A W H A D K I N S ldquo H O M E R I C E T H I C S rdquo I N I M O R R I S amp B P O W E L L ( E D S )

A N E W C O M PA N I O N T O H O M E R ( B R I L L 1 9 9 6 ) 7 0 4 - 5

ldquoThe Homeric hero deprived of any significant quantity of timē reacts violently

aware as he is of the bottom of the scale [the metanastēs]hellip the primary function of the

agathos [good person hero] is to defend his timē with all the resources at his commandrdquo

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Divine causation

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

H U B R I S N E M E S I S

Nemesis by Gheorghe Tattarescu (1853)

Hesiod Works amp Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

Piteously she transfixed by his crooked claws was lamenting When the imperious hawk addressed her in arrogant parlance Why little lady such shrieks One stronger than you now has got you Where you are going Ill take you myself though you are a songstress For as I please Ill make you my dinner or give you your freedom Witless is one who attempts to strive against those who are stronger When he is stripped of the prize its injury added to insult Thus said the fast-flying hawk that bird with the generous wing-span

Pay more attention to justice and curb high-handedness [brother] Violence ill suits those who are lowly not even the noble Person can lightly endure it it weighs on a person whos fallen Into affliction Its better to take your way on the other Road which conduces to right For outrage (hubris) surrenders to justice (dikē)hellip

W E A R E I N Z E U S rsquo JUST W O R L D D E S C R I B E D I N THEOGONY

S I D E B A R D I V I N E C A U S AT I O N

bull The Homeric and Hesiodic herorsquos individual mission only makes sense in a world governed by gods (theoi)

bull Homer Iliad The gods are primarily responsiblecausal of events (aitios)

bull Early Greek science begins here theoi subsequently naturalized as consistent patterns of regularity in human and natural experience (elements laws)

bull Homer Odyssey Humans are (also) responsiblecausal for our own actions

bull How do we use our freedom

AT H E N A A N D O D Y S S E U S T H E O D Y S S E Y ( N B C 1 9 9 7 )

H O M E R I L I A D 5 1 2 3

Athena drew near to his side and spoke to him in winged words Have courage for I have drawn the mist from your eyes

that you may discern in truth gods from humans

So they spoke but Priam aloud called out to Helen Come over where I am dear child and sit down beside me

to look at your husband of time past your friends and your people I am not blaming you (ou ti moi aitiē essi) to me the gods are

responsible (theoihellipaitioi) who drove upon me this sorrowful war against the Achaians

H O M E R I L I A D 3 1 6 4

S I D E B A R D I V I N E C A U S AT I O N

Zeus is probably responsible (aitios) who gives to men who work for bread to each one however he wishes

H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 1 3 4 8 [ T E L E M A C H U S S P E A K S ]

How mortals now blame [from aitios] gods for they say that evils are from us Yet they themselves

have woes beyond their lot by their own recklessnesshellip

H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 1 3 2 [ Z E U S S P E A K S ]

Tell me of these things Muses that dwell on the heights of Olympus From the origin (archē) and say which first of them came into beinghellip

H E S I O D T H E O G O N Y 1 1 4

Responsibility lies with the one who makes the choice the god is blameless (theos anaitios)

P L AT O R E P U B L I C 1 0 6 1 7 E

S I D E B A R D I V I N E C A U S AT I O N

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Divine causation

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

O D Y S S E U S T O P O LY P H E M U S H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 9 2 6 9 - 7 1

But revere the gods most noble one We are supplicants (hiketai) to you Zeus is the avenger (epitimētōr) of suppliants and strangers

the guest god who attends venerable strangers

W E A R E I N Z E U S rsquo W O R L D ( A S D E S C R I B E D I N THEOGONY )

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

T H E LY R I C P O E T SC 6 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Pindar of Thebes

Simonides of Ceos

Sappho of Lesbos

LY R I C I N T R O D U C T I O N

bull Occasional poetry

bull Often sung to the lyre (lyrē) in varied meters

bull CHORAL LYRIC

bull Dancing choruses at religious festivals contests family events

bull Enforcing collective civic values

bull MONODIC LYRIC

bull Individual performance

bull Personal in emotion amp outlookBrygos Painter c 490 BCE

Sappho and Alcaeus

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

Creatures of the passing day What is any one What is any one not Shadows dream is man But when the radiance given of Zeus comes

there is a bright light upon men and life is sweet

P I N D A R P Y T H 8 9 5 - 9 7

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

I praise and embrace everyone who willingly does nothing base (aischron) but with necessity not even the gods fight A man not too helpless suffices for me one who knows the justice that benefits the

city (polis) a sound and healthy man I will not lay blame for the generation of fools is limitless Everything is noble (kala) with which

base deeds are not mingled

S I M O N I D E S 5 4 2 2 7 - 4 0

Simonides is criticizing the traditional definition of the good noble or successful man (agathos esthlos) Such goodness or nobility depends upon external achievements and possessions (wealth honour prowess in battle) which are too insecure to form a real basis for human excellence Instead Simonides stresses intention justice that benefits the city acknowledgement of the fragility of lifehellip

C S E G A L ldquo C H O R A L LY R I C I N T H E F I F T H C E N T U R Y rdquo I N P E E A S T E R L I N G amp B M W K N O X T H E C A M B R I D G E H I S T O R Y O F

C L A S S I C A L L I T E R AT U R E I ( C A M B R I D G E 2 0 0 8 ) 2 2 4

LY R I C C O N T E X T

Hoplites in phalanx formation From the Chigi Vase proto-Corinthian pitcher ca 650-640 BC

3 0 0 ( W A R N E R B R O S 2 0 0 6 ) ldquo W H AT I S Y O U R P R O F E S S I O N rdquo

W W W Y O U T U B E C O M W AT C H V = A N A 3 C O 8 3 _ G K

3 0 0 ( W A R N E R B R O S 2 0 0 6 ) ldquo F I G H T I N T H E S H A D E rdquo

Y O U T U B E 4 J K P G D D M A R S T = 1 2 4

τοιόνδ ἄνθος Περσίδος αἴας οἴχεται ἀνδρῶν

οὓς πέρι πᾶσα χθὼν Ἀσιῆτις ρέψασα πόθῳ στένεται microαλερῷ τοκέης τ ἄλοχοί θ ἡmicroερολεγδὸν τείνοντα χρόνον τροmicroέονται

A E S C H Y L U S P E R S A I 5 9 - 6 4 C P I L I A D 9 4 1 0 - 1 6

S E E C A S E Y D U Eacute T H E C A P T I V E W O M A N rsquo S L A M E N T I N G R E E K T R A G E DY C H 2

Such is the flower [anthos] of the Persian land such is the flower of men that has disappeared

The entire land of Asia laments the men she nourished with fierce

longing [pothos] Parents and wives counting the days

tremble at the increasing length of time

P I N D A R

bull Born near Thebes c 518 BCE

bull Composed important epinician odes (epi-nikia for-a-victory in a contest)

bull Depicts the gods as maintaining civic values of justice (O 1 P 1-3 P 8) compassionate (N 10) and forgiving (O 7456) guardians of polis morality

bull Celebrated ldquoroughrdquo style

bull ldquoA soaring eaglehellip a rushing streamrdquo (Horace Od 42) ldquoA vast firerdquo (Longinus Sublime 335)

Bust of the lyric poet Pindar Roman copy from original of the mid-5 century BC

F I F T H - C E N T U R Y C H O R A L LY R I C

A C O R N T O O A K T R E E N E I L B R O M H A L L bull y o u t u b e Z K 4 L j U R t a D w

Some people pray for gold others for limitless lands but I pray to please my fellow citizens and then to cover my limbs in earth

having praised the praiseworthy and scattered reproof on the wicked Excellence soars upward like a tree fed on fresh dews

lifted among the wise and just toward the liquid upper air The need for friends comes in many forms

it is most valued in times of trouble but joy too craves to look upon trusty support

P I N D A R N E M E A N 8 3 6 - 4 3

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

F R A G I L I T Ybull How can we be praiseworthy if we are vulnerable (to circumstances)

bull [The poetic world-view and Pindarrsquos career as praise poet of aretē require] ldquothe belief that the excellence of a good person is something of that persons own for whose possession and exercise that person can appropriately be held accountablerdquo (Nussbaum 1)

bull But ldquoHow can we be givers and receivers of praise if our worth ishellip a plant in need of wateringrdquo (2)

bull ldquoWe need to be born with adequate capacities to live in fostering natural and social circumstances to stay clear of abrupt catastrophe to develop confirming associations with other human beingsrdquo (1)

bull A further complication ldquoThe tenderness of a plant is not the dazzling hardness of a gemrdquo perhaps ldquopart of the peculiar beauty of human excellence just is its vulnerabilityrdquo (2)

M A R T H A N U S S B A U M T H E F R A G I L I T Y O F G O O D N E S S C H 1 L U C K amp E T H I C S

T H E P O W E R O F R E A S O N [T]here is the consolation that so far Pindar has apparently left something out However much human beings resemble lower forms of life we are unlike we want to insist in one crucial respect We have reason We are able to deliberate and choose to make a plan in which ends are ranked to decide actively what is to have value and how much All this must count for something If it is true that a lot about us is messy needy uncontrolled rooted in the dirt and standing helplessly in the rain it is also true that there is something about us that is pure and purely active something that we could think of as divine immortal intelligible unitary indissoluble ever self-consistent and invariablelsquo [Plato Phaedo 80B] It seems possible that this rational element in us can rule and guide the rest thereby saving the whole person from living at the mercy of luck

N U S S B A U M F R A G I L I T Y 2

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S S O P H I S T S A N D T R A G E D I A N SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Athens

AT H E N S rsquo A C R O P O L I S A S I M A G I N E D B Y L E O V O N K L E N Z E O I L O N C A N VA S 1 8 4 6 N E U E P I N A K O T H E K

A S S A S S I N rsquo S C R E E D O D Y S S E Y bull A T O U R O F AT H E N S U B I S O F T ( 2 0 1 8 )

bull Athens is the first lsquopeople-ruledrsquo polis (dēmokratia) in the Mediterranean world

bull She has achieved unchallenged naval authority and an empire which is labeled a lsquocommonwealthrsquo

bull At the commercial and cultural crossroads of Italy Greece Egypt and the Near East

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

S P E E C H A N D D E M O C R A C Y

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

bull In this cosmopolitan environment traditional views are challenged leading to a perceived erosion of moral values

bull The rhapsodes use poetic forms to transmit traditional morality

bull The tragedians use poetic forms to explore amp challenge mythrsquos assumptions

bull The sophists teach ldquowisdomrdquo (sophia) including rhetoric and political oratory perceived as a new lsquotechnologyrsquo to steer the ship of state for onersquos own ends

bull Use onersquos own wits ldquoA person is the measure of all thingsrdquo Protagoras B1

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

T R A G E D Y V U L N E R A B I L I T Y A N D R E A S O NC 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E AT H E N S

Aeschylus Agamemnon (458 BCE) and Euripides Iphigeneia at Aulis (405 BCE) The Sacrifice of Iphigeneia by Francesco Fontebasso bull 1749 oil on canvas

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousnesshellip what is great is fragile andhellip what is necessary may be destructivehellip

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

In such cases we see a wrong action committed without any direct physical compulsion and in full knowledge of its nature by a person whose ethical character or commitments would otherwise dispose him to reject the acthellip circumstanceshellip prevent the adequate fulfillment of two valid ethical claims

N U S S B A U M 2 5

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

[Aeschylus in Agamemnon] shows us not so much a solution to the problem of practical conflict as the richness and depth of the problem itself (This achievement is closely connected with his poetic resources which put the scene vividly before us show us debate about it and evoke in us responses important to its assessment)

The best the agent can do is to have his suffering the natural expression of his goodness of character and not to stifle these responses out of misguided optimism The best we (the Chorus) can do for him is to respect the gravity of his predicament to respect the responses that express his goodness and to think about his case as showing a possibility for human life in general

N U S S B A U M 4 9 - 5 0

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

bull In a world that allows such dilemmas are there truly gods with a coherent vision for the world

bull Can individual reason and ingenuity suffice for a good life

T H E S O P H I S T SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Hesiod Works amp Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale Piteously she transfixed by his crooked claws was lamenting When the imperious hawk addressed her in arrogant parlance Why little lady such shrieks One stronger than you now has got you Where you are going Ill take you myself though you are a songstress For as I please Ill make you my dinner or give you your freedom Witless is one who attempts to strive against those who are stronger When he is stripped of the prize its injury added to insult Thus said the fast-flying hawk that bird with the generous wing-spanPay more attention to justice and curb high-handedness [brother] Violence ill suits men who are lowly not even the noble Man can lightly endure it it weighs on a person whos fallen Into affliction Its better to take your way on the other Road which conduces to right For outrage (hubris) surrenders to

justice (dikē)hellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Thucydides History 584-116 The Melian Dialogue ATHENIANS [Y]ou know as well as we do that when these matters are discussed by practical people the standard of justice depends on the equality of power to compel and that in fact the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they musthellip Our opinion of the gods and our knowledge of men lead us to conclude that it is a general and necessary law of nature to rule whatever one can This is not a law that we made ourselves nor were we the first to act upon it when it was made We found it already in existence and we shall leave it to exist for ever among those who come after us

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos

advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Republic I 343A-D Thrasymachusrsquo complaint Tell me Socrates do you still have a wet nursehellip Because shersquos letting you run around with a snotty nose and doesnrsquot wipe it when she needs tohellip You think that shepherds and cowherds seek the good of their sheep and cattle and fatten them and take care of them looking to something other than their masterrsquos good and their own Moreover you believe that rulershellip think of something besides their own advantage You are so far from understandinghellip that you donrsquot realize that justice is really the good of another the advantage of the stronger and the ruler and harmful to the one who obeys and serves Injustice is the opposite it rules the truly simple and just and those it rules do what is to the advantage of the other and stronger and they make the one they serve happy but themselves not at all You must look at it as follows my most simple Socrates A just man always gets less than an unjust onehellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Gorgias 482C-484C Callicles on nature and convention [Y]oursquore in fact bringing the discussion around to the sort of crowd-pleasing vulgarities that are admirable only by law [nomos also translatable ldquoconventionrdquo or ldquocustomrdquo] and not by nature And these nature and law are for the most part opposed to each otherhellip I believe that the people who institute our laws are the weak and the many So they institute laws and assign praise and blame with themselves and their own advantage in mind As a way of frightening the more powerfulhellip out of getting a greater share than they they say that getting more than onersquos share is ldquoshamefulrdquo and ldquounjusthelliprdquo But surely if a man whose nature is equal to it arises he will shake off tear apart and escape all this he will trample underfoot our documents our tricks and charms and all our laws that violate nature He the slave will rise up and be revealed as our master and here the justice of nature will shine forth

The New Teachers of Athens

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

P R E - S O C R AT I C ldquo P H I L O S O P H E R S 6 T H - 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

P R E - S O C R AT I C P H I L O S O P H E R S

bull Though not usually calling themselves ldquophilosophersrdquo they seemed to have contributed inspiration for Socratesrsquo method of free inquiry applying logos

bull Scholars adopt different views of what constitutes their innovation and ldquophilosophicalrdquo method (see readings)

bull Basing views on argument and evidence

bull De-ldquomythologizationrdquo

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Miletus

E A R LY P H I L O S O P H Y A N C I E N T M I L E T U S

M I L E T U S

bull Wealthy city-state in Asia Minor

bull Key city for trading and shipping between Near East amp Greece

bull Ionian Greek culture

bull Freedom of thought

bull Open political debate

bull Wealth (for some) providing leisure

bull Thales and his successors Anaximander Anaximenes

bull ldquoPhilosophicalrdquo investigation

bull Later Presocratics Heraclitus ParmenidesldquoORIENTALIZINGrdquo POTTERY

The Milesian school strikes a new note unheard before It has a fresh sense of the meaning of truth ndash a feeling for the sort of thing it is reasonable to suppose The hypothesis it characteristically deals in is concerned with the nature of the one primary stuff the Milesians seem to make a great conscious effort to get at something which really does exist They strike us as throwing off the vast symbolic visions of mythology and waking clear-headed to see and touch real things If we have a rational temperament we feel at once a refreshment Here at last is a statement about the world which is meant and offered as true ndash a logos [explanation] not a mythos [story]

ndash F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952 ed) 42

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The questions which excited them were of this kind Can this apparently confused and disordered world be reduced to simpler principles so that our reason can grasp what it is and how it works What is it made of How does change take place They abandoned mythological and substituted intellectual solutions [It] was no longer satisfying to say that storms were roused by the wrath of Poseidon or death caused by the arrows of Apollo or Artemis A world ruled by anthropomorphic gods human in their passions was a world ruled by caprice Philosophy and science start with the bold confession of faith that not caprice but an inherent orderliness underlies the phenomena and the explanation of nature is to be sought within nature itself ndashWKC Guthrie History of Greek Philosophy (Cambridge 1969) 1 44-45

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

Thales of Miletus

bull Lived late 7th-6th centurybull Born to a Phoenician aristocratic

family ndash so leisurebull Traveled to Egypt and Babylon (by

tradition)bull Legendary wisdombull ldquoFounder of Western philosophyrdquo

bull First to seek an ldquooriginal causerdquo (archecirc)

bull to explain how unseen facts caused visible results without appeal to mythology

bull To provide generalizable proofs or laws

Thales of Miletus

AstronomyMathematicsWater as the archecircAll things are full of gods

bull Traditionally Thalesrsquo star student

bull 25 years old during Thalesrsquo eclipse (585 BCE)

bull Lived c 610-540 BCE

bull ldquoFirst to draw the inhabited world on a tabletrdquo (first mapmaker)

bull Unambiguously our first ldquophilosopherrdquo by standards of demythologization originality generality and observation

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

ldquoAnaximander has expurgated the supernatural with a boldness and completeness to which many of his successors failed to attain The primary order is still said to be lsquoaccording to what is ordainedrsquo it is still a moral order in which Justice prevails but the will of the personal God has disappeared and its place is partly taken by a natural cause the eternal motionrdquo

- F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952) 41 Anaximander relief 1st century AD

Rome Museo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Key contributions

bull Physics the archecircbull Cosmologybull ldquoEvolutionrdquobull Astronomy and Cartography

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Anaximander said that the APEIRON [indefinite unlimited] was the ARCHE and the element of things that are and he was the first to introduce this name for the ARCHE He says that the ARCHE is neither water nor any other of the things called elements but some other nature called APEIRON out of which come to be all the heavens and the worlds in them (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2413-18)

The things that are perish into the things out of which they come to be according to necessity for ldquothey pay penalty and retribution to one another according to their injustice in accordance with the ordering of timerdquo as he says in rather poetical language (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2418-21)

Anaximander of Miletus

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The ARCHE

bull One and unlimitedbull But not undefined Itrsquos AIR

Anaximenes of Miletus

bull Not opposites but a continuum FIRE AIR larr WIND larr CLOUD larr WATER larr EARTH larr STONEbull ldquoLooseningrdquo and ldquotighteningrdquo explain hot and cold

H E R A C L I T U S B 1 0 1 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 3 7 )

I searched out myself

Listening not to me but to the logos it is wise to agree that all things are one

H E R A C L I T U S B 5 0 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 1 1 )

E X A M P L E S

THE ROAD TO PHILOSOP HY

The Hero of Lyric Poets of the Polis (6th century)

bull According to the lyric poets of the polis culture such as Pindar Simonides Tyrtaeus and Sappho (7th-6th century BCE)

bull Pursues collective good of the polis based on strong ties of interdependent responsibility amp cooperation in a just world governed by the gods

Individual Freedom The ldquoSophistsrdquo (5th century)

bull Sources in thinkers like Protagoras and Gorgias (5th century BCE predominantly working in Athens) constructed as a category by Platorsquos later writings

bull Pursues individual advantage based on their personal beliefs and wits using persuasion and power skepticism of traditional values

Vulnerability The Hero of Tragedy (5th century)

bull Iconic examples include Sophoclesrsquo Oedipus and Aeschylusrsquo Agamemnon and Orestes

bull Pursuit of individual amp collective good in a world of apparently conflicting divine values sometimes hampered by their own lack of self-knowledge

I N T E R D E P E N D E N C Y I N T R O D U C E S V U L N E R A B I L I T Y W H I C H M AY B E

C E L E B R AT E D O R R E S I S T E D

The Hero of Epic Homer and Hesiod (8th century)

bull Found in the epic Iliad and Odyssey attributed to Homer (c 8th century BCE) examples include the powerful Achilles and thoughtful persuasive Odysseus

bull Pursues individual honour (timē) in a just world governed by the gods

CH

IGI V

AS

E C

70

0 B

CE

The Hero of Reason The ldquoPresocratics (6th-5th cent)

bull Founding figures including Thales Anaximander Anaximenes Pythagoras Heraclitus Parmenides Seeking to understand the basic original causes (aitiai) of the world through reason

I S T H E W O R L D G E N U I N E LY

I N T E L L I G I B L E T O R E A S O N

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Born in Athens to a stonemason named Sophroniscus in 469 BCE

bull ldquoSocratic problemrdquo Socrates wrote nothing we know about him through Plato Xenophon and Aristophanes whose accounts vary

bull Conversed with anyone ldquorich or poor citizen or foreignerrdquo (Apology 23C)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Non-conformity reliance on individual values and wits (contrast with the earlier poets and rhapsodes)

bull Claims of ignorance interest in shared truth and not only persuasion and resistance of ldquoselfish morality (contrast with the sophists)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Methods based on question and answer (the elenchus) requiring unity or consistency (a) of onersquos beliefs and (b) of onersquos beliefs and actions

bull Behaviour peculiar enough to warrant its own verb (sōkratein) (Arist Birds 1282) before generalized philosophia

bull Brought to trial in 399 BCE by two Athenians Meletus and Anytus charged with ldquoimpiety and corrupting the youngrdquo

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

S O C R AT E S C R I T O 4 6 A

I am the kind of person who listens to nothing within me but the logos that on reflection seems

best to me

L O G O S R E A S O N VA L U E C O N S C I E N C E M E A N I N G

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousness A sense of such significances that what is great is fragile and that what is necessary may be destructive which is present in the literature of the fifth century and earlier has disappeared [later] from the ethics of the philosophers and perhaps altogether from their minds Greek philosophy in its sustained pursuit of rational self-sufficiency does turn its back on kinds of human experience and human necessity of which Greek literature itself offers the purest if not the richest expression

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y A N D P H I L O S O P H Y

The continuity between Greek tragedy and Greek philosophy on these questions is however far greater than Williams has allowed On the one hand inside tragedy itself we find arresting portrayals of the human ambition to rational self-sufficiency we come to understand the ways in which problems of exposure motivate this ambition On the other Platos philosophical search for a self- sufficient good life is motivated by a keen sense of these same problems Far from having forgotten about what tragedy describes he sees the problems of exposure so clearly that only a radical solution seems adequate to their depth Nor is he naiumlve about the costs of this solution

N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y P R A C T I C A L C O N F L I C T

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identical which is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A)

Socrates ldquoencourages Euthyphro [a pious Greek] to revise tradition by considering as binding only those requirements concerning which there is divine unanimity he expresses further his own doubt as to whether gods really do disagreerdquo (Nussbaum 30)

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identicalwhich is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A Nussbaum 25)

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

THE ROAD TO PHILOSOP HY

The Hero of Lyric Poets of the Polis (6th century)

bull According to the lyric poets of the polis culture such as Pindar Simonides Tyrtaeus and Sappho (7th-6th century BCE)

bull Pursues collective good of the polis based on strong ties of interdependent responsibility amp cooperation in a just world governed by the gods

Individual Freedom The ldquoSophistsrdquo (5th century)

bull Sources in thinkers like Protagoras and Gorgias (5th century BCE predominantly working in Athens) constructed as a category by Platorsquos later writings

bull Pursues individual advantage based on their personal beliefs and wits using persuasion and power skepticism of traditional values

Vulnerability The Hero of Tragedy (5th century)

bull Iconic examples include Sophoclesrsquo Oedipus and Aeschylusrsquo Agamemnon and Orestes

bull Pursuit of individual amp collective good in a world of apparently conflicting divine values sometimes hampered by their own lack of self-knowledge

I N T E R D E P E N D E N C Y I N T R O D U C E S V U L N E R A B I L I T Y W H I C H M AY B E

C E L E B R AT E D O R R E S I S T E D

The Hero of Epic Homer and Hesiod (8th century)

bull Found in the epic Iliad and Odyssey attributed to Homer (c 8th century BCE) examples include the powerful Achilles and thoughtful persuasive Odysseus

bull Pursues individual honour (timē) in a just world governed by the gods

CH

IGI V

AS

E C

70

0 B

CE

The Hero of Reason The ldquoPresocratics (6th-5th cent)

bull Founding figures including Thales Anaximander Anaximenes Pythagoras Heraclitus Parmenides Seeking to understand the basic original causes (aitiai) of the world through reason

I S T H E W O R L D G E N U I N E LY

I N T E L L I G I B L E T O R E A S O N

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

T H E E P I C P O E T S8 T H - 7 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

HomerHesiod

R E V I E W T H E R H A P S O D E S

bull Community of oral poets working from memory

bull Homer

bull Name traditionally given to the author or authors of (at least) two epic poems set in the Bronze Age

bull Iliad and Odyssey

bull Hesiod A farmer-poet

bull Boeotia Greece 8th century BCE

bull Author of two epic poems

bull Theogony beginning of the cosmos [Narrated in Class 1 to the Rise of Zeus]

bull Works amp Days advice on human life

bull Modes of knowing Divine inspiration (the Muses)

bull Ideal of excellence Heros pursuit of honour (kleos timē)

HESIOD (PS-SENECA) ROMAN BRONZE NATIONAL ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM

OF NAPLES

BOEOTIA IN GREECE

larr L A S T W E E K

larr T O D AY

Paris and Helen by Vincenzo dersquo Rossi (1560)

David The Love of Helen amp Paris (1788)

Paris and Helen from Troy (2004)

H O M E R rsquo S I L I A D amp O D Y S S E Y

Enrique Simonet - El Juicio de Paris - 1904

Aeschylus Agamemnon (458 BCE) and Euripides Iphigeneia at Aulis (405 BCE) The Sacrifice of Iphigeneia by Francesco Fontebasso bull 1749 oil on canvas

Sing goddess the anger of Peleusrsquo sun Achilleus and its devastation which put pains thousandfold upon the Achaians

hurled in their multitudes to the house of Hades strong souls of heroes but gave their bodies to be the delicate feasting of dogs of all birds and the will of Zeus was accomplished since that time when first there stood in division of conflict

Atreus son the lord of men and brilliant Achilleus

microῆνιν ἄειδε θεὰ Πηληϊάδεω Ἀχιλῆοςοὐλοmicroένην ἣ microυρί Ἀχαιοῖς ἄλγε ἔθηκε πολλὰς δ ἰφθίmicroους ψυχὰς Ἄϊδι προΐαψενἡρώων αὐτοὺς δὲ ἑλώρια τεῦχε κύνεσσιν οἰωνοῖσί τε πᾶσι Διὸς δ ἐτελείετο βουλή ἐξ οὗ δὴ τὰ πρῶτα διαστήτην ἐρίσαντε

Ἀτρεΐδης τε ἄναξ ἀνδρῶν καὶ δῖος Ἀχιλλεύς

H O M E R I L I A D 1 1 - 7 ( T R L AT T I M O R E )

Chryses prays to Apollo

Achilles amp Hector by G

enzoman D

eviantArtcom

Achilles versus Hector from

Troy (2004)Achilles versus H

ector Attic Vase c 500 BCE

Troy in Flames Completed 1762 by Johann Georg Trautmann (1713-1969)

Ulysses and the Sirens John William Waterhouse 1891

Johann Heinrich Wilhelm Tischbein Odysseus und Penelope

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The quest for immortality

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Divine causation

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

H O M E R I L I A D 9 4 1 0 - 4 1 6

For my mother Thetis the goddess of the silver feet tells me I carry two sorts of destiny toward the day of my death Either

if I stay here and fight beside the city of the Trojans my return home is gone but my glory (kleos) shall be everlasting

but if I return home to the beloved land of my fathers the excellence (esthlon) of my glory is gone but there will be a long life

left for me and my end in death will not come to me quickly

P I N D A R P Y T H 8 9 5 - 9 7

Creatures of the passing day What is any one What is any one not Shadows dream is man But when the radiance given of Zeus comes

there is a bright light upon men and life is sweet

A R E TĒ T I MĒ K L E O S

T H E Q U E S T F O R I M M O R TA L I T Y

S C E N E F R O M T R O Y ( W B 2 0 0 4 ) A C H I L L E S S U M M O N E D B Y A G A M E M N O N Y O U T U B E C O M W AT C H V = R 7 2 K B D G R T D 4

S C E N E F R O M T R O Y ( W B 2 0 0 4 ) A C H I L L E S A N D H E C T O R D U E L Y O U T U B E C O M W AT C H V = N Q 6 2 F R K 7 4 U 0

Athena Achilles Hector Apollo

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Divine causation

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

A G A M E M N O N AT H O M E R I L I A D 1 1 8 1 - 1 8 7

hellip[H]ere is my threat to you Even as Phoibos Apollo is taking away my Chryseis

hellip I shall take the fair-cheeked Briseis your prize I myself going to your shelter that you may learn well how much greater I am than you and another man may shrink back

from likening himself to me and contending against mersquo

A C H I L L E S AT H O M E R I L I A D 9 6 4 6 - 4 8 S E E A L S O 1 6 5 9

Yet still the heart in me swells up in anger when I remember the disgrace that he wrought upon me before the Argives

the son of Atreus as if I were some wanderer without honour (atimētos metanastēs)

Achilleus in amazement turned about and straightway knew Pallas Athene and the terrible eyes shining

He uttered winged words and addressed her Why have you come now o child of Zeus of the aegis once more Is it that you may see

the outrageousness (hubris) of the son of Atreus Agamemnonrsquohellip

A C H I L L E S AT H O M E R I L I A D 1 1 9 9 - 2 0 3

O D Y S S E U S AT H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 2 2 3 5 - 4 1

You dogs You never thought Id come back home from the kingdom of the Trojans so you ravaged my house

lay in bed by force beside my women slaves my women and wooed my wife illicitly though I was alive

fearing neither the gods who hold wide heaven nor that thered be any mens censure thereafter

Now the moment of destruction hangs over you one and all

The slaughter of the suitors by Odysseus and Telemachus 1812 Louis Vincent Palliere

Death of the suitors Athenian red-figure cup c 450-440 BC

A W H A D K I N S ldquo H O M E R I C E T H I C S rdquo I N I M O R R I S amp B P O W E L L ( E D S )

A N E W C O M PA N I O N T O H O M E R ( B R I L L 1 9 9 6 ) 7 0 4 - 5

ldquoThe Homeric hero deprived of any significant quantity of timē reacts violently

aware as he is of the bottom of the scale [the metanastēs]hellip the primary function of the

agathos [good person hero] is to defend his timē with all the resources at his commandrdquo

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Divine causation

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

H U B R I S N E M E S I S

Nemesis by Gheorghe Tattarescu (1853)

Hesiod Works amp Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

Piteously she transfixed by his crooked claws was lamenting When the imperious hawk addressed her in arrogant parlance Why little lady such shrieks One stronger than you now has got you Where you are going Ill take you myself though you are a songstress For as I please Ill make you my dinner or give you your freedom Witless is one who attempts to strive against those who are stronger When he is stripped of the prize its injury added to insult Thus said the fast-flying hawk that bird with the generous wing-span

Pay more attention to justice and curb high-handedness [brother] Violence ill suits those who are lowly not even the noble Person can lightly endure it it weighs on a person whos fallen Into affliction Its better to take your way on the other Road which conduces to right For outrage (hubris) surrenders to justice (dikē)hellip

W E A R E I N Z E U S rsquo JUST W O R L D D E S C R I B E D I N THEOGONY

S I D E B A R D I V I N E C A U S AT I O N

bull The Homeric and Hesiodic herorsquos individual mission only makes sense in a world governed by gods (theoi)

bull Homer Iliad The gods are primarily responsiblecausal of events (aitios)

bull Early Greek science begins here theoi subsequently naturalized as consistent patterns of regularity in human and natural experience (elements laws)

bull Homer Odyssey Humans are (also) responsiblecausal for our own actions

bull How do we use our freedom

AT H E N A A N D O D Y S S E U S T H E O D Y S S E Y ( N B C 1 9 9 7 )

H O M E R I L I A D 5 1 2 3

Athena drew near to his side and spoke to him in winged words Have courage for I have drawn the mist from your eyes

that you may discern in truth gods from humans

So they spoke but Priam aloud called out to Helen Come over where I am dear child and sit down beside me

to look at your husband of time past your friends and your people I am not blaming you (ou ti moi aitiē essi) to me the gods are

responsible (theoihellipaitioi) who drove upon me this sorrowful war against the Achaians

H O M E R I L I A D 3 1 6 4

S I D E B A R D I V I N E C A U S AT I O N

Zeus is probably responsible (aitios) who gives to men who work for bread to each one however he wishes

H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 1 3 4 8 [ T E L E M A C H U S S P E A K S ]

How mortals now blame [from aitios] gods for they say that evils are from us Yet they themselves

have woes beyond their lot by their own recklessnesshellip

H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 1 3 2 [ Z E U S S P E A K S ]

Tell me of these things Muses that dwell on the heights of Olympus From the origin (archē) and say which first of them came into beinghellip

H E S I O D T H E O G O N Y 1 1 4

Responsibility lies with the one who makes the choice the god is blameless (theos anaitios)

P L AT O R E P U B L I C 1 0 6 1 7 E

S I D E B A R D I V I N E C A U S AT I O N

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Divine causation

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

O D Y S S E U S T O P O LY P H E M U S H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 9 2 6 9 - 7 1

But revere the gods most noble one We are supplicants (hiketai) to you Zeus is the avenger (epitimētōr) of suppliants and strangers

the guest god who attends venerable strangers

W E A R E I N Z E U S rsquo W O R L D ( A S D E S C R I B E D I N THEOGONY )

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

T H E LY R I C P O E T SC 6 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Pindar of Thebes

Simonides of Ceos

Sappho of Lesbos

LY R I C I N T R O D U C T I O N

bull Occasional poetry

bull Often sung to the lyre (lyrē) in varied meters

bull CHORAL LYRIC

bull Dancing choruses at religious festivals contests family events

bull Enforcing collective civic values

bull MONODIC LYRIC

bull Individual performance

bull Personal in emotion amp outlookBrygos Painter c 490 BCE

Sappho and Alcaeus

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

Creatures of the passing day What is any one What is any one not Shadows dream is man But when the radiance given of Zeus comes

there is a bright light upon men and life is sweet

P I N D A R P Y T H 8 9 5 - 9 7

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

I praise and embrace everyone who willingly does nothing base (aischron) but with necessity not even the gods fight A man not too helpless suffices for me one who knows the justice that benefits the

city (polis) a sound and healthy man I will not lay blame for the generation of fools is limitless Everything is noble (kala) with which

base deeds are not mingled

S I M O N I D E S 5 4 2 2 7 - 4 0

Simonides is criticizing the traditional definition of the good noble or successful man (agathos esthlos) Such goodness or nobility depends upon external achievements and possessions (wealth honour prowess in battle) which are too insecure to form a real basis for human excellence Instead Simonides stresses intention justice that benefits the city acknowledgement of the fragility of lifehellip

C S E G A L ldquo C H O R A L LY R I C I N T H E F I F T H C E N T U R Y rdquo I N P E E A S T E R L I N G amp B M W K N O X T H E C A M B R I D G E H I S T O R Y O F

C L A S S I C A L L I T E R AT U R E I ( C A M B R I D G E 2 0 0 8 ) 2 2 4

LY R I C C O N T E X T

Hoplites in phalanx formation From the Chigi Vase proto-Corinthian pitcher ca 650-640 BC

3 0 0 ( W A R N E R B R O S 2 0 0 6 ) ldquo W H AT I S Y O U R P R O F E S S I O N rdquo

W W W Y O U T U B E C O M W AT C H V = A N A 3 C O 8 3 _ G K

3 0 0 ( W A R N E R B R O S 2 0 0 6 ) ldquo F I G H T I N T H E S H A D E rdquo

Y O U T U B E 4 J K P G D D M A R S T = 1 2 4

τοιόνδ ἄνθος Περσίδος αἴας οἴχεται ἀνδρῶν

οὓς πέρι πᾶσα χθὼν Ἀσιῆτις ρέψασα πόθῳ στένεται microαλερῷ τοκέης τ ἄλοχοί θ ἡmicroερολεγδὸν τείνοντα χρόνον τροmicroέονται

A E S C H Y L U S P E R S A I 5 9 - 6 4 C P I L I A D 9 4 1 0 - 1 6

S E E C A S E Y D U Eacute T H E C A P T I V E W O M A N rsquo S L A M E N T I N G R E E K T R A G E DY C H 2

Such is the flower [anthos] of the Persian land such is the flower of men that has disappeared

The entire land of Asia laments the men she nourished with fierce

longing [pothos] Parents and wives counting the days

tremble at the increasing length of time

P I N D A R

bull Born near Thebes c 518 BCE

bull Composed important epinician odes (epi-nikia for-a-victory in a contest)

bull Depicts the gods as maintaining civic values of justice (O 1 P 1-3 P 8) compassionate (N 10) and forgiving (O 7456) guardians of polis morality

bull Celebrated ldquoroughrdquo style

bull ldquoA soaring eaglehellip a rushing streamrdquo (Horace Od 42) ldquoA vast firerdquo (Longinus Sublime 335)

Bust of the lyric poet Pindar Roman copy from original of the mid-5 century BC

F I F T H - C E N T U R Y C H O R A L LY R I C

A C O R N T O O A K T R E E N E I L B R O M H A L L bull y o u t u b e Z K 4 L j U R t a D w

Some people pray for gold others for limitless lands but I pray to please my fellow citizens and then to cover my limbs in earth

having praised the praiseworthy and scattered reproof on the wicked Excellence soars upward like a tree fed on fresh dews

lifted among the wise and just toward the liquid upper air The need for friends comes in many forms

it is most valued in times of trouble but joy too craves to look upon trusty support

P I N D A R N E M E A N 8 3 6 - 4 3

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

F R A G I L I T Ybull How can we be praiseworthy if we are vulnerable (to circumstances)

bull [The poetic world-view and Pindarrsquos career as praise poet of aretē require] ldquothe belief that the excellence of a good person is something of that persons own for whose possession and exercise that person can appropriately be held accountablerdquo (Nussbaum 1)

bull But ldquoHow can we be givers and receivers of praise if our worth ishellip a plant in need of wateringrdquo (2)

bull ldquoWe need to be born with adequate capacities to live in fostering natural and social circumstances to stay clear of abrupt catastrophe to develop confirming associations with other human beingsrdquo (1)

bull A further complication ldquoThe tenderness of a plant is not the dazzling hardness of a gemrdquo perhaps ldquopart of the peculiar beauty of human excellence just is its vulnerabilityrdquo (2)

M A R T H A N U S S B A U M T H E F R A G I L I T Y O F G O O D N E S S C H 1 L U C K amp E T H I C S

T H E P O W E R O F R E A S O N [T]here is the consolation that so far Pindar has apparently left something out However much human beings resemble lower forms of life we are unlike we want to insist in one crucial respect We have reason We are able to deliberate and choose to make a plan in which ends are ranked to decide actively what is to have value and how much All this must count for something If it is true that a lot about us is messy needy uncontrolled rooted in the dirt and standing helplessly in the rain it is also true that there is something about us that is pure and purely active something that we could think of as divine immortal intelligible unitary indissoluble ever self-consistent and invariablelsquo [Plato Phaedo 80B] It seems possible that this rational element in us can rule and guide the rest thereby saving the whole person from living at the mercy of luck

N U S S B A U M F R A G I L I T Y 2

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S S O P H I S T S A N D T R A G E D I A N SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Athens

AT H E N S rsquo A C R O P O L I S A S I M A G I N E D B Y L E O V O N K L E N Z E O I L O N C A N VA S 1 8 4 6 N E U E P I N A K O T H E K

A S S A S S I N rsquo S C R E E D O D Y S S E Y bull A T O U R O F AT H E N S U B I S O F T ( 2 0 1 8 )

bull Athens is the first lsquopeople-ruledrsquo polis (dēmokratia) in the Mediterranean world

bull She has achieved unchallenged naval authority and an empire which is labeled a lsquocommonwealthrsquo

bull At the commercial and cultural crossroads of Italy Greece Egypt and the Near East

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

S P E E C H A N D D E M O C R A C Y

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

bull In this cosmopolitan environment traditional views are challenged leading to a perceived erosion of moral values

bull The rhapsodes use poetic forms to transmit traditional morality

bull The tragedians use poetic forms to explore amp challenge mythrsquos assumptions

bull The sophists teach ldquowisdomrdquo (sophia) including rhetoric and political oratory perceived as a new lsquotechnologyrsquo to steer the ship of state for onersquos own ends

bull Use onersquos own wits ldquoA person is the measure of all thingsrdquo Protagoras B1

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

T R A G E D Y V U L N E R A B I L I T Y A N D R E A S O NC 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E AT H E N S

Aeschylus Agamemnon (458 BCE) and Euripides Iphigeneia at Aulis (405 BCE) The Sacrifice of Iphigeneia by Francesco Fontebasso bull 1749 oil on canvas

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousnesshellip what is great is fragile andhellip what is necessary may be destructivehellip

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

In such cases we see a wrong action committed without any direct physical compulsion and in full knowledge of its nature by a person whose ethical character or commitments would otherwise dispose him to reject the acthellip circumstanceshellip prevent the adequate fulfillment of two valid ethical claims

N U S S B A U M 2 5

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

[Aeschylus in Agamemnon] shows us not so much a solution to the problem of practical conflict as the richness and depth of the problem itself (This achievement is closely connected with his poetic resources which put the scene vividly before us show us debate about it and evoke in us responses important to its assessment)

The best the agent can do is to have his suffering the natural expression of his goodness of character and not to stifle these responses out of misguided optimism The best we (the Chorus) can do for him is to respect the gravity of his predicament to respect the responses that express his goodness and to think about his case as showing a possibility for human life in general

N U S S B A U M 4 9 - 5 0

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

bull In a world that allows such dilemmas are there truly gods with a coherent vision for the world

bull Can individual reason and ingenuity suffice for a good life

T H E S O P H I S T SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Hesiod Works amp Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale Piteously she transfixed by his crooked claws was lamenting When the imperious hawk addressed her in arrogant parlance Why little lady such shrieks One stronger than you now has got you Where you are going Ill take you myself though you are a songstress For as I please Ill make you my dinner or give you your freedom Witless is one who attempts to strive against those who are stronger When he is stripped of the prize its injury added to insult Thus said the fast-flying hawk that bird with the generous wing-spanPay more attention to justice and curb high-handedness [brother] Violence ill suits men who are lowly not even the noble Man can lightly endure it it weighs on a person whos fallen Into affliction Its better to take your way on the other Road which conduces to right For outrage (hubris) surrenders to

justice (dikē)hellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Thucydides History 584-116 The Melian Dialogue ATHENIANS [Y]ou know as well as we do that when these matters are discussed by practical people the standard of justice depends on the equality of power to compel and that in fact the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they musthellip Our opinion of the gods and our knowledge of men lead us to conclude that it is a general and necessary law of nature to rule whatever one can This is not a law that we made ourselves nor were we the first to act upon it when it was made We found it already in existence and we shall leave it to exist for ever among those who come after us

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos

advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Republic I 343A-D Thrasymachusrsquo complaint Tell me Socrates do you still have a wet nursehellip Because shersquos letting you run around with a snotty nose and doesnrsquot wipe it when she needs tohellip You think that shepherds and cowherds seek the good of their sheep and cattle and fatten them and take care of them looking to something other than their masterrsquos good and their own Moreover you believe that rulershellip think of something besides their own advantage You are so far from understandinghellip that you donrsquot realize that justice is really the good of another the advantage of the stronger and the ruler and harmful to the one who obeys and serves Injustice is the opposite it rules the truly simple and just and those it rules do what is to the advantage of the other and stronger and they make the one they serve happy but themselves not at all You must look at it as follows my most simple Socrates A just man always gets less than an unjust onehellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Gorgias 482C-484C Callicles on nature and convention [Y]oursquore in fact bringing the discussion around to the sort of crowd-pleasing vulgarities that are admirable only by law [nomos also translatable ldquoconventionrdquo or ldquocustomrdquo] and not by nature And these nature and law are for the most part opposed to each otherhellip I believe that the people who institute our laws are the weak and the many So they institute laws and assign praise and blame with themselves and their own advantage in mind As a way of frightening the more powerfulhellip out of getting a greater share than they they say that getting more than onersquos share is ldquoshamefulrdquo and ldquounjusthelliprdquo But surely if a man whose nature is equal to it arises he will shake off tear apart and escape all this he will trample underfoot our documents our tricks and charms and all our laws that violate nature He the slave will rise up and be revealed as our master and here the justice of nature will shine forth

The New Teachers of Athens

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

P R E - S O C R AT I C ldquo P H I L O S O P H E R S 6 T H - 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

P R E - S O C R AT I C P H I L O S O P H E R S

bull Though not usually calling themselves ldquophilosophersrdquo they seemed to have contributed inspiration for Socratesrsquo method of free inquiry applying logos

bull Scholars adopt different views of what constitutes their innovation and ldquophilosophicalrdquo method (see readings)

bull Basing views on argument and evidence

bull De-ldquomythologizationrdquo

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Miletus

E A R LY P H I L O S O P H Y A N C I E N T M I L E T U S

M I L E T U S

bull Wealthy city-state in Asia Minor

bull Key city for trading and shipping between Near East amp Greece

bull Ionian Greek culture

bull Freedom of thought

bull Open political debate

bull Wealth (for some) providing leisure

bull Thales and his successors Anaximander Anaximenes

bull ldquoPhilosophicalrdquo investigation

bull Later Presocratics Heraclitus ParmenidesldquoORIENTALIZINGrdquo POTTERY

The Milesian school strikes a new note unheard before It has a fresh sense of the meaning of truth ndash a feeling for the sort of thing it is reasonable to suppose The hypothesis it characteristically deals in is concerned with the nature of the one primary stuff the Milesians seem to make a great conscious effort to get at something which really does exist They strike us as throwing off the vast symbolic visions of mythology and waking clear-headed to see and touch real things If we have a rational temperament we feel at once a refreshment Here at last is a statement about the world which is meant and offered as true ndash a logos [explanation] not a mythos [story]

ndash F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952 ed) 42

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The questions which excited them were of this kind Can this apparently confused and disordered world be reduced to simpler principles so that our reason can grasp what it is and how it works What is it made of How does change take place They abandoned mythological and substituted intellectual solutions [It] was no longer satisfying to say that storms were roused by the wrath of Poseidon or death caused by the arrows of Apollo or Artemis A world ruled by anthropomorphic gods human in their passions was a world ruled by caprice Philosophy and science start with the bold confession of faith that not caprice but an inherent orderliness underlies the phenomena and the explanation of nature is to be sought within nature itself ndashWKC Guthrie History of Greek Philosophy (Cambridge 1969) 1 44-45

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

Thales of Miletus

bull Lived late 7th-6th centurybull Born to a Phoenician aristocratic

family ndash so leisurebull Traveled to Egypt and Babylon (by

tradition)bull Legendary wisdombull ldquoFounder of Western philosophyrdquo

bull First to seek an ldquooriginal causerdquo (archecirc)

bull to explain how unseen facts caused visible results without appeal to mythology

bull To provide generalizable proofs or laws

Thales of Miletus

AstronomyMathematicsWater as the archecircAll things are full of gods

bull Traditionally Thalesrsquo star student

bull 25 years old during Thalesrsquo eclipse (585 BCE)

bull Lived c 610-540 BCE

bull ldquoFirst to draw the inhabited world on a tabletrdquo (first mapmaker)

bull Unambiguously our first ldquophilosopherrdquo by standards of demythologization originality generality and observation

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

ldquoAnaximander has expurgated the supernatural with a boldness and completeness to which many of his successors failed to attain The primary order is still said to be lsquoaccording to what is ordainedrsquo it is still a moral order in which Justice prevails but the will of the personal God has disappeared and its place is partly taken by a natural cause the eternal motionrdquo

- F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952) 41 Anaximander relief 1st century AD

Rome Museo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Key contributions

bull Physics the archecircbull Cosmologybull ldquoEvolutionrdquobull Astronomy and Cartography

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Anaximander said that the APEIRON [indefinite unlimited] was the ARCHE and the element of things that are and he was the first to introduce this name for the ARCHE He says that the ARCHE is neither water nor any other of the things called elements but some other nature called APEIRON out of which come to be all the heavens and the worlds in them (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2413-18)

The things that are perish into the things out of which they come to be according to necessity for ldquothey pay penalty and retribution to one another according to their injustice in accordance with the ordering of timerdquo as he says in rather poetical language (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2418-21)

Anaximander of Miletus

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The ARCHE

bull One and unlimitedbull But not undefined Itrsquos AIR

Anaximenes of Miletus

bull Not opposites but a continuum FIRE AIR larr WIND larr CLOUD larr WATER larr EARTH larr STONEbull ldquoLooseningrdquo and ldquotighteningrdquo explain hot and cold

H E R A C L I T U S B 1 0 1 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 3 7 )

I searched out myself

Listening not to me but to the logos it is wise to agree that all things are one

H E R A C L I T U S B 5 0 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 1 1 )

E X A M P L E S

THE ROAD TO PHILOSOP HY

The Hero of Lyric Poets of the Polis (6th century)

bull According to the lyric poets of the polis culture such as Pindar Simonides Tyrtaeus and Sappho (7th-6th century BCE)

bull Pursues collective good of the polis based on strong ties of interdependent responsibility amp cooperation in a just world governed by the gods

Individual Freedom The ldquoSophistsrdquo (5th century)

bull Sources in thinkers like Protagoras and Gorgias (5th century BCE predominantly working in Athens) constructed as a category by Platorsquos later writings

bull Pursues individual advantage based on their personal beliefs and wits using persuasion and power skepticism of traditional values

Vulnerability The Hero of Tragedy (5th century)

bull Iconic examples include Sophoclesrsquo Oedipus and Aeschylusrsquo Agamemnon and Orestes

bull Pursuit of individual amp collective good in a world of apparently conflicting divine values sometimes hampered by their own lack of self-knowledge

I N T E R D E P E N D E N C Y I N T R O D U C E S V U L N E R A B I L I T Y W H I C H M AY B E

C E L E B R AT E D O R R E S I S T E D

The Hero of Epic Homer and Hesiod (8th century)

bull Found in the epic Iliad and Odyssey attributed to Homer (c 8th century BCE) examples include the powerful Achilles and thoughtful persuasive Odysseus

bull Pursues individual honour (timē) in a just world governed by the gods

CH

IGI V

AS

E C

70

0 B

CE

The Hero of Reason The ldquoPresocratics (6th-5th cent)

bull Founding figures including Thales Anaximander Anaximenes Pythagoras Heraclitus Parmenides Seeking to understand the basic original causes (aitiai) of the world through reason

I S T H E W O R L D G E N U I N E LY

I N T E L L I G I B L E T O R E A S O N

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Born in Athens to a stonemason named Sophroniscus in 469 BCE

bull ldquoSocratic problemrdquo Socrates wrote nothing we know about him through Plato Xenophon and Aristophanes whose accounts vary

bull Conversed with anyone ldquorich or poor citizen or foreignerrdquo (Apology 23C)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Non-conformity reliance on individual values and wits (contrast with the earlier poets and rhapsodes)

bull Claims of ignorance interest in shared truth and not only persuasion and resistance of ldquoselfish morality (contrast with the sophists)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Methods based on question and answer (the elenchus) requiring unity or consistency (a) of onersquos beliefs and (b) of onersquos beliefs and actions

bull Behaviour peculiar enough to warrant its own verb (sōkratein) (Arist Birds 1282) before generalized philosophia

bull Brought to trial in 399 BCE by two Athenians Meletus and Anytus charged with ldquoimpiety and corrupting the youngrdquo

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

S O C R AT E S C R I T O 4 6 A

I am the kind of person who listens to nothing within me but the logos that on reflection seems

best to me

L O G O S R E A S O N VA L U E C O N S C I E N C E M E A N I N G

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousness A sense of such significances that what is great is fragile and that what is necessary may be destructive which is present in the literature of the fifth century and earlier has disappeared [later] from the ethics of the philosophers and perhaps altogether from their minds Greek philosophy in its sustained pursuit of rational self-sufficiency does turn its back on kinds of human experience and human necessity of which Greek literature itself offers the purest if not the richest expression

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y A N D P H I L O S O P H Y

The continuity between Greek tragedy and Greek philosophy on these questions is however far greater than Williams has allowed On the one hand inside tragedy itself we find arresting portrayals of the human ambition to rational self-sufficiency we come to understand the ways in which problems of exposure motivate this ambition On the other Platos philosophical search for a self- sufficient good life is motivated by a keen sense of these same problems Far from having forgotten about what tragedy describes he sees the problems of exposure so clearly that only a radical solution seems adequate to their depth Nor is he naiumlve about the costs of this solution

N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y P R A C T I C A L C O N F L I C T

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identical which is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A)

Socrates ldquoencourages Euthyphro [a pious Greek] to revise tradition by considering as binding only those requirements concerning which there is divine unanimity he expresses further his own doubt as to whether gods really do disagreerdquo (Nussbaum 30)

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identicalwhich is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A Nussbaum 25)

THE ROAD TO PHILOSOP HY

The Hero of Lyric Poets of the Polis (6th century)

bull According to the lyric poets of the polis culture such as Pindar Simonides Tyrtaeus and Sappho (7th-6th century BCE)

bull Pursues collective good of the polis based on strong ties of interdependent responsibility amp cooperation in a just world governed by the gods

Individual Freedom The ldquoSophistsrdquo (5th century)

bull Sources in thinkers like Protagoras and Gorgias (5th century BCE predominantly working in Athens) constructed as a category by Platorsquos later writings

bull Pursues individual advantage based on their personal beliefs and wits using persuasion and power skepticism of traditional values

Vulnerability The Hero of Tragedy (5th century)

bull Iconic examples include Sophoclesrsquo Oedipus and Aeschylusrsquo Agamemnon and Orestes

bull Pursuit of individual amp collective good in a world of apparently conflicting divine values sometimes hampered by their own lack of self-knowledge

I N T E R D E P E N D E N C Y I N T R O D U C E S V U L N E R A B I L I T Y W H I C H M AY B E

C E L E B R AT E D O R R E S I S T E D

The Hero of Epic Homer and Hesiod (8th century)

bull Found in the epic Iliad and Odyssey attributed to Homer (c 8th century BCE) examples include the powerful Achilles and thoughtful persuasive Odysseus

bull Pursues individual honour (timē) in a just world governed by the gods

CH

IGI V

AS

E C

70

0 B

CE

The Hero of Reason The ldquoPresocratics (6th-5th cent)

bull Founding figures including Thales Anaximander Anaximenes Pythagoras Heraclitus Parmenides Seeking to understand the basic original causes (aitiai) of the world through reason

I S T H E W O R L D G E N U I N E LY

I N T E L L I G I B L E T O R E A S O N

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

T H E E P I C P O E T S8 T H - 7 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

HomerHesiod

R E V I E W T H E R H A P S O D E S

bull Community of oral poets working from memory

bull Homer

bull Name traditionally given to the author or authors of (at least) two epic poems set in the Bronze Age

bull Iliad and Odyssey

bull Hesiod A farmer-poet

bull Boeotia Greece 8th century BCE

bull Author of two epic poems

bull Theogony beginning of the cosmos [Narrated in Class 1 to the Rise of Zeus]

bull Works amp Days advice on human life

bull Modes of knowing Divine inspiration (the Muses)

bull Ideal of excellence Heros pursuit of honour (kleos timē)

HESIOD (PS-SENECA) ROMAN BRONZE NATIONAL ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM

OF NAPLES

BOEOTIA IN GREECE

larr L A S T W E E K

larr T O D AY

Paris and Helen by Vincenzo dersquo Rossi (1560)

David The Love of Helen amp Paris (1788)

Paris and Helen from Troy (2004)

H O M E R rsquo S I L I A D amp O D Y S S E Y

Enrique Simonet - El Juicio de Paris - 1904

Aeschylus Agamemnon (458 BCE) and Euripides Iphigeneia at Aulis (405 BCE) The Sacrifice of Iphigeneia by Francesco Fontebasso bull 1749 oil on canvas

Sing goddess the anger of Peleusrsquo sun Achilleus and its devastation which put pains thousandfold upon the Achaians

hurled in their multitudes to the house of Hades strong souls of heroes but gave their bodies to be the delicate feasting of dogs of all birds and the will of Zeus was accomplished since that time when first there stood in division of conflict

Atreus son the lord of men and brilliant Achilleus

microῆνιν ἄειδε θεὰ Πηληϊάδεω Ἀχιλῆοςοὐλοmicroένην ἣ microυρί Ἀχαιοῖς ἄλγε ἔθηκε πολλὰς δ ἰφθίmicroους ψυχὰς Ἄϊδι προΐαψενἡρώων αὐτοὺς δὲ ἑλώρια τεῦχε κύνεσσιν οἰωνοῖσί τε πᾶσι Διὸς δ ἐτελείετο βουλή ἐξ οὗ δὴ τὰ πρῶτα διαστήτην ἐρίσαντε

Ἀτρεΐδης τε ἄναξ ἀνδρῶν καὶ δῖος Ἀχιλλεύς

H O M E R I L I A D 1 1 - 7 ( T R L AT T I M O R E )

Chryses prays to Apollo

Achilles amp Hector by G

enzoman D

eviantArtcom

Achilles versus Hector from

Troy (2004)Achilles versus H

ector Attic Vase c 500 BCE

Troy in Flames Completed 1762 by Johann Georg Trautmann (1713-1969)

Ulysses and the Sirens John William Waterhouse 1891

Johann Heinrich Wilhelm Tischbein Odysseus und Penelope

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The quest for immortality

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Divine causation

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

H O M E R I L I A D 9 4 1 0 - 4 1 6

For my mother Thetis the goddess of the silver feet tells me I carry two sorts of destiny toward the day of my death Either

if I stay here and fight beside the city of the Trojans my return home is gone but my glory (kleos) shall be everlasting

but if I return home to the beloved land of my fathers the excellence (esthlon) of my glory is gone but there will be a long life

left for me and my end in death will not come to me quickly

P I N D A R P Y T H 8 9 5 - 9 7

Creatures of the passing day What is any one What is any one not Shadows dream is man But when the radiance given of Zeus comes

there is a bright light upon men and life is sweet

A R E TĒ T I MĒ K L E O S

T H E Q U E S T F O R I M M O R TA L I T Y

S C E N E F R O M T R O Y ( W B 2 0 0 4 ) A C H I L L E S S U M M O N E D B Y A G A M E M N O N Y O U T U B E C O M W AT C H V = R 7 2 K B D G R T D 4

S C E N E F R O M T R O Y ( W B 2 0 0 4 ) A C H I L L E S A N D H E C T O R D U E L Y O U T U B E C O M W AT C H V = N Q 6 2 F R K 7 4 U 0

Athena Achilles Hector Apollo

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Divine causation

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

A G A M E M N O N AT H O M E R I L I A D 1 1 8 1 - 1 8 7

hellip[H]ere is my threat to you Even as Phoibos Apollo is taking away my Chryseis

hellip I shall take the fair-cheeked Briseis your prize I myself going to your shelter that you may learn well how much greater I am than you and another man may shrink back

from likening himself to me and contending against mersquo

A C H I L L E S AT H O M E R I L I A D 9 6 4 6 - 4 8 S E E A L S O 1 6 5 9

Yet still the heart in me swells up in anger when I remember the disgrace that he wrought upon me before the Argives

the son of Atreus as if I were some wanderer without honour (atimētos metanastēs)

Achilleus in amazement turned about and straightway knew Pallas Athene and the terrible eyes shining

He uttered winged words and addressed her Why have you come now o child of Zeus of the aegis once more Is it that you may see

the outrageousness (hubris) of the son of Atreus Agamemnonrsquohellip

A C H I L L E S AT H O M E R I L I A D 1 1 9 9 - 2 0 3

O D Y S S E U S AT H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 2 2 3 5 - 4 1

You dogs You never thought Id come back home from the kingdom of the Trojans so you ravaged my house

lay in bed by force beside my women slaves my women and wooed my wife illicitly though I was alive

fearing neither the gods who hold wide heaven nor that thered be any mens censure thereafter

Now the moment of destruction hangs over you one and all

The slaughter of the suitors by Odysseus and Telemachus 1812 Louis Vincent Palliere

Death of the suitors Athenian red-figure cup c 450-440 BC

A W H A D K I N S ldquo H O M E R I C E T H I C S rdquo I N I M O R R I S amp B P O W E L L ( E D S )

A N E W C O M PA N I O N T O H O M E R ( B R I L L 1 9 9 6 ) 7 0 4 - 5

ldquoThe Homeric hero deprived of any significant quantity of timē reacts violently

aware as he is of the bottom of the scale [the metanastēs]hellip the primary function of the

agathos [good person hero] is to defend his timē with all the resources at his commandrdquo

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Divine causation

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

H U B R I S N E M E S I S

Nemesis by Gheorghe Tattarescu (1853)

Hesiod Works amp Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

Piteously she transfixed by his crooked claws was lamenting When the imperious hawk addressed her in arrogant parlance Why little lady such shrieks One stronger than you now has got you Where you are going Ill take you myself though you are a songstress For as I please Ill make you my dinner or give you your freedom Witless is one who attempts to strive against those who are stronger When he is stripped of the prize its injury added to insult Thus said the fast-flying hawk that bird with the generous wing-span

Pay more attention to justice and curb high-handedness [brother] Violence ill suits those who are lowly not even the noble Person can lightly endure it it weighs on a person whos fallen Into affliction Its better to take your way on the other Road which conduces to right For outrage (hubris) surrenders to justice (dikē)hellip

W E A R E I N Z E U S rsquo JUST W O R L D D E S C R I B E D I N THEOGONY

S I D E B A R D I V I N E C A U S AT I O N

bull The Homeric and Hesiodic herorsquos individual mission only makes sense in a world governed by gods (theoi)

bull Homer Iliad The gods are primarily responsiblecausal of events (aitios)

bull Early Greek science begins here theoi subsequently naturalized as consistent patterns of regularity in human and natural experience (elements laws)

bull Homer Odyssey Humans are (also) responsiblecausal for our own actions

bull How do we use our freedom

AT H E N A A N D O D Y S S E U S T H E O D Y S S E Y ( N B C 1 9 9 7 )

H O M E R I L I A D 5 1 2 3

Athena drew near to his side and spoke to him in winged words Have courage for I have drawn the mist from your eyes

that you may discern in truth gods from humans

So they spoke but Priam aloud called out to Helen Come over where I am dear child and sit down beside me

to look at your husband of time past your friends and your people I am not blaming you (ou ti moi aitiē essi) to me the gods are

responsible (theoihellipaitioi) who drove upon me this sorrowful war against the Achaians

H O M E R I L I A D 3 1 6 4

S I D E B A R D I V I N E C A U S AT I O N

Zeus is probably responsible (aitios) who gives to men who work for bread to each one however he wishes

H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 1 3 4 8 [ T E L E M A C H U S S P E A K S ]

How mortals now blame [from aitios] gods for they say that evils are from us Yet they themselves

have woes beyond their lot by their own recklessnesshellip

H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 1 3 2 [ Z E U S S P E A K S ]

Tell me of these things Muses that dwell on the heights of Olympus From the origin (archē) and say which first of them came into beinghellip

H E S I O D T H E O G O N Y 1 1 4

Responsibility lies with the one who makes the choice the god is blameless (theos anaitios)

P L AT O R E P U B L I C 1 0 6 1 7 E

S I D E B A R D I V I N E C A U S AT I O N

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Divine causation

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

O D Y S S E U S T O P O LY P H E M U S H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 9 2 6 9 - 7 1

But revere the gods most noble one We are supplicants (hiketai) to you Zeus is the avenger (epitimētōr) of suppliants and strangers

the guest god who attends venerable strangers

W E A R E I N Z E U S rsquo W O R L D ( A S D E S C R I B E D I N THEOGONY )

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

T H E LY R I C P O E T SC 6 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Pindar of Thebes

Simonides of Ceos

Sappho of Lesbos

LY R I C I N T R O D U C T I O N

bull Occasional poetry

bull Often sung to the lyre (lyrē) in varied meters

bull CHORAL LYRIC

bull Dancing choruses at religious festivals contests family events

bull Enforcing collective civic values

bull MONODIC LYRIC

bull Individual performance

bull Personal in emotion amp outlookBrygos Painter c 490 BCE

Sappho and Alcaeus

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

Creatures of the passing day What is any one What is any one not Shadows dream is man But when the radiance given of Zeus comes

there is a bright light upon men and life is sweet

P I N D A R P Y T H 8 9 5 - 9 7

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

I praise and embrace everyone who willingly does nothing base (aischron) but with necessity not even the gods fight A man not too helpless suffices for me one who knows the justice that benefits the

city (polis) a sound and healthy man I will not lay blame for the generation of fools is limitless Everything is noble (kala) with which

base deeds are not mingled

S I M O N I D E S 5 4 2 2 7 - 4 0

Simonides is criticizing the traditional definition of the good noble or successful man (agathos esthlos) Such goodness or nobility depends upon external achievements and possessions (wealth honour prowess in battle) which are too insecure to form a real basis for human excellence Instead Simonides stresses intention justice that benefits the city acknowledgement of the fragility of lifehellip

C S E G A L ldquo C H O R A L LY R I C I N T H E F I F T H C E N T U R Y rdquo I N P E E A S T E R L I N G amp B M W K N O X T H E C A M B R I D G E H I S T O R Y O F

C L A S S I C A L L I T E R AT U R E I ( C A M B R I D G E 2 0 0 8 ) 2 2 4

LY R I C C O N T E X T

Hoplites in phalanx formation From the Chigi Vase proto-Corinthian pitcher ca 650-640 BC

3 0 0 ( W A R N E R B R O S 2 0 0 6 ) ldquo W H AT I S Y O U R P R O F E S S I O N rdquo

W W W Y O U T U B E C O M W AT C H V = A N A 3 C O 8 3 _ G K

3 0 0 ( W A R N E R B R O S 2 0 0 6 ) ldquo F I G H T I N T H E S H A D E rdquo

Y O U T U B E 4 J K P G D D M A R S T = 1 2 4

τοιόνδ ἄνθος Περσίδος αἴας οἴχεται ἀνδρῶν

οὓς πέρι πᾶσα χθὼν Ἀσιῆτις ρέψασα πόθῳ στένεται microαλερῷ τοκέης τ ἄλοχοί θ ἡmicroερολεγδὸν τείνοντα χρόνον τροmicroέονται

A E S C H Y L U S P E R S A I 5 9 - 6 4 C P I L I A D 9 4 1 0 - 1 6

S E E C A S E Y D U Eacute T H E C A P T I V E W O M A N rsquo S L A M E N T I N G R E E K T R A G E DY C H 2

Such is the flower [anthos] of the Persian land such is the flower of men that has disappeared

The entire land of Asia laments the men she nourished with fierce

longing [pothos] Parents and wives counting the days

tremble at the increasing length of time

P I N D A R

bull Born near Thebes c 518 BCE

bull Composed important epinician odes (epi-nikia for-a-victory in a contest)

bull Depicts the gods as maintaining civic values of justice (O 1 P 1-3 P 8) compassionate (N 10) and forgiving (O 7456) guardians of polis morality

bull Celebrated ldquoroughrdquo style

bull ldquoA soaring eaglehellip a rushing streamrdquo (Horace Od 42) ldquoA vast firerdquo (Longinus Sublime 335)

Bust of the lyric poet Pindar Roman copy from original of the mid-5 century BC

F I F T H - C E N T U R Y C H O R A L LY R I C

A C O R N T O O A K T R E E N E I L B R O M H A L L bull y o u t u b e Z K 4 L j U R t a D w

Some people pray for gold others for limitless lands but I pray to please my fellow citizens and then to cover my limbs in earth

having praised the praiseworthy and scattered reproof on the wicked Excellence soars upward like a tree fed on fresh dews

lifted among the wise and just toward the liquid upper air The need for friends comes in many forms

it is most valued in times of trouble but joy too craves to look upon trusty support

P I N D A R N E M E A N 8 3 6 - 4 3

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

F R A G I L I T Ybull How can we be praiseworthy if we are vulnerable (to circumstances)

bull [The poetic world-view and Pindarrsquos career as praise poet of aretē require] ldquothe belief that the excellence of a good person is something of that persons own for whose possession and exercise that person can appropriately be held accountablerdquo (Nussbaum 1)

bull But ldquoHow can we be givers and receivers of praise if our worth ishellip a plant in need of wateringrdquo (2)

bull ldquoWe need to be born with adequate capacities to live in fostering natural and social circumstances to stay clear of abrupt catastrophe to develop confirming associations with other human beingsrdquo (1)

bull A further complication ldquoThe tenderness of a plant is not the dazzling hardness of a gemrdquo perhaps ldquopart of the peculiar beauty of human excellence just is its vulnerabilityrdquo (2)

M A R T H A N U S S B A U M T H E F R A G I L I T Y O F G O O D N E S S C H 1 L U C K amp E T H I C S

T H E P O W E R O F R E A S O N [T]here is the consolation that so far Pindar has apparently left something out However much human beings resemble lower forms of life we are unlike we want to insist in one crucial respect We have reason We are able to deliberate and choose to make a plan in which ends are ranked to decide actively what is to have value and how much All this must count for something If it is true that a lot about us is messy needy uncontrolled rooted in the dirt and standing helplessly in the rain it is also true that there is something about us that is pure and purely active something that we could think of as divine immortal intelligible unitary indissoluble ever self-consistent and invariablelsquo [Plato Phaedo 80B] It seems possible that this rational element in us can rule and guide the rest thereby saving the whole person from living at the mercy of luck

N U S S B A U M F R A G I L I T Y 2

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S S O P H I S T S A N D T R A G E D I A N SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Athens

AT H E N S rsquo A C R O P O L I S A S I M A G I N E D B Y L E O V O N K L E N Z E O I L O N C A N VA S 1 8 4 6 N E U E P I N A K O T H E K

A S S A S S I N rsquo S C R E E D O D Y S S E Y bull A T O U R O F AT H E N S U B I S O F T ( 2 0 1 8 )

bull Athens is the first lsquopeople-ruledrsquo polis (dēmokratia) in the Mediterranean world

bull She has achieved unchallenged naval authority and an empire which is labeled a lsquocommonwealthrsquo

bull At the commercial and cultural crossroads of Italy Greece Egypt and the Near East

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

S P E E C H A N D D E M O C R A C Y

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

bull In this cosmopolitan environment traditional views are challenged leading to a perceived erosion of moral values

bull The rhapsodes use poetic forms to transmit traditional morality

bull The tragedians use poetic forms to explore amp challenge mythrsquos assumptions

bull The sophists teach ldquowisdomrdquo (sophia) including rhetoric and political oratory perceived as a new lsquotechnologyrsquo to steer the ship of state for onersquos own ends

bull Use onersquos own wits ldquoA person is the measure of all thingsrdquo Protagoras B1

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

T R A G E D Y V U L N E R A B I L I T Y A N D R E A S O NC 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E AT H E N S

Aeschylus Agamemnon (458 BCE) and Euripides Iphigeneia at Aulis (405 BCE) The Sacrifice of Iphigeneia by Francesco Fontebasso bull 1749 oil on canvas

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousnesshellip what is great is fragile andhellip what is necessary may be destructivehellip

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

In such cases we see a wrong action committed without any direct physical compulsion and in full knowledge of its nature by a person whose ethical character or commitments would otherwise dispose him to reject the acthellip circumstanceshellip prevent the adequate fulfillment of two valid ethical claims

N U S S B A U M 2 5

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

[Aeschylus in Agamemnon] shows us not so much a solution to the problem of practical conflict as the richness and depth of the problem itself (This achievement is closely connected with his poetic resources which put the scene vividly before us show us debate about it and evoke in us responses important to its assessment)

The best the agent can do is to have his suffering the natural expression of his goodness of character and not to stifle these responses out of misguided optimism The best we (the Chorus) can do for him is to respect the gravity of his predicament to respect the responses that express his goodness and to think about his case as showing a possibility for human life in general

N U S S B A U M 4 9 - 5 0

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

bull In a world that allows such dilemmas are there truly gods with a coherent vision for the world

bull Can individual reason and ingenuity suffice for a good life

T H E S O P H I S T SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Hesiod Works amp Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale Piteously she transfixed by his crooked claws was lamenting When the imperious hawk addressed her in arrogant parlance Why little lady such shrieks One stronger than you now has got you Where you are going Ill take you myself though you are a songstress For as I please Ill make you my dinner or give you your freedom Witless is one who attempts to strive against those who are stronger When he is stripped of the prize its injury added to insult Thus said the fast-flying hawk that bird with the generous wing-spanPay more attention to justice and curb high-handedness [brother] Violence ill suits men who are lowly not even the noble Man can lightly endure it it weighs on a person whos fallen Into affliction Its better to take your way on the other Road which conduces to right For outrage (hubris) surrenders to

justice (dikē)hellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Thucydides History 584-116 The Melian Dialogue ATHENIANS [Y]ou know as well as we do that when these matters are discussed by practical people the standard of justice depends on the equality of power to compel and that in fact the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they musthellip Our opinion of the gods and our knowledge of men lead us to conclude that it is a general and necessary law of nature to rule whatever one can This is not a law that we made ourselves nor were we the first to act upon it when it was made We found it already in existence and we shall leave it to exist for ever among those who come after us

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos

advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Republic I 343A-D Thrasymachusrsquo complaint Tell me Socrates do you still have a wet nursehellip Because shersquos letting you run around with a snotty nose and doesnrsquot wipe it when she needs tohellip You think that shepherds and cowherds seek the good of their sheep and cattle and fatten them and take care of them looking to something other than their masterrsquos good and their own Moreover you believe that rulershellip think of something besides their own advantage You are so far from understandinghellip that you donrsquot realize that justice is really the good of another the advantage of the stronger and the ruler and harmful to the one who obeys and serves Injustice is the opposite it rules the truly simple and just and those it rules do what is to the advantage of the other and stronger and they make the one they serve happy but themselves not at all You must look at it as follows my most simple Socrates A just man always gets less than an unjust onehellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Gorgias 482C-484C Callicles on nature and convention [Y]oursquore in fact bringing the discussion around to the sort of crowd-pleasing vulgarities that are admirable only by law [nomos also translatable ldquoconventionrdquo or ldquocustomrdquo] and not by nature And these nature and law are for the most part opposed to each otherhellip I believe that the people who institute our laws are the weak and the many So they institute laws and assign praise and blame with themselves and their own advantage in mind As a way of frightening the more powerfulhellip out of getting a greater share than they they say that getting more than onersquos share is ldquoshamefulrdquo and ldquounjusthelliprdquo But surely if a man whose nature is equal to it arises he will shake off tear apart and escape all this he will trample underfoot our documents our tricks and charms and all our laws that violate nature He the slave will rise up and be revealed as our master and here the justice of nature will shine forth

The New Teachers of Athens

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

P R E - S O C R AT I C ldquo P H I L O S O P H E R S 6 T H - 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

P R E - S O C R AT I C P H I L O S O P H E R S

bull Though not usually calling themselves ldquophilosophersrdquo they seemed to have contributed inspiration for Socratesrsquo method of free inquiry applying logos

bull Scholars adopt different views of what constitutes their innovation and ldquophilosophicalrdquo method (see readings)

bull Basing views on argument and evidence

bull De-ldquomythologizationrdquo

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Miletus

E A R LY P H I L O S O P H Y A N C I E N T M I L E T U S

M I L E T U S

bull Wealthy city-state in Asia Minor

bull Key city for trading and shipping between Near East amp Greece

bull Ionian Greek culture

bull Freedom of thought

bull Open political debate

bull Wealth (for some) providing leisure

bull Thales and his successors Anaximander Anaximenes

bull ldquoPhilosophicalrdquo investigation

bull Later Presocratics Heraclitus ParmenidesldquoORIENTALIZINGrdquo POTTERY

The Milesian school strikes a new note unheard before It has a fresh sense of the meaning of truth ndash a feeling for the sort of thing it is reasonable to suppose The hypothesis it characteristically deals in is concerned with the nature of the one primary stuff the Milesians seem to make a great conscious effort to get at something which really does exist They strike us as throwing off the vast symbolic visions of mythology and waking clear-headed to see and touch real things If we have a rational temperament we feel at once a refreshment Here at last is a statement about the world which is meant and offered as true ndash a logos [explanation] not a mythos [story]

ndash F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952 ed) 42

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The questions which excited them were of this kind Can this apparently confused and disordered world be reduced to simpler principles so that our reason can grasp what it is and how it works What is it made of How does change take place They abandoned mythological and substituted intellectual solutions [It] was no longer satisfying to say that storms were roused by the wrath of Poseidon or death caused by the arrows of Apollo or Artemis A world ruled by anthropomorphic gods human in their passions was a world ruled by caprice Philosophy and science start with the bold confession of faith that not caprice but an inherent orderliness underlies the phenomena and the explanation of nature is to be sought within nature itself ndashWKC Guthrie History of Greek Philosophy (Cambridge 1969) 1 44-45

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

Thales of Miletus

bull Lived late 7th-6th centurybull Born to a Phoenician aristocratic

family ndash so leisurebull Traveled to Egypt and Babylon (by

tradition)bull Legendary wisdombull ldquoFounder of Western philosophyrdquo

bull First to seek an ldquooriginal causerdquo (archecirc)

bull to explain how unseen facts caused visible results without appeal to mythology

bull To provide generalizable proofs or laws

Thales of Miletus

AstronomyMathematicsWater as the archecircAll things are full of gods

bull Traditionally Thalesrsquo star student

bull 25 years old during Thalesrsquo eclipse (585 BCE)

bull Lived c 610-540 BCE

bull ldquoFirst to draw the inhabited world on a tabletrdquo (first mapmaker)

bull Unambiguously our first ldquophilosopherrdquo by standards of demythologization originality generality and observation

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

ldquoAnaximander has expurgated the supernatural with a boldness and completeness to which many of his successors failed to attain The primary order is still said to be lsquoaccording to what is ordainedrsquo it is still a moral order in which Justice prevails but the will of the personal God has disappeared and its place is partly taken by a natural cause the eternal motionrdquo

- F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952) 41 Anaximander relief 1st century AD

Rome Museo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Key contributions

bull Physics the archecircbull Cosmologybull ldquoEvolutionrdquobull Astronomy and Cartography

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Anaximander said that the APEIRON [indefinite unlimited] was the ARCHE and the element of things that are and he was the first to introduce this name for the ARCHE He says that the ARCHE is neither water nor any other of the things called elements but some other nature called APEIRON out of which come to be all the heavens and the worlds in them (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2413-18)

The things that are perish into the things out of which they come to be according to necessity for ldquothey pay penalty and retribution to one another according to their injustice in accordance with the ordering of timerdquo as he says in rather poetical language (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2418-21)

Anaximander of Miletus

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The ARCHE

bull One and unlimitedbull But not undefined Itrsquos AIR

Anaximenes of Miletus

bull Not opposites but a continuum FIRE AIR larr WIND larr CLOUD larr WATER larr EARTH larr STONEbull ldquoLooseningrdquo and ldquotighteningrdquo explain hot and cold

H E R A C L I T U S B 1 0 1 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 3 7 )

I searched out myself

Listening not to me but to the logos it is wise to agree that all things are one

H E R A C L I T U S B 5 0 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 1 1 )

E X A M P L E S

THE ROAD TO PHILOSOP HY

The Hero of Lyric Poets of the Polis (6th century)

bull According to the lyric poets of the polis culture such as Pindar Simonides Tyrtaeus and Sappho (7th-6th century BCE)

bull Pursues collective good of the polis based on strong ties of interdependent responsibility amp cooperation in a just world governed by the gods

Individual Freedom The ldquoSophistsrdquo (5th century)

bull Sources in thinkers like Protagoras and Gorgias (5th century BCE predominantly working in Athens) constructed as a category by Platorsquos later writings

bull Pursues individual advantage based on their personal beliefs and wits using persuasion and power skepticism of traditional values

Vulnerability The Hero of Tragedy (5th century)

bull Iconic examples include Sophoclesrsquo Oedipus and Aeschylusrsquo Agamemnon and Orestes

bull Pursuit of individual amp collective good in a world of apparently conflicting divine values sometimes hampered by their own lack of self-knowledge

I N T E R D E P E N D E N C Y I N T R O D U C E S V U L N E R A B I L I T Y W H I C H M AY B E

C E L E B R AT E D O R R E S I S T E D

The Hero of Epic Homer and Hesiod (8th century)

bull Found in the epic Iliad and Odyssey attributed to Homer (c 8th century BCE) examples include the powerful Achilles and thoughtful persuasive Odysseus

bull Pursues individual honour (timē) in a just world governed by the gods

CH

IGI V

AS

E C

70

0 B

CE

The Hero of Reason The ldquoPresocratics (6th-5th cent)

bull Founding figures including Thales Anaximander Anaximenes Pythagoras Heraclitus Parmenides Seeking to understand the basic original causes (aitiai) of the world through reason

I S T H E W O R L D G E N U I N E LY

I N T E L L I G I B L E T O R E A S O N

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Born in Athens to a stonemason named Sophroniscus in 469 BCE

bull ldquoSocratic problemrdquo Socrates wrote nothing we know about him through Plato Xenophon and Aristophanes whose accounts vary

bull Conversed with anyone ldquorich or poor citizen or foreignerrdquo (Apology 23C)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Non-conformity reliance on individual values and wits (contrast with the earlier poets and rhapsodes)

bull Claims of ignorance interest in shared truth and not only persuasion and resistance of ldquoselfish morality (contrast with the sophists)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Methods based on question and answer (the elenchus) requiring unity or consistency (a) of onersquos beliefs and (b) of onersquos beliefs and actions

bull Behaviour peculiar enough to warrant its own verb (sōkratein) (Arist Birds 1282) before generalized philosophia

bull Brought to trial in 399 BCE by two Athenians Meletus and Anytus charged with ldquoimpiety and corrupting the youngrdquo

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

S O C R AT E S C R I T O 4 6 A

I am the kind of person who listens to nothing within me but the logos that on reflection seems

best to me

L O G O S R E A S O N VA L U E C O N S C I E N C E M E A N I N G

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousness A sense of such significances that what is great is fragile and that what is necessary may be destructive which is present in the literature of the fifth century and earlier has disappeared [later] from the ethics of the philosophers and perhaps altogether from their minds Greek philosophy in its sustained pursuit of rational self-sufficiency does turn its back on kinds of human experience and human necessity of which Greek literature itself offers the purest if not the richest expression

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y A N D P H I L O S O P H Y

The continuity between Greek tragedy and Greek philosophy on these questions is however far greater than Williams has allowed On the one hand inside tragedy itself we find arresting portrayals of the human ambition to rational self-sufficiency we come to understand the ways in which problems of exposure motivate this ambition On the other Platos philosophical search for a self- sufficient good life is motivated by a keen sense of these same problems Far from having forgotten about what tragedy describes he sees the problems of exposure so clearly that only a radical solution seems adequate to their depth Nor is he naiumlve about the costs of this solution

N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y P R A C T I C A L C O N F L I C T

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identical which is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A)

Socrates ldquoencourages Euthyphro [a pious Greek] to revise tradition by considering as binding only those requirements concerning which there is divine unanimity he expresses further his own doubt as to whether gods really do disagreerdquo (Nussbaum 30)

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identicalwhich is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A Nussbaum 25)

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

T H E E P I C P O E T S8 T H - 7 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

HomerHesiod

R E V I E W T H E R H A P S O D E S

bull Community of oral poets working from memory

bull Homer

bull Name traditionally given to the author or authors of (at least) two epic poems set in the Bronze Age

bull Iliad and Odyssey

bull Hesiod A farmer-poet

bull Boeotia Greece 8th century BCE

bull Author of two epic poems

bull Theogony beginning of the cosmos [Narrated in Class 1 to the Rise of Zeus]

bull Works amp Days advice on human life

bull Modes of knowing Divine inspiration (the Muses)

bull Ideal of excellence Heros pursuit of honour (kleos timē)

HESIOD (PS-SENECA) ROMAN BRONZE NATIONAL ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM

OF NAPLES

BOEOTIA IN GREECE

larr L A S T W E E K

larr T O D AY

Paris and Helen by Vincenzo dersquo Rossi (1560)

David The Love of Helen amp Paris (1788)

Paris and Helen from Troy (2004)

H O M E R rsquo S I L I A D amp O D Y S S E Y

Enrique Simonet - El Juicio de Paris - 1904

Aeschylus Agamemnon (458 BCE) and Euripides Iphigeneia at Aulis (405 BCE) The Sacrifice of Iphigeneia by Francesco Fontebasso bull 1749 oil on canvas

Sing goddess the anger of Peleusrsquo sun Achilleus and its devastation which put pains thousandfold upon the Achaians

hurled in their multitudes to the house of Hades strong souls of heroes but gave their bodies to be the delicate feasting of dogs of all birds and the will of Zeus was accomplished since that time when first there stood in division of conflict

Atreus son the lord of men and brilliant Achilleus

microῆνιν ἄειδε θεὰ Πηληϊάδεω Ἀχιλῆοςοὐλοmicroένην ἣ microυρί Ἀχαιοῖς ἄλγε ἔθηκε πολλὰς δ ἰφθίmicroους ψυχὰς Ἄϊδι προΐαψενἡρώων αὐτοὺς δὲ ἑλώρια τεῦχε κύνεσσιν οἰωνοῖσί τε πᾶσι Διὸς δ ἐτελείετο βουλή ἐξ οὗ δὴ τὰ πρῶτα διαστήτην ἐρίσαντε

Ἀτρεΐδης τε ἄναξ ἀνδρῶν καὶ δῖος Ἀχιλλεύς

H O M E R I L I A D 1 1 - 7 ( T R L AT T I M O R E )

Chryses prays to Apollo

Achilles amp Hector by G

enzoman D

eviantArtcom

Achilles versus Hector from

Troy (2004)Achilles versus H

ector Attic Vase c 500 BCE

Troy in Flames Completed 1762 by Johann Georg Trautmann (1713-1969)

Ulysses and the Sirens John William Waterhouse 1891

Johann Heinrich Wilhelm Tischbein Odysseus und Penelope

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The quest for immortality

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Divine causation

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

H O M E R I L I A D 9 4 1 0 - 4 1 6

For my mother Thetis the goddess of the silver feet tells me I carry two sorts of destiny toward the day of my death Either

if I stay here and fight beside the city of the Trojans my return home is gone but my glory (kleos) shall be everlasting

but if I return home to the beloved land of my fathers the excellence (esthlon) of my glory is gone but there will be a long life

left for me and my end in death will not come to me quickly

P I N D A R P Y T H 8 9 5 - 9 7

Creatures of the passing day What is any one What is any one not Shadows dream is man But when the radiance given of Zeus comes

there is a bright light upon men and life is sweet

A R E TĒ T I MĒ K L E O S

T H E Q U E S T F O R I M M O R TA L I T Y

S C E N E F R O M T R O Y ( W B 2 0 0 4 ) A C H I L L E S S U M M O N E D B Y A G A M E M N O N Y O U T U B E C O M W AT C H V = R 7 2 K B D G R T D 4

S C E N E F R O M T R O Y ( W B 2 0 0 4 ) A C H I L L E S A N D H E C T O R D U E L Y O U T U B E C O M W AT C H V = N Q 6 2 F R K 7 4 U 0

Athena Achilles Hector Apollo

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Divine causation

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

A G A M E M N O N AT H O M E R I L I A D 1 1 8 1 - 1 8 7

hellip[H]ere is my threat to you Even as Phoibos Apollo is taking away my Chryseis

hellip I shall take the fair-cheeked Briseis your prize I myself going to your shelter that you may learn well how much greater I am than you and another man may shrink back

from likening himself to me and contending against mersquo

A C H I L L E S AT H O M E R I L I A D 9 6 4 6 - 4 8 S E E A L S O 1 6 5 9

Yet still the heart in me swells up in anger when I remember the disgrace that he wrought upon me before the Argives

the son of Atreus as if I were some wanderer without honour (atimētos metanastēs)

Achilleus in amazement turned about and straightway knew Pallas Athene and the terrible eyes shining

He uttered winged words and addressed her Why have you come now o child of Zeus of the aegis once more Is it that you may see

the outrageousness (hubris) of the son of Atreus Agamemnonrsquohellip

A C H I L L E S AT H O M E R I L I A D 1 1 9 9 - 2 0 3

O D Y S S E U S AT H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 2 2 3 5 - 4 1

You dogs You never thought Id come back home from the kingdom of the Trojans so you ravaged my house

lay in bed by force beside my women slaves my women and wooed my wife illicitly though I was alive

fearing neither the gods who hold wide heaven nor that thered be any mens censure thereafter

Now the moment of destruction hangs over you one and all

The slaughter of the suitors by Odysseus and Telemachus 1812 Louis Vincent Palliere

Death of the suitors Athenian red-figure cup c 450-440 BC

A W H A D K I N S ldquo H O M E R I C E T H I C S rdquo I N I M O R R I S amp B P O W E L L ( E D S )

A N E W C O M PA N I O N T O H O M E R ( B R I L L 1 9 9 6 ) 7 0 4 - 5

ldquoThe Homeric hero deprived of any significant quantity of timē reacts violently

aware as he is of the bottom of the scale [the metanastēs]hellip the primary function of the

agathos [good person hero] is to defend his timē with all the resources at his commandrdquo

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Divine causation

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

H U B R I S N E M E S I S

Nemesis by Gheorghe Tattarescu (1853)

Hesiod Works amp Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

Piteously she transfixed by his crooked claws was lamenting When the imperious hawk addressed her in arrogant parlance Why little lady such shrieks One stronger than you now has got you Where you are going Ill take you myself though you are a songstress For as I please Ill make you my dinner or give you your freedom Witless is one who attempts to strive against those who are stronger When he is stripped of the prize its injury added to insult Thus said the fast-flying hawk that bird with the generous wing-span

Pay more attention to justice and curb high-handedness [brother] Violence ill suits those who are lowly not even the noble Person can lightly endure it it weighs on a person whos fallen Into affliction Its better to take your way on the other Road which conduces to right For outrage (hubris) surrenders to justice (dikē)hellip

W E A R E I N Z E U S rsquo JUST W O R L D D E S C R I B E D I N THEOGONY

S I D E B A R D I V I N E C A U S AT I O N

bull The Homeric and Hesiodic herorsquos individual mission only makes sense in a world governed by gods (theoi)

bull Homer Iliad The gods are primarily responsiblecausal of events (aitios)

bull Early Greek science begins here theoi subsequently naturalized as consistent patterns of regularity in human and natural experience (elements laws)

bull Homer Odyssey Humans are (also) responsiblecausal for our own actions

bull How do we use our freedom

AT H E N A A N D O D Y S S E U S T H E O D Y S S E Y ( N B C 1 9 9 7 )

H O M E R I L I A D 5 1 2 3

Athena drew near to his side and spoke to him in winged words Have courage for I have drawn the mist from your eyes

that you may discern in truth gods from humans

So they spoke but Priam aloud called out to Helen Come over where I am dear child and sit down beside me

to look at your husband of time past your friends and your people I am not blaming you (ou ti moi aitiē essi) to me the gods are

responsible (theoihellipaitioi) who drove upon me this sorrowful war against the Achaians

H O M E R I L I A D 3 1 6 4

S I D E B A R D I V I N E C A U S AT I O N

Zeus is probably responsible (aitios) who gives to men who work for bread to each one however he wishes

H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 1 3 4 8 [ T E L E M A C H U S S P E A K S ]

How mortals now blame [from aitios] gods for they say that evils are from us Yet they themselves

have woes beyond their lot by their own recklessnesshellip

H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 1 3 2 [ Z E U S S P E A K S ]

Tell me of these things Muses that dwell on the heights of Olympus From the origin (archē) and say which first of them came into beinghellip

H E S I O D T H E O G O N Y 1 1 4

Responsibility lies with the one who makes the choice the god is blameless (theos anaitios)

P L AT O R E P U B L I C 1 0 6 1 7 E

S I D E B A R D I V I N E C A U S AT I O N

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Divine causation

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

O D Y S S E U S T O P O LY P H E M U S H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 9 2 6 9 - 7 1

But revere the gods most noble one We are supplicants (hiketai) to you Zeus is the avenger (epitimētōr) of suppliants and strangers

the guest god who attends venerable strangers

W E A R E I N Z E U S rsquo W O R L D ( A S D E S C R I B E D I N THEOGONY )

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

T H E LY R I C P O E T SC 6 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Pindar of Thebes

Simonides of Ceos

Sappho of Lesbos

LY R I C I N T R O D U C T I O N

bull Occasional poetry

bull Often sung to the lyre (lyrē) in varied meters

bull CHORAL LYRIC

bull Dancing choruses at religious festivals contests family events

bull Enforcing collective civic values

bull MONODIC LYRIC

bull Individual performance

bull Personal in emotion amp outlookBrygos Painter c 490 BCE

Sappho and Alcaeus

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

Creatures of the passing day What is any one What is any one not Shadows dream is man But when the radiance given of Zeus comes

there is a bright light upon men and life is sweet

P I N D A R P Y T H 8 9 5 - 9 7

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

I praise and embrace everyone who willingly does nothing base (aischron) but with necessity not even the gods fight A man not too helpless suffices for me one who knows the justice that benefits the

city (polis) a sound and healthy man I will not lay blame for the generation of fools is limitless Everything is noble (kala) with which

base deeds are not mingled

S I M O N I D E S 5 4 2 2 7 - 4 0

Simonides is criticizing the traditional definition of the good noble or successful man (agathos esthlos) Such goodness or nobility depends upon external achievements and possessions (wealth honour prowess in battle) which are too insecure to form a real basis for human excellence Instead Simonides stresses intention justice that benefits the city acknowledgement of the fragility of lifehellip

C S E G A L ldquo C H O R A L LY R I C I N T H E F I F T H C E N T U R Y rdquo I N P E E A S T E R L I N G amp B M W K N O X T H E C A M B R I D G E H I S T O R Y O F

C L A S S I C A L L I T E R AT U R E I ( C A M B R I D G E 2 0 0 8 ) 2 2 4

LY R I C C O N T E X T

Hoplites in phalanx formation From the Chigi Vase proto-Corinthian pitcher ca 650-640 BC

3 0 0 ( W A R N E R B R O S 2 0 0 6 ) ldquo W H AT I S Y O U R P R O F E S S I O N rdquo

W W W Y O U T U B E C O M W AT C H V = A N A 3 C O 8 3 _ G K

3 0 0 ( W A R N E R B R O S 2 0 0 6 ) ldquo F I G H T I N T H E S H A D E rdquo

Y O U T U B E 4 J K P G D D M A R S T = 1 2 4

τοιόνδ ἄνθος Περσίδος αἴας οἴχεται ἀνδρῶν

οὓς πέρι πᾶσα χθὼν Ἀσιῆτις ρέψασα πόθῳ στένεται microαλερῷ τοκέης τ ἄλοχοί θ ἡmicroερολεγδὸν τείνοντα χρόνον τροmicroέονται

A E S C H Y L U S P E R S A I 5 9 - 6 4 C P I L I A D 9 4 1 0 - 1 6

S E E C A S E Y D U Eacute T H E C A P T I V E W O M A N rsquo S L A M E N T I N G R E E K T R A G E DY C H 2

Such is the flower [anthos] of the Persian land such is the flower of men that has disappeared

The entire land of Asia laments the men she nourished with fierce

longing [pothos] Parents and wives counting the days

tremble at the increasing length of time

P I N D A R

bull Born near Thebes c 518 BCE

bull Composed important epinician odes (epi-nikia for-a-victory in a contest)

bull Depicts the gods as maintaining civic values of justice (O 1 P 1-3 P 8) compassionate (N 10) and forgiving (O 7456) guardians of polis morality

bull Celebrated ldquoroughrdquo style

bull ldquoA soaring eaglehellip a rushing streamrdquo (Horace Od 42) ldquoA vast firerdquo (Longinus Sublime 335)

Bust of the lyric poet Pindar Roman copy from original of the mid-5 century BC

F I F T H - C E N T U R Y C H O R A L LY R I C

A C O R N T O O A K T R E E N E I L B R O M H A L L bull y o u t u b e Z K 4 L j U R t a D w

Some people pray for gold others for limitless lands but I pray to please my fellow citizens and then to cover my limbs in earth

having praised the praiseworthy and scattered reproof on the wicked Excellence soars upward like a tree fed on fresh dews

lifted among the wise and just toward the liquid upper air The need for friends comes in many forms

it is most valued in times of trouble but joy too craves to look upon trusty support

P I N D A R N E M E A N 8 3 6 - 4 3

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

F R A G I L I T Ybull How can we be praiseworthy if we are vulnerable (to circumstances)

bull [The poetic world-view and Pindarrsquos career as praise poet of aretē require] ldquothe belief that the excellence of a good person is something of that persons own for whose possession and exercise that person can appropriately be held accountablerdquo (Nussbaum 1)

bull But ldquoHow can we be givers and receivers of praise if our worth ishellip a plant in need of wateringrdquo (2)

bull ldquoWe need to be born with adequate capacities to live in fostering natural and social circumstances to stay clear of abrupt catastrophe to develop confirming associations with other human beingsrdquo (1)

bull A further complication ldquoThe tenderness of a plant is not the dazzling hardness of a gemrdquo perhaps ldquopart of the peculiar beauty of human excellence just is its vulnerabilityrdquo (2)

M A R T H A N U S S B A U M T H E F R A G I L I T Y O F G O O D N E S S C H 1 L U C K amp E T H I C S

T H E P O W E R O F R E A S O N [T]here is the consolation that so far Pindar has apparently left something out However much human beings resemble lower forms of life we are unlike we want to insist in one crucial respect We have reason We are able to deliberate and choose to make a plan in which ends are ranked to decide actively what is to have value and how much All this must count for something If it is true that a lot about us is messy needy uncontrolled rooted in the dirt and standing helplessly in the rain it is also true that there is something about us that is pure and purely active something that we could think of as divine immortal intelligible unitary indissoluble ever self-consistent and invariablelsquo [Plato Phaedo 80B] It seems possible that this rational element in us can rule and guide the rest thereby saving the whole person from living at the mercy of luck

N U S S B A U M F R A G I L I T Y 2

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S S O P H I S T S A N D T R A G E D I A N SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Athens

AT H E N S rsquo A C R O P O L I S A S I M A G I N E D B Y L E O V O N K L E N Z E O I L O N C A N VA S 1 8 4 6 N E U E P I N A K O T H E K

A S S A S S I N rsquo S C R E E D O D Y S S E Y bull A T O U R O F AT H E N S U B I S O F T ( 2 0 1 8 )

bull Athens is the first lsquopeople-ruledrsquo polis (dēmokratia) in the Mediterranean world

bull She has achieved unchallenged naval authority and an empire which is labeled a lsquocommonwealthrsquo

bull At the commercial and cultural crossroads of Italy Greece Egypt and the Near East

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

S P E E C H A N D D E M O C R A C Y

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

bull In this cosmopolitan environment traditional views are challenged leading to a perceived erosion of moral values

bull The rhapsodes use poetic forms to transmit traditional morality

bull The tragedians use poetic forms to explore amp challenge mythrsquos assumptions

bull The sophists teach ldquowisdomrdquo (sophia) including rhetoric and political oratory perceived as a new lsquotechnologyrsquo to steer the ship of state for onersquos own ends

bull Use onersquos own wits ldquoA person is the measure of all thingsrdquo Protagoras B1

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

T R A G E D Y V U L N E R A B I L I T Y A N D R E A S O NC 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E AT H E N S

Aeschylus Agamemnon (458 BCE) and Euripides Iphigeneia at Aulis (405 BCE) The Sacrifice of Iphigeneia by Francesco Fontebasso bull 1749 oil on canvas

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousnesshellip what is great is fragile andhellip what is necessary may be destructivehellip

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

In such cases we see a wrong action committed without any direct physical compulsion and in full knowledge of its nature by a person whose ethical character or commitments would otherwise dispose him to reject the acthellip circumstanceshellip prevent the adequate fulfillment of two valid ethical claims

N U S S B A U M 2 5

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

[Aeschylus in Agamemnon] shows us not so much a solution to the problem of practical conflict as the richness and depth of the problem itself (This achievement is closely connected with his poetic resources which put the scene vividly before us show us debate about it and evoke in us responses important to its assessment)

The best the agent can do is to have his suffering the natural expression of his goodness of character and not to stifle these responses out of misguided optimism The best we (the Chorus) can do for him is to respect the gravity of his predicament to respect the responses that express his goodness and to think about his case as showing a possibility for human life in general

N U S S B A U M 4 9 - 5 0

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

bull In a world that allows such dilemmas are there truly gods with a coherent vision for the world

bull Can individual reason and ingenuity suffice for a good life

T H E S O P H I S T SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Hesiod Works amp Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale Piteously she transfixed by his crooked claws was lamenting When the imperious hawk addressed her in arrogant parlance Why little lady such shrieks One stronger than you now has got you Where you are going Ill take you myself though you are a songstress For as I please Ill make you my dinner or give you your freedom Witless is one who attempts to strive against those who are stronger When he is stripped of the prize its injury added to insult Thus said the fast-flying hawk that bird with the generous wing-spanPay more attention to justice and curb high-handedness [brother] Violence ill suits men who are lowly not even the noble Man can lightly endure it it weighs on a person whos fallen Into affliction Its better to take your way on the other Road which conduces to right For outrage (hubris) surrenders to

justice (dikē)hellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Thucydides History 584-116 The Melian Dialogue ATHENIANS [Y]ou know as well as we do that when these matters are discussed by practical people the standard of justice depends on the equality of power to compel and that in fact the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they musthellip Our opinion of the gods and our knowledge of men lead us to conclude that it is a general and necessary law of nature to rule whatever one can This is not a law that we made ourselves nor were we the first to act upon it when it was made We found it already in existence and we shall leave it to exist for ever among those who come after us

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos

advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Republic I 343A-D Thrasymachusrsquo complaint Tell me Socrates do you still have a wet nursehellip Because shersquos letting you run around with a snotty nose and doesnrsquot wipe it when she needs tohellip You think that shepherds and cowherds seek the good of their sheep and cattle and fatten them and take care of them looking to something other than their masterrsquos good and their own Moreover you believe that rulershellip think of something besides their own advantage You are so far from understandinghellip that you donrsquot realize that justice is really the good of another the advantage of the stronger and the ruler and harmful to the one who obeys and serves Injustice is the opposite it rules the truly simple and just and those it rules do what is to the advantage of the other and stronger and they make the one they serve happy but themselves not at all You must look at it as follows my most simple Socrates A just man always gets less than an unjust onehellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Gorgias 482C-484C Callicles on nature and convention [Y]oursquore in fact bringing the discussion around to the sort of crowd-pleasing vulgarities that are admirable only by law [nomos also translatable ldquoconventionrdquo or ldquocustomrdquo] and not by nature And these nature and law are for the most part opposed to each otherhellip I believe that the people who institute our laws are the weak and the many So they institute laws and assign praise and blame with themselves and their own advantage in mind As a way of frightening the more powerfulhellip out of getting a greater share than they they say that getting more than onersquos share is ldquoshamefulrdquo and ldquounjusthelliprdquo But surely if a man whose nature is equal to it arises he will shake off tear apart and escape all this he will trample underfoot our documents our tricks and charms and all our laws that violate nature He the slave will rise up and be revealed as our master and here the justice of nature will shine forth

The New Teachers of Athens

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

P R E - S O C R AT I C ldquo P H I L O S O P H E R S 6 T H - 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

P R E - S O C R AT I C P H I L O S O P H E R S

bull Though not usually calling themselves ldquophilosophersrdquo they seemed to have contributed inspiration for Socratesrsquo method of free inquiry applying logos

bull Scholars adopt different views of what constitutes their innovation and ldquophilosophicalrdquo method (see readings)

bull Basing views on argument and evidence

bull De-ldquomythologizationrdquo

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Miletus

E A R LY P H I L O S O P H Y A N C I E N T M I L E T U S

M I L E T U S

bull Wealthy city-state in Asia Minor

bull Key city for trading and shipping between Near East amp Greece

bull Ionian Greek culture

bull Freedom of thought

bull Open political debate

bull Wealth (for some) providing leisure

bull Thales and his successors Anaximander Anaximenes

bull ldquoPhilosophicalrdquo investigation

bull Later Presocratics Heraclitus ParmenidesldquoORIENTALIZINGrdquo POTTERY

The Milesian school strikes a new note unheard before It has a fresh sense of the meaning of truth ndash a feeling for the sort of thing it is reasonable to suppose The hypothesis it characteristically deals in is concerned with the nature of the one primary stuff the Milesians seem to make a great conscious effort to get at something which really does exist They strike us as throwing off the vast symbolic visions of mythology and waking clear-headed to see and touch real things If we have a rational temperament we feel at once a refreshment Here at last is a statement about the world which is meant and offered as true ndash a logos [explanation] not a mythos [story]

ndash F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952 ed) 42

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The questions which excited them were of this kind Can this apparently confused and disordered world be reduced to simpler principles so that our reason can grasp what it is and how it works What is it made of How does change take place They abandoned mythological and substituted intellectual solutions [It] was no longer satisfying to say that storms were roused by the wrath of Poseidon or death caused by the arrows of Apollo or Artemis A world ruled by anthropomorphic gods human in their passions was a world ruled by caprice Philosophy and science start with the bold confession of faith that not caprice but an inherent orderliness underlies the phenomena and the explanation of nature is to be sought within nature itself ndashWKC Guthrie History of Greek Philosophy (Cambridge 1969) 1 44-45

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

Thales of Miletus

bull Lived late 7th-6th centurybull Born to a Phoenician aristocratic

family ndash so leisurebull Traveled to Egypt and Babylon (by

tradition)bull Legendary wisdombull ldquoFounder of Western philosophyrdquo

bull First to seek an ldquooriginal causerdquo (archecirc)

bull to explain how unseen facts caused visible results without appeal to mythology

bull To provide generalizable proofs or laws

Thales of Miletus

AstronomyMathematicsWater as the archecircAll things are full of gods

bull Traditionally Thalesrsquo star student

bull 25 years old during Thalesrsquo eclipse (585 BCE)

bull Lived c 610-540 BCE

bull ldquoFirst to draw the inhabited world on a tabletrdquo (first mapmaker)

bull Unambiguously our first ldquophilosopherrdquo by standards of demythologization originality generality and observation

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

ldquoAnaximander has expurgated the supernatural with a boldness and completeness to which many of his successors failed to attain The primary order is still said to be lsquoaccording to what is ordainedrsquo it is still a moral order in which Justice prevails but the will of the personal God has disappeared and its place is partly taken by a natural cause the eternal motionrdquo

- F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952) 41 Anaximander relief 1st century AD

Rome Museo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Key contributions

bull Physics the archecircbull Cosmologybull ldquoEvolutionrdquobull Astronomy and Cartography

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Anaximander said that the APEIRON [indefinite unlimited] was the ARCHE and the element of things that are and he was the first to introduce this name for the ARCHE He says that the ARCHE is neither water nor any other of the things called elements but some other nature called APEIRON out of which come to be all the heavens and the worlds in them (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2413-18)

The things that are perish into the things out of which they come to be according to necessity for ldquothey pay penalty and retribution to one another according to their injustice in accordance with the ordering of timerdquo as he says in rather poetical language (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2418-21)

Anaximander of Miletus

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The ARCHE

bull One and unlimitedbull But not undefined Itrsquos AIR

Anaximenes of Miletus

bull Not opposites but a continuum FIRE AIR larr WIND larr CLOUD larr WATER larr EARTH larr STONEbull ldquoLooseningrdquo and ldquotighteningrdquo explain hot and cold

H E R A C L I T U S B 1 0 1 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 3 7 )

I searched out myself

Listening not to me but to the logos it is wise to agree that all things are one

H E R A C L I T U S B 5 0 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 1 1 )

E X A M P L E S

THE ROAD TO PHILOSOP HY

The Hero of Lyric Poets of the Polis (6th century)

bull According to the lyric poets of the polis culture such as Pindar Simonides Tyrtaeus and Sappho (7th-6th century BCE)

bull Pursues collective good of the polis based on strong ties of interdependent responsibility amp cooperation in a just world governed by the gods

Individual Freedom The ldquoSophistsrdquo (5th century)

bull Sources in thinkers like Protagoras and Gorgias (5th century BCE predominantly working in Athens) constructed as a category by Platorsquos later writings

bull Pursues individual advantage based on their personal beliefs and wits using persuasion and power skepticism of traditional values

Vulnerability The Hero of Tragedy (5th century)

bull Iconic examples include Sophoclesrsquo Oedipus and Aeschylusrsquo Agamemnon and Orestes

bull Pursuit of individual amp collective good in a world of apparently conflicting divine values sometimes hampered by their own lack of self-knowledge

I N T E R D E P E N D E N C Y I N T R O D U C E S V U L N E R A B I L I T Y W H I C H M AY B E

C E L E B R AT E D O R R E S I S T E D

The Hero of Epic Homer and Hesiod (8th century)

bull Found in the epic Iliad and Odyssey attributed to Homer (c 8th century BCE) examples include the powerful Achilles and thoughtful persuasive Odysseus

bull Pursues individual honour (timē) in a just world governed by the gods

CH

IGI V

AS

E C

70

0 B

CE

The Hero of Reason The ldquoPresocratics (6th-5th cent)

bull Founding figures including Thales Anaximander Anaximenes Pythagoras Heraclitus Parmenides Seeking to understand the basic original causes (aitiai) of the world through reason

I S T H E W O R L D G E N U I N E LY

I N T E L L I G I B L E T O R E A S O N

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Born in Athens to a stonemason named Sophroniscus in 469 BCE

bull ldquoSocratic problemrdquo Socrates wrote nothing we know about him through Plato Xenophon and Aristophanes whose accounts vary

bull Conversed with anyone ldquorich or poor citizen or foreignerrdquo (Apology 23C)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Non-conformity reliance on individual values and wits (contrast with the earlier poets and rhapsodes)

bull Claims of ignorance interest in shared truth and not only persuasion and resistance of ldquoselfish morality (contrast with the sophists)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Methods based on question and answer (the elenchus) requiring unity or consistency (a) of onersquos beliefs and (b) of onersquos beliefs and actions

bull Behaviour peculiar enough to warrant its own verb (sōkratein) (Arist Birds 1282) before generalized philosophia

bull Brought to trial in 399 BCE by two Athenians Meletus and Anytus charged with ldquoimpiety and corrupting the youngrdquo

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

S O C R AT E S C R I T O 4 6 A

I am the kind of person who listens to nothing within me but the logos that on reflection seems

best to me

L O G O S R E A S O N VA L U E C O N S C I E N C E M E A N I N G

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousness A sense of such significances that what is great is fragile and that what is necessary may be destructive which is present in the literature of the fifth century and earlier has disappeared [later] from the ethics of the philosophers and perhaps altogether from their minds Greek philosophy in its sustained pursuit of rational self-sufficiency does turn its back on kinds of human experience and human necessity of which Greek literature itself offers the purest if not the richest expression

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y A N D P H I L O S O P H Y

The continuity between Greek tragedy and Greek philosophy on these questions is however far greater than Williams has allowed On the one hand inside tragedy itself we find arresting portrayals of the human ambition to rational self-sufficiency we come to understand the ways in which problems of exposure motivate this ambition On the other Platos philosophical search for a self- sufficient good life is motivated by a keen sense of these same problems Far from having forgotten about what tragedy describes he sees the problems of exposure so clearly that only a radical solution seems adequate to their depth Nor is he naiumlve about the costs of this solution

N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y P R A C T I C A L C O N F L I C T

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identical which is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A)

Socrates ldquoencourages Euthyphro [a pious Greek] to revise tradition by considering as binding only those requirements concerning which there is divine unanimity he expresses further his own doubt as to whether gods really do disagreerdquo (Nussbaum 30)

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identicalwhich is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A Nussbaum 25)

T H E E P I C P O E T S8 T H - 7 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

HomerHesiod

R E V I E W T H E R H A P S O D E S

bull Community of oral poets working from memory

bull Homer

bull Name traditionally given to the author or authors of (at least) two epic poems set in the Bronze Age

bull Iliad and Odyssey

bull Hesiod A farmer-poet

bull Boeotia Greece 8th century BCE

bull Author of two epic poems

bull Theogony beginning of the cosmos [Narrated in Class 1 to the Rise of Zeus]

bull Works amp Days advice on human life

bull Modes of knowing Divine inspiration (the Muses)

bull Ideal of excellence Heros pursuit of honour (kleos timē)

HESIOD (PS-SENECA) ROMAN BRONZE NATIONAL ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM

OF NAPLES

BOEOTIA IN GREECE

larr L A S T W E E K

larr T O D AY

Paris and Helen by Vincenzo dersquo Rossi (1560)

David The Love of Helen amp Paris (1788)

Paris and Helen from Troy (2004)

H O M E R rsquo S I L I A D amp O D Y S S E Y

Enrique Simonet - El Juicio de Paris - 1904

Aeschylus Agamemnon (458 BCE) and Euripides Iphigeneia at Aulis (405 BCE) The Sacrifice of Iphigeneia by Francesco Fontebasso bull 1749 oil on canvas

Sing goddess the anger of Peleusrsquo sun Achilleus and its devastation which put pains thousandfold upon the Achaians

hurled in their multitudes to the house of Hades strong souls of heroes but gave their bodies to be the delicate feasting of dogs of all birds and the will of Zeus was accomplished since that time when first there stood in division of conflict

Atreus son the lord of men and brilliant Achilleus

microῆνιν ἄειδε θεὰ Πηληϊάδεω Ἀχιλῆοςοὐλοmicroένην ἣ microυρί Ἀχαιοῖς ἄλγε ἔθηκε πολλὰς δ ἰφθίmicroους ψυχὰς Ἄϊδι προΐαψενἡρώων αὐτοὺς δὲ ἑλώρια τεῦχε κύνεσσιν οἰωνοῖσί τε πᾶσι Διὸς δ ἐτελείετο βουλή ἐξ οὗ δὴ τὰ πρῶτα διαστήτην ἐρίσαντε

Ἀτρεΐδης τε ἄναξ ἀνδρῶν καὶ δῖος Ἀχιλλεύς

H O M E R I L I A D 1 1 - 7 ( T R L AT T I M O R E )

Chryses prays to Apollo

Achilles amp Hector by G

enzoman D

eviantArtcom

Achilles versus Hector from

Troy (2004)Achilles versus H

ector Attic Vase c 500 BCE

Troy in Flames Completed 1762 by Johann Georg Trautmann (1713-1969)

Ulysses and the Sirens John William Waterhouse 1891

Johann Heinrich Wilhelm Tischbein Odysseus und Penelope

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The quest for immortality

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Divine causation

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

H O M E R I L I A D 9 4 1 0 - 4 1 6

For my mother Thetis the goddess of the silver feet tells me I carry two sorts of destiny toward the day of my death Either

if I stay here and fight beside the city of the Trojans my return home is gone but my glory (kleos) shall be everlasting

but if I return home to the beloved land of my fathers the excellence (esthlon) of my glory is gone but there will be a long life

left for me and my end in death will not come to me quickly

P I N D A R P Y T H 8 9 5 - 9 7

Creatures of the passing day What is any one What is any one not Shadows dream is man But when the radiance given of Zeus comes

there is a bright light upon men and life is sweet

A R E TĒ T I MĒ K L E O S

T H E Q U E S T F O R I M M O R TA L I T Y

S C E N E F R O M T R O Y ( W B 2 0 0 4 ) A C H I L L E S S U M M O N E D B Y A G A M E M N O N Y O U T U B E C O M W AT C H V = R 7 2 K B D G R T D 4

S C E N E F R O M T R O Y ( W B 2 0 0 4 ) A C H I L L E S A N D H E C T O R D U E L Y O U T U B E C O M W AT C H V = N Q 6 2 F R K 7 4 U 0

Athena Achilles Hector Apollo

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Divine causation

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

A G A M E M N O N AT H O M E R I L I A D 1 1 8 1 - 1 8 7

hellip[H]ere is my threat to you Even as Phoibos Apollo is taking away my Chryseis

hellip I shall take the fair-cheeked Briseis your prize I myself going to your shelter that you may learn well how much greater I am than you and another man may shrink back

from likening himself to me and contending against mersquo

A C H I L L E S AT H O M E R I L I A D 9 6 4 6 - 4 8 S E E A L S O 1 6 5 9

Yet still the heart in me swells up in anger when I remember the disgrace that he wrought upon me before the Argives

the son of Atreus as if I were some wanderer without honour (atimētos metanastēs)

Achilleus in amazement turned about and straightway knew Pallas Athene and the terrible eyes shining

He uttered winged words and addressed her Why have you come now o child of Zeus of the aegis once more Is it that you may see

the outrageousness (hubris) of the son of Atreus Agamemnonrsquohellip

A C H I L L E S AT H O M E R I L I A D 1 1 9 9 - 2 0 3

O D Y S S E U S AT H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 2 2 3 5 - 4 1

You dogs You never thought Id come back home from the kingdom of the Trojans so you ravaged my house

lay in bed by force beside my women slaves my women and wooed my wife illicitly though I was alive

fearing neither the gods who hold wide heaven nor that thered be any mens censure thereafter

Now the moment of destruction hangs over you one and all

The slaughter of the suitors by Odysseus and Telemachus 1812 Louis Vincent Palliere

Death of the suitors Athenian red-figure cup c 450-440 BC

A W H A D K I N S ldquo H O M E R I C E T H I C S rdquo I N I M O R R I S amp B P O W E L L ( E D S )

A N E W C O M PA N I O N T O H O M E R ( B R I L L 1 9 9 6 ) 7 0 4 - 5

ldquoThe Homeric hero deprived of any significant quantity of timē reacts violently

aware as he is of the bottom of the scale [the metanastēs]hellip the primary function of the

agathos [good person hero] is to defend his timē with all the resources at his commandrdquo

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Divine causation

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

H U B R I S N E M E S I S

Nemesis by Gheorghe Tattarescu (1853)

Hesiod Works amp Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

Piteously she transfixed by his crooked claws was lamenting When the imperious hawk addressed her in arrogant parlance Why little lady such shrieks One stronger than you now has got you Where you are going Ill take you myself though you are a songstress For as I please Ill make you my dinner or give you your freedom Witless is one who attempts to strive against those who are stronger When he is stripped of the prize its injury added to insult Thus said the fast-flying hawk that bird with the generous wing-span

Pay more attention to justice and curb high-handedness [brother] Violence ill suits those who are lowly not even the noble Person can lightly endure it it weighs on a person whos fallen Into affliction Its better to take your way on the other Road which conduces to right For outrage (hubris) surrenders to justice (dikē)hellip

W E A R E I N Z E U S rsquo JUST W O R L D D E S C R I B E D I N THEOGONY

S I D E B A R D I V I N E C A U S AT I O N

bull The Homeric and Hesiodic herorsquos individual mission only makes sense in a world governed by gods (theoi)

bull Homer Iliad The gods are primarily responsiblecausal of events (aitios)

bull Early Greek science begins here theoi subsequently naturalized as consistent patterns of regularity in human and natural experience (elements laws)

bull Homer Odyssey Humans are (also) responsiblecausal for our own actions

bull How do we use our freedom

AT H E N A A N D O D Y S S E U S T H E O D Y S S E Y ( N B C 1 9 9 7 )

H O M E R I L I A D 5 1 2 3

Athena drew near to his side and spoke to him in winged words Have courage for I have drawn the mist from your eyes

that you may discern in truth gods from humans

So they spoke but Priam aloud called out to Helen Come over where I am dear child and sit down beside me

to look at your husband of time past your friends and your people I am not blaming you (ou ti moi aitiē essi) to me the gods are

responsible (theoihellipaitioi) who drove upon me this sorrowful war against the Achaians

H O M E R I L I A D 3 1 6 4

S I D E B A R D I V I N E C A U S AT I O N

Zeus is probably responsible (aitios) who gives to men who work for bread to each one however he wishes

H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 1 3 4 8 [ T E L E M A C H U S S P E A K S ]

How mortals now blame [from aitios] gods for they say that evils are from us Yet they themselves

have woes beyond their lot by their own recklessnesshellip

H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 1 3 2 [ Z E U S S P E A K S ]

Tell me of these things Muses that dwell on the heights of Olympus From the origin (archē) and say which first of them came into beinghellip

H E S I O D T H E O G O N Y 1 1 4

Responsibility lies with the one who makes the choice the god is blameless (theos anaitios)

P L AT O R E P U B L I C 1 0 6 1 7 E

S I D E B A R D I V I N E C A U S AT I O N

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Divine causation

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

O D Y S S E U S T O P O LY P H E M U S H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 9 2 6 9 - 7 1

But revere the gods most noble one We are supplicants (hiketai) to you Zeus is the avenger (epitimētōr) of suppliants and strangers

the guest god who attends venerable strangers

W E A R E I N Z E U S rsquo W O R L D ( A S D E S C R I B E D I N THEOGONY )

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

T H E LY R I C P O E T SC 6 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Pindar of Thebes

Simonides of Ceos

Sappho of Lesbos

LY R I C I N T R O D U C T I O N

bull Occasional poetry

bull Often sung to the lyre (lyrē) in varied meters

bull CHORAL LYRIC

bull Dancing choruses at religious festivals contests family events

bull Enforcing collective civic values

bull MONODIC LYRIC

bull Individual performance

bull Personal in emotion amp outlookBrygos Painter c 490 BCE

Sappho and Alcaeus

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

Creatures of the passing day What is any one What is any one not Shadows dream is man But when the radiance given of Zeus comes

there is a bright light upon men and life is sweet

P I N D A R P Y T H 8 9 5 - 9 7

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

I praise and embrace everyone who willingly does nothing base (aischron) but with necessity not even the gods fight A man not too helpless suffices for me one who knows the justice that benefits the

city (polis) a sound and healthy man I will not lay blame for the generation of fools is limitless Everything is noble (kala) with which

base deeds are not mingled

S I M O N I D E S 5 4 2 2 7 - 4 0

Simonides is criticizing the traditional definition of the good noble or successful man (agathos esthlos) Such goodness or nobility depends upon external achievements and possessions (wealth honour prowess in battle) which are too insecure to form a real basis for human excellence Instead Simonides stresses intention justice that benefits the city acknowledgement of the fragility of lifehellip

C S E G A L ldquo C H O R A L LY R I C I N T H E F I F T H C E N T U R Y rdquo I N P E E A S T E R L I N G amp B M W K N O X T H E C A M B R I D G E H I S T O R Y O F

C L A S S I C A L L I T E R AT U R E I ( C A M B R I D G E 2 0 0 8 ) 2 2 4

LY R I C C O N T E X T

Hoplites in phalanx formation From the Chigi Vase proto-Corinthian pitcher ca 650-640 BC

3 0 0 ( W A R N E R B R O S 2 0 0 6 ) ldquo W H AT I S Y O U R P R O F E S S I O N rdquo

W W W Y O U T U B E C O M W AT C H V = A N A 3 C O 8 3 _ G K

3 0 0 ( W A R N E R B R O S 2 0 0 6 ) ldquo F I G H T I N T H E S H A D E rdquo

Y O U T U B E 4 J K P G D D M A R S T = 1 2 4

τοιόνδ ἄνθος Περσίδος αἴας οἴχεται ἀνδρῶν

οὓς πέρι πᾶσα χθὼν Ἀσιῆτις ρέψασα πόθῳ στένεται microαλερῷ τοκέης τ ἄλοχοί θ ἡmicroερολεγδὸν τείνοντα χρόνον τροmicroέονται

A E S C H Y L U S P E R S A I 5 9 - 6 4 C P I L I A D 9 4 1 0 - 1 6

S E E C A S E Y D U Eacute T H E C A P T I V E W O M A N rsquo S L A M E N T I N G R E E K T R A G E DY C H 2

Such is the flower [anthos] of the Persian land such is the flower of men that has disappeared

The entire land of Asia laments the men she nourished with fierce

longing [pothos] Parents and wives counting the days

tremble at the increasing length of time

P I N D A R

bull Born near Thebes c 518 BCE

bull Composed important epinician odes (epi-nikia for-a-victory in a contest)

bull Depicts the gods as maintaining civic values of justice (O 1 P 1-3 P 8) compassionate (N 10) and forgiving (O 7456) guardians of polis morality

bull Celebrated ldquoroughrdquo style

bull ldquoA soaring eaglehellip a rushing streamrdquo (Horace Od 42) ldquoA vast firerdquo (Longinus Sublime 335)

Bust of the lyric poet Pindar Roman copy from original of the mid-5 century BC

F I F T H - C E N T U R Y C H O R A L LY R I C

A C O R N T O O A K T R E E N E I L B R O M H A L L bull y o u t u b e Z K 4 L j U R t a D w

Some people pray for gold others for limitless lands but I pray to please my fellow citizens and then to cover my limbs in earth

having praised the praiseworthy and scattered reproof on the wicked Excellence soars upward like a tree fed on fresh dews

lifted among the wise and just toward the liquid upper air The need for friends comes in many forms

it is most valued in times of trouble but joy too craves to look upon trusty support

P I N D A R N E M E A N 8 3 6 - 4 3

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

F R A G I L I T Ybull How can we be praiseworthy if we are vulnerable (to circumstances)

bull [The poetic world-view and Pindarrsquos career as praise poet of aretē require] ldquothe belief that the excellence of a good person is something of that persons own for whose possession and exercise that person can appropriately be held accountablerdquo (Nussbaum 1)

bull But ldquoHow can we be givers and receivers of praise if our worth ishellip a plant in need of wateringrdquo (2)

bull ldquoWe need to be born with adequate capacities to live in fostering natural and social circumstances to stay clear of abrupt catastrophe to develop confirming associations with other human beingsrdquo (1)

bull A further complication ldquoThe tenderness of a plant is not the dazzling hardness of a gemrdquo perhaps ldquopart of the peculiar beauty of human excellence just is its vulnerabilityrdquo (2)

M A R T H A N U S S B A U M T H E F R A G I L I T Y O F G O O D N E S S C H 1 L U C K amp E T H I C S

T H E P O W E R O F R E A S O N [T]here is the consolation that so far Pindar has apparently left something out However much human beings resemble lower forms of life we are unlike we want to insist in one crucial respect We have reason We are able to deliberate and choose to make a plan in which ends are ranked to decide actively what is to have value and how much All this must count for something If it is true that a lot about us is messy needy uncontrolled rooted in the dirt and standing helplessly in the rain it is also true that there is something about us that is pure and purely active something that we could think of as divine immortal intelligible unitary indissoluble ever self-consistent and invariablelsquo [Plato Phaedo 80B] It seems possible that this rational element in us can rule and guide the rest thereby saving the whole person from living at the mercy of luck

N U S S B A U M F R A G I L I T Y 2

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S S O P H I S T S A N D T R A G E D I A N SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Athens

AT H E N S rsquo A C R O P O L I S A S I M A G I N E D B Y L E O V O N K L E N Z E O I L O N C A N VA S 1 8 4 6 N E U E P I N A K O T H E K

A S S A S S I N rsquo S C R E E D O D Y S S E Y bull A T O U R O F AT H E N S U B I S O F T ( 2 0 1 8 )

bull Athens is the first lsquopeople-ruledrsquo polis (dēmokratia) in the Mediterranean world

bull She has achieved unchallenged naval authority and an empire which is labeled a lsquocommonwealthrsquo

bull At the commercial and cultural crossroads of Italy Greece Egypt and the Near East

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

S P E E C H A N D D E M O C R A C Y

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

bull In this cosmopolitan environment traditional views are challenged leading to a perceived erosion of moral values

bull The rhapsodes use poetic forms to transmit traditional morality

bull The tragedians use poetic forms to explore amp challenge mythrsquos assumptions

bull The sophists teach ldquowisdomrdquo (sophia) including rhetoric and political oratory perceived as a new lsquotechnologyrsquo to steer the ship of state for onersquos own ends

bull Use onersquos own wits ldquoA person is the measure of all thingsrdquo Protagoras B1

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

T R A G E D Y V U L N E R A B I L I T Y A N D R E A S O NC 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E AT H E N S

Aeschylus Agamemnon (458 BCE) and Euripides Iphigeneia at Aulis (405 BCE) The Sacrifice of Iphigeneia by Francesco Fontebasso bull 1749 oil on canvas

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousnesshellip what is great is fragile andhellip what is necessary may be destructivehellip

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

In such cases we see a wrong action committed without any direct physical compulsion and in full knowledge of its nature by a person whose ethical character or commitments would otherwise dispose him to reject the acthellip circumstanceshellip prevent the adequate fulfillment of two valid ethical claims

N U S S B A U M 2 5

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

[Aeschylus in Agamemnon] shows us not so much a solution to the problem of practical conflict as the richness and depth of the problem itself (This achievement is closely connected with his poetic resources which put the scene vividly before us show us debate about it and evoke in us responses important to its assessment)

The best the agent can do is to have his suffering the natural expression of his goodness of character and not to stifle these responses out of misguided optimism The best we (the Chorus) can do for him is to respect the gravity of his predicament to respect the responses that express his goodness and to think about his case as showing a possibility for human life in general

N U S S B A U M 4 9 - 5 0

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

bull In a world that allows such dilemmas are there truly gods with a coherent vision for the world

bull Can individual reason and ingenuity suffice for a good life

T H E S O P H I S T SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Hesiod Works amp Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale Piteously she transfixed by his crooked claws was lamenting When the imperious hawk addressed her in arrogant parlance Why little lady such shrieks One stronger than you now has got you Where you are going Ill take you myself though you are a songstress For as I please Ill make you my dinner or give you your freedom Witless is one who attempts to strive against those who are stronger When he is stripped of the prize its injury added to insult Thus said the fast-flying hawk that bird with the generous wing-spanPay more attention to justice and curb high-handedness [brother] Violence ill suits men who are lowly not even the noble Man can lightly endure it it weighs on a person whos fallen Into affliction Its better to take your way on the other Road which conduces to right For outrage (hubris) surrenders to

justice (dikē)hellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Thucydides History 584-116 The Melian Dialogue ATHENIANS [Y]ou know as well as we do that when these matters are discussed by practical people the standard of justice depends on the equality of power to compel and that in fact the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they musthellip Our opinion of the gods and our knowledge of men lead us to conclude that it is a general and necessary law of nature to rule whatever one can This is not a law that we made ourselves nor were we the first to act upon it when it was made We found it already in existence and we shall leave it to exist for ever among those who come after us

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos

advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Republic I 343A-D Thrasymachusrsquo complaint Tell me Socrates do you still have a wet nursehellip Because shersquos letting you run around with a snotty nose and doesnrsquot wipe it when she needs tohellip You think that shepherds and cowherds seek the good of their sheep and cattle and fatten them and take care of them looking to something other than their masterrsquos good and their own Moreover you believe that rulershellip think of something besides their own advantage You are so far from understandinghellip that you donrsquot realize that justice is really the good of another the advantage of the stronger and the ruler and harmful to the one who obeys and serves Injustice is the opposite it rules the truly simple and just and those it rules do what is to the advantage of the other and stronger and they make the one they serve happy but themselves not at all You must look at it as follows my most simple Socrates A just man always gets less than an unjust onehellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Gorgias 482C-484C Callicles on nature and convention [Y]oursquore in fact bringing the discussion around to the sort of crowd-pleasing vulgarities that are admirable only by law [nomos also translatable ldquoconventionrdquo or ldquocustomrdquo] and not by nature And these nature and law are for the most part opposed to each otherhellip I believe that the people who institute our laws are the weak and the many So they institute laws and assign praise and blame with themselves and their own advantage in mind As a way of frightening the more powerfulhellip out of getting a greater share than they they say that getting more than onersquos share is ldquoshamefulrdquo and ldquounjusthelliprdquo But surely if a man whose nature is equal to it arises he will shake off tear apart and escape all this he will trample underfoot our documents our tricks and charms and all our laws that violate nature He the slave will rise up and be revealed as our master and here the justice of nature will shine forth

The New Teachers of Athens

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

P R E - S O C R AT I C ldquo P H I L O S O P H E R S 6 T H - 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

P R E - S O C R AT I C P H I L O S O P H E R S

bull Though not usually calling themselves ldquophilosophersrdquo they seemed to have contributed inspiration for Socratesrsquo method of free inquiry applying logos

bull Scholars adopt different views of what constitutes their innovation and ldquophilosophicalrdquo method (see readings)

bull Basing views on argument and evidence

bull De-ldquomythologizationrdquo

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Miletus

E A R LY P H I L O S O P H Y A N C I E N T M I L E T U S

M I L E T U S

bull Wealthy city-state in Asia Minor

bull Key city for trading and shipping between Near East amp Greece

bull Ionian Greek culture

bull Freedom of thought

bull Open political debate

bull Wealth (for some) providing leisure

bull Thales and his successors Anaximander Anaximenes

bull ldquoPhilosophicalrdquo investigation

bull Later Presocratics Heraclitus ParmenidesldquoORIENTALIZINGrdquo POTTERY

The Milesian school strikes a new note unheard before It has a fresh sense of the meaning of truth ndash a feeling for the sort of thing it is reasonable to suppose The hypothesis it characteristically deals in is concerned with the nature of the one primary stuff the Milesians seem to make a great conscious effort to get at something which really does exist They strike us as throwing off the vast symbolic visions of mythology and waking clear-headed to see and touch real things If we have a rational temperament we feel at once a refreshment Here at last is a statement about the world which is meant and offered as true ndash a logos [explanation] not a mythos [story]

ndash F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952 ed) 42

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The questions which excited them were of this kind Can this apparently confused and disordered world be reduced to simpler principles so that our reason can grasp what it is and how it works What is it made of How does change take place They abandoned mythological and substituted intellectual solutions [It] was no longer satisfying to say that storms were roused by the wrath of Poseidon or death caused by the arrows of Apollo or Artemis A world ruled by anthropomorphic gods human in their passions was a world ruled by caprice Philosophy and science start with the bold confession of faith that not caprice but an inherent orderliness underlies the phenomena and the explanation of nature is to be sought within nature itself ndashWKC Guthrie History of Greek Philosophy (Cambridge 1969) 1 44-45

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

Thales of Miletus

bull Lived late 7th-6th centurybull Born to a Phoenician aristocratic

family ndash so leisurebull Traveled to Egypt and Babylon (by

tradition)bull Legendary wisdombull ldquoFounder of Western philosophyrdquo

bull First to seek an ldquooriginal causerdquo (archecirc)

bull to explain how unseen facts caused visible results without appeal to mythology

bull To provide generalizable proofs or laws

Thales of Miletus

AstronomyMathematicsWater as the archecircAll things are full of gods

bull Traditionally Thalesrsquo star student

bull 25 years old during Thalesrsquo eclipse (585 BCE)

bull Lived c 610-540 BCE

bull ldquoFirst to draw the inhabited world on a tabletrdquo (first mapmaker)

bull Unambiguously our first ldquophilosopherrdquo by standards of demythologization originality generality and observation

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

ldquoAnaximander has expurgated the supernatural with a boldness and completeness to which many of his successors failed to attain The primary order is still said to be lsquoaccording to what is ordainedrsquo it is still a moral order in which Justice prevails but the will of the personal God has disappeared and its place is partly taken by a natural cause the eternal motionrdquo

- F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952) 41 Anaximander relief 1st century AD

Rome Museo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Key contributions

bull Physics the archecircbull Cosmologybull ldquoEvolutionrdquobull Astronomy and Cartography

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Anaximander said that the APEIRON [indefinite unlimited] was the ARCHE and the element of things that are and he was the first to introduce this name for the ARCHE He says that the ARCHE is neither water nor any other of the things called elements but some other nature called APEIRON out of which come to be all the heavens and the worlds in them (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2413-18)

The things that are perish into the things out of which they come to be according to necessity for ldquothey pay penalty and retribution to one another according to their injustice in accordance with the ordering of timerdquo as he says in rather poetical language (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2418-21)

Anaximander of Miletus

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The ARCHE

bull One and unlimitedbull But not undefined Itrsquos AIR

Anaximenes of Miletus

bull Not opposites but a continuum FIRE AIR larr WIND larr CLOUD larr WATER larr EARTH larr STONEbull ldquoLooseningrdquo and ldquotighteningrdquo explain hot and cold

H E R A C L I T U S B 1 0 1 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 3 7 )

I searched out myself

Listening not to me but to the logos it is wise to agree that all things are one

H E R A C L I T U S B 5 0 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 1 1 )

E X A M P L E S

THE ROAD TO PHILOSOP HY

The Hero of Lyric Poets of the Polis (6th century)

bull According to the lyric poets of the polis culture such as Pindar Simonides Tyrtaeus and Sappho (7th-6th century BCE)

bull Pursues collective good of the polis based on strong ties of interdependent responsibility amp cooperation in a just world governed by the gods

Individual Freedom The ldquoSophistsrdquo (5th century)

bull Sources in thinkers like Protagoras and Gorgias (5th century BCE predominantly working in Athens) constructed as a category by Platorsquos later writings

bull Pursues individual advantage based on their personal beliefs and wits using persuasion and power skepticism of traditional values

Vulnerability The Hero of Tragedy (5th century)

bull Iconic examples include Sophoclesrsquo Oedipus and Aeschylusrsquo Agamemnon and Orestes

bull Pursuit of individual amp collective good in a world of apparently conflicting divine values sometimes hampered by their own lack of self-knowledge

I N T E R D E P E N D E N C Y I N T R O D U C E S V U L N E R A B I L I T Y W H I C H M AY B E

C E L E B R AT E D O R R E S I S T E D

The Hero of Epic Homer and Hesiod (8th century)

bull Found in the epic Iliad and Odyssey attributed to Homer (c 8th century BCE) examples include the powerful Achilles and thoughtful persuasive Odysseus

bull Pursues individual honour (timē) in a just world governed by the gods

CH

IGI V

AS

E C

70

0 B

CE

The Hero of Reason The ldquoPresocratics (6th-5th cent)

bull Founding figures including Thales Anaximander Anaximenes Pythagoras Heraclitus Parmenides Seeking to understand the basic original causes (aitiai) of the world through reason

I S T H E W O R L D G E N U I N E LY

I N T E L L I G I B L E T O R E A S O N

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Born in Athens to a stonemason named Sophroniscus in 469 BCE

bull ldquoSocratic problemrdquo Socrates wrote nothing we know about him through Plato Xenophon and Aristophanes whose accounts vary

bull Conversed with anyone ldquorich or poor citizen or foreignerrdquo (Apology 23C)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Non-conformity reliance on individual values and wits (contrast with the earlier poets and rhapsodes)

bull Claims of ignorance interest in shared truth and not only persuasion and resistance of ldquoselfish morality (contrast with the sophists)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Methods based on question and answer (the elenchus) requiring unity or consistency (a) of onersquos beliefs and (b) of onersquos beliefs and actions

bull Behaviour peculiar enough to warrant its own verb (sōkratein) (Arist Birds 1282) before generalized philosophia

bull Brought to trial in 399 BCE by two Athenians Meletus and Anytus charged with ldquoimpiety and corrupting the youngrdquo

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

S O C R AT E S C R I T O 4 6 A

I am the kind of person who listens to nothing within me but the logos that on reflection seems

best to me

L O G O S R E A S O N VA L U E C O N S C I E N C E M E A N I N G

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousness A sense of such significances that what is great is fragile and that what is necessary may be destructive which is present in the literature of the fifth century and earlier has disappeared [later] from the ethics of the philosophers and perhaps altogether from their minds Greek philosophy in its sustained pursuit of rational self-sufficiency does turn its back on kinds of human experience and human necessity of which Greek literature itself offers the purest if not the richest expression

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y A N D P H I L O S O P H Y

The continuity between Greek tragedy and Greek philosophy on these questions is however far greater than Williams has allowed On the one hand inside tragedy itself we find arresting portrayals of the human ambition to rational self-sufficiency we come to understand the ways in which problems of exposure motivate this ambition On the other Platos philosophical search for a self- sufficient good life is motivated by a keen sense of these same problems Far from having forgotten about what tragedy describes he sees the problems of exposure so clearly that only a radical solution seems adequate to their depth Nor is he naiumlve about the costs of this solution

N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y P R A C T I C A L C O N F L I C T

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identical which is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A)

Socrates ldquoencourages Euthyphro [a pious Greek] to revise tradition by considering as binding only those requirements concerning which there is divine unanimity he expresses further his own doubt as to whether gods really do disagreerdquo (Nussbaum 30)

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identicalwhich is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A Nussbaum 25)

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

HomerHesiod

R E V I E W T H E R H A P S O D E S

bull Community of oral poets working from memory

bull Homer

bull Name traditionally given to the author or authors of (at least) two epic poems set in the Bronze Age

bull Iliad and Odyssey

bull Hesiod A farmer-poet

bull Boeotia Greece 8th century BCE

bull Author of two epic poems

bull Theogony beginning of the cosmos [Narrated in Class 1 to the Rise of Zeus]

bull Works amp Days advice on human life

bull Modes of knowing Divine inspiration (the Muses)

bull Ideal of excellence Heros pursuit of honour (kleos timē)

HESIOD (PS-SENECA) ROMAN BRONZE NATIONAL ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM

OF NAPLES

BOEOTIA IN GREECE

larr L A S T W E E K

larr T O D AY

Paris and Helen by Vincenzo dersquo Rossi (1560)

David The Love of Helen amp Paris (1788)

Paris and Helen from Troy (2004)

H O M E R rsquo S I L I A D amp O D Y S S E Y

Enrique Simonet - El Juicio de Paris - 1904

Aeschylus Agamemnon (458 BCE) and Euripides Iphigeneia at Aulis (405 BCE) The Sacrifice of Iphigeneia by Francesco Fontebasso bull 1749 oil on canvas

Sing goddess the anger of Peleusrsquo sun Achilleus and its devastation which put pains thousandfold upon the Achaians

hurled in their multitudes to the house of Hades strong souls of heroes but gave their bodies to be the delicate feasting of dogs of all birds and the will of Zeus was accomplished since that time when first there stood in division of conflict

Atreus son the lord of men and brilliant Achilleus

microῆνιν ἄειδε θεὰ Πηληϊάδεω Ἀχιλῆοςοὐλοmicroένην ἣ microυρί Ἀχαιοῖς ἄλγε ἔθηκε πολλὰς δ ἰφθίmicroους ψυχὰς Ἄϊδι προΐαψενἡρώων αὐτοὺς δὲ ἑλώρια τεῦχε κύνεσσιν οἰωνοῖσί τε πᾶσι Διὸς δ ἐτελείετο βουλή ἐξ οὗ δὴ τὰ πρῶτα διαστήτην ἐρίσαντε

Ἀτρεΐδης τε ἄναξ ἀνδρῶν καὶ δῖος Ἀχιλλεύς

H O M E R I L I A D 1 1 - 7 ( T R L AT T I M O R E )

Chryses prays to Apollo

Achilles amp Hector by G

enzoman D

eviantArtcom

Achilles versus Hector from

Troy (2004)Achilles versus H

ector Attic Vase c 500 BCE

Troy in Flames Completed 1762 by Johann Georg Trautmann (1713-1969)

Ulysses and the Sirens John William Waterhouse 1891

Johann Heinrich Wilhelm Tischbein Odysseus und Penelope

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The quest for immortality

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Divine causation

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

H O M E R I L I A D 9 4 1 0 - 4 1 6

For my mother Thetis the goddess of the silver feet tells me I carry two sorts of destiny toward the day of my death Either

if I stay here and fight beside the city of the Trojans my return home is gone but my glory (kleos) shall be everlasting

but if I return home to the beloved land of my fathers the excellence (esthlon) of my glory is gone but there will be a long life

left for me and my end in death will not come to me quickly

P I N D A R P Y T H 8 9 5 - 9 7

Creatures of the passing day What is any one What is any one not Shadows dream is man But when the radiance given of Zeus comes

there is a bright light upon men and life is sweet

A R E TĒ T I MĒ K L E O S

T H E Q U E S T F O R I M M O R TA L I T Y

S C E N E F R O M T R O Y ( W B 2 0 0 4 ) A C H I L L E S S U M M O N E D B Y A G A M E M N O N Y O U T U B E C O M W AT C H V = R 7 2 K B D G R T D 4

S C E N E F R O M T R O Y ( W B 2 0 0 4 ) A C H I L L E S A N D H E C T O R D U E L Y O U T U B E C O M W AT C H V = N Q 6 2 F R K 7 4 U 0

Athena Achilles Hector Apollo

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Divine causation

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

A G A M E M N O N AT H O M E R I L I A D 1 1 8 1 - 1 8 7

hellip[H]ere is my threat to you Even as Phoibos Apollo is taking away my Chryseis

hellip I shall take the fair-cheeked Briseis your prize I myself going to your shelter that you may learn well how much greater I am than you and another man may shrink back

from likening himself to me and contending against mersquo

A C H I L L E S AT H O M E R I L I A D 9 6 4 6 - 4 8 S E E A L S O 1 6 5 9

Yet still the heart in me swells up in anger when I remember the disgrace that he wrought upon me before the Argives

the son of Atreus as if I were some wanderer without honour (atimētos metanastēs)

Achilleus in amazement turned about and straightway knew Pallas Athene and the terrible eyes shining

He uttered winged words and addressed her Why have you come now o child of Zeus of the aegis once more Is it that you may see

the outrageousness (hubris) of the son of Atreus Agamemnonrsquohellip

A C H I L L E S AT H O M E R I L I A D 1 1 9 9 - 2 0 3

O D Y S S E U S AT H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 2 2 3 5 - 4 1

You dogs You never thought Id come back home from the kingdom of the Trojans so you ravaged my house

lay in bed by force beside my women slaves my women and wooed my wife illicitly though I was alive

fearing neither the gods who hold wide heaven nor that thered be any mens censure thereafter

Now the moment of destruction hangs over you one and all

The slaughter of the suitors by Odysseus and Telemachus 1812 Louis Vincent Palliere

Death of the suitors Athenian red-figure cup c 450-440 BC

A W H A D K I N S ldquo H O M E R I C E T H I C S rdquo I N I M O R R I S amp B P O W E L L ( E D S )

A N E W C O M PA N I O N T O H O M E R ( B R I L L 1 9 9 6 ) 7 0 4 - 5

ldquoThe Homeric hero deprived of any significant quantity of timē reacts violently

aware as he is of the bottom of the scale [the metanastēs]hellip the primary function of the

agathos [good person hero] is to defend his timē with all the resources at his commandrdquo

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Divine causation

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

H U B R I S N E M E S I S

Nemesis by Gheorghe Tattarescu (1853)

Hesiod Works amp Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

Piteously she transfixed by his crooked claws was lamenting When the imperious hawk addressed her in arrogant parlance Why little lady such shrieks One stronger than you now has got you Where you are going Ill take you myself though you are a songstress For as I please Ill make you my dinner or give you your freedom Witless is one who attempts to strive against those who are stronger When he is stripped of the prize its injury added to insult Thus said the fast-flying hawk that bird with the generous wing-span

Pay more attention to justice and curb high-handedness [brother] Violence ill suits those who are lowly not even the noble Person can lightly endure it it weighs on a person whos fallen Into affliction Its better to take your way on the other Road which conduces to right For outrage (hubris) surrenders to justice (dikē)hellip

W E A R E I N Z E U S rsquo JUST W O R L D D E S C R I B E D I N THEOGONY

S I D E B A R D I V I N E C A U S AT I O N

bull The Homeric and Hesiodic herorsquos individual mission only makes sense in a world governed by gods (theoi)

bull Homer Iliad The gods are primarily responsiblecausal of events (aitios)

bull Early Greek science begins here theoi subsequently naturalized as consistent patterns of regularity in human and natural experience (elements laws)

bull Homer Odyssey Humans are (also) responsiblecausal for our own actions

bull How do we use our freedom

AT H E N A A N D O D Y S S E U S T H E O D Y S S E Y ( N B C 1 9 9 7 )

H O M E R I L I A D 5 1 2 3

Athena drew near to his side and spoke to him in winged words Have courage for I have drawn the mist from your eyes

that you may discern in truth gods from humans

So they spoke but Priam aloud called out to Helen Come over where I am dear child and sit down beside me

to look at your husband of time past your friends and your people I am not blaming you (ou ti moi aitiē essi) to me the gods are

responsible (theoihellipaitioi) who drove upon me this sorrowful war against the Achaians

H O M E R I L I A D 3 1 6 4

S I D E B A R D I V I N E C A U S AT I O N

Zeus is probably responsible (aitios) who gives to men who work for bread to each one however he wishes

H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 1 3 4 8 [ T E L E M A C H U S S P E A K S ]

How mortals now blame [from aitios] gods for they say that evils are from us Yet they themselves

have woes beyond their lot by their own recklessnesshellip

H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 1 3 2 [ Z E U S S P E A K S ]

Tell me of these things Muses that dwell on the heights of Olympus From the origin (archē) and say which first of them came into beinghellip

H E S I O D T H E O G O N Y 1 1 4

Responsibility lies with the one who makes the choice the god is blameless (theos anaitios)

P L AT O R E P U B L I C 1 0 6 1 7 E

S I D E B A R D I V I N E C A U S AT I O N

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Divine causation

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

O D Y S S E U S T O P O LY P H E M U S H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 9 2 6 9 - 7 1

But revere the gods most noble one We are supplicants (hiketai) to you Zeus is the avenger (epitimētōr) of suppliants and strangers

the guest god who attends venerable strangers

W E A R E I N Z E U S rsquo W O R L D ( A S D E S C R I B E D I N THEOGONY )

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

T H E LY R I C P O E T SC 6 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Pindar of Thebes

Simonides of Ceos

Sappho of Lesbos

LY R I C I N T R O D U C T I O N

bull Occasional poetry

bull Often sung to the lyre (lyrē) in varied meters

bull CHORAL LYRIC

bull Dancing choruses at religious festivals contests family events

bull Enforcing collective civic values

bull MONODIC LYRIC

bull Individual performance

bull Personal in emotion amp outlookBrygos Painter c 490 BCE

Sappho and Alcaeus

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

Creatures of the passing day What is any one What is any one not Shadows dream is man But when the radiance given of Zeus comes

there is a bright light upon men and life is sweet

P I N D A R P Y T H 8 9 5 - 9 7

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

I praise and embrace everyone who willingly does nothing base (aischron) but with necessity not even the gods fight A man not too helpless suffices for me one who knows the justice that benefits the

city (polis) a sound and healthy man I will not lay blame for the generation of fools is limitless Everything is noble (kala) with which

base deeds are not mingled

S I M O N I D E S 5 4 2 2 7 - 4 0

Simonides is criticizing the traditional definition of the good noble or successful man (agathos esthlos) Such goodness or nobility depends upon external achievements and possessions (wealth honour prowess in battle) which are too insecure to form a real basis for human excellence Instead Simonides stresses intention justice that benefits the city acknowledgement of the fragility of lifehellip

C S E G A L ldquo C H O R A L LY R I C I N T H E F I F T H C E N T U R Y rdquo I N P E E A S T E R L I N G amp B M W K N O X T H E C A M B R I D G E H I S T O R Y O F

C L A S S I C A L L I T E R AT U R E I ( C A M B R I D G E 2 0 0 8 ) 2 2 4

LY R I C C O N T E X T

Hoplites in phalanx formation From the Chigi Vase proto-Corinthian pitcher ca 650-640 BC

3 0 0 ( W A R N E R B R O S 2 0 0 6 ) ldquo W H AT I S Y O U R P R O F E S S I O N rdquo

W W W Y O U T U B E C O M W AT C H V = A N A 3 C O 8 3 _ G K

3 0 0 ( W A R N E R B R O S 2 0 0 6 ) ldquo F I G H T I N T H E S H A D E rdquo

Y O U T U B E 4 J K P G D D M A R S T = 1 2 4

τοιόνδ ἄνθος Περσίδος αἴας οἴχεται ἀνδρῶν

οὓς πέρι πᾶσα χθὼν Ἀσιῆτις ρέψασα πόθῳ στένεται microαλερῷ τοκέης τ ἄλοχοί θ ἡmicroερολεγδὸν τείνοντα χρόνον τροmicroέονται

A E S C H Y L U S P E R S A I 5 9 - 6 4 C P I L I A D 9 4 1 0 - 1 6

S E E C A S E Y D U Eacute T H E C A P T I V E W O M A N rsquo S L A M E N T I N G R E E K T R A G E DY C H 2

Such is the flower [anthos] of the Persian land such is the flower of men that has disappeared

The entire land of Asia laments the men she nourished with fierce

longing [pothos] Parents and wives counting the days

tremble at the increasing length of time

P I N D A R

bull Born near Thebes c 518 BCE

bull Composed important epinician odes (epi-nikia for-a-victory in a contest)

bull Depicts the gods as maintaining civic values of justice (O 1 P 1-3 P 8) compassionate (N 10) and forgiving (O 7456) guardians of polis morality

bull Celebrated ldquoroughrdquo style

bull ldquoA soaring eaglehellip a rushing streamrdquo (Horace Od 42) ldquoA vast firerdquo (Longinus Sublime 335)

Bust of the lyric poet Pindar Roman copy from original of the mid-5 century BC

F I F T H - C E N T U R Y C H O R A L LY R I C

A C O R N T O O A K T R E E N E I L B R O M H A L L bull y o u t u b e Z K 4 L j U R t a D w

Some people pray for gold others for limitless lands but I pray to please my fellow citizens and then to cover my limbs in earth

having praised the praiseworthy and scattered reproof on the wicked Excellence soars upward like a tree fed on fresh dews

lifted among the wise and just toward the liquid upper air The need for friends comes in many forms

it is most valued in times of trouble but joy too craves to look upon trusty support

P I N D A R N E M E A N 8 3 6 - 4 3

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

F R A G I L I T Ybull How can we be praiseworthy if we are vulnerable (to circumstances)

bull [The poetic world-view and Pindarrsquos career as praise poet of aretē require] ldquothe belief that the excellence of a good person is something of that persons own for whose possession and exercise that person can appropriately be held accountablerdquo (Nussbaum 1)

bull But ldquoHow can we be givers and receivers of praise if our worth ishellip a plant in need of wateringrdquo (2)

bull ldquoWe need to be born with adequate capacities to live in fostering natural and social circumstances to stay clear of abrupt catastrophe to develop confirming associations with other human beingsrdquo (1)

bull A further complication ldquoThe tenderness of a plant is not the dazzling hardness of a gemrdquo perhaps ldquopart of the peculiar beauty of human excellence just is its vulnerabilityrdquo (2)

M A R T H A N U S S B A U M T H E F R A G I L I T Y O F G O O D N E S S C H 1 L U C K amp E T H I C S

T H E P O W E R O F R E A S O N [T]here is the consolation that so far Pindar has apparently left something out However much human beings resemble lower forms of life we are unlike we want to insist in one crucial respect We have reason We are able to deliberate and choose to make a plan in which ends are ranked to decide actively what is to have value and how much All this must count for something If it is true that a lot about us is messy needy uncontrolled rooted in the dirt and standing helplessly in the rain it is also true that there is something about us that is pure and purely active something that we could think of as divine immortal intelligible unitary indissoluble ever self-consistent and invariablelsquo [Plato Phaedo 80B] It seems possible that this rational element in us can rule and guide the rest thereby saving the whole person from living at the mercy of luck

N U S S B A U M F R A G I L I T Y 2

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S S O P H I S T S A N D T R A G E D I A N SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Athens

AT H E N S rsquo A C R O P O L I S A S I M A G I N E D B Y L E O V O N K L E N Z E O I L O N C A N VA S 1 8 4 6 N E U E P I N A K O T H E K

A S S A S S I N rsquo S C R E E D O D Y S S E Y bull A T O U R O F AT H E N S U B I S O F T ( 2 0 1 8 )

bull Athens is the first lsquopeople-ruledrsquo polis (dēmokratia) in the Mediterranean world

bull She has achieved unchallenged naval authority and an empire which is labeled a lsquocommonwealthrsquo

bull At the commercial and cultural crossroads of Italy Greece Egypt and the Near East

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

S P E E C H A N D D E M O C R A C Y

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

bull In this cosmopolitan environment traditional views are challenged leading to a perceived erosion of moral values

bull The rhapsodes use poetic forms to transmit traditional morality

bull The tragedians use poetic forms to explore amp challenge mythrsquos assumptions

bull The sophists teach ldquowisdomrdquo (sophia) including rhetoric and political oratory perceived as a new lsquotechnologyrsquo to steer the ship of state for onersquos own ends

bull Use onersquos own wits ldquoA person is the measure of all thingsrdquo Protagoras B1

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

T R A G E D Y V U L N E R A B I L I T Y A N D R E A S O NC 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E AT H E N S

Aeschylus Agamemnon (458 BCE) and Euripides Iphigeneia at Aulis (405 BCE) The Sacrifice of Iphigeneia by Francesco Fontebasso bull 1749 oil on canvas

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousnesshellip what is great is fragile andhellip what is necessary may be destructivehellip

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

In such cases we see a wrong action committed without any direct physical compulsion and in full knowledge of its nature by a person whose ethical character or commitments would otherwise dispose him to reject the acthellip circumstanceshellip prevent the adequate fulfillment of two valid ethical claims

N U S S B A U M 2 5

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

[Aeschylus in Agamemnon] shows us not so much a solution to the problem of practical conflict as the richness and depth of the problem itself (This achievement is closely connected with his poetic resources which put the scene vividly before us show us debate about it and evoke in us responses important to its assessment)

The best the agent can do is to have his suffering the natural expression of his goodness of character and not to stifle these responses out of misguided optimism The best we (the Chorus) can do for him is to respect the gravity of his predicament to respect the responses that express his goodness and to think about his case as showing a possibility for human life in general

N U S S B A U M 4 9 - 5 0

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

bull In a world that allows such dilemmas are there truly gods with a coherent vision for the world

bull Can individual reason and ingenuity suffice for a good life

T H E S O P H I S T SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Hesiod Works amp Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale Piteously she transfixed by his crooked claws was lamenting When the imperious hawk addressed her in arrogant parlance Why little lady such shrieks One stronger than you now has got you Where you are going Ill take you myself though you are a songstress For as I please Ill make you my dinner or give you your freedom Witless is one who attempts to strive against those who are stronger When he is stripped of the prize its injury added to insult Thus said the fast-flying hawk that bird with the generous wing-spanPay more attention to justice and curb high-handedness [brother] Violence ill suits men who are lowly not even the noble Man can lightly endure it it weighs on a person whos fallen Into affliction Its better to take your way on the other Road which conduces to right For outrage (hubris) surrenders to

justice (dikē)hellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Thucydides History 584-116 The Melian Dialogue ATHENIANS [Y]ou know as well as we do that when these matters are discussed by practical people the standard of justice depends on the equality of power to compel and that in fact the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they musthellip Our opinion of the gods and our knowledge of men lead us to conclude that it is a general and necessary law of nature to rule whatever one can This is not a law that we made ourselves nor were we the first to act upon it when it was made We found it already in existence and we shall leave it to exist for ever among those who come after us

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos

advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Republic I 343A-D Thrasymachusrsquo complaint Tell me Socrates do you still have a wet nursehellip Because shersquos letting you run around with a snotty nose and doesnrsquot wipe it when she needs tohellip You think that shepherds and cowherds seek the good of their sheep and cattle and fatten them and take care of them looking to something other than their masterrsquos good and their own Moreover you believe that rulershellip think of something besides their own advantage You are so far from understandinghellip that you donrsquot realize that justice is really the good of another the advantage of the stronger and the ruler and harmful to the one who obeys and serves Injustice is the opposite it rules the truly simple and just and those it rules do what is to the advantage of the other and stronger and they make the one they serve happy but themselves not at all You must look at it as follows my most simple Socrates A just man always gets less than an unjust onehellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Gorgias 482C-484C Callicles on nature and convention [Y]oursquore in fact bringing the discussion around to the sort of crowd-pleasing vulgarities that are admirable only by law [nomos also translatable ldquoconventionrdquo or ldquocustomrdquo] and not by nature And these nature and law are for the most part opposed to each otherhellip I believe that the people who institute our laws are the weak and the many So they institute laws and assign praise and blame with themselves and their own advantage in mind As a way of frightening the more powerfulhellip out of getting a greater share than they they say that getting more than onersquos share is ldquoshamefulrdquo and ldquounjusthelliprdquo But surely if a man whose nature is equal to it arises he will shake off tear apart and escape all this he will trample underfoot our documents our tricks and charms and all our laws that violate nature He the slave will rise up and be revealed as our master and here the justice of nature will shine forth

The New Teachers of Athens

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

P R E - S O C R AT I C ldquo P H I L O S O P H E R S 6 T H - 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

P R E - S O C R AT I C P H I L O S O P H E R S

bull Though not usually calling themselves ldquophilosophersrdquo they seemed to have contributed inspiration for Socratesrsquo method of free inquiry applying logos

bull Scholars adopt different views of what constitutes their innovation and ldquophilosophicalrdquo method (see readings)

bull Basing views on argument and evidence

bull De-ldquomythologizationrdquo

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Miletus

E A R LY P H I L O S O P H Y A N C I E N T M I L E T U S

M I L E T U S

bull Wealthy city-state in Asia Minor

bull Key city for trading and shipping between Near East amp Greece

bull Ionian Greek culture

bull Freedom of thought

bull Open political debate

bull Wealth (for some) providing leisure

bull Thales and his successors Anaximander Anaximenes

bull ldquoPhilosophicalrdquo investigation

bull Later Presocratics Heraclitus ParmenidesldquoORIENTALIZINGrdquo POTTERY

The Milesian school strikes a new note unheard before It has a fresh sense of the meaning of truth ndash a feeling for the sort of thing it is reasonable to suppose The hypothesis it characteristically deals in is concerned with the nature of the one primary stuff the Milesians seem to make a great conscious effort to get at something which really does exist They strike us as throwing off the vast symbolic visions of mythology and waking clear-headed to see and touch real things If we have a rational temperament we feel at once a refreshment Here at last is a statement about the world which is meant and offered as true ndash a logos [explanation] not a mythos [story]

ndash F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952 ed) 42

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The questions which excited them were of this kind Can this apparently confused and disordered world be reduced to simpler principles so that our reason can grasp what it is and how it works What is it made of How does change take place They abandoned mythological and substituted intellectual solutions [It] was no longer satisfying to say that storms were roused by the wrath of Poseidon or death caused by the arrows of Apollo or Artemis A world ruled by anthropomorphic gods human in their passions was a world ruled by caprice Philosophy and science start with the bold confession of faith that not caprice but an inherent orderliness underlies the phenomena and the explanation of nature is to be sought within nature itself ndashWKC Guthrie History of Greek Philosophy (Cambridge 1969) 1 44-45

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

Thales of Miletus

bull Lived late 7th-6th centurybull Born to a Phoenician aristocratic

family ndash so leisurebull Traveled to Egypt and Babylon (by

tradition)bull Legendary wisdombull ldquoFounder of Western philosophyrdquo

bull First to seek an ldquooriginal causerdquo (archecirc)

bull to explain how unseen facts caused visible results without appeal to mythology

bull To provide generalizable proofs or laws

Thales of Miletus

AstronomyMathematicsWater as the archecircAll things are full of gods

bull Traditionally Thalesrsquo star student

bull 25 years old during Thalesrsquo eclipse (585 BCE)

bull Lived c 610-540 BCE

bull ldquoFirst to draw the inhabited world on a tabletrdquo (first mapmaker)

bull Unambiguously our first ldquophilosopherrdquo by standards of demythologization originality generality and observation

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

ldquoAnaximander has expurgated the supernatural with a boldness and completeness to which many of his successors failed to attain The primary order is still said to be lsquoaccording to what is ordainedrsquo it is still a moral order in which Justice prevails but the will of the personal God has disappeared and its place is partly taken by a natural cause the eternal motionrdquo

- F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952) 41 Anaximander relief 1st century AD

Rome Museo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Key contributions

bull Physics the archecircbull Cosmologybull ldquoEvolutionrdquobull Astronomy and Cartography

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Anaximander said that the APEIRON [indefinite unlimited] was the ARCHE and the element of things that are and he was the first to introduce this name for the ARCHE He says that the ARCHE is neither water nor any other of the things called elements but some other nature called APEIRON out of which come to be all the heavens and the worlds in them (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2413-18)

The things that are perish into the things out of which they come to be according to necessity for ldquothey pay penalty and retribution to one another according to their injustice in accordance with the ordering of timerdquo as he says in rather poetical language (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2418-21)

Anaximander of Miletus

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The ARCHE

bull One and unlimitedbull But not undefined Itrsquos AIR

Anaximenes of Miletus

bull Not opposites but a continuum FIRE AIR larr WIND larr CLOUD larr WATER larr EARTH larr STONEbull ldquoLooseningrdquo and ldquotighteningrdquo explain hot and cold

H E R A C L I T U S B 1 0 1 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 3 7 )

I searched out myself

Listening not to me but to the logos it is wise to agree that all things are one

H E R A C L I T U S B 5 0 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 1 1 )

E X A M P L E S

THE ROAD TO PHILOSOP HY

The Hero of Lyric Poets of the Polis (6th century)

bull According to the lyric poets of the polis culture such as Pindar Simonides Tyrtaeus and Sappho (7th-6th century BCE)

bull Pursues collective good of the polis based on strong ties of interdependent responsibility amp cooperation in a just world governed by the gods

Individual Freedom The ldquoSophistsrdquo (5th century)

bull Sources in thinkers like Protagoras and Gorgias (5th century BCE predominantly working in Athens) constructed as a category by Platorsquos later writings

bull Pursues individual advantage based on their personal beliefs and wits using persuasion and power skepticism of traditional values

Vulnerability The Hero of Tragedy (5th century)

bull Iconic examples include Sophoclesrsquo Oedipus and Aeschylusrsquo Agamemnon and Orestes

bull Pursuit of individual amp collective good in a world of apparently conflicting divine values sometimes hampered by their own lack of self-knowledge

I N T E R D E P E N D E N C Y I N T R O D U C E S V U L N E R A B I L I T Y W H I C H M AY B E

C E L E B R AT E D O R R E S I S T E D

The Hero of Epic Homer and Hesiod (8th century)

bull Found in the epic Iliad and Odyssey attributed to Homer (c 8th century BCE) examples include the powerful Achilles and thoughtful persuasive Odysseus

bull Pursues individual honour (timē) in a just world governed by the gods

CH

IGI V

AS

E C

70

0 B

CE

The Hero of Reason The ldquoPresocratics (6th-5th cent)

bull Founding figures including Thales Anaximander Anaximenes Pythagoras Heraclitus Parmenides Seeking to understand the basic original causes (aitiai) of the world through reason

I S T H E W O R L D G E N U I N E LY

I N T E L L I G I B L E T O R E A S O N

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Born in Athens to a stonemason named Sophroniscus in 469 BCE

bull ldquoSocratic problemrdquo Socrates wrote nothing we know about him through Plato Xenophon and Aristophanes whose accounts vary

bull Conversed with anyone ldquorich or poor citizen or foreignerrdquo (Apology 23C)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Non-conformity reliance on individual values and wits (contrast with the earlier poets and rhapsodes)

bull Claims of ignorance interest in shared truth and not only persuasion and resistance of ldquoselfish morality (contrast with the sophists)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Methods based on question and answer (the elenchus) requiring unity or consistency (a) of onersquos beliefs and (b) of onersquos beliefs and actions

bull Behaviour peculiar enough to warrant its own verb (sōkratein) (Arist Birds 1282) before generalized philosophia

bull Brought to trial in 399 BCE by two Athenians Meletus and Anytus charged with ldquoimpiety and corrupting the youngrdquo

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

S O C R AT E S C R I T O 4 6 A

I am the kind of person who listens to nothing within me but the logos that on reflection seems

best to me

L O G O S R E A S O N VA L U E C O N S C I E N C E M E A N I N G

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousness A sense of such significances that what is great is fragile and that what is necessary may be destructive which is present in the literature of the fifth century and earlier has disappeared [later] from the ethics of the philosophers and perhaps altogether from their minds Greek philosophy in its sustained pursuit of rational self-sufficiency does turn its back on kinds of human experience and human necessity of which Greek literature itself offers the purest if not the richest expression

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y A N D P H I L O S O P H Y

The continuity between Greek tragedy and Greek philosophy on these questions is however far greater than Williams has allowed On the one hand inside tragedy itself we find arresting portrayals of the human ambition to rational self-sufficiency we come to understand the ways in which problems of exposure motivate this ambition On the other Platos philosophical search for a self- sufficient good life is motivated by a keen sense of these same problems Far from having forgotten about what tragedy describes he sees the problems of exposure so clearly that only a radical solution seems adequate to their depth Nor is he naiumlve about the costs of this solution

N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y P R A C T I C A L C O N F L I C T

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identical which is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A)

Socrates ldquoencourages Euthyphro [a pious Greek] to revise tradition by considering as binding only those requirements concerning which there is divine unanimity he expresses further his own doubt as to whether gods really do disagreerdquo (Nussbaum 30)

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identicalwhich is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A Nussbaum 25)

R E V I E W T H E R H A P S O D E S

bull Community of oral poets working from memory

bull Homer

bull Name traditionally given to the author or authors of (at least) two epic poems set in the Bronze Age

bull Iliad and Odyssey

bull Hesiod A farmer-poet

bull Boeotia Greece 8th century BCE

bull Author of two epic poems

bull Theogony beginning of the cosmos [Narrated in Class 1 to the Rise of Zeus]

bull Works amp Days advice on human life

bull Modes of knowing Divine inspiration (the Muses)

bull Ideal of excellence Heros pursuit of honour (kleos timē)

HESIOD (PS-SENECA) ROMAN BRONZE NATIONAL ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM

OF NAPLES

BOEOTIA IN GREECE

larr L A S T W E E K

larr T O D AY

Paris and Helen by Vincenzo dersquo Rossi (1560)

David The Love of Helen amp Paris (1788)

Paris and Helen from Troy (2004)

H O M E R rsquo S I L I A D amp O D Y S S E Y

Enrique Simonet - El Juicio de Paris - 1904

Aeschylus Agamemnon (458 BCE) and Euripides Iphigeneia at Aulis (405 BCE) The Sacrifice of Iphigeneia by Francesco Fontebasso bull 1749 oil on canvas

Sing goddess the anger of Peleusrsquo sun Achilleus and its devastation which put pains thousandfold upon the Achaians

hurled in their multitudes to the house of Hades strong souls of heroes but gave their bodies to be the delicate feasting of dogs of all birds and the will of Zeus was accomplished since that time when first there stood in division of conflict

Atreus son the lord of men and brilliant Achilleus

microῆνιν ἄειδε θεὰ Πηληϊάδεω Ἀχιλῆοςοὐλοmicroένην ἣ microυρί Ἀχαιοῖς ἄλγε ἔθηκε πολλὰς δ ἰφθίmicroους ψυχὰς Ἄϊδι προΐαψενἡρώων αὐτοὺς δὲ ἑλώρια τεῦχε κύνεσσιν οἰωνοῖσί τε πᾶσι Διὸς δ ἐτελείετο βουλή ἐξ οὗ δὴ τὰ πρῶτα διαστήτην ἐρίσαντε

Ἀτρεΐδης τε ἄναξ ἀνδρῶν καὶ δῖος Ἀχιλλεύς

H O M E R I L I A D 1 1 - 7 ( T R L AT T I M O R E )

Chryses prays to Apollo

Achilles amp Hector by G

enzoman D

eviantArtcom

Achilles versus Hector from

Troy (2004)Achilles versus H

ector Attic Vase c 500 BCE

Troy in Flames Completed 1762 by Johann Georg Trautmann (1713-1969)

Ulysses and the Sirens John William Waterhouse 1891

Johann Heinrich Wilhelm Tischbein Odysseus und Penelope

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The quest for immortality

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Divine causation

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

H O M E R I L I A D 9 4 1 0 - 4 1 6

For my mother Thetis the goddess of the silver feet tells me I carry two sorts of destiny toward the day of my death Either

if I stay here and fight beside the city of the Trojans my return home is gone but my glory (kleos) shall be everlasting

but if I return home to the beloved land of my fathers the excellence (esthlon) of my glory is gone but there will be a long life

left for me and my end in death will not come to me quickly

P I N D A R P Y T H 8 9 5 - 9 7

Creatures of the passing day What is any one What is any one not Shadows dream is man But when the radiance given of Zeus comes

there is a bright light upon men and life is sweet

A R E TĒ T I MĒ K L E O S

T H E Q U E S T F O R I M M O R TA L I T Y

S C E N E F R O M T R O Y ( W B 2 0 0 4 ) A C H I L L E S S U M M O N E D B Y A G A M E M N O N Y O U T U B E C O M W AT C H V = R 7 2 K B D G R T D 4

S C E N E F R O M T R O Y ( W B 2 0 0 4 ) A C H I L L E S A N D H E C T O R D U E L Y O U T U B E C O M W AT C H V = N Q 6 2 F R K 7 4 U 0

Athena Achilles Hector Apollo

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Divine causation

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

A G A M E M N O N AT H O M E R I L I A D 1 1 8 1 - 1 8 7

hellip[H]ere is my threat to you Even as Phoibos Apollo is taking away my Chryseis

hellip I shall take the fair-cheeked Briseis your prize I myself going to your shelter that you may learn well how much greater I am than you and another man may shrink back

from likening himself to me and contending against mersquo

A C H I L L E S AT H O M E R I L I A D 9 6 4 6 - 4 8 S E E A L S O 1 6 5 9

Yet still the heart in me swells up in anger when I remember the disgrace that he wrought upon me before the Argives

the son of Atreus as if I were some wanderer without honour (atimētos metanastēs)

Achilleus in amazement turned about and straightway knew Pallas Athene and the terrible eyes shining

He uttered winged words and addressed her Why have you come now o child of Zeus of the aegis once more Is it that you may see

the outrageousness (hubris) of the son of Atreus Agamemnonrsquohellip

A C H I L L E S AT H O M E R I L I A D 1 1 9 9 - 2 0 3

O D Y S S E U S AT H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 2 2 3 5 - 4 1

You dogs You never thought Id come back home from the kingdom of the Trojans so you ravaged my house

lay in bed by force beside my women slaves my women and wooed my wife illicitly though I was alive

fearing neither the gods who hold wide heaven nor that thered be any mens censure thereafter

Now the moment of destruction hangs over you one and all

The slaughter of the suitors by Odysseus and Telemachus 1812 Louis Vincent Palliere

Death of the suitors Athenian red-figure cup c 450-440 BC

A W H A D K I N S ldquo H O M E R I C E T H I C S rdquo I N I M O R R I S amp B P O W E L L ( E D S )

A N E W C O M PA N I O N T O H O M E R ( B R I L L 1 9 9 6 ) 7 0 4 - 5

ldquoThe Homeric hero deprived of any significant quantity of timē reacts violently

aware as he is of the bottom of the scale [the metanastēs]hellip the primary function of the

agathos [good person hero] is to defend his timē with all the resources at his commandrdquo

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Divine causation

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

H U B R I S N E M E S I S

Nemesis by Gheorghe Tattarescu (1853)

Hesiod Works amp Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

Piteously she transfixed by his crooked claws was lamenting When the imperious hawk addressed her in arrogant parlance Why little lady such shrieks One stronger than you now has got you Where you are going Ill take you myself though you are a songstress For as I please Ill make you my dinner or give you your freedom Witless is one who attempts to strive against those who are stronger When he is stripped of the prize its injury added to insult Thus said the fast-flying hawk that bird with the generous wing-span

Pay more attention to justice and curb high-handedness [brother] Violence ill suits those who are lowly not even the noble Person can lightly endure it it weighs on a person whos fallen Into affliction Its better to take your way on the other Road which conduces to right For outrage (hubris) surrenders to justice (dikē)hellip

W E A R E I N Z E U S rsquo JUST W O R L D D E S C R I B E D I N THEOGONY

S I D E B A R D I V I N E C A U S AT I O N

bull The Homeric and Hesiodic herorsquos individual mission only makes sense in a world governed by gods (theoi)

bull Homer Iliad The gods are primarily responsiblecausal of events (aitios)

bull Early Greek science begins here theoi subsequently naturalized as consistent patterns of regularity in human and natural experience (elements laws)

bull Homer Odyssey Humans are (also) responsiblecausal for our own actions

bull How do we use our freedom

AT H E N A A N D O D Y S S E U S T H E O D Y S S E Y ( N B C 1 9 9 7 )

H O M E R I L I A D 5 1 2 3

Athena drew near to his side and spoke to him in winged words Have courage for I have drawn the mist from your eyes

that you may discern in truth gods from humans

So they spoke but Priam aloud called out to Helen Come over where I am dear child and sit down beside me

to look at your husband of time past your friends and your people I am not blaming you (ou ti moi aitiē essi) to me the gods are

responsible (theoihellipaitioi) who drove upon me this sorrowful war against the Achaians

H O M E R I L I A D 3 1 6 4

S I D E B A R D I V I N E C A U S AT I O N

Zeus is probably responsible (aitios) who gives to men who work for bread to each one however he wishes

H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 1 3 4 8 [ T E L E M A C H U S S P E A K S ]

How mortals now blame [from aitios] gods for they say that evils are from us Yet they themselves

have woes beyond their lot by their own recklessnesshellip

H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 1 3 2 [ Z E U S S P E A K S ]

Tell me of these things Muses that dwell on the heights of Olympus From the origin (archē) and say which first of them came into beinghellip

H E S I O D T H E O G O N Y 1 1 4

Responsibility lies with the one who makes the choice the god is blameless (theos anaitios)

P L AT O R E P U B L I C 1 0 6 1 7 E

S I D E B A R D I V I N E C A U S AT I O N

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Divine causation

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

O D Y S S E U S T O P O LY P H E M U S H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 9 2 6 9 - 7 1

But revere the gods most noble one We are supplicants (hiketai) to you Zeus is the avenger (epitimētōr) of suppliants and strangers

the guest god who attends venerable strangers

W E A R E I N Z E U S rsquo W O R L D ( A S D E S C R I B E D I N THEOGONY )

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

T H E LY R I C P O E T SC 6 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Pindar of Thebes

Simonides of Ceos

Sappho of Lesbos

LY R I C I N T R O D U C T I O N

bull Occasional poetry

bull Often sung to the lyre (lyrē) in varied meters

bull CHORAL LYRIC

bull Dancing choruses at religious festivals contests family events

bull Enforcing collective civic values

bull MONODIC LYRIC

bull Individual performance

bull Personal in emotion amp outlookBrygos Painter c 490 BCE

Sappho and Alcaeus

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

Creatures of the passing day What is any one What is any one not Shadows dream is man But when the radiance given of Zeus comes

there is a bright light upon men and life is sweet

P I N D A R P Y T H 8 9 5 - 9 7

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

I praise and embrace everyone who willingly does nothing base (aischron) but with necessity not even the gods fight A man not too helpless suffices for me one who knows the justice that benefits the

city (polis) a sound and healthy man I will not lay blame for the generation of fools is limitless Everything is noble (kala) with which

base deeds are not mingled

S I M O N I D E S 5 4 2 2 7 - 4 0

Simonides is criticizing the traditional definition of the good noble or successful man (agathos esthlos) Such goodness or nobility depends upon external achievements and possessions (wealth honour prowess in battle) which are too insecure to form a real basis for human excellence Instead Simonides stresses intention justice that benefits the city acknowledgement of the fragility of lifehellip

C S E G A L ldquo C H O R A L LY R I C I N T H E F I F T H C E N T U R Y rdquo I N P E E A S T E R L I N G amp B M W K N O X T H E C A M B R I D G E H I S T O R Y O F

C L A S S I C A L L I T E R AT U R E I ( C A M B R I D G E 2 0 0 8 ) 2 2 4

LY R I C C O N T E X T

Hoplites in phalanx formation From the Chigi Vase proto-Corinthian pitcher ca 650-640 BC

3 0 0 ( W A R N E R B R O S 2 0 0 6 ) ldquo W H AT I S Y O U R P R O F E S S I O N rdquo

W W W Y O U T U B E C O M W AT C H V = A N A 3 C O 8 3 _ G K

3 0 0 ( W A R N E R B R O S 2 0 0 6 ) ldquo F I G H T I N T H E S H A D E rdquo

Y O U T U B E 4 J K P G D D M A R S T = 1 2 4

τοιόνδ ἄνθος Περσίδος αἴας οἴχεται ἀνδρῶν

οὓς πέρι πᾶσα χθὼν Ἀσιῆτις ρέψασα πόθῳ στένεται microαλερῷ τοκέης τ ἄλοχοί θ ἡmicroερολεγδὸν τείνοντα χρόνον τροmicroέονται

A E S C H Y L U S P E R S A I 5 9 - 6 4 C P I L I A D 9 4 1 0 - 1 6

S E E C A S E Y D U Eacute T H E C A P T I V E W O M A N rsquo S L A M E N T I N G R E E K T R A G E DY C H 2

Such is the flower [anthos] of the Persian land such is the flower of men that has disappeared

The entire land of Asia laments the men she nourished with fierce

longing [pothos] Parents and wives counting the days

tremble at the increasing length of time

P I N D A R

bull Born near Thebes c 518 BCE

bull Composed important epinician odes (epi-nikia for-a-victory in a contest)

bull Depicts the gods as maintaining civic values of justice (O 1 P 1-3 P 8) compassionate (N 10) and forgiving (O 7456) guardians of polis morality

bull Celebrated ldquoroughrdquo style

bull ldquoA soaring eaglehellip a rushing streamrdquo (Horace Od 42) ldquoA vast firerdquo (Longinus Sublime 335)

Bust of the lyric poet Pindar Roman copy from original of the mid-5 century BC

F I F T H - C E N T U R Y C H O R A L LY R I C

A C O R N T O O A K T R E E N E I L B R O M H A L L bull y o u t u b e Z K 4 L j U R t a D w

Some people pray for gold others for limitless lands but I pray to please my fellow citizens and then to cover my limbs in earth

having praised the praiseworthy and scattered reproof on the wicked Excellence soars upward like a tree fed on fresh dews

lifted among the wise and just toward the liquid upper air The need for friends comes in many forms

it is most valued in times of trouble but joy too craves to look upon trusty support

P I N D A R N E M E A N 8 3 6 - 4 3

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

F R A G I L I T Ybull How can we be praiseworthy if we are vulnerable (to circumstances)

bull [The poetic world-view and Pindarrsquos career as praise poet of aretē require] ldquothe belief that the excellence of a good person is something of that persons own for whose possession and exercise that person can appropriately be held accountablerdquo (Nussbaum 1)

bull But ldquoHow can we be givers and receivers of praise if our worth ishellip a plant in need of wateringrdquo (2)

bull ldquoWe need to be born with adequate capacities to live in fostering natural and social circumstances to stay clear of abrupt catastrophe to develop confirming associations with other human beingsrdquo (1)

bull A further complication ldquoThe tenderness of a plant is not the dazzling hardness of a gemrdquo perhaps ldquopart of the peculiar beauty of human excellence just is its vulnerabilityrdquo (2)

M A R T H A N U S S B A U M T H E F R A G I L I T Y O F G O O D N E S S C H 1 L U C K amp E T H I C S

T H E P O W E R O F R E A S O N [T]here is the consolation that so far Pindar has apparently left something out However much human beings resemble lower forms of life we are unlike we want to insist in one crucial respect We have reason We are able to deliberate and choose to make a plan in which ends are ranked to decide actively what is to have value and how much All this must count for something If it is true that a lot about us is messy needy uncontrolled rooted in the dirt and standing helplessly in the rain it is also true that there is something about us that is pure and purely active something that we could think of as divine immortal intelligible unitary indissoluble ever self-consistent and invariablelsquo [Plato Phaedo 80B] It seems possible that this rational element in us can rule and guide the rest thereby saving the whole person from living at the mercy of luck

N U S S B A U M F R A G I L I T Y 2

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S S O P H I S T S A N D T R A G E D I A N SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Athens

AT H E N S rsquo A C R O P O L I S A S I M A G I N E D B Y L E O V O N K L E N Z E O I L O N C A N VA S 1 8 4 6 N E U E P I N A K O T H E K

A S S A S S I N rsquo S C R E E D O D Y S S E Y bull A T O U R O F AT H E N S U B I S O F T ( 2 0 1 8 )

bull Athens is the first lsquopeople-ruledrsquo polis (dēmokratia) in the Mediterranean world

bull She has achieved unchallenged naval authority and an empire which is labeled a lsquocommonwealthrsquo

bull At the commercial and cultural crossroads of Italy Greece Egypt and the Near East

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

S P E E C H A N D D E M O C R A C Y

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

bull In this cosmopolitan environment traditional views are challenged leading to a perceived erosion of moral values

bull The rhapsodes use poetic forms to transmit traditional morality

bull The tragedians use poetic forms to explore amp challenge mythrsquos assumptions

bull The sophists teach ldquowisdomrdquo (sophia) including rhetoric and political oratory perceived as a new lsquotechnologyrsquo to steer the ship of state for onersquos own ends

bull Use onersquos own wits ldquoA person is the measure of all thingsrdquo Protagoras B1

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

T R A G E D Y V U L N E R A B I L I T Y A N D R E A S O NC 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E AT H E N S

Aeschylus Agamemnon (458 BCE) and Euripides Iphigeneia at Aulis (405 BCE) The Sacrifice of Iphigeneia by Francesco Fontebasso bull 1749 oil on canvas

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousnesshellip what is great is fragile andhellip what is necessary may be destructivehellip

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

In such cases we see a wrong action committed without any direct physical compulsion and in full knowledge of its nature by a person whose ethical character or commitments would otherwise dispose him to reject the acthellip circumstanceshellip prevent the adequate fulfillment of two valid ethical claims

N U S S B A U M 2 5

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

[Aeschylus in Agamemnon] shows us not so much a solution to the problem of practical conflict as the richness and depth of the problem itself (This achievement is closely connected with his poetic resources which put the scene vividly before us show us debate about it and evoke in us responses important to its assessment)

The best the agent can do is to have his suffering the natural expression of his goodness of character and not to stifle these responses out of misguided optimism The best we (the Chorus) can do for him is to respect the gravity of his predicament to respect the responses that express his goodness and to think about his case as showing a possibility for human life in general

N U S S B A U M 4 9 - 5 0

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

bull In a world that allows such dilemmas are there truly gods with a coherent vision for the world

bull Can individual reason and ingenuity suffice for a good life

T H E S O P H I S T SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Hesiod Works amp Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale Piteously she transfixed by his crooked claws was lamenting When the imperious hawk addressed her in arrogant parlance Why little lady such shrieks One stronger than you now has got you Where you are going Ill take you myself though you are a songstress For as I please Ill make you my dinner or give you your freedom Witless is one who attempts to strive against those who are stronger When he is stripped of the prize its injury added to insult Thus said the fast-flying hawk that bird with the generous wing-spanPay more attention to justice and curb high-handedness [brother] Violence ill suits men who are lowly not even the noble Man can lightly endure it it weighs on a person whos fallen Into affliction Its better to take your way on the other Road which conduces to right For outrage (hubris) surrenders to

justice (dikē)hellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Thucydides History 584-116 The Melian Dialogue ATHENIANS [Y]ou know as well as we do that when these matters are discussed by practical people the standard of justice depends on the equality of power to compel and that in fact the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they musthellip Our opinion of the gods and our knowledge of men lead us to conclude that it is a general and necessary law of nature to rule whatever one can This is not a law that we made ourselves nor were we the first to act upon it when it was made We found it already in existence and we shall leave it to exist for ever among those who come after us

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos

advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Republic I 343A-D Thrasymachusrsquo complaint Tell me Socrates do you still have a wet nursehellip Because shersquos letting you run around with a snotty nose and doesnrsquot wipe it when she needs tohellip You think that shepherds and cowherds seek the good of their sheep and cattle and fatten them and take care of them looking to something other than their masterrsquos good and their own Moreover you believe that rulershellip think of something besides their own advantage You are so far from understandinghellip that you donrsquot realize that justice is really the good of another the advantage of the stronger and the ruler and harmful to the one who obeys and serves Injustice is the opposite it rules the truly simple and just and those it rules do what is to the advantage of the other and stronger and they make the one they serve happy but themselves not at all You must look at it as follows my most simple Socrates A just man always gets less than an unjust onehellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Gorgias 482C-484C Callicles on nature and convention [Y]oursquore in fact bringing the discussion around to the sort of crowd-pleasing vulgarities that are admirable only by law [nomos also translatable ldquoconventionrdquo or ldquocustomrdquo] and not by nature And these nature and law are for the most part opposed to each otherhellip I believe that the people who institute our laws are the weak and the many So they institute laws and assign praise and blame with themselves and their own advantage in mind As a way of frightening the more powerfulhellip out of getting a greater share than they they say that getting more than onersquos share is ldquoshamefulrdquo and ldquounjusthelliprdquo But surely if a man whose nature is equal to it arises he will shake off tear apart and escape all this he will trample underfoot our documents our tricks and charms and all our laws that violate nature He the slave will rise up and be revealed as our master and here the justice of nature will shine forth

The New Teachers of Athens

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

P R E - S O C R AT I C ldquo P H I L O S O P H E R S 6 T H - 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

P R E - S O C R AT I C P H I L O S O P H E R S

bull Though not usually calling themselves ldquophilosophersrdquo they seemed to have contributed inspiration for Socratesrsquo method of free inquiry applying logos

bull Scholars adopt different views of what constitutes their innovation and ldquophilosophicalrdquo method (see readings)

bull Basing views on argument and evidence

bull De-ldquomythologizationrdquo

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Miletus

E A R LY P H I L O S O P H Y A N C I E N T M I L E T U S

M I L E T U S

bull Wealthy city-state in Asia Minor

bull Key city for trading and shipping between Near East amp Greece

bull Ionian Greek culture

bull Freedom of thought

bull Open political debate

bull Wealth (for some) providing leisure

bull Thales and his successors Anaximander Anaximenes

bull ldquoPhilosophicalrdquo investigation

bull Later Presocratics Heraclitus ParmenidesldquoORIENTALIZINGrdquo POTTERY

The Milesian school strikes a new note unheard before It has a fresh sense of the meaning of truth ndash a feeling for the sort of thing it is reasonable to suppose The hypothesis it characteristically deals in is concerned with the nature of the one primary stuff the Milesians seem to make a great conscious effort to get at something which really does exist They strike us as throwing off the vast symbolic visions of mythology and waking clear-headed to see and touch real things If we have a rational temperament we feel at once a refreshment Here at last is a statement about the world which is meant and offered as true ndash a logos [explanation] not a mythos [story]

ndash F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952 ed) 42

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The questions which excited them were of this kind Can this apparently confused and disordered world be reduced to simpler principles so that our reason can grasp what it is and how it works What is it made of How does change take place They abandoned mythological and substituted intellectual solutions [It] was no longer satisfying to say that storms were roused by the wrath of Poseidon or death caused by the arrows of Apollo or Artemis A world ruled by anthropomorphic gods human in their passions was a world ruled by caprice Philosophy and science start with the bold confession of faith that not caprice but an inherent orderliness underlies the phenomena and the explanation of nature is to be sought within nature itself ndashWKC Guthrie History of Greek Philosophy (Cambridge 1969) 1 44-45

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

Thales of Miletus

bull Lived late 7th-6th centurybull Born to a Phoenician aristocratic

family ndash so leisurebull Traveled to Egypt and Babylon (by

tradition)bull Legendary wisdombull ldquoFounder of Western philosophyrdquo

bull First to seek an ldquooriginal causerdquo (archecirc)

bull to explain how unseen facts caused visible results without appeal to mythology

bull To provide generalizable proofs or laws

Thales of Miletus

AstronomyMathematicsWater as the archecircAll things are full of gods

bull Traditionally Thalesrsquo star student

bull 25 years old during Thalesrsquo eclipse (585 BCE)

bull Lived c 610-540 BCE

bull ldquoFirst to draw the inhabited world on a tabletrdquo (first mapmaker)

bull Unambiguously our first ldquophilosopherrdquo by standards of demythologization originality generality and observation

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

ldquoAnaximander has expurgated the supernatural with a boldness and completeness to which many of his successors failed to attain The primary order is still said to be lsquoaccording to what is ordainedrsquo it is still a moral order in which Justice prevails but the will of the personal God has disappeared and its place is partly taken by a natural cause the eternal motionrdquo

- F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952) 41 Anaximander relief 1st century AD

Rome Museo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Key contributions

bull Physics the archecircbull Cosmologybull ldquoEvolutionrdquobull Astronomy and Cartography

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Anaximander said that the APEIRON [indefinite unlimited] was the ARCHE and the element of things that are and he was the first to introduce this name for the ARCHE He says that the ARCHE is neither water nor any other of the things called elements but some other nature called APEIRON out of which come to be all the heavens and the worlds in them (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2413-18)

The things that are perish into the things out of which they come to be according to necessity for ldquothey pay penalty and retribution to one another according to their injustice in accordance with the ordering of timerdquo as he says in rather poetical language (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2418-21)

Anaximander of Miletus

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The ARCHE

bull One and unlimitedbull But not undefined Itrsquos AIR

Anaximenes of Miletus

bull Not opposites but a continuum FIRE AIR larr WIND larr CLOUD larr WATER larr EARTH larr STONEbull ldquoLooseningrdquo and ldquotighteningrdquo explain hot and cold

H E R A C L I T U S B 1 0 1 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 3 7 )

I searched out myself

Listening not to me but to the logos it is wise to agree that all things are one

H E R A C L I T U S B 5 0 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 1 1 )

E X A M P L E S

THE ROAD TO PHILOSOP HY

The Hero of Lyric Poets of the Polis (6th century)

bull According to the lyric poets of the polis culture such as Pindar Simonides Tyrtaeus and Sappho (7th-6th century BCE)

bull Pursues collective good of the polis based on strong ties of interdependent responsibility amp cooperation in a just world governed by the gods

Individual Freedom The ldquoSophistsrdquo (5th century)

bull Sources in thinkers like Protagoras and Gorgias (5th century BCE predominantly working in Athens) constructed as a category by Platorsquos later writings

bull Pursues individual advantage based on their personal beliefs and wits using persuasion and power skepticism of traditional values

Vulnerability The Hero of Tragedy (5th century)

bull Iconic examples include Sophoclesrsquo Oedipus and Aeschylusrsquo Agamemnon and Orestes

bull Pursuit of individual amp collective good in a world of apparently conflicting divine values sometimes hampered by their own lack of self-knowledge

I N T E R D E P E N D E N C Y I N T R O D U C E S V U L N E R A B I L I T Y W H I C H M AY B E

C E L E B R AT E D O R R E S I S T E D

The Hero of Epic Homer and Hesiod (8th century)

bull Found in the epic Iliad and Odyssey attributed to Homer (c 8th century BCE) examples include the powerful Achilles and thoughtful persuasive Odysseus

bull Pursues individual honour (timē) in a just world governed by the gods

CH

IGI V

AS

E C

70

0 B

CE

The Hero of Reason The ldquoPresocratics (6th-5th cent)

bull Founding figures including Thales Anaximander Anaximenes Pythagoras Heraclitus Parmenides Seeking to understand the basic original causes (aitiai) of the world through reason

I S T H E W O R L D G E N U I N E LY

I N T E L L I G I B L E T O R E A S O N

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Born in Athens to a stonemason named Sophroniscus in 469 BCE

bull ldquoSocratic problemrdquo Socrates wrote nothing we know about him through Plato Xenophon and Aristophanes whose accounts vary

bull Conversed with anyone ldquorich or poor citizen or foreignerrdquo (Apology 23C)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Non-conformity reliance on individual values and wits (contrast with the earlier poets and rhapsodes)

bull Claims of ignorance interest in shared truth and not only persuasion and resistance of ldquoselfish morality (contrast with the sophists)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Methods based on question and answer (the elenchus) requiring unity or consistency (a) of onersquos beliefs and (b) of onersquos beliefs and actions

bull Behaviour peculiar enough to warrant its own verb (sōkratein) (Arist Birds 1282) before generalized philosophia

bull Brought to trial in 399 BCE by two Athenians Meletus and Anytus charged with ldquoimpiety and corrupting the youngrdquo

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

S O C R AT E S C R I T O 4 6 A

I am the kind of person who listens to nothing within me but the logos that on reflection seems

best to me

L O G O S R E A S O N VA L U E C O N S C I E N C E M E A N I N G

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousness A sense of such significances that what is great is fragile and that what is necessary may be destructive which is present in the literature of the fifth century and earlier has disappeared [later] from the ethics of the philosophers and perhaps altogether from their minds Greek philosophy in its sustained pursuit of rational self-sufficiency does turn its back on kinds of human experience and human necessity of which Greek literature itself offers the purest if not the richest expression

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y A N D P H I L O S O P H Y

The continuity between Greek tragedy and Greek philosophy on these questions is however far greater than Williams has allowed On the one hand inside tragedy itself we find arresting portrayals of the human ambition to rational self-sufficiency we come to understand the ways in which problems of exposure motivate this ambition On the other Platos philosophical search for a self- sufficient good life is motivated by a keen sense of these same problems Far from having forgotten about what tragedy describes he sees the problems of exposure so clearly that only a radical solution seems adequate to their depth Nor is he naiumlve about the costs of this solution

N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y P R A C T I C A L C O N F L I C T

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identical which is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A)

Socrates ldquoencourages Euthyphro [a pious Greek] to revise tradition by considering as binding only those requirements concerning which there is divine unanimity he expresses further his own doubt as to whether gods really do disagreerdquo (Nussbaum 30)

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identicalwhich is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A Nussbaum 25)

Paris and Helen by Vincenzo dersquo Rossi (1560)

David The Love of Helen amp Paris (1788)

Paris and Helen from Troy (2004)

H O M E R rsquo S I L I A D amp O D Y S S E Y

Enrique Simonet - El Juicio de Paris - 1904

Aeschylus Agamemnon (458 BCE) and Euripides Iphigeneia at Aulis (405 BCE) The Sacrifice of Iphigeneia by Francesco Fontebasso bull 1749 oil on canvas

Sing goddess the anger of Peleusrsquo sun Achilleus and its devastation which put pains thousandfold upon the Achaians

hurled in their multitudes to the house of Hades strong souls of heroes but gave their bodies to be the delicate feasting of dogs of all birds and the will of Zeus was accomplished since that time when first there stood in division of conflict

Atreus son the lord of men and brilliant Achilleus

microῆνιν ἄειδε θεὰ Πηληϊάδεω Ἀχιλῆοςοὐλοmicroένην ἣ microυρί Ἀχαιοῖς ἄλγε ἔθηκε πολλὰς δ ἰφθίmicroους ψυχὰς Ἄϊδι προΐαψενἡρώων αὐτοὺς δὲ ἑλώρια τεῦχε κύνεσσιν οἰωνοῖσί τε πᾶσι Διὸς δ ἐτελείετο βουλή ἐξ οὗ δὴ τὰ πρῶτα διαστήτην ἐρίσαντε

Ἀτρεΐδης τε ἄναξ ἀνδρῶν καὶ δῖος Ἀχιλλεύς

H O M E R I L I A D 1 1 - 7 ( T R L AT T I M O R E )

Chryses prays to Apollo

Achilles amp Hector by G

enzoman D

eviantArtcom

Achilles versus Hector from

Troy (2004)Achilles versus H

ector Attic Vase c 500 BCE

Troy in Flames Completed 1762 by Johann Georg Trautmann (1713-1969)

Ulysses and the Sirens John William Waterhouse 1891

Johann Heinrich Wilhelm Tischbein Odysseus und Penelope

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The quest for immortality

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Divine causation

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

H O M E R I L I A D 9 4 1 0 - 4 1 6

For my mother Thetis the goddess of the silver feet tells me I carry two sorts of destiny toward the day of my death Either

if I stay here and fight beside the city of the Trojans my return home is gone but my glory (kleos) shall be everlasting

but if I return home to the beloved land of my fathers the excellence (esthlon) of my glory is gone but there will be a long life

left for me and my end in death will not come to me quickly

P I N D A R P Y T H 8 9 5 - 9 7

Creatures of the passing day What is any one What is any one not Shadows dream is man But when the radiance given of Zeus comes

there is a bright light upon men and life is sweet

A R E TĒ T I MĒ K L E O S

T H E Q U E S T F O R I M M O R TA L I T Y

S C E N E F R O M T R O Y ( W B 2 0 0 4 ) A C H I L L E S S U M M O N E D B Y A G A M E M N O N Y O U T U B E C O M W AT C H V = R 7 2 K B D G R T D 4

S C E N E F R O M T R O Y ( W B 2 0 0 4 ) A C H I L L E S A N D H E C T O R D U E L Y O U T U B E C O M W AT C H V = N Q 6 2 F R K 7 4 U 0

Athena Achilles Hector Apollo

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Divine causation

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

A G A M E M N O N AT H O M E R I L I A D 1 1 8 1 - 1 8 7

hellip[H]ere is my threat to you Even as Phoibos Apollo is taking away my Chryseis

hellip I shall take the fair-cheeked Briseis your prize I myself going to your shelter that you may learn well how much greater I am than you and another man may shrink back

from likening himself to me and contending against mersquo

A C H I L L E S AT H O M E R I L I A D 9 6 4 6 - 4 8 S E E A L S O 1 6 5 9

Yet still the heart in me swells up in anger when I remember the disgrace that he wrought upon me before the Argives

the son of Atreus as if I were some wanderer without honour (atimētos metanastēs)

Achilleus in amazement turned about and straightway knew Pallas Athene and the terrible eyes shining

He uttered winged words and addressed her Why have you come now o child of Zeus of the aegis once more Is it that you may see

the outrageousness (hubris) of the son of Atreus Agamemnonrsquohellip

A C H I L L E S AT H O M E R I L I A D 1 1 9 9 - 2 0 3

O D Y S S E U S AT H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 2 2 3 5 - 4 1

You dogs You never thought Id come back home from the kingdom of the Trojans so you ravaged my house

lay in bed by force beside my women slaves my women and wooed my wife illicitly though I was alive

fearing neither the gods who hold wide heaven nor that thered be any mens censure thereafter

Now the moment of destruction hangs over you one and all

The slaughter of the suitors by Odysseus and Telemachus 1812 Louis Vincent Palliere

Death of the suitors Athenian red-figure cup c 450-440 BC

A W H A D K I N S ldquo H O M E R I C E T H I C S rdquo I N I M O R R I S amp B P O W E L L ( E D S )

A N E W C O M PA N I O N T O H O M E R ( B R I L L 1 9 9 6 ) 7 0 4 - 5

ldquoThe Homeric hero deprived of any significant quantity of timē reacts violently

aware as he is of the bottom of the scale [the metanastēs]hellip the primary function of the

agathos [good person hero] is to defend his timē with all the resources at his commandrdquo

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Divine causation

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

H U B R I S N E M E S I S

Nemesis by Gheorghe Tattarescu (1853)

Hesiod Works amp Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

Piteously she transfixed by his crooked claws was lamenting When the imperious hawk addressed her in arrogant parlance Why little lady such shrieks One stronger than you now has got you Where you are going Ill take you myself though you are a songstress For as I please Ill make you my dinner or give you your freedom Witless is one who attempts to strive against those who are stronger When he is stripped of the prize its injury added to insult Thus said the fast-flying hawk that bird with the generous wing-span

Pay more attention to justice and curb high-handedness [brother] Violence ill suits those who are lowly not even the noble Person can lightly endure it it weighs on a person whos fallen Into affliction Its better to take your way on the other Road which conduces to right For outrage (hubris) surrenders to justice (dikē)hellip

W E A R E I N Z E U S rsquo JUST W O R L D D E S C R I B E D I N THEOGONY

S I D E B A R D I V I N E C A U S AT I O N

bull The Homeric and Hesiodic herorsquos individual mission only makes sense in a world governed by gods (theoi)

bull Homer Iliad The gods are primarily responsiblecausal of events (aitios)

bull Early Greek science begins here theoi subsequently naturalized as consistent patterns of regularity in human and natural experience (elements laws)

bull Homer Odyssey Humans are (also) responsiblecausal for our own actions

bull How do we use our freedom

AT H E N A A N D O D Y S S E U S T H E O D Y S S E Y ( N B C 1 9 9 7 )

H O M E R I L I A D 5 1 2 3

Athena drew near to his side and spoke to him in winged words Have courage for I have drawn the mist from your eyes

that you may discern in truth gods from humans

So they spoke but Priam aloud called out to Helen Come over where I am dear child and sit down beside me

to look at your husband of time past your friends and your people I am not blaming you (ou ti moi aitiē essi) to me the gods are

responsible (theoihellipaitioi) who drove upon me this sorrowful war against the Achaians

H O M E R I L I A D 3 1 6 4

S I D E B A R D I V I N E C A U S AT I O N

Zeus is probably responsible (aitios) who gives to men who work for bread to each one however he wishes

H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 1 3 4 8 [ T E L E M A C H U S S P E A K S ]

How mortals now blame [from aitios] gods for they say that evils are from us Yet they themselves

have woes beyond their lot by their own recklessnesshellip

H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 1 3 2 [ Z E U S S P E A K S ]

Tell me of these things Muses that dwell on the heights of Olympus From the origin (archē) and say which first of them came into beinghellip

H E S I O D T H E O G O N Y 1 1 4

Responsibility lies with the one who makes the choice the god is blameless (theos anaitios)

P L AT O R E P U B L I C 1 0 6 1 7 E

S I D E B A R D I V I N E C A U S AT I O N

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Divine causation

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

O D Y S S E U S T O P O LY P H E M U S H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 9 2 6 9 - 7 1

But revere the gods most noble one We are supplicants (hiketai) to you Zeus is the avenger (epitimētōr) of suppliants and strangers

the guest god who attends venerable strangers

W E A R E I N Z E U S rsquo W O R L D ( A S D E S C R I B E D I N THEOGONY )

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

T H E LY R I C P O E T SC 6 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Pindar of Thebes

Simonides of Ceos

Sappho of Lesbos

LY R I C I N T R O D U C T I O N

bull Occasional poetry

bull Often sung to the lyre (lyrē) in varied meters

bull CHORAL LYRIC

bull Dancing choruses at religious festivals contests family events

bull Enforcing collective civic values

bull MONODIC LYRIC

bull Individual performance

bull Personal in emotion amp outlookBrygos Painter c 490 BCE

Sappho and Alcaeus

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

Creatures of the passing day What is any one What is any one not Shadows dream is man But when the radiance given of Zeus comes

there is a bright light upon men and life is sweet

P I N D A R P Y T H 8 9 5 - 9 7

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

I praise and embrace everyone who willingly does nothing base (aischron) but with necessity not even the gods fight A man not too helpless suffices for me one who knows the justice that benefits the

city (polis) a sound and healthy man I will not lay blame for the generation of fools is limitless Everything is noble (kala) with which

base deeds are not mingled

S I M O N I D E S 5 4 2 2 7 - 4 0

Simonides is criticizing the traditional definition of the good noble or successful man (agathos esthlos) Such goodness or nobility depends upon external achievements and possessions (wealth honour prowess in battle) which are too insecure to form a real basis for human excellence Instead Simonides stresses intention justice that benefits the city acknowledgement of the fragility of lifehellip

C S E G A L ldquo C H O R A L LY R I C I N T H E F I F T H C E N T U R Y rdquo I N P E E A S T E R L I N G amp B M W K N O X T H E C A M B R I D G E H I S T O R Y O F

C L A S S I C A L L I T E R AT U R E I ( C A M B R I D G E 2 0 0 8 ) 2 2 4

LY R I C C O N T E X T

Hoplites in phalanx formation From the Chigi Vase proto-Corinthian pitcher ca 650-640 BC

3 0 0 ( W A R N E R B R O S 2 0 0 6 ) ldquo W H AT I S Y O U R P R O F E S S I O N rdquo

W W W Y O U T U B E C O M W AT C H V = A N A 3 C O 8 3 _ G K

3 0 0 ( W A R N E R B R O S 2 0 0 6 ) ldquo F I G H T I N T H E S H A D E rdquo

Y O U T U B E 4 J K P G D D M A R S T = 1 2 4

τοιόνδ ἄνθος Περσίδος αἴας οἴχεται ἀνδρῶν

οὓς πέρι πᾶσα χθὼν Ἀσιῆτις ρέψασα πόθῳ στένεται microαλερῷ τοκέης τ ἄλοχοί θ ἡmicroερολεγδὸν τείνοντα χρόνον τροmicroέονται

A E S C H Y L U S P E R S A I 5 9 - 6 4 C P I L I A D 9 4 1 0 - 1 6

S E E C A S E Y D U Eacute T H E C A P T I V E W O M A N rsquo S L A M E N T I N G R E E K T R A G E DY C H 2

Such is the flower [anthos] of the Persian land such is the flower of men that has disappeared

The entire land of Asia laments the men she nourished with fierce

longing [pothos] Parents and wives counting the days

tremble at the increasing length of time

P I N D A R

bull Born near Thebes c 518 BCE

bull Composed important epinician odes (epi-nikia for-a-victory in a contest)

bull Depicts the gods as maintaining civic values of justice (O 1 P 1-3 P 8) compassionate (N 10) and forgiving (O 7456) guardians of polis morality

bull Celebrated ldquoroughrdquo style

bull ldquoA soaring eaglehellip a rushing streamrdquo (Horace Od 42) ldquoA vast firerdquo (Longinus Sublime 335)

Bust of the lyric poet Pindar Roman copy from original of the mid-5 century BC

F I F T H - C E N T U R Y C H O R A L LY R I C

A C O R N T O O A K T R E E N E I L B R O M H A L L bull y o u t u b e Z K 4 L j U R t a D w

Some people pray for gold others for limitless lands but I pray to please my fellow citizens and then to cover my limbs in earth

having praised the praiseworthy and scattered reproof on the wicked Excellence soars upward like a tree fed on fresh dews

lifted among the wise and just toward the liquid upper air The need for friends comes in many forms

it is most valued in times of trouble but joy too craves to look upon trusty support

P I N D A R N E M E A N 8 3 6 - 4 3

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

F R A G I L I T Ybull How can we be praiseworthy if we are vulnerable (to circumstances)

bull [The poetic world-view and Pindarrsquos career as praise poet of aretē require] ldquothe belief that the excellence of a good person is something of that persons own for whose possession and exercise that person can appropriately be held accountablerdquo (Nussbaum 1)

bull But ldquoHow can we be givers and receivers of praise if our worth ishellip a plant in need of wateringrdquo (2)

bull ldquoWe need to be born with adequate capacities to live in fostering natural and social circumstances to stay clear of abrupt catastrophe to develop confirming associations with other human beingsrdquo (1)

bull A further complication ldquoThe tenderness of a plant is not the dazzling hardness of a gemrdquo perhaps ldquopart of the peculiar beauty of human excellence just is its vulnerabilityrdquo (2)

M A R T H A N U S S B A U M T H E F R A G I L I T Y O F G O O D N E S S C H 1 L U C K amp E T H I C S

T H E P O W E R O F R E A S O N [T]here is the consolation that so far Pindar has apparently left something out However much human beings resemble lower forms of life we are unlike we want to insist in one crucial respect We have reason We are able to deliberate and choose to make a plan in which ends are ranked to decide actively what is to have value and how much All this must count for something If it is true that a lot about us is messy needy uncontrolled rooted in the dirt and standing helplessly in the rain it is also true that there is something about us that is pure and purely active something that we could think of as divine immortal intelligible unitary indissoluble ever self-consistent and invariablelsquo [Plato Phaedo 80B] It seems possible that this rational element in us can rule and guide the rest thereby saving the whole person from living at the mercy of luck

N U S S B A U M F R A G I L I T Y 2

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S S O P H I S T S A N D T R A G E D I A N SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Athens

AT H E N S rsquo A C R O P O L I S A S I M A G I N E D B Y L E O V O N K L E N Z E O I L O N C A N VA S 1 8 4 6 N E U E P I N A K O T H E K

A S S A S S I N rsquo S C R E E D O D Y S S E Y bull A T O U R O F AT H E N S U B I S O F T ( 2 0 1 8 )

bull Athens is the first lsquopeople-ruledrsquo polis (dēmokratia) in the Mediterranean world

bull She has achieved unchallenged naval authority and an empire which is labeled a lsquocommonwealthrsquo

bull At the commercial and cultural crossroads of Italy Greece Egypt and the Near East

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

S P E E C H A N D D E M O C R A C Y

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

bull In this cosmopolitan environment traditional views are challenged leading to a perceived erosion of moral values

bull The rhapsodes use poetic forms to transmit traditional morality

bull The tragedians use poetic forms to explore amp challenge mythrsquos assumptions

bull The sophists teach ldquowisdomrdquo (sophia) including rhetoric and political oratory perceived as a new lsquotechnologyrsquo to steer the ship of state for onersquos own ends

bull Use onersquos own wits ldquoA person is the measure of all thingsrdquo Protagoras B1

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

T R A G E D Y V U L N E R A B I L I T Y A N D R E A S O NC 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E AT H E N S

Aeschylus Agamemnon (458 BCE) and Euripides Iphigeneia at Aulis (405 BCE) The Sacrifice of Iphigeneia by Francesco Fontebasso bull 1749 oil on canvas

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousnesshellip what is great is fragile andhellip what is necessary may be destructivehellip

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

In such cases we see a wrong action committed without any direct physical compulsion and in full knowledge of its nature by a person whose ethical character or commitments would otherwise dispose him to reject the acthellip circumstanceshellip prevent the adequate fulfillment of two valid ethical claims

N U S S B A U M 2 5

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

[Aeschylus in Agamemnon] shows us not so much a solution to the problem of practical conflict as the richness and depth of the problem itself (This achievement is closely connected with his poetic resources which put the scene vividly before us show us debate about it and evoke in us responses important to its assessment)

The best the agent can do is to have his suffering the natural expression of his goodness of character and not to stifle these responses out of misguided optimism The best we (the Chorus) can do for him is to respect the gravity of his predicament to respect the responses that express his goodness and to think about his case as showing a possibility for human life in general

N U S S B A U M 4 9 - 5 0

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

bull In a world that allows such dilemmas are there truly gods with a coherent vision for the world

bull Can individual reason and ingenuity suffice for a good life

T H E S O P H I S T SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Hesiod Works amp Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale Piteously she transfixed by his crooked claws was lamenting When the imperious hawk addressed her in arrogant parlance Why little lady such shrieks One stronger than you now has got you Where you are going Ill take you myself though you are a songstress For as I please Ill make you my dinner or give you your freedom Witless is one who attempts to strive against those who are stronger When he is stripped of the prize its injury added to insult Thus said the fast-flying hawk that bird with the generous wing-spanPay more attention to justice and curb high-handedness [brother] Violence ill suits men who are lowly not even the noble Man can lightly endure it it weighs on a person whos fallen Into affliction Its better to take your way on the other Road which conduces to right For outrage (hubris) surrenders to

justice (dikē)hellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Thucydides History 584-116 The Melian Dialogue ATHENIANS [Y]ou know as well as we do that when these matters are discussed by practical people the standard of justice depends on the equality of power to compel and that in fact the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they musthellip Our opinion of the gods and our knowledge of men lead us to conclude that it is a general and necessary law of nature to rule whatever one can This is not a law that we made ourselves nor were we the first to act upon it when it was made We found it already in existence and we shall leave it to exist for ever among those who come after us

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos

advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Republic I 343A-D Thrasymachusrsquo complaint Tell me Socrates do you still have a wet nursehellip Because shersquos letting you run around with a snotty nose and doesnrsquot wipe it when she needs tohellip You think that shepherds and cowherds seek the good of their sheep and cattle and fatten them and take care of them looking to something other than their masterrsquos good and their own Moreover you believe that rulershellip think of something besides their own advantage You are so far from understandinghellip that you donrsquot realize that justice is really the good of another the advantage of the stronger and the ruler and harmful to the one who obeys and serves Injustice is the opposite it rules the truly simple and just and those it rules do what is to the advantage of the other and stronger and they make the one they serve happy but themselves not at all You must look at it as follows my most simple Socrates A just man always gets less than an unjust onehellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Gorgias 482C-484C Callicles on nature and convention [Y]oursquore in fact bringing the discussion around to the sort of crowd-pleasing vulgarities that are admirable only by law [nomos also translatable ldquoconventionrdquo or ldquocustomrdquo] and not by nature And these nature and law are for the most part opposed to each otherhellip I believe that the people who institute our laws are the weak and the many So they institute laws and assign praise and blame with themselves and their own advantage in mind As a way of frightening the more powerfulhellip out of getting a greater share than they they say that getting more than onersquos share is ldquoshamefulrdquo and ldquounjusthelliprdquo But surely if a man whose nature is equal to it arises he will shake off tear apart and escape all this he will trample underfoot our documents our tricks and charms and all our laws that violate nature He the slave will rise up and be revealed as our master and here the justice of nature will shine forth

The New Teachers of Athens

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

P R E - S O C R AT I C ldquo P H I L O S O P H E R S 6 T H - 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

P R E - S O C R AT I C P H I L O S O P H E R S

bull Though not usually calling themselves ldquophilosophersrdquo they seemed to have contributed inspiration for Socratesrsquo method of free inquiry applying logos

bull Scholars adopt different views of what constitutes their innovation and ldquophilosophicalrdquo method (see readings)

bull Basing views on argument and evidence

bull De-ldquomythologizationrdquo

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Miletus

E A R LY P H I L O S O P H Y A N C I E N T M I L E T U S

M I L E T U S

bull Wealthy city-state in Asia Minor

bull Key city for trading and shipping between Near East amp Greece

bull Ionian Greek culture

bull Freedom of thought

bull Open political debate

bull Wealth (for some) providing leisure

bull Thales and his successors Anaximander Anaximenes

bull ldquoPhilosophicalrdquo investigation

bull Later Presocratics Heraclitus ParmenidesldquoORIENTALIZINGrdquo POTTERY

The Milesian school strikes a new note unheard before It has a fresh sense of the meaning of truth ndash a feeling for the sort of thing it is reasonable to suppose The hypothesis it characteristically deals in is concerned with the nature of the one primary stuff the Milesians seem to make a great conscious effort to get at something which really does exist They strike us as throwing off the vast symbolic visions of mythology and waking clear-headed to see and touch real things If we have a rational temperament we feel at once a refreshment Here at last is a statement about the world which is meant and offered as true ndash a logos [explanation] not a mythos [story]

ndash F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952 ed) 42

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The questions which excited them were of this kind Can this apparently confused and disordered world be reduced to simpler principles so that our reason can grasp what it is and how it works What is it made of How does change take place They abandoned mythological and substituted intellectual solutions [It] was no longer satisfying to say that storms were roused by the wrath of Poseidon or death caused by the arrows of Apollo or Artemis A world ruled by anthropomorphic gods human in their passions was a world ruled by caprice Philosophy and science start with the bold confession of faith that not caprice but an inherent orderliness underlies the phenomena and the explanation of nature is to be sought within nature itself ndashWKC Guthrie History of Greek Philosophy (Cambridge 1969) 1 44-45

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

Thales of Miletus

bull Lived late 7th-6th centurybull Born to a Phoenician aristocratic

family ndash so leisurebull Traveled to Egypt and Babylon (by

tradition)bull Legendary wisdombull ldquoFounder of Western philosophyrdquo

bull First to seek an ldquooriginal causerdquo (archecirc)

bull to explain how unseen facts caused visible results without appeal to mythology

bull To provide generalizable proofs or laws

Thales of Miletus

AstronomyMathematicsWater as the archecircAll things are full of gods

bull Traditionally Thalesrsquo star student

bull 25 years old during Thalesrsquo eclipse (585 BCE)

bull Lived c 610-540 BCE

bull ldquoFirst to draw the inhabited world on a tabletrdquo (first mapmaker)

bull Unambiguously our first ldquophilosopherrdquo by standards of demythologization originality generality and observation

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

ldquoAnaximander has expurgated the supernatural with a boldness and completeness to which many of his successors failed to attain The primary order is still said to be lsquoaccording to what is ordainedrsquo it is still a moral order in which Justice prevails but the will of the personal God has disappeared and its place is partly taken by a natural cause the eternal motionrdquo

- F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952) 41 Anaximander relief 1st century AD

Rome Museo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Key contributions

bull Physics the archecircbull Cosmologybull ldquoEvolutionrdquobull Astronomy and Cartography

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Anaximander said that the APEIRON [indefinite unlimited] was the ARCHE and the element of things that are and he was the first to introduce this name for the ARCHE He says that the ARCHE is neither water nor any other of the things called elements but some other nature called APEIRON out of which come to be all the heavens and the worlds in them (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2413-18)

The things that are perish into the things out of which they come to be according to necessity for ldquothey pay penalty and retribution to one another according to their injustice in accordance with the ordering of timerdquo as he says in rather poetical language (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2418-21)

Anaximander of Miletus

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The ARCHE

bull One and unlimitedbull But not undefined Itrsquos AIR

Anaximenes of Miletus

bull Not opposites but a continuum FIRE AIR larr WIND larr CLOUD larr WATER larr EARTH larr STONEbull ldquoLooseningrdquo and ldquotighteningrdquo explain hot and cold

H E R A C L I T U S B 1 0 1 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 3 7 )

I searched out myself

Listening not to me but to the logos it is wise to agree that all things are one

H E R A C L I T U S B 5 0 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 1 1 )

E X A M P L E S

THE ROAD TO PHILOSOP HY

The Hero of Lyric Poets of the Polis (6th century)

bull According to the lyric poets of the polis culture such as Pindar Simonides Tyrtaeus and Sappho (7th-6th century BCE)

bull Pursues collective good of the polis based on strong ties of interdependent responsibility amp cooperation in a just world governed by the gods

Individual Freedom The ldquoSophistsrdquo (5th century)

bull Sources in thinkers like Protagoras and Gorgias (5th century BCE predominantly working in Athens) constructed as a category by Platorsquos later writings

bull Pursues individual advantage based on their personal beliefs and wits using persuasion and power skepticism of traditional values

Vulnerability The Hero of Tragedy (5th century)

bull Iconic examples include Sophoclesrsquo Oedipus and Aeschylusrsquo Agamemnon and Orestes

bull Pursuit of individual amp collective good in a world of apparently conflicting divine values sometimes hampered by their own lack of self-knowledge

I N T E R D E P E N D E N C Y I N T R O D U C E S V U L N E R A B I L I T Y W H I C H M AY B E

C E L E B R AT E D O R R E S I S T E D

The Hero of Epic Homer and Hesiod (8th century)

bull Found in the epic Iliad and Odyssey attributed to Homer (c 8th century BCE) examples include the powerful Achilles and thoughtful persuasive Odysseus

bull Pursues individual honour (timē) in a just world governed by the gods

CH

IGI V

AS

E C

70

0 B

CE

The Hero of Reason The ldquoPresocratics (6th-5th cent)

bull Founding figures including Thales Anaximander Anaximenes Pythagoras Heraclitus Parmenides Seeking to understand the basic original causes (aitiai) of the world through reason

I S T H E W O R L D G E N U I N E LY

I N T E L L I G I B L E T O R E A S O N

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Born in Athens to a stonemason named Sophroniscus in 469 BCE

bull ldquoSocratic problemrdquo Socrates wrote nothing we know about him through Plato Xenophon and Aristophanes whose accounts vary

bull Conversed with anyone ldquorich or poor citizen or foreignerrdquo (Apology 23C)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Non-conformity reliance on individual values and wits (contrast with the earlier poets and rhapsodes)

bull Claims of ignorance interest in shared truth and not only persuasion and resistance of ldquoselfish morality (contrast with the sophists)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Methods based on question and answer (the elenchus) requiring unity or consistency (a) of onersquos beliefs and (b) of onersquos beliefs and actions

bull Behaviour peculiar enough to warrant its own verb (sōkratein) (Arist Birds 1282) before generalized philosophia

bull Brought to trial in 399 BCE by two Athenians Meletus and Anytus charged with ldquoimpiety and corrupting the youngrdquo

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

S O C R AT E S C R I T O 4 6 A

I am the kind of person who listens to nothing within me but the logos that on reflection seems

best to me

L O G O S R E A S O N VA L U E C O N S C I E N C E M E A N I N G

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousness A sense of such significances that what is great is fragile and that what is necessary may be destructive which is present in the literature of the fifth century and earlier has disappeared [later] from the ethics of the philosophers and perhaps altogether from their minds Greek philosophy in its sustained pursuit of rational self-sufficiency does turn its back on kinds of human experience and human necessity of which Greek literature itself offers the purest if not the richest expression

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y A N D P H I L O S O P H Y

The continuity between Greek tragedy and Greek philosophy on these questions is however far greater than Williams has allowed On the one hand inside tragedy itself we find arresting portrayals of the human ambition to rational self-sufficiency we come to understand the ways in which problems of exposure motivate this ambition On the other Platos philosophical search for a self- sufficient good life is motivated by a keen sense of these same problems Far from having forgotten about what tragedy describes he sees the problems of exposure so clearly that only a radical solution seems adequate to their depth Nor is he naiumlve about the costs of this solution

N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y P R A C T I C A L C O N F L I C T

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identical which is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A)

Socrates ldquoencourages Euthyphro [a pious Greek] to revise tradition by considering as binding only those requirements concerning which there is divine unanimity he expresses further his own doubt as to whether gods really do disagreerdquo (Nussbaum 30)

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identicalwhich is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A Nussbaum 25)

Enrique Simonet - El Juicio de Paris - 1904

Aeschylus Agamemnon (458 BCE) and Euripides Iphigeneia at Aulis (405 BCE) The Sacrifice of Iphigeneia by Francesco Fontebasso bull 1749 oil on canvas

Sing goddess the anger of Peleusrsquo sun Achilleus and its devastation which put pains thousandfold upon the Achaians

hurled in their multitudes to the house of Hades strong souls of heroes but gave their bodies to be the delicate feasting of dogs of all birds and the will of Zeus was accomplished since that time when first there stood in division of conflict

Atreus son the lord of men and brilliant Achilleus

microῆνιν ἄειδε θεὰ Πηληϊάδεω Ἀχιλῆοςοὐλοmicroένην ἣ microυρί Ἀχαιοῖς ἄλγε ἔθηκε πολλὰς δ ἰφθίmicroους ψυχὰς Ἄϊδι προΐαψενἡρώων αὐτοὺς δὲ ἑλώρια τεῦχε κύνεσσιν οἰωνοῖσί τε πᾶσι Διὸς δ ἐτελείετο βουλή ἐξ οὗ δὴ τὰ πρῶτα διαστήτην ἐρίσαντε

Ἀτρεΐδης τε ἄναξ ἀνδρῶν καὶ δῖος Ἀχιλλεύς

H O M E R I L I A D 1 1 - 7 ( T R L AT T I M O R E )

Chryses prays to Apollo

Achilles amp Hector by G

enzoman D

eviantArtcom

Achilles versus Hector from

Troy (2004)Achilles versus H

ector Attic Vase c 500 BCE

Troy in Flames Completed 1762 by Johann Georg Trautmann (1713-1969)

Ulysses and the Sirens John William Waterhouse 1891

Johann Heinrich Wilhelm Tischbein Odysseus und Penelope

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The quest for immortality

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Divine causation

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

H O M E R I L I A D 9 4 1 0 - 4 1 6

For my mother Thetis the goddess of the silver feet tells me I carry two sorts of destiny toward the day of my death Either

if I stay here and fight beside the city of the Trojans my return home is gone but my glory (kleos) shall be everlasting

but if I return home to the beloved land of my fathers the excellence (esthlon) of my glory is gone but there will be a long life

left for me and my end in death will not come to me quickly

P I N D A R P Y T H 8 9 5 - 9 7

Creatures of the passing day What is any one What is any one not Shadows dream is man But when the radiance given of Zeus comes

there is a bright light upon men and life is sweet

A R E TĒ T I MĒ K L E O S

T H E Q U E S T F O R I M M O R TA L I T Y

S C E N E F R O M T R O Y ( W B 2 0 0 4 ) A C H I L L E S S U M M O N E D B Y A G A M E M N O N Y O U T U B E C O M W AT C H V = R 7 2 K B D G R T D 4

S C E N E F R O M T R O Y ( W B 2 0 0 4 ) A C H I L L E S A N D H E C T O R D U E L Y O U T U B E C O M W AT C H V = N Q 6 2 F R K 7 4 U 0

Athena Achilles Hector Apollo

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Divine causation

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

A G A M E M N O N AT H O M E R I L I A D 1 1 8 1 - 1 8 7

hellip[H]ere is my threat to you Even as Phoibos Apollo is taking away my Chryseis

hellip I shall take the fair-cheeked Briseis your prize I myself going to your shelter that you may learn well how much greater I am than you and another man may shrink back

from likening himself to me and contending against mersquo

A C H I L L E S AT H O M E R I L I A D 9 6 4 6 - 4 8 S E E A L S O 1 6 5 9

Yet still the heart in me swells up in anger when I remember the disgrace that he wrought upon me before the Argives

the son of Atreus as if I were some wanderer without honour (atimētos metanastēs)

Achilleus in amazement turned about and straightway knew Pallas Athene and the terrible eyes shining

He uttered winged words and addressed her Why have you come now o child of Zeus of the aegis once more Is it that you may see

the outrageousness (hubris) of the son of Atreus Agamemnonrsquohellip

A C H I L L E S AT H O M E R I L I A D 1 1 9 9 - 2 0 3

O D Y S S E U S AT H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 2 2 3 5 - 4 1

You dogs You never thought Id come back home from the kingdom of the Trojans so you ravaged my house

lay in bed by force beside my women slaves my women and wooed my wife illicitly though I was alive

fearing neither the gods who hold wide heaven nor that thered be any mens censure thereafter

Now the moment of destruction hangs over you one and all

The slaughter of the suitors by Odysseus and Telemachus 1812 Louis Vincent Palliere

Death of the suitors Athenian red-figure cup c 450-440 BC

A W H A D K I N S ldquo H O M E R I C E T H I C S rdquo I N I M O R R I S amp B P O W E L L ( E D S )

A N E W C O M PA N I O N T O H O M E R ( B R I L L 1 9 9 6 ) 7 0 4 - 5

ldquoThe Homeric hero deprived of any significant quantity of timē reacts violently

aware as he is of the bottom of the scale [the metanastēs]hellip the primary function of the

agathos [good person hero] is to defend his timē with all the resources at his commandrdquo

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Divine causation

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

H U B R I S N E M E S I S

Nemesis by Gheorghe Tattarescu (1853)

Hesiod Works amp Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

Piteously she transfixed by his crooked claws was lamenting When the imperious hawk addressed her in arrogant parlance Why little lady such shrieks One stronger than you now has got you Where you are going Ill take you myself though you are a songstress For as I please Ill make you my dinner or give you your freedom Witless is one who attempts to strive against those who are stronger When he is stripped of the prize its injury added to insult Thus said the fast-flying hawk that bird with the generous wing-span

Pay more attention to justice and curb high-handedness [brother] Violence ill suits those who are lowly not even the noble Person can lightly endure it it weighs on a person whos fallen Into affliction Its better to take your way on the other Road which conduces to right For outrage (hubris) surrenders to justice (dikē)hellip

W E A R E I N Z E U S rsquo JUST W O R L D D E S C R I B E D I N THEOGONY

S I D E B A R D I V I N E C A U S AT I O N

bull The Homeric and Hesiodic herorsquos individual mission only makes sense in a world governed by gods (theoi)

bull Homer Iliad The gods are primarily responsiblecausal of events (aitios)

bull Early Greek science begins here theoi subsequently naturalized as consistent patterns of regularity in human and natural experience (elements laws)

bull Homer Odyssey Humans are (also) responsiblecausal for our own actions

bull How do we use our freedom

AT H E N A A N D O D Y S S E U S T H E O D Y S S E Y ( N B C 1 9 9 7 )

H O M E R I L I A D 5 1 2 3

Athena drew near to his side and spoke to him in winged words Have courage for I have drawn the mist from your eyes

that you may discern in truth gods from humans

So they spoke but Priam aloud called out to Helen Come over where I am dear child and sit down beside me

to look at your husband of time past your friends and your people I am not blaming you (ou ti moi aitiē essi) to me the gods are

responsible (theoihellipaitioi) who drove upon me this sorrowful war against the Achaians

H O M E R I L I A D 3 1 6 4

S I D E B A R D I V I N E C A U S AT I O N

Zeus is probably responsible (aitios) who gives to men who work for bread to each one however he wishes

H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 1 3 4 8 [ T E L E M A C H U S S P E A K S ]

How mortals now blame [from aitios] gods for they say that evils are from us Yet they themselves

have woes beyond their lot by their own recklessnesshellip

H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 1 3 2 [ Z E U S S P E A K S ]

Tell me of these things Muses that dwell on the heights of Olympus From the origin (archē) and say which first of them came into beinghellip

H E S I O D T H E O G O N Y 1 1 4

Responsibility lies with the one who makes the choice the god is blameless (theos anaitios)

P L AT O R E P U B L I C 1 0 6 1 7 E

S I D E B A R D I V I N E C A U S AT I O N

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Divine causation

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

O D Y S S E U S T O P O LY P H E M U S H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 9 2 6 9 - 7 1

But revere the gods most noble one We are supplicants (hiketai) to you Zeus is the avenger (epitimētōr) of suppliants and strangers

the guest god who attends venerable strangers

W E A R E I N Z E U S rsquo W O R L D ( A S D E S C R I B E D I N THEOGONY )

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

T H E LY R I C P O E T SC 6 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Pindar of Thebes

Simonides of Ceos

Sappho of Lesbos

LY R I C I N T R O D U C T I O N

bull Occasional poetry

bull Often sung to the lyre (lyrē) in varied meters

bull CHORAL LYRIC

bull Dancing choruses at religious festivals contests family events

bull Enforcing collective civic values

bull MONODIC LYRIC

bull Individual performance

bull Personal in emotion amp outlookBrygos Painter c 490 BCE

Sappho and Alcaeus

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

Creatures of the passing day What is any one What is any one not Shadows dream is man But when the radiance given of Zeus comes

there is a bright light upon men and life is sweet

P I N D A R P Y T H 8 9 5 - 9 7

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

I praise and embrace everyone who willingly does nothing base (aischron) but with necessity not even the gods fight A man not too helpless suffices for me one who knows the justice that benefits the

city (polis) a sound and healthy man I will not lay blame for the generation of fools is limitless Everything is noble (kala) with which

base deeds are not mingled

S I M O N I D E S 5 4 2 2 7 - 4 0

Simonides is criticizing the traditional definition of the good noble or successful man (agathos esthlos) Such goodness or nobility depends upon external achievements and possessions (wealth honour prowess in battle) which are too insecure to form a real basis for human excellence Instead Simonides stresses intention justice that benefits the city acknowledgement of the fragility of lifehellip

C S E G A L ldquo C H O R A L LY R I C I N T H E F I F T H C E N T U R Y rdquo I N P E E A S T E R L I N G amp B M W K N O X T H E C A M B R I D G E H I S T O R Y O F

C L A S S I C A L L I T E R AT U R E I ( C A M B R I D G E 2 0 0 8 ) 2 2 4

LY R I C C O N T E X T

Hoplites in phalanx formation From the Chigi Vase proto-Corinthian pitcher ca 650-640 BC

3 0 0 ( W A R N E R B R O S 2 0 0 6 ) ldquo W H AT I S Y O U R P R O F E S S I O N rdquo

W W W Y O U T U B E C O M W AT C H V = A N A 3 C O 8 3 _ G K

3 0 0 ( W A R N E R B R O S 2 0 0 6 ) ldquo F I G H T I N T H E S H A D E rdquo

Y O U T U B E 4 J K P G D D M A R S T = 1 2 4

τοιόνδ ἄνθος Περσίδος αἴας οἴχεται ἀνδρῶν

οὓς πέρι πᾶσα χθὼν Ἀσιῆτις ρέψασα πόθῳ στένεται microαλερῷ τοκέης τ ἄλοχοί θ ἡmicroερολεγδὸν τείνοντα χρόνον τροmicroέονται

A E S C H Y L U S P E R S A I 5 9 - 6 4 C P I L I A D 9 4 1 0 - 1 6

S E E C A S E Y D U Eacute T H E C A P T I V E W O M A N rsquo S L A M E N T I N G R E E K T R A G E DY C H 2

Such is the flower [anthos] of the Persian land such is the flower of men that has disappeared

The entire land of Asia laments the men she nourished with fierce

longing [pothos] Parents and wives counting the days

tremble at the increasing length of time

P I N D A R

bull Born near Thebes c 518 BCE

bull Composed important epinician odes (epi-nikia for-a-victory in a contest)

bull Depicts the gods as maintaining civic values of justice (O 1 P 1-3 P 8) compassionate (N 10) and forgiving (O 7456) guardians of polis morality

bull Celebrated ldquoroughrdquo style

bull ldquoA soaring eaglehellip a rushing streamrdquo (Horace Od 42) ldquoA vast firerdquo (Longinus Sublime 335)

Bust of the lyric poet Pindar Roman copy from original of the mid-5 century BC

F I F T H - C E N T U R Y C H O R A L LY R I C

A C O R N T O O A K T R E E N E I L B R O M H A L L bull y o u t u b e Z K 4 L j U R t a D w

Some people pray for gold others for limitless lands but I pray to please my fellow citizens and then to cover my limbs in earth

having praised the praiseworthy and scattered reproof on the wicked Excellence soars upward like a tree fed on fresh dews

lifted among the wise and just toward the liquid upper air The need for friends comes in many forms

it is most valued in times of trouble but joy too craves to look upon trusty support

P I N D A R N E M E A N 8 3 6 - 4 3

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

F R A G I L I T Ybull How can we be praiseworthy if we are vulnerable (to circumstances)

bull [The poetic world-view and Pindarrsquos career as praise poet of aretē require] ldquothe belief that the excellence of a good person is something of that persons own for whose possession and exercise that person can appropriately be held accountablerdquo (Nussbaum 1)

bull But ldquoHow can we be givers and receivers of praise if our worth ishellip a plant in need of wateringrdquo (2)

bull ldquoWe need to be born with adequate capacities to live in fostering natural and social circumstances to stay clear of abrupt catastrophe to develop confirming associations with other human beingsrdquo (1)

bull A further complication ldquoThe tenderness of a plant is not the dazzling hardness of a gemrdquo perhaps ldquopart of the peculiar beauty of human excellence just is its vulnerabilityrdquo (2)

M A R T H A N U S S B A U M T H E F R A G I L I T Y O F G O O D N E S S C H 1 L U C K amp E T H I C S

T H E P O W E R O F R E A S O N [T]here is the consolation that so far Pindar has apparently left something out However much human beings resemble lower forms of life we are unlike we want to insist in one crucial respect We have reason We are able to deliberate and choose to make a plan in which ends are ranked to decide actively what is to have value and how much All this must count for something If it is true that a lot about us is messy needy uncontrolled rooted in the dirt and standing helplessly in the rain it is also true that there is something about us that is pure and purely active something that we could think of as divine immortal intelligible unitary indissoluble ever self-consistent and invariablelsquo [Plato Phaedo 80B] It seems possible that this rational element in us can rule and guide the rest thereby saving the whole person from living at the mercy of luck

N U S S B A U M F R A G I L I T Y 2

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S S O P H I S T S A N D T R A G E D I A N SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Athens

AT H E N S rsquo A C R O P O L I S A S I M A G I N E D B Y L E O V O N K L E N Z E O I L O N C A N VA S 1 8 4 6 N E U E P I N A K O T H E K

A S S A S S I N rsquo S C R E E D O D Y S S E Y bull A T O U R O F AT H E N S U B I S O F T ( 2 0 1 8 )

bull Athens is the first lsquopeople-ruledrsquo polis (dēmokratia) in the Mediterranean world

bull She has achieved unchallenged naval authority and an empire which is labeled a lsquocommonwealthrsquo

bull At the commercial and cultural crossroads of Italy Greece Egypt and the Near East

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

S P E E C H A N D D E M O C R A C Y

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

bull In this cosmopolitan environment traditional views are challenged leading to a perceived erosion of moral values

bull The rhapsodes use poetic forms to transmit traditional morality

bull The tragedians use poetic forms to explore amp challenge mythrsquos assumptions

bull The sophists teach ldquowisdomrdquo (sophia) including rhetoric and political oratory perceived as a new lsquotechnologyrsquo to steer the ship of state for onersquos own ends

bull Use onersquos own wits ldquoA person is the measure of all thingsrdquo Protagoras B1

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

T R A G E D Y V U L N E R A B I L I T Y A N D R E A S O NC 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E AT H E N S

Aeschylus Agamemnon (458 BCE) and Euripides Iphigeneia at Aulis (405 BCE) The Sacrifice of Iphigeneia by Francesco Fontebasso bull 1749 oil on canvas

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousnesshellip what is great is fragile andhellip what is necessary may be destructivehellip

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

In such cases we see a wrong action committed without any direct physical compulsion and in full knowledge of its nature by a person whose ethical character or commitments would otherwise dispose him to reject the acthellip circumstanceshellip prevent the adequate fulfillment of two valid ethical claims

N U S S B A U M 2 5

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

[Aeschylus in Agamemnon] shows us not so much a solution to the problem of practical conflict as the richness and depth of the problem itself (This achievement is closely connected with his poetic resources which put the scene vividly before us show us debate about it and evoke in us responses important to its assessment)

The best the agent can do is to have his suffering the natural expression of his goodness of character and not to stifle these responses out of misguided optimism The best we (the Chorus) can do for him is to respect the gravity of his predicament to respect the responses that express his goodness and to think about his case as showing a possibility for human life in general

N U S S B A U M 4 9 - 5 0

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

bull In a world that allows such dilemmas are there truly gods with a coherent vision for the world

bull Can individual reason and ingenuity suffice for a good life

T H E S O P H I S T SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Hesiod Works amp Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale Piteously she transfixed by his crooked claws was lamenting When the imperious hawk addressed her in arrogant parlance Why little lady such shrieks One stronger than you now has got you Where you are going Ill take you myself though you are a songstress For as I please Ill make you my dinner or give you your freedom Witless is one who attempts to strive against those who are stronger When he is stripped of the prize its injury added to insult Thus said the fast-flying hawk that bird with the generous wing-spanPay more attention to justice and curb high-handedness [brother] Violence ill suits men who are lowly not even the noble Man can lightly endure it it weighs on a person whos fallen Into affliction Its better to take your way on the other Road which conduces to right For outrage (hubris) surrenders to

justice (dikē)hellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Thucydides History 584-116 The Melian Dialogue ATHENIANS [Y]ou know as well as we do that when these matters are discussed by practical people the standard of justice depends on the equality of power to compel and that in fact the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they musthellip Our opinion of the gods and our knowledge of men lead us to conclude that it is a general and necessary law of nature to rule whatever one can This is not a law that we made ourselves nor were we the first to act upon it when it was made We found it already in existence and we shall leave it to exist for ever among those who come after us

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos

advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Republic I 343A-D Thrasymachusrsquo complaint Tell me Socrates do you still have a wet nursehellip Because shersquos letting you run around with a snotty nose and doesnrsquot wipe it when she needs tohellip You think that shepherds and cowherds seek the good of their sheep and cattle and fatten them and take care of them looking to something other than their masterrsquos good and their own Moreover you believe that rulershellip think of something besides their own advantage You are so far from understandinghellip that you donrsquot realize that justice is really the good of another the advantage of the stronger and the ruler and harmful to the one who obeys and serves Injustice is the opposite it rules the truly simple and just and those it rules do what is to the advantage of the other and stronger and they make the one they serve happy but themselves not at all You must look at it as follows my most simple Socrates A just man always gets less than an unjust onehellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Gorgias 482C-484C Callicles on nature and convention [Y]oursquore in fact bringing the discussion around to the sort of crowd-pleasing vulgarities that are admirable only by law [nomos also translatable ldquoconventionrdquo or ldquocustomrdquo] and not by nature And these nature and law are for the most part opposed to each otherhellip I believe that the people who institute our laws are the weak and the many So they institute laws and assign praise and blame with themselves and their own advantage in mind As a way of frightening the more powerfulhellip out of getting a greater share than they they say that getting more than onersquos share is ldquoshamefulrdquo and ldquounjusthelliprdquo But surely if a man whose nature is equal to it arises he will shake off tear apart and escape all this he will trample underfoot our documents our tricks and charms and all our laws that violate nature He the slave will rise up and be revealed as our master and here the justice of nature will shine forth

The New Teachers of Athens

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

P R E - S O C R AT I C ldquo P H I L O S O P H E R S 6 T H - 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

P R E - S O C R AT I C P H I L O S O P H E R S

bull Though not usually calling themselves ldquophilosophersrdquo they seemed to have contributed inspiration for Socratesrsquo method of free inquiry applying logos

bull Scholars adopt different views of what constitutes their innovation and ldquophilosophicalrdquo method (see readings)

bull Basing views on argument and evidence

bull De-ldquomythologizationrdquo

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Miletus

E A R LY P H I L O S O P H Y A N C I E N T M I L E T U S

M I L E T U S

bull Wealthy city-state in Asia Minor

bull Key city for trading and shipping between Near East amp Greece

bull Ionian Greek culture

bull Freedom of thought

bull Open political debate

bull Wealth (for some) providing leisure

bull Thales and his successors Anaximander Anaximenes

bull ldquoPhilosophicalrdquo investigation

bull Later Presocratics Heraclitus ParmenidesldquoORIENTALIZINGrdquo POTTERY

The Milesian school strikes a new note unheard before It has a fresh sense of the meaning of truth ndash a feeling for the sort of thing it is reasonable to suppose The hypothesis it characteristically deals in is concerned with the nature of the one primary stuff the Milesians seem to make a great conscious effort to get at something which really does exist They strike us as throwing off the vast symbolic visions of mythology and waking clear-headed to see and touch real things If we have a rational temperament we feel at once a refreshment Here at last is a statement about the world which is meant and offered as true ndash a logos [explanation] not a mythos [story]

ndash F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952 ed) 42

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The questions which excited them were of this kind Can this apparently confused and disordered world be reduced to simpler principles so that our reason can grasp what it is and how it works What is it made of How does change take place They abandoned mythological and substituted intellectual solutions [It] was no longer satisfying to say that storms were roused by the wrath of Poseidon or death caused by the arrows of Apollo or Artemis A world ruled by anthropomorphic gods human in their passions was a world ruled by caprice Philosophy and science start with the bold confession of faith that not caprice but an inherent orderliness underlies the phenomena and the explanation of nature is to be sought within nature itself ndashWKC Guthrie History of Greek Philosophy (Cambridge 1969) 1 44-45

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

Thales of Miletus

bull Lived late 7th-6th centurybull Born to a Phoenician aristocratic

family ndash so leisurebull Traveled to Egypt and Babylon (by

tradition)bull Legendary wisdombull ldquoFounder of Western philosophyrdquo

bull First to seek an ldquooriginal causerdquo (archecirc)

bull to explain how unseen facts caused visible results without appeal to mythology

bull To provide generalizable proofs or laws

Thales of Miletus

AstronomyMathematicsWater as the archecircAll things are full of gods

bull Traditionally Thalesrsquo star student

bull 25 years old during Thalesrsquo eclipse (585 BCE)

bull Lived c 610-540 BCE

bull ldquoFirst to draw the inhabited world on a tabletrdquo (first mapmaker)

bull Unambiguously our first ldquophilosopherrdquo by standards of demythologization originality generality and observation

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

ldquoAnaximander has expurgated the supernatural with a boldness and completeness to which many of his successors failed to attain The primary order is still said to be lsquoaccording to what is ordainedrsquo it is still a moral order in which Justice prevails but the will of the personal God has disappeared and its place is partly taken by a natural cause the eternal motionrdquo

- F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952) 41 Anaximander relief 1st century AD

Rome Museo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Key contributions

bull Physics the archecircbull Cosmologybull ldquoEvolutionrdquobull Astronomy and Cartography

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Anaximander said that the APEIRON [indefinite unlimited] was the ARCHE and the element of things that are and he was the first to introduce this name for the ARCHE He says that the ARCHE is neither water nor any other of the things called elements but some other nature called APEIRON out of which come to be all the heavens and the worlds in them (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2413-18)

The things that are perish into the things out of which they come to be according to necessity for ldquothey pay penalty and retribution to one another according to their injustice in accordance with the ordering of timerdquo as he says in rather poetical language (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2418-21)

Anaximander of Miletus

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The ARCHE

bull One and unlimitedbull But not undefined Itrsquos AIR

Anaximenes of Miletus

bull Not opposites but a continuum FIRE AIR larr WIND larr CLOUD larr WATER larr EARTH larr STONEbull ldquoLooseningrdquo and ldquotighteningrdquo explain hot and cold

H E R A C L I T U S B 1 0 1 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 3 7 )

I searched out myself

Listening not to me but to the logos it is wise to agree that all things are one

H E R A C L I T U S B 5 0 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 1 1 )

E X A M P L E S

THE ROAD TO PHILOSOP HY

The Hero of Lyric Poets of the Polis (6th century)

bull According to the lyric poets of the polis culture such as Pindar Simonides Tyrtaeus and Sappho (7th-6th century BCE)

bull Pursues collective good of the polis based on strong ties of interdependent responsibility amp cooperation in a just world governed by the gods

Individual Freedom The ldquoSophistsrdquo (5th century)

bull Sources in thinkers like Protagoras and Gorgias (5th century BCE predominantly working in Athens) constructed as a category by Platorsquos later writings

bull Pursues individual advantage based on their personal beliefs and wits using persuasion and power skepticism of traditional values

Vulnerability The Hero of Tragedy (5th century)

bull Iconic examples include Sophoclesrsquo Oedipus and Aeschylusrsquo Agamemnon and Orestes

bull Pursuit of individual amp collective good in a world of apparently conflicting divine values sometimes hampered by their own lack of self-knowledge

I N T E R D E P E N D E N C Y I N T R O D U C E S V U L N E R A B I L I T Y W H I C H M AY B E

C E L E B R AT E D O R R E S I S T E D

The Hero of Epic Homer and Hesiod (8th century)

bull Found in the epic Iliad and Odyssey attributed to Homer (c 8th century BCE) examples include the powerful Achilles and thoughtful persuasive Odysseus

bull Pursues individual honour (timē) in a just world governed by the gods

CH

IGI V

AS

E C

70

0 B

CE

The Hero of Reason The ldquoPresocratics (6th-5th cent)

bull Founding figures including Thales Anaximander Anaximenes Pythagoras Heraclitus Parmenides Seeking to understand the basic original causes (aitiai) of the world through reason

I S T H E W O R L D G E N U I N E LY

I N T E L L I G I B L E T O R E A S O N

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Born in Athens to a stonemason named Sophroniscus in 469 BCE

bull ldquoSocratic problemrdquo Socrates wrote nothing we know about him through Plato Xenophon and Aristophanes whose accounts vary

bull Conversed with anyone ldquorich or poor citizen or foreignerrdquo (Apology 23C)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Non-conformity reliance on individual values and wits (contrast with the earlier poets and rhapsodes)

bull Claims of ignorance interest in shared truth and not only persuasion and resistance of ldquoselfish morality (contrast with the sophists)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Methods based on question and answer (the elenchus) requiring unity or consistency (a) of onersquos beliefs and (b) of onersquos beliefs and actions

bull Behaviour peculiar enough to warrant its own verb (sōkratein) (Arist Birds 1282) before generalized philosophia

bull Brought to trial in 399 BCE by two Athenians Meletus and Anytus charged with ldquoimpiety and corrupting the youngrdquo

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

S O C R AT E S C R I T O 4 6 A

I am the kind of person who listens to nothing within me but the logos that on reflection seems

best to me

L O G O S R E A S O N VA L U E C O N S C I E N C E M E A N I N G

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousness A sense of such significances that what is great is fragile and that what is necessary may be destructive which is present in the literature of the fifth century and earlier has disappeared [later] from the ethics of the philosophers and perhaps altogether from their minds Greek philosophy in its sustained pursuit of rational self-sufficiency does turn its back on kinds of human experience and human necessity of which Greek literature itself offers the purest if not the richest expression

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y A N D P H I L O S O P H Y

The continuity between Greek tragedy and Greek philosophy on these questions is however far greater than Williams has allowed On the one hand inside tragedy itself we find arresting portrayals of the human ambition to rational self-sufficiency we come to understand the ways in which problems of exposure motivate this ambition On the other Platos philosophical search for a self- sufficient good life is motivated by a keen sense of these same problems Far from having forgotten about what tragedy describes he sees the problems of exposure so clearly that only a radical solution seems adequate to their depth Nor is he naiumlve about the costs of this solution

N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y P R A C T I C A L C O N F L I C T

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identical which is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A)

Socrates ldquoencourages Euthyphro [a pious Greek] to revise tradition by considering as binding only those requirements concerning which there is divine unanimity he expresses further his own doubt as to whether gods really do disagreerdquo (Nussbaum 30)

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identicalwhich is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A Nussbaum 25)

Aeschylus Agamemnon (458 BCE) and Euripides Iphigeneia at Aulis (405 BCE) The Sacrifice of Iphigeneia by Francesco Fontebasso bull 1749 oil on canvas

Sing goddess the anger of Peleusrsquo sun Achilleus and its devastation which put pains thousandfold upon the Achaians

hurled in their multitudes to the house of Hades strong souls of heroes but gave their bodies to be the delicate feasting of dogs of all birds and the will of Zeus was accomplished since that time when first there stood in division of conflict

Atreus son the lord of men and brilliant Achilleus

microῆνιν ἄειδε θεὰ Πηληϊάδεω Ἀχιλῆοςοὐλοmicroένην ἣ microυρί Ἀχαιοῖς ἄλγε ἔθηκε πολλὰς δ ἰφθίmicroους ψυχὰς Ἄϊδι προΐαψενἡρώων αὐτοὺς δὲ ἑλώρια τεῦχε κύνεσσιν οἰωνοῖσί τε πᾶσι Διὸς δ ἐτελείετο βουλή ἐξ οὗ δὴ τὰ πρῶτα διαστήτην ἐρίσαντε

Ἀτρεΐδης τε ἄναξ ἀνδρῶν καὶ δῖος Ἀχιλλεύς

H O M E R I L I A D 1 1 - 7 ( T R L AT T I M O R E )

Chryses prays to Apollo

Achilles amp Hector by G

enzoman D

eviantArtcom

Achilles versus Hector from

Troy (2004)Achilles versus H

ector Attic Vase c 500 BCE

Troy in Flames Completed 1762 by Johann Georg Trautmann (1713-1969)

Ulysses and the Sirens John William Waterhouse 1891

Johann Heinrich Wilhelm Tischbein Odysseus und Penelope

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The quest for immortality

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Divine causation

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

H O M E R I L I A D 9 4 1 0 - 4 1 6

For my mother Thetis the goddess of the silver feet tells me I carry two sorts of destiny toward the day of my death Either

if I stay here and fight beside the city of the Trojans my return home is gone but my glory (kleos) shall be everlasting

but if I return home to the beloved land of my fathers the excellence (esthlon) of my glory is gone but there will be a long life

left for me and my end in death will not come to me quickly

P I N D A R P Y T H 8 9 5 - 9 7

Creatures of the passing day What is any one What is any one not Shadows dream is man But when the radiance given of Zeus comes

there is a bright light upon men and life is sweet

A R E TĒ T I MĒ K L E O S

T H E Q U E S T F O R I M M O R TA L I T Y

S C E N E F R O M T R O Y ( W B 2 0 0 4 ) A C H I L L E S S U M M O N E D B Y A G A M E M N O N Y O U T U B E C O M W AT C H V = R 7 2 K B D G R T D 4

S C E N E F R O M T R O Y ( W B 2 0 0 4 ) A C H I L L E S A N D H E C T O R D U E L Y O U T U B E C O M W AT C H V = N Q 6 2 F R K 7 4 U 0

Athena Achilles Hector Apollo

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Divine causation

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

A G A M E M N O N AT H O M E R I L I A D 1 1 8 1 - 1 8 7

hellip[H]ere is my threat to you Even as Phoibos Apollo is taking away my Chryseis

hellip I shall take the fair-cheeked Briseis your prize I myself going to your shelter that you may learn well how much greater I am than you and another man may shrink back

from likening himself to me and contending against mersquo

A C H I L L E S AT H O M E R I L I A D 9 6 4 6 - 4 8 S E E A L S O 1 6 5 9

Yet still the heart in me swells up in anger when I remember the disgrace that he wrought upon me before the Argives

the son of Atreus as if I were some wanderer without honour (atimētos metanastēs)

Achilleus in amazement turned about and straightway knew Pallas Athene and the terrible eyes shining

He uttered winged words and addressed her Why have you come now o child of Zeus of the aegis once more Is it that you may see

the outrageousness (hubris) of the son of Atreus Agamemnonrsquohellip

A C H I L L E S AT H O M E R I L I A D 1 1 9 9 - 2 0 3

O D Y S S E U S AT H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 2 2 3 5 - 4 1

You dogs You never thought Id come back home from the kingdom of the Trojans so you ravaged my house

lay in bed by force beside my women slaves my women and wooed my wife illicitly though I was alive

fearing neither the gods who hold wide heaven nor that thered be any mens censure thereafter

Now the moment of destruction hangs over you one and all

The slaughter of the suitors by Odysseus and Telemachus 1812 Louis Vincent Palliere

Death of the suitors Athenian red-figure cup c 450-440 BC

A W H A D K I N S ldquo H O M E R I C E T H I C S rdquo I N I M O R R I S amp B P O W E L L ( E D S )

A N E W C O M PA N I O N T O H O M E R ( B R I L L 1 9 9 6 ) 7 0 4 - 5

ldquoThe Homeric hero deprived of any significant quantity of timē reacts violently

aware as he is of the bottom of the scale [the metanastēs]hellip the primary function of the

agathos [good person hero] is to defend his timē with all the resources at his commandrdquo

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Divine causation

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

H U B R I S N E M E S I S

Nemesis by Gheorghe Tattarescu (1853)

Hesiod Works amp Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

Piteously she transfixed by his crooked claws was lamenting When the imperious hawk addressed her in arrogant parlance Why little lady such shrieks One stronger than you now has got you Where you are going Ill take you myself though you are a songstress For as I please Ill make you my dinner or give you your freedom Witless is one who attempts to strive against those who are stronger When he is stripped of the prize its injury added to insult Thus said the fast-flying hawk that bird with the generous wing-span

Pay more attention to justice and curb high-handedness [brother] Violence ill suits those who are lowly not even the noble Person can lightly endure it it weighs on a person whos fallen Into affliction Its better to take your way on the other Road which conduces to right For outrage (hubris) surrenders to justice (dikē)hellip

W E A R E I N Z E U S rsquo JUST W O R L D D E S C R I B E D I N THEOGONY

S I D E B A R D I V I N E C A U S AT I O N

bull The Homeric and Hesiodic herorsquos individual mission only makes sense in a world governed by gods (theoi)

bull Homer Iliad The gods are primarily responsiblecausal of events (aitios)

bull Early Greek science begins here theoi subsequently naturalized as consistent patterns of regularity in human and natural experience (elements laws)

bull Homer Odyssey Humans are (also) responsiblecausal for our own actions

bull How do we use our freedom

AT H E N A A N D O D Y S S E U S T H E O D Y S S E Y ( N B C 1 9 9 7 )

H O M E R I L I A D 5 1 2 3

Athena drew near to his side and spoke to him in winged words Have courage for I have drawn the mist from your eyes

that you may discern in truth gods from humans

So they spoke but Priam aloud called out to Helen Come over where I am dear child and sit down beside me

to look at your husband of time past your friends and your people I am not blaming you (ou ti moi aitiē essi) to me the gods are

responsible (theoihellipaitioi) who drove upon me this sorrowful war against the Achaians

H O M E R I L I A D 3 1 6 4

S I D E B A R D I V I N E C A U S AT I O N

Zeus is probably responsible (aitios) who gives to men who work for bread to each one however he wishes

H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 1 3 4 8 [ T E L E M A C H U S S P E A K S ]

How mortals now blame [from aitios] gods for they say that evils are from us Yet they themselves

have woes beyond their lot by their own recklessnesshellip

H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 1 3 2 [ Z E U S S P E A K S ]

Tell me of these things Muses that dwell on the heights of Olympus From the origin (archē) and say which first of them came into beinghellip

H E S I O D T H E O G O N Y 1 1 4

Responsibility lies with the one who makes the choice the god is blameless (theos anaitios)

P L AT O R E P U B L I C 1 0 6 1 7 E

S I D E B A R D I V I N E C A U S AT I O N

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Divine causation

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

O D Y S S E U S T O P O LY P H E M U S H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 9 2 6 9 - 7 1

But revere the gods most noble one We are supplicants (hiketai) to you Zeus is the avenger (epitimētōr) of suppliants and strangers

the guest god who attends venerable strangers

W E A R E I N Z E U S rsquo W O R L D ( A S D E S C R I B E D I N THEOGONY )

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

T H E LY R I C P O E T SC 6 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Pindar of Thebes

Simonides of Ceos

Sappho of Lesbos

LY R I C I N T R O D U C T I O N

bull Occasional poetry

bull Often sung to the lyre (lyrē) in varied meters

bull CHORAL LYRIC

bull Dancing choruses at religious festivals contests family events

bull Enforcing collective civic values

bull MONODIC LYRIC

bull Individual performance

bull Personal in emotion amp outlookBrygos Painter c 490 BCE

Sappho and Alcaeus

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

Creatures of the passing day What is any one What is any one not Shadows dream is man But when the radiance given of Zeus comes

there is a bright light upon men and life is sweet

P I N D A R P Y T H 8 9 5 - 9 7

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

I praise and embrace everyone who willingly does nothing base (aischron) but with necessity not even the gods fight A man not too helpless suffices for me one who knows the justice that benefits the

city (polis) a sound and healthy man I will not lay blame for the generation of fools is limitless Everything is noble (kala) with which

base deeds are not mingled

S I M O N I D E S 5 4 2 2 7 - 4 0

Simonides is criticizing the traditional definition of the good noble or successful man (agathos esthlos) Such goodness or nobility depends upon external achievements and possessions (wealth honour prowess in battle) which are too insecure to form a real basis for human excellence Instead Simonides stresses intention justice that benefits the city acknowledgement of the fragility of lifehellip

C S E G A L ldquo C H O R A L LY R I C I N T H E F I F T H C E N T U R Y rdquo I N P E E A S T E R L I N G amp B M W K N O X T H E C A M B R I D G E H I S T O R Y O F

C L A S S I C A L L I T E R AT U R E I ( C A M B R I D G E 2 0 0 8 ) 2 2 4

LY R I C C O N T E X T

Hoplites in phalanx formation From the Chigi Vase proto-Corinthian pitcher ca 650-640 BC

3 0 0 ( W A R N E R B R O S 2 0 0 6 ) ldquo W H AT I S Y O U R P R O F E S S I O N rdquo

W W W Y O U T U B E C O M W AT C H V = A N A 3 C O 8 3 _ G K

3 0 0 ( W A R N E R B R O S 2 0 0 6 ) ldquo F I G H T I N T H E S H A D E rdquo

Y O U T U B E 4 J K P G D D M A R S T = 1 2 4

τοιόνδ ἄνθος Περσίδος αἴας οἴχεται ἀνδρῶν

οὓς πέρι πᾶσα χθὼν Ἀσιῆτις ρέψασα πόθῳ στένεται microαλερῷ τοκέης τ ἄλοχοί θ ἡmicroερολεγδὸν τείνοντα χρόνον τροmicroέονται

A E S C H Y L U S P E R S A I 5 9 - 6 4 C P I L I A D 9 4 1 0 - 1 6

S E E C A S E Y D U Eacute T H E C A P T I V E W O M A N rsquo S L A M E N T I N G R E E K T R A G E DY C H 2

Such is the flower [anthos] of the Persian land such is the flower of men that has disappeared

The entire land of Asia laments the men she nourished with fierce

longing [pothos] Parents and wives counting the days

tremble at the increasing length of time

P I N D A R

bull Born near Thebes c 518 BCE

bull Composed important epinician odes (epi-nikia for-a-victory in a contest)

bull Depicts the gods as maintaining civic values of justice (O 1 P 1-3 P 8) compassionate (N 10) and forgiving (O 7456) guardians of polis morality

bull Celebrated ldquoroughrdquo style

bull ldquoA soaring eaglehellip a rushing streamrdquo (Horace Od 42) ldquoA vast firerdquo (Longinus Sublime 335)

Bust of the lyric poet Pindar Roman copy from original of the mid-5 century BC

F I F T H - C E N T U R Y C H O R A L LY R I C

A C O R N T O O A K T R E E N E I L B R O M H A L L bull y o u t u b e Z K 4 L j U R t a D w

Some people pray for gold others for limitless lands but I pray to please my fellow citizens and then to cover my limbs in earth

having praised the praiseworthy and scattered reproof on the wicked Excellence soars upward like a tree fed on fresh dews

lifted among the wise and just toward the liquid upper air The need for friends comes in many forms

it is most valued in times of trouble but joy too craves to look upon trusty support

P I N D A R N E M E A N 8 3 6 - 4 3

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

F R A G I L I T Ybull How can we be praiseworthy if we are vulnerable (to circumstances)

bull [The poetic world-view and Pindarrsquos career as praise poet of aretē require] ldquothe belief that the excellence of a good person is something of that persons own for whose possession and exercise that person can appropriately be held accountablerdquo (Nussbaum 1)

bull But ldquoHow can we be givers and receivers of praise if our worth ishellip a plant in need of wateringrdquo (2)

bull ldquoWe need to be born with adequate capacities to live in fostering natural and social circumstances to stay clear of abrupt catastrophe to develop confirming associations with other human beingsrdquo (1)

bull A further complication ldquoThe tenderness of a plant is not the dazzling hardness of a gemrdquo perhaps ldquopart of the peculiar beauty of human excellence just is its vulnerabilityrdquo (2)

M A R T H A N U S S B A U M T H E F R A G I L I T Y O F G O O D N E S S C H 1 L U C K amp E T H I C S

T H E P O W E R O F R E A S O N [T]here is the consolation that so far Pindar has apparently left something out However much human beings resemble lower forms of life we are unlike we want to insist in one crucial respect We have reason We are able to deliberate and choose to make a plan in which ends are ranked to decide actively what is to have value and how much All this must count for something If it is true that a lot about us is messy needy uncontrolled rooted in the dirt and standing helplessly in the rain it is also true that there is something about us that is pure and purely active something that we could think of as divine immortal intelligible unitary indissoluble ever self-consistent and invariablelsquo [Plato Phaedo 80B] It seems possible that this rational element in us can rule and guide the rest thereby saving the whole person from living at the mercy of luck

N U S S B A U M F R A G I L I T Y 2

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S S O P H I S T S A N D T R A G E D I A N SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Athens

AT H E N S rsquo A C R O P O L I S A S I M A G I N E D B Y L E O V O N K L E N Z E O I L O N C A N VA S 1 8 4 6 N E U E P I N A K O T H E K

A S S A S S I N rsquo S C R E E D O D Y S S E Y bull A T O U R O F AT H E N S U B I S O F T ( 2 0 1 8 )

bull Athens is the first lsquopeople-ruledrsquo polis (dēmokratia) in the Mediterranean world

bull She has achieved unchallenged naval authority and an empire which is labeled a lsquocommonwealthrsquo

bull At the commercial and cultural crossroads of Italy Greece Egypt and the Near East

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

S P E E C H A N D D E M O C R A C Y

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

bull In this cosmopolitan environment traditional views are challenged leading to a perceived erosion of moral values

bull The rhapsodes use poetic forms to transmit traditional morality

bull The tragedians use poetic forms to explore amp challenge mythrsquos assumptions

bull The sophists teach ldquowisdomrdquo (sophia) including rhetoric and political oratory perceived as a new lsquotechnologyrsquo to steer the ship of state for onersquos own ends

bull Use onersquos own wits ldquoA person is the measure of all thingsrdquo Protagoras B1

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

T R A G E D Y V U L N E R A B I L I T Y A N D R E A S O NC 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E AT H E N S

Aeschylus Agamemnon (458 BCE) and Euripides Iphigeneia at Aulis (405 BCE) The Sacrifice of Iphigeneia by Francesco Fontebasso bull 1749 oil on canvas

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousnesshellip what is great is fragile andhellip what is necessary may be destructivehellip

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

In such cases we see a wrong action committed without any direct physical compulsion and in full knowledge of its nature by a person whose ethical character or commitments would otherwise dispose him to reject the acthellip circumstanceshellip prevent the adequate fulfillment of two valid ethical claims

N U S S B A U M 2 5

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

[Aeschylus in Agamemnon] shows us not so much a solution to the problem of practical conflict as the richness and depth of the problem itself (This achievement is closely connected with his poetic resources which put the scene vividly before us show us debate about it and evoke in us responses important to its assessment)

The best the agent can do is to have his suffering the natural expression of his goodness of character and not to stifle these responses out of misguided optimism The best we (the Chorus) can do for him is to respect the gravity of his predicament to respect the responses that express his goodness and to think about his case as showing a possibility for human life in general

N U S S B A U M 4 9 - 5 0

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

bull In a world that allows such dilemmas are there truly gods with a coherent vision for the world

bull Can individual reason and ingenuity suffice for a good life

T H E S O P H I S T SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Hesiod Works amp Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale Piteously she transfixed by his crooked claws was lamenting When the imperious hawk addressed her in arrogant parlance Why little lady such shrieks One stronger than you now has got you Where you are going Ill take you myself though you are a songstress For as I please Ill make you my dinner or give you your freedom Witless is one who attempts to strive against those who are stronger When he is stripped of the prize its injury added to insult Thus said the fast-flying hawk that bird with the generous wing-spanPay more attention to justice and curb high-handedness [brother] Violence ill suits men who are lowly not even the noble Man can lightly endure it it weighs on a person whos fallen Into affliction Its better to take your way on the other Road which conduces to right For outrage (hubris) surrenders to

justice (dikē)hellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Thucydides History 584-116 The Melian Dialogue ATHENIANS [Y]ou know as well as we do that when these matters are discussed by practical people the standard of justice depends on the equality of power to compel and that in fact the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they musthellip Our opinion of the gods and our knowledge of men lead us to conclude that it is a general and necessary law of nature to rule whatever one can This is not a law that we made ourselves nor were we the first to act upon it when it was made We found it already in existence and we shall leave it to exist for ever among those who come after us

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos

advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Republic I 343A-D Thrasymachusrsquo complaint Tell me Socrates do you still have a wet nursehellip Because shersquos letting you run around with a snotty nose and doesnrsquot wipe it when she needs tohellip You think that shepherds and cowherds seek the good of their sheep and cattle and fatten them and take care of them looking to something other than their masterrsquos good and their own Moreover you believe that rulershellip think of something besides their own advantage You are so far from understandinghellip that you donrsquot realize that justice is really the good of another the advantage of the stronger and the ruler and harmful to the one who obeys and serves Injustice is the opposite it rules the truly simple and just and those it rules do what is to the advantage of the other and stronger and they make the one they serve happy but themselves not at all You must look at it as follows my most simple Socrates A just man always gets less than an unjust onehellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Gorgias 482C-484C Callicles on nature and convention [Y]oursquore in fact bringing the discussion around to the sort of crowd-pleasing vulgarities that are admirable only by law [nomos also translatable ldquoconventionrdquo or ldquocustomrdquo] and not by nature And these nature and law are for the most part opposed to each otherhellip I believe that the people who institute our laws are the weak and the many So they institute laws and assign praise and blame with themselves and their own advantage in mind As a way of frightening the more powerfulhellip out of getting a greater share than they they say that getting more than onersquos share is ldquoshamefulrdquo and ldquounjusthelliprdquo But surely if a man whose nature is equal to it arises he will shake off tear apart and escape all this he will trample underfoot our documents our tricks and charms and all our laws that violate nature He the slave will rise up and be revealed as our master and here the justice of nature will shine forth

The New Teachers of Athens

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

P R E - S O C R AT I C ldquo P H I L O S O P H E R S 6 T H - 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

P R E - S O C R AT I C P H I L O S O P H E R S

bull Though not usually calling themselves ldquophilosophersrdquo they seemed to have contributed inspiration for Socratesrsquo method of free inquiry applying logos

bull Scholars adopt different views of what constitutes their innovation and ldquophilosophicalrdquo method (see readings)

bull Basing views on argument and evidence

bull De-ldquomythologizationrdquo

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Miletus

E A R LY P H I L O S O P H Y A N C I E N T M I L E T U S

M I L E T U S

bull Wealthy city-state in Asia Minor

bull Key city for trading and shipping between Near East amp Greece

bull Ionian Greek culture

bull Freedom of thought

bull Open political debate

bull Wealth (for some) providing leisure

bull Thales and his successors Anaximander Anaximenes

bull ldquoPhilosophicalrdquo investigation

bull Later Presocratics Heraclitus ParmenidesldquoORIENTALIZINGrdquo POTTERY

The Milesian school strikes a new note unheard before It has a fresh sense of the meaning of truth ndash a feeling for the sort of thing it is reasonable to suppose The hypothesis it characteristically deals in is concerned with the nature of the one primary stuff the Milesians seem to make a great conscious effort to get at something which really does exist They strike us as throwing off the vast symbolic visions of mythology and waking clear-headed to see and touch real things If we have a rational temperament we feel at once a refreshment Here at last is a statement about the world which is meant and offered as true ndash a logos [explanation] not a mythos [story]

ndash F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952 ed) 42

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The questions which excited them were of this kind Can this apparently confused and disordered world be reduced to simpler principles so that our reason can grasp what it is and how it works What is it made of How does change take place They abandoned mythological and substituted intellectual solutions [It] was no longer satisfying to say that storms were roused by the wrath of Poseidon or death caused by the arrows of Apollo or Artemis A world ruled by anthropomorphic gods human in their passions was a world ruled by caprice Philosophy and science start with the bold confession of faith that not caprice but an inherent orderliness underlies the phenomena and the explanation of nature is to be sought within nature itself ndashWKC Guthrie History of Greek Philosophy (Cambridge 1969) 1 44-45

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

Thales of Miletus

bull Lived late 7th-6th centurybull Born to a Phoenician aristocratic

family ndash so leisurebull Traveled to Egypt and Babylon (by

tradition)bull Legendary wisdombull ldquoFounder of Western philosophyrdquo

bull First to seek an ldquooriginal causerdquo (archecirc)

bull to explain how unseen facts caused visible results without appeal to mythology

bull To provide generalizable proofs or laws

Thales of Miletus

AstronomyMathematicsWater as the archecircAll things are full of gods

bull Traditionally Thalesrsquo star student

bull 25 years old during Thalesrsquo eclipse (585 BCE)

bull Lived c 610-540 BCE

bull ldquoFirst to draw the inhabited world on a tabletrdquo (first mapmaker)

bull Unambiguously our first ldquophilosopherrdquo by standards of demythologization originality generality and observation

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

ldquoAnaximander has expurgated the supernatural with a boldness and completeness to which many of his successors failed to attain The primary order is still said to be lsquoaccording to what is ordainedrsquo it is still a moral order in which Justice prevails but the will of the personal God has disappeared and its place is partly taken by a natural cause the eternal motionrdquo

- F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952) 41 Anaximander relief 1st century AD

Rome Museo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Key contributions

bull Physics the archecircbull Cosmologybull ldquoEvolutionrdquobull Astronomy and Cartography

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Anaximander said that the APEIRON [indefinite unlimited] was the ARCHE and the element of things that are and he was the first to introduce this name for the ARCHE He says that the ARCHE is neither water nor any other of the things called elements but some other nature called APEIRON out of which come to be all the heavens and the worlds in them (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2413-18)

The things that are perish into the things out of which they come to be according to necessity for ldquothey pay penalty and retribution to one another according to their injustice in accordance with the ordering of timerdquo as he says in rather poetical language (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2418-21)

Anaximander of Miletus

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The ARCHE

bull One and unlimitedbull But not undefined Itrsquos AIR

Anaximenes of Miletus

bull Not opposites but a continuum FIRE AIR larr WIND larr CLOUD larr WATER larr EARTH larr STONEbull ldquoLooseningrdquo and ldquotighteningrdquo explain hot and cold

H E R A C L I T U S B 1 0 1 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 3 7 )

I searched out myself

Listening not to me but to the logos it is wise to agree that all things are one

H E R A C L I T U S B 5 0 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 1 1 )

E X A M P L E S

THE ROAD TO PHILOSOP HY

The Hero of Lyric Poets of the Polis (6th century)

bull According to the lyric poets of the polis culture such as Pindar Simonides Tyrtaeus and Sappho (7th-6th century BCE)

bull Pursues collective good of the polis based on strong ties of interdependent responsibility amp cooperation in a just world governed by the gods

Individual Freedom The ldquoSophistsrdquo (5th century)

bull Sources in thinkers like Protagoras and Gorgias (5th century BCE predominantly working in Athens) constructed as a category by Platorsquos later writings

bull Pursues individual advantage based on their personal beliefs and wits using persuasion and power skepticism of traditional values

Vulnerability The Hero of Tragedy (5th century)

bull Iconic examples include Sophoclesrsquo Oedipus and Aeschylusrsquo Agamemnon and Orestes

bull Pursuit of individual amp collective good in a world of apparently conflicting divine values sometimes hampered by their own lack of self-knowledge

I N T E R D E P E N D E N C Y I N T R O D U C E S V U L N E R A B I L I T Y W H I C H M AY B E

C E L E B R AT E D O R R E S I S T E D

The Hero of Epic Homer and Hesiod (8th century)

bull Found in the epic Iliad and Odyssey attributed to Homer (c 8th century BCE) examples include the powerful Achilles and thoughtful persuasive Odysseus

bull Pursues individual honour (timē) in a just world governed by the gods

CH

IGI V

AS

E C

70

0 B

CE

The Hero of Reason The ldquoPresocratics (6th-5th cent)

bull Founding figures including Thales Anaximander Anaximenes Pythagoras Heraclitus Parmenides Seeking to understand the basic original causes (aitiai) of the world through reason

I S T H E W O R L D G E N U I N E LY

I N T E L L I G I B L E T O R E A S O N

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Born in Athens to a stonemason named Sophroniscus in 469 BCE

bull ldquoSocratic problemrdquo Socrates wrote nothing we know about him through Plato Xenophon and Aristophanes whose accounts vary

bull Conversed with anyone ldquorich or poor citizen or foreignerrdquo (Apology 23C)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Non-conformity reliance on individual values and wits (contrast with the earlier poets and rhapsodes)

bull Claims of ignorance interest in shared truth and not only persuasion and resistance of ldquoselfish morality (contrast with the sophists)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Methods based on question and answer (the elenchus) requiring unity or consistency (a) of onersquos beliefs and (b) of onersquos beliefs and actions

bull Behaviour peculiar enough to warrant its own verb (sōkratein) (Arist Birds 1282) before generalized philosophia

bull Brought to trial in 399 BCE by two Athenians Meletus and Anytus charged with ldquoimpiety and corrupting the youngrdquo

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

S O C R AT E S C R I T O 4 6 A

I am the kind of person who listens to nothing within me but the logos that on reflection seems

best to me

L O G O S R E A S O N VA L U E C O N S C I E N C E M E A N I N G

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousness A sense of such significances that what is great is fragile and that what is necessary may be destructive which is present in the literature of the fifth century and earlier has disappeared [later] from the ethics of the philosophers and perhaps altogether from their minds Greek philosophy in its sustained pursuit of rational self-sufficiency does turn its back on kinds of human experience and human necessity of which Greek literature itself offers the purest if not the richest expression

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y A N D P H I L O S O P H Y

The continuity between Greek tragedy and Greek philosophy on these questions is however far greater than Williams has allowed On the one hand inside tragedy itself we find arresting portrayals of the human ambition to rational self-sufficiency we come to understand the ways in which problems of exposure motivate this ambition On the other Platos philosophical search for a self- sufficient good life is motivated by a keen sense of these same problems Far from having forgotten about what tragedy describes he sees the problems of exposure so clearly that only a radical solution seems adequate to their depth Nor is he naiumlve about the costs of this solution

N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y P R A C T I C A L C O N F L I C T

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identical which is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A)

Socrates ldquoencourages Euthyphro [a pious Greek] to revise tradition by considering as binding only those requirements concerning which there is divine unanimity he expresses further his own doubt as to whether gods really do disagreerdquo (Nussbaum 30)

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identicalwhich is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A Nussbaum 25)

Sing goddess the anger of Peleusrsquo sun Achilleus and its devastation which put pains thousandfold upon the Achaians

hurled in their multitudes to the house of Hades strong souls of heroes but gave their bodies to be the delicate feasting of dogs of all birds and the will of Zeus was accomplished since that time when first there stood in division of conflict

Atreus son the lord of men and brilliant Achilleus

microῆνιν ἄειδε θεὰ Πηληϊάδεω Ἀχιλῆοςοὐλοmicroένην ἣ microυρί Ἀχαιοῖς ἄλγε ἔθηκε πολλὰς δ ἰφθίmicroους ψυχὰς Ἄϊδι προΐαψενἡρώων αὐτοὺς δὲ ἑλώρια τεῦχε κύνεσσιν οἰωνοῖσί τε πᾶσι Διὸς δ ἐτελείετο βουλή ἐξ οὗ δὴ τὰ πρῶτα διαστήτην ἐρίσαντε

Ἀτρεΐδης τε ἄναξ ἀνδρῶν καὶ δῖος Ἀχιλλεύς

H O M E R I L I A D 1 1 - 7 ( T R L AT T I M O R E )

Chryses prays to Apollo

Achilles amp Hector by G

enzoman D

eviantArtcom

Achilles versus Hector from

Troy (2004)Achilles versus H

ector Attic Vase c 500 BCE

Troy in Flames Completed 1762 by Johann Georg Trautmann (1713-1969)

Ulysses and the Sirens John William Waterhouse 1891

Johann Heinrich Wilhelm Tischbein Odysseus und Penelope

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The quest for immortality

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Divine causation

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

H O M E R I L I A D 9 4 1 0 - 4 1 6

For my mother Thetis the goddess of the silver feet tells me I carry two sorts of destiny toward the day of my death Either

if I stay here and fight beside the city of the Trojans my return home is gone but my glory (kleos) shall be everlasting

but if I return home to the beloved land of my fathers the excellence (esthlon) of my glory is gone but there will be a long life

left for me and my end in death will not come to me quickly

P I N D A R P Y T H 8 9 5 - 9 7

Creatures of the passing day What is any one What is any one not Shadows dream is man But when the radiance given of Zeus comes

there is a bright light upon men and life is sweet

A R E TĒ T I MĒ K L E O S

T H E Q U E S T F O R I M M O R TA L I T Y

S C E N E F R O M T R O Y ( W B 2 0 0 4 ) A C H I L L E S S U M M O N E D B Y A G A M E M N O N Y O U T U B E C O M W AT C H V = R 7 2 K B D G R T D 4

S C E N E F R O M T R O Y ( W B 2 0 0 4 ) A C H I L L E S A N D H E C T O R D U E L Y O U T U B E C O M W AT C H V = N Q 6 2 F R K 7 4 U 0

Athena Achilles Hector Apollo

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Divine causation

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

A G A M E M N O N AT H O M E R I L I A D 1 1 8 1 - 1 8 7

hellip[H]ere is my threat to you Even as Phoibos Apollo is taking away my Chryseis

hellip I shall take the fair-cheeked Briseis your prize I myself going to your shelter that you may learn well how much greater I am than you and another man may shrink back

from likening himself to me and contending against mersquo

A C H I L L E S AT H O M E R I L I A D 9 6 4 6 - 4 8 S E E A L S O 1 6 5 9

Yet still the heart in me swells up in anger when I remember the disgrace that he wrought upon me before the Argives

the son of Atreus as if I were some wanderer without honour (atimētos metanastēs)

Achilleus in amazement turned about and straightway knew Pallas Athene and the terrible eyes shining

He uttered winged words and addressed her Why have you come now o child of Zeus of the aegis once more Is it that you may see

the outrageousness (hubris) of the son of Atreus Agamemnonrsquohellip

A C H I L L E S AT H O M E R I L I A D 1 1 9 9 - 2 0 3

O D Y S S E U S AT H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 2 2 3 5 - 4 1

You dogs You never thought Id come back home from the kingdom of the Trojans so you ravaged my house

lay in bed by force beside my women slaves my women and wooed my wife illicitly though I was alive

fearing neither the gods who hold wide heaven nor that thered be any mens censure thereafter

Now the moment of destruction hangs over you one and all

The slaughter of the suitors by Odysseus and Telemachus 1812 Louis Vincent Palliere

Death of the suitors Athenian red-figure cup c 450-440 BC

A W H A D K I N S ldquo H O M E R I C E T H I C S rdquo I N I M O R R I S amp B P O W E L L ( E D S )

A N E W C O M PA N I O N T O H O M E R ( B R I L L 1 9 9 6 ) 7 0 4 - 5

ldquoThe Homeric hero deprived of any significant quantity of timē reacts violently

aware as he is of the bottom of the scale [the metanastēs]hellip the primary function of the

agathos [good person hero] is to defend his timē with all the resources at his commandrdquo

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Divine causation

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

H U B R I S N E M E S I S

Nemesis by Gheorghe Tattarescu (1853)

Hesiod Works amp Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

Piteously she transfixed by his crooked claws was lamenting When the imperious hawk addressed her in arrogant parlance Why little lady such shrieks One stronger than you now has got you Where you are going Ill take you myself though you are a songstress For as I please Ill make you my dinner or give you your freedom Witless is one who attempts to strive against those who are stronger When he is stripped of the prize its injury added to insult Thus said the fast-flying hawk that bird with the generous wing-span

Pay more attention to justice and curb high-handedness [brother] Violence ill suits those who are lowly not even the noble Person can lightly endure it it weighs on a person whos fallen Into affliction Its better to take your way on the other Road which conduces to right For outrage (hubris) surrenders to justice (dikē)hellip

W E A R E I N Z E U S rsquo JUST W O R L D D E S C R I B E D I N THEOGONY

S I D E B A R D I V I N E C A U S AT I O N

bull The Homeric and Hesiodic herorsquos individual mission only makes sense in a world governed by gods (theoi)

bull Homer Iliad The gods are primarily responsiblecausal of events (aitios)

bull Early Greek science begins here theoi subsequently naturalized as consistent patterns of regularity in human and natural experience (elements laws)

bull Homer Odyssey Humans are (also) responsiblecausal for our own actions

bull How do we use our freedom

AT H E N A A N D O D Y S S E U S T H E O D Y S S E Y ( N B C 1 9 9 7 )

H O M E R I L I A D 5 1 2 3

Athena drew near to his side and spoke to him in winged words Have courage for I have drawn the mist from your eyes

that you may discern in truth gods from humans

So they spoke but Priam aloud called out to Helen Come over where I am dear child and sit down beside me

to look at your husband of time past your friends and your people I am not blaming you (ou ti moi aitiē essi) to me the gods are

responsible (theoihellipaitioi) who drove upon me this sorrowful war against the Achaians

H O M E R I L I A D 3 1 6 4

S I D E B A R D I V I N E C A U S AT I O N

Zeus is probably responsible (aitios) who gives to men who work for bread to each one however he wishes

H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 1 3 4 8 [ T E L E M A C H U S S P E A K S ]

How mortals now blame [from aitios] gods for they say that evils are from us Yet they themselves

have woes beyond their lot by their own recklessnesshellip

H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 1 3 2 [ Z E U S S P E A K S ]

Tell me of these things Muses that dwell on the heights of Olympus From the origin (archē) and say which first of them came into beinghellip

H E S I O D T H E O G O N Y 1 1 4

Responsibility lies with the one who makes the choice the god is blameless (theos anaitios)

P L AT O R E P U B L I C 1 0 6 1 7 E

S I D E B A R D I V I N E C A U S AT I O N

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Divine causation

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

O D Y S S E U S T O P O LY P H E M U S H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 9 2 6 9 - 7 1

But revere the gods most noble one We are supplicants (hiketai) to you Zeus is the avenger (epitimētōr) of suppliants and strangers

the guest god who attends venerable strangers

W E A R E I N Z E U S rsquo W O R L D ( A S D E S C R I B E D I N THEOGONY )

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

T H E LY R I C P O E T SC 6 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Pindar of Thebes

Simonides of Ceos

Sappho of Lesbos

LY R I C I N T R O D U C T I O N

bull Occasional poetry

bull Often sung to the lyre (lyrē) in varied meters

bull CHORAL LYRIC

bull Dancing choruses at religious festivals contests family events

bull Enforcing collective civic values

bull MONODIC LYRIC

bull Individual performance

bull Personal in emotion amp outlookBrygos Painter c 490 BCE

Sappho and Alcaeus

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

Creatures of the passing day What is any one What is any one not Shadows dream is man But when the radiance given of Zeus comes

there is a bright light upon men and life is sweet

P I N D A R P Y T H 8 9 5 - 9 7

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

I praise and embrace everyone who willingly does nothing base (aischron) but with necessity not even the gods fight A man not too helpless suffices for me one who knows the justice that benefits the

city (polis) a sound and healthy man I will not lay blame for the generation of fools is limitless Everything is noble (kala) with which

base deeds are not mingled

S I M O N I D E S 5 4 2 2 7 - 4 0

Simonides is criticizing the traditional definition of the good noble or successful man (agathos esthlos) Such goodness or nobility depends upon external achievements and possessions (wealth honour prowess in battle) which are too insecure to form a real basis for human excellence Instead Simonides stresses intention justice that benefits the city acknowledgement of the fragility of lifehellip

C S E G A L ldquo C H O R A L LY R I C I N T H E F I F T H C E N T U R Y rdquo I N P E E A S T E R L I N G amp B M W K N O X T H E C A M B R I D G E H I S T O R Y O F

C L A S S I C A L L I T E R AT U R E I ( C A M B R I D G E 2 0 0 8 ) 2 2 4

LY R I C C O N T E X T

Hoplites in phalanx formation From the Chigi Vase proto-Corinthian pitcher ca 650-640 BC

3 0 0 ( W A R N E R B R O S 2 0 0 6 ) ldquo W H AT I S Y O U R P R O F E S S I O N rdquo

W W W Y O U T U B E C O M W AT C H V = A N A 3 C O 8 3 _ G K

3 0 0 ( W A R N E R B R O S 2 0 0 6 ) ldquo F I G H T I N T H E S H A D E rdquo

Y O U T U B E 4 J K P G D D M A R S T = 1 2 4

τοιόνδ ἄνθος Περσίδος αἴας οἴχεται ἀνδρῶν

οὓς πέρι πᾶσα χθὼν Ἀσιῆτις ρέψασα πόθῳ στένεται microαλερῷ τοκέης τ ἄλοχοί θ ἡmicroερολεγδὸν τείνοντα χρόνον τροmicroέονται

A E S C H Y L U S P E R S A I 5 9 - 6 4 C P I L I A D 9 4 1 0 - 1 6

S E E C A S E Y D U Eacute T H E C A P T I V E W O M A N rsquo S L A M E N T I N G R E E K T R A G E DY C H 2

Such is the flower [anthos] of the Persian land such is the flower of men that has disappeared

The entire land of Asia laments the men she nourished with fierce

longing [pothos] Parents and wives counting the days

tremble at the increasing length of time

P I N D A R

bull Born near Thebes c 518 BCE

bull Composed important epinician odes (epi-nikia for-a-victory in a contest)

bull Depicts the gods as maintaining civic values of justice (O 1 P 1-3 P 8) compassionate (N 10) and forgiving (O 7456) guardians of polis morality

bull Celebrated ldquoroughrdquo style

bull ldquoA soaring eaglehellip a rushing streamrdquo (Horace Od 42) ldquoA vast firerdquo (Longinus Sublime 335)

Bust of the lyric poet Pindar Roman copy from original of the mid-5 century BC

F I F T H - C E N T U R Y C H O R A L LY R I C

A C O R N T O O A K T R E E N E I L B R O M H A L L bull y o u t u b e Z K 4 L j U R t a D w

Some people pray for gold others for limitless lands but I pray to please my fellow citizens and then to cover my limbs in earth

having praised the praiseworthy and scattered reproof on the wicked Excellence soars upward like a tree fed on fresh dews

lifted among the wise and just toward the liquid upper air The need for friends comes in many forms

it is most valued in times of trouble but joy too craves to look upon trusty support

P I N D A R N E M E A N 8 3 6 - 4 3

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

F R A G I L I T Ybull How can we be praiseworthy if we are vulnerable (to circumstances)

bull [The poetic world-view and Pindarrsquos career as praise poet of aretē require] ldquothe belief that the excellence of a good person is something of that persons own for whose possession and exercise that person can appropriately be held accountablerdquo (Nussbaum 1)

bull But ldquoHow can we be givers and receivers of praise if our worth ishellip a plant in need of wateringrdquo (2)

bull ldquoWe need to be born with adequate capacities to live in fostering natural and social circumstances to stay clear of abrupt catastrophe to develop confirming associations with other human beingsrdquo (1)

bull A further complication ldquoThe tenderness of a plant is not the dazzling hardness of a gemrdquo perhaps ldquopart of the peculiar beauty of human excellence just is its vulnerabilityrdquo (2)

M A R T H A N U S S B A U M T H E F R A G I L I T Y O F G O O D N E S S C H 1 L U C K amp E T H I C S

T H E P O W E R O F R E A S O N [T]here is the consolation that so far Pindar has apparently left something out However much human beings resemble lower forms of life we are unlike we want to insist in one crucial respect We have reason We are able to deliberate and choose to make a plan in which ends are ranked to decide actively what is to have value and how much All this must count for something If it is true that a lot about us is messy needy uncontrolled rooted in the dirt and standing helplessly in the rain it is also true that there is something about us that is pure and purely active something that we could think of as divine immortal intelligible unitary indissoluble ever self-consistent and invariablelsquo [Plato Phaedo 80B] It seems possible that this rational element in us can rule and guide the rest thereby saving the whole person from living at the mercy of luck

N U S S B A U M F R A G I L I T Y 2

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S S O P H I S T S A N D T R A G E D I A N SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Athens

AT H E N S rsquo A C R O P O L I S A S I M A G I N E D B Y L E O V O N K L E N Z E O I L O N C A N VA S 1 8 4 6 N E U E P I N A K O T H E K

A S S A S S I N rsquo S C R E E D O D Y S S E Y bull A T O U R O F AT H E N S U B I S O F T ( 2 0 1 8 )

bull Athens is the first lsquopeople-ruledrsquo polis (dēmokratia) in the Mediterranean world

bull She has achieved unchallenged naval authority and an empire which is labeled a lsquocommonwealthrsquo

bull At the commercial and cultural crossroads of Italy Greece Egypt and the Near East

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

S P E E C H A N D D E M O C R A C Y

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

bull In this cosmopolitan environment traditional views are challenged leading to a perceived erosion of moral values

bull The rhapsodes use poetic forms to transmit traditional morality

bull The tragedians use poetic forms to explore amp challenge mythrsquos assumptions

bull The sophists teach ldquowisdomrdquo (sophia) including rhetoric and political oratory perceived as a new lsquotechnologyrsquo to steer the ship of state for onersquos own ends

bull Use onersquos own wits ldquoA person is the measure of all thingsrdquo Protagoras B1

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

T R A G E D Y V U L N E R A B I L I T Y A N D R E A S O NC 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E AT H E N S

Aeschylus Agamemnon (458 BCE) and Euripides Iphigeneia at Aulis (405 BCE) The Sacrifice of Iphigeneia by Francesco Fontebasso bull 1749 oil on canvas

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousnesshellip what is great is fragile andhellip what is necessary may be destructivehellip

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

In such cases we see a wrong action committed without any direct physical compulsion and in full knowledge of its nature by a person whose ethical character or commitments would otherwise dispose him to reject the acthellip circumstanceshellip prevent the adequate fulfillment of two valid ethical claims

N U S S B A U M 2 5

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

[Aeschylus in Agamemnon] shows us not so much a solution to the problem of practical conflict as the richness and depth of the problem itself (This achievement is closely connected with his poetic resources which put the scene vividly before us show us debate about it and evoke in us responses important to its assessment)

The best the agent can do is to have his suffering the natural expression of his goodness of character and not to stifle these responses out of misguided optimism The best we (the Chorus) can do for him is to respect the gravity of his predicament to respect the responses that express his goodness and to think about his case as showing a possibility for human life in general

N U S S B A U M 4 9 - 5 0

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

bull In a world that allows such dilemmas are there truly gods with a coherent vision for the world

bull Can individual reason and ingenuity suffice for a good life

T H E S O P H I S T SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Hesiod Works amp Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale Piteously she transfixed by his crooked claws was lamenting When the imperious hawk addressed her in arrogant parlance Why little lady such shrieks One stronger than you now has got you Where you are going Ill take you myself though you are a songstress For as I please Ill make you my dinner or give you your freedom Witless is one who attempts to strive against those who are stronger When he is stripped of the prize its injury added to insult Thus said the fast-flying hawk that bird with the generous wing-spanPay more attention to justice and curb high-handedness [brother] Violence ill suits men who are lowly not even the noble Man can lightly endure it it weighs on a person whos fallen Into affliction Its better to take your way on the other Road which conduces to right For outrage (hubris) surrenders to

justice (dikē)hellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Thucydides History 584-116 The Melian Dialogue ATHENIANS [Y]ou know as well as we do that when these matters are discussed by practical people the standard of justice depends on the equality of power to compel and that in fact the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they musthellip Our opinion of the gods and our knowledge of men lead us to conclude that it is a general and necessary law of nature to rule whatever one can This is not a law that we made ourselves nor were we the first to act upon it when it was made We found it already in existence and we shall leave it to exist for ever among those who come after us

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos

advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Republic I 343A-D Thrasymachusrsquo complaint Tell me Socrates do you still have a wet nursehellip Because shersquos letting you run around with a snotty nose and doesnrsquot wipe it when she needs tohellip You think that shepherds and cowherds seek the good of their sheep and cattle and fatten them and take care of them looking to something other than their masterrsquos good and their own Moreover you believe that rulershellip think of something besides their own advantage You are so far from understandinghellip that you donrsquot realize that justice is really the good of another the advantage of the stronger and the ruler and harmful to the one who obeys and serves Injustice is the opposite it rules the truly simple and just and those it rules do what is to the advantage of the other and stronger and they make the one they serve happy but themselves not at all You must look at it as follows my most simple Socrates A just man always gets less than an unjust onehellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Gorgias 482C-484C Callicles on nature and convention [Y]oursquore in fact bringing the discussion around to the sort of crowd-pleasing vulgarities that are admirable only by law [nomos also translatable ldquoconventionrdquo or ldquocustomrdquo] and not by nature And these nature and law are for the most part opposed to each otherhellip I believe that the people who institute our laws are the weak and the many So they institute laws and assign praise and blame with themselves and their own advantage in mind As a way of frightening the more powerfulhellip out of getting a greater share than they they say that getting more than onersquos share is ldquoshamefulrdquo and ldquounjusthelliprdquo But surely if a man whose nature is equal to it arises he will shake off tear apart and escape all this he will trample underfoot our documents our tricks and charms and all our laws that violate nature He the slave will rise up and be revealed as our master and here the justice of nature will shine forth

The New Teachers of Athens

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

P R E - S O C R AT I C ldquo P H I L O S O P H E R S 6 T H - 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

P R E - S O C R AT I C P H I L O S O P H E R S

bull Though not usually calling themselves ldquophilosophersrdquo they seemed to have contributed inspiration for Socratesrsquo method of free inquiry applying logos

bull Scholars adopt different views of what constitutes their innovation and ldquophilosophicalrdquo method (see readings)

bull Basing views on argument and evidence

bull De-ldquomythologizationrdquo

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Miletus

E A R LY P H I L O S O P H Y A N C I E N T M I L E T U S

M I L E T U S

bull Wealthy city-state in Asia Minor

bull Key city for trading and shipping between Near East amp Greece

bull Ionian Greek culture

bull Freedom of thought

bull Open political debate

bull Wealth (for some) providing leisure

bull Thales and his successors Anaximander Anaximenes

bull ldquoPhilosophicalrdquo investigation

bull Later Presocratics Heraclitus ParmenidesldquoORIENTALIZINGrdquo POTTERY

The Milesian school strikes a new note unheard before It has a fresh sense of the meaning of truth ndash a feeling for the sort of thing it is reasonable to suppose The hypothesis it characteristically deals in is concerned with the nature of the one primary stuff the Milesians seem to make a great conscious effort to get at something which really does exist They strike us as throwing off the vast symbolic visions of mythology and waking clear-headed to see and touch real things If we have a rational temperament we feel at once a refreshment Here at last is a statement about the world which is meant and offered as true ndash a logos [explanation] not a mythos [story]

ndash F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952 ed) 42

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The questions which excited them were of this kind Can this apparently confused and disordered world be reduced to simpler principles so that our reason can grasp what it is and how it works What is it made of How does change take place They abandoned mythological and substituted intellectual solutions [It] was no longer satisfying to say that storms were roused by the wrath of Poseidon or death caused by the arrows of Apollo or Artemis A world ruled by anthropomorphic gods human in their passions was a world ruled by caprice Philosophy and science start with the bold confession of faith that not caprice but an inherent orderliness underlies the phenomena and the explanation of nature is to be sought within nature itself ndashWKC Guthrie History of Greek Philosophy (Cambridge 1969) 1 44-45

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

Thales of Miletus

bull Lived late 7th-6th centurybull Born to a Phoenician aristocratic

family ndash so leisurebull Traveled to Egypt and Babylon (by

tradition)bull Legendary wisdombull ldquoFounder of Western philosophyrdquo

bull First to seek an ldquooriginal causerdquo (archecirc)

bull to explain how unseen facts caused visible results without appeal to mythology

bull To provide generalizable proofs or laws

Thales of Miletus

AstronomyMathematicsWater as the archecircAll things are full of gods

bull Traditionally Thalesrsquo star student

bull 25 years old during Thalesrsquo eclipse (585 BCE)

bull Lived c 610-540 BCE

bull ldquoFirst to draw the inhabited world on a tabletrdquo (first mapmaker)

bull Unambiguously our first ldquophilosopherrdquo by standards of demythologization originality generality and observation

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

ldquoAnaximander has expurgated the supernatural with a boldness and completeness to which many of his successors failed to attain The primary order is still said to be lsquoaccording to what is ordainedrsquo it is still a moral order in which Justice prevails but the will of the personal God has disappeared and its place is partly taken by a natural cause the eternal motionrdquo

- F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952) 41 Anaximander relief 1st century AD

Rome Museo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Key contributions

bull Physics the archecircbull Cosmologybull ldquoEvolutionrdquobull Astronomy and Cartography

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Anaximander said that the APEIRON [indefinite unlimited] was the ARCHE and the element of things that are and he was the first to introduce this name for the ARCHE He says that the ARCHE is neither water nor any other of the things called elements but some other nature called APEIRON out of which come to be all the heavens and the worlds in them (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2413-18)

The things that are perish into the things out of which they come to be according to necessity for ldquothey pay penalty and retribution to one another according to their injustice in accordance with the ordering of timerdquo as he says in rather poetical language (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2418-21)

Anaximander of Miletus

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The ARCHE

bull One and unlimitedbull But not undefined Itrsquos AIR

Anaximenes of Miletus

bull Not opposites but a continuum FIRE AIR larr WIND larr CLOUD larr WATER larr EARTH larr STONEbull ldquoLooseningrdquo and ldquotighteningrdquo explain hot and cold

H E R A C L I T U S B 1 0 1 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 3 7 )

I searched out myself

Listening not to me but to the logos it is wise to agree that all things are one

H E R A C L I T U S B 5 0 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 1 1 )

E X A M P L E S

THE ROAD TO PHILOSOP HY

The Hero of Lyric Poets of the Polis (6th century)

bull According to the lyric poets of the polis culture such as Pindar Simonides Tyrtaeus and Sappho (7th-6th century BCE)

bull Pursues collective good of the polis based on strong ties of interdependent responsibility amp cooperation in a just world governed by the gods

Individual Freedom The ldquoSophistsrdquo (5th century)

bull Sources in thinkers like Protagoras and Gorgias (5th century BCE predominantly working in Athens) constructed as a category by Platorsquos later writings

bull Pursues individual advantage based on their personal beliefs and wits using persuasion and power skepticism of traditional values

Vulnerability The Hero of Tragedy (5th century)

bull Iconic examples include Sophoclesrsquo Oedipus and Aeschylusrsquo Agamemnon and Orestes

bull Pursuit of individual amp collective good in a world of apparently conflicting divine values sometimes hampered by their own lack of self-knowledge

I N T E R D E P E N D E N C Y I N T R O D U C E S V U L N E R A B I L I T Y W H I C H M AY B E

C E L E B R AT E D O R R E S I S T E D

The Hero of Epic Homer and Hesiod (8th century)

bull Found in the epic Iliad and Odyssey attributed to Homer (c 8th century BCE) examples include the powerful Achilles and thoughtful persuasive Odysseus

bull Pursues individual honour (timē) in a just world governed by the gods

CH

IGI V

AS

E C

70

0 B

CE

The Hero of Reason The ldquoPresocratics (6th-5th cent)

bull Founding figures including Thales Anaximander Anaximenes Pythagoras Heraclitus Parmenides Seeking to understand the basic original causes (aitiai) of the world through reason

I S T H E W O R L D G E N U I N E LY

I N T E L L I G I B L E T O R E A S O N

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Born in Athens to a stonemason named Sophroniscus in 469 BCE

bull ldquoSocratic problemrdquo Socrates wrote nothing we know about him through Plato Xenophon and Aristophanes whose accounts vary

bull Conversed with anyone ldquorich or poor citizen or foreignerrdquo (Apology 23C)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Non-conformity reliance on individual values and wits (contrast with the earlier poets and rhapsodes)

bull Claims of ignorance interest in shared truth and not only persuasion and resistance of ldquoselfish morality (contrast with the sophists)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Methods based on question and answer (the elenchus) requiring unity or consistency (a) of onersquos beliefs and (b) of onersquos beliefs and actions

bull Behaviour peculiar enough to warrant its own verb (sōkratein) (Arist Birds 1282) before generalized philosophia

bull Brought to trial in 399 BCE by two Athenians Meletus and Anytus charged with ldquoimpiety and corrupting the youngrdquo

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

S O C R AT E S C R I T O 4 6 A

I am the kind of person who listens to nothing within me but the logos that on reflection seems

best to me

L O G O S R E A S O N VA L U E C O N S C I E N C E M E A N I N G

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousness A sense of such significances that what is great is fragile and that what is necessary may be destructive which is present in the literature of the fifth century and earlier has disappeared [later] from the ethics of the philosophers and perhaps altogether from their minds Greek philosophy in its sustained pursuit of rational self-sufficiency does turn its back on kinds of human experience and human necessity of which Greek literature itself offers the purest if not the richest expression

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y A N D P H I L O S O P H Y

The continuity between Greek tragedy and Greek philosophy on these questions is however far greater than Williams has allowed On the one hand inside tragedy itself we find arresting portrayals of the human ambition to rational self-sufficiency we come to understand the ways in which problems of exposure motivate this ambition On the other Platos philosophical search for a self- sufficient good life is motivated by a keen sense of these same problems Far from having forgotten about what tragedy describes he sees the problems of exposure so clearly that only a radical solution seems adequate to their depth Nor is he naiumlve about the costs of this solution

N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y P R A C T I C A L C O N F L I C T

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identical which is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A)

Socrates ldquoencourages Euthyphro [a pious Greek] to revise tradition by considering as binding only those requirements concerning which there is divine unanimity he expresses further his own doubt as to whether gods really do disagreerdquo (Nussbaum 30)

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identicalwhich is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A Nussbaum 25)

Chryses prays to Apollo

Achilles amp Hector by G

enzoman D

eviantArtcom

Achilles versus Hector from

Troy (2004)Achilles versus H

ector Attic Vase c 500 BCE

Troy in Flames Completed 1762 by Johann Georg Trautmann (1713-1969)

Ulysses and the Sirens John William Waterhouse 1891

Johann Heinrich Wilhelm Tischbein Odysseus und Penelope

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The quest for immortality

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Divine causation

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

H O M E R I L I A D 9 4 1 0 - 4 1 6

For my mother Thetis the goddess of the silver feet tells me I carry two sorts of destiny toward the day of my death Either

if I stay here and fight beside the city of the Trojans my return home is gone but my glory (kleos) shall be everlasting

but if I return home to the beloved land of my fathers the excellence (esthlon) of my glory is gone but there will be a long life

left for me and my end in death will not come to me quickly

P I N D A R P Y T H 8 9 5 - 9 7

Creatures of the passing day What is any one What is any one not Shadows dream is man But when the radiance given of Zeus comes

there is a bright light upon men and life is sweet

A R E TĒ T I MĒ K L E O S

T H E Q U E S T F O R I M M O R TA L I T Y

S C E N E F R O M T R O Y ( W B 2 0 0 4 ) A C H I L L E S S U M M O N E D B Y A G A M E M N O N Y O U T U B E C O M W AT C H V = R 7 2 K B D G R T D 4

S C E N E F R O M T R O Y ( W B 2 0 0 4 ) A C H I L L E S A N D H E C T O R D U E L Y O U T U B E C O M W AT C H V = N Q 6 2 F R K 7 4 U 0

Athena Achilles Hector Apollo

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Divine causation

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

A G A M E M N O N AT H O M E R I L I A D 1 1 8 1 - 1 8 7

hellip[H]ere is my threat to you Even as Phoibos Apollo is taking away my Chryseis

hellip I shall take the fair-cheeked Briseis your prize I myself going to your shelter that you may learn well how much greater I am than you and another man may shrink back

from likening himself to me and contending against mersquo

A C H I L L E S AT H O M E R I L I A D 9 6 4 6 - 4 8 S E E A L S O 1 6 5 9

Yet still the heart in me swells up in anger when I remember the disgrace that he wrought upon me before the Argives

the son of Atreus as if I were some wanderer without honour (atimētos metanastēs)

Achilleus in amazement turned about and straightway knew Pallas Athene and the terrible eyes shining

He uttered winged words and addressed her Why have you come now o child of Zeus of the aegis once more Is it that you may see

the outrageousness (hubris) of the son of Atreus Agamemnonrsquohellip

A C H I L L E S AT H O M E R I L I A D 1 1 9 9 - 2 0 3

O D Y S S E U S AT H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 2 2 3 5 - 4 1

You dogs You never thought Id come back home from the kingdom of the Trojans so you ravaged my house

lay in bed by force beside my women slaves my women and wooed my wife illicitly though I was alive

fearing neither the gods who hold wide heaven nor that thered be any mens censure thereafter

Now the moment of destruction hangs over you one and all

The slaughter of the suitors by Odysseus and Telemachus 1812 Louis Vincent Palliere

Death of the suitors Athenian red-figure cup c 450-440 BC

A W H A D K I N S ldquo H O M E R I C E T H I C S rdquo I N I M O R R I S amp B P O W E L L ( E D S )

A N E W C O M PA N I O N T O H O M E R ( B R I L L 1 9 9 6 ) 7 0 4 - 5

ldquoThe Homeric hero deprived of any significant quantity of timē reacts violently

aware as he is of the bottom of the scale [the metanastēs]hellip the primary function of the

agathos [good person hero] is to defend his timē with all the resources at his commandrdquo

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Divine causation

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

H U B R I S N E M E S I S

Nemesis by Gheorghe Tattarescu (1853)

Hesiod Works amp Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

Piteously she transfixed by his crooked claws was lamenting When the imperious hawk addressed her in arrogant parlance Why little lady such shrieks One stronger than you now has got you Where you are going Ill take you myself though you are a songstress For as I please Ill make you my dinner or give you your freedom Witless is one who attempts to strive against those who are stronger When he is stripped of the prize its injury added to insult Thus said the fast-flying hawk that bird with the generous wing-span

Pay more attention to justice and curb high-handedness [brother] Violence ill suits those who are lowly not even the noble Person can lightly endure it it weighs on a person whos fallen Into affliction Its better to take your way on the other Road which conduces to right For outrage (hubris) surrenders to justice (dikē)hellip

W E A R E I N Z E U S rsquo JUST W O R L D D E S C R I B E D I N THEOGONY

S I D E B A R D I V I N E C A U S AT I O N

bull The Homeric and Hesiodic herorsquos individual mission only makes sense in a world governed by gods (theoi)

bull Homer Iliad The gods are primarily responsiblecausal of events (aitios)

bull Early Greek science begins here theoi subsequently naturalized as consistent patterns of regularity in human and natural experience (elements laws)

bull Homer Odyssey Humans are (also) responsiblecausal for our own actions

bull How do we use our freedom

AT H E N A A N D O D Y S S E U S T H E O D Y S S E Y ( N B C 1 9 9 7 )

H O M E R I L I A D 5 1 2 3

Athena drew near to his side and spoke to him in winged words Have courage for I have drawn the mist from your eyes

that you may discern in truth gods from humans

So they spoke but Priam aloud called out to Helen Come over where I am dear child and sit down beside me

to look at your husband of time past your friends and your people I am not blaming you (ou ti moi aitiē essi) to me the gods are

responsible (theoihellipaitioi) who drove upon me this sorrowful war against the Achaians

H O M E R I L I A D 3 1 6 4

S I D E B A R D I V I N E C A U S AT I O N

Zeus is probably responsible (aitios) who gives to men who work for bread to each one however he wishes

H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 1 3 4 8 [ T E L E M A C H U S S P E A K S ]

How mortals now blame [from aitios] gods for they say that evils are from us Yet they themselves

have woes beyond their lot by their own recklessnesshellip

H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 1 3 2 [ Z E U S S P E A K S ]

Tell me of these things Muses that dwell on the heights of Olympus From the origin (archē) and say which first of them came into beinghellip

H E S I O D T H E O G O N Y 1 1 4

Responsibility lies with the one who makes the choice the god is blameless (theos anaitios)

P L AT O R E P U B L I C 1 0 6 1 7 E

S I D E B A R D I V I N E C A U S AT I O N

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Divine causation

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

O D Y S S E U S T O P O LY P H E M U S H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 9 2 6 9 - 7 1

But revere the gods most noble one We are supplicants (hiketai) to you Zeus is the avenger (epitimētōr) of suppliants and strangers

the guest god who attends venerable strangers

W E A R E I N Z E U S rsquo W O R L D ( A S D E S C R I B E D I N THEOGONY )

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

T H E LY R I C P O E T SC 6 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Pindar of Thebes

Simonides of Ceos

Sappho of Lesbos

LY R I C I N T R O D U C T I O N

bull Occasional poetry

bull Often sung to the lyre (lyrē) in varied meters

bull CHORAL LYRIC

bull Dancing choruses at religious festivals contests family events

bull Enforcing collective civic values

bull MONODIC LYRIC

bull Individual performance

bull Personal in emotion amp outlookBrygos Painter c 490 BCE

Sappho and Alcaeus

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

Creatures of the passing day What is any one What is any one not Shadows dream is man But when the radiance given of Zeus comes

there is a bright light upon men and life is sweet

P I N D A R P Y T H 8 9 5 - 9 7

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

I praise and embrace everyone who willingly does nothing base (aischron) but with necessity not even the gods fight A man not too helpless suffices for me one who knows the justice that benefits the

city (polis) a sound and healthy man I will not lay blame for the generation of fools is limitless Everything is noble (kala) with which

base deeds are not mingled

S I M O N I D E S 5 4 2 2 7 - 4 0

Simonides is criticizing the traditional definition of the good noble or successful man (agathos esthlos) Such goodness or nobility depends upon external achievements and possessions (wealth honour prowess in battle) which are too insecure to form a real basis for human excellence Instead Simonides stresses intention justice that benefits the city acknowledgement of the fragility of lifehellip

C S E G A L ldquo C H O R A L LY R I C I N T H E F I F T H C E N T U R Y rdquo I N P E E A S T E R L I N G amp B M W K N O X T H E C A M B R I D G E H I S T O R Y O F

C L A S S I C A L L I T E R AT U R E I ( C A M B R I D G E 2 0 0 8 ) 2 2 4

LY R I C C O N T E X T

Hoplites in phalanx formation From the Chigi Vase proto-Corinthian pitcher ca 650-640 BC

3 0 0 ( W A R N E R B R O S 2 0 0 6 ) ldquo W H AT I S Y O U R P R O F E S S I O N rdquo

W W W Y O U T U B E C O M W AT C H V = A N A 3 C O 8 3 _ G K

3 0 0 ( W A R N E R B R O S 2 0 0 6 ) ldquo F I G H T I N T H E S H A D E rdquo

Y O U T U B E 4 J K P G D D M A R S T = 1 2 4

τοιόνδ ἄνθος Περσίδος αἴας οἴχεται ἀνδρῶν

οὓς πέρι πᾶσα χθὼν Ἀσιῆτις ρέψασα πόθῳ στένεται microαλερῷ τοκέης τ ἄλοχοί θ ἡmicroερολεγδὸν τείνοντα χρόνον τροmicroέονται

A E S C H Y L U S P E R S A I 5 9 - 6 4 C P I L I A D 9 4 1 0 - 1 6

S E E C A S E Y D U Eacute T H E C A P T I V E W O M A N rsquo S L A M E N T I N G R E E K T R A G E DY C H 2

Such is the flower [anthos] of the Persian land such is the flower of men that has disappeared

The entire land of Asia laments the men she nourished with fierce

longing [pothos] Parents and wives counting the days

tremble at the increasing length of time

P I N D A R

bull Born near Thebes c 518 BCE

bull Composed important epinician odes (epi-nikia for-a-victory in a contest)

bull Depicts the gods as maintaining civic values of justice (O 1 P 1-3 P 8) compassionate (N 10) and forgiving (O 7456) guardians of polis morality

bull Celebrated ldquoroughrdquo style

bull ldquoA soaring eaglehellip a rushing streamrdquo (Horace Od 42) ldquoA vast firerdquo (Longinus Sublime 335)

Bust of the lyric poet Pindar Roman copy from original of the mid-5 century BC

F I F T H - C E N T U R Y C H O R A L LY R I C

A C O R N T O O A K T R E E N E I L B R O M H A L L bull y o u t u b e Z K 4 L j U R t a D w

Some people pray for gold others for limitless lands but I pray to please my fellow citizens and then to cover my limbs in earth

having praised the praiseworthy and scattered reproof on the wicked Excellence soars upward like a tree fed on fresh dews

lifted among the wise and just toward the liquid upper air The need for friends comes in many forms

it is most valued in times of trouble but joy too craves to look upon trusty support

P I N D A R N E M E A N 8 3 6 - 4 3

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

F R A G I L I T Ybull How can we be praiseworthy if we are vulnerable (to circumstances)

bull [The poetic world-view and Pindarrsquos career as praise poet of aretē require] ldquothe belief that the excellence of a good person is something of that persons own for whose possession and exercise that person can appropriately be held accountablerdquo (Nussbaum 1)

bull But ldquoHow can we be givers and receivers of praise if our worth ishellip a plant in need of wateringrdquo (2)

bull ldquoWe need to be born with adequate capacities to live in fostering natural and social circumstances to stay clear of abrupt catastrophe to develop confirming associations with other human beingsrdquo (1)

bull A further complication ldquoThe tenderness of a plant is not the dazzling hardness of a gemrdquo perhaps ldquopart of the peculiar beauty of human excellence just is its vulnerabilityrdquo (2)

M A R T H A N U S S B A U M T H E F R A G I L I T Y O F G O O D N E S S C H 1 L U C K amp E T H I C S

T H E P O W E R O F R E A S O N [T]here is the consolation that so far Pindar has apparently left something out However much human beings resemble lower forms of life we are unlike we want to insist in one crucial respect We have reason We are able to deliberate and choose to make a plan in which ends are ranked to decide actively what is to have value and how much All this must count for something If it is true that a lot about us is messy needy uncontrolled rooted in the dirt and standing helplessly in the rain it is also true that there is something about us that is pure and purely active something that we could think of as divine immortal intelligible unitary indissoluble ever self-consistent and invariablelsquo [Plato Phaedo 80B] It seems possible that this rational element in us can rule and guide the rest thereby saving the whole person from living at the mercy of luck

N U S S B A U M F R A G I L I T Y 2

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S S O P H I S T S A N D T R A G E D I A N SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Athens

AT H E N S rsquo A C R O P O L I S A S I M A G I N E D B Y L E O V O N K L E N Z E O I L O N C A N VA S 1 8 4 6 N E U E P I N A K O T H E K

A S S A S S I N rsquo S C R E E D O D Y S S E Y bull A T O U R O F AT H E N S U B I S O F T ( 2 0 1 8 )

bull Athens is the first lsquopeople-ruledrsquo polis (dēmokratia) in the Mediterranean world

bull She has achieved unchallenged naval authority and an empire which is labeled a lsquocommonwealthrsquo

bull At the commercial and cultural crossroads of Italy Greece Egypt and the Near East

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

S P E E C H A N D D E M O C R A C Y

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

bull In this cosmopolitan environment traditional views are challenged leading to a perceived erosion of moral values

bull The rhapsodes use poetic forms to transmit traditional morality

bull The tragedians use poetic forms to explore amp challenge mythrsquos assumptions

bull The sophists teach ldquowisdomrdquo (sophia) including rhetoric and political oratory perceived as a new lsquotechnologyrsquo to steer the ship of state for onersquos own ends

bull Use onersquos own wits ldquoA person is the measure of all thingsrdquo Protagoras B1

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

T R A G E D Y V U L N E R A B I L I T Y A N D R E A S O NC 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E AT H E N S

Aeschylus Agamemnon (458 BCE) and Euripides Iphigeneia at Aulis (405 BCE) The Sacrifice of Iphigeneia by Francesco Fontebasso bull 1749 oil on canvas

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousnesshellip what is great is fragile andhellip what is necessary may be destructivehellip

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

In such cases we see a wrong action committed without any direct physical compulsion and in full knowledge of its nature by a person whose ethical character or commitments would otherwise dispose him to reject the acthellip circumstanceshellip prevent the adequate fulfillment of two valid ethical claims

N U S S B A U M 2 5

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

[Aeschylus in Agamemnon] shows us not so much a solution to the problem of practical conflict as the richness and depth of the problem itself (This achievement is closely connected with his poetic resources which put the scene vividly before us show us debate about it and evoke in us responses important to its assessment)

The best the agent can do is to have his suffering the natural expression of his goodness of character and not to stifle these responses out of misguided optimism The best we (the Chorus) can do for him is to respect the gravity of his predicament to respect the responses that express his goodness and to think about his case as showing a possibility for human life in general

N U S S B A U M 4 9 - 5 0

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

bull In a world that allows such dilemmas are there truly gods with a coherent vision for the world

bull Can individual reason and ingenuity suffice for a good life

T H E S O P H I S T SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Hesiod Works amp Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale Piteously she transfixed by his crooked claws was lamenting When the imperious hawk addressed her in arrogant parlance Why little lady such shrieks One stronger than you now has got you Where you are going Ill take you myself though you are a songstress For as I please Ill make you my dinner or give you your freedom Witless is one who attempts to strive against those who are stronger When he is stripped of the prize its injury added to insult Thus said the fast-flying hawk that bird with the generous wing-spanPay more attention to justice and curb high-handedness [brother] Violence ill suits men who are lowly not even the noble Man can lightly endure it it weighs on a person whos fallen Into affliction Its better to take your way on the other Road which conduces to right For outrage (hubris) surrenders to

justice (dikē)hellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Thucydides History 584-116 The Melian Dialogue ATHENIANS [Y]ou know as well as we do that when these matters are discussed by practical people the standard of justice depends on the equality of power to compel and that in fact the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they musthellip Our opinion of the gods and our knowledge of men lead us to conclude that it is a general and necessary law of nature to rule whatever one can This is not a law that we made ourselves nor were we the first to act upon it when it was made We found it already in existence and we shall leave it to exist for ever among those who come after us

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos

advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Republic I 343A-D Thrasymachusrsquo complaint Tell me Socrates do you still have a wet nursehellip Because shersquos letting you run around with a snotty nose and doesnrsquot wipe it when she needs tohellip You think that shepherds and cowherds seek the good of their sheep and cattle and fatten them and take care of them looking to something other than their masterrsquos good and their own Moreover you believe that rulershellip think of something besides their own advantage You are so far from understandinghellip that you donrsquot realize that justice is really the good of another the advantage of the stronger and the ruler and harmful to the one who obeys and serves Injustice is the opposite it rules the truly simple and just and those it rules do what is to the advantage of the other and stronger and they make the one they serve happy but themselves not at all You must look at it as follows my most simple Socrates A just man always gets less than an unjust onehellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Gorgias 482C-484C Callicles on nature and convention [Y]oursquore in fact bringing the discussion around to the sort of crowd-pleasing vulgarities that are admirable only by law [nomos also translatable ldquoconventionrdquo or ldquocustomrdquo] and not by nature And these nature and law are for the most part opposed to each otherhellip I believe that the people who institute our laws are the weak and the many So they institute laws and assign praise and blame with themselves and their own advantage in mind As a way of frightening the more powerfulhellip out of getting a greater share than they they say that getting more than onersquos share is ldquoshamefulrdquo and ldquounjusthelliprdquo But surely if a man whose nature is equal to it arises he will shake off tear apart and escape all this he will trample underfoot our documents our tricks and charms and all our laws that violate nature He the slave will rise up and be revealed as our master and here the justice of nature will shine forth

The New Teachers of Athens

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

P R E - S O C R AT I C ldquo P H I L O S O P H E R S 6 T H - 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

P R E - S O C R AT I C P H I L O S O P H E R S

bull Though not usually calling themselves ldquophilosophersrdquo they seemed to have contributed inspiration for Socratesrsquo method of free inquiry applying logos

bull Scholars adopt different views of what constitutes their innovation and ldquophilosophicalrdquo method (see readings)

bull Basing views on argument and evidence

bull De-ldquomythologizationrdquo

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Miletus

E A R LY P H I L O S O P H Y A N C I E N T M I L E T U S

M I L E T U S

bull Wealthy city-state in Asia Minor

bull Key city for trading and shipping between Near East amp Greece

bull Ionian Greek culture

bull Freedom of thought

bull Open political debate

bull Wealth (for some) providing leisure

bull Thales and his successors Anaximander Anaximenes

bull ldquoPhilosophicalrdquo investigation

bull Later Presocratics Heraclitus ParmenidesldquoORIENTALIZINGrdquo POTTERY

The Milesian school strikes a new note unheard before It has a fresh sense of the meaning of truth ndash a feeling for the sort of thing it is reasonable to suppose The hypothesis it characteristically deals in is concerned with the nature of the one primary stuff the Milesians seem to make a great conscious effort to get at something which really does exist They strike us as throwing off the vast symbolic visions of mythology and waking clear-headed to see and touch real things If we have a rational temperament we feel at once a refreshment Here at last is a statement about the world which is meant and offered as true ndash a logos [explanation] not a mythos [story]

ndash F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952 ed) 42

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The questions which excited them were of this kind Can this apparently confused and disordered world be reduced to simpler principles so that our reason can grasp what it is and how it works What is it made of How does change take place They abandoned mythological and substituted intellectual solutions [It] was no longer satisfying to say that storms were roused by the wrath of Poseidon or death caused by the arrows of Apollo or Artemis A world ruled by anthropomorphic gods human in their passions was a world ruled by caprice Philosophy and science start with the bold confession of faith that not caprice but an inherent orderliness underlies the phenomena and the explanation of nature is to be sought within nature itself ndashWKC Guthrie History of Greek Philosophy (Cambridge 1969) 1 44-45

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

Thales of Miletus

bull Lived late 7th-6th centurybull Born to a Phoenician aristocratic

family ndash so leisurebull Traveled to Egypt and Babylon (by

tradition)bull Legendary wisdombull ldquoFounder of Western philosophyrdquo

bull First to seek an ldquooriginal causerdquo (archecirc)

bull to explain how unseen facts caused visible results without appeal to mythology

bull To provide generalizable proofs or laws

Thales of Miletus

AstronomyMathematicsWater as the archecircAll things are full of gods

bull Traditionally Thalesrsquo star student

bull 25 years old during Thalesrsquo eclipse (585 BCE)

bull Lived c 610-540 BCE

bull ldquoFirst to draw the inhabited world on a tabletrdquo (first mapmaker)

bull Unambiguously our first ldquophilosopherrdquo by standards of demythologization originality generality and observation

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

ldquoAnaximander has expurgated the supernatural with a boldness and completeness to which many of his successors failed to attain The primary order is still said to be lsquoaccording to what is ordainedrsquo it is still a moral order in which Justice prevails but the will of the personal God has disappeared and its place is partly taken by a natural cause the eternal motionrdquo

- F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952) 41 Anaximander relief 1st century AD

Rome Museo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Key contributions

bull Physics the archecircbull Cosmologybull ldquoEvolutionrdquobull Astronomy and Cartography

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Anaximander said that the APEIRON [indefinite unlimited] was the ARCHE and the element of things that are and he was the first to introduce this name for the ARCHE He says that the ARCHE is neither water nor any other of the things called elements but some other nature called APEIRON out of which come to be all the heavens and the worlds in them (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2413-18)

The things that are perish into the things out of which they come to be according to necessity for ldquothey pay penalty and retribution to one another according to their injustice in accordance with the ordering of timerdquo as he says in rather poetical language (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2418-21)

Anaximander of Miletus

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The ARCHE

bull One and unlimitedbull But not undefined Itrsquos AIR

Anaximenes of Miletus

bull Not opposites but a continuum FIRE AIR larr WIND larr CLOUD larr WATER larr EARTH larr STONEbull ldquoLooseningrdquo and ldquotighteningrdquo explain hot and cold

H E R A C L I T U S B 1 0 1 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 3 7 )

I searched out myself

Listening not to me but to the logos it is wise to agree that all things are one

H E R A C L I T U S B 5 0 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 1 1 )

E X A M P L E S

THE ROAD TO PHILOSOP HY

The Hero of Lyric Poets of the Polis (6th century)

bull According to the lyric poets of the polis culture such as Pindar Simonides Tyrtaeus and Sappho (7th-6th century BCE)

bull Pursues collective good of the polis based on strong ties of interdependent responsibility amp cooperation in a just world governed by the gods

Individual Freedom The ldquoSophistsrdquo (5th century)

bull Sources in thinkers like Protagoras and Gorgias (5th century BCE predominantly working in Athens) constructed as a category by Platorsquos later writings

bull Pursues individual advantage based on their personal beliefs and wits using persuasion and power skepticism of traditional values

Vulnerability The Hero of Tragedy (5th century)

bull Iconic examples include Sophoclesrsquo Oedipus and Aeschylusrsquo Agamemnon and Orestes

bull Pursuit of individual amp collective good in a world of apparently conflicting divine values sometimes hampered by their own lack of self-knowledge

I N T E R D E P E N D E N C Y I N T R O D U C E S V U L N E R A B I L I T Y W H I C H M AY B E

C E L E B R AT E D O R R E S I S T E D

The Hero of Epic Homer and Hesiod (8th century)

bull Found in the epic Iliad and Odyssey attributed to Homer (c 8th century BCE) examples include the powerful Achilles and thoughtful persuasive Odysseus

bull Pursues individual honour (timē) in a just world governed by the gods

CH

IGI V

AS

E C

70

0 B

CE

The Hero of Reason The ldquoPresocratics (6th-5th cent)

bull Founding figures including Thales Anaximander Anaximenes Pythagoras Heraclitus Parmenides Seeking to understand the basic original causes (aitiai) of the world through reason

I S T H E W O R L D G E N U I N E LY

I N T E L L I G I B L E T O R E A S O N

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Born in Athens to a stonemason named Sophroniscus in 469 BCE

bull ldquoSocratic problemrdquo Socrates wrote nothing we know about him through Plato Xenophon and Aristophanes whose accounts vary

bull Conversed with anyone ldquorich or poor citizen or foreignerrdquo (Apology 23C)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Non-conformity reliance on individual values and wits (contrast with the earlier poets and rhapsodes)

bull Claims of ignorance interest in shared truth and not only persuasion and resistance of ldquoselfish morality (contrast with the sophists)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Methods based on question and answer (the elenchus) requiring unity or consistency (a) of onersquos beliefs and (b) of onersquos beliefs and actions

bull Behaviour peculiar enough to warrant its own verb (sōkratein) (Arist Birds 1282) before generalized philosophia

bull Brought to trial in 399 BCE by two Athenians Meletus and Anytus charged with ldquoimpiety and corrupting the youngrdquo

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

S O C R AT E S C R I T O 4 6 A

I am the kind of person who listens to nothing within me but the logos that on reflection seems

best to me

L O G O S R E A S O N VA L U E C O N S C I E N C E M E A N I N G

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousness A sense of such significances that what is great is fragile and that what is necessary may be destructive which is present in the literature of the fifth century and earlier has disappeared [later] from the ethics of the philosophers and perhaps altogether from their minds Greek philosophy in its sustained pursuit of rational self-sufficiency does turn its back on kinds of human experience and human necessity of which Greek literature itself offers the purest if not the richest expression

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y A N D P H I L O S O P H Y

The continuity between Greek tragedy and Greek philosophy on these questions is however far greater than Williams has allowed On the one hand inside tragedy itself we find arresting portrayals of the human ambition to rational self-sufficiency we come to understand the ways in which problems of exposure motivate this ambition On the other Platos philosophical search for a self- sufficient good life is motivated by a keen sense of these same problems Far from having forgotten about what tragedy describes he sees the problems of exposure so clearly that only a radical solution seems adequate to their depth Nor is he naiumlve about the costs of this solution

N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y P R A C T I C A L C O N F L I C T

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identical which is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A)

Socrates ldquoencourages Euthyphro [a pious Greek] to revise tradition by considering as binding only those requirements concerning which there is divine unanimity he expresses further his own doubt as to whether gods really do disagreerdquo (Nussbaum 30)

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identicalwhich is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A Nussbaum 25)

Achilles amp Hector by G

enzoman D

eviantArtcom

Achilles versus Hector from

Troy (2004)Achilles versus H

ector Attic Vase c 500 BCE

Troy in Flames Completed 1762 by Johann Georg Trautmann (1713-1969)

Ulysses and the Sirens John William Waterhouse 1891

Johann Heinrich Wilhelm Tischbein Odysseus und Penelope

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The quest for immortality

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Divine causation

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

H O M E R I L I A D 9 4 1 0 - 4 1 6

For my mother Thetis the goddess of the silver feet tells me I carry two sorts of destiny toward the day of my death Either

if I stay here and fight beside the city of the Trojans my return home is gone but my glory (kleos) shall be everlasting

but if I return home to the beloved land of my fathers the excellence (esthlon) of my glory is gone but there will be a long life

left for me and my end in death will not come to me quickly

P I N D A R P Y T H 8 9 5 - 9 7

Creatures of the passing day What is any one What is any one not Shadows dream is man But when the radiance given of Zeus comes

there is a bright light upon men and life is sweet

A R E TĒ T I MĒ K L E O S

T H E Q U E S T F O R I M M O R TA L I T Y

S C E N E F R O M T R O Y ( W B 2 0 0 4 ) A C H I L L E S S U M M O N E D B Y A G A M E M N O N Y O U T U B E C O M W AT C H V = R 7 2 K B D G R T D 4

S C E N E F R O M T R O Y ( W B 2 0 0 4 ) A C H I L L E S A N D H E C T O R D U E L Y O U T U B E C O M W AT C H V = N Q 6 2 F R K 7 4 U 0

Athena Achilles Hector Apollo

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Divine causation

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

A G A M E M N O N AT H O M E R I L I A D 1 1 8 1 - 1 8 7

hellip[H]ere is my threat to you Even as Phoibos Apollo is taking away my Chryseis

hellip I shall take the fair-cheeked Briseis your prize I myself going to your shelter that you may learn well how much greater I am than you and another man may shrink back

from likening himself to me and contending against mersquo

A C H I L L E S AT H O M E R I L I A D 9 6 4 6 - 4 8 S E E A L S O 1 6 5 9

Yet still the heart in me swells up in anger when I remember the disgrace that he wrought upon me before the Argives

the son of Atreus as if I were some wanderer without honour (atimētos metanastēs)

Achilleus in amazement turned about and straightway knew Pallas Athene and the terrible eyes shining

He uttered winged words and addressed her Why have you come now o child of Zeus of the aegis once more Is it that you may see

the outrageousness (hubris) of the son of Atreus Agamemnonrsquohellip

A C H I L L E S AT H O M E R I L I A D 1 1 9 9 - 2 0 3

O D Y S S E U S AT H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 2 2 3 5 - 4 1

You dogs You never thought Id come back home from the kingdom of the Trojans so you ravaged my house

lay in bed by force beside my women slaves my women and wooed my wife illicitly though I was alive

fearing neither the gods who hold wide heaven nor that thered be any mens censure thereafter

Now the moment of destruction hangs over you one and all

The slaughter of the suitors by Odysseus and Telemachus 1812 Louis Vincent Palliere

Death of the suitors Athenian red-figure cup c 450-440 BC

A W H A D K I N S ldquo H O M E R I C E T H I C S rdquo I N I M O R R I S amp B P O W E L L ( E D S )

A N E W C O M PA N I O N T O H O M E R ( B R I L L 1 9 9 6 ) 7 0 4 - 5

ldquoThe Homeric hero deprived of any significant quantity of timē reacts violently

aware as he is of the bottom of the scale [the metanastēs]hellip the primary function of the

agathos [good person hero] is to defend his timē with all the resources at his commandrdquo

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Divine causation

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

H U B R I S N E M E S I S

Nemesis by Gheorghe Tattarescu (1853)

Hesiod Works amp Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

Piteously she transfixed by his crooked claws was lamenting When the imperious hawk addressed her in arrogant parlance Why little lady such shrieks One stronger than you now has got you Where you are going Ill take you myself though you are a songstress For as I please Ill make you my dinner or give you your freedom Witless is one who attempts to strive against those who are stronger When he is stripped of the prize its injury added to insult Thus said the fast-flying hawk that bird with the generous wing-span

Pay more attention to justice and curb high-handedness [brother] Violence ill suits those who are lowly not even the noble Person can lightly endure it it weighs on a person whos fallen Into affliction Its better to take your way on the other Road which conduces to right For outrage (hubris) surrenders to justice (dikē)hellip

W E A R E I N Z E U S rsquo JUST W O R L D D E S C R I B E D I N THEOGONY

S I D E B A R D I V I N E C A U S AT I O N

bull The Homeric and Hesiodic herorsquos individual mission only makes sense in a world governed by gods (theoi)

bull Homer Iliad The gods are primarily responsiblecausal of events (aitios)

bull Early Greek science begins here theoi subsequently naturalized as consistent patterns of regularity in human and natural experience (elements laws)

bull Homer Odyssey Humans are (also) responsiblecausal for our own actions

bull How do we use our freedom

AT H E N A A N D O D Y S S E U S T H E O D Y S S E Y ( N B C 1 9 9 7 )

H O M E R I L I A D 5 1 2 3

Athena drew near to his side and spoke to him in winged words Have courage for I have drawn the mist from your eyes

that you may discern in truth gods from humans

So they spoke but Priam aloud called out to Helen Come over where I am dear child and sit down beside me

to look at your husband of time past your friends and your people I am not blaming you (ou ti moi aitiē essi) to me the gods are

responsible (theoihellipaitioi) who drove upon me this sorrowful war against the Achaians

H O M E R I L I A D 3 1 6 4

S I D E B A R D I V I N E C A U S AT I O N

Zeus is probably responsible (aitios) who gives to men who work for bread to each one however he wishes

H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 1 3 4 8 [ T E L E M A C H U S S P E A K S ]

How mortals now blame [from aitios] gods for they say that evils are from us Yet they themselves

have woes beyond their lot by their own recklessnesshellip

H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 1 3 2 [ Z E U S S P E A K S ]

Tell me of these things Muses that dwell on the heights of Olympus From the origin (archē) and say which first of them came into beinghellip

H E S I O D T H E O G O N Y 1 1 4

Responsibility lies with the one who makes the choice the god is blameless (theos anaitios)

P L AT O R E P U B L I C 1 0 6 1 7 E

S I D E B A R D I V I N E C A U S AT I O N

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Divine causation

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

O D Y S S E U S T O P O LY P H E M U S H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 9 2 6 9 - 7 1

But revere the gods most noble one We are supplicants (hiketai) to you Zeus is the avenger (epitimētōr) of suppliants and strangers

the guest god who attends venerable strangers

W E A R E I N Z E U S rsquo W O R L D ( A S D E S C R I B E D I N THEOGONY )

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

T H E LY R I C P O E T SC 6 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Pindar of Thebes

Simonides of Ceos

Sappho of Lesbos

LY R I C I N T R O D U C T I O N

bull Occasional poetry

bull Often sung to the lyre (lyrē) in varied meters

bull CHORAL LYRIC

bull Dancing choruses at religious festivals contests family events

bull Enforcing collective civic values

bull MONODIC LYRIC

bull Individual performance

bull Personal in emotion amp outlookBrygos Painter c 490 BCE

Sappho and Alcaeus

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

Creatures of the passing day What is any one What is any one not Shadows dream is man But when the radiance given of Zeus comes

there is a bright light upon men and life is sweet

P I N D A R P Y T H 8 9 5 - 9 7

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

I praise and embrace everyone who willingly does nothing base (aischron) but with necessity not even the gods fight A man not too helpless suffices for me one who knows the justice that benefits the

city (polis) a sound and healthy man I will not lay blame for the generation of fools is limitless Everything is noble (kala) with which

base deeds are not mingled

S I M O N I D E S 5 4 2 2 7 - 4 0

Simonides is criticizing the traditional definition of the good noble or successful man (agathos esthlos) Such goodness or nobility depends upon external achievements and possessions (wealth honour prowess in battle) which are too insecure to form a real basis for human excellence Instead Simonides stresses intention justice that benefits the city acknowledgement of the fragility of lifehellip

C S E G A L ldquo C H O R A L LY R I C I N T H E F I F T H C E N T U R Y rdquo I N P E E A S T E R L I N G amp B M W K N O X T H E C A M B R I D G E H I S T O R Y O F

C L A S S I C A L L I T E R AT U R E I ( C A M B R I D G E 2 0 0 8 ) 2 2 4

LY R I C C O N T E X T

Hoplites in phalanx formation From the Chigi Vase proto-Corinthian pitcher ca 650-640 BC

3 0 0 ( W A R N E R B R O S 2 0 0 6 ) ldquo W H AT I S Y O U R P R O F E S S I O N rdquo

W W W Y O U T U B E C O M W AT C H V = A N A 3 C O 8 3 _ G K

3 0 0 ( W A R N E R B R O S 2 0 0 6 ) ldquo F I G H T I N T H E S H A D E rdquo

Y O U T U B E 4 J K P G D D M A R S T = 1 2 4

τοιόνδ ἄνθος Περσίδος αἴας οἴχεται ἀνδρῶν

οὓς πέρι πᾶσα χθὼν Ἀσιῆτις ρέψασα πόθῳ στένεται microαλερῷ τοκέης τ ἄλοχοί θ ἡmicroερολεγδὸν τείνοντα χρόνον τροmicroέονται

A E S C H Y L U S P E R S A I 5 9 - 6 4 C P I L I A D 9 4 1 0 - 1 6

S E E C A S E Y D U Eacute T H E C A P T I V E W O M A N rsquo S L A M E N T I N G R E E K T R A G E DY C H 2

Such is the flower [anthos] of the Persian land such is the flower of men that has disappeared

The entire land of Asia laments the men she nourished with fierce

longing [pothos] Parents and wives counting the days

tremble at the increasing length of time

P I N D A R

bull Born near Thebes c 518 BCE

bull Composed important epinician odes (epi-nikia for-a-victory in a contest)

bull Depicts the gods as maintaining civic values of justice (O 1 P 1-3 P 8) compassionate (N 10) and forgiving (O 7456) guardians of polis morality

bull Celebrated ldquoroughrdquo style

bull ldquoA soaring eaglehellip a rushing streamrdquo (Horace Od 42) ldquoA vast firerdquo (Longinus Sublime 335)

Bust of the lyric poet Pindar Roman copy from original of the mid-5 century BC

F I F T H - C E N T U R Y C H O R A L LY R I C

A C O R N T O O A K T R E E N E I L B R O M H A L L bull y o u t u b e Z K 4 L j U R t a D w

Some people pray for gold others for limitless lands but I pray to please my fellow citizens and then to cover my limbs in earth

having praised the praiseworthy and scattered reproof on the wicked Excellence soars upward like a tree fed on fresh dews

lifted among the wise and just toward the liquid upper air The need for friends comes in many forms

it is most valued in times of trouble but joy too craves to look upon trusty support

P I N D A R N E M E A N 8 3 6 - 4 3

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

F R A G I L I T Ybull How can we be praiseworthy if we are vulnerable (to circumstances)

bull [The poetic world-view and Pindarrsquos career as praise poet of aretē require] ldquothe belief that the excellence of a good person is something of that persons own for whose possession and exercise that person can appropriately be held accountablerdquo (Nussbaum 1)

bull But ldquoHow can we be givers and receivers of praise if our worth ishellip a plant in need of wateringrdquo (2)

bull ldquoWe need to be born with adequate capacities to live in fostering natural and social circumstances to stay clear of abrupt catastrophe to develop confirming associations with other human beingsrdquo (1)

bull A further complication ldquoThe tenderness of a plant is not the dazzling hardness of a gemrdquo perhaps ldquopart of the peculiar beauty of human excellence just is its vulnerabilityrdquo (2)

M A R T H A N U S S B A U M T H E F R A G I L I T Y O F G O O D N E S S C H 1 L U C K amp E T H I C S

T H E P O W E R O F R E A S O N [T]here is the consolation that so far Pindar has apparently left something out However much human beings resemble lower forms of life we are unlike we want to insist in one crucial respect We have reason We are able to deliberate and choose to make a plan in which ends are ranked to decide actively what is to have value and how much All this must count for something If it is true that a lot about us is messy needy uncontrolled rooted in the dirt and standing helplessly in the rain it is also true that there is something about us that is pure and purely active something that we could think of as divine immortal intelligible unitary indissoluble ever self-consistent and invariablelsquo [Plato Phaedo 80B] It seems possible that this rational element in us can rule and guide the rest thereby saving the whole person from living at the mercy of luck

N U S S B A U M F R A G I L I T Y 2

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S S O P H I S T S A N D T R A G E D I A N SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Athens

AT H E N S rsquo A C R O P O L I S A S I M A G I N E D B Y L E O V O N K L E N Z E O I L O N C A N VA S 1 8 4 6 N E U E P I N A K O T H E K

A S S A S S I N rsquo S C R E E D O D Y S S E Y bull A T O U R O F AT H E N S U B I S O F T ( 2 0 1 8 )

bull Athens is the first lsquopeople-ruledrsquo polis (dēmokratia) in the Mediterranean world

bull She has achieved unchallenged naval authority and an empire which is labeled a lsquocommonwealthrsquo

bull At the commercial and cultural crossroads of Italy Greece Egypt and the Near East

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

S P E E C H A N D D E M O C R A C Y

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

bull In this cosmopolitan environment traditional views are challenged leading to a perceived erosion of moral values

bull The rhapsodes use poetic forms to transmit traditional morality

bull The tragedians use poetic forms to explore amp challenge mythrsquos assumptions

bull The sophists teach ldquowisdomrdquo (sophia) including rhetoric and political oratory perceived as a new lsquotechnologyrsquo to steer the ship of state for onersquos own ends

bull Use onersquos own wits ldquoA person is the measure of all thingsrdquo Protagoras B1

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

T R A G E D Y V U L N E R A B I L I T Y A N D R E A S O NC 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E AT H E N S

Aeschylus Agamemnon (458 BCE) and Euripides Iphigeneia at Aulis (405 BCE) The Sacrifice of Iphigeneia by Francesco Fontebasso bull 1749 oil on canvas

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousnesshellip what is great is fragile andhellip what is necessary may be destructivehellip

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

In such cases we see a wrong action committed without any direct physical compulsion and in full knowledge of its nature by a person whose ethical character or commitments would otherwise dispose him to reject the acthellip circumstanceshellip prevent the adequate fulfillment of two valid ethical claims

N U S S B A U M 2 5

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

[Aeschylus in Agamemnon] shows us not so much a solution to the problem of practical conflict as the richness and depth of the problem itself (This achievement is closely connected with his poetic resources which put the scene vividly before us show us debate about it and evoke in us responses important to its assessment)

The best the agent can do is to have his suffering the natural expression of his goodness of character and not to stifle these responses out of misguided optimism The best we (the Chorus) can do for him is to respect the gravity of his predicament to respect the responses that express his goodness and to think about his case as showing a possibility for human life in general

N U S S B A U M 4 9 - 5 0

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

bull In a world that allows such dilemmas are there truly gods with a coherent vision for the world

bull Can individual reason and ingenuity suffice for a good life

T H E S O P H I S T SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Hesiod Works amp Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale Piteously she transfixed by his crooked claws was lamenting When the imperious hawk addressed her in arrogant parlance Why little lady such shrieks One stronger than you now has got you Where you are going Ill take you myself though you are a songstress For as I please Ill make you my dinner or give you your freedom Witless is one who attempts to strive against those who are stronger When he is stripped of the prize its injury added to insult Thus said the fast-flying hawk that bird with the generous wing-spanPay more attention to justice and curb high-handedness [brother] Violence ill suits men who are lowly not even the noble Man can lightly endure it it weighs on a person whos fallen Into affliction Its better to take your way on the other Road which conduces to right For outrage (hubris) surrenders to

justice (dikē)hellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Thucydides History 584-116 The Melian Dialogue ATHENIANS [Y]ou know as well as we do that when these matters are discussed by practical people the standard of justice depends on the equality of power to compel and that in fact the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they musthellip Our opinion of the gods and our knowledge of men lead us to conclude that it is a general and necessary law of nature to rule whatever one can This is not a law that we made ourselves nor were we the first to act upon it when it was made We found it already in existence and we shall leave it to exist for ever among those who come after us

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos

advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Republic I 343A-D Thrasymachusrsquo complaint Tell me Socrates do you still have a wet nursehellip Because shersquos letting you run around with a snotty nose and doesnrsquot wipe it when she needs tohellip You think that shepherds and cowherds seek the good of their sheep and cattle and fatten them and take care of them looking to something other than their masterrsquos good and their own Moreover you believe that rulershellip think of something besides their own advantage You are so far from understandinghellip that you donrsquot realize that justice is really the good of another the advantage of the stronger and the ruler and harmful to the one who obeys and serves Injustice is the opposite it rules the truly simple and just and those it rules do what is to the advantage of the other and stronger and they make the one they serve happy but themselves not at all You must look at it as follows my most simple Socrates A just man always gets less than an unjust onehellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Gorgias 482C-484C Callicles on nature and convention [Y]oursquore in fact bringing the discussion around to the sort of crowd-pleasing vulgarities that are admirable only by law [nomos also translatable ldquoconventionrdquo or ldquocustomrdquo] and not by nature And these nature and law are for the most part opposed to each otherhellip I believe that the people who institute our laws are the weak and the many So they institute laws and assign praise and blame with themselves and their own advantage in mind As a way of frightening the more powerfulhellip out of getting a greater share than they they say that getting more than onersquos share is ldquoshamefulrdquo and ldquounjusthelliprdquo But surely if a man whose nature is equal to it arises he will shake off tear apart and escape all this he will trample underfoot our documents our tricks and charms and all our laws that violate nature He the slave will rise up and be revealed as our master and here the justice of nature will shine forth

The New Teachers of Athens

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

P R E - S O C R AT I C ldquo P H I L O S O P H E R S 6 T H - 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

P R E - S O C R AT I C P H I L O S O P H E R S

bull Though not usually calling themselves ldquophilosophersrdquo they seemed to have contributed inspiration for Socratesrsquo method of free inquiry applying logos

bull Scholars adopt different views of what constitutes their innovation and ldquophilosophicalrdquo method (see readings)

bull Basing views on argument and evidence

bull De-ldquomythologizationrdquo

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Miletus

E A R LY P H I L O S O P H Y A N C I E N T M I L E T U S

M I L E T U S

bull Wealthy city-state in Asia Minor

bull Key city for trading and shipping between Near East amp Greece

bull Ionian Greek culture

bull Freedom of thought

bull Open political debate

bull Wealth (for some) providing leisure

bull Thales and his successors Anaximander Anaximenes

bull ldquoPhilosophicalrdquo investigation

bull Later Presocratics Heraclitus ParmenidesldquoORIENTALIZINGrdquo POTTERY

The Milesian school strikes a new note unheard before It has a fresh sense of the meaning of truth ndash a feeling for the sort of thing it is reasonable to suppose The hypothesis it characteristically deals in is concerned with the nature of the one primary stuff the Milesians seem to make a great conscious effort to get at something which really does exist They strike us as throwing off the vast symbolic visions of mythology and waking clear-headed to see and touch real things If we have a rational temperament we feel at once a refreshment Here at last is a statement about the world which is meant and offered as true ndash a logos [explanation] not a mythos [story]

ndash F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952 ed) 42

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The questions which excited them were of this kind Can this apparently confused and disordered world be reduced to simpler principles so that our reason can grasp what it is and how it works What is it made of How does change take place They abandoned mythological and substituted intellectual solutions [It] was no longer satisfying to say that storms were roused by the wrath of Poseidon or death caused by the arrows of Apollo or Artemis A world ruled by anthropomorphic gods human in their passions was a world ruled by caprice Philosophy and science start with the bold confession of faith that not caprice but an inherent orderliness underlies the phenomena and the explanation of nature is to be sought within nature itself ndashWKC Guthrie History of Greek Philosophy (Cambridge 1969) 1 44-45

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

Thales of Miletus

bull Lived late 7th-6th centurybull Born to a Phoenician aristocratic

family ndash so leisurebull Traveled to Egypt and Babylon (by

tradition)bull Legendary wisdombull ldquoFounder of Western philosophyrdquo

bull First to seek an ldquooriginal causerdquo (archecirc)

bull to explain how unseen facts caused visible results without appeal to mythology

bull To provide generalizable proofs or laws

Thales of Miletus

AstronomyMathematicsWater as the archecircAll things are full of gods

bull Traditionally Thalesrsquo star student

bull 25 years old during Thalesrsquo eclipse (585 BCE)

bull Lived c 610-540 BCE

bull ldquoFirst to draw the inhabited world on a tabletrdquo (first mapmaker)

bull Unambiguously our first ldquophilosopherrdquo by standards of demythologization originality generality and observation

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

ldquoAnaximander has expurgated the supernatural with a boldness and completeness to which many of his successors failed to attain The primary order is still said to be lsquoaccording to what is ordainedrsquo it is still a moral order in which Justice prevails but the will of the personal God has disappeared and its place is partly taken by a natural cause the eternal motionrdquo

- F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952) 41 Anaximander relief 1st century AD

Rome Museo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Key contributions

bull Physics the archecircbull Cosmologybull ldquoEvolutionrdquobull Astronomy and Cartography

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Anaximander said that the APEIRON [indefinite unlimited] was the ARCHE and the element of things that are and he was the first to introduce this name for the ARCHE He says that the ARCHE is neither water nor any other of the things called elements but some other nature called APEIRON out of which come to be all the heavens and the worlds in them (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2413-18)

The things that are perish into the things out of which they come to be according to necessity for ldquothey pay penalty and retribution to one another according to their injustice in accordance with the ordering of timerdquo as he says in rather poetical language (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2418-21)

Anaximander of Miletus

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The ARCHE

bull One and unlimitedbull But not undefined Itrsquos AIR

Anaximenes of Miletus

bull Not opposites but a continuum FIRE AIR larr WIND larr CLOUD larr WATER larr EARTH larr STONEbull ldquoLooseningrdquo and ldquotighteningrdquo explain hot and cold

H E R A C L I T U S B 1 0 1 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 3 7 )

I searched out myself

Listening not to me but to the logos it is wise to agree that all things are one

H E R A C L I T U S B 5 0 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 1 1 )

E X A M P L E S

THE ROAD TO PHILOSOP HY

The Hero of Lyric Poets of the Polis (6th century)

bull According to the lyric poets of the polis culture such as Pindar Simonides Tyrtaeus and Sappho (7th-6th century BCE)

bull Pursues collective good of the polis based on strong ties of interdependent responsibility amp cooperation in a just world governed by the gods

Individual Freedom The ldquoSophistsrdquo (5th century)

bull Sources in thinkers like Protagoras and Gorgias (5th century BCE predominantly working in Athens) constructed as a category by Platorsquos later writings

bull Pursues individual advantage based on their personal beliefs and wits using persuasion and power skepticism of traditional values

Vulnerability The Hero of Tragedy (5th century)

bull Iconic examples include Sophoclesrsquo Oedipus and Aeschylusrsquo Agamemnon and Orestes

bull Pursuit of individual amp collective good in a world of apparently conflicting divine values sometimes hampered by their own lack of self-knowledge

I N T E R D E P E N D E N C Y I N T R O D U C E S V U L N E R A B I L I T Y W H I C H M AY B E

C E L E B R AT E D O R R E S I S T E D

The Hero of Epic Homer and Hesiod (8th century)

bull Found in the epic Iliad and Odyssey attributed to Homer (c 8th century BCE) examples include the powerful Achilles and thoughtful persuasive Odysseus

bull Pursues individual honour (timē) in a just world governed by the gods

CH

IGI V

AS

E C

70

0 B

CE

The Hero of Reason The ldquoPresocratics (6th-5th cent)

bull Founding figures including Thales Anaximander Anaximenes Pythagoras Heraclitus Parmenides Seeking to understand the basic original causes (aitiai) of the world through reason

I S T H E W O R L D G E N U I N E LY

I N T E L L I G I B L E T O R E A S O N

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Born in Athens to a stonemason named Sophroniscus in 469 BCE

bull ldquoSocratic problemrdquo Socrates wrote nothing we know about him through Plato Xenophon and Aristophanes whose accounts vary

bull Conversed with anyone ldquorich or poor citizen or foreignerrdquo (Apology 23C)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Non-conformity reliance on individual values and wits (contrast with the earlier poets and rhapsodes)

bull Claims of ignorance interest in shared truth and not only persuasion and resistance of ldquoselfish morality (contrast with the sophists)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Methods based on question and answer (the elenchus) requiring unity or consistency (a) of onersquos beliefs and (b) of onersquos beliefs and actions

bull Behaviour peculiar enough to warrant its own verb (sōkratein) (Arist Birds 1282) before generalized philosophia

bull Brought to trial in 399 BCE by two Athenians Meletus and Anytus charged with ldquoimpiety and corrupting the youngrdquo

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

S O C R AT E S C R I T O 4 6 A

I am the kind of person who listens to nothing within me but the logos that on reflection seems

best to me

L O G O S R E A S O N VA L U E C O N S C I E N C E M E A N I N G

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousness A sense of such significances that what is great is fragile and that what is necessary may be destructive which is present in the literature of the fifth century and earlier has disappeared [later] from the ethics of the philosophers and perhaps altogether from their minds Greek philosophy in its sustained pursuit of rational self-sufficiency does turn its back on kinds of human experience and human necessity of which Greek literature itself offers the purest if not the richest expression

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y A N D P H I L O S O P H Y

The continuity between Greek tragedy and Greek philosophy on these questions is however far greater than Williams has allowed On the one hand inside tragedy itself we find arresting portrayals of the human ambition to rational self-sufficiency we come to understand the ways in which problems of exposure motivate this ambition On the other Platos philosophical search for a self- sufficient good life is motivated by a keen sense of these same problems Far from having forgotten about what tragedy describes he sees the problems of exposure so clearly that only a radical solution seems adequate to their depth Nor is he naiumlve about the costs of this solution

N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y P R A C T I C A L C O N F L I C T

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identical which is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A)

Socrates ldquoencourages Euthyphro [a pious Greek] to revise tradition by considering as binding only those requirements concerning which there is divine unanimity he expresses further his own doubt as to whether gods really do disagreerdquo (Nussbaum 30)

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identicalwhich is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A Nussbaum 25)

Troy in Flames Completed 1762 by Johann Georg Trautmann (1713-1969)

Ulysses and the Sirens John William Waterhouse 1891

Johann Heinrich Wilhelm Tischbein Odysseus und Penelope

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The quest for immortality

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Divine causation

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

H O M E R I L I A D 9 4 1 0 - 4 1 6

For my mother Thetis the goddess of the silver feet tells me I carry two sorts of destiny toward the day of my death Either

if I stay here and fight beside the city of the Trojans my return home is gone but my glory (kleos) shall be everlasting

but if I return home to the beloved land of my fathers the excellence (esthlon) of my glory is gone but there will be a long life

left for me and my end in death will not come to me quickly

P I N D A R P Y T H 8 9 5 - 9 7

Creatures of the passing day What is any one What is any one not Shadows dream is man But when the radiance given of Zeus comes

there is a bright light upon men and life is sweet

A R E TĒ T I MĒ K L E O S

T H E Q U E S T F O R I M M O R TA L I T Y

S C E N E F R O M T R O Y ( W B 2 0 0 4 ) A C H I L L E S S U M M O N E D B Y A G A M E M N O N Y O U T U B E C O M W AT C H V = R 7 2 K B D G R T D 4

S C E N E F R O M T R O Y ( W B 2 0 0 4 ) A C H I L L E S A N D H E C T O R D U E L Y O U T U B E C O M W AT C H V = N Q 6 2 F R K 7 4 U 0

Athena Achilles Hector Apollo

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Divine causation

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

A G A M E M N O N AT H O M E R I L I A D 1 1 8 1 - 1 8 7

hellip[H]ere is my threat to you Even as Phoibos Apollo is taking away my Chryseis

hellip I shall take the fair-cheeked Briseis your prize I myself going to your shelter that you may learn well how much greater I am than you and another man may shrink back

from likening himself to me and contending against mersquo

A C H I L L E S AT H O M E R I L I A D 9 6 4 6 - 4 8 S E E A L S O 1 6 5 9

Yet still the heart in me swells up in anger when I remember the disgrace that he wrought upon me before the Argives

the son of Atreus as if I were some wanderer without honour (atimētos metanastēs)

Achilleus in amazement turned about and straightway knew Pallas Athene and the terrible eyes shining

He uttered winged words and addressed her Why have you come now o child of Zeus of the aegis once more Is it that you may see

the outrageousness (hubris) of the son of Atreus Agamemnonrsquohellip

A C H I L L E S AT H O M E R I L I A D 1 1 9 9 - 2 0 3

O D Y S S E U S AT H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 2 2 3 5 - 4 1

You dogs You never thought Id come back home from the kingdom of the Trojans so you ravaged my house

lay in bed by force beside my women slaves my women and wooed my wife illicitly though I was alive

fearing neither the gods who hold wide heaven nor that thered be any mens censure thereafter

Now the moment of destruction hangs over you one and all

The slaughter of the suitors by Odysseus and Telemachus 1812 Louis Vincent Palliere

Death of the suitors Athenian red-figure cup c 450-440 BC

A W H A D K I N S ldquo H O M E R I C E T H I C S rdquo I N I M O R R I S amp B P O W E L L ( E D S )

A N E W C O M PA N I O N T O H O M E R ( B R I L L 1 9 9 6 ) 7 0 4 - 5

ldquoThe Homeric hero deprived of any significant quantity of timē reacts violently

aware as he is of the bottom of the scale [the metanastēs]hellip the primary function of the

agathos [good person hero] is to defend his timē with all the resources at his commandrdquo

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Divine causation

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

H U B R I S N E M E S I S

Nemesis by Gheorghe Tattarescu (1853)

Hesiod Works amp Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

Piteously she transfixed by his crooked claws was lamenting When the imperious hawk addressed her in arrogant parlance Why little lady such shrieks One stronger than you now has got you Where you are going Ill take you myself though you are a songstress For as I please Ill make you my dinner or give you your freedom Witless is one who attempts to strive against those who are stronger When he is stripped of the prize its injury added to insult Thus said the fast-flying hawk that bird with the generous wing-span

Pay more attention to justice and curb high-handedness [brother] Violence ill suits those who are lowly not even the noble Person can lightly endure it it weighs on a person whos fallen Into affliction Its better to take your way on the other Road which conduces to right For outrage (hubris) surrenders to justice (dikē)hellip

W E A R E I N Z E U S rsquo JUST W O R L D D E S C R I B E D I N THEOGONY

S I D E B A R D I V I N E C A U S AT I O N

bull The Homeric and Hesiodic herorsquos individual mission only makes sense in a world governed by gods (theoi)

bull Homer Iliad The gods are primarily responsiblecausal of events (aitios)

bull Early Greek science begins here theoi subsequently naturalized as consistent patterns of regularity in human and natural experience (elements laws)

bull Homer Odyssey Humans are (also) responsiblecausal for our own actions

bull How do we use our freedom

AT H E N A A N D O D Y S S E U S T H E O D Y S S E Y ( N B C 1 9 9 7 )

H O M E R I L I A D 5 1 2 3

Athena drew near to his side and spoke to him in winged words Have courage for I have drawn the mist from your eyes

that you may discern in truth gods from humans

So they spoke but Priam aloud called out to Helen Come over where I am dear child and sit down beside me

to look at your husband of time past your friends and your people I am not blaming you (ou ti moi aitiē essi) to me the gods are

responsible (theoihellipaitioi) who drove upon me this sorrowful war against the Achaians

H O M E R I L I A D 3 1 6 4

S I D E B A R D I V I N E C A U S AT I O N

Zeus is probably responsible (aitios) who gives to men who work for bread to each one however he wishes

H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 1 3 4 8 [ T E L E M A C H U S S P E A K S ]

How mortals now blame [from aitios] gods for they say that evils are from us Yet they themselves

have woes beyond their lot by their own recklessnesshellip

H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 1 3 2 [ Z E U S S P E A K S ]

Tell me of these things Muses that dwell on the heights of Olympus From the origin (archē) and say which first of them came into beinghellip

H E S I O D T H E O G O N Y 1 1 4

Responsibility lies with the one who makes the choice the god is blameless (theos anaitios)

P L AT O R E P U B L I C 1 0 6 1 7 E

S I D E B A R D I V I N E C A U S AT I O N

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Divine causation

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

O D Y S S E U S T O P O LY P H E M U S H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 9 2 6 9 - 7 1

But revere the gods most noble one We are supplicants (hiketai) to you Zeus is the avenger (epitimētōr) of suppliants and strangers

the guest god who attends venerable strangers

W E A R E I N Z E U S rsquo W O R L D ( A S D E S C R I B E D I N THEOGONY )

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

T H E LY R I C P O E T SC 6 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Pindar of Thebes

Simonides of Ceos

Sappho of Lesbos

LY R I C I N T R O D U C T I O N

bull Occasional poetry

bull Often sung to the lyre (lyrē) in varied meters

bull CHORAL LYRIC

bull Dancing choruses at religious festivals contests family events

bull Enforcing collective civic values

bull MONODIC LYRIC

bull Individual performance

bull Personal in emotion amp outlookBrygos Painter c 490 BCE

Sappho and Alcaeus

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

Creatures of the passing day What is any one What is any one not Shadows dream is man But when the radiance given of Zeus comes

there is a bright light upon men and life is sweet

P I N D A R P Y T H 8 9 5 - 9 7

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

I praise and embrace everyone who willingly does nothing base (aischron) but with necessity not even the gods fight A man not too helpless suffices for me one who knows the justice that benefits the

city (polis) a sound and healthy man I will not lay blame for the generation of fools is limitless Everything is noble (kala) with which

base deeds are not mingled

S I M O N I D E S 5 4 2 2 7 - 4 0

Simonides is criticizing the traditional definition of the good noble or successful man (agathos esthlos) Such goodness or nobility depends upon external achievements and possessions (wealth honour prowess in battle) which are too insecure to form a real basis for human excellence Instead Simonides stresses intention justice that benefits the city acknowledgement of the fragility of lifehellip

C S E G A L ldquo C H O R A L LY R I C I N T H E F I F T H C E N T U R Y rdquo I N P E E A S T E R L I N G amp B M W K N O X T H E C A M B R I D G E H I S T O R Y O F

C L A S S I C A L L I T E R AT U R E I ( C A M B R I D G E 2 0 0 8 ) 2 2 4

LY R I C C O N T E X T

Hoplites in phalanx formation From the Chigi Vase proto-Corinthian pitcher ca 650-640 BC

3 0 0 ( W A R N E R B R O S 2 0 0 6 ) ldquo W H AT I S Y O U R P R O F E S S I O N rdquo

W W W Y O U T U B E C O M W AT C H V = A N A 3 C O 8 3 _ G K

3 0 0 ( W A R N E R B R O S 2 0 0 6 ) ldquo F I G H T I N T H E S H A D E rdquo

Y O U T U B E 4 J K P G D D M A R S T = 1 2 4

τοιόνδ ἄνθος Περσίδος αἴας οἴχεται ἀνδρῶν

οὓς πέρι πᾶσα χθὼν Ἀσιῆτις ρέψασα πόθῳ στένεται microαλερῷ τοκέης τ ἄλοχοί θ ἡmicroερολεγδὸν τείνοντα χρόνον τροmicroέονται

A E S C H Y L U S P E R S A I 5 9 - 6 4 C P I L I A D 9 4 1 0 - 1 6

S E E C A S E Y D U Eacute T H E C A P T I V E W O M A N rsquo S L A M E N T I N G R E E K T R A G E DY C H 2

Such is the flower [anthos] of the Persian land such is the flower of men that has disappeared

The entire land of Asia laments the men she nourished with fierce

longing [pothos] Parents and wives counting the days

tremble at the increasing length of time

P I N D A R

bull Born near Thebes c 518 BCE

bull Composed important epinician odes (epi-nikia for-a-victory in a contest)

bull Depicts the gods as maintaining civic values of justice (O 1 P 1-3 P 8) compassionate (N 10) and forgiving (O 7456) guardians of polis morality

bull Celebrated ldquoroughrdquo style

bull ldquoA soaring eaglehellip a rushing streamrdquo (Horace Od 42) ldquoA vast firerdquo (Longinus Sublime 335)

Bust of the lyric poet Pindar Roman copy from original of the mid-5 century BC

F I F T H - C E N T U R Y C H O R A L LY R I C

A C O R N T O O A K T R E E N E I L B R O M H A L L bull y o u t u b e Z K 4 L j U R t a D w

Some people pray for gold others for limitless lands but I pray to please my fellow citizens and then to cover my limbs in earth

having praised the praiseworthy and scattered reproof on the wicked Excellence soars upward like a tree fed on fresh dews

lifted among the wise and just toward the liquid upper air The need for friends comes in many forms

it is most valued in times of trouble but joy too craves to look upon trusty support

P I N D A R N E M E A N 8 3 6 - 4 3

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

F R A G I L I T Ybull How can we be praiseworthy if we are vulnerable (to circumstances)

bull [The poetic world-view and Pindarrsquos career as praise poet of aretē require] ldquothe belief that the excellence of a good person is something of that persons own for whose possession and exercise that person can appropriately be held accountablerdquo (Nussbaum 1)

bull But ldquoHow can we be givers and receivers of praise if our worth ishellip a plant in need of wateringrdquo (2)

bull ldquoWe need to be born with adequate capacities to live in fostering natural and social circumstances to stay clear of abrupt catastrophe to develop confirming associations with other human beingsrdquo (1)

bull A further complication ldquoThe tenderness of a plant is not the dazzling hardness of a gemrdquo perhaps ldquopart of the peculiar beauty of human excellence just is its vulnerabilityrdquo (2)

M A R T H A N U S S B A U M T H E F R A G I L I T Y O F G O O D N E S S C H 1 L U C K amp E T H I C S

T H E P O W E R O F R E A S O N [T]here is the consolation that so far Pindar has apparently left something out However much human beings resemble lower forms of life we are unlike we want to insist in one crucial respect We have reason We are able to deliberate and choose to make a plan in which ends are ranked to decide actively what is to have value and how much All this must count for something If it is true that a lot about us is messy needy uncontrolled rooted in the dirt and standing helplessly in the rain it is also true that there is something about us that is pure and purely active something that we could think of as divine immortal intelligible unitary indissoluble ever self-consistent and invariablelsquo [Plato Phaedo 80B] It seems possible that this rational element in us can rule and guide the rest thereby saving the whole person from living at the mercy of luck

N U S S B A U M F R A G I L I T Y 2

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S S O P H I S T S A N D T R A G E D I A N SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Athens

AT H E N S rsquo A C R O P O L I S A S I M A G I N E D B Y L E O V O N K L E N Z E O I L O N C A N VA S 1 8 4 6 N E U E P I N A K O T H E K

A S S A S S I N rsquo S C R E E D O D Y S S E Y bull A T O U R O F AT H E N S U B I S O F T ( 2 0 1 8 )

bull Athens is the first lsquopeople-ruledrsquo polis (dēmokratia) in the Mediterranean world

bull She has achieved unchallenged naval authority and an empire which is labeled a lsquocommonwealthrsquo

bull At the commercial and cultural crossroads of Italy Greece Egypt and the Near East

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

S P E E C H A N D D E M O C R A C Y

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

bull In this cosmopolitan environment traditional views are challenged leading to a perceived erosion of moral values

bull The rhapsodes use poetic forms to transmit traditional morality

bull The tragedians use poetic forms to explore amp challenge mythrsquos assumptions

bull The sophists teach ldquowisdomrdquo (sophia) including rhetoric and political oratory perceived as a new lsquotechnologyrsquo to steer the ship of state for onersquos own ends

bull Use onersquos own wits ldquoA person is the measure of all thingsrdquo Protagoras B1

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

T R A G E D Y V U L N E R A B I L I T Y A N D R E A S O NC 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E AT H E N S

Aeschylus Agamemnon (458 BCE) and Euripides Iphigeneia at Aulis (405 BCE) The Sacrifice of Iphigeneia by Francesco Fontebasso bull 1749 oil on canvas

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousnesshellip what is great is fragile andhellip what is necessary may be destructivehellip

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

In such cases we see a wrong action committed without any direct physical compulsion and in full knowledge of its nature by a person whose ethical character or commitments would otherwise dispose him to reject the acthellip circumstanceshellip prevent the adequate fulfillment of two valid ethical claims

N U S S B A U M 2 5

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

[Aeschylus in Agamemnon] shows us not so much a solution to the problem of practical conflict as the richness and depth of the problem itself (This achievement is closely connected with his poetic resources which put the scene vividly before us show us debate about it and evoke in us responses important to its assessment)

The best the agent can do is to have his suffering the natural expression of his goodness of character and not to stifle these responses out of misguided optimism The best we (the Chorus) can do for him is to respect the gravity of his predicament to respect the responses that express his goodness and to think about his case as showing a possibility for human life in general

N U S S B A U M 4 9 - 5 0

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

bull In a world that allows such dilemmas are there truly gods with a coherent vision for the world

bull Can individual reason and ingenuity suffice for a good life

T H E S O P H I S T SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Hesiod Works amp Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale Piteously she transfixed by his crooked claws was lamenting When the imperious hawk addressed her in arrogant parlance Why little lady such shrieks One stronger than you now has got you Where you are going Ill take you myself though you are a songstress For as I please Ill make you my dinner or give you your freedom Witless is one who attempts to strive against those who are stronger When he is stripped of the prize its injury added to insult Thus said the fast-flying hawk that bird with the generous wing-spanPay more attention to justice and curb high-handedness [brother] Violence ill suits men who are lowly not even the noble Man can lightly endure it it weighs on a person whos fallen Into affliction Its better to take your way on the other Road which conduces to right For outrage (hubris) surrenders to

justice (dikē)hellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Thucydides History 584-116 The Melian Dialogue ATHENIANS [Y]ou know as well as we do that when these matters are discussed by practical people the standard of justice depends on the equality of power to compel and that in fact the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they musthellip Our opinion of the gods and our knowledge of men lead us to conclude that it is a general and necessary law of nature to rule whatever one can This is not a law that we made ourselves nor were we the first to act upon it when it was made We found it already in existence and we shall leave it to exist for ever among those who come after us

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos

advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Republic I 343A-D Thrasymachusrsquo complaint Tell me Socrates do you still have a wet nursehellip Because shersquos letting you run around with a snotty nose and doesnrsquot wipe it when she needs tohellip You think that shepherds and cowherds seek the good of their sheep and cattle and fatten them and take care of them looking to something other than their masterrsquos good and their own Moreover you believe that rulershellip think of something besides their own advantage You are so far from understandinghellip that you donrsquot realize that justice is really the good of another the advantage of the stronger and the ruler and harmful to the one who obeys and serves Injustice is the opposite it rules the truly simple and just and those it rules do what is to the advantage of the other and stronger and they make the one they serve happy but themselves not at all You must look at it as follows my most simple Socrates A just man always gets less than an unjust onehellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Gorgias 482C-484C Callicles on nature and convention [Y]oursquore in fact bringing the discussion around to the sort of crowd-pleasing vulgarities that are admirable only by law [nomos also translatable ldquoconventionrdquo or ldquocustomrdquo] and not by nature And these nature and law are for the most part opposed to each otherhellip I believe that the people who institute our laws are the weak and the many So they institute laws and assign praise and blame with themselves and their own advantage in mind As a way of frightening the more powerfulhellip out of getting a greater share than they they say that getting more than onersquos share is ldquoshamefulrdquo and ldquounjusthelliprdquo But surely if a man whose nature is equal to it arises he will shake off tear apart and escape all this he will trample underfoot our documents our tricks and charms and all our laws that violate nature He the slave will rise up and be revealed as our master and here the justice of nature will shine forth

The New Teachers of Athens

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

P R E - S O C R AT I C ldquo P H I L O S O P H E R S 6 T H - 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

P R E - S O C R AT I C P H I L O S O P H E R S

bull Though not usually calling themselves ldquophilosophersrdquo they seemed to have contributed inspiration for Socratesrsquo method of free inquiry applying logos

bull Scholars adopt different views of what constitutes their innovation and ldquophilosophicalrdquo method (see readings)

bull Basing views on argument and evidence

bull De-ldquomythologizationrdquo

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Miletus

E A R LY P H I L O S O P H Y A N C I E N T M I L E T U S

M I L E T U S

bull Wealthy city-state in Asia Minor

bull Key city for trading and shipping between Near East amp Greece

bull Ionian Greek culture

bull Freedom of thought

bull Open political debate

bull Wealth (for some) providing leisure

bull Thales and his successors Anaximander Anaximenes

bull ldquoPhilosophicalrdquo investigation

bull Later Presocratics Heraclitus ParmenidesldquoORIENTALIZINGrdquo POTTERY

The Milesian school strikes a new note unheard before It has a fresh sense of the meaning of truth ndash a feeling for the sort of thing it is reasonable to suppose The hypothesis it characteristically deals in is concerned with the nature of the one primary stuff the Milesians seem to make a great conscious effort to get at something which really does exist They strike us as throwing off the vast symbolic visions of mythology and waking clear-headed to see and touch real things If we have a rational temperament we feel at once a refreshment Here at last is a statement about the world which is meant and offered as true ndash a logos [explanation] not a mythos [story]

ndash F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952 ed) 42

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The questions which excited them were of this kind Can this apparently confused and disordered world be reduced to simpler principles so that our reason can grasp what it is and how it works What is it made of How does change take place They abandoned mythological and substituted intellectual solutions [It] was no longer satisfying to say that storms were roused by the wrath of Poseidon or death caused by the arrows of Apollo or Artemis A world ruled by anthropomorphic gods human in their passions was a world ruled by caprice Philosophy and science start with the bold confession of faith that not caprice but an inherent orderliness underlies the phenomena and the explanation of nature is to be sought within nature itself ndashWKC Guthrie History of Greek Philosophy (Cambridge 1969) 1 44-45

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

Thales of Miletus

bull Lived late 7th-6th centurybull Born to a Phoenician aristocratic

family ndash so leisurebull Traveled to Egypt and Babylon (by

tradition)bull Legendary wisdombull ldquoFounder of Western philosophyrdquo

bull First to seek an ldquooriginal causerdquo (archecirc)

bull to explain how unseen facts caused visible results without appeal to mythology

bull To provide generalizable proofs or laws

Thales of Miletus

AstronomyMathematicsWater as the archecircAll things are full of gods

bull Traditionally Thalesrsquo star student

bull 25 years old during Thalesrsquo eclipse (585 BCE)

bull Lived c 610-540 BCE

bull ldquoFirst to draw the inhabited world on a tabletrdquo (first mapmaker)

bull Unambiguously our first ldquophilosopherrdquo by standards of demythologization originality generality and observation

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

ldquoAnaximander has expurgated the supernatural with a boldness and completeness to which many of his successors failed to attain The primary order is still said to be lsquoaccording to what is ordainedrsquo it is still a moral order in which Justice prevails but the will of the personal God has disappeared and its place is partly taken by a natural cause the eternal motionrdquo

- F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952) 41 Anaximander relief 1st century AD

Rome Museo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Key contributions

bull Physics the archecircbull Cosmologybull ldquoEvolutionrdquobull Astronomy and Cartography

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Anaximander said that the APEIRON [indefinite unlimited] was the ARCHE and the element of things that are and he was the first to introduce this name for the ARCHE He says that the ARCHE is neither water nor any other of the things called elements but some other nature called APEIRON out of which come to be all the heavens and the worlds in them (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2413-18)

The things that are perish into the things out of which they come to be according to necessity for ldquothey pay penalty and retribution to one another according to their injustice in accordance with the ordering of timerdquo as he says in rather poetical language (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2418-21)

Anaximander of Miletus

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The ARCHE

bull One and unlimitedbull But not undefined Itrsquos AIR

Anaximenes of Miletus

bull Not opposites but a continuum FIRE AIR larr WIND larr CLOUD larr WATER larr EARTH larr STONEbull ldquoLooseningrdquo and ldquotighteningrdquo explain hot and cold

H E R A C L I T U S B 1 0 1 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 3 7 )

I searched out myself

Listening not to me but to the logos it is wise to agree that all things are one

H E R A C L I T U S B 5 0 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 1 1 )

E X A M P L E S

THE ROAD TO PHILOSOP HY

The Hero of Lyric Poets of the Polis (6th century)

bull According to the lyric poets of the polis culture such as Pindar Simonides Tyrtaeus and Sappho (7th-6th century BCE)

bull Pursues collective good of the polis based on strong ties of interdependent responsibility amp cooperation in a just world governed by the gods

Individual Freedom The ldquoSophistsrdquo (5th century)

bull Sources in thinkers like Protagoras and Gorgias (5th century BCE predominantly working in Athens) constructed as a category by Platorsquos later writings

bull Pursues individual advantage based on their personal beliefs and wits using persuasion and power skepticism of traditional values

Vulnerability The Hero of Tragedy (5th century)

bull Iconic examples include Sophoclesrsquo Oedipus and Aeschylusrsquo Agamemnon and Orestes

bull Pursuit of individual amp collective good in a world of apparently conflicting divine values sometimes hampered by their own lack of self-knowledge

I N T E R D E P E N D E N C Y I N T R O D U C E S V U L N E R A B I L I T Y W H I C H M AY B E

C E L E B R AT E D O R R E S I S T E D

The Hero of Epic Homer and Hesiod (8th century)

bull Found in the epic Iliad and Odyssey attributed to Homer (c 8th century BCE) examples include the powerful Achilles and thoughtful persuasive Odysseus

bull Pursues individual honour (timē) in a just world governed by the gods

CH

IGI V

AS

E C

70

0 B

CE

The Hero of Reason The ldquoPresocratics (6th-5th cent)

bull Founding figures including Thales Anaximander Anaximenes Pythagoras Heraclitus Parmenides Seeking to understand the basic original causes (aitiai) of the world through reason

I S T H E W O R L D G E N U I N E LY

I N T E L L I G I B L E T O R E A S O N

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Born in Athens to a stonemason named Sophroniscus in 469 BCE

bull ldquoSocratic problemrdquo Socrates wrote nothing we know about him through Plato Xenophon and Aristophanes whose accounts vary

bull Conversed with anyone ldquorich or poor citizen or foreignerrdquo (Apology 23C)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Non-conformity reliance on individual values and wits (contrast with the earlier poets and rhapsodes)

bull Claims of ignorance interest in shared truth and not only persuasion and resistance of ldquoselfish morality (contrast with the sophists)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Methods based on question and answer (the elenchus) requiring unity or consistency (a) of onersquos beliefs and (b) of onersquos beliefs and actions

bull Behaviour peculiar enough to warrant its own verb (sōkratein) (Arist Birds 1282) before generalized philosophia

bull Brought to trial in 399 BCE by two Athenians Meletus and Anytus charged with ldquoimpiety and corrupting the youngrdquo

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

S O C R AT E S C R I T O 4 6 A

I am the kind of person who listens to nothing within me but the logos that on reflection seems

best to me

L O G O S R E A S O N VA L U E C O N S C I E N C E M E A N I N G

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousness A sense of such significances that what is great is fragile and that what is necessary may be destructive which is present in the literature of the fifth century and earlier has disappeared [later] from the ethics of the philosophers and perhaps altogether from their minds Greek philosophy in its sustained pursuit of rational self-sufficiency does turn its back on kinds of human experience and human necessity of which Greek literature itself offers the purest if not the richest expression

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y A N D P H I L O S O P H Y

The continuity between Greek tragedy and Greek philosophy on these questions is however far greater than Williams has allowed On the one hand inside tragedy itself we find arresting portrayals of the human ambition to rational self-sufficiency we come to understand the ways in which problems of exposure motivate this ambition On the other Platos philosophical search for a self- sufficient good life is motivated by a keen sense of these same problems Far from having forgotten about what tragedy describes he sees the problems of exposure so clearly that only a radical solution seems adequate to their depth Nor is he naiumlve about the costs of this solution

N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y P R A C T I C A L C O N F L I C T

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identical which is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A)

Socrates ldquoencourages Euthyphro [a pious Greek] to revise tradition by considering as binding only those requirements concerning which there is divine unanimity he expresses further his own doubt as to whether gods really do disagreerdquo (Nussbaum 30)

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identicalwhich is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A Nussbaum 25)

Ulysses and the Sirens John William Waterhouse 1891

Johann Heinrich Wilhelm Tischbein Odysseus und Penelope

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The quest for immortality

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Divine causation

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

H O M E R I L I A D 9 4 1 0 - 4 1 6

For my mother Thetis the goddess of the silver feet tells me I carry two sorts of destiny toward the day of my death Either

if I stay here and fight beside the city of the Trojans my return home is gone but my glory (kleos) shall be everlasting

but if I return home to the beloved land of my fathers the excellence (esthlon) of my glory is gone but there will be a long life

left for me and my end in death will not come to me quickly

P I N D A R P Y T H 8 9 5 - 9 7

Creatures of the passing day What is any one What is any one not Shadows dream is man But when the radiance given of Zeus comes

there is a bright light upon men and life is sweet

A R E TĒ T I MĒ K L E O S

T H E Q U E S T F O R I M M O R TA L I T Y

S C E N E F R O M T R O Y ( W B 2 0 0 4 ) A C H I L L E S S U M M O N E D B Y A G A M E M N O N Y O U T U B E C O M W AT C H V = R 7 2 K B D G R T D 4

S C E N E F R O M T R O Y ( W B 2 0 0 4 ) A C H I L L E S A N D H E C T O R D U E L Y O U T U B E C O M W AT C H V = N Q 6 2 F R K 7 4 U 0

Athena Achilles Hector Apollo

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Divine causation

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

A G A M E M N O N AT H O M E R I L I A D 1 1 8 1 - 1 8 7

hellip[H]ere is my threat to you Even as Phoibos Apollo is taking away my Chryseis

hellip I shall take the fair-cheeked Briseis your prize I myself going to your shelter that you may learn well how much greater I am than you and another man may shrink back

from likening himself to me and contending against mersquo

A C H I L L E S AT H O M E R I L I A D 9 6 4 6 - 4 8 S E E A L S O 1 6 5 9

Yet still the heart in me swells up in anger when I remember the disgrace that he wrought upon me before the Argives

the son of Atreus as if I were some wanderer without honour (atimētos metanastēs)

Achilleus in amazement turned about and straightway knew Pallas Athene and the terrible eyes shining

He uttered winged words and addressed her Why have you come now o child of Zeus of the aegis once more Is it that you may see

the outrageousness (hubris) of the son of Atreus Agamemnonrsquohellip

A C H I L L E S AT H O M E R I L I A D 1 1 9 9 - 2 0 3

O D Y S S E U S AT H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 2 2 3 5 - 4 1

You dogs You never thought Id come back home from the kingdom of the Trojans so you ravaged my house

lay in bed by force beside my women slaves my women and wooed my wife illicitly though I was alive

fearing neither the gods who hold wide heaven nor that thered be any mens censure thereafter

Now the moment of destruction hangs over you one and all

The slaughter of the suitors by Odysseus and Telemachus 1812 Louis Vincent Palliere

Death of the suitors Athenian red-figure cup c 450-440 BC

A W H A D K I N S ldquo H O M E R I C E T H I C S rdquo I N I M O R R I S amp B P O W E L L ( E D S )

A N E W C O M PA N I O N T O H O M E R ( B R I L L 1 9 9 6 ) 7 0 4 - 5

ldquoThe Homeric hero deprived of any significant quantity of timē reacts violently

aware as he is of the bottom of the scale [the metanastēs]hellip the primary function of the

agathos [good person hero] is to defend his timē with all the resources at his commandrdquo

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Divine causation

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

H U B R I S N E M E S I S

Nemesis by Gheorghe Tattarescu (1853)

Hesiod Works amp Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

Piteously she transfixed by his crooked claws was lamenting When the imperious hawk addressed her in arrogant parlance Why little lady such shrieks One stronger than you now has got you Where you are going Ill take you myself though you are a songstress For as I please Ill make you my dinner or give you your freedom Witless is one who attempts to strive against those who are stronger When he is stripped of the prize its injury added to insult Thus said the fast-flying hawk that bird with the generous wing-span

Pay more attention to justice and curb high-handedness [brother] Violence ill suits those who are lowly not even the noble Person can lightly endure it it weighs on a person whos fallen Into affliction Its better to take your way on the other Road which conduces to right For outrage (hubris) surrenders to justice (dikē)hellip

W E A R E I N Z E U S rsquo JUST W O R L D D E S C R I B E D I N THEOGONY

S I D E B A R D I V I N E C A U S AT I O N

bull The Homeric and Hesiodic herorsquos individual mission only makes sense in a world governed by gods (theoi)

bull Homer Iliad The gods are primarily responsiblecausal of events (aitios)

bull Early Greek science begins here theoi subsequently naturalized as consistent patterns of regularity in human and natural experience (elements laws)

bull Homer Odyssey Humans are (also) responsiblecausal for our own actions

bull How do we use our freedom

AT H E N A A N D O D Y S S E U S T H E O D Y S S E Y ( N B C 1 9 9 7 )

H O M E R I L I A D 5 1 2 3

Athena drew near to his side and spoke to him in winged words Have courage for I have drawn the mist from your eyes

that you may discern in truth gods from humans

So they spoke but Priam aloud called out to Helen Come over where I am dear child and sit down beside me

to look at your husband of time past your friends and your people I am not blaming you (ou ti moi aitiē essi) to me the gods are

responsible (theoihellipaitioi) who drove upon me this sorrowful war against the Achaians

H O M E R I L I A D 3 1 6 4

S I D E B A R D I V I N E C A U S AT I O N

Zeus is probably responsible (aitios) who gives to men who work for bread to each one however he wishes

H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 1 3 4 8 [ T E L E M A C H U S S P E A K S ]

How mortals now blame [from aitios] gods for they say that evils are from us Yet they themselves

have woes beyond their lot by their own recklessnesshellip

H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 1 3 2 [ Z E U S S P E A K S ]

Tell me of these things Muses that dwell on the heights of Olympus From the origin (archē) and say which first of them came into beinghellip

H E S I O D T H E O G O N Y 1 1 4

Responsibility lies with the one who makes the choice the god is blameless (theos anaitios)

P L AT O R E P U B L I C 1 0 6 1 7 E

S I D E B A R D I V I N E C A U S AT I O N

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Divine causation

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

O D Y S S E U S T O P O LY P H E M U S H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 9 2 6 9 - 7 1

But revere the gods most noble one We are supplicants (hiketai) to you Zeus is the avenger (epitimētōr) of suppliants and strangers

the guest god who attends venerable strangers

W E A R E I N Z E U S rsquo W O R L D ( A S D E S C R I B E D I N THEOGONY )

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

T H E LY R I C P O E T SC 6 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Pindar of Thebes

Simonides of Ceos

Sappho of Lesbos

LY R I C I N T R O D U C T I O N

bull Occasional poetry

bull Often sung to the lyre (lyrē) in varied meters

bull CHORAL LYRIC

bull Dancing choruses at religious festivals contests family events

bull Enforcing collective civic values

bull MONODIC LYRIC

bull Individual performance

bull Personal in emotion amp outlookBrygos Painter c 490 BCE

Sappho and Alcaeus

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

Creatures of the passing day What is any one What is any one not Shadows dream is man But when the radiance given of Zeus comes

there is a bright light upon men and life is sweet

P I N D A R P Y T H 8 9 5 - 9 7

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

I praise and embrace everyone who willingly does nothing base (aischron) but with necessity not even the gods fight A man not too helpless suffices for me one who knows the justice that benefits the

city (polis) a sound and healthy man I will not lay blame for the generation of fools is limitless Everything is noble (kala) with which

base deeds are not mingled

S I M O N I D E S 5 4 2 2 7 - 4 0

Simonides is criticizing the traditional definition of the good noble or successful man (agathos esthlos) Such goodness or nobility depends upon external achievements and possessions (wealth honour prowess in battle) which are too insecure to form a real basis for human excellence Instead Simonides stresses intention justice that benefits the city acknowledgement of the fragility of lifehellip

C S E G A L ldquo C H O R A L LY R I C I N T H E F I F T H C E N T U R Y rdquo I N P E E A S T E R L I N G amp B M W K N O X T H E C A M B R I D G E H I S T O R Y O F

C L A S S I C A L L I T E R AT U R E I ( C A M B R I D G E 2 0 0 8 ) 2 2 4

LY R I C C O N T E X T

Hoplites in phalanx formation From the Chigi Vase proto-Corinthian pitcher ca 650-640 BC

3 0 0 ( W A R N E R B R O S 2 0 0 6 ) ldquo W H AT I S Y O U R P R O F E S S I O N rdquo

W W W Y O U T U B E C O M W AT C H V = A N A 3 C O 8 3 _ G K

3 0 0 ( W A R N E R B R O S 2 0 0 6 ) ldquo F I G H T I N T H E S H A D E rdquo

Y O U T U B E 4 J K P G D D M A R S T = 1 2 4

τοιόνδ ἄνθος Περσίδος αἴας οἴχεται ἀνδρῶν

οὓς πέρι πᾶσα χθὼν Ἀσιῆτις ρέψασα πόθῳ στένεται microαλερῷ τοκέης τ ἄλοχοί θ ἡmicroερολεγδὸν τείνοντα χρόνον τροmicroέονται

A E S C H Y L U S P E R S A I 5 9 - 6 4 C P I L I A D 9 4 1 0 - 1 6

S E E C A S E Y D U Eacute T H E C A P T I V E W O M A N rsquo S L A M E N T I N G R E E K T R A G E DY C H 2

Such is the flower [anthos] of the Persian land such is the flower of men that has disappeared

The entire land of Asia laments the men she nourished with fierce

longing [pothos] Parents and wives counting the days

tremble at the increasing length of time

P I N D A R

bull Born near Thebes c 518 BCE

bull Composed important epinician odes (epi-nikia for-a-victory in a contest)

bull Depicts the gods as maintaining civic values of justice (O 1 P 1-3 P 8) compassionate (N 10) and forgiving (O 7456) guardians of polis morality

bull Celebrated ldquoroughrdquo style

bull ldquoA soaring eaglehellip a rushing streamrdquo (Horace Od 42) ldquoA vast firerdquo (Longinus Sublime 335)

Bust of the lyric poet Pindar Roman copy from original of the mid-5 century BC

F I F T H - C E N T U R Y C H O R A L LY R I C

A C O R N T O O A K T R E E N E I L B R O M H A L L bull y o u t u b e Z K 4 L j U R t a D w

Some people pray for gold others for limitless lands but I pray to please my fellow citizens and then to cover my limbs in earth

having praised the praiseworthy and scattered reproof on the wicked Excellence soars upward like a tree fed on fresh dews

lifted among the wise and just toward the liquid upper air The need for friends comes in many forms

it is most valued in times of trouble but joy too craves to look upon trusty support

P I N D A R N E M E A N 8 3 6 - 4 3

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

F R A G I L I T Ybull How can we be praiseworthy if we are vulnerable (to circumstances)

bull [The poetic world-view and Pindarrsquos career as praise poet of aretē require] ldquothe belief that the excellence of a good person is something of that persons own for whose possession and exercise that person can appropriately be held accountablerdquo (Nussbaum 1)

bull But ldquoHow can we be givers and receivers of praise if our worth ishellip a plant in need of wateringrdquo (2)

bull ldquoWe need to be born with adequate capacities to live in fostering natural and social circumstances to stay clear of abrupt catastrophe to develop confirming associations with other human beingsrdquo (1)

bull A further complication ldquoThe tenderness of a plant is not the dazzling hardness of a gemrdquo perhaps ldquopart of the peculiar beauty of human excellence just is its vulnerabilityrdquo (2)

M A R T H A N U S S B A U M T H E F R A G I L I T Y O F G O O D N E S S C H 1 L U C K amp E T H I C S

T H E P O W E R O F R E A S O N [T]here is the consolation that so far Pindar has apparently left something out However much human beings resemble lower forms of life we are unlike we want to insist in one crucial respect We have reason We are able to deliberate and choose to make a plan in which ends are ranked to decide actively what is to have value and how much All this must count for something If it is true that a lot about us is messy needy uncontrolled rooted in the dirt and standing helplessly in the rain it is also true that there is something about us that is pure and purely active something that we could think of as divine immortal intelligible unitary indissoluble ever self-consistent and invariablelsquo [Plato Phaedo 80B] It seems possible that this rational element in us can rule and guide the rest thereby saving the whole person from living at the mercy of luck

N U S S B A U M F R A G I L I T Y 2

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S S O P H I S T S A N D T R A G E D I A N SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Athens

AT H E N S rsquo A C R O P O L I S A S I M A G I N E D B Y L E O V O N K L E N Z E O I L O N C A N VA S 1 8 4 6 N E U E P I N A K O T H E K

A S S A S S I N rsquo S C R E E D O D Y S S E Y bull A T O U R O F AT H E N S U B I S O F T ( 2 0 1 8 )

bull Athens is the first lsquopeople-ruledrsquo polis (dēmokratia) in the Mediterranean world

bull She has achieved unchallenged naval authority and an empire which is labeled a lsquocommonwealthrsquo

bull At the commercial and cultural crossroads of Italy Greece Egypt and the Near East

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

S P E E C H A N D D E M O C R A C Y

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

bull In this cosmopolitan environment traditional views are challenged leading to a perceived erosion of moral values

bull The rhapsodes use poetic forms to transmit traditional morality

bull The tragedians use poetic forms to explore amp challenge mythrsquos assumptions

bull The sophists teach ldquowisdomrdquo (sophia) including rhetoric and political oratory perceived as a new lsquotechnologyrsquo to steer the ship of state for onersquos own ends

bull Use onersquos own wits ldquoA person is the measure of all thingsrdquo Protagoras B1

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

T R A G E D Y V U L N E R A B I L I T Y A N D R E A S O NC 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E AT H E N S

Aeschylus Agamemnon (458 BCE) and Euripides Iphigeneia at Aulis (405 BCE) The Sacrifice of Iphigeneia by Francesco Fontebasso bull 1749 oil on canvas

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousnesshellip what is great is fragile andhellip what is necessary may be destructivehellip

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

In such cases we see a wrong action committed without any direct physical compulsion and in full knowledge of its nature by a person whose ethical character or commitments would otherwise dispose him to reject the acthellip circumstanceshellip prevent the adequate fulfillment of two valid ethical claims

N U S S B A U M 2 5

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

[Aeschylus in Agamemnon] shows us not so much a solution to the problem of practical conflict as the richness and depth of the problem itself (This achievement is closely connected with his poetic resources which put the scene vividly before us show us debate about it and evoke in us responses important to its assessment)

The best the agent can do is to have his suffering the natural expression of his goodness of character and not to stifle these responses out of misguided optimism The best we (the Chorus) can do for him is to respect the gravity of his predicament to respect the responses that express his goodness and to think about his case as showing a possibility for human life in general

N U S S B A U M 4 9 - 5 0

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

bull In a world that allows such dilemmas are there truly gods with a coherent vision for the world

bull Can individual reason and ingenuity suffice for a good life

T H E S O P H I S T SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Hesiod Works amp Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale Piteously she transfixed by his crooked claws was lamenting When the imperious hawk addressed her in arrogant parlance Why little lady such shrieks One stronger than you now has got you Where you are going Ill take you myself though you are a songstress For as I please Ill make you my dinner or give you your freedom Witless is one who attempts to strive against those who are stronger When he is stripped of the prize its injury added to insult Thus said the fast-flying hawk that bird with the generous wing-spanPay more attention to justice and curb high-handedness [brother] Violence ill suits men who are lowly not even the noble Man can lightly endure it it weighs on a person whos fallen Into affliction Its better to take your way on the other Road which conduces to right For outrage (hubris) surrenders to

justice (dikē)hellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Thucydides History 584-116 The Melian Dialogue ATHENIANS [Y]ou know as well as we do that when these matters are discussed by practical people the standard of justice depends on the equality of power to compel and that in fact the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they musthellip Our opinion of the gods and our knowledge of men lead us to conclude that it is a general and necessary law of nature to rule whatever one can This is not a law that we made ourselves nor were we the first to act upon it when it was made We found it already in existence and we shall leave it to exist for ever among those who come after us

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos

advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Republic I 343A-D Thrasymachusrsquo complaint Tell me Socrates do you still have a wet nursehellip Because shersquos letting you run around with a snotty nose and doesnrsquot wipe it when she needs tohellip You think that shepherds and cowherds seek the good of their sheep and cattle and fatten them and take care of them looking to something other than their masterrsquos good and their own Moreover you believe that rulershellip think of something besides their own advantage You are so far from understandinghellip that you donrsquot realize that justice is really the good of another the advantage of the stronger and the ruler and harmful to the one who obeys and serves Injustice is the opposite it rules the truly simple and just and those it rules do what is to the advantage of the other and stronger and they make the one they serve happy but themselves not at all You must look at it as follows my most simple Socrates A just man always gets less than an unjust onehellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Gorgias 482C-484C Callicles on nature and convention [Y]oursquore in fact bringing the discussion around to the sort of crowd-pleasing vulgarities that are admirable only by law [nomos also translatable ldquoconventionrdquo or ldquocustomrdquo] and not by nature And these nature and law are for the most part opposed to each otherhellip I believe that the people who institute our laws are the weak and the many So they institute laws and assign praise and blame with themselves and their own advantage in mind As a way of frightening the more powerfulhellip out of getting a greater share than they they say that getting more than onersquos share is ldquoshamefulrdquo and ldquounjusthelliprdquo But surely if a man whose nature is equal to it arises he will shake off tear apart and escape all this he will trample underfoot our documents our tricks and charms and all our laws that violate nature He the slave will rise up and be revealed as our master and here the justice of nature will shine forth

The New Teachers of Athens

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

P R E - S O C R AT I C ldquo P H I L O S O P H E R S 6 T H - 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

P R E - S O C R AT I C P H I L O S O P H E R S

bull Though not usually calling themselves ldquophilosophersrdquo they seemed to have contributed inspiration for Socratesrsquo method of free inquiry applying logos

bull Scholars adopt different views of what constitutes their innovation and ldquophilosophicalrdquo method (see readings)

bull Basing views on argument and evidence

bull De-ldquomythologizationrdquo

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Miletus

E A R LY P H I L O S O P H Y A N C I E N T M I L E T U S

M I L E T U S

bull Wealthy city-state in Asia Minor

bull Key city for trading and shipping between Near East amp Greece

bull Ionian Greek culture

bull Freedom of thought

bull Open political debate

bull Wealth (for some) providing leisure

bull Thales and his successors Anaximander Anaximenes

bull ldquoPhilosophicalrdquo investigation

bull Later Presocratics Heraclitus ParmenidesldquoORIENTALIZINGrdquo POTTERY

The Milesian school strikes a new note unheard before It has a fresh sense of the meaning of truth ndash a feeling for the sort of thing it is reasonable to suppose The hypothesis it characteristically deals in is concerned with the nature of the one primary stuff the Milesians seem to make a great conscious effort to get at something which really does exist They strike us as throwing off the vast symbolic visions of mythology and waking clear-headed to see and touch real things If we have a rational temperament we feel at once a refreshment Here at last is a statement about the world which is meant and offered as true ndash a logos [explanation] not a mythos [story]

ndash F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952 ed) 42

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The questions which excited them were of this kind Can this apparently confused and disordered world be reduced to simpler principles so that our reason can grasp what it is and how it works What is it made of How does change take place They abandoned mythological and substituted intellectual solutions [It] was no longer satisfying to say that storms were roused by the wrath of Poseidon or death caused by the arrows of Apollo or Artemis A world ruled by anthropomorphic gods human in their passions was a world ruled by caprice Philosophy and science start with the bold confession of faith that not caprice but an inherent orderliness underlies the phenomena and the explanation of nature is to be sought within nature itself ndashWKC Guthrie History of Greek Philosophy (Cambridge 1969) 1 44-45

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

Thales of Miletus

bull Lived late 7th-6th centurybull Born to a Phoenician aristocratic

family ndash so leisurebull Traveled to Egypt and Babylon (by

tradition)bull Legendary wisdombull ldquoFounder of Western philosophyrdquo

bull First to seek an ldquooriginal causerdquo (archecirc)

bull to explain how unseen facts caused visible results without appeal to mythology

bull To provide generalizable proofs or laws

Thales of Miletus

AstronomyMathematicsWater as the archecircAll things are full of gods

bull Traditionally Thalesrsquo star student

bull 25 years old during Thalesrsquo eclipse (585 BCE)

bull Lived c 610-540 BCE

bull ldquoFirst to draw the inhabited world on a tabletrdquo (first mapmaker)

bull Unambiguously our first ldquophilosopherrdquo by standards of demythologization originality generality and observation

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

ldquoAnaximander has expurgated the supernatural with a boldness and completeness to which many of his successors failed to attain The primary order is still said to be lsquoaccording to what is ordainedrsquo it is still a moral order in which Justice prevails but the will of the personal God has disappeared and its place is partly taken by a natural cause the eternal motionrdquo

- F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952) 41 Anaximander relief 1st century AD

Rome Museo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Key contributions

bull Physics the archecircbull Cosmologybull ldquoEvolutionrdquobull Astronomy and Cartography

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Anaximander said that the APEIRON [indefinite unlimited] was the ARCHE and the element of things that are and he was the first to introduce this name for the ARCHE He says that the ARCHE is neither water nor any other of the things called elements but some other nature called APEIRON out of which come to be all the heavens and the worlds in them (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2413-18)

The things that are perish into the things out of which they come to be according to necessity for ldquothey pay penalty and retribution to one another according to their injustice in accordance with the ordering of timerdquo as he says in rather poetical language (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2418-21)

Anaximander of Miletus

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The ARCHE

bull One and unlimitedbull But not undefined Itrsquos AIR

Anaximenes of Miletus

bull Not opposites but a continuum FIRE AIR larr WIND larr CLOUD larr WATER larr EARTH larr STONEbull ldquoLooseningrdquo and ldquotighteningrdquo explain hot and cold

H E R A C L I T U S B 1 0 1 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 3 7 )

I searched out myself

Listening not to me but to the logos it is wise to agree that all things are one

H E R A C L I T U S B 5 0 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 1 1 )

E X A M P L E S

THE ROAD TO PHILOSOP HY

The Hero of Lyric Poets of the Polis (6th century)

bull According to the lyric poets of the polis culture such as Pindar Simonides Tyrtaeus and Sappho (7th-6th century BCE)

bull Pursues collective good of the polis based on strong ties of interdependent responsibility amp cooperation in a just world governed by the gods

Individual Freedom The ldquoSophistsrdquo (5th century)

bull Sources in thinkers like Protagoras and Gorgias (5th century BCE predominantly working in Athens) constructed as a category by Platorsquos later writings

bull Pursues individual advantage based on their personal beliefs and wits using persuasion and power skepticism of traditional values

Vulnerability The Hero of Tragedy (5th century)

bull Iconic examples include Sophoclesrsquo Oedipus and Aeschylusrsquo Agamemnon and Orestes

bull Pursuit of individual amp collective good in a world of apparently conflicting divine values sometimes hampered by their own lack of self-knowledge

I N T E R D E P E N D E N C Y I N T R O D U C E S V U L N E R A B I L I T Y W H I C H M AY B E

C E L E B R AT E D O R R E S I S T E D

The Hero of Epic Homer and Hesiod (8th century)

bull Found in the epic Iliad and Odyssey attributed to Homer (c 8th century BCE) examples include the powerful Achilles and thoughtful persuasive Odysseus

bull Pursues individual honour (timē) in a just world governed by the gods

CH

IGI V

AS

E C

70

0 B

CE

The Hero of Reason The ldquoPresocratics (6th-5th cent)

bull Founding figures including Thales Anaximander Anaximenes Pythagoras Heraclitus Parmenides Seeking to understand the basic original causes (aitiai) of the world through reason

I S T H E W O R L D G E N U I N E LY

I N T E L L I G I B L E T O R E A S O N

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Born in Athens to a stonemason named Sophroniscus in 469 BCE

bull ldquoSocratic problemrdquo Socrates wrote nothing we know about him through Plato Xenophon and Aristophanes whose accounts vary

bull Conversed with anyone ldquorich or poor citizen or foreignerrdquo (Apology 23C)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Non-conformity reliance on individual values and wits (contrast with the earlier poets and rhapsodes)

bull Claims of ignorance interest in shared truth and not only persuasion and resistance of ldquoselfish morality (contrast with the sophists)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Methods based on question and answer (the elenchus) requiring unity or consistency (a) of onersquos beliefs and (b) of onersquos beliefs and actions

bull Behaviour peculiar enough to warrant its own verb (sōkratein) (Arist Birds 1282) before generalized philosophia

bull Brought to trial in 399 BCE by two Athenians Meletus and Anytus charged with ldquoimpiety and corrupting the youngrdquo

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

S O C R AT E S C R I T O 4 6 A

I am the kind of person who listens to nothing within me but the logos that on reflection seems

best to me

L O G O S R E A S O N VA L U E C O N S C I E N C E M E A N I N G

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousness A sense of such significances that what is great is fragile and that what is necessary may be destructive which is present in the literature of the fifth century and earlier has disappeared [later] from the ethics of the philosophers and perhaps altogether from their minds Greek philosophy in its sustained pursuit of rational self-sufficiency does turn its back on kinds of human experience and human necessity of which Greek literature itself offers the purest if not the richest expression

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y A N D P H I L O S O P H Y

The continuity between Greek tragedy and Greek philosophy on these questions is however far greater than Williams has allowed On the one hand inside tragedy itself we find arresting portrayals of the human ambition to rational self-sufficiency we come to understand the ways in which problems of exposure motivate this ambition On the other Platos philosophical search for a self- sufficient good life is motivated by a keen sense of these same problems Far from having forgotten about what tragedy describes he sees the problems of exposure so clearly that only a radical solution seems adequate to their depth Nor is he naiumlve about the costs of this solution

N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y P R A C T I C A L C O N F L I C T

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identical which is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A)

Socrates ldquoencourages Euthyphro [a pious Greek] to revise tradition by considering as binding only those requirements concerning which there is divine unanimity he expresses further his own doubt as to whether gods really do disagreerdquo (Nussbaum 30)

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identicalwhich is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A Nussbaum 25)

Johann Heinrich Wilhelm Tischbein Odysseus und Penelope

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The quest for immortality

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Divine causation

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

H O M E R I L I A D 9 4 1 0 - 4 1 6

For my mother Thetis the goddess of the silver feet tells me I carry two sorts of destiny toward the day of my death Either

if I stay here and fight beside the city of the Trojans my return home is gone but my glory (kleos) shall be everlasting

but if I return home to the beloved land of my fathers the excellence (esthlon) of my glory is gone but there will be a long life

left for me and my end in death will not come to me quickly

P I N D A R P Y T H 8 9 5 - 9 7

Creatures of the passing day What is any one What is any one not Shadows dream is man But when the radiance given of Zeus comes

there is a bright light upon men and life is sweet

A R E TĒ T I MĒ K L E O S

T H E Q U E S T F O R I M M O R TA L I T Y

S C E N E F R O M T R O Y ( W B 2 0 0 4 ) A C H I L L E S S U M M O N E D B Y A G A M E M N O N Y O U T U B E C O M W AT C H V = R 7 2 K B D G R T D 4

S C E N E F R O M T R O Y ( W B 2 0 0 4 ) A C H I L L E S A N D H E C T O R D U E L Y O U T U B E C O M W AT C H V = N Q 6 2 F R K 7 4 U 0

Athena Achilles Hector Apollo

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Divine causation

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

A G A M E M N O N AT H O M E R I L I A D 1 1 8 1 - 1 8 7

hellip[H]ere is my threat to you Even as Phoibos Apollo is taking away my Chryseis

hellip I shall take the fair-cheeked Briseis your prize I myself going to your shelter that you may learn well how much greater I am than you and another man may shrink back

from likening himself to me and contending against mersquo

A C H I L L E S AT H O M E R I L I A D 9 6 4 6 - 4 8 S E E A L S O 1 6 5 9

Yet still the heart in me swells up in anger when I remember the disgrace that he wrought upon me before the Argives

the son of Atreus as if I were some wanderer without honour (atimētos metanastēs)

Achilleus in amazement turned about and straightway knew Pallas Athene and the terrible eyes shining

He uttered winged words and addressed her Why have you come now o child of Zeus of the aegis once more Is it that you may see

the outrageousness (hubris) of the son of Atreus Agamemnonrsquohellip

A C H I L L E S AT H O M E R I L I A D 1 1 9 9 - 2 0 3

O D Y S S E U S AT H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 2 2 3 5 - 4 1

You dogs You never thought Id come back home from the kingdom of the Trojans so you ravaged my house

lay in bed by force beside my women slaves my women and wooed my wife illicitly though I was alive

fearing neither the gods who hold wide heaven nor that thered be any mens censure thereafter

Now the moment of destruction hangs over you one and all

The slaughter of the suitors by Odysseus and Telemachus 1812 Louis Vincent Palliere

Death of the suitors Athenian red-figure cup c 450-440 BC

A W H A D K I N S ldquo H O M E R I C E T H I C S rdquo I N I M O R R I S amp B P O W E L L ( E D S )

A N E W C O M PA N I O N T O H O M E R ( B R I L L 1 9 9 6 ) 7 0 4 - 5

ldquoThe Homeric hero deprived of any significant quantity of timē reacts violently

aware as he is of the bottom of the scale [the metanastēs]hellip the primary function of the

agathos [good person hero] is to defend his timē with all the resources at his commandrdquo

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Divine causation

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

H U B R I S N E M E S I S

Nemesis by Gheorghe Tattarescu (1853)

Hesiod Works amp Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

Piteously she transfixed by his crooked claws was lamenting When the imperious hawk addressed her in arrogant parlance Why little lady such shrieks One stronger than you now has got you Where you are going Ill take you myself though you are a songstress For as I please Ill make you my dinner or give you your freedom Witless is one who attempts to strive against those who are stronger When he is stripped of the prize its injury added to insult Thus said the fast-flying hawk that bird with the generous wing-span

Pay more attention to justice and curb high-handedness [brother] Violence ill suits those who are lowly not even the noble Person can lightly endure it it weighs on a person whos fallen Into affliction Its better to take your way on the other Road which conduces to right For outrage (hubris) surrenders to justice (dikē)hellip

W E A R E I N Z E U S rsquo JUST W O R L D D E S C R I B E D I N THEOGONY

S I D E B A R D I V I N E C A U S AT I O N

bull The Homeric and Hesiodic herorsquos individual mission only makes sense in a world governed by gods (theoi)

bull Homer Iliad The gods are primarily responsiblecausal of events (aitios)

bull Early Greek science begins here theoi subsequently naturalized as consistent patterns of regularity in human and natural experience (elements laws)

bull Homer Odyssey Humans are (also) responsiblecausal for our own actions

bull How do we use our freedom

AT H E N A A N D O D Y S S E U S T H E O D Y S S E Y ( N B C 1 9 9 7 )

H O M E R I L I A D 5 1 2 3

Athena drew near to his side and spoke to him in winged words Have courage for I have drawn the mist from your eyes

that you may discern in truth gods from humans

So they spoke but Priam aloud called out to Helen Come over where I am dear child and sit down beside me

to look at your husband of time past your friends and your people I am not blaming you (ou ti moi aitiē essi) to me the gods are

responsible (theoihellipaitioi) who drove upon me this sorrowful war against the Achaians

H O M E R I L I A D 3 1 6 4

S I D E B A R D I V I N E C A U S AT I O N

Zeus is probably responsible (aitios) who gives to men who work for bread to each one however he wishes

H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 1 3 4 8 [ T E L E M A C H U S S P E A K S ]

How mortals now blame [from aitios] gods for they say that evils are from us Yet they themselves

have woes beyond their lot by their own recklessnesshellip

H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 1 3 2 [ Z E U S S P E A K S ]

Tell me of these things Muses that dwell on the heights of Olympus From the origin (archē) and say which first of them came into beinghellip

H E S I O D T H E O G O N Y 1 1 4

Responsibility lies with the one who makes the choice the god is blameless (theos anaitios)

P L AT O R E P U B L I C 1 0 6 1 7 E

S I D E B A R D I V I N E C A U S AT I O N

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Divine causation

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

O D Y S S E U S T O P O LY P H E M U S H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 9 2 6 9 - 7 1

But revere the gods most noble one We are supplicants (hiketai) to you Zeus is the avenger (epitimētōr) of suppliants and strangers

the guest god who attends venerable strangers

W E A R E I N Z E U S rsquo W O R L D ( A S D E S C R I B E D I N THEOGONY )

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

T H E LY R I C P O E T SC 6 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Pindar of Thebes

Simonides of Ceos

Sappho of Lesbos

LY R I C I N T R O D U C T I O N

bull Occasional poetry

bull Often sung to the lyre (lyrē) in varied meters

bull CHORAL LYRIC

bull Dancing choruses at religious festivals contests family events

bull Enforcing collective civic values

bull MONODIC LYRIC

bull Individual performance

bull Personal in emotion amp outlookBrygos Painter c 490 BCE

Sappho and Alcaeus

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

Creatures of the passing day What is any one What is any one not Shadows dream is man But when the radiance given of Zeus comes

there is a bright light upon men and life is sweet

P I N D A R P Y T H 8 9 5 - 9 7

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

I praise and embrace everyone who willingly does nothing base (aischron) but with necessity not even the gods fight A man not too helpless suffices for me one who knows the justice that benefits the

city (polis) a sound and healthy man I will not lay blame for the generation of fools is limitless Everything is noble (kala) with which

base deeds are not mingled

S I M O N I D E S 5 4 2 2 7 - 4 0

Simonides is criticizing the traditional definition of the good noble or successful man (agathos esthlos) Such goodness or nobility depends upon external achievements and possessions (wealth honour prowess in battle) which are too insecure to form a real basis for human excellence Instead Simonides stresses intention justice that benefits the city acknowledgement of the fragility of lifehellip

C S E G A L ldquo C H O R A L LY R I C I N T H E F I F T H C E N T U R Y rdquo I N P E E A S T E R L I N G amp B M W K N O X T H E C A M B R I D G E H I S T O R Y O F

C L A S S I C A L L I T E R AT U R E I ( C A M B R I D G E 2 0 0 8 ) 2 2 4

LY R I C C O N T E X T

Hoplites in phalanx formation From the Chigi Vase proto-Corinthian pitcher ca 650-640 BC

3 0 0 ( W A R N E R B R O S 2 0 0 6 ) ldquo W H AT I S Y O U R P R O F E S S I O N rdquo

W W W Y O U T U B E C O M W AT C H V = A N A 3 C O 8 3 _ G K

3 0 0 ( W A R N E R B R O S 2 0 0 6 ) ldquo F I G H T I N T H E S H A D E rdquo

Y O U T U B E 4 J K P G D D M A R S T = 1 2 4

τοιόνδ ἄνθος Περσίδος αἴας οἴχεται ἀνδρῶν

οὓς πέρι πᾶσα χθὼν Ἀσιῆτις ρέψασα πόθῳ στένεται microαλερῷ τοκέης τ ἄλοχοί θ ἡmicroερολεγδὸν τείνοντα χρόνον τροmicroέονται

A E S C H Y L U S P E R S A I 5 9 - 6 4 C P I L I A D 9 4 1 0 - 1 6

S E E C A S E Y D U Eacute T H E C A P T I V E W O M A N rsquo S L A M E N T I N G R E E K T R A G E DY C H 2

Such is the flower [anthos] of the Persian land such is the flower of men that has disappeared

The entire land of Asia laments the men she nourished with fierce

longing [pothos] Parents and wives counting the days

tremble at the increasing length of time

P I N D A R

bull Born near Thebes c 518 BCE

bull Composed important epinician odes (epi-nikia for-a-victory in a contest)

bull Depicts the gods as maintaining civic values of justice (O 1 P 1-3 P 8) compassionate (N 10) and forgiving (O 7456) guardians of polis morality

bull Celebrated ldquoroughrdquo style

bull ldquoA soaring eaglehellip a rushing streamrdquo (Horace Od 42) ldquoA vast firerdquo (Longinus Sublime 335)

Bust of the lyric poet Pindar Roman copy from original of the mid-5 century BC

F I F T H - C E N T U R Y C H O R A L LY R I C

A C O R N T O O A K T R E E N E I L B R O M H A L L bull y o u t u b e Z K 4 L j U R t a D w

Some people pray for gold others for limitless lands but I pray to please my fellow citizens and then to cover my limbs in earth

having praised the praiseworthy and scattered reproof on the wicked Excellence soars upward like a tree fed on fresh dews

lifted among the wise and just toward the liquid upper air The need for friends comes in many forms

it is most valued in times of trouble but joy too craves to look upon trusty support

P I N D A R N E M E A N 8 3 6 - 4 3

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

F R A G I L I T Ybull How can we be praiseworthy if we are vulnerable (to circumstances)

bull [The poetic world-view and Pindarrsquos career as praise poet of aretē require] ldquothe belief that the excellence of a good person is something of that persons own for whose possession and exercise that person can appropriately be held accountablerdquo (Nussbaum 1)

bull But ldquoHow can we be givers and receivers of praise if our worth ishellip a plant in need of wateringrdquo (2)

bull ldquoWe need to be born with adequate capacities to live in fostering natural and social circumstances to stay clear of abrupt catastrophe to develop confirming associations with other human beingsrdquo (1)

bull A further complication ldquoThe tenderness of a plant is not the dazzling hardness of a gemrdquo perhaps ldquopart of the peculiar beauty of human excellence just is its vulnerabilityrdquo (2)

M A R T H A N U S S B A U M T H E F R A G I L I T Y O F G O O D N E S S C H 1 L U C K amp E T H I C S

T H E P O W E R O F R E A S O N [T]here is the consolation that so far Pindar has apparently left something out However much human beings resemble lower forms of life we are unlike we want to insist in one crucial respect We have reason We are able to deliberate and choose to make a plan in which ends are ranked to decide actively what is to have value and how much All this must count for something If it is true that a lot about us is messy needy uncontrolled rooted in the dirt and standing helplessly in the rain it is also true that there is something about us that is pure and purely active something that we could think of as divine immortal intelligible unitary indissoluble ever self-consistent and invariablelsquo [Plato Phaedo 80B] It seems possible that this rational element in us can rule and guide the rest thereby saving the whole person from living at the mercy of luck

N U S S B A U M F R A G I L I T Y 2

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S S O P H I S T S A N D T R A G E D I A N SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Athens

AT H E N S rsquo A C R O P O L I S A S I M A G I N E D B Y L E O V O N K L E N Z E O I L O N C A N VA S 1 8 4 6 N E U E P I N A K O T H E K

A S S A S S I N rsquo S C R E E D O D Y S S E Y bull A T O U R O F AT H E N S U B I S O F T ( 2 0 1 8 )

bull Athens is the first lsquopeople-ruledrsquo polis (dēmokratia) in the Mediterranean world

bull She has achieved unchallenged naval authority and an empire which is labeled a lsquocommonwealthrsquo

bull At the commercial and cultural crossroads of Italy Greece Egypt and the Near East

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

S P E E C H A N D D E M O C R A C Y

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

bull In this cosmopolitan environment traditional views are challenged leading to a perceived erosion of moral values

bull The rhapsodes use poetic forms to transmit traditional morality

bull The tragedians use poetic forms to explore amp challenge mythrsquos assumptions

bull The sophists teach ldquowisdomrdquo (sophia) including rhetoric and political oratory perceived as a new lsquotechnologyrsquo to steer the ship of state for onersquos own ends

bull Use onersquos own wits ldquoA person is the measure of all thingsrdquo Protagoras B1

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

T R A G E D Y V U L N E R A B I L I T Y A N D R E A S O NC 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E AT H E N S

Aeschylus Agamemnon (458 BCE) and Euripides Iphigeneia at Aulis (405 BCE) The Sacrifice of Iphigeneia by Francesco Fontebasso bull 1749 oil on canvas

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousnesshellip what is great is fragile andhellip what is necessary may be destructivehellip

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

In such cases we see a wrong action committed without any direct physical compulsion and in full knowledge of its nature by a person whose ethical character or commitments would otherwise dispose him to reject the acthellip circumstanceshellip prevent the adequate fulfillment of two valid ethical claims

N U S S B A U M 2 5

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

[Aeschylus in Agamemnon] shows us not so much a solution to the problem of practical conflict as the richness and depth of the problem itself (This achievement is closely connected with his poetic resources which put the scene vividly before us show us debate about it and evoke in us responses important to its assessment)

The best the agent can do is to have his suffering the natural expression of his goodness of character and not to stifle these responses out of misguided optimism The best we (the Chorus) can do for him is to respect the gravity of his predicament to respect the responses that express his goodness and to think about his case as showing a possibility for human life in general

N U S S B A U M 4 9 - 5 0

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

bull In a world that allows such dilemmas are there truly gods with a coherent vision for the world

bull Can individual reason and ingenuity suffice for a good life

T H E S O P H I S T SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Hesiod Works amp Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale Piteously she transfixed by his crooked claws was lamenting When the imperious hawk addressed her in arrogant parlance Why little lady such shrieks One stronger than you now has got you Where you are going Ill take you myself though you are a songstress For as I please Ill make you my dinner or give you your freedom Witless is one who attempts to strive against those who are stronger When he is stripped of the prize its injury added to insult Thus said the fast-flying hawk that bird with the generous wing-spanPay more attention to justice and curb high-handedness [brother] Violence ill suits men who are lowly not even the noble Man can lightly endure it it weighs on a person whos fallen Into affliction Its better to take your way on the other Road which conduces to right For outrage (hubris) surrenders to

justice (dikē)hellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Thucydides History 584-116 The Melian Dialogue ATHENIANS [Y]ou know as well as we do that when these matters are discussed by practical people the standard of justice depends on the equality of power to compel and that in fact the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they musthellip Our opinion of the gods and our knowledge of men lead us to conclude that it is a general and necessary law of nature to rule whatever one can This is not a law that we made ourselves nor were we the first to act upon it when it was made We found it already in existence and we shall leave it to exist for ever among those who come after us

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos

advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Republic I 343A-D Thrasymachusrsquo complaint Tell me Socrates do you still have a wet nursehellip Because shersquos letting you run around with a snotty nose and doesnrsquot wipe it when she needs tohellip You think that shepherds and cowherds seek the good of their sheep and cattle and fatten them and take care of them looking to something other than their masterrsquos good and their own Moreover you believe that rulershellip think of something besides their own advantage You are so far from understandinghellip that you donrsquot realize that justice is really the good of another the advantage of the stronger and the ruler and harmful to the one who obeys and serves Injustice is the opposite it rules the truly simple and just and those it rules do what is to the advantage of the other and stronger and they make the one they serve happy but themselves not at all You must look at it as follows my most simple Socrates A just man always gets less than an unjust onehellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Gorgias 482C-484C Callicles on nature and convention [Y]oursquore in fact bringing the discussion around to the sort of crowd-pleasing vulgarities that are admirable only by law [nomos also translatable ldquoconventionrdquo or ldquocustomrdquo] and not by nature And these nature and law are for the most part opposed to each otherhellip I believe that the people who institute our laws are the weak and the many So they institute laws and assign praise and blame with themselves and their own advantage in mind As a way of frightening the more powerfulhellip out of getting a greater share than they they say that getting more than onersquos share is ldquoshamefulrdquo and ldquounjusthelliprdquo But surely if a man whose nature is equal to it arises he will shake off tear apart and escape all this he will trample underfoot our documents our tricks and charms and all our laws that violate nature He the slave will rise up and be revealed as our master and here the justice of nature will shine forth

The New Teachers of Athens

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

P R E - S O C R AT I C ldquo P H I L O S O P H E R S 6 T H - 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

P R E - S O C R AT I C P H I L O S O P H E R S

bull Though not usually calling themselves ldquophilosophersrdquo they seemed to have contributed inspiration for Socratesrsquo method of free inquiry applying logos

bull Scholars adopt different views of what constitutes their innovation and ldquophilosophicalrdquo method (see readings)

bull Basing views on argument and evidence

bull De-ldquomythologizationrdquo

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Miletus

E A R LY P H I L O S O P H Y A N C I E N T M I L E T U S

M I L E T U S

bull Wealthy city-state in Asia Minor

bull Key city for trading and shipping between Near East amp Greece

bull Ionian Greek culture

bull Freedom of thought

bull Open political debate

bull Wealth (for some) providing leisure

bull Thales and his successors Anaximander Anaximenes

bull ldquoPhilosophicalrdquo investigation

bull Later Presocratics Heraclitus ParmenidesldquoORIENTALIZINGrdquo POTTERY

The Milesian school strikes a new note unheard before It has a fresh sense of the meaning of truth ndash a feeling for the sort of thing it is reasonable to suppose The hypothesis it characteristically deals in is concerned with the nature of the one primary stuff the Milesians seem to make a great conscious effort to get at something which really does exist They strike us as throwing off the vast symbolic visions of mythology and waking clear-headed to see and touch real things If we have a rational temperament we feel at once a refreshment Here at last is a statement about the world which is meant and offered as true ndash a logos [explanation] not a mythos [story]

ndash F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952 ed) 42

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The questions which excited them were of this kind Can this apparently confused and disordered world be reduced to simpler principles so that our reason can grasp what it is and how it works What is it made of How does change take place They abandoned mythological and substituted intellectual solutions [It] was no longer satisfying to say that storms were roused by the wrath of Poseidon or death caused by the arrows of Apollo or Artemis A world ruled by anthropomorphic gods human in their passions was a world ruled by caprice Philosophy and science start with the bold confession of faith that not caprice but an inherent orderliness underlies the phenomena and the explanation of nature is to be sought within nature itself ndashWKC Guthrie History of Greek Philosophy (Cambridge 1969) 1 44-45

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

Thales of Miletus

bull Lived late 7th-6th centurybull Born to a Phoenician aristocratic

family ndash so leisurebull Traveled to Egypt and Babylon (by

tradition)bull Legendary wisdombull ldquoFounder of Western philosophyrdquo

bull First to seek an ldquooriginal causerdquo (archecirc)

bull to explain how unseen facts caused visible results without appeal to mythology

bull To provide generalizable proofs or laws

Thales of Miletus

AstronomyMathematicsWater as the archecircAll things are full of gods

bull Traditionally Thalesrsquo star student

bull 25 years old during Thalesrsquo eclipse (585 BCE)

bull Lived c 610-540 BCE

bull ldquoFirst to draw the inhabited world on a tabletrdquo (first mapmaker)

bull Unambiguously our first ldquophilosopherrdquo by standards of demythologization originality generality and observation

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

ldquoAnaximander has expurgated the supernatural with a boldness and completeness to which many of his successors failed to attain The primary order is still said to be lsquoaccording to what is ordainedrsquo it is still a moral order in which Justice prevails but the will of the personal God has disappeared and its place is partly taken by a natural cause the eternal motionrdquo

- F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952) 41 Anaximander relief 1st century AD

Rome Museo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Key contributions

bull Physics the archecircbull Cosmologybull ldquoEvolutionrdquobull Astronomy and Cartography

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Anaximander said that the APEIRON [indefinite unlimited] was the ARCHE and the element of things that are and he was the first to introduce this name for the ARCHE He says that the ARCHE is neither water nor any other of the things called elements but some other nature called APEIRON out of which come to be all the heavens and the worlds in them (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2413-18)

The things that are perish into the things out of which they come to be according to necessity for ldquothey pay penalty and retribution to one another according to their injustice in accordance with the ordering of timerdquo as he says in rather poetical language (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2418-21)

Anaximander of Miletus

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The ARCHE

bull One and unlimitedbull But not undefined Itrsquos AIR

Anaximenes of Miletus

bull Not opposites but a continuum FIRE AIR larr WIND larr CLOUD larr WATER larr EARTH larr STONEbull ldquoLooseningrdquo and ldquotighteningrdquo explain hot and cold

H E R A C L I T U S B 1 0 1 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 3 7 )

I searched out myself

Listening not to me but to the logos it is wise to agree that all things are one

H E R A C L I T U S B 5 0 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 1 1 )

E X A M P L E S

THE ROAD TO PHILOSOP HY

The Hero of Lyric Poets of the Polis (6th century)

bull According to the lyric poets of the polis culture such as Pindar Simonides Tyrtaeus and Sappho (7th-6th century BCE)

bull Pursues collective good of the polis based on strong ties of interdependent responsibility amp cooperation in a just world governed by the gods

Individual Freedom The ldquoSophistsrdquo (5th century)

bull Sources in thinkers like Protagoras and Gorgias (5th century BCE predominantly working in Athens) constructed as a category by Platorsquos later writings

bull Pursues individual advantage based on their personal beliefs and wits using persuasion and power skepticism of traditional values

Vulnerability The Hero of Tragedy (5th century)

bull Iconic examples include Sophoclesrsquo Oedipus and Aeschylusrsquo Agamemnon and Orestes

bull Pursuit of individual amp collective good in a world of apparently conflicting divine values sometimes hampered by their own lack of self-knowledge

I N T E R D E P E N D E N C Y I N T R O D U C E S V U L N E R A B I L I T Y W H I C H M AY B E

C E L E B R AT E D O R R E S I S T E D

The Hero of Epic Homer and Hesiod (8th century)

bull Found in the epic Iliad and Odyssey attributed to Homer (c 8th century BCE) examples include the powerful Achilles and thoughtful persuasive Odysseus

bull Pursues individual honour (timē) in a just world governed by the gods

CH

IGI V

AS

E C

70

0 B

CE

The Hero of Reason The ldquoPresocratics (6th-5th cent)

bull Founding figures including Thales Anaximander Anaximenes Pythagoras Heraclitus Parmenides Seeking to understand the basic original causes (aitiai) of the world through reason

I S T H E W O R L D G E N U I N E LY

I N T E L L I G I B L E T O R E A S O N

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Born in Athens to a stonemason named Sophroniscus in 469 BCE

bull ldquoSocratic problemrdquo Socrates wrote nothing we know about him through Plato Xenophon and Aristophanes whose accounts vary

bull Conversed with anyone ldquorich or poor citizen or foreignerrdquo (Apology 23C)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Non-conformity reliance on individual values and wits (contrast with the earlier poets and rhapsodes)

bull Claims of ignorance interest in shared truth and not only persuasion and resistance of ldquoselfish morality (contrast with the sophists)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Methods based on question and answer (the elenchus) requiring unity or consistency (a) of onersquos beliefs and (b) of onersquos beliefs and actions

bull Behaviour peculiar enough to warrant its own verb (sōkratein) (Arist Birds 1282) before generalized philosophia

bull Brought to trial in 399 BCE by two Athenians Meletus and Anytus charged with ldquoimpiety and corrupting the youngrdquo

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

S O C R AT E S C R I T O 4 6 A

I am the kind of person who listens to nothing within me but the logos that on reflection seems

best to me

L O G O S R E A S O N VA L U E C O N S C I E N C E M E A N I N G

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousness A sense of such significances that what is great is fragile and that what is necessary may be destructive which is present in the literature of the fifth century and earlier has disappeared [later] from the ethics of the philosophers and perhaps altogether from their minds Greek philosophy in its sustained pursuit of rational self-sufficiency does turn its back on kinds of human experience and human necessity of which Greek literature itself offers the purest if not the richest expression

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y A N D P H I L O S O P H Y

The continuity between Greek tragedy and Greek philosophy on these questions is however far greater than Williams has allowed On the one hand inside tragedy itself we find arresting portrayals of the human ambition to rational self-sufficiency we come to understand the ways in which problems of exposure motivate this ambition On the other Platos philosophical search for a self- sufficient good life is motivated by a keen sense of these same problems Far from having forgotten about what tragedy describes he sees the problems of exposure so clearly that only a radical solution seems adequate to their depth Nor is he naiumlve about the costs of this solution

N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y P R A C T I C A L C O N F L I C T

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identical which is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A)

Socrates ldquoencourages Euthyphro [a pious Greek] to revise tradition by considering as binding only those requirements concerning which there is divine unanimity he expresses further his own doubt as to whether gods really do disagreerdquo (Nussbaum 30)

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identicalwhich is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A Nussbaum 25)

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The quest for immortality

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Divine causation

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

H O M E R I L I A D 9 4 1 0 - 4 1 6

For my mother Thetis the goddess of the silver feet tells me I carry two sorts of destiny toward the day of my death Either

if I stay here and fight beside the city of the Trojans my return home is gone but my glory (kleos) shall be everlasting

but if I return home to the beloved land of my fathers the excellence (esthlon) of my glory is gone but there will be a long life

left for me and my end in death will not come to me quickly

P I N D A R P Y T H 8 9 5 - 9 7

Creatures of the passing day What is any one What is any one not Shadows dream is man But when the radiance given of Zeus comes

there is a bright light upon men and life is sweet

A R E TĒ T I MĒ K L E O S

T H E Q U E S T F O R I M M O R TA L I T Y

S C E N E F R O M T R O Y ( W B 2 0 0 4 ) A C H I L L E S S U M M O N E D B Y A G A M E M N O N Y O U T U B E C O M W AT C H V = R 7 2 K B D G R T D 4

S C E N E F R O M T R O Y ( W B 2 0 0 4 ) A C H I L L E S A N D H E C T O R D U E L Y O U T U B E C O M W AT C H V = N Q 6 2 F R K 7 4 U 0

Athena Achilles Hector Apollo

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Divine causation

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

A G A M E M N O N AT H O M E R I L I A D 1 1 8 1 - 1 8 7

hellip[H]ere is my threat to you Even as Phoibos Apollo is taking away my Chryseis

hellip I shall take the fair-cheeked Briseis your prize I myself going to your shelter that you may learn well how much greater I am than you and another man may shrink back

from likening himself to me and contending against mersquo

A C H I L L E S AT H O M E R I L I A D 9 6 4 6 - 4 8 S E E A L S O 1 6 5 9

Yet still the heart in me swells up in anger when I remember the disgrace that he wrought upon me before the Argives

the son of Atreus as if I were some wanderer without honour (atimētos metanastēs)

Achilleus in amazement turned about and straightway knew Pallas Athene and the terrible eyes shining

He uttered winged words and addressed her Why have you come now o child of Zeus of the aegis once more Is it that you may see

the outrageousness (hubris) of the son of Atreus Agamemnonrsquohellip

A C H I L L E S AT H O M E R I L I A D 1 1 9 9 - 2 0 3

O D Y S S E U S AT H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 2 2 3 5 - 4 1

You dogs You never thought Id come back home from the kingdom of the Trojans so you ravaged my house

lay in bed by force beside my women slaves my women and wooed my wife illicitly though I was alive

fearing neither the gods who hold wide heaven nor that thered be any mens censure thereafter

Now the moment of destruction hangs over you one and all

The slaughter of the suitors by Odysseus and Telemachus 1812 Louis Vincent Palliere

Death of the suitors Athenian red-figure cup c 450-440 BC

A W H A D K I N S ldquo H O M E R I C E T H I C S rdquo I N I M O R R I S amp B P O W E L L ( E D S )

A N E W C O M PA N I O N T O H O M E R ( B R I L L 1 9 9 6 ) 7 0 4 - 5

ldquoThe Homeric hero deprived of any significant quantity of timē reacts violently

aware as he is of the bottom of the scale [the metanastēs]hellip the primary function of the

agathos [good person hero] is to defend his timē with all the resources at his commandrdquo

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Divine causation

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

H U B R I S N E M E S I S

Nemesis by Gheorghe Tattarescu (1853)

Hesiod Works amp Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

Piteously she transfixed by his crooked claws was lamenting When the imperious hawk addressed her in arrogant parlance Why little lady such shrieks One stronger than you now has got you Where you are going Ill take you myself though you are a songstress For as I please Ill make you my dinner or give you your freedom Witless is one who attempts to strive against those who are stronger When he is stripped of the prize its injury added to insult Thus said the fast-flying hawk that bird with the generous wing-span

Pay more attention to justice and curb high-handedness [brother] Violence ill suits those who are lowly not even the noble Person can lightly endure it it weighs on a person whos fallen Into affliction Its better to take your way on the other Road which conduces to right For outrage (hubris) surrenders to justice (dikē)hellip

W E A R E I N Z E U S rsquo JUST W O R L D D E S C R I B E D I N THEOGONY

S I D E B A R D I V I N E C A U S AT I O N

bull The Homeric and Hesiodic herorsquos individual mission only makes sense in a world governed by gods (theoi)

bull Homer Iliad The gods are primarily responsiblecausal of events (aitios)

bull Early Greek science begins here theoi subsequently naturalized as consistent patterns of regularity in human and natural experience (elements laws)

bull Homer Odyssey Humans are (also) responsiblecausal for our own actions

bull How do we use our freedom

AT H E N A A N D O D Y S S E U S T H E O D Y S S E Y ( N B C 1 9 9 7 )

H O M E R I L I A D 5 1 2 3

Athena drew near to his side and spoke to him in winged words Have courage for I have drawn the mist from your eyes

that you may discern in truth gods from humans

So they spoke but Priam aloud called out to Helen Come over where I am dear child and sit down beside me

to look at your husband of time past your friends and your people I am not blaming you (ou ti moi aitiē essi) to me the gods are

responsible (theoihellipaitioi) who drove upon me this sorrowful war against the Achaians

H O M E R I L I A D 3 1 6 4

S I D E B A R D I V I N E C A U S AT I O N

Zeus is probably responsible (aitios) who gives to men who work for bread to each one however he wishes

H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 1 3 4 8 [ T E L E M A C H U S S P E A K S ]

How mortals now blame [from aitios] gods for they say that evils are from us Yet they themselves

have woes beyond their lot by their own recklessnesshellip

H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 1 3 2 [ Z E U S S P E A K S ]

Tell me of these things Muses that dwell on the heights of Olympus From the origin (archē) and say which first of them came into beinghellip

H E S I O D T H E O G O N Y 1 1 4

Responsibility lies with the one who makes the choice the god is blameless (theos anaitios)

P L AT O R E P U B L I C 1 0 6 1 7 E

S I D E B A R D I V I N E C A U S AT I O N

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Divine causation

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

O D Y S S E U S T O P O LY P H E M U S H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 9 2 6 9 - 7 1

But revere the gods most noble one We are supplicants (hiketai) to you Zeus is the avenger (epitimētōr) of suppliants and strangers

the guest god who attends venerable strangers

W E A R E I N Z E U S rsquo W O R L D ( A S D E S C R I B E D I N THEOGONY )

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

T H E LY R I C P O E T SC 6 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Pindar of Thebes

Simonides of Ceos

Sappho of Lesbos

LY R I C I N T R O D U C T I O N

bull Occasional poetry

bull Often sung to the lyre (lyrē) in varied meters

bull CHORAL LYRIC

bull Dancing choruses at religious festivals contests family events

bull Enforcing collective civic values

bull MONODIC LYRIC

bull Individual performance

bull Personal in emotion amp outlookBrygos Painter c 490 BCE

Sappho and Alcaeus

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

Creatures of the passing day What is any one What is any one not Shadows dream is man But when the radiance given of Zeus comes

there is a bright light upon men and life is sweet

P I N D A R P Y T H 8 9 5 - 9 7

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

I praise and embrace everyone who willingly does nothing base (aischron) but with necessity not even the gods fight A man not too helpless suffices for me one who knows the justice that benefits the

city (polis) a sound and healthy man I will not lay blame for the generation of fools is limitless Everything is noble (kala) with which

base deeds are not mingled

S I M O N I D E S 5 4 2 2 7 - 4 0

Simonides is criticizing the traditional definition of the good noble or successful man (agathos esthlos) Such goodness or nobility depends upon external achievements and possessions (wealth honour prowess in battle) which are too insecure to form a real basis for human excellence Instead Simonides stresses intention justice that benefits the city acknowledgement of the fragility of lifehellip

C S E G A L ldquo C H O R A L LY R I C I N T H E F I F T H C E N T U R Y rdquo I N P E E A S T E R L I N G amp B M W K N O X T H E C A M B R I D G E H I S T O R Y O F

C L A S S I C A L L I T E R AT U R E I ( C A M B R I D G E 2 0 0 8 ) 2 2 4

LY R I C C O N T E X T

Hoplites in phalanx formation From the Chigi Vase proto-Corinthian pitcher ca 650-640 BC

3 0 0 ( W A R N E R B R O S 2 0 0 6 ) ldquo W H AT I S Y O U R P R O F E S S I O N rdquo

W W W Y O U T U B E C O M W AT C H V = A N A 3 C O 8 3 _ G K

3 0 0 ( W A R N E R B R O S 2 0 0 6 ) ldquo F I G H T I N T H E S H A D E rdquo

Y O U T U B E 4 J K P G D D M A R S T = 1 2 4

τοιόνδ ἄνθος Περσίδος αἴας οἴχεται ἀνδρῶν

οὓς πέρι πᾶσα χθὼν Ἀσιῆτις ρέψασα πόθῳ στένεται microαλερῷ τοκέης τ ἄλοχοί θ ἡmicroερολεγδὸν τείνοντα χρόνον τροmicroέονται

A E S C H Y L U S P E R S A I 5 9 - 6 4 C P I L I A D 9 4 1 0 - 1 6

S E E C A S E Y D U Eacute T H E C A P T I V E W O M A N rsquo S L A M E N T I N G R E E K T R A G E DY C H 2

Such is the flower [anthos] of the Persian land such is the flower of men that has disappeared

The entire land of Asia laments the men she nourished with fierce

longing [pothos] Parents and wives counting the days

tremble at the increasing length of time

P I N D A R

bull Born near Thebes c 518 BCE

bull Composed important epinician odes (epi-nikia for-a-victory in a contest)

bull Depicts the gods as maintaining civic values of justice (O 1 P 1-3 P 8) compassionate (N 10) and forgiving (O 7456) guardians of polis morality

bull Celebrated ldquoroughrdquo style

bull ldquoA soaring eaglehellip a rushing streamrdquo (Horace Od 42) ldquoA vast firerdquo (Longinus Sublime 335)

Bust of the lyric poet Pindar Roman copy from original of the mid-5 century BC

F I F T H - C E N T U R Y C H O R A L LY R I C

A C O R N T O O A K T R E E N E I L B R O M H A L L bull y o u t u b e Z K 4 L j U R t a D w

Some people pray for gold others for limitless lands but I pray to please my fellow citizens and then to cover my limbs in earth

having praised the praiseworthy and scattered reproof on the wicked Excellence soars upward like a tree fed on fresh dews

lifted among the wise and just toward the liquid upper air The need for friends comes in many forms

it is most valued in times of trouble but joy too craves to look upon trusty support

P I N D A R N E M E A N 8 3 6 - 4 3

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

F R A G I L I T Ybull How can we be praiseworthy if we are vulnerable (to circumstances)

bull [The poetic world-view and Pindarrsquos career as praise poet of aretē require] ldquothe belief that the excellence of a good person is something of that persons own for whose possession and exercise that person can appropriately be held accountablerdquo (Nussbaum 1)

bull But ldquoHow can we be givers and receivers of praise if our worth ishellip a plant in need of wateringrdquo (2)

bull ldquoWe need to be born with adequate capacities to live in fostering natural and social circumstances to stay clear of abrupt catastrophe to develop confirming associations with other human beingsrdquo (1)

bull A further complication ldquoThe tenderness of a plant is not the dazzling hardness of a gemrdquo perhaps ldquopart of the peculiar beauty of human excellence just is its vulnerabilityrdquo (2)

M A R T H A N U S S B A U M T H E F R A G I L I T Y O F G O O D N E S S C H 1 L U C K amp E T H I C S

T H E P O W E R O F R E A S O N [T]here is the consolation that so far Pindar has apparently left something out However much human beings resemble lower forms of life we are unlike we want to insist in one crucial respect We have reason We are able to deliberate and choose to make a plan in which ends are ranked to decide actively what is to have value and how much All this must count for something If it is true that a lot about us is messy needy uncontrolled rooted in the dirt and standing helplessly in the rain it is also true that there is something about us that is pure and purely active something that we could think of as divine immortal intelligible unitary indissoluble ever self-consistent and invariablelsquo [Plato Phaedo 80B] It seems possible that this rational element in us can rule and guide the rest thereby saving the whole person from living at the mercy of luck

N U S S B A U M F R A G I L I T Y 2

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S S O P H I S T S A N D T R A G E D I A N SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Athens

AT H E N S rsquo A C R O P O L I S A S I M A G I N E D B Y L E O V O N K L E N Z E O I L O N C A N VA S 1 8 4 6 N E U E P I N A K O T H E K

A S S A S S I N rsquo S C R E E D O D Y S S E Y bull A T O U R O F AT H E N S U B I S O F T ( 2 0 1 8 )

bull Athens is the first lsquopeople-ruledrsquo polis (dēmokratia) in the Mediterranean world

bull She has achieved unchallenged naval authority and an empire which is labeled a lsquocommonwealthrsquo

bull At the commercial and cultural crossroads of Italy Greece Egypt and the Near East

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

S P E E C H A N D D E M O C R A C Y

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

bull In this cosmopolitan environment traditional views are challenged leading to a perceived erosion of moral values

bull The rhapsodes use poetic forms to transmit traditional morality

bull The tragedians use poetic forms to explore amp challenge mythrsquos assumptions

bull The sophists teach ldquowisdomrdquo (sophia) including rhetoric and political oratory perceived as a new lsquotechnologyrsquo to steer the ship of state for onersquos own ends

bull Use onersquos own wits ldquoA person is the measure of all thingsrdquo Protagoras B1

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

T R A G E D Y V U L N E R A B I L I T Y A N D R E A S O NC 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E AT H E N S

Aeschylus Agamemnon (458 BCE) and Euripides Iphigeneia at Aulis (405 BCE) The Sacrifice of Iphigeneia by Francesco Fontebasso bull 1749 oil on canvas

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousnesshellip what is great is fragile andhellip what is necessary may be destructivehellip

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

In such cases we see a wrong action committed without any direct physical compulsion and in full knowledge of its nature by a person whose ethical character or commitments would otherwise dispose him to reject the acthellip circumstanceshellip prevent the adequate fulfillment of two valid ethical claims

N U S S B A U M 2 5

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

[Aeschylus in Agamemnon] shows us not so much a solution to the problem of practical conflict as the richness and depth of the problem itself (This achievement is closely connected with his poetic resources which put the scene vividly before us show us debate about it and evoke in us responses important to its assessment)

The best the agent can do is to have his suffering the natural expression of his goodness of character and not to stifle these responses out of misguided optimism The best we (the Chorus) can do for him is to respect the gravity of his predicament to respect the responses that express his goodness and to think about his case as showing a possibility for human life in general

N U S S B A U M 4 9 - 5 0

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

bull In a world that allows such dilemmas are there truly gods with a coherent vision for the world

bull Can individual reason and ingenuity suffice for a good life

T H E S O P H I S T SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Hesiod Works amp Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale Piteously she transfixed by his crooked claws was lamenting When the imperious hawk addressed her in arrogant parlance Why little lady such shrieks One stronger than you now has got you Where you are going Ill take you myself though you are a songstress For as I please Ill make you my dinner or give you your freedom Witless is one who attempts to strive against those who are stronger When he is stripped of the prize its injury added to insult Thus said the fast-flying hawk that bird with the generous wing-spanPay more attention to justice and curb high-handedness [brother] Violence ill suits men who are lowly not even the noble Man can lightly endure it it weighs on a person whos fallen Into affliction Its better to take your way on the other Road which conduces to right For outrage (hubris) surrenders to

justice (dikē)hellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Thucydides History 584-116 The Melian Dialogue ATHENIANS [Y]ou know as well as we do that when these matters are discussed by practical people the standard of justice depends on the equality of power to compel and that in fact the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they musthellip Our opinion of the gods and our knowledge of men lead us to conclude that it is a general and necessary law of nature to rule whatever one can This is not a law that we made ourselves nor were we the first to act upon it when it was made We found it already in existence and we shall leave it to exist for ever among those who come after us

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos

advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Republic I 343A-D Thrasymachusrsquo complaint Tell me Socrates do you still have a wet nursehellip Because shersquos letting you run around with a snotty nose and doesnrsquot wipe it when she needs tohellip You think that shepherds and cowherds seek the good of their sheep and cattle and fatten them and take care of them looking to something other than their masterrsquos good and their own Moreover you believe that rulershellip think of something besides their own advantage You are so far from understandinghellip that you donrsquot realize that justice is really the good of another the advantage of the stronger and the ruler and harmful to the one who obeys and serves Injustice is the opposite it rules the truly simple and just and those it rules do what is to the advantage of the other and stronger and they make the one they serve happy but themselves not at all You must look at it as follows my most simple Socrates A just man always gets less than an unjust onehellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Gorgias 482C-484C Callicles on nature and convention [Y]oursquore in fact bringing the discussion around to the sort of crowd-pleasing vulgarities that are admirable only by law [nomos also translatable ldquoconventionrdquo or ldquocustomrdquo] and not by nature And these nature and law are for the most part opposed to each otherhellip I believe that the people who institute our laws are the weak and the many So they institute laws and assign praise and blame with themselves and their own advantage in mind As a way of frightening the more powerfulhellip out of getting a greater share than they they say that getting more than onersquos share is ldquoshamefulrdquo and ldquounjusthelliprdquo But surely if a man whose nature is equal to it arises he will shake off tear apart and escape all this he will trample underfoot our documents our tricks and charms and all our laws that violate nature He the slave will rise up and be revealed as our master and here the justice of nature will shine forth

The New Teachers of Athens

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

P R E - S O C R AT I C ldquo P H I L O S O P H E R S 6 T H - 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

P R E - S O C R AT I C P H I L O S O P H E R S

bull Though not usually calling themselves ldquophilosophersrdquo they seemed to have contributed inspiration for Socratesrsquo method of free inquiry applying logos

bull Scholars adopt different views of what constitutes their innovation and ldquophilosophicalrdquo method (see readings)

bull Basing views on argument and evidence

bull De-ldquomythologizationrdquo

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Miletus

E A R LY P H I L O S O P H Y A N C I E N T M I L E T U S

M I L E T U S

bull Wealthy city-state in Asia Minor

bull Key city for trading and shipping between Near East amp Greece

bull Ionian Greek culture

bull Freedom of thought

bull Open political debate

bull Wealth (for some) providing leisure

bull Thales and his successors Anaximander Anaximenes

bull ldquoPhilosophicalrdquo investigation

bull Later Presocratics Heraclitus ParmenidesldquoORIENTALIZINGrdquo POTTERY

The Milesian school strikes a new note unheard before It has a fresh sense of the meaning of truth ndash a feeling for the sort of thing it is reasonable to suppose The hypothesis it characteristically deals in is concerned with the nature of the one primary stuff the Milesians seem to make a great conscious effort to get at something which really does exist They strike us as throwing off the vast symbolic visions of mythology and waking clear-headed to see and touch real things If we have a rational temperament we feel at once a refreshment Here at last is a statement about the world which is meant and offered as true ndash a logos [explanation] not a mythos [story]

ndash F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952 ed) 42

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The questions which excited them were of this kind Can this apparently confused and disordered world be reduced to simpler principles so that our reason can grasp what it is and how it works What is it made of How does change take place They abandoned mythological and substituted intellectual solutions [It] was no longer satisfying to say that storms were roused by the wrath of Poseidon or death caused by the arrows of Apollo or Artemis A world ruled by anthropomorphic gods human in their passions was a world ruled by caprice Philosophy and science start with the bold confession of faith that not caprice but an inherent orderliness underlies the phenomena and the explanation of nature is to be sought within nature itself ndashWKC Guthrie History of Greek Philosophy (Cambridge 1969) 1 44-45

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

Thales of Miletus

bull Lived late 7th-6th centurybull Born to a Phoenician aristocratic

family ndash so leisurebull Traveled to Egypt and Babylon (by

tradition)bull Legendary wisdombull ldquoFounder of Western philosophyrdquo

bull First to seek an ldquooriginal causerdquo (archecirc)

bull to explain how unseen facts caused visible results without appeal to mythology

bull To provide generalizable proofs or laws

Thales of Miletus

AstronomyMathematicsWater as the archecircAll things are full of gods

bull Traditionally Thalesrsquo star student

bull 25 years old during Thalesrsquo eclipse (585 BCE)

bull Lived c 610-540 BCE

bull ldquoFirst to draw the inhabited world on a tabletrdquo (first mapmaker)

bull Unambiguously our first ldquophilosopherrdquo by standards of demythologization originality generality and observation

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

ldquoAnaximander has expurgated the supernatural with a boldness and completeness to which many of his successors failed to attain The primary order is still said to be lsquoaccording to what is ordainedrsquo it is still a moral order in which Justice prevails but the will of the personal God has disappeared and its place is partly taken by a natural cause the eternal motionrdquo

- F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952) 41 Anaximander relief 1st century AD

Rome Museo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Key contributions

bull Physics the archecircbull Cosmologybull ldquoEvolutionrdquobull Astronomy and Cartography

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Anaximander said that the APEIRON [indefinite unlimited] was the ARCHE and the element of things that are and he was the first to introduce this name for the ARCHE He says that the ARCHE is neither water nor any other of the things called elements but some other nature called APEIRON out of which come to be all the heavens and the worlds in them (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2413-18)

The things that are perish into the things out of which they come to be according to necessity for ldquothey pay penalty and retribution to one another according to their injustice in accordance with the ordering of timerdquo as he says in rather poetical language (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2418-21)

Anaximander of Miletus

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The ARCHE

bull One and unlimitedbull But not undefined Itrsquos AIR

Anaximenes of Miletus

bull Not opposites but a continuum FIRE AIR larr WIND larr CLOUD larr WATER larr EARTH larr STONEbull ldquoLooseningrdquo and ldquotighteningrdquo explain hot and cold

H E R A C L I T U S B 1 0 1 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 3 7 )

I searched out myself

Listening not to me but to the logos it is wise to agree that all things are one

H E R A C L I T U S B 5 0 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 1 1 )

E X A M P L E S

THE ROAD TO PHILOSOP HY

The Hero of Lyric Poets of the Polis (6th century)

bull According to the lyric poets of the polis culture such as Pindar Simonides Tyrtaeus and Sappho (7th-6th century BCE)

bull Pursues collective good of the polis based on strong ties of interdependent responsibility amp cooperation in a just world governed by the gods

Individual Freedom The ldquoSophistsrdquo (5th century)

bull Sources in thinkers like Protagoras and Gorgias (5th century BCE predominantly working in Athens) constructed as a category by Platorsquos later writings

bull Pursues individual advantage based on their personal beliefs and wits using persuasion and power skepticism of traditional values

Vulnerability The Hero of Tragedy (5th century)

bull Iconic examples include Sophoclesrsquo Oedipus and Aeschylusrsquo Agamemnon and Orestes

bull Pursuit of individual amp collective good in a world of apparently conflicting divine values sometimes hampered by their own lack of self-knowledge

I N T E R D E P E N D E N C Y I N T R O D U C E S V U L N E R A B I L I T Y W H I C H M AY B E

C E L E B R AT E D O R R E S I S T E D

The Hero of Epic Homer and Hesiod (8th century)

bull Found in the epic Iliad and Odyssey attributed to Homer (c 8th century BCE) examples include the powerful Achilles and thoughtful persuasive Odysseus

bull Pursues individual honour (timē) in a just world governed by the gods

CH

IGI V

AS

E C

70

0 B

CE

The Hero of Reason The ldquoPresocratics (6th-5th cent)

bull Founding figures including Thales Anaximander Anaximenes Pythagoras Heraclitus Parmenides Seeking to understand the basic original causes (aitiai) of the world through reason

I S T H E W O R L D G E N U I N E LY

I N T E L L I G I B L E T O R E A S O N

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Born in Athens to a stonemason named Sophroniscus in 469 BCE

bull ldquoSocratic problemrdquo Socrates wrote nothing we know about him through Plato Xenophon and Aristophanes whose accounts vary

bull Conversed with anyone ldquorich or poor citizen or foreignerrdquo (Apology 23C)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Non-conformity reliance on individual values and wits (contrast with the earlier poets and rhapsodes)

bull Claims of ignorance interest in shared truth and not only persuasion and resistance of ldquoselfish morality (contrast with the sophists)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Methods based on question and answer (the elenchus) requiring unity or consistency (a) of onersquos beliefs and (b) of onersquos beliefs and actions

bull Behaviour peculiar enough to warrant its own verb (sōkratein) (Arist Birds 1282) before generalized philosophia

bull Brought to trial in 399 BCE by two Athenians Meletus and Anytus charged with ldquoimpiety and corrupting the youngrdquo

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

S O C R AT E S C R I T O 4 6 A

I am the kind of person who listens to nothing within me but the logos that on reflection seems

best to me

L O G O S R E A S O N VA L U E C O N S C I E N C E M E A N I N G

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousness A sense of such significances that what is great is fragile and that what is necessary may be destructive which is present in the literature of the fifth century and earlier has disappeared [later] from the ethics of the philosophers and perhaps altogether from their minds Greek philosophy in its sustained pursuit of rational self-sufficiency does turn its back on kinds of human experience and human necessity of which Greek literature itself offers the purest if not the richest expression

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y A N D P H I L O S O P H Y

The continuity between Greek tragedy and Greek philosophy on these questions is however far greater than Williams has allowed On the one hand inside tragedy itself we find arresting portrayals of the human ambition to rational self-sufficiency we come to understand the ways in which problems of exposure motivate this ambition On the other Platos philosophical search for a self- sufficient good life is motivated by a keen sense of these same problems Far from having forgotten about what tragedy describes he sees the problems of exposure so clearly that only a radical solution seems adequate to their depth Nor is he naiumlve about the costs of this solution

N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y P R A C T I C A L C O N F L I C T

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identical which is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A)

Socrates ldquoencourages Euthyphro [a pious Greek] to revise tradition by considering as binding only those requirements concerning which there is divine unanimity he expresses further his own doubt as to whether gods really do disagreerdquo (Nussbaum 30)

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identicalwhich is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A Nussbaum 25)

H O M E R I L I A D 9 4 1 0 - 4 1 6

For my mother Thetis the goddess of the silver feet tells me I carry two sorts of destiny toward the day of my death Either

if I stay here and fight beside the city of the Trojans my return home is gone but my glory (kleos) shall be everlasting

but if I return home to the beloved land of my fathers the excellence (esthlon) of my glory is gone but there will be a long life

left for me and my end in death will not come to me quickly

P I N D A R P Y T H 8 9 5 - 9 7

Creatures of the passing day What is any one What is any one not Shadows dream is man But when the radiance given of Zeus comes

there is a bright light upon men and life is sweet

A R E TĒ T I MĒ K L E O S

T H E Q U E S T F O R I M M O R TA L I T Y

S C E N E F R O M T R O Y ( W B 2 0 0 4 ) A C H I L L E S S U M M O N E D B Y A G A M E M N O N Y O U T U B E C O M W AT C H V = R 7 2 K B D G R T D 4

S C E N E F R O M T R O Y ( W B 2 0 0 4 ) A C H I L L E S A N D H E C T O R D U E L Y O U T U B E C O M W AT C H V = N Q 6 2 F R K 7 4 U 0

Athena Achilles Hector Apollo

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Divine causation

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

A G A M E M N O N AT H O M E R I L I A D 1 1 8 1 - 1 8 7

hellip[H]ere is my threat to you Even as Phoibos Apollo is taking away my Chryseis

hellip I shall take the fair-cheeked Briseis your prize I myself going to your shelter that you may learn well how much greater I am than you and another man may shrink back

from likening himself to me and contending against mersquo

A C H I L L E S AT H O M E R I L I A D 9 6 4 6 - 4 8 S E E A L S O 1 6 5 9

Yet still the heart in me swells up in anger when I remember the disgrace that he wrought upon me before the Argives

the son of Atreus as if I were some wanderer without honour (atimētos metanastēs)

Achilleus in amazement turned about and straightway knew Pallas Athene and the terrible eyes shining

He uttered winged words and addressed her Why have you come now o child of Zeus of the aegis once more Is it that you may see

the outrageousness (hubris) of the son of Atreus Agamemnonrsquohellip

A C H I L L E S AT H O M E R I L I A D 1 1 9 9 - 2 0 3

O D Y S S E U S AT H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 2 2 3 5 - 4 1

You dogs You never thought Id come back home from the kingdom of the Trojans so you ravaged my house

lay in bed by force beside my women slaves my women and wooed my wife illicitly though I was alive

fearing neither the gods who hold wide heaven nor that thered be any mens censure thereafter

Now the moment of destruction hangs over you one and all

The slaughter of the suitors by Odysseus and Telemachus 1812 Louis Vincent Palliere

Death of the suitors Athenian red-figure cup c 450-440 BC

A W H A D K I N S ldquo H O M E R I C E T H I C S rdquo I N I M O R R I S amp B P O W E L L ( E D S )

A N E W C O M PA N I O N T O H O M E R ( B R I L L 1 9 9 6 ) 7 0 4 - 5

ldquoThe Homeric hero deprived of any significant quantity of timē reacts violently

aware as he is of the bottom of the scale [the metanastēs]hellip the primary function of the

agathos [good person hero] is to defend his timē with all the resources at his commandrdquo

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Divine causation

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

H U B R I S N E M E S I S

Nemesis by Gheorghe Tattarescu (1853)

Hesiod Works amp Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

Piteously she transfixed by his crooked claws was lamenting When the imperious hawk addressed her in arrogant parlance Why little lady such shrieks One stronger than you now has got you Where you are going Ill take you myself though you are a songstress For as I please Ill make you my dinner or give you your freedom Witless is one who attempts to strive against those who are stronger When he is stripped of the prize its injury added to insult Thus said the fast-flying hawk that bird with the generous wing-span

Pay more attention to justice and curb high-handedness [brother] Violence ill suits those who are lowly not even the noble Person can lightly endure it it weighs on a person whos fallen Into affliction Its better to take your way on the other Road which conduces to right For outrage (hubris) surrenders to justice (dikē)hellip

W E A R E I N Z E U S rsquo JUST W O R L D D E S C R I B E D I N THEOGONY

S I D E B A R D I V I N E C A U S AT I O N

bull The Homeric and Hesiodic herorsquos individual mission only makes sense in a world governed by gods (theoi)

bull Homer Iliad The gods are primarily responsiblecausal of events (aitios)

bull Early Greek science begins here theoi subsequently naturalized as consistent patterns of regularity in human and natural experience (elements laws)

bull Homer Odyssey Humans are (also) responsiblecausal for our own actions

bull How do we use our freedom

AT H E N A A N D O D Y S S E U S T H E O D Y S S E Y ( N B C 1 9 9 7 )

H O M E R I L I A D 5 1 2 3

Athena drew near to his side and spoke to him in winged words Have courage for I have drawn the mist from your eyes

that you may discern in truth gods from humans

So they spoke but Priam aloud called out to Helen Come over where I am dear child and sit down beside me

to look at your husband of time past your friends and your people I am not blaming you (ou ti moi aitiē essi) to me the gods are

responsible (theoihellipaitioi) who drove upon me this sorrowful war against the Achaians

H O M E R I L I A D 3 1 6 4

S I D E B A R D I V I N E C A U S AT I O N

Zeus is probably responsible (aitios) who gives to men who work for bread to each one however he wishes

H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 1 3 4 8 [ T E L E M A C H U S S P E A K S ]

How mortals now blame [from aitios] gods for they say that evils are from us Yet they themselves

have woes beyond their lot by their own recklessnesshellip

H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 1 3 2 [ Z E U S S P E A K S ]

Tell me of these things Muses that dwell on the heights of Olympus From the origin (archē) and say which first of them came into beinghellip

H E S I O D T H E O G O N Y 1 1 4

Responsibility lies with the one who makes the choice the god is blameless (theos anaitios)

P L AT O R E P U B L I C 1 0 6 1 7 E

S I D E B A R D I V I N E C A U S AT I O N

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Divine causation

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

O D Y S S E U S T O P O LY P H E M U S H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 9 2 6 9 - 7 1

But revere the gods most noble one We are supplicants (hiketai) to you Zeus is the avenger (epitimētōr) of suppliants and strangers

the guest god who attends venerable strangers

W E A R E I N Z E U S rsquo W O R L D ( A S D E S C R I B E D I N THEOGONY )

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

T H E LY R I C P O E T SC 6 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Pindar of Thebes

Simonides of Ceos

Sappho of Lesbos

LY R I C I N T R O D U C T I O N

bull Occasional poetry

bull Often sung to the lyre (lyrē) in varied meters

bull CHORAL LYRIC

bull Dancing choruses at religious festivals contests family events

bull Enforcing collective civic values

bull MONODIC LYRIC

bull Individual performance

bull Personal in emotion amp outlookBrygos Painter c 490 BCE

Sappho and Alcaeus

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

Creatures of the passing day What is any one What is any one not Shadows dream is man But when the radiance given of Zeus comes

there is a bright light upon men and life is sweet

P I N D A R P Y T H 8 9 5 - 9 7

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

I praise and embrace everyone who willingly does nothing base (aischron) but with necessity not even the gods fight A man not too helpless suffices for me one who knows the justice that benefits the

city (polis) a sound and healthy man I will not lay blame for the generation of fools is limitless Everything is noble (kala) with which

base deeds are not mingled

S I M O N I D E S 5 4 2 2 7 - 4 0

Simonides is criticizing the traditional definition of the good noble or successful man (agathos esthlos) Such goodness or nobility depends upon external achievements and possessions (wealth honour prowess in battle) which are too insecure to form a real basis for human excellence Instead Simonides stresses intention justice that benefits the city acknowledgement of the fragility of lifehellip

C S E G A L ldquo C H O R A L LY R I C I N T H E F I F T H C E N T U R Y rdquo I N P E E A S T E R L I N G amp B M W K N O X T H E C A M B R I D G E H I S T O R Y O F

C L A S S I C A L L I T E R AT U R E I ( C A M B R I D G E 2 0 0 8 ) 2 2 4

LY R I C C O N T E X T

Hoplites in phalanx formation From the Chigi Vase proto-Corinthian pitcher ca 650-640 BC

3 0 0 ( W A R N E R B R O S 2 0 0 6 ) ldquo W H AT I S Y O U R P R O F E S S I O N rdquo

W W W Y O U T U B E C O M W AT C H V = A N A 3 C O 8 3 _ G K

3 0 0 ( W A R N E R B R O S 2 0 0 6 ) ldquo F I G H T I N T H E S H A D E rdquo

Y O U T U B E 4 J K P G D D M A R S T = 1 2 4

τοιόνδ ἄνθος Περσίδος αἴας οἴχεται ἀνδρῶν

οὓς πέρι πᾶσα χθὼν Ἀσιῆτις ρέψασα πόθῳ στένεται microαλερῷ τοκέης τ ἄλοχοί θ ἡmicroερολεγδὸν τείνοντα χρόνον τροmicroέονται

A E S C H Y L U S P E R S A I 5 9 - 6 4 C P I L I A D 9 4 1 0 - 1 6

S E E C A S E Y D U Eacute T H E C A P T I V E W O M A N rsquo S L A M E N T I N G R E E K T R A G E DY C H 2

Such is the flower [anthos] of the Persian land such is the flower of men that has disappeared

The entire land of Asia laments the men she nourished with fierce

longing [pothos] Parents and wives counting the days

tremble at the increasing length of time

P I N D A R

bull Born near Thebes c 518 BCE

bull Composed important epinician odes (epi-nikia for-a-victory in a contest)

bull Depicts the gods as maintaining civic values of justice (O 1 P 1-3 P 8) compassionate (N 10) and forgiving (O 7456) guardians of polis morality

bull Celebrated ldquoroughrdquo style

bull ldquoA soaring eaglehellip a rushing streamrdquo (Horace Od 42) ldquoA vast firerdquo (Longinus Sublime 335)

Bust of the lyric poet Pindar Roman copy from original of the mid-5 century BC

F I F T H - C E N T U R Y C H O R A L LY R I C

A C O R N T O O A K T R E E N E I L B R O M H A L L bull y o u t u b e Z K 4 L j U R t a D w

Some people pray for gold others for limitless lands but I pray to please my fellow citizens and then to cover my limbs in earth

having praised the praiseworthy and scattered reproof on the wicked Excellence soars upward like a tree fed on fresh dews

lifted among the wise and just toward the liquid upper air The need for friends comes in many forms

it is most valued in times of trouble but joy too craves to look upon trusty support

P I N D A R N E M E A N 8 3 6 - 4 3

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

F R A G I L I T Ybull How can we be praiseworthy if we are vulnerable (to circumstances)

bull [The poetic world-view and Pindarrsquos career as praise poet of aretē require] ldquothe belief that the excellence of a good person is something of that persons own for whose possession and exercise that person can appropriately be held accountablerdquo (Nussbaum 1)

bull But ldquoHow can we be givers and receivers of praise if our worth ishellip a plant in need of wateringrdquo (2)

bull ldquoWe need to be born with adequate capacities to live in fostering natural and social circumstances to stay clear of abrupt catastrophe to develop confirming associations with other human beingsrdquo (1)

bull A further complication ldquoThe tenderness of a plant is not the dazzling hardness of a gemrdquo perhaps ldquopart of the peculiar beauty of human excellence just is its vulnerabilityrdquo (2)

M A R T H A N U S S B A U M T H E F R A G I L I T Y O F G O O D N E S S C H 1 L U C K amp E T H I C S

T H E P O W E R O F R E A S O N [T]here is the consolation that so far Pindar has apparently left something out However much human beings resemble lower forms of life we are unlike we want to insist in one crucial respect We have reason We are able to deliberate and choose to make a plan in which ends are ranked to decide actively what is to have value and how much All this must count for something If it is true that a lot about us is messy needy uncontrolled rooted in the dirt and standing helplessly in the rain it is also true that there is something about us that is pure and purely active something that we could think of as divine immortal intelligible unitary indissoluble ever self-consistent and invariablelsquo [Plato Phaedo 80B] It seems possible that this rational element in us can rule and guide the rest thereby saving the whole person from living at the mercy of luck

N U S S B A U M F R A G I L I T Y 2

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S S O P H I S T S A N D T R A G E D I A N SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Athens

AT H E N S rsquo A C R O P O L I S A S I M A G I N E D B Y L E O V O N K L E N Z E O I L O N C A N VA S 1 8 4 6 N E U E P I N A K O T H E K

A S S A S S I N rsquo S C R E E D O D Y S S E Y bull A T O U R O F AT H E N S U B I S O F T ( 2 0 1 8 )

bull Athens is the first lsquopeople-ruledrsquo polis (dēmokratia) in the Mediterranean world

bull She has achieved unchallenged naval authority and an empire which is labeled a lsquocommonwealthrsquo

bull At the commercial and cultural crossroads of Italy Greece Egypt and the Near East

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

S P E E C H A N D D E M O C R A C Y

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

bull In this cosmopolitan environment traditional views are challenged leading to a perceived erosion of moral values

bull The rhapsodes use poetic forms to transmit traditional morality

bull The tragedians use poetic forms to explore amp challenge mythrsquos assumptions

bull The sophists teach ldquowisdomrdquo (sophia) including rhetoric and political oratory perceived as a new lsquotechnologyrsquo to steer the ship of state for onersquos own ends

bull Use onersquos own wits ldquoA person is the measure of all thingsrdquo Protagoras B1

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

T R A G E D Y V U L N E R A B I L I T Y A N D R E A S O NC 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E AT H E N S

Aeschylus Agamemnon (458 BCE) and Euripides Iphigeneia at Aulis (405 BCE) The Sacrifice of Iphigeneia by Francesco Fontebasso bull 1749 oil on canvas

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousnesshellip what is great is fragile andhellip what is necessary may be destructivehellip

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

In such cases we see a wrong action committed without any direct physical compulsion and in full knowledge of its nature by a person whose ethical character or commitments would otherwise dispose him to reject the acthellip circumstanceshellip prevent the adequate fulfillment of two valid ethical claims

N U S S B A U M 2 5

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

[Aeschylus in Agamemnon] shows us not so much a solution to the problem of practical conflict as the richness and depth of the problem itself (This achievement is closely connected with his poetic resources which put the scene vividly before us show us debate about it and evoke in us responses important to its assessment)

The best the agent can do is to have his suffering the natural expression of his goodness of character and not to stifle these responses out of misguided optimism The best we (the Chorus) can do for him is to respect the gravity of his predicament to respect the responses that express his goodness and to think about his case as showing a possibility for human life in general

N U S S B A U M 4 9 - 5 0

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

bull In a world that allows such dilemmas are there truly gods with a coherent vision for the world

bull Can individual reason and ingenuity suffice for a good life

T H E S O P H I S T SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Hesiod Works amp Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale Piteously she transfixed by his crooked claws was lamenting When the imperious hawk addressed her in arrogant parlance Why little lady such shrieks One stronger than you now has got you Where you are going Ill take you myself though you are a songstress For as I please Ill make you my dinner or give you your freedom Witless is one who attempts to strive against those who are stronger When he is stripped of the prize its injury added to insult Thus said the fast-flying hawk that bird with the generous wing-spanPay more attention to justice and curb high-handedness [brother] Violence ill suits men who are lowly not even the noble Man can lightly endure it it weighs on a person whos fallen Into affliction Its better to take your way on the other Road which conduces to right For outrage (hubris) surrenders to

justice (dikē)hellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Thucydides History 584-116 The Melian Dialogue ATHENIANS [Y]ou know as well as we do that when these matters are discussed by practical people the standard of justice depends on the equality of power to compel and that in fact the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they musthellip Our opinion of the gods and our knowledge of men lead us to conclude that it is a general and necessary law of nature to rule whatever one can This is not a law that we made ourselves nor were we the first to act upon it when it was made We found it already in existence and we shall leave it to exist for ever among those who come after us

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos

advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Republic I 343A-D Thrasymachusrsquo complaint Tell me Socrates do you still have a wet nursehellip Because shersquos letting you run around with a snotty nose and doesnrsquot wipe it when she needs tohellip You think that shepherds and cowherds seek the good of their sheep and cattle and fatten them and take care of them looking to something other than their masterrsquos good and their own Moreover you believe that rulershellip think of something besides their own advantage You are so far from understandinghellip that you donrsquot realize that justice is really the good of another the advantage of the stronger and the ruler and harmful to the one who obeys and serves Injustice is the opposite it rules the truly simple and just and those it rules do what is to the advantage of the other and stronger and they make the one they serve happy but themselves not at all You must look at it as follows my most simple Socrates A just man always gets less than an unjust onehellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Gorgias 482C-484C Callicles on nature and convention [Y]oursquore in fact bringing the discussion around to the sort of crowd-pleasing vulgarities that are admirable only by law [nomos also translatable ldquoconventionrdquo or ldquocustomrdquo] and not by nature And these nature and law are for the most part opposed to each otherhellip I believe that the people who institute our laws are the weak and the many So they institute laws and assign praise and blame with themselves and their own advantage in mind As a way of frightening the more powerfulhellip out of getting a greater share than they they say that getting more than onersquos share is ldquoshamefulrdquo and ldquounjusthelliprdquo But surely if a man whose nature is equal to it arises he will shake off tear apart and escape all this he will trample underfoot our documents our tricks and charms and all our laws that violate nature He the slave will rise up and be revealed as our master and here the justice of nature will shine forth

The New Teachers of Athens

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

P R E - S O C R AT I C ldquo P H I L O S O P H E R S 6 T H - 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

P R E - S O C R AT I C P H I L O S O P H E R S

bull Though not usually calling themselves ldquophilosophersrdquo they seemed to have contributed inspiration for Socratesrsquo method of free inquiry applying logos

bull Scholars adopt different views of what constitutes their innovation and ldquophilosophicalrdquo method (see readings)

bull Basing views on argument and evidence

bull De-ldquomythologizationrdquo

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Miletus

E A R LY P H I L O S O P H Y A N C I E N T M I L E T U S

M I L E T U S

bull Wealthy city-state in Asia Minor

bull Key city for trading and shipping between Near East amp Greece

bull Ionian Greek culture

bull Freedom of thought

bull Open political debate

bull Wealth (for some) providing leisure

bull Thales and his successors Anaximander Anaximenes

bull ldquoPhilosophicalrdquo investigation

bull Later Presocratics Heraclitus ParmenidesldquoORIENTALIZINGrdquo POTTERY

The Milesian school strikes a new note unheard before It has a fresh sense of the meaning of truth ndash a feeling for the sort of thing it is reasonable to suppose The hypothesis it characteristically deals in is concerned with the nature of the one primary stuff the Milesians seem to make a great conscious effort to get at something which really does exist They strike us as throwing off the vast symbolic visions of mythology and waking clear-headed to see and touch real things If we have a rational temperament we feel at once a refreshment Here at last is a statement about the world which is meant and offered as true ndash a logos [explanation] not a mythos [story]

ndash F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952 ed) 42

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The questions which excited them were of this kind Can this apparently confused and disordered world be reduced to simpler principles so that our reason can grasp what it is and how it works What is it made of How does change take place They abandoned mythological and substituted intellectual solutions [It] was no longer satisfying to say that storms were roused by the wrath of Poseidon or death caused by the arrows of Apollo or Artemis A world ruled by anthropomorphic gods human in their passions was a world ruled by caprice Philosophy and science start with the bold confession of faith that not caprice but an inherent orderliness underlies the phenomena and the explanation of nature is to be sought within nature itself ndashWKC Guthrie History of Greek Philosophy (Cambridge 1969) 1 44-45

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

Thales of Miletus

bull Lived late 7th-6th centurybull Born to a Phoenician aristocratic

family ndash so leisurebull Traveled to Egypt and Babylon (by

tradition)bull Legendary wisdombull ldquoFounder of Western philosophyrdquo

bull First to seek an ldquooriginal causerdquo (archecirc)

bull to explain how unseen facts caused visible results without appeal to mythology

bull To provide generalizable proofs or laws

Thales of Miletus

AstronomyMathematicsWater as the archecircAll things are full of gods

bull Traditionally Thalesrsquo star student

bull 25 years old during Thalesrsquo eclipse (585 BCE)

bull Lived c 610-540 BCE

bull ldquoFirst to draw the inhabited world on a tabletrdquo (first mapmaker)

bull Unambiguously our first ldquophilosopherrdquo by standards of demythologization originality generality and observation

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

ldquoAnaximander has expurgated the supernatural with a boldness and completeness to which many of his successors failed to attain The primary order is still said to be lsquoaccording to what is ordainedrsquo it is still a moral order in which Justice prevails but the will of the personal God has disappeared and its place is partly taken by a natural cause the eternal motionrdquo

- F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952) 41 Anaximander relief 1st century AD

Rome Museo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Key contributions

bull Physics the archecircbull Cosmologybull ldquoEvolutionrdquobull Astronomy and Cartography

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Anaximander said that the APEIRON [indefinite unlimited] was the ARCHE and the element of things that are and he was the first to introduce this name for the ARCHE He says that the ARCHE is neither water nor any other of the things called elements but some other nature called APEIRON out of which come to be all the heavens and the worlds in them (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2413-18)

The things that are perish into the things out of which they come to be according to necessity for ldquothey pay penalty and retribution to one another according to their injustice in accordance with the ordering of timerdquo as he says in rather poetical language (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2418-21)

Anaximander of Miletus

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The ARCHE

bull One and unlimitedbull But not undefined Itrsquos AIR

Anaximenes of Miletus

bull Not opposites but a continuum FIRE AIR larr WIND larr CLOUD larr WATER larr EARTH larr STONEbull ldquoLooseningrdquo and ldquotighteningrdquo explain hot and cold

H E R A C L I T U S B 1 0 1 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 3 7 )

I searched out myself

Listening not to me but to the logos it is wise to agree that all things are one

H E R A C L I T U S B 5 0 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 1 1 )

E X A M P L E S

THE ROAD TO PHILOSOP HY

The Hero of Lyric Poets of the Polis (6th century)

bull According to the lyric poets of the polis culture such as Pindar Simonides Tyrtaeus and Sappho (7th-6th century BCE)

bull Pursues collective good of the polis based on strong ties of interdependent responsibility amp cooperation in a just world governed by the gods

Individual Freedom The ldquoSophistsrdquo (5th century)

bull Sources in thinkers like Protagoras and Gorgias (5th century BCE predominantly working in Athens) constructed as a category by Platorsquos later writings

bull Pursues individual advantage based on their personal beliefs and wits using persuasion and power skepticism of traditional values

Vulnerability The Hero of Tragedy (5th century)

bull Iconic examples include Sophoclesrsquo Oedipus and Aeschylusrsquo Agamemnon and Orestes

bull Pursuit of individual amp collective good in a world of apparently conflicting divine values sometimes hampered by their own lack of self-knowledge

I N T E R D E P E N D E N C Y I N T R O D U C E S V U L N E R A B I L I T Y W H I C H M AY B E

C E L E B R AT E D O R R E S I S T E D

The Hero of Epic Homer and Hesiod (8th century)

bull Found in the epic Iliad and Odyssey attributed to Homer (c 8th century BCE) examples include the powerful Achilles and thoughtful persuasive Odysseus

bull Pursues individual honour (timē) in a just world governed by the gods

CH

IGI V

AS

E C

70

0 B

CE

The Hero of Reason The ldquoPresocratics (6th-5th cent)

bull Founding figures including Thales Anaximander Anaximenes Pythagoras Heraclitus Parmenides Seeking to understand the basic original causes (aitiai) of the world through reason

I S T H E W O R L D G E N U I N E LY

I N T E L L I G I B L E T O R E A S O N

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Born in Athens to a stonemason named Sophroniscus in 469 BCE

bull ldquoSocratic problemrdquo Socrates wrote nothing we know about him through Plato Xenophon and Aristophanes whose accounts vary

bull Conversed with anyone ldquorich or poor citizen or foreignerrdquo (Apology 23C)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Non-conformity reliance on individual values and wits (contrast with the earlier poets and rhapsodes)

bull Claims of ignorance interest in shared truth and not only persuasion and resistance of ldquoselfish morality (contrast with the sophists)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Methods based on question and answer (the elenchus) requiring unity or consistency (a) of onersquos beliefs and (b) of onersquos beliefs and actions

bull Behaviour peculiar enough to warrant its own verb (sōkratein) (Arist Birds 1282) before generalized philosophia

bull Brought to trial in 399 BCE by two Athenians Meletus and Anytus charged with ldquoimpiety and corrupting the youngrdquo

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

S O C R AT E S C R I T O 4 6 A

I am the kind of person who listens to nothing within me but the logos that on reflection seems

best to me

L O G O S R E A S O N VA L U E C O N S C I E N C E M E A N I N G

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousness A sense of such significances that what is great is fragile and that what is necessary may be destructive which is present in the literature of the fifth century and earlier has disappeared [later] from the ethics of the philosophers and perhaps altogether from their minds Greek philosophy in its sustained pursuit of rational self-sufficiency does turn its back on kinds of human experience and human necessity of which Greek literature itself offers the purest if not the richest expression

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y A N D P H I L O S O P H Y

The continuity between Greek tragedy and Greek philosophy on these questions is however far greater than Williams has allowed On the one hand inside tragedy itself we find arresting portrayals of the human ambition to rational self-sufficiency we come to understand the ways in which problems of exposure motivate this ambition On the other Platos philosophical search for a self- sufficient good life is motivated by a keen sense of these same problems Far from having forgotten about what tragedy describes he sees the problems of exposure so clearly that only a radical solution seems adequate to their depth Nor is he naiumlve about the costs of this solution

N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y P R A C T I C A L C O N F L I C T

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identical which is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A)

Socrates ldquoencourages Euthyphro [a pious Greek] to revise tradition by considering as binding only those requirements concerning which there is divine unanimity he expresses further his own doubt as to whether gods really do disagreerdquo (Nussbaum 30)

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identicalwhich is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A Nussbaum 25)

P I N D A R P Y T H 8 9 5 - 9 7

Creatures of the passing day What is any one What is any one not Shadows dream is man But when the radiance given of Zeus comes

there is a bright light upon men and life is sweet

A R E TĒ T I MĒ K L E O S

T H E Q U E S T F O R I M M O R TA L I T Y

S C E N E F R O M T R O Y ( W B 2 0 0 4 ) A C H I L L E S S U M M O N E D B Y A G A M E M N O N Y O U T U B E C O M W AT C H V = R 7 2 K B D G R T D 4

S C E N E F R O M T R O Y ( W B 2 0 0 4 ) A C H I L L E S A N D H E C T O R D U E L Y O U T U B E C O M W AT C H V = N Q 6 2 F R K 7 4 U 0

Athena Achilles Hector Apollo

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Divine causation

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

A G A M E M N O N AT H O M E R I L I A D 1 1 8 1 - 1 8 7

hellip[H]ere is my threat to you Even as Phoibos Apollo is taking away my Chryseis

hellip I shall take the fair-cheeked Briseis your prize I myself going to your shelter that you may learn well how much greater I am than you and another man may shrink back

from likening himself to me and contending against mersquo

A C H I L L E S AT H O M E R I L I A D 9 6 4 6 - 4 8 S E E A L S O 1 6 5 9

Yet still the heart in me swells up in anger when I remember the disgrace that he wrought upon me before the Argives

the son of Atreus as if I were some wanderer without honour (atimētos metanastēs)

Achilleus in amazement turned about and straightway knew Pallas Athene and the terrible eyes shining

He uttered winged words and addressed her Why have you come now o child of Zeus of the aegis once more Is it that you may see

the outrageousness (hubris) of the son of Atreus Agamemnonrsquohellip

A C H I L L E S AT H O M E R I L I A D 1 1 9 9 - 2 0 3

O D Y S S E U S AT H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 2 2 3 5 - 4 1

You dogs You never thought Id come back home from the kingdom of the Trojans so you ravaged my house

lay in bed by force beside my women slaves my women and wooed my wife illicitly though I was alive

fearing neither the gods who hold wide heaven nor that thered be any mens censure thereafter

Now the moment of destruction hangs over you one and all

The slaughter of the suitors by Odysseus and Telemachus 1812 Louis Vincent Palliere

Death of the suitors Athenian red-figure cup c 450-440 BC

A W H A D K I N S ldquo H O M E R I C E T H I C S rdquo I N I M O R R I S amp B P O W E L L ( E D S )

A N E W C O M PA N I O N T O H O M E R ( B R I L L 1 9 9 6 ) 7 0 4 - 5

ldquoThe Homeric hero deprived of any significant quantity of timē reacts violently

aware as he is of the bottom of the scale [the metanastēs]hellip the primary function of the

agathos [good person hero] is to defend his timē with all the resources at his commandrdquo

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Divine causation

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

H U B R I S N E M E S I S

Nemesis by Gheorghe Tattarescu (1853)

Hesiod Works amp Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

Piteously she transfixed by his crooked claws was lamenting When the imperious hawk addressed her in arrogant parlance Why little lady such shrieks One stronger than you now has got you Where you are going Ill take you myself though you are a songstress For as I please Ill make you my dinner or give you your freedom Witless is one who attempts to strive against those who are stronger When he is stripped of the prize its injury added to insult Thus said the fast-flying hawk that bird with the generous wing-span

Pay more attention to justice and curb high-handedness [brother] Violence ill suits those who are lowly not even the noble Person can lightly endure it it weighs on a person whos fallen Into affliction Its better to take your way on the other Road which conduces to right For outrage (hubris) surrenders to justice (dikē)hellip

W E A R E I N Z E U S rsquo JUST W O R L D D E S C R I B E D I N THEOGONY

S I D E B A R D I V I N E C A U S AT I O N

bull The Homeric and Hesiodic herorsquos individual mission only makes sense in a world governed by gods (theoi)

bull Homer Iliad The gods are primarily responsiblecausal of events (aitios)

bull Early Greek science begins here theoi subsequently naturalized as consistent patterns of regularity in human and natural experience (elements laws)

bull Homer Odyssey Humans are (also) responsiblecausal for our own actions

bull How do we use our freedom

AT H E N A A N D O D Y S S E U S T H E O D Y S S E Y ( N B C 1 9 9 7 )

H O M E R I L I A D 5 1 2 3

Athena drew near to his side and spoke to him in winged words Have courage for I have drawn the mist from your eyes

that you may discern in truth gods from humans

So they spoke but Priam aloud called out to Helen Come over where I am dear child and sit down beside me

to look at your husband of time past your friends and your people I am not blaming you (ou ti moi aitiē essi) to me the gods are

responsible (theoihellipaitioi) who drove upon me this sorrowful war against the Achaians

H O M E R I L I A D 3 1 6 4

S I D E B A R D I V I N E C A U S AT I O N

Zeus is probably responsible (aitios) who gives to men who work for bread to each one however he wishes

H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 1 3 4 8 [ T E L E M A C H U S S P E A K S ]

How mortals now blame [from aitios] gods for they say that evils are from us Yet they themselves

have woes beyond their lot by their own recklessnesshellip

H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 1 3 2 [ Z E U S S P E A K S ]

Tell me of these things Muses that dwell on the heights of Olympus From the origin (archē) and say which first of them came into beinghellip

H E S I O D T H E O G O N Y 1 1 4

Responsibility lies with the one who makes the choice the god is blameless (theos anaitios)

P L AT O R E P U B L I C 1 0 6 1 7 E

S I D E B A R D I V I N E C A U S AT I O N

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Divine causation

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

O D Y S S E U S T O P O LY P H E M U S H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 9 2 6 9 - 7 1

But revere the gods most noble one We are supplicants (hiketai) to you Zeus is the avenger (epitimētōr) of suppliants and strangers

the guest god who attends venerable strangers

W E A R E I N Z E U S rsquo W O R L D ( A S D E S C R I B E D I N THEOGONY )

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

T H E LY R I C P O E T SC 6 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Pindar of Thebes

Simonides of Ceos

Sappho of Lesbos

LY R I C I N T R O D U C T I O N

bull Occasional poetry

bull Often sung to the lyre (lyrē) in varied meters

bull CHORAL LYRIC

bull Dancing choruses at religious festivals contests family events

bull Enforcing collective civic values

bull MONODIC LYRIC

bull Individual performance

bull Personal in emotion amp outlookBrygos Painter c 490 BCE

Sappho and Alcaeus

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

Creatures of the passing day What is any one What is any one not Shadows dream is man But when the radiance given of Zeus comes

there is a bright light upon men and life is sweet

P I N D A R P Y T H 8 9 5 - 9 7

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

I praise and embrace everyone who willingly does nothing base (aischron) but with necessity not even the gods fight A man not too helpless suffices for me one who knows the justice that benefits the

city (polis) a sound and healthy man I will not lay blame for the generation of fools is limitless Everything is noble (kala) with which

base deeds are not mingled

S I M O N I D E S 5 4 2 2 7 - 4 0

Simonides is criticizing the traditional definition of the good noble or successful man (agathos esthlos) Such goodness or nobility depends upon external achievements and possessions (wealth honour prowess in battle) which are too insecure to form a real basis for human excellence Instead Simonides stresses intention justice that benefits the city acknowledgement of the fragility of lifehellip

C S E G A L ldquo C H O R A L LY R I C I N T H E F I F T H C E N T U R Y rdquo I N P E E A S T E R L I N G amp B M W K N O X T H E C A M B R I D G E H I S T O R Y O F

C L A S S I C A L L I T E R AT U R E I ( C A M B R I D G E 2 0 0 8 ) 2 2 4

LY R I C C O N T E X T

Hoplites in phalanx formation From the Chigi Vase proto-Corinthian pitcher ca 650-640 BC

3 0 0 ( W A R N E R B R O S 2 0 0 6 ) ldquo W H AT I S Y O U R P R O F E S S I O N rdquo

W W W Y O U T U B E C O M W AT C H V = A N A 3 C O 8 3 _ G K

3 0 0 ( W A R N E R B R O S 2 0 0 6 ) ldquo F I G H T I N T H E S H A D E rdquo

Y O U T U B E 4 J K P G D D M A R S T = 1 2 4

τοιόνδ ἄνθος Περσίδος αἴας οἴχεται ἀνδρῶν

οὓς πέρι πᾶσα χθὼν Ἀσιῆτις ρέψασα πόθῳ στένεται microαλερῷ τοκέης τ ἄλοχοί θ ἡmicroερολεγδὸν τείνοντα χρόνον τροmicroέονται

A E S C H Y L U S P E R S A I 5 9 - 6 4 C P I L I A D 9 4 1 0 - 1 6

S E E C A S E Y D U Eacute T H E C A P T I V E W O M A N rsquo S L A M E N T I N G R E E K T R A G E DY C H 2

Such is the flower [anthos] of the Persian land such is the flower of men that has disappeared

The entire land of Asia laments the men she nourished with fierce

longing [pothos] Parents and wives counting the days

tremble at the increasing length of time

P I N D A R

bull Born near Thebes c 518 BCE

bull Composed important epinician odes (epi-nikia for-a-victory in a contest)

bull Depicts the gods as maintaining civic values of justice (O 1 P 1-3 P 8) compassionate (N 10) and forgiving (O 7456) guardians of polis morality

bull Celebrated ldquoroughrdquo style

bull ldquoA soaring eaglehellip a rushing streamrdquo (Horace Od 42) ldquoA vast firerdquo (Longinus Sublime 335)

Bust of the lyric poet Pindar Roman copy from original of the mid-5 century BC

F I F T H - C E N T U R Y C H O R A L LY R I C

A C O R N T O O A K T R E E N E I L B R O M H A L L bull y o u t u b e Z K 4 L j U R t a D w

Some people pray for gold others for limitless lands but I pray to please my fellow citizens and then to cover my limbs in earth

having praised the praiseworthy and scattered reproof on the wicked Excellence soars upward like a tree fed on fresh dews

lifted among the wise and just toward the liquid upper air The need for friends comes in many forms

it is most valued in times of trouble but joy too craves to look upon trusty support

P I N D A R N E M E A N 8 3 6 - 4 3

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

F R A G I L I T Ybull How can we be praiseworthy if we are vulnerable (to circumstances)

bull [The poetic world-view and Pindarrsquos career as praise poet of aretē require] ldquothe belief that the excellence of a good person is something of that persons own for whose possession and exercise that person can appropriately be held accountablerdquo (Nussbaum 1)

bull But ldquoHow can we be givers and receivers of praise if our worth ishellip a plant in need of wateringrdquo (2)

bull ldquoWe need to be born with adequate capacities to live in fostering natural and social circumstances to stay clear of abrupt catastrophe to develop confirming associations with other human beingsrdquo (1)

bull A further complication ldquoThe tenderness of a plant is not the dazzling hardness of a gemrdquo perhaps ldquopart of the peculiar beauty of human excellence just is its vulnerabilityrdquo (2)

M A R T H A N U S S B A U M T H E F R A G I L I T Y O F G O O D N E S S C H 1 L U C K amp E T H I C S

T H E P O W E R O F R E A S O N [T]here is the consolation that so far Pindar has apparently left something out However much human beings resemble lower forms of life we are unlike we want to insist in one crucial respect We have reason We are able to deliberate and choose to make a plan in which ends are ranked to decide actively what is to have value and how much All this must count for something If it is true that a lot about us is messy needy uncontrolled rooted in the dirt and standing helplessly in the rain it is also true that there is something about us that is pure and purely active something that we could think of as divine immortal intelligible unitary indissoluble ever self-consistent and invariablelsquo [Plato Phaedo 80B] It seems possible that this rational element in us can rule and guide the rest thereby saving the whole person from living at the mercy of luck

N U S S B A U M F R A G I L I T Y 2

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S S O P H I S T S A N D T R A G E D I A N SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Athens

AT H E N S rsquo A C R O P O L I S A S I M A G I N E D B Y L E O V O N K L E N Z E O I L O N C A N VA S 1 8 4 6 N E U E P I N A K O T H E K

A S S A S S I N rsquo S C R E E D O D Y S S E Y bull A T O U R O F AT H E N S U B I S O F T ( 2 0 1 8 )

bull Athens is the first lsquopeople-ruledrsquo polis (dēmokratia) in the Mediterranean world

bull She has achieved unchallenged naval authority and an empire which is labeled a lsquocommonwealthrsquo

bull At the commercial and cultural crossroads of Italy Greece Egypt and the Near East

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

S P E E C H A N D D E M O C R A C Y

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

bull In this cosmopolitan environment traditional views are challenged leading to a perceived erosion of moral values

bull The rhapsodes use poetic forms to transmit traditional morality

bull The tragedians use poetic forms to explore amp challenge mythrsquos assumptions

bull The sophists teach ldquowisdomrdquo (sophia) including rhetoric and political oratory perceived as a new lsquotechnologyrsquo to steer the ship of state for onersquos own ends

bull Use onersquos own wits ldquoA person is the measure of all thingsrdquo Protagoras B1

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

T R A G E D Y V U L N E R A B I L I T Y A N D R E A S O NC 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E AT H E N S

Aeschylus Agamemnon (458 BCE) and Euripides Iphigeneia at Aulis (405 BCE) The Sacrifice of Iphigeneia by Francesco Fontebasso bull 1749 oil on canvas

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousnesshellip what is great is fragile andhellip what is necessary may be destructivehellip

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

In such cases we see a wrong action committed without any direct physical compulsion and in full knowledge of its nature by a person whose ethical character or commitments would otherwise dispose him to reject the acthellip circumstanceshellip prevent the adequate fulfillment of two valid ethical claims

N U S S B A U M 2 5

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

[Aeschylus in Agamemnon] shows us not so much a solution to the problem of practical conflict as the richness and depth of the problem itself (This achievement is closely connected with his poetic resources which put the scene vividly before us show us debate about it and evoke in us responses important to its assessment)

The best the agent can do is to have his suffering the natural expression of his goodness of character and not to stifle these responses out of misguided optimism The best we (the Chorus) can do for him is to respect the gravity of his predicament to respect the responses that express his goodness and to think about his case as showing a possibility for human life in general

N U S S B A U M 4 9 - 5 0

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

bull In a world that allows such dilemmas are there truly gods with a coherent vision for the world

bull Can individual reason and ingenuity suffice for a good life

T H E S O P H I S T SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Hesiod Works amp Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale Piteously she transfixed by his crooked claws was lamenting When the imperious hawk addressed her in arrogant parlance Why little lady such shrieks One stronger than you now has got you Where you are going Ill take you myself though you are a songstress For as I please Ill make you my dinner or give you your freedom Witless is one who attempts to strive against those who are stronger When he is stripped of the prize its injury added to insult Thus said the fast-flying hawk that bird with the generous wing-spanPay more attention to justice and curb high-handedness [brother] Violence ill suits men who are lowly not even the noble Man can lightly endure it it weighs on a person whos fallen Into affliction Its better to take your way on the other Road which conduces to right For outrage (hubris) surrenders to

justice (dikē)hellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Thucydides History 584-116 The Melian Dialogue ATHENIANS [Y]ou know as well as we do that when these matters are discussed by practical people the standard of justice depends on the equality of power to compel and that in fact the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they musthellip Our opinion of the gods and our knowledge of men lead us to conclude that it is a general and necessary law of nature to rule whatever one can This is not a law that we made ourselves nor were we the first to act upon it when it was made We found it already in existence and we shall leave it to exist for ever among those who come after us

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos

advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Republic I 343A-D Thrasymachusrsquo complaint Tell me Socrates do you still have a wet nursehellip Because shersquos letting you run around with a snotty nose and doesnrsquot wipe it when she needs tohellip You think that shepherds and cowherds seek the good of their sheep and cattle and fatten them and take care of them looking to something other than their masterrsquos good and their own Moreover you believe that rulershellip think of something besides their own advantage You are so far from understandinghellip that you donrsquot realize that justice is really the good of another the advantage of the stronger and the ruler and harmful to the one who obeys and serves Injustice is the opposite it rules the truly simple and just and those it rules do what is to the advantage of the other and stronger and they make the one they serve happy but themselves not at all You must look at it as follows my most simple Socrates A just man always gets less than an unjust onehellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Gorgias 482C-484C Callicles on nature and convention [Y]oursquore in fact bringing the discussion around to the sort of crowd-pleasing vulgarities that are admirable only by law [nomos also translatable ldquoconventionrdquo or ldquocustomrdquo] and not by nature And these nature and law are for the most part opposed to each otherhellip I believe that the people who institute our laws are the weak and the many So they institute laws and assign praise and blame with themselves and their own advantage in mind As a way of frightening the more powerfulhellip out of getting a greater share than they they say that getting more than onersquos share is ldquoshamefulrdquo and ldquounjusthelliprdquo But surely if a man whose nature is equal to it arises he will shake off tear apart and escape all this he will trample underfoot our documents our tricks and charms and all our laws that violate nature He the slave will rise up and be revealed as our master and here the justice of nature will shine forth

The New Teachers of Athens

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

P R E - S O C R AT I C ldquo P H I L O S O P H E R S 6 T H - 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

P R E - S O C R AT I C P H I L O S O P H E R S

bull Though not usually calling themselves ldquophilosophersrdquo they seemed to have contributed inspiration for Socratesrsquo method of free inquiry applying logos

bull Scholars adopt different views of what constitutes their innovation and ldquophilosophicalrdquo method (see readings)

bull Basing views on argument and evidence

bull De-ldquomythologizationrdquo

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Miletus

E A R LY P H I L O S O P H Y A N C I E N T M I L E T U S

M I L E T U S

bull Wealthy city-state in Asia Minor

bull Key city for trading and shipping between Near East amp Greece

bull Ionian Greek culture

bull Freedom of thought

bull Open political debate

bull Wealth (for some) providing leisure

bull Thales and his successors Anaximander Anaximenes

bull ldquoPhilosophicalrdquo investigation

bull Later Presocratics Heraclitus ParmenidesldquoORIENTALIZINGrdquo POTTERY

The Milesian school strikes a new note unheard before It has a fresh sense of the meaning of truth ndash a feeling for the sort of thing it is reasonable to suppose The hypothesis it characteristically deals in is concerned with the nature of the one primary stuff the Milesians seem to make a great conscious effort to get at something which really does exist They strike us as throwing off the vast symbolic visions of mythology and waking clear-headed to see and touch real things If we have a rational temperament we feel at once a refreshment Here at last is a statement about the world which is meant and offered as true ndash a logos [explanation] not a mythos [story]

ndash F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952 ed) 42

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The questions which excited them were of this kind Can this apparently confused and disordered world be reduced to simpler principles so that our reason can grasp what it is and how it works What is it made of How does change take place They abandoned mythological and substituted intellectual solutions [It] was no longer satisfying to say that storms were roused by the wrath of Poseidon or death caused by the arrows of Apollo or Artemis A world ruled by anthropomorphic gods human in their passions was a world ruled by caprice Philosophy and science start with the bold confession of faith that not caprice but an inherent orderliness underlies the phenomena and the explanation of nature is to be sought within nature itself ndashWKC Guthrie History of Greek Philosophy (Cambridge 1969) 1 44-45

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

Thales of Miletus

bull Lived late 7th-6th centurybull Born to a Phoenician aristocratic

family ndash so leisurebull Traveled to Egypt and Babylon (by

tradition)bull Legendary wisdombull ldquoFounder of Western philosophyrdquo

bull First to seek an ldquooriginal causerdquo (archecirc)

bull to explain how unseen facts caused visible results without appeal to mythology

bull To provide generalizable proofs or laws

Thales of Miletus

AstronomyMathematicsWater as the archecircAll things are full of gods

bull Traditionally Thalesrsquo star student

bull 25 years old during Thalesrsquo eclipse (585 BCE)

bull Lived c 610-540 BCE

bull ldquoFirst to draw the inhabited world on a tabletrdquo (first mapmaker)

bull Unambiguously our first ldquophilosopherrdquo by standards of demythologization originality generality and observation

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

ldquoAnaximander has expurgated the supernatural with a boldness and completeness to which many of his successors failed to attain The primary order is still said to be lsquoaccording to what is ordainedrsquo it is still a moral order in which Justice prevails but the will of the personal God has disappeared and its place is partly taken by a natural cause the eternal motionrdquo

- F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952) 41 Anaximander relief 1st century AD

Rome Museo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Key contributions

bull Physics the archecircbull Cosmologybull ldquoEvolutionrdquobull Astronomy and Cartography

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Anaximander said that the APEIRON [indefinite unlimited] was the ARCHE and the element of things that are and he was the first to introduce this name for the ARCHE He says that the ARCHE is neither water nor any other of the things called elements but some other nature called APEIRON out of which come to be all the heavens and the worlds in them (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2413-18)

The things that are perish into the things out of which they come to be according to necessity for ldquothey pay penalty and retribution to one another according to their injustice in accordance with the ordering of timerdquo as he says in rather poetical language (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2418-21)

Anaximander of Miletus

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The ARCHE

bull One and unlimitedbull But not undefined Itrsquos AIR

Anaximenes of Miletus

bull Not opposites but a continuum FIRE AIR larr WIND larr CLOUD larr WATER larr EARTH larr STONEbull ldquoLooseningrdquo and ldquotighteningrdquo explain hot and cold

H E R A C L I T U S B 1 0 1 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 3 7 )

I searched out myself

Listening not to me but to the logos it is wise to agree that all things are one

H E R A C L I T U S B 5 0 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 1 1 )

E X A M P L E S

THE ROAD TO PHILOSOP HY

The Hero of Lyric Poets of the Polis (6th century)

bull According to the lyric poets of the polis culture such as Pindar Simonides Tyrtaeus and Sappho (7th-6th century BCE)

bull Pursues collective good of the polis based on strong ties of interdependent responsibility amp cooperation in a just world governed by the gods

Individual Freedom The ldquoSophistsrdquo (5th century)

bull Sources in thinkers like Protagoras and Gorgias (5th century BCE predominantly working in Athens) constructed as a category by Platorsquos later writings

bull Pursues individual advantage based on their personal beliefs and wits using persuasion and power skepticism of traditional values

Vulnerability The Hero of Tragedy (5th century)

bull Iconic examples include Sophoclesrsquo Oedipus and Aeschylusrsquo Agamemnon and Orestes

bull Pursuit of individual amp collective good in a world of apparently conflicting divine values sometimes hampered by their own lack of self-knowledge

I N T E R D E P E N D E N C Y I N T R O D U C E S V U L N E R A B I L I T Y W H I C H M AY B E

C E L E B R AT E D O R R E S I S T E D

The Hero of Epic Homer and Hesiod (8th century)

bull Found in the epic Iliad and Odyssey attributed to Homer (c 8th century BCE) examples include the powerful Achilles and thoughtful persuasive Odysseus

bull Pursues individual honour (timē) in a just world governed by the gods

CH

IGI V

AS

E C

70

0 B

CE

The Hero of Reason The ldquoPresocratics (6th-5th cent)

bull Founding figures including Thales Anaximander Anaximenes Pythagoras Heraclitus Parmenides Seeking to understand the basic original causes (aitiai) of the world through reason

I S T H E W O R L D G E N U I N E LY

I N T E L L I G I B L E T O R E A S O N

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Born in Athens to a stonemason named Sophroniscus in 469 BCE

bull ldquoSocratic problemrdquo Socrates wrote nothing we know about him through Plato Xenophon and Aristophanes whose accounts vary

bull Conversed with anyone ldquorich or poor citizen or foreignerrdquo (Apology 23C)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Non-conformity reliance on individual values and wits (contrast with the earlier poets and rhapsodes)

bull Claims of ignorance interest in shared truth and not only persuasion and resistance of ldquoselfish morality (contrast with the sophists)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Methods based on question and answer (the elenchus) requiring unity or consistency (a) of onersquos beliefs and (b) of onersquos beliefs and actions

bull Behaviour peculiar enough to warrant its own verb (sōkratein) (Arist Birds 1282) before generalized philosophia

bull Brought to trial in 399 BCE by two Athenians Meletus and Anytus charged with ldquoimpiety and corrupting the youngrdquo

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

S O C R AT E S C R I T O 4 6 A

I am the kind of person who listens to nothing within me but the logos that on reflection seems

best to me

L O G O S R E A S O N VA L U E C O N S C I E N C E M E A N I N G

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousness A sense of such significances that what is great is fragile and that what is necessary may be destructive which is present in the literature of the fifth century and earlier has disappeared [later] from the ethics of the philosophers and perhaps altogether from their minds Greek philosophy in its sustained pursuit of rational self-sufficiency does turn its back on kinds of human experience and human necessity of which Greek literature itself offers the purest if not the richest expression

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y A N D P H I L O S O P H Y

The continuity between Greek tragedy and Greek philosophy on these questions is however far greater than Williams has allowed On the one hand inside tragedy itself we find arresting portrayals of the human ambition to rational self-sufficiency we come to understand the ways in which problems of exposure motivate this ambition On the other Platos philosophical search for a self- sufficient good life is motivated by a keen sense of these same problems Far from having forgotten about what tragedy describes he sees the problems of exposure so clearly that only a radical solution seems adequate to their depth Nor is he naiumlve about the costs of this solution

N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y P R A C T I C A L C O N F L I C T

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identical which is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A)

Socrates ldquoencourages Euthyphro [a pious Greek] to revise tradition by considering as binding only those requirements concerning which there is divine unanimity he expresses further his own doubt as to whether gods really do disagreerdquo (Nussbaum 30)

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identicalwhich is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A Nussbaum 25)

S C E N E F R O M T R O Y ( W B 2 0 0 4 ) A C H I L L E S S U M M O N E D B Y A G A M E M N O N Y O U T U B E C O M W AT C H V = R 7 2 K B D G R T D 4

S C E N E F R O M T R O Y ( W B 2 0 0 4 ) A C H I L L E S A N D H E C T O R D U E L Y O U T U B E C O M W AT C H V = N Q 6 2 F R K 7 4 U 0

Athena Achilles Hector Apollo

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Divine causation

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

A G A M E M N O N AT H O M E R I L I A D 1 1 8 1 - 1 8 7

hellip[H]ere is my threat to you Even as Phoibos Apollo is taking away my Chryseis

hellip I shall take the fair-cheeked Briseis your prize I myself going to your shelter that you may learn well how much greater I am than you and another man may shrink back

from likening himself to me and contending against mersquo

A C H I L L E S AT H O M E R I L I A D 9 6 4 6 - 4 8 S E E A L S O 1 6 5 9

Yet still the heart in me swells up in anger when I remember the disgrace that he wrought upon me before the Argives

the son of Atreus as if I were some wanderer without honour (atimētos metanastēs)

Achilleus in amazement turned about and straightway knew Pallas Athene and the terrible eyes shining

He uttered winged words and addressed her Why have you come now o child of Zeus of the aegis once more Is it that you may see

the outrageousness (hubris) of the son of Atreus Agamemnonrsquohellip

A C H I L L E S AT H O M E R I L I A D 1 1 9 9 - 2 0 3

O D Y S S E U S AT H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 2 2 3 5 - 4 1

You dogs You never thought Id come back home from the kingdom of the Trojans so you ravaged my house

lay in bed by force beside my women slaves my women and wooed my wife illicitly though I was alive

fearing neither the gods who hold wide heaven nor that thered be any mens censure thereafter

Now the moment of destruction hangs over you one and all

The slaughter of the suitors by Odysseus and Telemachus 1812 Louis Vincent Palliere

Death of the suitors Athenian red-figure cup c 450-440 BC

A W H A D K I N S ldquo H O M E R I C E T H I C S rdquo I N I M O R R I S amp B P O W E L L ( E D S )

A N E W C O M PA N I O N T O H O M E R ( B R I L L 1 9 9 6 ) 7 0 4 - 5

ldquoThe Homeric hero deprived of any significant quantity of timē reacts violently

aware as he is of the bottom of the scale [the metanastēs]hellip the primary function of the

agathos [good person hero] is to defend his timē with all the resources at his commandrdquo

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Divine causation

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

H U B R I S N E M E S I S

Nemesis by Gheorghe Tattarescu (1853)

Hesiod Works amp Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

Piteously she transfixed by his crooked claws was lamenting When the imperious hawk addressed her in arrogant parlance Why little lady such shrieks One stronger than you now has got you Where you are going Ill take you myself though you are a songstress For as I please Ill make you my dinner or give you your freedom Witless is one who attempts to strive against those who are stronger When he is stripped of the prize its injury added to insult Thus said the fast-flying hawk that bird with the generous wing-span

Pay more attention to justice and curb high-handedness [brother] Violence ill suits those who are lowly not even the noble Person can lightly endure it it weighs on a person whos fallen Into affliction Its better to take your way on the other Road which conduces to right For outrage (hubris) surrenders to justice (dikē)hellip

W E A R E I N Z E U S rsquo JUST W O R L D D E S C R I B E D I N THEOGONY

S I D E B A R D I V I N E C A U S AT I O N

bull The Homeric and Hesiodic herorsquos individual mission only makes sense in a world governed by gods (theoi)

bull Homer Iliad The gods are primarily responsiblecausal of events (aitios)

bull Early Greek science begins here theoi subsequently naturalized as consistent patterns of regularity in human and natural experience (elements laws)

bull Homer Odyssey Humans are (also) responsiblecausal for our own actions

bull How do we use our freedom

AT H E N A A N D O D Y S S E U S T H E O D Y S S E Y ( N B C 1 9 9 7 )

H O M E R I L I A D 5 1 2 3

Athena drew near to his side and spoke to him in winged words Have courage for I have drawn the mist from your eyes

that you may discern in truth gods from humans

So they spoke but Priam aloud called out to Helen Come over where I am dear child and sit down beside me

to look at your husband of time past your friends and your people I am not blaming you (ou ti moi aitiē essi) to me the gods are

responsible (theoihellipaitioi) who drove upon me this sorrowful war against the Achaians

H O M E R I L I A D 3 1 6 4

S I D E B A R D I V I N E C A U S AT I O N

Zeus is probably responsible (aitios) who gives to men who work for bread to each one however he wishes

H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 1 3 4 8 [ T E L E M A C H U S S P E A K S ]

How mortals now blame [from aitios] gods for they say that evils are from us Yet they themselves

have woes beyond their lot by their own recklessnesshellip

H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 1 3 2 [ Z E U S S P E A K S ]

Tell me of these things Muses that dwell on the heights of Olympus From the origin (archē) and say which first of them came into beinghellip

H E S I O D T H E O G O N Y 1 1 4

Responsibility lies with the one who makes the choice the god is blameless (theos anaitios)

P L AT O R E P U B L I C 1 0 6 1 7 E

S I D E B A R D I V I N E C A U S AT I O N

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Divine causation

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

O D Y S S E U S T O P O LY P H E M U S H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 9 2 6 9 - 7 1

But revere the gods most noble one We are supplicants (hiketai) to you Zeus is the avenger (epitimētōr) of suppliants and strangers

the guest god who attends venerable strangers

W E A R E I N Z E U S rsquo W O R L D ( A S D E S C R I B E D I N THEOGONY )

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

T H E LY R I C P O E T SC 6 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Pindar of Thebes

Simonides of Ceos

Sappho of Lesbos

LY R I C I N T R O D U C T I O N

bull Occasional poetry

bull Often sung to the lyre (lyrē) in varied meters

bull CHORAL LYRIC

bull Dancing choruses at religious festivals contests family events

bull Enforcing collective civic values

bull MONODIC LYRIC

bull Individual performance

bull Personal in emotion amp outlookBrygos Painter c 490 BCE

Sappho and Alcaeus

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

Creatures of the passing day What is any one What is any one not Shadows dream is man But when the radiance given of Zeus comes

there is a bright light upon men and life is sweet

P I N D A R P Y T H 8 9 5 - 9 7

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

I praise and embrace everyone who willingly does nothing base (aischron) but with necessity not even the gods fight A man not too helpless suffices for me one who knows the justice that benefits the

city (polis) a sound and healthy man I will not lay blame for the generation of fools is limitless Everything is noble (kala) with which

base deeds are not mingled

S I M O N I D E S 5 4 2 2 7 - 4 0

Simonides is criticizing the traditional definition of the good noble or successful man (agathos esthlos) Such goodness or nobility depends upon external achievements and possessions (wealth honour prowess in battle) which are too insecure to form a real basis for human excellence Instead Simonides stresses intention justice that benefits the city acknowledgement of the fragility of lifehellip

C S E G A L ldquo C H O R A L LY R I C I N T H E F I F T H C E N T U R Y rdquo I N P E E A S T E R L I N G amp B M W K N O X T H E C A M B R I D G E H I S T O R Y O F

C L A S S I C A L L I T E R AT U R E I ( C A M B R I D G E 2 0 0 8 ) 2 2 4

LY R I C C O N T E X T

Hoplites in phalanx formation From the Chigi Vase proto-Corinthian pitcher ca 650-640 BC

3 0 0 ( W A R N E R B R O S 2 0 0 6 ) ldquo W H AT I S Y O U R P R O F E S S I O N rdquo

W W W Y O U T U B E C O M W AT C H V = A N A 3 C O 8 3 _ G K

3 0 0 ( W A R N E R B R O S 2 0 0 6 ) ldquo F I G H T I N T H E S H A D E rdquo

Y O U T U B E 4 J K P G D D M A R S T = 1 2 4

τοιόνδ ἄνθος Περσίδος αἴας οἴχεται ἀνδρῶν

οὓς πέρι πᾶσα χθὼν Ἀσιῆτις ρέψασα πόθῳ στένεται microαλερῷ τοκέης τ ἄλοχοί θ ἡmicroερολεγδὸν τείνοντα χρόνον τροmicroέονται

A E S C H Y L U S P E R S A I 5 9 - 6 4 C P I L I A D 9 4 1 0 - 1 6

S E E C A S E Y D U Eacute T H E C A P T I V E W O M A N rsquo S L A M E N T I N G R E E K T R A G E DY C H 2

Such is the flower [anthos] of the Persian land such is the flower of men that has disappeared

The entire land of Asia laments the men she nourished with fierce

longing [pothos] Parents and wives counting the days

tremble at the increasing length of time

P I N D A R

bull Born near Thebes c 518 BCE

bull Composed important epinician odes (epi-nikia for-a-victory in a contest)

bull Depicts the gods as maintaining civic values of justice (O 1 P 1-3 P 8) compassionate (N 10) and forgiving (O 7456) guardians of polis morality

bull Celebrated ldquoroughrdquo style

bull ldquoA soaring eaglehellip a rushing streamrdquo (Horace Od 42) ldquoA vast firerdquo (Longinus Sublime 335)

Bust of the lyric poet Pindar Roman copy from original of the mid-5 century BC

F I F T H - C E N T U R Y C H O R A L LY R I C

A C O R N T O O A K T R E E N E I L B R O M H A L L bull y o u t u b e Z K 4 L j U R t a D w

Some people pray for gold others for limitless lands but I pray to please my fellow citizens and then to cover my limbs in earth

having praised the praiseworthy and scattered reproof on the wicked Excellence soars upward like a tree fed on fresh dews

lifted among the wise and just toward the liquid upper air The need for friends comes in many forms

it is most valued in times of trouble but joy too craves to look upon trusty support

P I N D A R N E M E A N 8 3 6 - 4 3

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

F R A G I L I T Ybull How can we be praiseworthy if we are vulnerable (to circumstances)

bull [The poetic world-view and Pindarrsquos career as praise poet of aretē require] ldquothe belief that the excellence of a good person is something of that persons own for whose possession and exercise that person can appropriately be held accountablerdquo (Nussbaum 1)

bull But ldquoHow can we be givers and receivers of praise if our worth ishellip a plant in need of wateringrdquo (2)

bull ldquoWe need to be born with adequate capacities to live in fostering natural and social circumstances to stay clear of abrupt catastrophe to develop confirming associations with other human beingsrdquo (1)

bull A further complication ldquoThe tenderness of a plant is not the dazzling hardness of a gemrdquo perhaps ldquopart of the peculiar beauty of human excellence just is its vulnerabilityrdquo (2)

M A R T H A N U S S B A U M T H E F R A G I L I T Y O F G O O D N E S S C H 1 L U C K amp E T H I C S

T H E P O W E R O F R E A S O N [T]here is the consolation that so far Pindar has apparently left something out However much human beings resemble lower forms of life we are unlike we want to insist in one crucial respect We have reason We are able to deliberate and choose to make a plan in which ends are ranked to decide actively what is to have value and how much All this must count for something If it is true that a lot about us is messy needy uncontrolled rooted in the dirt and standing helplessly in the rain it is also true that there is something about us that is pure and purely active something that we could think of as divine immortal intelligible unitary indissoluble ever self-consistent and invariablelsquo [Plato Phaedo 80B] It seems possible that this rational element in us can rule and guide the rest thereby saving the whole person from living at the mercy of luck

N U S S B A U M F R A G I L I T Y 2

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S S O P H I S T S A N D T R A G E D I A N SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Athens

AT H E N S rsquo A C R O P O L I S A S I M A G I N E D B Y L E O V O N K L E N Z E O I L O N C A N VA S 1 8 4 6 N E U E P I N A K O T H E K

A S S A S S I N rsquo S C R E E D O D Y S S E Y bull A T O U R O F AT H E N S U B I S O F T ( 2 0 1 8 )

bull Athens is the first lsquopeople-ruledrsquo polis (dēmokratia) in the Mediterranean world

bull She has achieved unchallenged naval authority and an empire which is labeled a lsquocommonwealthrsquo

bull At the commercial and cultural crossroads of Italy Greece Egypt and the Near East

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

S P E E C H A N D D E M O C R A C Y

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

bull In this cosmopolitan environment traditional views are challenged leading to a perceived erosion of moral values

bull The rhapsodes use poetic forms to transmit traditional morality

bull The tragedians use poetic forms to explore amp challenge mythrsquos assumptions

bull The sophists teach ldquowisdomrdquo (sophia) including rhetoric and political oratory perceived as a new lsquotechnologyrsquo to steer the ship of state for onersquos own ends

bull Use onersquos own wits ldquoA person is the measure of all thingsrdquo Protagoras B1

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

T R A G E D Y V U L N E R A B I L I T Y A N D R E A S O NC 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E AT H E N S

Aeschylus Agamemnon (458 BCE) and Euripides Iphigeneia at Aulis (405 BCE) The Sacrifice of Iphigeneia by Francesco Fontebasso bull 1749 oil on canvas

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousnesshellip what is great is fragile andhellip what is necessary may be destructivehellip

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

In such cases we see a wrong action committed without any direct physical compulsion and in full knowledge of its nature by a person whose ethical character or commitments would otherwise dispose him to reject the acthellip circumstanceshellip prevent the adequate fulfillment of two valid ethical claims

N U S S B A U M 2 5

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

[Aeschylus in Agamemnon] shows us not so much a solution to the problem of practical conflict as the richness and depth of the problem itself (This achievement is closely connected with his poetic resources which put the scene vividly before us show us debate about it and evoke in us responses important to its assessment)

The best the agent can do is to have his suffering the natural expression of his goodness of character and not to stifle these responses out of misguided optimism The best we (the Chorus) can do for him is to respect the gravity of his predicament to respect the responses that express his goodness and to think about his case as showing a possibility for human life in general

N U S S B A U M 4 9 - 5 0

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

bull In a world that allows such dilemmas are there truly gods with a coherent vision for the world

bull Can individual reason and ingenuity suffice for a good life

T H E S O P H I S T SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Hesiod Works amp Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale Piteously she transfixed by his crooked claws was lamenting When the imperious hawk addressed her in arrogant parlance Why little lady such shrieks One stronger than you now has got you Where you are going Ill take you myself though you are a songstress For as I please Ill make you my dinner or give you your freedom Witless is one who attempts to strive against those who are stronger When he is stripped of the prize its injury added to insult Thus said the fast-flying hawk that bird with the generous wing-spanPay more attention to justice and curb high-handedness [brother] Violence ill suits men who are lowly not even the noble Man can lightly endure it it weighs on a person whos fallen Into affliction Its better to take your way on the other Road which conduces to right For outrage (hubris) surrenders to

justice (dikē)hellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Thucydides History 584-116 The Melian Dialogue ATHENIANS [Y]ou know as well as we do that when these matters are discussed by practical people the standard of justice depends on the equality of power to compel and that in fact the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they musthellip Our opinion of the gods and our knowledge of men lead us to conclude that it is a general and necessary law of nature to rule whatever one can This is not a law that we made ourselves nor were we the first to act upon it when it was made We found it already in existence and we shall leave it to exist for ever among those who come after us

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos

advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Republic I 343A-D Thrasymachusrsquo complaint Tell me Socrates do you still have a wet nursehellip Because shersquos letting you run around with a snotty nose and doesnrsquot wipe it when she needs tohellip You think that shepherds and cowherds seek the good of their sheep and cattle and fatten them and take care of them looking to something other than their masterrsquos good and their own Moreover you believe that rulershellip think of something besides their own advantage You are so far from understandinghellip that you donrsquot realize that justice is really the good of another the advantage of the stronger and the ruler and harmful to the one who obeys and serves Injustice is the opposite it rules the truly simple and just and those it rules do what is to the advantage of the other and stronger and they make the one they serve happy but themselves not at all You must look at it as follows my most simple Socrates A just man always gets less than an unjust onehellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Gorgias 482C-484C Callicles on nature and convention [Y]oursquore in fact bringing the discussion around to the sort of crowd-pleasing vulgarities that are admirable only by law [nomos also translatable ldquoconventionrdquo or ldquocustomrdquo] and not by nature And these nature and law are for the most part opposed to each otherhellip I believe that the people who institute our laws are the weak and the many So they institute laws and assign praise and blame with themselves and their own advantage in mind As a way of frightening the more powerfulhellip out of getting a greater share than they they say that getting more than onersquos share is ldquoshamefulrdquo and ldquounjusthelliprdquo But surely if a man whose nature is equal to it arises he will shake off tear apart and escape all this he will trample underfoot our documents our tricks and charms and all our laws that violate nature He the slave will rise up and be revealed as our master and here the justice of nature will shine forth

The New Teachers of Athens

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

P R E - S O C R AT I C ldquo P H I L O S O P H E R S 6 T H - 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

P R E - S O C R AT I C P H I L O S O P H E R S

bull Though not usually calling themselves ldquophilosophersrdquo they seemed to have contributed inspiration for Socratesrsquo method of free inquiry applying logos

bull Scholars adopt different views of what constitutes their innovation and ldquophilosophicalrdquo method (see readings)

bull Basing views on argument and evidence

bull De-ldquomythologizationrdquo

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Miletus

E A R LY P H I L O S O P H Y A N C I E N T M I L E T U S

M I L E T U S

bull Wealthy city-state in Asia Minor

bull Key city for trading and shipping between Near East amp Greece

bull Ionian Greek culture

bull Freedom of thought

bull Open political debate

bull Wealth (for some) providing leisure

bull Thales and his successors Anaximander Anaximenes

bull ldquoPhilosophicalrdquo investigation

bull Later Presocratics Heraclitus ParmenidesldquoORIENTALIZINGrdquo POTTERY

The Milesian school strikes a new note unheard before It has a fresh sense of the meaning of truth ndash a feeling for the sort of thing it is reasonable to suppose The hypothesis it characteristically deals in is concerned with the nature of the one primary stuff the Milesians seem to make a great conscious effort to get at something which really does exist They strike us as throwing off the vast symbolic visions of mythology and waking clear-headed to see and touch real things If we have a rational temperament we feel at once a refreshment Here at last is a statement about the world which is meant and offered as true ndash a logos [explanation] not a mythos [story]

ndash F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952 ed) 42

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The questions which excited them were of this kind Can this apparently confused and disordered world be reduced to simpler principles so that our reason can grasp what it is and how it works What is it made of How does change take place They abandoned mythological and substituted intellectual solutions [It] was no longer satisfying to say that storms were roused by the wrath of Poseidon or death caused by the arrows of Apollo or Artemis A world ruled by anthropomorphic gods human in their passions was a world ruled by caprice Philosophy and science start with the bold confession of faith that not caprice but an inherent orderliness underlies the phenomena and the explanation of nature is to be sought within nature itself ndashWKC Guthrie History of Greek Philosophy (Cambridge 1969) 1 44-45

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

Thales of Miletus

bull Lived late 7th-6th centurybull Born to a Phoenician aristocratic

family ndash so leisurebull Traveled to Egypt and Babylon (by

tradition)bull Legendary wisdombull ldquoFounder of Western philosophyrdquo

bull First to seek an ldquooriginal causerdquo (archecirc)

bull to explain how unseen facts caused visible results without appeal to mythology

bull To provide generalizable proofs or laws

Thales of Miletus

AstronomyMathematicsWater as the archecircAll things are full of gods

bull Traditionally Thalesrsquo star student

bull 25 years old during Thalesrsquo eclipse (585 BCE)

bull Lived c 610-540 BCE

bull ldquoFirst to draw the inhabited world on a tabletrdquo (first mapmaker)

bull Unambiguously our first ldquophilosopherrdquo by standards of demythologization originality generality and observation

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

ldquoAnaximander has expurgated the supernatural with a boldness and completeness to which many of his successors failed to attain The primary order is still said to be lsquoaccording to what is ordainedrsquo it is still a moral order in which Justice prevails but the will of the personal God has disappeared and its place is partly taken by a natural cause the eternal motionrdquo

- F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952) 41 Anaximander relief 1st century AD

Rome Museo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Key contributions

bull Physics the archecircbull Cosmologybull ldquoEvolutionrdquobull Astronomy and Cartography

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Anaximander said that the APEIRON [indefinite unlimited] was the ARCHE and the element of things that are and he was the first to introduce this name for the ARCHE He says that the ARCHE is neither water nor any other of the things called elements but some other nature called APEIRON out of which come to be all the heavens and the worlds in them (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2413-18)

The things that are perish into the things out of which they come to be according to necessity for ldquothey pay penalty and retribution to one another according to their injustice in accordance with the ordering of timerdquo as he says in rather poetical language (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2418-21)

Anaximander of Miletus

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The ARCHE

bull One and unlimitedbull But not undefined Itrsquos AIR

Anaximenes of Miletus

bull Not opposites but a continuum FIRE AIR larr WIND larr CLOUD larr WATER larr EARTH larr STONEbull ldquoLooseningrdquo and ldquotighteningrdquo explain hot and cold

H E R A C L I T U S B 1 0 1 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 3 7 )

I searched out myself

Listening not to me but to the logos it is wise to agree that all things are one

H E R A C L I T U S B 5 0 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 1 1 )

E X A M P L E S

THE ROAD TO PHILOSOP HY

The Hero of Lyric Poets of the Polis (6th century)

bull According to the lyric poets of the polis culture such as Pindar Simonides Tyrtaeus and Sappho (7th-6th century BCE)

bull Pursues collective good of the polis based on strong ties of interdependent responsibility amp cooperation in a just world governed by the gods

Individual Freedom The ldquoSophistsrdquo (5th century)

bull Sources in thinkers like Protagoras and Gorgias (5th century BCE predominantly working in Athens) constructed as a category by Platorsquos later writings

bull Pursues individual advantage based on their personal beliefs and wits using persuasion and power skepticism of traditional values

Vulnerability The Hero of Tragedy (5th century)

bull Iconic examples include Sophoclesrsquo Oedipus and Aeschylusrsquo Agamemnon and Orestes

bull Pursuit of individual amp collective good in a world of apparently conflicting divine values sometimes hampered by their own lack of self-knowledge

I N T E R D E P E N D E N C Y I N T R O D U C E S V U L N E R A B I L I T Y W H I C H M AY B E

C E L E B R AT E D O R R E S I S T E D

The Hero of Epic Homer and Hesiod (8th century)

bull Found in the epic Iliad and Odyssey attributed to Homer (c 8th century BCE) examples include the powerful Achilles and thoughtful persuasive Odysseus

bull Pursues individual honour (timē) in a just world governed by the gods

CH

IGI V

AS

E C

70

0 B

CE

The Hero of Reason The ldquoPresocratics (6th-5th cent)

bull Founding figures including Thales Anaximander Anaximenes Pythagoras Heraclitus Parmenides Seeking to understand the basic original causes (aitiai) of the world through reason

I S T H E W O R L D G E N U I N E LY

I N T E L L I G I B L E T O R E A S O N

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Born in Athens to a stonemason named Sophroniscus in 469 BCE

bull ldquoSocratic problemrdquo Socrates wrote nothing we know about him through Plato Xenophon and Aristophanes whose accounts vary

bull Conversed with anyone ldquorich or poor citizen or foreignerrdquo (Apology 23C)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Non-conformity reliance on individual values and wits (contrast with the earlier poets and rhapsodes)

bull Claims of ignorance interest in shared truth and not only persuasion and resistance of ldquoselfish morality (contrast with the sophists)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Methods based on question and answer (the elenchus) requiring unity or consistency (a) of onersquos beliefs and (b) of onersquos beliefs and actions

bull Behaviour peculiar enough to warrant its own verb (sōkratein) (Arist Birds 1282) before generalized philosophia

bull Brought to trial in 399 BCE by two Athenians Meletus and Anytus charged with ldquoimpiety and corrupting the youngrdquo

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

S O C R AT E S C R I T O 4 6 A

I am the kind of person who listens to nothing within me but the logos that on reflection seems

best to me

L O G O S R E A S O N VA L U E C O N S C I E N C E M E A N I N G

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousness A sense of such significances that what is great is fragile and that what is necessary may be destructive which is present in the literature of the fifth century and earlier has disappeared [later] from the ethics of the philosophers and perhaps altogether from their minds Greek philosophy in its sustained pursuit of rational self-sufficiency does turn its back on kinds of human experience and human necessity of which Greek literature itself offers the purest if not the richest expression

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y A N D P H I L O S O P H Y

The continuity between Greek tragedy and Greek philosophy on these questions is however far greater than Williams has allowed On the one hand inside tragedy itself we find arresting portrayals of the human ambition to rational self-sufficiency we come to understand the ways in which problems of exposure motivate this ambition On the other Platos philosophical search for a self- sufficient good life is motivated by a keen sense of these same problems Far from having forgotten about what tragedy describes he sees the problems of exposure so clearly that only a radical solution seems adequate to their depth Nor is he naiumlve about the costs of this solution

N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y P R A C T I C A L C O N F L I C T

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identical which is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A)

Socrates ldquoencourages Euthyphro [a pious Greek] to revise tradition by considering as binding only those requirements concerning which there is divine unanimity he expresses further his own doubt as to whether gods really do disagreerdquo (Nussbaum 30)

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identicalwhich is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A Nussbaum 25)

S C E N E F R O M T R O Y ( W B 2 0 0 4 ) A C H I L L E S A N D H E C T O R D U E L Y O U T U B E C O M W AT C H V = N Q 6 2 F R K 7 4 U 0

Athena Achilles Hector Apollo

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Divine causation

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

A G A M E M N O N AT H O M E R I L I A D 1 1 8 1 - 1 8 7

hellip[H]ere is my threat to you Even as Phoibos Apollo is taking away my Chryseis

hellip I shall take the fair-cheeked Briseis your prize I myself going to your shelter that you may learn well how much greater I am than you and another man may shrink back

from likening himself to me and contending against mersquo

A C H I L L E S AT H O M E R I L I A D 9 6 4 6 - 4 8 S E E A L S O 1 6 5 9

Yet still the heart in me swells up in anger when I remember the disgrace that he wrought upon me before the Argives

the son of Atreus as if I were some wanderer without honour (atimētos metanastēs)

Achilleus in amazement turned about and straightway knew Pallas Athene and the terrible eyes shining

He uttered winged words and addressed her Why have you come now o child of Zeus of the aegis once more Is it that you may see

the outrageousness (hubris) of the son of Atreus Agamemnonrsquohellip

A C H I L L E S AT H O M E R I L I A D 1 1 9 9 - 2 0 3

O D Y S S E U S AT H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 2 2 3 5 - 4 1

You dogs You never thought Id come back home from the kingdom of the Trojans so you ravaged my house

lay in bed by force beside my women slaves my women and wooed my wife illicitly though I was alive

fearing neither the gods who hold wide heaven nor that thered be any mens censure thereafter

Now the moment of destruction hangs over you one and all

The slaughter of the suitors by Odysseus and Telemachus 1812 Louis Vincent Palliere

Death of the suitors Athenian red-figure cup c 450-440 BC

A W H A D K I N S ldquo H O M E R I C E T H I C S rdquo I N I M O R R I S amp B P O W E L L ( E D S )

A N E W C O M PA N I O N T O H O M E R ( B R I L L 1 9 9 6 ) 7 0 4 - 5

ldquoThe Homeric hero deprived of any significant quantity of timē reacts violently

aware as he is of the bottom of the scale [the metanastēs]hellip the primary function of the

agathos [good person hero] is to defend his timē with all the resources at his commandrdquo

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Divine causation

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

H U B R I S N E M E S I S

Nemesis by Gheorghe Tattarescu (1853)

Hesiod Works amp Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

Piteously she transfixed by his crooked claws was lamenting When the imperious hawk addressed her in arrogant parlance Why little lady such shrieks One stronger than you now has got you Where you are going Ill take you myself though you are a songstress For as I please Ill make you my dinner or give you your freedom Witless is one who attempts to strive against those who are stronger When he is stripped of the prize its injury added to insult Thus said the fast-flying hawk that bird with the generous wing-span

Pay more attention to justice and curb high-handedness [brother] Violence ill suits those who are lowly not even the noble Person can lightly endure it it weighs on a person whos fallen Into affliction Its better to take your way on the other Road which conduces to right For outrage (hubris) surrenders to justice (dikē)hellip

W E A R E I N Z E U S rsquo JUST W O R L D D E S C R I B E D I N THEOGONY

S I D E B A R D I V I N E C A U S AT I O N

bull The Homeric and Hesiodic herorsquos individual mission only makes sense in a world governed by gods (theoi)

bull Homer Iliad The gods are primarily responsiblecausal of events (aitios)

bull Early Greek science begins here theoi subsequently naturalized as consistent patterns of regularity in human and natural experience (elements laws)

bull Homer Odyssey Humans are (also) responsiblecausal for our own actions

bull How do we use our freedom

AT H E N A A N D O D Y S S E U S T H E O D Y S S E Y ( N B C 1 9 9 7 )

H O M E R I L I A D 5 1 2 3

Athena drew near to his side and spoke to him in winged words Have courage for I have drawn the mist from your eyes

that you may discern in truth gods from humans

So they spoke but Priam aloud called out to Helen Come over where I am dear child and sit down beside me

to look at your husband of time past your friends and your people I am not blaming you (ou ti moi aitiē essi) to me the gods are

responsible (theoihellipaitioi) who drove upon me this sorrowful war against the Achaians

H O M E R I L I A D 3 1 6 4

S I D E B A R D I V I N E C A U S AT I O N

Zeus is probably responsible (aitios) who gives to men who work for bread to each one however he wishes

H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 1 3 4 8 [ T E L E M A C H U S S P E A K S ]

How mortals now blame [from aitios] gods for they say that evils are from us Yet they themselves

have woes beyond their lot by their own recklessnesshellip

H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 1 3 2 [ Z E U S S P E A K S ]

Tell me of these things Muses that dwell on the heights of Olympus From the origin (archē) and say which first of them came into beinghellip

H E S I O D T H E O G O N Y 1 1 4

Responsibility lies with the one who makes the choice the god is blameless (theos anaitios)

P L AT O R E P U B L I C 1 0 6 1 7 E

S I D E B A R D I V I N E C A U S AT I O N

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Divine causation

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

O D Y S S E U S T O P O LY P H E M U S H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 9 2 6 9 - 7 1

But revere the gods most noble one We are supplicants (hiketai) to you Zeus is the avenger (epitimētōr) of suppliants and strangers

the guest god who attends venerable strangers

W E A R E I N Z E U S rsquo W O R L D ( A S D E S C R I B E D I N THEOGONY )

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

T H E LY R I C P O E T SC 6 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Pindar of Thebes

Simonides of Ceos

Sappho of Lesbos

LY R I C I N T R O D U C T I O N

bull Occasional poetry

bull Often sung to the lyre (lyrē) in varied meters

bull CHORAL LYRIC

bull Dancing choruses at religious festivals contests family events

bull Enforcing collective civic values

bull MONODIC LYRIC

bull Individual performance

bull Personal in emotion amp outlookBrygos Painter c 490 BCE

Sappho and Alcaeus

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

Creatures of the passing day What is any one What is any one not Shadows dream is man But when the radiance given of Zeus comes

there is a bright light upon men and life is sweet

P I N D A R P Y T H 8 9 5 - 9 7

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

I praise and embrace everyone who willingly does nothing base (aischron) but with necessity not even the gods fight A man not too helpless suffices for me one who knows the justice that benefits the

city (polis) a sound and healthy man I will not lay blame for the generation of fools is limitless Everything is noble (kala) with which

base deeds are not mingled

S I M O N I D E S 5 4 2 2 7 - 4 0

Simonides is criticizing the traditional definition of the good noble or successful man (agathos esthlos) Such goodness or nobility depends upon external achievements and possessions (wealth honour prowess in battle) which are too insecure to form a real basis for human excellence Instead Simonides stresses intention justice that benefits the city acknowledgement of the fragility of lifehellip

C S E G A L ldquo C H O R A L LY R I C I N T H E F I F T H C E N T U R Y rdquo I N P E E A S T E R L I N G amp B M W K N O X T H E C A M B R I D G E H I S T O R Y O F

C L A S S I C A L L I T E R AT U R E I ( C A M B R I D G E 2 0 0 8 ) 2 2 4

LY R I C C O N T E X T

Hoplites in phalanx formation From the Chigi Vase proto-Corinthian pitcher ca 650-640 BC

3 0 0 ( W A R N E R B R O S 2 0 0 6 ) ldquo W H AT I S Y O U R P R O F E S S I O N rdquo

W W W Y O U T U B E C O M W AT C H V = A N A 3 C O 8 3 _ G K

3 0 0 ( W A R N E R B R O S 2 0 0 6 ) ldquo F I G H T I N T H E S H A D E rdquo

Y O U T U B E 4 J K P G D D M A R S T = 1 2 4

τοιόνδ ἄνθος Περσίδος αἴας οἴχεται ἀνδρῶν

οὓς πέρι πᾶσα χθὼν Ἀσιῆτις ρέψασα πόθῳ στένεται microαλερῷ τοκέης τ ἄλοχοί θ ἡmicroερολεγδὸν τείνοντα χρόνον τροmicroέονται

A E S C H Y L U S P E R S A I 5 9 - 6 4 C P I L I A D 9 4 1 0 - 1 6

S E E C A S E Y D U Eacute T H E C A P T I V E W O M A N rsquo S L A M E N T I N G R E E K T R A G E DY C H 2

Such is the flower [anthos] of the Persian land such is the flower of men that has disappeared

The entire land of Asia laments the men she nourished with fierce

longing [pothos] Parents and wives counting the days

tremble at the increasing length of time

P I N D A R

bull Born near Thebes c 518 BCE

bull Composed important epinician odes (epi-nikia for-a-victory in a contest)

bull Depicts the gods as maintaining civic values of justice (O 1 P 1-3 P 8) compassionate (N 10) and forgiving (O 7456) guardians of polis morality

bull Celebrated ldquoroughrdquo style

bull ldquoA soaring eaglehellip a rushing streamrdquo (Horace Od 42) ldquoA vast firerdquo (Longinus Sublime 335)

Bust of the lyric poet Pindar Roman copy from original of the mid-5 century BC

F I F T H - C E N T U R Y C H O R A L LY R I C

A C O R N T O O A K T R E E N E I L B R O M H A L L bull y o u t u b e Z K 4 L j U R t a D w

Some people pray for gold others for limitless lands but I pray to please my fellow citizens and then to cover my limbs in earth

having praised the praiseworthy and scattered reproof on the wicked Excellence soars upward like a tree fed on fresh dews

lifted among the wise and just toward the liquid upper air The need for friends comes in many forms

it is most valued in times of trouble but joy too craves to look upon trusty support

P I N D A R N E M E A N 8 3 6 - 4 3

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

F R A G I L I T Ybull How can we be praiseworthy if we are vulnerable (to circumstances)

bull [The poetic world-view and Pindarrsquos career as praise poet of aretē require] ldquothe belief that the excellence of a good person is something of that persons own for whose possession and exercise that person can appropriately be held accountablerdquo (Nussbaum 1)

bull But ldquoHow can we be givers and receivers of praise if our worth ishellip a plant in need of wateringrdquo (2)

bull ldquoWe need to be born with adequate capacities to live in fostering natural and social circumstances to stay clear of abrupt catastrophe to develop confirming associations with other human beingsrdquo (1)

bull A further complication ldquoThe tenderness of a plant is not the dazzling hardness of a gemrdquo perhaps ldquopart of the peculiar beauty of human excellence just is its vulnerabilityrdquo (2)

M A R T H A N U S S B A U M T H E F R A G I L I T Y O F G O O D N E S S C H 1 L U C K amp E T H I C S

T H E P O W E R O F R E A S O N [T]here is the consolation that so far Pindar has apparently left something out However much human beings resemble lower forms of life we are unlike we want to insist in one crucial respect We have reason We are able to deliberate and choose to make a plan in which ends are ranked to decide actively what is to have value and how much All this must count for something If it is true that a lot about us is messy needy uncontrolled rooted in the dirt and standing helplessly in the rain it is also true that there is something about us that is pure and purely active something that we could think of as divine immortal intelligible unitary indissoluble ever self-consistent and invariablelsquo [Plato Phaedo 80B] It seems possible that this rational element in us can rule and guide the rest thereby saving the whole person from living at the mercy of luck

N U S S B A U M F R A G I L I T Y 2

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S S O P H I S T S A N D T R A G E D I A N SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Athens

AT H E N S rsquo A C R O P O L I S A S I M A G I N E D B Y L E O V O N K L E N Z E O I L O N C A N VA S 1 8 4 6 N E U E P I N A K O T H E K

A S S A S S I N rsquo S C R E E D O D Y S S E Y bull A T O U R O F AT H E N S U B I S O F T ( 2 0 1 8 )

bull Athens is the first lsquopeople-ruledrsquo polis (dēmokratia) in the Mediterranean world

bull She has achieved unchallenged naval authority and an empire which is labeled a lsquocommonwealthrsquo

bull At the commercial and cultural crossroads of Italy Greece Egypt and the Near East

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

S P E E C H A N D D E M O C R A C Y

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

bull In this cosmopolitan environment traditional views are challenged leading to a perceived erosion of moral values

bull The rhapsodes use poetic forms to transmit traditional morality

bull The tragedians use poetic forms to explore amp challenge mythrsquos assumptions

bull The sophists teach ldquowisdomrdquo (sophia) including rhetoric and political oratory perceived as a new lsquotechnologyrsquo to steer the ship of state for onersquos own ends

bull Use onersquos own wits ldquoA person is the measure of all thingsrdquo Protagoras B1

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

T R A G E D Y V U L N E R A B I L I T Y A N D R E A S O NC 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E AT H E N S

Aeschylus Agamemnon (458 BCE) and Euripides Iphigeneia at Aulis (405 BCE) The Sacrifice of Iphigeneia by Francesco Fontebasso bull 1749 oil on canvas

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousnesshellip what is great is fragile andhellip what is necessary may be destructivehellip

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

In such cases we see a wrong action committed without any direct physical compulsion and in full knowledge of its nature by a person whose ethical character or commitments would otherwise dispose him to reject the acthellip circumstanceshellip prevent the adequate fulfillment of two valid ethical claims

N U S S B A U M 2 5

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

[Aeschylus in Agamemnon] shows us not so much a solution to the problem of practical conflict as the richness and depth of the problem itself (This achievement is closely connected with his poetic resources which put the scene vividly before us show us debate about it and evoke in us responses important to its assessment)

The best the agent can do is to have his suffering the natural expression of his goodness of character and not to stifle these responses out of misguided optimism The best we (the Chorus) can do for him is to respect the gravity of his predicament to respect the responses that express his goodness and to think about his case as showing a possibility for human life in general

N U S S B A U M 4 9 - 5 0

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

bull In a world that allows such dilemmas are there truly gods with a coherent vision for the world

bull Can individual reason and ingenuity suffice for a good life

T H E S O P H I S T SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Hesiod Works amp Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale Piteously she transfixed by his crooked claws was lamenting When the imperious hawk addressed her in arrogant parlance Why little lady such shrieks One stronger than you now has got you Where you are going Ill take you myself though you are a songstress For as I please Ill make you my dinner or give you your freedom Witless is one who attempts to strive against those who are stronger When he is stripped of the prize its injury added to insult Thus said the fast-flying hawk that bird with the generous wing-spanPay more attention to justice and curb high-handedness [brother] Violence ill suits men who are lowly not even the noble Man can lightly endure it it weighs on a person whos fallen Into affliction Its better to take your way on the other Road which conduces to right For outrage (hubris) surrenders to

justice (dikē)hellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Thucydides History 584-116 The Melian Dialogue ATHENIANS [Y]ou know as well as we do that when these matters are discussed by practical people the standard of justice depends on the equality of power to compel and that in fact the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they musthellip Our opinion of the gods and our knowledge of men lead us to conclude that it is a general and necessary law of nature to rule whatever one can This is not a law that we made ourselves nor were we the first to act upon it when it was made We found it already in existence and we shall leave it to exist for ever among those who come after us

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos

advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Republic I 343A-D Thrasymachusrsquo complaint Tell me Socrates do you still have a wet nursehellip Because shersquos letting you run around with a snotty nose and doesnrsquot wipe it when she needs tohellip You think that shepherds and cowherds seek the good of their sheep and cattle and fatten them and take care of them looking to something other than their masterrsquos good and their own Moreover you believe that rulershellip think of something besides their own advantage You are so far from understandinghellip that you donrsquot realize that justice is really the good of another the advantage of the stronger and the ruler and harmful to the one who obeys and serves Injustice is the opposite it rules the truly simple and just and those it rules do what is to the advantage of the other and stronger and they make the one they serve happy but themselves not at all You must look at it as follows my most simple Socrates A just man always gets less than an unjust onehellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Gorgias 482C-484C Callicles on nature and convention [Y]oursquore in fact bringing the discussion around to the sort of crowd-pleasing vulgarities that are admirable only by law [nomos also translatable ldquoconventionrdquo or ldquocustomrdquo] and not by nature And these nature and law are for the most part opposed to each otherhellip I believe that the people who institute our laws are the weak and the many So they institute laws and assign praise and blame with themselves and their own advantage in mind As a way of frightening the more powerfulhellip out of getting a greater share than they they say that getting more than onersquos share is ldquoshamefulrdquo and ldquounjusthelliprdquo But surely if a man whose nature is equal to it arises he will shake off tear apart and escape all this he will trample underfoot our documents our tricks and charms and all our laws that violate nature He the slave will rise up and be revealed as our master and here the justice of nature will shine forth

The New Teachers of Athens

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

P R E - S O C R AT I C ldquo P H I L O S O P H E R S 6 T H - 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

P R E - S O C R AT I C P H I L O S O P H E R S

bull Though not usually calling themselves ldquophilosophersrdquo they seemed to have contributed inspiration for Socratesrsquo method of free inquiry applying logos

bull Scholars adopt different views of what constitutes their innovation and ldquophilosophicalrdquo method (see readings)

bull Basing views on argument and evidence

bull De-ldquomythologizationrdquo

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Miletus

E A R LY P H I L O S O P H Y A N C I E N T M I L E T U S

M I L E T U S

bull Wealthy city-state in Asia Minor

bull Key city for trading and shipping between Near East amp Greece

bull Ionian Greek culture

bull Freedom of thought

bull Open political debate

bull Wealth (for some) providing leisure

bull Thales and his successors Anaximander Anaximenes

bull ldquoPhilosophicalrdquo investigation

bull Later Presocratics Heraclitus ParmenidesldquoORIENTALIZINGrdquo POTTERY

The Milesian school strikes a new note unheard before It has a fresh sense of the meaning of truth ndash a feeling for the sort of thing it is reasonable to suppose The hypothesis it characteristically deals in is concerned with the nature of the one primary stuff the Milesians seem to make a great conscious effort to get at something which really does exist They strike us as throwing off the vast symbolic visions of mythology and waking clear-headed to see and touch real things If we have a rational temperament we feel at once a refreshment Here at last is a statement about the world which is meant and offered as true ndash a logos [explanation] not a mythos [story]

ndash F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952 ed) 42

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The questions which excited them were of this kind Can this apparently confused and disordered world be reduced to simpler principles so that our reason can grasp what it is and how it works What is it made of How does change take place They abandoned mythological and substituted intellectual solutions [It] was no longer satisfying to say that storms were roused by the wrath of Poseidon or death caused by the arrows of Apollo or Artemis A world ruled by anthropomorphic gods human in their passions was a world ruled by caprice Philosophy and science start with the bold confession of faith that not caprice but an inherent orderliness underlies the phenomena and the explanation of nature is to be sought within nature itself ndashWKC Guthrie History of Greek Philosophy (Cambridge 1969) 1 44-45

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

Thales of Miletus

bull Lived late 7th-6th centurybull Born to a Phoenician aristocratic

family ndash so leisurebull Traveled to Egypt and Babylon (by

tradition)bull Legendary wisdombull ldquoFounder of Western philosophyrdquo

bull First to seek an ldquooriginal causerdquo (archecirc)

bull to explain how unseen facts caused visible results without appeal to mythology

bull To provide generalizable proofs or laws

Thales of Miletus

AstronomyMathematicsWater as the archecircAll things are full of gods

bull Traditionally Thalesrsquo star student

bull 25 years old during Thalesrsquo eclipse (585 BCE)

bull Lived c 610-540 BCE

bull ldquoFirst to draw the inhabited world on a tabletrdquo (first mapmaker)

bull Unambiguously our first ldquophilosopherrdquo by standards of demythologization originality generality and observation

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

ldquoAnaximander has expurgated the supernatural with a boldness and completeness to which many of his successors failed to attain The primary order is still said to be lsquoaccording to what is ordainedrsquo it is still a moral order in which Justice prevails but the will of the personal God has disappeared and its place is partly taken by a natural cause the eternal motionrdquo

- F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952) 41 Anaximander relief 1st century AD

Rome Museo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Key contributions

bull Physics the archecircbull Cosmologybull ldquoEvolutionrdquobull Astronomy and Cartography

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Anaximander said that the APEIRON [indefinite unlimited] was the ARCHE and the element of things that are and he was the first to introduce this name for the ARCHE He says that the ARCHE is neither water nor any other of the things called elements but some other nature called APEIRON out of which come to be all the heavens and the worlds in them (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2413-18)

The things that are perish into the things out of which they come to be according to necessity for ldquothey pay penalty and retribution to one another according to their injustice in accordance with the ordering of timerdquo as he says in rather poetical language (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2418-21)

Anaximander of Miletus

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The ARCHE

bull One and unlimitedbull But not undefined Itrsquos AIR

Anaximenes of Miletus

bull Not opposites but a continuum FIRE AIR larr WIND larr CLOUD larr WATER larr EARTH larr STONEbull ldquoLooseningrdquo and ldquotighteningrdquo explain hot and cold

H E R A C L I T U S B 1 0 1 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 3 7 )

I searched out myself

Listening not to me but to the logos it is wise to agree that all things are one

H E R A C L I T U S B 5 0 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 1 1 )

E X A M P L E S

THE ROAD TO PHILOSOP HY

The Hero of Lyric Poets of the Polis (6th century)

bull According to the lyric poets of the polis culture such as Pindar Simonides Tyrtaeus and Sappho (7th-6th century BCE)

bull Pursues collective good of the polis based on strong ties of interdependent responsibility amp cooperation in a just world governed by the gods

Individual Freedom The ldquoSophistsrdquo (5th century)

bull Sources in thinkers like Protagoras and Gorgias (5th century BCE predominantly working in Athens) constructed as a category by Platorsquos later writings

bull Pursues individual advantage based on their personal beliefs and wits using persuasion and power skepticism of traditional values

Vulnerability The Hero of Tragedy (5th century)

bull Iconic examples include Sophoclesrsquo Oedipus and Aeschylusrsquo Agamemnon and Orestes

bull Pursuit of individual amp collective good in a world of apparently conflicting divine values sometimes hampered by their own lack of self-knowledge

I N T E R D E P E N D E N C Y I N T R O D U C E S V U L N E R A B I L I T Y W H I C H M AY B E

C E L E B R AT E D O R R E S I S T E D

The Hero of Epic Homer and Hesiod (8th century)

bull Found in the epic Iliad and Odyssey attributed to Homer (c 8th century BCE) examples include the powerful Achilles and thoughtful persuasive Odysseus

bull Pursues individual honour (timē) in a just world governed by the gods

CH

IGI V

AS

E C

70

0 B

CE

The Hero of Reason The ldquoPresocratics (6th-5th cent)

bull Founding figures including Thales Anaximander Anaximenes Pythagoras Heraclitus Parmenides Seeking to understand the basic original causes (aitiai) of the world through reason

I S T H E W O R L D G E N U I N E LY

I N T E L L I G I B L E T O R E A S O N

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Born in Athens to a stonemason named Sophroniscus in 469 BCE

bull ldquoSocratic problemrdquo Socrates wrote nothing we know about him through Plato Xenophon and Aristophanes whose accounts vary

bull Conversed with anyone ldquorich or poor citizen or foreignerrdquo (Apology 23C)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Non-conformity reliance on individual values and wits (contrast with the earlier poets and rhapsodes)

bull Claims of ignorance interest in shared truth and not only persuasion and resistance of ldquoselfish morality (contrast with the sophists)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Methods based on question and answer (the elenchus) requiring unity or consistency (a) of onersquos beliefs and (b) of onersquos beliefs and actions

bull Behaviour peculiar enough to warrant its own verb (sōkratein) (Arist Birds 1282) before generalized philosophia

bull Brought to trial in 399 BCE by two Athenians Meletus and Anytus charged with ldquoimpiety and corrupting the youngrdquo

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

S O C R AT E S C R I T O 4 6 A

I am the kind of person who listens to nothing within me but the logos that on reflection seems

best to me

L O G O S R E A S O N VA L U E C O N S C I E N C E M E A N I N G

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousness A sense of such significances that what is great is fragile and that what is necessary may be destructive which is present in the literature of the fifth century and earlier has disappeared [later] from the ethics of the philosophers and perhaps altogether from their minds Greek philosophy in its sustained pursuit of rational self-sufficiency does turn its back on kinds of human experience and human necessity of which Greek literature itself offers the purest if not the richest expression

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y A N D P H I L O S O P H Y

The continuity between Greek tragedy and Greek philosophy on these questions is however far greater than Williams has allowed On the one hand inside tragedy itself we find arresting portrayals of the human ambition to rational self-sufficiency we come to understand the ways in which problems of exposure motivate this ambition On the other Platos philosophical search for a self- sufficient good life is motivated by a keen sense of these same problems Far from having forgotten about what tragedy describes he sees the problems of exposure so clearly that only a radical solution seems adequate to their depth Nor is he naiumlve about the costs of this solution

N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y P R A C T I C A L C O N F L I C T

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identical which is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A)

Socrates ldquoencourages Euthyphro [a pious Greek] to revise tradition by considering as binding only those requirements concerning which there is divine unanimity he expresses further his own doubt as to whether gods really do disagreerdquo (Nussbaum 30)

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identicalwhich is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A Nussbaum 25)

Athena Achilles Hector Apollo

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Divine causation

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

A G A M E M N O N AT H O M E R I L I A D 1 1 8 1 - 1 8 7

hellip[H]ere is my threat to you Even as Phoibos Apollo is taking away my Chryseis

hellip I shall take the fair-cheeked Briseis your prize I myself going to your shelter that you may learn well how much greater I am than you and another man may shrink back

from likening himself to me and contending against mersquo

A C H I L L E S AT H O M E R I L I A D 9 6 4 6 - 4 8 S E E A L S O 1 6 5 9

Yet still the heart in me swells up in anger when I remember the disgrace that he wrought upon me before the Argives

the son of Atreus as if I were some wanderer without honour (atimētos metanastēs)

Achilleus in amazement turned about and straightway knew Pallas Athene and the terrible eyes shining

He uttered winged words and addressed her Why have you come now o child of Zeus of the aegis once more Is it that you may see

the outrageousness (hubris) of the son of Atreus Agamemnonrsquohellip

A C H I L L E S AT H O M E R I L I A D 1 1 9 9 - 2 0 3

O D Y S S E U S AT H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 2 2 3 5 - 4 1

You dogs You never thought Id come back home from the kingdom of the Trojans so you ravaged my house

lay in bed by force beside my women slaves my women and wooed my wife illicitly though I was alive

fearing neither the gods who hold wide heaven nor that thered be any mens censure thereafter

Now the moment of destruction hangs over you one and all

The slaughter of the suitors by Odysseus and Telemachus 1812 Louis Vincent Palliere

Death of the suitors Athenian red-figure cup c 450-440 BC

A W H A D K I N S ldquo H O M E R I C E T H I C S rdquo I N I M O R R I S amp B P O W E L L ( E D S )

A N E W C O M PA N I O N T O H O M E R ( B R I L L 1 9 9 6 ) 7 0 4 - 5

ldquoThe Homeric hero deprived of any significant quantity of timē reacts violently

aware as he is of the bottom of the scale [the metanastēs]hellip the primary function of the

agathos [good person hero] is to defend his timē with all the resources at his commandrdquo

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Divine causation

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

H U B R I S N E M E S I S

Nemesis by Gheorghe Tattarescu (1853)

Hesiod Works amp Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

Piteously she transfixed by his crooked claws was lamenting When the imperious hawk addressed her in arrogant parlance Why little lady such shrieks One stronger than you now has got you Where you are going Ill take you myself though you are a songstress For as I please Ill make you my dinner or give you your freedom Witless is one who attempts to strive against those who are stronger When he is stripped of the prize its injury added to insult Thus said the fast-flying hawk that bird with the generous wing-span

Pay more attention to justice and curb high-handedness [brother] Violence ill suits those who are lowly not even the noble Person can lightly endure it it weighs on a person whos fallen Into affliction Its better to take your way on the other Road which conduces to right For outrage (hubris) surrenders to justice (dikē)hellip

W E A R E I N Z E U S rsquo JUST W O R L D D E S C R I B E D I N THEOGONY

S I D E B A R D I V I N E C A U S AT I O N

bull The Homeric and Hesiodic herorsquos individual mission only makes sense in a world governed by gods (theoi)

bull Homer Iliad The gods are primarily responsiblecausal of events (aitios)

bull Early Greek science begins here theoi subsequently naturalized as consistent patterns of regularity in human and natural experience (elements laws)

bull Homer Odyssey Humans are (also) responsiblecausal for our own actions

bull How do we use our freedom

AT H E N A A N D O D Y S S E U S T H E O D Y S S E Y ( N B C 1 9 9 7 )

H O M E R I L I A D 5 1 2 3

Athena drew near to his side and spoke to him in winged words Have courage for I have drawn the mist from your eyes

that you may discern in truth gods from humans

So they spoke but Priam aloud called out to Helen Come over where I am dear child and sit down beside me

to look at your husband of time past your friends and your people I am not blaming you (ou ti moi aitiē essi) to me the gods are

responsible (theoihellipaitioi) who drove upon me this sorrowful war against the Achaians

H O M E R I L I A D 3 1 6 4

S I D E B A R D I V I N E C A U S AT I O N

Zeus is probably responsible (aitios) who gives to men who work for bread to each one however he wishes

H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 1 3 4 8 [ T E L E M A C H U S S P E A K S ]

How mortals now blame [from aitios] gods for they say that evils are from us Yet they themselves

have woes beyond their lot by their own recklessnesshellip

H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 1 3 2 [ Z E U S S P E A K S ]

Tell me of these things Muses that dwell on the heights of Olympus From the origin (archē) and say which first of them came into beinghellip

H E S I O D T H E O G O N Y 1 1 4

Responsibility lies with the one who makes the choice the god is blameless (theos anaitios)

P L AT O R E P U B L I C 1 0 6 1 7 E

S I D E B A R D I V I N E C A U S AT I O N

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Divine causation

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

O D Y S S E U S T O P O LY P H E M U S H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 9 2 6 9 - 7 1

But revere the gods most noble one We are supplicants (hiketai) to you Zeus is the avenger (epitimētōr) of suppliants and strangers

the guest god who attends venerable strangers

W E A R E I N Z E U S rsquo W O R L D ( A S D E S C R I B E D I N THEOGONY )

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

T H E LY R I C P O E T SC 6 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Pindar of Thebes

Simonides of Ceos

Sappho of Lesbos

LY R I C I N T R O D U C T I O N

bull Occasional poetry

bull Often sung to the lyre (lyrē) in varied meters

bull CHORAL LYRIC

bull Dancing choruses at religious festivals contests family events

bull Enforcing collective civic values

bull MONODIC LYRIC

bull Individual performance

bull Personal in emotion amp outlookBrygos Painter c 490 BCE

Sappho and Alcaeus

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

Creatures of the passing day What is any one What is any one not Shadows dream is man But when the radiance given of Zeus comes

there is a bright light upon men and life is sweet

P I N D A R P Y T H 8 9 5 - 9 7

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

I praise and embrace everyone who willingly does nothing base (aischron) but with necessity not even the gods fight A man not too helpless suffices for me one who knows the justice that benefits the

city (polis) a sound and healthy man I will not lay blame for the generation of fools is limitless Everything is noble (kala) with which

base deeds are not mingled

S I M O N I D E S 5 4 2 2 7 - 4 0

Simonides is criticizing the traditional definition of the good noble or successful man (agathos esthlos) Such goodness or nobility depends upon external achievements and possessions (wealth honour prowess in battle) which are too insecure to form a real basis for human excellence Instead Simonides stresses intention justice that benefits the city acknowledgement of the fragility of lifehellip

C S E G A L ldquo C H O R A L LY R I C I N T H E F I F T H C E N T U R Y rdquo I N P E E A S T E R L I N G amp B M W K N O X T H E C A M B R I D G E H I S T O R Y O F

C L A S S I C A L L I T E R AT U R E I ( C A M B R I D G E 2 0 0 8 ) 2 2 4

LY R I C C O N T E X T

Hoplites in phalanx formation From the Chigi Vase proto-Corinthian pitcher ca 650-640 BC

3 0 0 ( W A R N E R B R O S 2 0 0 6 ) ldquo W H AT I S Y O U R P R O F E S S I O N rdquo

W W W Y O U T U B E C O M W AT C H V = A N A 3 C O 8 3 _ G K

3 0 0 ( W A R N E R B R O S 2 0 0 6 ) ldquo F I G H T I N T H E S H A D E rdquo

Y O U T U B E 4 J K P G D D M A R S T = 1 2 4

τοιόνδ ἄνθος Περσίδος αἴας οἴχεται ἀνδρῶν

οὓς πέρι πᾶσα χθὼν Ἀσιῆτις ρέψασα πόθῳ στένεται microαλερῷ τοκέης τ ἄλοχοί θ ἡmicroερολεγδὸν τείνοντα χρόνον τροmicroέονται

A E S C H Y L U S P E R S A I 5 9 - 6 4 C P I L I A D 9 4 1 0 - 1 6

S E E C A S E Y D U Eacute T H E C A P T I V E W O M A N rsquo S L A M E N T I N G R E E K T R A G E DY C H 2

Such is the flower [anthos] of the Persian land such is the flower of men that has disappeared

The entire land of Asia laments the men she nourished with fierce

longing [pothos] Parents and wives counting the days

tremble at the increasing length of time

P I N D A R

bull Born near Thebes c 518 BCE

bull Composed important epinician odes (epi-nikia for-a-victory in a contest)

bull Depicts the gods as maintaining civic values of justice (O 1 P 1-3 P 8) compassionate (N 10) and forgiving (O 7456) guardians of polis morality

bull Celebrated ldquoroughrdquo style

bull ldquoA soaring eaglehellip a rushing streamrdquo (Horace Od 42) ldquoA vast firerdquo (Longinus Sublime 335)

Bust of the lyric poet Pindar Roman copy from original of the mid-5 century BC

F I F T H - C E N T U R Y C H O R A L LY R I C

A C O R N T O O A K T R E E N E I L B R O M H A L L bull y o u t u b e Z K 4 L j U R t a D w

Some people pray for gold others for limitless lands but I pray to please my fellow citizens and then to cover my limbs in earth

having praised the praiseworthy and scattered reproof on the wicked Excellence soars upward like a tree fed on fresh dews

lifted among the wise and just toward the liquid upper air The need for friends comes in many forms

it is most valued in times of trouble but joy too craves to look upon trusty support

P I N D A R N E M E A N 8 3 6 - 4 3

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

F R A G I L I T Ybull How can we be praiseworthy if we are vulnerable (to circumstances)

bull [The poetic world-view and Pindarrsquos career as praise poet of aretē require] ldquothe belief that the excellence of a good person is something of that persons own for whose possession and exercise that person can appropriately be held accountablerdquo (Nussbaum 1)

bull But ldquoHow can we be givers and receivers of praise if our worth ishellip a plant in need of wateringrdquo (2)

bull ldquoWe need to be born with adequate capacities to live in fostering natural and social circumstances to stay clear of abrupt catastrophe to develop confirming associations with other human beingsrdquo (1)

bull A further complication ldquoThe tenderness of a plant is not the dazzling hardness of a gemrdquo perhaps ldquopart of the peculiar beauty of human excellence just is its vulnerabilityrdquo (2)

M A R T H A N U S S B A U M T H E F R A G I L I T Y O F G O O D N E S S C H 1 L U C K amp E T H I C S

T H E P O W E R O F R E A S O N [T]here is the consolation that so far Pindar has apparently left something out However much human beings resemble lower forms of life we are unlike we want to insist in one crucial respect We have reason We are able to deliberate and choose to make a plan in which ends are ranked to decide actively what is to have value and how much All this must count for something If it is true that a lot about us is messy needy uncontrolled rooted in the dirt and standing helplessly in the rain it is also true that there is something about us that is pure and purely active something that we could think of as divine immortal intelligible unitary indissoluble ever self-consistent and invariablelsquo [Plato Phaedo 80B] It seems possible that this rational element in us can rule and guide the rest thereby saving the whole person from living at the mercy of luck

N U S S B A U M F R A G I L I T Y 2

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S S O P H I S T S A N D T R A G E D I A N SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Athens

AT H E N S rsquo A C R O P O L I S A S I M A G I N E D B Y L E O V O N K L E N Z E O I L O N C A N VA S 1 8 4 6 N E U E P I N A K O T H E K

A S S A S S I N rsquo S C R E E D O D Y S S E Y bull A T O U R O F AT H E N S U B I S O F T ( 2 0 1 8 )

bull Athens is the first lsquopeople-ruledrsquo polis (dēmokratia) in the Mediterranean world

bull She has achieved unchallenged naval authority and an empire which is labeled a lsquocommonwealthrsquo

bull At the commercial and cultural crossroads of Italy Greece Egypt and the Near East

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

S P E E C H A N D D E M O C R A C Y

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

bull In this cosmopolitan environment traditional views are challenged leading to a perceived erosion of moral values

bull The rhapsodes use poetic forms to transmit traditional morality

bull The tragedians use poetic forms to explore amp challenge mythrsquos assumptions

bull The sophists teach ldquowisdomrdquo (sophia) including rhetoric and political oratory perceived as a new lsquotechnologyrsquo to steer the ship of state for onersquos own ends

bull Use onersquos own wits ldquoA person is the measure of all thingsrdquo Protagoras B1

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

T R A G E D Y V U L N E R A B I L I T Y A N D R E A S O NC 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E AT H E N S

Aeschylus Agamemnon (458 BCE) and Euripides Iphigeneia at Aulis (405 BCE) The Sacrifice of Iphigeneia by Francesco Fontebasso bull 1749 oil on canvas

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousnesshellip what is great is fragile andhellip what is necessary may be destructivehellip

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

In such cases we see a wrong action committed without any direct physical compulsion and in full knowledge of its nature by a person whose ethical character or commitments would otherwise dispose him to reject the acthellip circumstanceshellip prevent the adequate fulfillment of two valid ethical claims

N U S S B A U M 2 5

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

[Aeschylus in Agamemnon] shows us not so much a solution to the problem of practical conflict as the richness and depth of the problem itself (This achievement is closely connected with his poetic resources which put the scene vividly before us show us debate about it and evoke in us responses important to its assessment)

The best the agent can do is to have his suffering the natural expression of his goodness of character and not to stifle these responses out of misguided optimism The best we (the Chorus) can do for him is to respect the gravity of his predicament to respect the responses that express his goodness and to think about his case as showing a possibility for human life in general

N U S S B A U M 4 9 - 5 0

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

bull In a world that allows such dilemmas are there truly gods with a coherent vision for the world

bull Can individual reason and ingenuity suffice for a good life

T H E S O P H I S T SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Hesiod Works amp Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale Piteously she transfixed by his crooked claws was lamenting When the imperious hawk addressed her in arrogant parlance Why little lady such shrieks One stronger than you now has got you Where you are going Ill take you myself though you are a songstress For as I please Ill make you my dinner or give you your freedom Witless is one who attempts to strive against those who are stronger When he is stripped of the prize its injury added to insult Thus said the fast-flying hawk that bird with the generous wing-spanPay more attention to justice and curb high-handedness [brother] Violence ill suits men who are lowly not even the noble Man can lightly endure it it weighs on a person whos fallen Into affliction Its better to take your way on the other Road which conduces to right For outrage (hubris) surrenders to

justice (dikē)hellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Thucydides History 584-116 The Melian Dialogue ATHENIANS [Y]ou know as well as we do that when these matters are discussed by practical people the standard of justice depends on the equality of power to compel and that in fact the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they musthellip Our opinion of the gods and our knowledge of men lead us to conclude that it is a general and necessary law of nature to rule whatever one can This is not a law that we made ourselves nor were we the first to act upon it when it was made We found it already in existence and we shall leave it to exist for ever among those who come after us

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos

advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Republic I 343A-D Thrasymachusrsquo complaint Tell me Socrates do you still have a wet nursehellip Because shersquos letting you run around with a snotty nose and doesnrsquot wipe it when she needs tohellip You think that shepherds and cowherds seek the good of their sheep and cattle and fatten them and take care of them looking to something other than their masterrsquos good and their own Moreover you believe that rulershellip think of something besides their own advantage You are so far from understandinghellip that you donrsquot realize that justice is really the good of another the advantage of the stronger and the ruler and harmful to the one who obeys and serves Injustice is the opposite it rules the truly simple and just and those it rules do what is to the advantage of the other and stronger and they make the one they serve happy but themselves not at all You must look at it as follows my most simple Socrates A just man always gets less than an unjust onehellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Gorgias 482C-484C Callicles on nature and convention [Y]oursquore in fact bringing the discussion around to the sort of crowd-pleasing vulgarities that are admirable only by law [nomos also translatable ldquoconventionrdquo or ldquocustomrdquo] and not by nature And these nature and law are for the most part opposed to each otherhellip I believe that the people who institute our laws are the weak and the many So they institute laws and assign praise and blame with themselves and their own advantage in mind As a way of frightening the more powerfulhellip out of getting a greater share than they they say that getting more than onersquos share is ldquoshamefulrdquo and ldquounjusthelliprdquo But surely if a man whose nature is equal to it arises he will shake off tear apart and escape all this he will trample underfoot our documents our tricks and charms and all our laws that violate nature He the slave will rise up and be revealed as our master and here the justice of nature will shine forth

The New Teachers of Athens

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

P R E - S O C R AT I C ldquo P H I L O S O P H E R S 6 T H - 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

P R E - S O C R AT I C P H I L O S O P H E R S

bull Though not usually calling themselves ldquophilosophersrdquo they seemed to have contributed inspiration for Socratesrsquo method of free inquiry applying logos

bull Scholars adopt different views of what constitutes their innovation and ldquophilosophicalrdquo method (see readings)

bull Basing views on argument and evidence

bull De-ldquomythologizationrdquo

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Miletus

E A R LY P H I L O S O P H Y A N C I E N T M I L E T U S

M I L E T U S

bull Wealthy city-state in Asia Minor

bull Key city for trading and shipping between Near East amp Greece

bull Ionian Greek culture

bull Freedom of thought

bull Open political debate

bull Wealth (for some) providing leisure

bull Thales and his successors Anaximander Anaximenes

bull ldquoPhilosophicalrdquo investigation

bull Later Presocratics Heraclitus ParmenidesldquoORIENTALIZINGrdquo POTTERY

The Milesian school strikes a new note unheard before It has a fresh sense of the meaning of truth ndash a feeling for the sort of thing it is reasonable to suppose The hypothesis it characteristically deals in is concerned with the nature of the one primary stuff the Milesians seem to make a great conscious effort to get at something which really does exist They strike us as throwing off the vast symbolic visions of mythology and waking clear-headed to see and touch real things If we have a rational temperament we feel at once a refreshment Here at last is a statement about the world which is meant and offered as true ndash a logos [explanation] not a mythos [story]

ndash F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952 ed) 42

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The questions which excited them were of this kind Can this apparently confused and disordered world be reduced to simpler principles so that our reason can grasp what it is and how it works What is it made of How does change take place They abandoned mythological and substituted intellectual solutions [It] was no longer satisfying to say that storms were roused by the wrath of Poseidon or death caused by the arrows of Apollo or Artemis A world ruled by anthropomorphic gods human in their passions was a world ruled by caprice Philosophy and science start with the bold confession of faith that not caprice but an inherent orderliness underlies the phenomena and the explanation of nature is to be sought within nature itself ndashWKC Guthrie History of Greek Philosophy (Cambridge 1969) 1 44-45

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

Thales of Miletus

bull Lived late 7th-6th centurybull Born to a Phoenician aristocratic

family ndash so leisurebull Traveled to Egypt and Babylon (by

tradition)bull Legendary wisdombull ldquoFounder of Western philosophyrdquo

bull First to seek an ldquooriginal causerdquo (archecirc)

bull to explain how unseen facts caused visible results without appeal to mythology

bull To provide generalizable proofs or laws

Thales of Miletus

AstronomyMathematicsWater as the archecircAll things are full of gods

bull Traditionally Thalesrsquo star student

bull 25 years old during Thalesrsquo eclipse (585 BCE)

bull Lived c 610-540 BCE

bull ldquoFirst to draw the inhabited world on a tabletrdquo (first mapmaker)

bull Unambiguously our first ldquophilosopherrdquo by standards of demythologization originality generality and observation

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

ldquoAnaximander has expurgated the supernatural with a boldness and completeness to which many of his successors failed to attain The primary order is still said to be lsquoaccording to what is ordainedrsquo it is still a moral order in which Justice prevails but the will of the personal God has disappeared and its place is partly taken by a natural cause the eternal motionrdquo

- F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952) 41 Anaximander relief 1st century AD

Rome Museo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Key contributions

bull Physics the archecircbull Cosmologybull ldquoEvolutionrdquobull Astronomy and Cartography

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Anaximander said that the APEIRON [indefinite unlimited] was the ARCHE and the element of things that are and he was the first to introduce this name for the ARCHE He says that the ARCHE is neither water nor any other of the things called elements but some other nature called APEIRON out of which come to be all the heavens and the worlds in them (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2413-18)

The things that are perish into the things out of which they come to be according to necessity for ldquothey pay penalty and retribution to one another according to their injustice in accordance with the ordering of timerdquo as he says in rather poetical language (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2418-21)

Anaximander of Miletus

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The ARCHE

bull One and unlimitedbull But not undefined Itrsquos AIR

Anaximenes of Miletus

bull Not opposites but a continuum FIRE AIR larr WIND larr CLOUD larr WATER larr EARTH larr STONEbull ldquoLooseningrdquo and ldquotighteningrdquo explain hot and cold

H E R A C L I T U S B 1 0 1 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 3 7 )

I searched out myself

Listening not to me but to the logos it is wise to agree that all things are one

H E R A C L I T U S B 5 0 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 1 1 )

E X A M P L E S

THE ROAD TO PHILOSOP HY

The Hero of Lyric Poets of the Polis (6th century)

bull According to the lyric poets of the polis culture such as Pindar Simonides Tyrtaeus and Sappho (7th-6th century BCE)

bull Pursues collective good of the polis based on strong ties of interdependent responsibility amp cooperation in a just world governed by the gods

Individual Freedom The ldquoSophistsrdquo (5th century)

bull Sources in thinkers like Protagoras and Gorgias (5th century BCE predominantly working in Athens) constructed as a category by Platorsquos later writings

bull Pursues individual advantage based on their personal beliefs and wits using persuasion and power skepticism of traditional values

Vulnerability The Hero of Tragedy (5th century)

bull Iconic examples include Sophoclesrsquo Oedipus and Aeschylusrsquo Agamemnon and Orestes

bull Pursuit of individual amp collective good in a world of apparently conflicting divine values sometimes hampered by their own lack of self-knowledge

I N T E R D E P E N D E N C Y I N T R O D U C E S V U L N E R A B I L I T Y W H I C H M AY B E

C E L E B R AT E D O R R E S I S T E D

The Hero of Epic Homer and Hesiod (8th century)

bull Found in the epic Iliad and Odyssey attributed to Homer (c 8th century BCE) examples include the powerful Achilles and thoughtful persuasive Odysseus

bull Pursues individual honour (timē) in a just world governed by the gods

CH

IGI V

AS

E C

70

0 B

CE

The Hero of Reason The ldquoPresocratics (6th-5th cent)

bull Founding figures including Thales Anaximander Anaximenes Pythagoras Heraclitus Parmenides Seeking to understand the basic original causes (aitiai) of the world through reason

I S T H E W O R L D G E N U I N E LY

I N T E L L I G I B L E T O R E A S O N

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Born in Athens to a stonemason named Sophroniscus in 469 BCE

bull ldquoSocratic problemrdquo Socrates wrote nothing we know about him through Plato Xenophon and Aristophanes whose accounts vary

bull Conversed with anyone ldquorich or poor citizen or foreignerrdquo (Apology 23C)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Non-conformity reliance on individual values and wits (contrast with the earlier poets and rhapsodes)

bull Claims of ignorance interest in shared truth and not only persuasion and resistance of ldquoselfish morality (contrast with the sophists)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Methods based on question and answer (the elenchus) requiring unity or consistency (a) of onersquos beliefs and (b) of onersquos beliefs and actions

bull Behaviour peculiar enough to warrant its own verb (sōkratein) (Arist Birds 1282) before generalized philosophia

bull Brought to trial in 399 BCE by two Athenians Meletus and Anytus charged with ldquoimpiety and corrupting the youngrdquo

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

S O C R AT E S C R I T O 4 6 A

I am the kind of person who listens to nothing within me but the logos that on reflection seems

best to me

L O G O S R E A S O N VA L U E C O N S C I E N C E M E A N I N G

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousness A sense of such significances that what is great is fragile and that what is necessary may be destructive which is present in the literature of the fifth century and earlier has disappeared [later] from the ethics of the philosophers and perhaps altogether from their minds Greek philosophy in its sustained pursuit of rational self-sufficiency does turn its back on kinds of human experience and human necessity of which Greek literature itself offers the purest if not the richest expression

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y A N D P H I L O S O P H Y

The continuity between Greek tragedy and Greek philosophy on these questions is however far greater than Williams has allowed On the one hand inside tragedy itself we find arresting portrayals of the human ambition to rational self-sufficiency we come to understand the ways in which problems of exposure motivate this ambition On the other Platos philosophical search for a self- sufficient good life is motivated by a keen sense of these same problems Far from having forgotten about what tragedy describes he sees the problems of exposure so clearly that only a radical solution seems adequate to their depth Nor is he naiumlve about the costs of this solution

N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y P R A C T I C A L C O N F L I C T

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identical which is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A)

Socrates ldquoencourages Euthyphro [a pious Greek] to revise tradition by considering as binding only those requirements concerning which there is divine unanimity he expresses further his own doubt as to whether gods really do disagreerdquo (Nussbaum 30)

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identicalwhich is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A Nussbaum 25)

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Divine causation

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

A G A M E M N O N AT H O M E R I L I A D 1 1 8 1 - 1 8 7

hellip[H]ere is my threat to you Even as Phoibos Apollo is taking away my Chryseis

hellip I shall take the fair-cheeked Briseis your prize I myself going to your shelter that you may learn well how much greater I am than you and another man may shrink back

from likening himself to me and contending against mersquo

A C H I L L E S AT H O M E R I L I A D 9 6 4 6 - 4 8 S E E A L S O 1 6 5 9

Yet still the heart in me swells up in anger when I remember the disgrace that he wrought upon me before the Argives

the son of Atreus as if I were some wanderer without honour (atimētos metanastēs)

Achilleus in amazement turned about and straightway knew Pallas Athene and the terrible eyes shining

He uttered winged words and addressed her Why have you come now o child of Zeus of the aegis once more Is it that you may see

the outrageousness (hubris) of the son of Atreus Agamemnonrsquohellip

A C H I L L E S AT H O M E R I L I A D 1 1 9 9 - 2 0 3

O D Y S S E U S AT H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 2 2 3 5 - 4 1

You dogs You never thought Id come back home from the kingdom of the Trojans so you ravaged my house

lay in bed by force beside my women slaves my women and wooed my wife illicitly though I was alive

fearing neither the gods who hold wide heaven nor that thered be any mens censure thereafter

Now the moment of destruction hangs over you one and all

The slaughter of the suitors by Odysseus and Telemachus 1812 Louis Vincent Palliere

Death of the suitors Athenian red-figure cup c 450-440 BC

A W H A D K I N S ldquo H O M E R I C E T H I C S rdquo I N I M O R R I S amp B P O W E L L ( E D S )

A N E W C O M PA N I O N T O H O M E R ( B R I L L 1 9 9 6 ) 7 0 4 - 5

ldquoThe Homeric hero deprived of any significant quantity of timē reacts violently

aware as he is of the bottom of the scale [the metanastēs]hellip the primary function of the

agathos [good person hero] is to defend his timē with all the resources at his commandrdquo

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Divine causation

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

H U B R I S N E M E S I S

Nemesis by Gheorghe Tattarescu (1853)

Hesiod Works amp Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

Piteously she transfixed by his crooked claws was lamenting When the imperious hawk addressed her in arrogant parlance Why little lady such shrieks One stronger than you now has got you Where you are going Ill take you myself though you are a songstress For as I please Ill make you my dinner or give you your freedom Witless is one who attempts to strive against those who are stronger When he is stripped of the prize its injury added to insult Thus said the fast-flying hawk that bird with the generous wing-span

Pay more attention to justice and curb high-handedness [brother] Violence ill suits those who are lowly not even the noble Person can lightly endure it it weighs on a person whos fallen Into affliction Its better to take your way on the other Road which conduces to right For outrage (hubris) surrenders to justice (dikē)hellip

W E A R E I N Z E U S rsquo JUST W O R L D D E S C R I B E D I N THEOGONY

S I D E B A R D I V I N E C A U S AT I O N

bull The Homeric and Hesiodic herorsquos individual mission only makes sense in a world governed by gods (theoi)

bull Homer Iliad The gods are primarily responsiblecausal of events (aitios)

bull Early Greek science begins here theoi subsequently naturalized as consistent patterns of regularity in human and natural experience (elements laws)

bull Homer Odyssey Humans are (also) responsiblecausal for our own actions

bull How do we use our freedom

AT H E N A A N D O D Y S S E U S T H E O D Y S S E Y ( N B C 1 9 9 7 )

H O M E R I L I A D 5 1 2 3

Athena drew near to his side and spoke to him in winged words Have courage for I have drawn the mist from your eyes

that you may discern in truth gods from humans

So they spoke but Priam aloud called out to Helen Come over where I am dear child and sit down beside me

to look at your husband of time past your friends and your people I am not blaming you (ou ti moi aitiē essi) to me the gods are

responsible (theoihellipaitioi) who drove upon me this sorrowful war against the Achaians

H O M E R I L I A D 3 1 6 4

S I D E B A R D I V I N E C A U S AT I O N

Zeus is probably responsible (aitios) who gives to men who work for bread to each one however he wishes

H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 1 3 4 8 [ T E L E M A C H U S S P E A K S ]

How mortals now blame [from aitios] gods for they say that evils are from us Yet they themselves

have woes beyond their lot by their own recklessnesshellip

H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 1 3 2 [ Z E U S S P E A K S ]

Tell me of these things Muses that dwell on the heights of Olympus From the origin (archē) and say which first of them came into beinghellip

H E S I O D T H E O G O N Y 1 1 4

Responsibility lies with the one who makes the choice the god is blameless (theos anaitios)

P L AT O R E P U B L I C 1 0 6 1 7 E

S I D E B A R D I V I N E C A U S AT I O N

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Divine causation

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

O D Y S S E U S T O P O LY P H E M U S H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 9 2 6 9 - 7 1

But revere the gods most noble one We are supplicants (hiketai) to you Zeus is the avenger (epitimētōr) of suppliants and strangers

the guest god who attends venerable strangers

W E A R E I N Z E U S rsquo W O R L D ( A S D E S C R I B E D I N THEOGONY )

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

T H E LY R I C P O E T SC 6 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Pindar of Thebes

Simonides of Ceos

Sappho of Lesbos

LY R I C I N T R O D U C T I O N

bull Occasional poetry

bull Often sung to the lyre (lyrē) in varied meters

bull CHORAL LYRIC

bull Dancing choruses at religious festivals contests family events

bull Enforcing collective civic values

bull MONODIC LYRIC

bull Individual performance

bull Personal in emotion amp outlookBrygos Painter c 490 BCE

Sappho and Alcaeus

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

Creatures of the passing day What is any one What is any one not Shadows dream is man But when the radiance given of Zeus comes

there is a bright light upon men and life is sweet

P I N D A R P Y T H 8 9 5 - 9 7

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

I praise and embrace everyone who willingly does nothing base (aischron) but with necessity not even the gods fight A man not too helpless suffices for me one who knows the justice that benefits the

city (polis) a sound and healthy man I will not lay blame for the generation of fools is limitless Everything is noble (kala) with which

base deeds are not mingled

S I M O N I D E S 5 4 2 2 7 - 4 0

Simonides is criticizing the traditional definition of the good noble or successful man (agathos esthlos) Such goodness or nobility depends upon external achievements and possessions (wealth honour prowess in battle) which are too insecure to form a real basis for human excellence Instead Simonides stresses intention justice that benefits the city acknowledgement of the fragility of lifehellip

C S E G A L ldquo C H O R A L LY R I C I N T H E F I F T H C E N T U R Y rdquo I N P E E A S T E R L I N G amp B M W K N O X T H E C A M B R I D G E H I S T O R Y O F

C L A S S I C A L L I T E R AT U R E I ( C A M B R I D G E 2 0 0 8 ) 2 2 4

LY R I C C O N T E X T

Hoplites in phalanx formation From the Chigi Vase proto-Corinthian pitcher ca 650-640 BC

3 0 0 ( W A R N E R B R O S 2 0 0 6 ) ldquo W H AT I S Y O U R P R O F E S S I O N rdquo

W W W Y O U T U B E C O M W AT C H V = A N A 3 C O 8 3 _ G K

3 0 0 ( W A R N E R B R O S 2 0 0 6 ) ldquo F I G H T I N T H E S H A D E rdquo

Y O U T U B E 4 J K P G D D M A R S T = 1 2 4

τοιόνδ ἄνθος Περσίδος αἴας οἴχεται ἀνδρῶν

οὓς πέρι πᾶσα χθὼν Ἀσιῆτις ρέψασα πόθῳ στένεται microαλερῷ τοκέης τ ἄλοχοί θ ἡmicroερολεγδὸν τείνοντα χρόνον τροmicroέονται

A E S C H Y L U S P E R S A I 5 9 - 6 4 C P I L I A D 9 4 1 0 - 1 6

S E E C A S E Y D U Eacute T H E C A P T I V E W O M A N rsquo S L A M E N T I N G R E E K T R A G E DY C H 2

Such is the flower [anthos] of the Persian land such is the flower of men that has disappeared

The entire land of Asia laments the men she nourished with fierce

longing [pothos] Parents and wives counting the days

tremble at the increasing length of time

P I N D A R

bull Born near Thebes c 518 BCE

bull Composed important epinician odes (epi-nikia for-a-victory in a contest)

bull Depicts the gods as maintaining civic values of justice (O 1 P 1-3 P 8) compassionate (N 10) and forgiving (O 7456) guardians of polis morality

bull Celebrated ldquoroughrdquo style

bull ldquoA soaring eaglehellip a rushing streamrdquo (Horace Od 42) ldquoA vast firerdquo (Longinus Sublime 335)

Bust of the lyric poet Pindar Roman copy from original of the mid-5 century BC

F I F T H - C E N T U R Y C H O R A L LY R I C

A C O R N T O O A K T R E E N E I L B R O M H A L L bull y o u t u b e Z K 4 L j U R t a D w

Some people pray for gold others for limitless lands but I pray to please my fellow citizens and then to cover my limbs in earth

having praised the praiseworthy and scattered reproof on the wicked Excellence soars upward like a tree fed on fresh dews

lifted among the wise and just toward the liquid upper air The need for friends comes in many forms

it is most valued in times of trouble but joy too craves to look upon trusty support

P I N D A R N E M E A N 8 3 6 - 4 3

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

F R A G I L I T Ybull How can we be praiseworthy if we are vulnerable (to circumstances)

bull [The poetic world-view and Pindarrsquos career as praise poet of aretē require] ldquothe belief that the excellence of a good person is something of that persons own for whose possession and exercise that person can appropriately be held accountablerdquo (Nussbaum 1)

bull But ldquoHow can we be givers and receivers of praise if our worth ishellip a plant in need of wateringrdquo (2)

bull ldquoWe need to be born with adequate capacities to live in fostering natural and social circumstances to stay clear of abrupt catastrophe to develop confirming associations with other human beingsrdquo (1)

bull A further complication ldquoThe tenderness of a plant is not the dazzling hardness of a gemrdquo perhaps ldquopart of the peculiar beauty of human excellence just is its vulnerabilityrdquo (2)

M A R T H A N U S S B A U M T H E F R A G I L I T Y O F G O O D N E S S C H 1 L U C K amp E T H I C S

T H E P O W E R O F R E A S O N [T]here is the consolation that so far Pindar has apparently left something out However much human beings resemble lower forms of life we are unlike we want to insist in one crucial respect We have reason We are able to deliberate and choose to make a plan in which ends are ranked to decide actively what is to have value and how much All this must count for something If it is true that a lot about us is messy needy uncontrolled rooted in the dirt and standing helplessly in the rain it is also true that there is something about us that is pure and purely active something that we could think of as divine immortal intelligible unitary indissoluble ever self-consistent and invariablelsquo [Plato Phaedo 80B] It seems possible that this rational element in us can rule and guide the rest thereby saving the whole person from living at the mercy of luck

N U S S B A U M F R A G I L I T Y 2

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S S O P H I S T S A N D T R A G E D I A N SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Athens

AT H E N S rsquo A C R O P O L I S A S I M A G I N E D B Y L E O V O N K L E N Z E O I L O N C A N VA S 1 8 4 6 N E U E P I N A K O T H E K

A S S A S S I N rsquo S C R E E D O D Y S S E Y bull A T O U R O F AT H E N S U B I S O F T ( 2 0 1 8 )

bull Athens is the first lsquopeople-ruledrsquo polis (dēmokratia) in the Mediterranean world

bull She has achieved unchallenged naval authority and an empire which is labeled a lsquocommonwealthrsquo

bull At the commercial and cultural crossroads of Italy Greece Egypt and the Near East

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

S P E E C H A N D D E M O C R A C Y

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

bull In this cosmopolitan environment traditional views are challenged leading to a perceived erosion of moral values

bull The rhapsodes use poetic forms to transmit traditional morality

bull The tragedians use poetic forms to explore amp challenge mythrsquos assumptions

bull The sophists teach ldquowisdomrdquo (sophia) including rhetoric and political oratory perceived as a new lsquotechnologyrsquo to steer the ship of state for onersquos own ends

bull Use onersquos own wits ldquoA person is the measure of all thingsrdquo Protagoras B1

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

T R A G E D Y V U L N E R A B I L I T Y A N D R E A S O NC 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E AT H E N S

Aeschylus Agamemnon (458 BCE) and Euripides Iphigeneia at Aulis (405 BCE) The Sacrifice of Iphigeneia by Francesco Fontebasso bull 1749 oil on canvas

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousnesshellip what is great is fragile andhellip what is necessary may be destructivehellip

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

In such cases we see a wrong action committed without any direct physical compulsion and in full knowledge of its nature by a person whose ethical character or commitments would otherwise dispose him to reject the acthellip circumstanceshellip prevent the adequate fulfillment of two valid ethical claims

N U S S B A U M 2 5

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

[Aeschylus in Agamemnon] shows us not so much a solution to the problem of practical conflict as the richness and depth of the problem itself (This achievement is closely connected with his poetic resources which put the scene vividly before us show us debate about it and evoke in us responses important to its assessment)

The best the agent can do is to have his suffering the natural expression of his goodness of character and not to stifle these responses out of misguided optimism The best we (the Chorus) can do for him is to respect the gravity of his predicament to respect the responses that express his goodness and to think about his case as showing a possibility for human life in general

N U S S B A U M 4 9 - 5 0

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

bull In a world that allows such dilemmas are there truly gods with a coherent vision for the world

bull Can individual reason and ingenuity suffice for a good life

T H E S O P H I S T SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Hesiod Works amp Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale Piteously she transfixed by his crooked claws was lamenting When the imperious hawk addressed her in arrogant parlance Why little lady such shrieks One stronger than you now has got you Where you are going Ill take you myself though you are a songstress For as I please Ill make you my dinner or give you your freedom Witless is one who attempts to strive against those who are stronger When he is stripped of the prize its injury added to insult Thus said the fast-flying hawk that bird with the generous wing-spanPay more attention to justice and curb high-handedness [brother] Violence ill suits men who are lowly not even the noble Man can lightly endure it it weighs on a person whos fallen Into affliction Its better to take your way on the other Road which conduces to right For outrage (hubris) surrenders to

justice (dikē)hellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Thucydides History 584-116 The Melian Dialogue ATHENIANS [Y]ou know as well as we do that when these matters are discussed by practical people the standard of justice depends on the equality of power to compel and that in fact the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they musthellip Our opinion of the gods and our knowledge of men lead us to conclude that it is a general and necessary law of nature to rule whatever one can This is not a law that we made ourselves nor were we the first to act upon it when it was made We found it already in existence and we shall leave it to exist for ever among those who come after us

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos

advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Republic I 343A-D Thrasymachusrsquo complaint Tell me Socrates do you still have a wet nursehellip Because shersquos letting you run around with a snotty nose and doesnrsquot wipe it when she needs tohellip You think that shepherds and cowherds seek the good of their sheep and cattle and fatten them and take care of them looking to something other than their masterrsquos good and their own Moreover you believe that rulershellip think of something besides their own advantage You are so far from understandinghellip that you donrsquot realize that justice is really the good of another the advantage of the stronger and the ruler and harmful to the one who obeys and serves Injustice is the opposite it rules the truly simple and just and those it rules do what is to the advantage of the other and stronger and they make the one they serve happy but themselves not at all You must look at it as follows my most simple Socrates A just man always gets less than an unjust onehellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Gorgias 482C-484C Callicles on nature and convention [Y]oursquore in fact bringing the discussion around to the sort of crowd-pleasing vulgarities that are admirable only by law [nomos also translatable ldquoconventionrdquo or ldquocustomrdquo] and not by nature And these nature and law are for the most part opposed to each otherhellip I believe that the people who institute our laws are the weak and the many So they institute laws and assign praise and blame with themselves and their own advantage in mind As a way of frightening the more powerfulhellip out of getting a greater share than they they say that getting more than onersquos share is ldquoshamefulrdquo and ldquounjusthelliprdquo But surely if a man whose nature is equal to it arises he will shake off tear apart and escape all this he will trample underfoot our documents our tricks and charms and all our laws that violate nature He the slave will rise up and be revealed as our master and here the justice of nature will shine forth

The New Teachers of Athens

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

P R E - S O C R AT I C ldquo P H I L O S O P H E R S 6 T H - 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

P R E - S O C R AT I C P H I L O S O P H E R S

bull Though not usually calling themselves ldquophilosophersrdquo they seemed to have contributed inspiration for Socratesrsquo method of free inquiry applying logos

bull Scholars adopt different views of what constitutes their innovation and ldquophilosophicalrdquo method (see readings)

bull Basing views on argument and evidence

bull De-ldquomythologizationrdquo

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Miletus

E A R LY P H I L O S O P H Y A N C I E N T M I L E T U S

M I L E T U S

bull Wealthy city-state in Asia Minor

bull Key city for trading and shipping between Near East amp Greece

bull Ionian Greek culture

bull Freedom of thought

bull Open political debate

bull Wealth (for some) providing leisure

bull Thales and his successors Anaximander Anaximenes

bull ldquoPhilosophicalrdquo investigation

bull Later Presocratics Heraclitus ParmenidesldquoORIENTALIZINGrdquo POTTERY

The Milesian school strikes a new note unheard before It has a fresh sense of the meaning of truth ndash a feeling for the sort of thing it is reasonable to suppose The hypothesis it characteristically deals in is concerned with the nature of the one primary stuff the Milesians seem to make a great conscious effort to get at something which really does exist They strike us as throwing off the vast symbolic visions of mythology and waking clear-headed to see and touch real things If we have a rational temperament we feel at once a refreshment Here at last is a statement about the world which is meant and offered as true ndash a logos [explanation] not a mythos [story]

ndash F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952 ed) 42

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The questions which excited them were of this kind Can this apparently confused and disordered world be reduced to simpler principles so that our reason can grasp what it is and how it works What is it made of How does change take place They abandoned mythological and substituted intellectual solutions [It] was no longer satisfying to say that storms were roused by the wrath of Poseidon or death caused by the arrows of Apollo or Artemis A world ruled by anthropomorphic gods human in their passions was a world ruled by caprice Philosophy and science start with the bold confession of faith that not caprice but an inherent orderliness underlies the phenomena and the explanation of nature is to be sought within nature itself ndashWKC Guthrie History of Greek Philosophy (Cambridge 1969) 1 44-45

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

Thales of Miletus

bull Lived late 7th-6th centurybull Born to a Phoenician aristocratic

family ndash so leisurebull Traveled to Egypt and Babylon (by

tradition)bull Legendary wisdombull ldquoFounder of Western philosophyrdquo

bull First to seek an ldquooriginal causerdquo (archecirc)

bull to explain how unseen facts caused visible results without appeal to mythology

bull To provide generalizable proofs or laws

Thales of Miletus

AstronomyMathematicsWater as the archecircAll things are full of gods

bull Traditionally Thalesrsquo star student

bull 25 years old during Thalesrsquo eclipse (585 BCE)

bull Lived c 610-540 BCE

bull ldquoFirst to draw the inhabited world on a tabletrdquo (first mapmaker)

bull Unambiguously our first ldquophilosopherrdquo by standards of demythologization originality generality and observation

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

ldquoAnaximander has expurgated the supernatural with a boldness and completeness to which many of his successors failed to attain The primary order is still said to be lsquoaccording to what is ordainedrsquo it is still a moral order in which Justice prevails but the will of the personal God has disappeared and its place is partly taken by a natural cause the eternal motionrdquo

- F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952) 41 Anaximander relief 1st century AD

Rome Museo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Key contributions

bull Physics the archecircbull Cosmologybull ldquoEvolutionrdquobull Astronomy and Cartography

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Anaximander said that the APEIRON [indefinite unlimited] was the ARCHE and the element of things that are and he was the first to introduce this name for the ARCHE He says that the ARCHE is neither water nor any other of the things called elements but some other nature called APEIRON out of which come to be all the heavens and the worlds in them (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2413-18)

The things that are perish into the things out of which they come to be according to necessity for ldquothey pay penalty and retribution to one another according to their injustice in accordance with the ordering of timerdquo as he says in rather poetical language (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2418-21)

Anaximander of Miletus

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The ARCHE

bull One and unlimitedbull But not undefined Itrsquos AIR

Anaximenes of Miletus

bull Not opposites but a continuum FIRE AIR larr WIND larr CLOUD larr WATER larr EARTH larr STONEbull ldquoLooseningrdquo and ldquotighteningrdquo explain hot and cold

H E R A C L I T U S B 1 0 1 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 3 7 )

I searched out myself

Listening not to me but to the logos it is wise to agree that all things are one

H E R A C L I T U S B 5 0 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 1 1 )

E X A M P L E S

THE ROAD TO PHILOSOP HY

The Hero of Lyric Poets of the Polis (6th century)

bull According to the lyric poets of the polis culture such as Pindar Simonides Tyrtaeus and Sappho (7th-6th century BCE)

bull Pursues collective good of the polis based on strong ties of interdependent responsibility amp cooperation in a just world governed by the gods

Individual Freedom The ldquoSophistsrdquo (5th century)

bull Sources in thinkers like Protagoras and Gorgias (5th century BCE predominantly working in Athens) constructed as a category by Platorsquos later writings

bull Pursues individual advantage based on their personal beliefs and wits using persuasion and power skepticism of traditional values

Vulnerability The Hero of Tragedy (5th century)

bull Iconic examples include Sophoclesrsquo Oedipus and Aeschylusrsquo Agamemnon and Orestes

bull Pursuit of individual amp collective good in a world of apparently conflicting divine values sometimes hampered by their own lack of self-knowledge

I N T E R D E P E N D E N C Y I N T R O D U C E S V U L N E R A B I L I T Y W H I C H M AY B E

C E L E B R AT E D O R R E S I S T E D

The Hero of Epic Homer and Hesiod (8th century)

bull Found in the epic Iliad and Odyssey attributed to Homer (c 8th century BCE) examples include the powerful Achilles and thoughtful persuasive Odysseus

bull Pursues individual honour (timē) in a just world governed by the gods

CH

IGI V

AS

E C

70

0 B

CE

The Hero of Reason The ldquoPresocratics (6th-5th cent)

bull Founding figures including Thales Anaximander Anaximenes Pythagoras Heraclitus Parmenides Seeking to understand the basic original causes (aitiai) of the world through reason

I S T H E W O R L D G E N U I N E LY

I N T E L L I G I B L E T O R E A S O N

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Born in Athens to a stonemason named Sophroniscus in 469 BCE

bull ldquoSocratic problemrdquo Socrates wrote nothing we know about him through Plato Xenophon and Aristophanes whose accounts vary

bull Conversed with anyone ldquorich or poor citizen or foreignerrdquo (Apology 23C)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Non-conformity reliance on individual values and wits (contrast with the earlier poets and rhapsodes)

bull Claims of ignorance interest in shared truth and not only persuasion and resistance of ldquoselfish morality (contrast with the sophists)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Methods based on question and answer (the elenchus) requiring unity or consistency (a) of onersquos beliefs and (b) of onersquos beliefs and actions

bull Behaviour peculiar enough to warrant its own verb (sōkratein) (Arist Birds 1282) before generalized philosophia

bull Brought to trial in 399 BCE by two Athenians Meletus and Anytus charged with ldquoimpiety and corrupting the youngrdquo

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

S O C R AT E S C R I T O 4 6 A

I am the kind of person who listens to nothing within me but the logos that on reflection seems

best to me

L O G O S R E A S O N VA L U E C O N S C I E N C E M E A N I N G

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousness A sense of such significances that what is great is fragile and that what is necessary may be destructive which is present in the literature of the fifth century and earlier has disappeared [later] from the ethics of the philosophers and perhaps altogether from their minds Greek philosophy in its sustained pursuit of rational self-sufficiency does turn its back on kinds of human experience and human necessity of which Greek literature itself offers the purest if not the richest expression

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y A N D P H I L O S O P H Y

The continuity between Greek tragedy and Greek philosophy on these questions is however far greater than Williams has allowed On the one hand inside tragedy itself we find arresting portrayals of the human ambition to rational self-sufficiency we come to understand the ways in which problems of exposure motivate this ambition On the other Platos philosophical search for a self- sufficient good life is motivated by a keen sense of these same problems Far from having forgotten about what tragedy describes he sees the problems of exposure so clearly that only a radical solution seems adequate to their depth Nor is he naiumlve about the costs of this solution

N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y P R A C T I C A L C O N F L I C T

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identical which is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A)

Socrates ldquoencourages Euthyphro [a pious Greek] to revise tradition by considering as binding only those requirements concerning which there is divine unanimity he expresses further his own doubt as to whether gods really do disagreerdquo (Nussbaum 30)

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identicalwhich is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A Nussbaum 25)

A G A M E M N O N AT H O M E R I L I A D 1 1 8 1 - 1 8 7

hellip[H]ere is my threat to you Even as Phoibos Apollo is taking away my Chryseis

hellip I shall take the fair-cheeked Briseis your prize I myself going to your shelter that you may learn well how much greater I am than you and another man may shrink back

from likening himself to me and contending against mersquo

A C H I L L E S AT H O M E R I L I A D 9 6 4 6 - 4 8 S E E A L S O 1 6 5 9

Yet still the heart in me swells up in anger when I remember the disgrace that he wrought upon me before the Argives

the son of Atreus as if I were some wanderer without honour (atimētos metanastēs)

Achilleus in amazement turned about and straightway knew Pallas Athene and the terrible eyes shining

He uttered winged words and addressed her Why have you come now o child of Zeus of the aegis once more Is it that you may see

the outrageousness (hubris) of the son of Atreus Agamemnonrsquohellip

A C H I L L E S AT H O M E R I L I A D 1 1 9 9 - 2 0 3

O D Y S S E U S AT H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 2 2 3 5 - 4 1

You dogs You never thought Id come back home from the kingdom of the Trojans so you ravaged my house

lay in bed by force beside my women slaves my women and wooed my wife illicitly though I was alive

fearing neither the gods who hold wide heaven nor that thered be any mens censure thereafter

Now the moment of destruction hangs over you one and all

The slaughter of the suitors by Odysseus and Telemachus 1812 Louis Vincent Palliere

Death of the suitors Athenian red-figure cup c 450-440 BC

A W H A D K I N S ldquo H O M E R I C E T H I C S rdquo I N I M O R R I S amp B P O W E L L ( E D S )

A N E W C O M PA N I O N T O H O M E R ( B R I L L 1 9 9 6 ) 7 0 4 - 5

ldquoThe Homeric hero deprived of any significant quantity of timē reacts violently

aware as he is of the bottom of the scale [the metanastēs]hellip the primary function of the

agathos [good person hero] is to defend his timē with all the resources at his commandrdquo

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Divine causation

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

H U B R I S N E M E S I S

Nemesis by Gheorghe Tattarescu (1853)

Hesiod Works amp Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

Piteously she transfixed by his crooked claws was lamenting When the imperious hawk addressed her in arrogant parlance Why little lady such shrieks One stronger than you now has got you Where you are going Ill take you myself though you are a songstress For as I please Ill make you my dinner or give you your freedom Witless is one who attempts to strive against those who are stronger When he is stripped of the prize its injury added to insult Thus said the fast-flying hawk that bird with the generous wing-span

Pay more attention to justice and curb high-handedness [brother] Violence ill suits those who are lowly not even the noble Person can lightly endure it it weighs on a person whos fallen Into affliction Its better to take your way on the other Road which conduces to right For outrage (hubris) surrenders to justice (dikē)hellip

W E A R E I N Z E U S rsquo JUST W O R L D D E S C R I B E D I N THEOGONY

S I D E B A R D I V I N E C A U S AT I O N

bull The Homeric and Hesiodic herorsquos individual mission only makes sense in a world governed by gods (theoi)

bull Homer Iliad The gods are primarily responsiblecausal of events (aitios)

bull Early Greek science begins here theoi subsequently naturalized as consistent patterns of regularity in human and natural experience (elements laws)

bull Homer Odyssey Humans are (also) responsiblecausal for our own actions

bull How do we use our freedom

AT H E N A A N D O D Y S S E U S T H E O D Y S S E Y ( N B C 1 9 9 7 )

H O M E R I L I A D 5 1 2 3

Athena drew near to his side and spoke to him in winged words Have courage for I have drawn the mist from your eyes

that you may discern in truth gods from humans

So they spoke but Priam aloud called out to Helen Come over where I am dear child and sit down beside me

to look at your husband of time past your friends and your people I am not blaming you (ou ti moi aitiē essi) to me the gods are

responsible (theoihellipaitioi) who drove upon me this sorrowful war against the Achaians

H O M E R I L I A D 3 1 6 4

S I D E B A R D I V I N E C A U S AT I O N

Zeus is probably responsible (aitios) who gives to men who work for bread to each one however he wishes

H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 1 3 4 8 [ T E L E M A C H U S S P E A K S ]

How mortals now blame [from aitios] gods for they say that evils are from us Yet they themselves

have woes beyond their lot by their own recklessnesshellip

H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 1 3 2 [ Z E U S S P E A K S ]

Tell me of these things Muses that dwell on the heights of Olympus From the origin (archē) and say which first of them came into beinghellip

H E S I O D T H E O G O N Y 1 1 4

Responsibility lies with the one who makes the choice the god is blameless (theos anaitios)

P L AT O R E P U B L I C 1 0 6 1 7 E

S I D E B A R D I V I N E C A U S AT I O N

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Divine causation

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

O D Y S S E U S T O P O LY P H E M U S H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 9 2 6 9 - 7 1

But revere the gods most noble one We are supplicants (hiketai) to you Zeus is the avenger (epitimētōr) of suppliants and strangers

the guest god who attends venerable strangers

W E A R E I N Z E U S rsquo W O R L D ( A S D E S C R I B E D I N THEOGONY )

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

T H E LY R I C P O E T SC 6 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Pindar of Thebes

Simonides of Ceos

Sappho of Lesbos

LY R I C I N T R O D U C T I O N

bull Occasional poetry

bull Often sung to the lyre (lyrē) in varied meters

bull CHORAL LYRIC

bull Dancing choruses at religious festivals contests family events

bull Enforcing collective civic values

bull MONODIC LYRIC

bull Individual performance

bull Personal in emotion amp outlookBrygos Painter c 490 BCE

Sappho and Alcaeus

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

Creatures of the passing day What is any one What is any one not Shadows dream is man But when the radiance given of Zeus comes

there is a bright light upon men and life is sweet

P I N D A R P Y T H 8 9 5 - 9 7

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

I praise and embrace everyone who willingly does nothing base (aischron) but with necessity not even the gods fight A man not too helpless suffices for me one who knows the justice that benefits the

city (polis) a sound and healthy man I will not lay blame for the generation of fools is limitless Everything is noble (kala) with which

base deeds are not mingled

S I M O N I D E S 5 4 2 2 7 - 4 0

Simonides is criticizing the traditional definition of the good noble or successful man (agathos esthlos) Such goodness or nobility depends upon external achievements and possessions (wealth honour prowess in battle) which are too insecure to form a real basis for human excellence Instead Simonides stresses intention justice that benefits the city acknowledgement of the fragility of lifehellip

C S E G A L ldquo C H O R A L LY R I C I N T H E F I F T H C E N T U R Y rdquo I N P E E A S T E R L I N G amp B M W K N O X T H E C A M B R I D G E H I S T O R Y O F

C L A S S I C A L L I T E R AT U R E I ( C A M B R I D G E 2 0 0 8 ) 2 2 4

LY R I C C O N T E X T

Hoplites in phalanx formation From the Chigi Vase proto-Corinthian pitcher ca 650-640 BC

3 0 0 ( W A R N E R B R O S 2 0 0 6 ) ldquo W H AT I S Y O U R P R O F E S S I O N rdquo

W W W Y O U T U B E C O M W AT C H V = A N A 3 C O 8 3 _ G K

3 0 0 ( W A R N E R B R O S 2 0 0 6 ) ldquo F I G H T I N T H E S H A D E rdquo

Y O U T U B E 4 J K P G D D M A R S T = 1 2 4

τοιόνδ ἄνθος Περσίδος αἴας οἴχεται ἀνδρῶν

οὓς πέρι πᾶσα χθὼν Ἀσιῆτις ρέψασα πόθῳ στένεται microαλερῷ τοκέης τ ἄλοχοί θ ἡmicroερολεγδὸν τείνοντα χρόνον τροmicroέονται

A E S C H Y L U S P E R S A I 5 9 - 6 4 C P I L I A D 9 4 1 0 - 1 6

S E E C A S E Y D U Eacute T H E C A P T I V E W O M A N rsquo S L A M E N T I N G R E E K T R A G E DY C H 2

Such is the flower [anthos] of the Persian land such is the flower of men that has disappeared

The entire land of Asia laments the men she nourished with fierce

longing [pothos] Parents and wives counting the days

tremble at the increasing length of time

P I N D A R

bull Born near Thebes c 518 BCE

bull Composed important epinician odes (epi-nikia for-a-victory in a contest)

bull Depicts the gods as maintaining civic values of justice (O 1 P 1-3 P 8) compassionate (N 10) and forgiving (O 7456) guardians of polis morality

bull Celebrated ldquoroughrdquo style

bull ldquoA soaring eaglehellip a rushing streamrdquo (Horace Od 42) ldquoA vast firerdquo (Longinus Sublime 335)

Bust of the lyric poet Pindar Roman copy from original of the mid-5 century BC

F I F T H - C E N T U R Y C H O R A L LY R I C

A C O R N T O O A K T R E E N E I L B R O M H A L L bull y o u t u b e Z K 4 L j U R t a D w

Some people pray for gold others for limitless lands but I pray to please my fellow citizens and then to cover my limbs in earth

having praised the praiseworthy and scattered reproof on the wicked Excellence soars upward like a tree fed on fresh dews

lifted among the wise and just toward the liquid upper air The need for friends comes in many forms

it is most valued in times of trouble but joy too craves to look upon trusty support

P I N D A R N E M E A N 8 3 6 - 4 3

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

F R A G I L I T Ybull How can we be praiseworthy if we are vulnerable (to circumstances)

bull [The poetic world-view and Pindarrsquos career as praise poet of aretē require] ldquothe belief that the excellence of a good person is something of that persons own for whose possession and exercise that person can appropriately be held accountablerdquo (Nussbaum 1)

bull But ldquoHow can we be givers and receivers of praise if our worth ishellip a plant in need of wateringrdquo (2)

bull ldquoWe need to be born with adequate capacities to live in fostering natural and social circumstances to stay clear of abrupt catastrophe to develop confirming associations with other human beingsrdquo (1)

bull A further complication ldquoThe tenderness of a plant is not the dazzling hardness of a gemrdquo perhaps ldquopart of the peculiar beauty of human excellence just is its vulnerabilityrdquo (2)

M A R T H A N U S S B A U M T H E F R A G I L I T Y O F G O O D N E S S C H 1 L U C K amp E T H I C S

T H E P O W E R O F R E A S O N [T]here is the consolation that so far Pindar has apparently left something out However much human beings resemble lower forms of life we are unlike we want to insist in one crucial respect We have reason We are able to deliberate and choose to make a plan in which ends are ranked to decide actively what is to have value and how much All this must count for something If it is true that a lot about us is messy needy uncontrolled rooted in the dirt and standing helplessly in the rain it is also true that there is something about us that is pure and purely active something that we could think of as divine immortal intelligible unitary indissoluble ever self-consistent and invariablelsquo [Plato Phaedo 80B] It seems possible that this rational element in us can rule and guide the rest thereby saving the whole person from living at the mercy of luck

N U S S B A U M F R A G I L I T Y 2

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S S O P H I S T S A N D T R A G E D I A N SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Athens

AT H E N S rsquo A C R O P O L I S A S I M A G I N E D B Y L E O V O N K L E N Z E O I L O N C A N VA S 1 8 4 6 N E U E P I N A K O T H E K

A S S A S S I N rsquo S C R E E D O D Y S S E Y bull A T O U R O F AT H E N S U B I S O F T ( 2 0 1 8 )

bull Athens is the first lsquopeople-ruledrsquo polis (dēmokratia) in the Mediterranean world

bull She has achieved unchallenged naval authority and an empire which is labeled a lsquocommonwealthrsquo

bull At the commercial and cultural crossroads of Italy Greece Egypt and the Near East

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

S P E E C H A N D D E M O C R A C Y

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

bull In this cosmopolitan environment traditional views are challenged leading to a perceived erosion of moral values

bull The rhapsodes use poetic forms to transmit traditional morality

bull The tragedians use poetic forms to explore amp challenge mythrsquos assumptions

bull The sophists teach ldquowisdomrdquo (sophia) including rhetoric and political oratory perceived as a new lsquotechnologyrsquo to steer the ship of state for onersquos own ends

bull Use onersquos own wits ldquoA person is the measure of all thingsrdquo Protagoras B1

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

T R A G E D Y V U L N E R A B I L I T Y A N D R E A S O NC 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E AT H E N S

Aeschylus Agamemnon (458 BCE) and Euripides Iphigeneia at Aulis (405 BCE) The Sacrifice of Iphigeneia by Francesco Fontebasso bull 1749 oil on canvas

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousnesshellip what is great is fragile andhellip what is necessary may be destructivehellip

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

In such cases we see a wrong action committed without any direct physical compulsion and in full knowledge of its nature by a person whose ethical character or commitments would otherwise dispose him to reject the acthellip circumstanceshellip prevent the adequate fulfillment of two valid ethical claims

N U S S B A U M 2 5

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

[Aeschylus in Agamemnon] shows us not so much a solution to the problem of practical conflict as the richness and depth of the problem itself (This achievement is closely connected with his poetic resources which put the scene vividly before us show us debate about it and evoke in us responses important to its assessment)

The best the agent can do is to have his suffering the natural expression of his goodness of character and not to stifle these responses out of misguided optimism The best we (the Chorus) can do for him is to respect the gravity of his predicament to respect the responses that express his goodness and to think about his case as showing a possibility for human life in general

N U S S B A U M 4 9 - 5 0

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

bull In a world that allows such dilemmas are there truly gods with a coherent vision for the world

bull Can individual reason and ingenuity suffice for a good life

T H E S O P H I S T SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Hesiod Works amp Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale Piteously she transfixed by his crooked claws was lamenting When the imperious hawk addressed her in arrogant parlance Why little lady such shrieks One stronger than you now has got you Where you are going Ill take you myself though you are a songstress For as I please Ill make you my dinner or give you your freedom Witless is one who attempts to strive against those who are stronger When he is stripped of the prize its injury added to insult Thus said the fast-flying hawk that bird with the generous wing-spanPay more attention to justice and curb high-handedness [brother] Violence ill suits men who are lowly not even the noble Man can lightly endure it it weighs on a person whos fallen Into affliction Its better to take your way on the other Road which conduces to right For outrage (hubris) surrenders to

justice (dikē)hellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Thucydides History 584-116 The Melian Dialogue ATHENIANS [Y]ou know as well as we do that when these matters are discussed by practical people the standard of justice depends on the equality of power to compel and that in fact the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they musthellip Our opinion of the gods and our knowledge of men lead us to conclude that it is a general and necessary law of nature to rule whatever one can This is not a law that we made ourselves nor were we the first to act upon it when it was made We found it already in existence and we shall leave it to exist for ever among those who come after us

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos

advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Republic I 343A-D Thrasymachusrsquo complaint Tell me Socrates do you still have a wet nursehellip Because shersquos letting you run around with a snotty nose and doesnrsquot wipe it when she needs tohellip You think that shepherds and cowherds seek the good of their sheep and cattle and fatten them and take care of them looking to something other than their masterrsquos good and their own Moreover you believe that rulershellip think of something besides their own advantage You are so far from understandinghellip that you donrsquot realize that justice is really the good of another the advantage of the stronger and the ruler and harmful to the one who obeys and serves Injustice is the opposite it rules the truly simple and just and those it rules do what is to the advantage of the other and stronger and they make the one they serve happy but themselves not at all You must look at it as follows my most simple Socrates A just man always gets less than an unjust onehellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Gorgias 482C-484C Callicles on nature and convention [Y]oursquore in fact bringing the discussion around to the sort of crowd-pleasing vulgarities that are admirable only by law [nomos also translatable ldquoconventionrdquo or ldquocustomrdquo] and not by nature And these nature and law are for the most part opposed to each otherhellip I believe that the people who institute our laws are the weak and the many So they institute laws and assign praise and blame with themselves and their own advantage in mind As a way of frightening the more powerfulhellip out of getting a greater share than they they say that getting more than onersquos share is ldquoshamefulrdquo and ldquounjusthelliprdquo But surely if a man whose nature is equal to it arises he will shake off tear apart and escape all this he will trample underfoot our documents our tricks and charms and all our laws that violate nature He the slave will rise up and be revealed as our master and here the justice of nature will shine forth

The New Teachers of Athens

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

P R E - S O C R AT I C ldquo P H I L O S O P H E R S 6 T H - 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

P R E - S O C R AT I C P H I L O S O P H E R S

bull Though not usually calling themselves ldquophilosophersrdquo they seemed to have contributed inspiration for Socratesrsquo method of free inquiry applying logos

bull Scholars adopt different views of what constitutes their innovation and ldquophilosophicalrdquo method (see readings)

bull Basing views on argument and evidence

bull De-ldquomythologizationrdquo

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Miletus

E A R LY P H I L O S O P H Y A N C I E N T M I L E T U S

M I L E T U S

bull Wealthy city-state in Asia Minor

bull Key city for trading and shipping between Near East amp Greece

bull Ionian Greek culture

bull Freedom of thought

bull Open political debate

bull Wealth (for some) providing leisure

bull Thales and his successors Anaximander Anaximenes

bull ldquoPhilosophicalrdquo investigation

bull Later Presocratics Heraclitus ParmenidesldquoORIENTALIZINGrdquo POTTERY

The Milesian school strikes a new note unheard before It has a fresh sense of the meaning of truth ndash a feeling for the sort of thing it is reasonable to suppose The hypothesis it characteristically deals in is concerned with the nature of the one primary stuff the Milesians seem to make a great conscious effort to get at something which really does exist They strike us as throwing off the vast symbolic visions of mythology and waking clear-headed to see and touch real things If we have a rational temperament we feel at once a refreshment Here at last is a statement about the world which is meant and offered as true ndash a logos [explanation] not a mythos [story]

ndash F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952 ed) 42

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The questions which excited them were of this kind Can this apparently confused and disordered world be reduced to simpler principles so that our reason can grasp what it is and how it works What is it made of How does change take place They abandoned mythological and substituted intellectual solutions [It] was no longer satisfying to say that storms were roused by the wrath of Poseidon or death caused by the arrows of Apollo or Artemis A world ruled by anthropomorphic gods human in their passions was a world ruled by caprice Philosophy and science start with the bold confession of faith that not caprice but an inherent orderliness underlies the phenomena and the explanation of nature is to be sought within nature itself ndashWKC Guthrie History of Greek Philosophy (Cambridge 1969) 1 44-45

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

Thales of Miletus

bull Lived late 7th-6th centurybull Born to a Phoenician aristocratic

family ndash so leisurebull Traveled to Egypt and Babylon (by

tradition)bull Legendary wisdombull ldquoFounder of Western philosophyrdquo

bull First to seek an ldquooriginal causerdquo (archecirc)

bull to explain how unseen facts caused visible results without appeal to mythology

bull To provide generalizable proofs or laws

Thales of Miletus

AstronomyMathematicsWater as the archecircAll things are full of gods

bull Traditionally Thalesrsquo star student

bull 25 years old during Thalesrsquo eclipse (585 BCE)

bull Lived c 610-540 BCE

bull ldquoFirst to draw the inhabited world on a tabletrdquo (first mapmaker)

bull Unambiguously our first ldquophilosopherrdquo by standards of demythologization originality generality and observation

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

ldquoAnaximander has expurgated the supernatural with a boldness and completeness to which many of his successors failed to attain The primary order is still said to be lsquoaccording to what is ordainedrsquo it is still a moral order in which Justice prevails but the will of the personal God has disappeared and its place is partly taken by a natural cause the eternal motionrdquo

- F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952) 41 Anaximander relief 1st century AD

Rome Museo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Key contributions

bull Physics the archecircbull Cosmologybull ldquoEvolutionrdquobull Astronomy and Cartography

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Anaximander said that the APEIRON [indefinite unlimited] was the ARCHE and the element of things that are and he was the first to introduce this name for the ARCHE He says that the ARCHE is neither water nor any other of the things called elements but some other nature called APEIRON out of which come to be all the heavens and the worlds in them (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2413-18)

The things that are perish into the things out of which they come to be according to necessity for ldquothey pay penalty and retribution to one another according to their injustice in accordance with the ordering of timerdquo as he says in rather poetical language (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2418-21)

Anaximander of Miletus

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The ARCHE

bull One and unlimitedbull But not undefined Itrsquos AIR

Anaximenes of Miletus

bull Not opposites but a continuum FIRE AIR larr WIND larr CLOUD larr WATER larr EARTH larr STONEbull ldquoLooseningrdquo and ldquotighteningrdquo explain hot and cold

H E R A C L I T U S B 1 0 1 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 3 7 )

I searched out myself

Listening not to me but to the logos it is wise to agree that all things are one

H E R A C L I T U S B 5 0 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 1 1 )

E X A M P L E S

THE ROAD TO PHILOSOP HY

The Hero of Lyric Poets of the Polis (6th century)

bull According to the lyric poets of the polis culture such as Pindar Simonides Tyrtaeus and Sappho (7th-6th century BCE)

bull Pursues collective good of the polis based on strong ties of interdependent responsibility amp cooperation in a just world governed by the gods

Individual Freedom The ldquoSophistsrdquo (5th century)

bull Sources in thinkers like Protagoras and Gorgias (5th century BCE predominantly working in Athens) constructed as a category by Platorsquos later writings

bull Pursues individual advantage based on their personal beliefs and wits using persuasion and power skepticism of traditional values

Vulnerability The Hero of Tragedy (5th century)

bull Iconic examples include Sophoclesrsquo Oedipus and Aeschylusrsquo Agamemnon and Orestes

bull Pursuit of individual amp collective good in a world of apparently conflicting divine values sometimes hampered by their own lack of self-knowledge

I N T E R D E P E N D E N C Y I N T R O D U C E S V U L N E R A B I L I T Y W H I C H M AY B E

C E L E B R AT E D O R R E S I S T E D

The Hero of Epic Homer and Hesiod (8th century)

bull Found in the epic Iliad and Odyssey attributed to Homer (c 8th century BCE) examples include the powerful Achilles and thoughtful persuasive Odysseus

bull Pursues individual honour (timē) in a just world governed by the gods

CH

IGI V

AS

E C

70

0 B

CE

The Hero of Reason The ldquoPresocratics (6th-5th cent)

bull Founding figures including Thales Anaximander Anaximenes Pythagoras Heraclitus Parmenides Seeking to understand the basic original causes (aitiai) of the world through reason

I S T H E W O R L D G E N U I N E LY

I N T E L L I G I B L E T O R E A S O N

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Born in Athens to a stonemason named Sophroniscus in 469 BCE

bull ldquoSocratic problemrdquo Socrates wrote nothing we know about him through Plato Xenophon and Aristophanes whose accounts vary

bull Conversed with anyone ldquorich or poor citizen or foreignerrdquo (Apology 23C)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Non-conformity reliance on individual values and wits (contrast with the earlier poets and rhapsodes)

bull Claims of ignorance interest in shared truth and not only persuasion and resistance of ldquoselfish morality (contrast with the sophists)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Methods based on question and answer (the elenchus) requiring unity or consistency (a) of onersquos beliefs and (b) of onersquos beliefs and actions

bull Behaviour peculiar enough to warrant its own verb (sōkratein) (Arist Birds 1282) before generalized philosophia

bull Brought to trial in 399 BCE by two Athenians Meletus and Anytus charged with ldquoimpiety and corrupting the youngrdquo

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

S O C R AT E S C R I T O 4 6 A

I am the kind of person who listens to nothing within me but the logos that on reflection seems

best to me

L O G O S R E A S O N VA L U E C O N S C I E N C E M E A N I N G

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousness A sense of such significances that what is great is fragile and that what is necessary may be destructive which is present in the literature of the fifth century and earlier has disappeared [later] from the ethics of the philosophers and perhaps altogether from their minds Greek philosophy in its sustained pursuit of rational self-sufficiency does turn its back on kinds of human experience and human necessity of which Greek literature itself offers the purest if not the richest expression

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y A N D P H I L O S O P H Y

The continuity between Greek tragedy and Greek philosophy on these questions is however far greater than Williams has allowed On the one hand inside tragedy itself we find arresting portrayals of the human ambition to rational self-sufficiency we come to understand the ways in which problems of exposure motivate this ambition On the other Platos philosophical search for a self- sufficient good life is motivated by a keen sense of these same problems Far from having forgotten about what tragedy describes he sees the problems of exposure so clearly that only a radical solution seems adequate to their depth Nor is he naiumlve about the costs of this solution

N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y P R A C T I C A L C O N F L I C T

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identical which is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A)

Socrates ldquoencourages Euthyphro [a pious Greek] to revise tradition by considering as binding only those requirements concerning which there is divine unanimity he expresses further his own doubt as to whether gods really do disagreerdquo (Nussbaum 30)

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identicalwhich is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A Nussbaum 25)

A C H I L L E S AT H O M E R I L I A D 9 6 4 6 - 4 8 S E E A L S O 1 6 5 9

Yet still the heart in me swells up in anger when I remember the disgrace that he wrought upon me before the Argives

the son of Atreus as if I were some wanderer without honour (atimētos metanastēs)

Achilleus in amazement turned about and straightway knew Pallas Athene and the terrible eyes shining

He uttered winged words and addressed her Why have you come now o child of Zeus of the aegis once more Is it that you may see

the outrageousness (hubris) of the son of Atreus Agamemnonrsquohellip

A C H I L L E S AT H O M E R I L I A D 1 1 9 9 - 2 0 3

O D Y S S E U S AT H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 2 2 3 5 - 4 1

You dogs You never thought Id come back home from the kingdom of the Trojans so you ravaged my house

lay in bed by force beside my women slaves my women and wooed my wife illicitly though I was alive

fearing neither the gods who hold wide heaven nor that thered be any mens censure thereafter

Now the moment of destruction hangs over you one and all

The slaughter of the suitors by Odysseus and Telemachus 1812 Louis Vincent Palliere

Death of the suitors Athenian red-figure cup c 450-440 BC

A W H A D K I N S ldquo H O M E R I C E T H I C S rdquo I N I M O R R I S amp B P O W E L L ( E D S )

A N E W C O M PA N I O N T O H O M E R ( B R I L L 1 9 9 6 ) 7 0 4 - 5

ldquoThe Homeric hero deprived of any significant quantity of timē reacts violently

aware as he is of the bottom of the scale [the metanastēs]hellip the primary function of the

agathos [good person hero] is to defend his timē with all the resources at his commandrdquo

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Divine causation

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

H U B R I S N E M E S I S

Nemesis by Gheorghe Tattarescu (1853)

Hesiod Works amp Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

Piteously she transfixed by his crooked claws was lamenting When the imperious hawk addressed her in arrogant parlance Why little lady such shrieks One stronger than you now has got you Where you are going Ill take you myself though you are a songstress For as I please Ill make you my dinner or give you your freedom Witless is one who attempts to strive against those who are stronger When he is stripped of the prize its injury added to insult Thus said the fast-flying hawk that bird with the generous wing-span

Pay more attention to justice and curb high-handedness [brother] Violence ill suits those who are lowly not even the noble Person can lightly endure it it weighs on a person whos fallen Into affliction Its better to take your way on the other Road which conduces to right For outrage (hubris) surrenders to justice (dikē)hellip

W E A R E I N Z E U S rsquo JUST W O R L D D E S C R I B E D I N THEOGONY

S I D E B A R D I V I N E C A U S AT I O N

bull The Homeric and Hesiodic herorsquos individual mission only makes sense in a world governed by gods (theoi)

bull Homer Iliad The gods are primarily responsiblecausal of events (aitios)

bull Early Greek science begins here theoi subsequently naturalized as consistent patterns of regularity in human and natural experience (elements laws)

bull Homer Odyssey Humans are (also) responsiblecausal for our own actions

bull How do we use our freedom

AT H E N A A N D O D Y S S E U S T H E O D Y S S E Y ( N B C 1 9 9 7 )

H O M E R I L I A D 5 1 2 3

Athena drew near to his side and spoke to him in winged words Have courage for I have drawn the mist from your eyes

that you may discern in truth gods from humans

So they spoke but Priam aloud called out to Helen Come over where I am dear child and sit down beside me

to look at your husband of time past your friends and your people I am not blaming you (ou ti moi aitiē essi) to me the gods are

responsible (theoihellipaitioi) who drove upon me this sorrowful war against the Achaians

H O M E R I L I A D 3 1 6 4

S I D E B A R D I V I N E C A U S AT I O N

Zeus is probably responsible (aitios) who gives to men who work for bread to each one however he wishes

H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 1 3 4 8 [ T E L E M A C H U S S P E A K S ]

How mortals now blame [from aitios] gods for they say that evils are from us Yet they themselves

have woes beyond their lot by their own recklessnesshellip

H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 1 3 2 [ Z E U S S P E A K S ]

Tell me of these things Muses that dwell on the heights of Olympus From the origin (archē) and say which first of them came into beinghellip

H E S I O D T H E O G O N Y 1 1 4

Responsibility lies with the one who makes the choice the god is blameless (theos anaitios)

P L AT O R E P U B L I C 1 0 6 1 7 E

S I D E B A R D I V I N E C A U S AT I O N

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Divine causation

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

O D Y S S E U S T O P O LY P H E M U S H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 9 2 6 9 - 7 1

But revere the gods most noble one We are supplicants (hiketai) to you Zeus is the avenger (epitimētōr) of suppliants and strangers

the guest god who attends venerable strangers

W E A R E I N Z E U S rsquo W O R L D ( A S D E S C R I B E D I N THEOGONY )

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

T H E LY R I C P O E T SC 6 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Pindar of Thebes

Simonides of Ceos

Sappho of Lesbos

LY R I C I N T R O D U C T I O N

bull Occasional poetry

bull Often sung to the lyre (lyrē) in varied meters

bull CHORAL LYRIC

bull Dancing choruses at religious festivals contests family events

bull Enforcing collective civic values

bull MONODIC LYRIC

bull Individual performance

bull Personal in emotion amp outlookBrygos Painter c 490 BCE

Sappho and Alcaeus

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

Creatures of the passing day What is any one What is any one not Shadows dream is man But when the radiance given of Zeus comes

there is a bright light upon men and life is sweet

P I N D A R P Y T H 8 9 5 - 9 7

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

I praise and embrace everyone who willingly does nothing base (aischron) but with necessity not even the gods fight A man not too helpless suffices for me one who knows the justice that benefits the

city (polis) a sound and healthy man I will not lay blame for the generation of fools is limitless Everything is noble (kala) with which

base deeds are not mingled

S I M O N I D E S 5 4 2 2 7 - 4 0

Simonides is criticizing the traditional definition of the good noble or successful man (agathos esthlos) Such goodness or nobility depends upon external achievements and possessions (wealth honour prowess in battle) which are too insecure to form a real basis for human excellence Instead Simonides stresses intention justice that benefits the city acknowledgement of the fragility of lifehellip

C S E G A L ldquo C H O R A L LY R I C I N T H E F I F T H C E N T U R Y rdquo I N P E E A S T E R L I N G amp B M W K N O X T H E C A M B R I D G E H I S T O R Y O F

C L A S S I C A L L I T E R AT U R E I ( C A M B R I D G E 2 0 0 8 ) 2 2 4

LY R I C C O N T E X T

Hoplites in phalanx formation From the Chigi Vase proto-Corinthian pitcher ca 650-640 BC

3 0 0 ( W A R N E R B R O S 2 0 0 6 ) ldquo W H AT I S Y O U R P R O F E S S I O N rdquo

W W W Y O U T U B E C O M W AT C H V = A N A 3 C O 8 3 _ G K

3 0 0 ( W A R N E R B R O S 2 0 0 6 ) ldquo F I G H T I N T H E S H A D E rdquo

Y O U T U B E 4 J K P G D D M A R S T = 1 2 4

τοιόνδ ἄνθος Περσίδος αἴας οἴχεται ἀνδρῶν

οὓς πέρι πᾶσα χθὼν Ἀσιῆτις ρέψασα πόθῳ στένεται microαλερῷ τοκέης τ ἄλοχοί θ ἡmicroερολεγδὸν τείνοντα χρόνον τροmicroέονται

A E S C H Y L U S P E R S A I 5 9 - 6 4 C P I L I A D 9 4 1 0 - 1 6

S E E C A S E Y D U Eacute T H E C A P T I V E W O M A N rsquo S L A M E N T I N G R E E K T R A G E DY C H 2

Such is the flower [anthos] of the Persian land such is the flower of men that has disappeared

The entire land of Asia laments the men she nourished with fierce

longing [pothos] Parents and wives counting the days

tremble at the increasing length of time

P I N D A R

bull Born near Thebes c 518 BCE

bull Composed important epinician odes (epi-nikia for-a-victory in a contest)

bull Depicts the gods as maintaining civic values of justice (O 1 P 1-3 P 8) compassionate (N 10) and forgiving (O 7456) guardians of polis morality

bull Celebrated ldquoroughrdquo style

bull ldquoA soaring eaglehellip a rushing streamrdquo (Horace Od 42) ldquoA vast firerdquo (Longinus Sublime 335)

Bust of the lyric poet Pindar Roman copy from original of the mid-5 century BC

F I F T H - C E N T U R Y C H O R A L LY R I C

A C O R N T O O A K T R E E N E I L B R O M H A L L bull y o u t u b e Z K 4 L j U R t a D w

Some people pray for gold others for limitless lands but I pray to please my fellow citizens and then to cover my limbs in earth

having praised the praiseworthy and scattered reproof on the wicked Excellence soars upward like a tree fed on fresh dews

lifted among the wise and just toward the liquid upper air The need for friends comes in many forms

it is most valued in times of trouble but joy too craves to look upon trusty support

P I N D A R N E M E A N 8 3 6 - 4 3

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

F R A G I L I T Ybull How can we be praiseworthy if we are vulnerable (to circumstances)

bull [The poetic world-view and Pindarrsquos career as praise poet of aretē require] ldquothe belief that the excellence of a good person is something of that persons own for whose possession and exercise that person can appropriately be held accountablerdquo (Nussbaum 1)

bull But ldquoHow can we be givers and receivers of praise if our worth ishellip a plant in need of wateringrdquo (2)

bull ldquoWe need to be born with adequate capacities to live in fostering natural and social circumstances to stay clear of abrupt catastrophe to develop confirming associations with other human beingsrdquo (1)

bull A further complication ldquoThe tenderness of a plant is not the dazzling hardness of a gemrdquo perhaps ldquopart of the peculiar beauty of human excellence just is its vulnerabilityrdquo (2)

M A R T H A N U S S B A U M T H E F R A G I L I T Y O F G O O D N E S S C H 1 L U C K amp E T H I C S

T H E P O W E R O F R E A S O N [T]here is the consolation that so far Pindar has apparently left something out However much human beings resemble lower forms of life we are unlike we want to insist in one crucial respect We have reason We are able to deliberate and choose to make a plan in which ends are ranked to decide actively what is to have value and how much All this must count for something If it is true that a lot about us is messy needy uncontrolled rooted in the dirt and standing helplessly in the rain it is also true that there is something about us that is pure and purely active something that we could think of as divine immortal intelligible unitary indissoluble ever self-consistent and invariablelsquo [Plato Phaedo 80B] It seems possible that this rational element in us can rule and guide the rest thereby saving the whole person from living at the mercy of luck

N U S S B A U M F R A G I L I T Y 2

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S S O P H I S T S A N D T R A G E D I A N SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Athens

AT H E N S rsquo A C R O P O L I S A S I M A G I N E D B Y L E O V O N K L E N Z E O I L O N C A N VA S 1 8 4 6 N E U E P I N A K O T H E K

A S S A S S I N rsquo S C R E E D O D Y S S E Y bull A T O U R O F AT H E N S U B I S O F T ( 2 0 1 8 )

bull Athens is the first lsquopeople-ruledrsquo polis (dēmokratia) in the Mediterranean world

bull She has achieved unchallenged naval authority and an empire which is labeled a lsquocommonwealthrsquo

bull At the commercial and cultural crossroads of Italy Greece Egypt and the Near East

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

S P E E C H A N D D E M O C R A C Y

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

bull In this cosmopolitan environment traditional views are challenged leading to a perceived erosion of moral values

bull The rhapsodes use poetic forms to transmit traditional morality

bull The tragedians use poetic forms to explore amp challenge mythrsquos assumptions

bull The sophists teach ldquowisdomrdquo (sophia) including rhetoric and political oratory perceived as a new lsquotechnologyrsquo to steer the ship of state for onersquos own ends

bull Use onersquos own wits ldquoA person is the measure of all thingsrdquo Protagoras B1

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

T R A G E D Y V U L N E R A B I L I T Y A N D R E A S O NC 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E AT H E N S

Aeschylus Agamemnon (458 BCE) and Euripides Iphigeneia at Aulis (405 BCE) The Sacrifice of Iphigeneia by Francesco Fontebasso bull 1749 oil on canvas

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousnesshellip what is great is fragile andhellip what is necessary may be destructivehellip

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

In such cases we see a wrong action committed without any direct physical compulsion and in full knowledge of its nature by a person whose ethical character or commitments would otherwise dispose him to reject the acthellip circumstanceshellip prevent the adequate fulfillment of two valid ethical claims

N U S S B A U M 2 5

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

[Aeschylus in Agamemnon] shows us not so much a solution to the problem of practical conflict as the richness and depth of the problem itself (This achievement is closely connected with his poetic resources which put the scene vividly before us show us debate about it and evoke in us responses important to its assessment)

The best the agent can do is to have his suffering the natural expression of his goodness of character and not to stifle these responses out of misguided optimism The best we (the Chorus) can do for him is to respect the gravity of his predicament to respect the responses that express his goodness and to think about his case as showing a possibility for human life in general

N U S S B A U M 4 9 - 5 0

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

bull In a world that allows such dilemmas are there truly gods with a coherent vision for the world

bull Can individual reason and ingenuity suffice for a good life

T H E S O P H I S T SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Hesiod Works amp Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale Piteously she transfixed by his crooked claws was lamenting When the imperious hawk addressed her in arrogant parlance Why little lady such shrieks One stronger than you now has got you Where you are going Ill take you myself though you are a songstress For as I please Ill make you my dinner or give you your freedom Witless is one who attempts to strive against those who are stronger When he is stripped of the prize its injury added to insult Thus said the fast-flying hawk that bird with the generous wing-spanPay more attention to justice and curb high-handedness [brother] Violence ill suits men who are lowly not even the noble Man can lightly endure it it weighs on a person whos fallen Into affliction Its better to take your way on the other Road which conduces to right For outrage (hubris) surrenders to

justice (dikē)hellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Thucydides History 584-116 The Melian Dialogue ATHENIANS [Y]ou know as well as we do that when these matters are discussed by practical people the standard of justice depends on the equality of power to compel and that in fact the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they musthellip Our opinion of the gods and our knowledge of men lead us to conclude that it is a general and necessary law of nature to rule whatever one can This is not a law that we made ourselves nor were we the first to act upon it when it was made We found it already in existence and we shall leave it to exist for ever among those who come after us

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos

advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Republic I 343A-D Thrasymachusrsquo complaint Tell me Socrates do you still have a wet nursehellip Because shersquos letting you run around with a snotty nose and doesnrsquot wipe it when she needs tohellip You think that shepherds and cowherds seek the good of their sheep and cattle and fatten them and take care of them looking to something other than their masterrsquos good and their own Moreover you believe that rulershellip think of something besides their own advantage You are so far from understandinghellip that you donrsquot realize that justice is really the good of another the advantage of the stronger and the ruler and harmful to the one who obeys and serves Injustice is the opposite it rules the truly simple and just and those it rules do what is to the advantage of the other and stronger and they make the one they serve happy but themselves not at all You must look at it as follows my most simple Socrates A just man always gets less than an unjust onehellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Gorgias 482C-484C Callicles on nature and convention [Y]oursquore in fact bringing the discussion around to the sort of crowd-pleasing vulgarities that are admirable only by law [nomos also translatable ldquoconventionrdquo or ldquocustomrdquo] and not by nature And these nature and law are for the most part opposed to each otherhellip I believe that the people who institute our laws are the weak and the many So they institute laws and assign praise and blame with themselves and their own advantage in mind As a way of frightening the more powerfulhellip out of getting a greater share than they they say that getting more than onersquos share is ldquoshamefulrdquo and ldquounjusthelliprdquo But surely if a man whose nature is equal to it arises he will shake off tear apart and escape all this he will trample underfoot our documents our tricks and charms and all our laws that violate nature He the slave will rise up and be revealed as our master and here the justice of nature will shine forth

The New Teachers of Athens

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

P R E - S O C R AT I C ldquo P H I L O S O P H E R S 6 T H - 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

P R E - S O C R AT I C P H I L O S O P H E R S

bull Though not usually calling themselves ldquophilosophersrdquo they seemed to have contributed inspiration for Socratesrsquo method of free inquiry applying logos

bull Scholars adopt different views of what constitutes their innovation and ldquophilosophicalrdquo method (see readings)

bull Basing views on argument and evidence

bull De-ldquomythologizationrdquo

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Miletus

E A R LY P H I L O S O P H Y A N C I E N T M I L E T U S

M I L E T U S

bull Wealthy city-state in Asia Minor

bull Key city for trading and shipping between Near East amp Greece

bull Ionian Greek culture

bull Freedom of thought

bull Open political debate

bull Wealth (for some) providing leisure

bull Thales and his successors Anaximander Anaximenes

bull ldquoPhilosophicalrdquo investigation

bull Later Presocratics Heraclitus ParmenidesldquoORIENTALIZINGrdquo POTTERY

The Milesian school strikes a new note unheard before It has a fresh sense of the meaning of truth ndash a feeling for the sort of thing it is reasonable to suppose The hypothesis it characteristically deals in is concerned with the nature of the one primary stuff the Milesians seem to make a great conscious effort to get at something which really does exist They strike us as throwing off the vast symbolic visions of mythology and waking clear-headed to see and touch real things If we have a rational temperament we feel at once a refreshment Here at last is a statement about the world which is meant and offered as true ndash a logos [explanation] not a mythos [story]

ndash F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952 ed) 42

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The questions which excited them were of this kind Can this apparently confused and disordered world be reduced to simpler principles so that our reason can grasp what it is and how it works What is it made of How does change take place They abandoned mythological and substituted intellectual solutions [It] was no longer satisfying to say that storms were roused by the wrath of Poseidon or death caused by the arrows of Apollo or Artemis A world ruled by anthropomorphic gods human in their passions was a world ruled by caprice Philosophy and science start with the bold confession of faith that not caprice but an inherent orderliness underlies the phenomena and the explanation of nature is to be sought within nature itself ndashWKC Guthrie History of Greek Philosophy (Cambridge 1969) 1 44-45

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

Thales of Miletus

bull Lived late 7th-6th centurybull Born to a Phoenician aristocratic

family ndash so leisurebull Traveled to Egypt and Babylon (by

tradition)bull Legendary wisdombull ldquoFounder of Western philosophyrdquo

bull First to seek an ldquooriginal causerdquo (archecirc)

bull to explain how unseen facts caused visible results without appeal to mythology

bull To provide generalizable proofs or laws

Thales of Miletus

AstronomyMathematicsWater as the archecircAll things are full of gods

bull Traditionally Thalesrsquo star student

bull 25 years old during Thalesrsquo eclipse (585 BCE)

bull Lived c 610-540 BCE

bull ldquoFirst to draw the inhabited world on a tabletrdquo (first mapmaker)

bull Unambiguously our first ldquophilosopherrdquo by standards of demythologization originality generality and observation

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

ldquoAnaximander has expurgated the supernatural with a boldness and completeness to which many of his successors failed to attain The primary order is still said to be lsquoaccording to what is ordainedrsquo it is still a moral order in which Justice prevails but the will of the personal God has disappeared and its place is partly taken by a natural cause the eternal motionrdquo

- F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952) 41 Anaximander relief 1st century AD

Rome Museo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Key contributions

bull Physics the archecircbull Cosmologybull ldquoEvolutionrdquobull Astronomy and Cartography

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Anaximander said that the APEIRON [indefinite unlimited] was the ARCHE and the element of things that are and he was the first to introduce this name for the ARCHE He says that the ARCHE is neither water nor any other of the things called elements but some other nature called APEIRON out of which come to be all the heavens and the worlds in them (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2413-18)

The things that are perish into the things out of which they come to be according to necessity for ldquothey pay penalty and retribution to one another according to their injustice in accordance with the ordering of timerdquo as he says in rather poetical language (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2418-21)

Anaximander of Miletus

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The ARCHE

bull One and unlimitedbull But not undefined Itrsquos AIR

Anaximenes of Miletus

bull Not opposites but a continuum FIRE AIR larr WIND larr CLOUD larr WATER larr EARTH larr STONEbull ldquoLooseningrdquo and ldquotighteningrdquo explain hot and cold

H E R A C L I T U S B 1 0 1 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 3 7 )

I searched out myself

Listening not to me but to the logos it is wise to agree that all things are one

H E R A C L I T U S B 5 0 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 1 1 )

E X A M P L E S

THE ROAD TO PHILOSOP HY

The Hero of Lyric Poets of the Polis (6th century)

bull According to the lyric poets of the polis culture such as Pindar Simonides Tyrtaeus and Sappho (7th-6th century BCE)

bull Pursues collective good of the polis based on strong ties of interdependent responsibility amp cooperation in a just world governed by the gods

Individual Freedom The ldquoSophistsrdquo (5th century)

bull Sources in thinkers like Protagoras and Gorgias (5th century BCE predominantly working in Athens) constructed as a category by Platorsquos later writings

bull Pursues individual advantage based on their personal beliefs and wits using persuasion and power skepticism of traditional values

Vulnerability The Hero of Tragedy (5th century)

bull Iconic examples include Sophoclesrsquo Oedipus and Aeschylusrsquo Agamemnon and Orestes

bull Pursuit of individual amp collective good in a world of apparently conflicting divine values sometimes hampered by their own lack of self-knowledge

I N T E R D E P E N D E N C Y I N T R O D U C E S V U L N E R A B I L I T Y W H I C H M AY B E

C E L E B R AT E D O R R E S I S T E D

The Hero of Epic Homer and Hesiod (8th century)

bull Found in the epic Iliad and Odyssey attributed to Homer (c 8th century BCE) examples include the powerful Achilles and thoughtful persuasive Odysseus

bull Pursues individual honour (timē) in a just world governed by the gods

CH

IGI V

AS

E C

70

0 B

CE

The Hero of Reason The ldquoPresocratics (6th-5th cent)

bull Founding figures including Thales Anaximander Anaximenes Pythagoras Heraclitus Parmenides Seeking to understand the basic original causes (aitiai) of the world through reason

I S T H E W O R L D G E N U I N E LY

I N T E L L I G I B L E T O R E A S O N

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Born in Athens to a stonemason named Sophroniscus in 469 BCE

bull ldquoSocratic problemrdquo Socrates wrote nothing we know about him through Plato Xenophon and Aristophanes whose accounts vary

bull Conversed with anyone ldquorich or poor citizen or foreignerrdquo (Apology 23C)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Non-conformity reliance on individual values and wits (contrast with the earlier poets and rhapsodes)

bull Claims of ignorance interest in shared truth and not only persuasion and resistance of ldquoselfish morality (contrast with the sophists)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Methods based on question and answer (the elenchus) requiring unity or consistency (a) of onersquos beliefs and (b) of onersquos beliefs and actions

bull Behaviour peculiar enough to warrant its own verb (sōkratein) (Arist Birds 1282) before generalized philosophia

bull Brought to trial in 399 BCE by two Athenians Meletus and Anytus charged with ldquoimpiety and corrupting the youngrdquo

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

S O C R AT E S C R I T O 4 6 A

I am the kind of person who listens to nothing within me but the logos that on reflection seems

best to me

L O G O S R E A S O N VA L U E C O N S C I E N C E M E A N I N G

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousness A sense of such significances that what is great is fragile and that what is necessary may be destructive which is present in the literature of the fifth century and earlier has disappeared [later] from the ethics of the philosophers and perhaps altogether from their minds Greek philosophy in its sustained pursuit of rational self-sufficiency does turn its back on kinds of human experience and human necessity of which Greek literature itself offers the purest if not the richest expression

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y A N D P H I L O S O P H Y

The continuity between Greek tragedy and Greek philosophy on these questions is however far greater than Williams has allowed On the one hand inside tragedy itself we find arresting portrayals of the human ambition to rational self-sufficiency we come to understand the ways in which problems of exposure motivate this ambition On the other Platos philosophical search for a self- sufficient good life is motivated by a keen sense of these same problems Far from having forgotten about what tragedy describes he sees the problems of exposure so clearly that only a radical solution seems adequate to their depth Nor is he naiumlve about the costs of this solution

N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y P R A C T I C A L C O N F L I C T

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identical which is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A)

Socrates ldquoencourages Euthyphro [a pious Greek] to revise tradition by considering as binding only those requirements concerning which there is divine unanimity he expresses further his own doubt as to whether gods really do disagreerdquo (Nussbaum 30)

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identicalwhich is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A Nussbaum 25)

O D Y S S E U S AT H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 2 2 3 5 - 4 1

You dogs You never thought Id come back home from the kingdom of the Trojans so you ravaged my house

lay in bed by force beside my women slaves my women and wooed my wife illicitly though I was alive

fearing neither the gods who hold wide heaven nor that thered be any mens censure thereafter

Now the moment of destruction hangs over you one and all

The slaughter of the suitors by Odysseus and Telemachus 1812 Louis Vincent Palliere

Death of the suitors Athenian red-figure cup c 450-440 BC

A W H A D K I N S ldquo H O M E R I C E T H I C S rdquo I N I M O R R I S amp B P O W E L L ( E D S )

A N E W C O M PA N I O N T O H O M E R ( B R I L L 1 9 9 6 ) 7 0 4 - 5

ldquoThe Homeric hero deprived of any significant quantity of timē reacts violently

aware as he is of the bottom of the scale [the metanastēs]hellip the primary function of the

agathos [good person hero] is to defend his timē with all the resources at his commandrdquo

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Divine causation

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

H U B R I S N E M E S I S

Nemesis by Gheorghe Tattarescu (1853)

Hesiod Works amp Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

Piteously she transfixed by his crooked claws was lamenting When the imperious hawk addressed her in arrogant parlance Why little lady such shrieks One stronger than you now has got you Where you are going Ill take you myself though you are a songstress For as I please Ill make you my dinner or give you your freedom Witless is one who attempts to strive against those who are stronger When he is stripped of the prize its injury added to insult Thus said the fast-flying hawk that bird with the generous wing-span

Pay more attention to justice and curb high-handedness [brother] Violence ill suits those who are lowly not even the noble Person can lightly endure it it weighs on a person whos fallen Into affliction Its better to take your way on the other Road which conduces to right For outrage (hubris) surrenders to justice (dikē)hellip

W E A R E I N Z E U S rsquo JUST W O R L D D E S C R I B E D I N THEOGONY

S I D E B A R D I V I N E C A U S AT I O N

bull The Homeric and Hesiodic herorsquos individual mission only makes sense in a world governed by gods (theoi)

bull Homer Iliad The gods are primarily responsiblecausal of events (aitios)

bull Early Greek science begins here theoi subsequently naturalized as consistent patterns of regularity in human and natural experience (elements laws)

bull Homer Odyssey Humans are (also) responsiblecausal for our own actions

bull How do we use our freedom

AT H E N A A N D O D Y S S E U S T H E O D Y S S E Y ( N B C 1 9 9 7 )

H O M E R I L I A D 5 1 2 3

Athena drew near to his side and spoke to him in winged words Have courage for I have drawn the mist from your eyes

that you may discern in truth gods from humans

So they spoke but Priam aloud called out to Helen Come over where I am dear child and sit down beside me

to look at your husband of time past your friends and your people I am not blaming you (ou ti moi aitiē essi) to me the gods are

responsible (theoihellipaitioi) who drove upon me this sorrowful war against the Achaians

H O M E R I L I A D 3 1 6 4

S I D E B A R D I V I N E C A U S AT I O N

Zeus is probably responsible (aitios) who gives to men who work for bread to each one however he wishes

H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 1 3 4 8 [ T E L E M A C H U S S P E A K S ]

How mortals now blame [from aitios] gods for they say that evils are from us Yet they themselves

have woes beyond their lot by their own recklessnesshellip

H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 1 3 2 [ Z E U S S P E A K S ]

Tell me of these things Muses that dwell on the heights of Olympus From the origin (archē) and say which first of them came into beinghellip

H E S I O D T H E O G O N Y 1 1 4

Responsibility lies with the one who makes the choice the god is blameless (theos anaitios)

P L AT O R E P U B L I C 1 0 6 1 7 E

S I D E B A R D I V I N E C A U S AT I O N

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Divine causation

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

O D Y S S E U S T O P O LY P H E M U S H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 9 2 6 9 - 7 1

But revere the gods most noble one We are supplicants (hiketai) to you Zeus is the avenger (epitimētōr) of suppliants and strangers

the guest god who attends venerable strangers

W E A R E I N Z E U S rsquo W O R L D ( A S D E S C R I B E D I N THEOGONY )

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

T H E LY R I C P O E T SC 6 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Pindar of Thebes

Simonides of Ceos

Sappho of Lesbos

LY R I C I N T R O D U C T I O N

bull Occasional poetry

bull Often sung to the lyre (lyrē) in varied meters

bull CHORAL LYRIC

bull Dancing choruses at religious festivals contests family events

bull Enforcing collective civic values

bull MONODIC LYRIC

bull Individual performance

bull Personal in emotion amp outlookBrygos Painter c 490 BCE

Sappho and Alcaeus

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

Creatures of the passing day What is any one What is any one not Shadows dream is man But when the radiance given of Zeus comes

there is a bright light upon men and life is sweet

P I N D A R P Y T H 8 9 5 - 9 7

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

I praise and embrace everyone who willingly does nothing base (aischron) but with necessity not even the gods fight A man not too helpless suffices for me one who knows the justice that benefits the

city (polis) a sound and healthy man I will not lay blame for the generation of fools is limitless Everything is noble (kala) with which

base deeds are not mingled

S I M O N I D E S 5 4 2 2 7 - 4 0

Simonides is criticizing the traditional definition of the good noble or successful man (agathos esthlos) Such goodness or nobility depends upon external achievements and possessions (wealth honour prowess in battle) which are too insecure to form a real basis for human excellence Instead Simonides stresses intention justice that benefits the city acknowledgement of the fragility of lifehellip

C S E G A L ldquo C H O R A L LY R I C I N T H E F I F T H C E N T U R Y rdquo I N P E E A S T E R L I N G amp B M W K N O X T H E C A M B R I D G E H I S T O R Y O F

C L A S S I C A L L I T E R AT U R E I ( C A M B R I D G E 2 0 0 8 ) 2 2 4

LY R I C C O N T E X T

Hoplites in phalanx formation From the Chigi Vase proto-Corinthian pitcher ca 650-640 BC

3 0 0 ( W A R N E R B R O S 2 0 0 6 ) ldquo W H AT I S Y O U R P R O F E S S I O N rdquo

W W W Y O U T U B E C O M W AT C H V = A N A 3 C O 8 3 _ G K

3 0 0 ( W A R N E R B R O S 2 0 0 6 ) ldquo F I G H T I N T H E S H A D E rdquo

Y O U T U B E 4 J K P G D D M A R S T = 1 2 4

τοιόνδ ἄνθος Περσίδος αἴας οἴχεται ἀνδρῶν

οὓς πέρι πᾶσα χθὼν Ἀσιῆτις ρέψασα πόθῳ στένεται microαλερῷ τοκέης τ ἄλοχοί θ ἡmicroερολεγδὸν τείνοντα χρόνον τροmicroέονται

A E S C H Y L U S P E R S A I 5 9 - 6 4 C P I L I A D 9 4 1 0 - 1 6

S E E C A S E Y D U Eacute T H E C A P T I V E W O M A N rsquo S L A M E N T I N G R E E K T R A G E DY C H 2

Such is the flower [anthos] of the Persian land such is the flower of men that has disappeared

The entire land of Asia laments the men she nourished with fierce

longing [pothos] Parents and wives counting the days

tremble at the increasing length of time

P I N D A R

bull Born near Thebes c 518 BCE

bull Composed important epinician odes (epi-nikia for-a-victory in a contest)

bull Depicts the gods as maintaining civic values of justice (O 1 P 1-3 P 8) compassionate (N 10) and forgiving (O 7456) guardians of polis morality

bull Celebrated ldquoroughrdquo style

bull ldquoA soaring eaglehellip a rushing streamrdquo (Horace Od 42) ldquoA vast firerdquo (Longinus Sublime 335)

Bust of the lyric poet Pindar Roman copy from original of the mid-5 century BC

F I F T H - C E N T U R Y C H O R A L LY R I C

A C O R N T O O A K T R E E N E I L B R O M H A L L bull y o u t u b e Z K 4 L j U R t a D w

Some people pray for gold others for limitless lands but I pray to please my fellow citizens and then to cover my limbs in earth

having praised the praiseworthy and scattered reproof on the wicked Excellence soars upward like a tree fed on fresh dews

lifted among the wise and just toward the liquid upper air The need for friends comes in many forms

it is most valued in times of trouble but joy too craves to look upon trusty support

P I N D A R N E M E A N 8 3 6 - 4 3

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

F R A G I L I T Ybull How can we be praiseworthy if we are vulnerable (to circumstances)

bull [The poetic world-view and Pindarrsquos career as praise poet of aretē require] ldquothe belief that the excellence of a good person is something of that persons own for whose possession and exercise that person can appropriately be held accountablerdquo (Nussbaum 1)

bull But ldquoHow can we be givers and receivers of praise if our worth ishellip a plant in need of wateringrdquo (2)

bull ldquoWe need to be born with adequate capacities to live in fostering natural and social circumstances to stay clear of abrupt catastrophe to develop confirming associations with other human beingsrdquo (1)

bull A further complication ldquoThe tenderness of a plant is not the dazzling hardness of a gemrdquo perhaps ldquopart of the peculiar beauty of human excellence just is its vulnerabilityrdquo (2)

M A R T H A N U S S B A U M T H E F R A G I L I T Y O F G O O D N E S S C H 1 L U C K amp E T H I C S

T H E P O W E R O F R E A S O N [T]here is the consolation that so far Pindar has apparently left something out However much human beings resemble lower forms of life we are unlike we want to insist in one crucial respect We have reason We are able to deliberate and choose to make a plan in which ends are ranked to decide actively what is to have value and how much All this must count for something If it is true that a lot about us is messy needy uncontrolled rooted in the dirt and standing helplessly in the rain it is also true that there is something about us that is pure and purely active something that we could think of as divine immortal intelligible unitary indissoluble ever self-consistent and invariablelsquo [Plato Phaedo 80B] It seems possible that this rational element in us can rule and guide the rest thereby saving the whole person from living at the mercy of luck

N U S S B A U M F R A G I L I T Y 2

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S S O P H I S T S A N D T R A G E D I A N SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Athens

AT H E N S rsquo A C R O P O L I S A S I M A G I N E D B Y L E O V O N K L E N Z E O I L O N C A N VA S 1 8 4 6 N E U E P I N A K O T H E K

A S S A S S I N rsquo S C R E E D O D Y S S E Y bull A T O U R O F AT H E N S U B I S O F T ( 2 0 1 8 )

bull Athens is the first lsquopeople-ruledrsquo polis (dēmokratia) in the Mediterranean world

bull She has achieved unchallenged naval authority and an empire which is labeled a lsquocommonwealthrsquo

bull At the commercial and cultural crossroads of Italy Greece Egypt and the Near East

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

S P E E C H A N D D E M O C R A C Y

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

bull In this cosmopolitan environment traditional views are challenged leading to a perceived erosion of moral values

bull The rhapsodes use poetic forms to transmit traditional morality

bull The tragedians use poetic forms to explore amp challenge mythrsquos assumptions

bull The sophists teach ldquowisdomrdquo (sophia) including rhetoric and political oratory perceived as a new lsquotechnologyrsquo to steer the ship of state for onersquos own ends

bull Use onersquos own wits ldquoA person is the measure of all thingsrdquo Protagoras B1

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

T R A G E D Y V U L N E R A B I L I T Y A N D R E A S O NC 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E AT H E N S

Aeschylus Agamemnon (458 BCE) and Euripides Iphigeneia at Aulis (405 BCE) The Sacrifice of Iphigeneia by Francesco Fontebasso bull 1749 oil on canvas

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousnesshellip what is great is fragile andhellip what is necessary may be destructivehellip

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

In such cases we see a wrong action committed without any direct physical compulsion and in full knowledge of its nature by a person whose ethical character or commitments would otherwise dispose him to reject the acthellip circumstanceshellip prevent the adequate fulfillment of two valid ethical claims

N U S S B A U M 2 5

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

[Aeschylus in Agamemnon] shows us not so much a solution to the problem of practical conflict as the richness and depth of the problem itself (This achievement is closely connected with his poetic resources which put the scene vividly before us show us debate about it and evoke in us responses important to its assessment)

The best the agent can do is to have his suffering the natural expression of his goodness of character and not to stifle these responses out of misguided optimism The best we (the Chorus) can do for him is to respect the gravity of his predicament to respect the responses that express his goodness and to think about his case as showing a possibility for human life in general

N U S S B A U M 4 9 - 5 0

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

bull In a world that allows such dilemmas are there truly gods with a coherent vision for the world

bull Can individual reason and ingenuity suffice for a good life

T H E S O P H I S T SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Hesiod Works amp Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale Piteously she transfixed by his crooked claws was lamenting When the imperious hawk addressed her in arrogant parlance Why little lady such shrieks One stronger than you now has got you Where you are going Ill take you myself though you are a songstress For as I please Ill make you my dinner or give you your freedom Witless is one who attempts to strive against those who are stronger When he is stripped of the prize its injury added to insult Thus said the fast-flying hawk that bird with the generous wing-spanPay more attention to justice and curb high-handedness [brother] Violence ill suits men who are lowly not even the noble Man can lightly endure it it weighs on a person whos fallen Into affliction Its better to take your way on the other Road which conduces to right For outrage (hubris) surrenders to

justice (dikē)hellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Thucydides History 584-116 The Melian Dialogue ATHENIANS [Y]ou know as well as we do that when these matters are discussed by practical people the standard of justice depends on the equality of power to compel and that in fact the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they musthellip Our opinion of the gods and our knowledge of men lead us to conclude that it is a general and necessary law of nature to rule whatever one can This is not a law that we made ourselves nor were we the first to act upon it when it was made We found it already in existence and we shall leave it to exist for ever among those who come after us

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos

advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Republic I 343A-D Thrasymachusrsquo complaint Tell me Socrates do you still have a wet nursehellip Because shersquos letting you run around with a snotty nose and doesnrsquot wipe it when she needs tohellip You think that shepherds and cowherds seek the good of their sheep and cattle and fatten them and take care of them looking to something other than their masterrsquos good and their own Moreover you believe that rulershellip think of something besides their own advantage You are so far from understandinghellip that you donrsquot realize that justice is really the good of another the advantage of the stronger and the ruler and harmful to the one who obeys and serves Injustice is the opposite it rules the truly simple and just and those it rules do what is to the advantage of the other and stronger and they make the one they serve happy but themselves not at all You must look at it as follows my most simple Socrates A just man always gets less than an unjust onehellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Gorgias 482C-484C Callicles on nature and convention [Y]oursquore in fact bringing the discussion around to the sort of crowd-pleasing vulgarities that are admirable only by law [nomos also translatable ldquoconventionrdquo or ldquocustomrdquo] and not by nature And these nature and law are for the most part opposed to each otherhellip I believe that the people who institute our laws are the weak and the many So they institute laws and assign praise and blame with themselves and their own advantage in mind As a way of frightening the more powerfulhellip out of getting a greater share than they they say that getting more than onersquos share is ldquoshamefulrdquo and ldquounjusthelliprdquo But surely if a man whose nature is equal to it arises he will shake off tear apart and escape all this he will trample underfoot our documents our tricks and charms and all our laws that violate nature He the slave will rise up and be revealed as our master and here the justice of nature will shine forth

The New Teachers of Athens

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

P R E - S O C R AT I C ldquo P H I L O S O P H E R S 6 T H - 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

P R E - S O C R AT I C P H I L O S O P H E R S

bull Though not usually calling themselves ldquophilosophersrdquo they seemed to have contributed inspiration for Socratesrsquo method of free inquiry applying logos

bull Scholars adopt different views of what constitutes their innovation and ldquophilosophicalrdquo method (see readings)

bull Basing views on argument and evidence

bull De-ldquomythologizationrdquo

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Miletus

E A R LY P H I L O S O P H Y A N C I E N T M I L E T U S

M I L E T U S

bull Wealthy city-state in Asia Minor

bull Key city for trading and shipping between Near East amp Greece

bull Ionian Greek culture

bull Freedom of thought

bull Open political debate

bull Wealth (for some) providing leisure

bull Thales and his successors Anaximander Anaximenes

bull ldquoPhilosophicalrdquo investigation

bull Later Presocratics Heraclitus ParmenidesldquoORIENTALIZINGrdquo POTTERY

The Milesian school strikes a new note unheard before It has a fresh sense of the meaning of truth ndash a feeling for the sort of thing it is reasonable to suppose The hypothesis it characteristically deals in is concerned with the nature of the one primary stuff the Milesians seem to make a great conscious effort to get at something which really does exist They strike us as throwing off the vast symbolic visions of mythology and waking clear-headed to see and touch real things If we have a rational temperament we feel at once a refreshment Here at last is a statement about the world which is meant and offered as true ndash a logos [explanation] not a mythos [story]

ndash F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952 ed) 42

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The questions which excited them were of this kind Can this apparently confused and disordered world be reduced to simpler principles so that our reason can grasp what it is and how it works What is it made of How does change take place They abandoned mythological and substituted intellectual solutions [It] was no longer satisfying to say that storms were roused by the wrath of Poseidon or death caused by the arrows of Apollo or Artemis A world ruled by anthropomorphic gods human in their passions was a world ruled by caprice Philosophy and science start with the bold confession of faith that not caprice but an inherent orderliness underlies the phenomena and the explanation of nature is to be sought within nature itself ndashWKC Guthrie History of Greek Philosophy (Cambridge 1969) 1 44-45

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

Thales of Miletus

bull Lived late 7th-6th centurybull Born to a Phoenician aristocratic

family ndash so leisurebull Traveled to Egypt and Babylon (by

tradition)bull Legendary wisdombull ldquoFounder of Western philosophyrdquo

bull First to seek an ldquooriginal causerdquo (archecirc)

bull to explain how unseen facts caused visible results without appeal to mythology

bull To provide generalizable proofs or laws

Thales of Miletus

AstronomyMathematicsWater as the archecircAll things are full of gods

bull Traditionally Thalesrsquo star student

bull 25 years old during Thalesrsquo eclipse (585 BCE)

bull Lived c 610-540 BCE

bull ldquoFirst to draw the inhabited world on a tabletrdquo (first mapmaker)

bull Unambiguously our first ldquophilosopherrdquo by standards of demythologization originality generality and observation

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

ldquoAnaximander has expurgated the supernatural with a boldness and completeness to which many of his successors failed to attain The primary order is still said to be lsquoaccording to what is ordainedrsquo it is still a moral order in which Justice prevails but the will of the personal God has disappeared and its place is partly taken by a natural cause the eternal motionrdquo

- F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952) 41 Anaximander relief 1st century AD

Rome Museo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Key contributions

bull Physics the archecircbull Cosmologybull ldquoEvolutionrdquobull Astronomy and Cartography

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Anaximander said that the APEIRON [indefinite unlimited] was the ARCHE and the element of things that are and he was the first to introduce this name for the ARCHE He says that the ARCHE is neither water nor any other of the things called elements but some other nature called APEIRON out of which come to be all the heavens and the worlds in them (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2413-18)

The things that are perish into the things out of which they come to be according to necessity for ldquothey pay penalty and retribution to one another according to their injustice in accordance with the ordering of timerdquo as he says in rather poetical language (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2418-21)

Anaximander of Miletus

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The ARCHE

bull One and unlimitedbull But not undefined Itrsquos AIR

Anaximenes of Miletus

bull Not opposites but a continuum FIRE AIR larr WIND larr CLOUD larr WATER larr EARTH larr STONEbull ldquoLooseningrdquo and ldquotighteningrdquo explain hot and cold

H E R A C L I T U S B 1 0 1 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 3 7 )

I searched out myself

Listening not to me but to the logos it is wise to agree that all things are one

H E R A C L I T U S B 5 0 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 1 1 )

E X A M P L E S

THE ROAD TO PHILOSOP HY

The Hero of Lyric Poets of the Polis (6th century)

bull According to the lyric poets of the polis culture such as Pindar Simonides Tyrtaeus and Sappho (7th-6th century BCE)

bull Pursues collective good of the polis based on strong ties of interdependent responsibility amp cooperation in a just world governed by the gods

Individual Freedom The ldquoSophistsrdquo (5th century)

bull Sources in thinkers like Protagoras and Gorgias (5th century BCE predominantly working in Athens) constructed as a category by Platorsquos later writings

bull Pursues individual advantage based on their personal beliefs and wits using persuasion and power skepticism of traditional values

Vulnerability The Hero of Tragedy (5th century)

bull Iconic examples include Sophoclesrsquo Oedipus and Aeschylusrsquo Agamemnon and Orestes

bull Pursuit of individual amp collective good in a world of apparently conflicting divine values sometimes hampered by their own lack of self-knowledge

I N T E R D E P E N D E N C Y I N T R O D U C E S V U L N E R A B I L I T Y W H I C H M AY B E

C E L E B R AT E D O R R E S I S T E D

The Hero of Epic Homer and Hesiod (8th century)

bull Found in the epic Iliad and Odyssey attributed to Homer (c 8th century BCE) examples include the powerful Achilles and thoughtful persuasive Odysseus

bull Pursues individual honour (timē) in a just world governed by the gods

CH

IGI V

AS

E C

70

0 B

CE

The Hero of Reason The ldquoPresocratics (6th-5th cent)

bull Founding figures including Thales Anaximander Anaximenes Pythagoras Heraclitus Parmenides Seeking to understand the basic original causes (aitiai) of the world through reason

I S T H E W O R L D G E N U I N E LY

I N T E L L I G I B L E T O R E A S O N

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Born in Athens to a stonemason named Sophroniscus in 469 BCE

bull ldquoSocratic problemrdquo Socrates wrote nothing we know about him through Plato Xenophon and Aristophanes whose accounts vary

bull Conversed with anyone ldquorich or poor citizen or foreignerrdquo (Apology 23C)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Non-conformity reliance on individual values and wits (contrast with the earlier poets and rhapsodes)

bull Claims of ignorance interest in shared truth and not only persuasion and resistance of ldquoselfish morality (contrast with the sophists)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Methods based on question and answer (the elenchus) requiring unity or consistency (a) of onersquos beliefs and (b) of onersquos beliefs and actions

bull Behaviour peculiar enough to warrant its own verb (sōkratein) (Arist Birds 1282) before generalized philosophia

bull Brought to trial in 399 BCE by two Athenians Meletus and Anytus charged with ldquoimpiety and corrupting the youngrdquo

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

S O C R AT E S C R I T O 4 6 A

I am the kind of person who listens to nothing within me but the logos that on reflection seems

best to me

L O G O S R E A S O N VA L U E C O N S C I E N C E M E A N I N G

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousness A sense of such significances that what is great is fragile and that what is necessary may be destructive which is present in the literature of the fifth century and earlier has disappeared [later] from the ethics of the philosophers and perhaps altogether from their minds Greek philosophy in its sustained pursuit of rational self-sufficiency does turn its back on kinds of human experience and human necessity of which Greek literature itself offers the purest if not the richest expression

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y A N D P H I L O S O P H Y

The continuity between Greek tragedy and Greek philosophy on these questions is however far greater than Williams has allowed On the one hand inside tragedy itself we find arresting portrayals of the human ambition to rational self-sufficiency we come to understand the ways in which problems of exposure motivate this ambition On the other Platos philosophical search for a self- sufficient good life is motivated by a keen sense of these same problems Far from having forgotten about what tragedy describes he sees the problems of exposure so clearly that only a radical solution seems adequate to their depth Nor is he naiumlve about the costs of this solution

N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y P R A C T I C A L C O N F L I C T

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identical which is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A)

Socrates ldquoencourages Euthyphro [a pious Greek] to revise tradition by considering as binding only those requirements concerning which there is divine unanimity he expresses further his own doubt as to whether gods really do disagreerdquo (Nussbaum 30)

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identicalwhich is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A Nussbaum 25)

The slaughter of the suitors by Odysseus and Telemachus 1812 Louis Vincent Palliere

Death of the suitors Athenian red-figure cup c 450-440 BC

A W H A D K I N S ldquo H O M E R I C E T H I C S rdquo I N I M O R R I S amp B P O W E L L ( E D S )

A N E W C O M PA N I O N T O H O M E R ( B R I L L 1 9 9 6 ) 7 0 4 - 5

ldquoThe Homeric hero deprived of any significant quantity of timē reacts violently

aware as he is of the bottom of the scale [the metanastēs]hellip the primary function of the

agathos [good person hero] is to defend his timē with all the resources at his commandrdquo

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Divine causation

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

H U B R I S N E M E S I S

Nemesis by Gheorghe Tattarescu (1853)

Hesiod Works amp Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

Piteously she transfixed by his crooked claws was lamenting When the imperious hawk addressed her in arrogant parlance Why little lady such shrieks One stronger than you now has got you Where you are going Ill take you myself though you are a songstress For as I please Ill make you my dinner or give you your freedom Witless is one who attempts to strive against those who are stronger When he is stripped of the prize its injury added to insult Thus said the fast-flying hawk that bird with the generous wing-span

Pay more attention to justice and curb high-handedness [brother] Violence ill suits those who are lowly not even the noble Person can lightly endure it it weighs on a person whos fallen Into affliction Its better to take your way on the other Road which conduces to right For outrage (hubris) surrenders to justice (dikē)hellip

W E A R E I N Z E U S rsquo JUST W O R L D D E S C R I B E D I N THEOGONY

S I D E B A R D I V I N E C A U S AT I O N

bull The Homeric and Hesiodic herorsquos individual mission only makes sense in a world governed by gods (theoi)

bull Homer Iliad The gods are primarily responsiblecausal of events (aitios)

bull Early Greek science begins here theoi subsequently naturalized as consistent patterns of regularity in human and natural experience (elements laws)

bull Homer Odyssey Humans are (also) responsiblecausal for our own actions

bull How do we use our freedom

AT H E N A A N D O D Y S S E U S T H E O D Y S S E Y ( N B C 1 9 9 7 )

H O M E R I L I A D 5 1 2 3

Athena drew near to his side and spoke to him in winged words Have courage for I have drawn the mist from your eyes

that you may discern in truth gods from humans

So they spoke but Priam aloud called out to Helen Come over where I am dear child and sit down beside me

to look at your husband of time past your friends and your people I am not blaming you (ou ti moi aitiē essi) to me the gods are

responsible (theoihellipaitioi) who drove upon me this sorrowful war against the Achaians

H O M E R I L I A D 3 1 6 4

S I D E B A R D I V I N E C A U S AT I O N

Zeus is probably responsible (aitios) who gives to men who work for bread to each one however he wishes

H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 1 3 4 8 [ T E L E M A C H U S S P E A K S ]

How mortals now blame [from aitios] gods for they say that evils are from us Yet they themselves

have woes beyond their lot by their own recklessnesshellip

H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 1 3 2 [ Z E U S S P E A K S ]

Tell me of these things Muses that dwell on the heights of Olympus From the origin (archē) and say which first of them came into beinghellip

H E S I O D T H E O G O N Y 1 1 4

Responsibility lies with the one who makes the choice the god is blameless (theos anaitios)

P L AT O R E P U B L I C 1 0 6 1 7 E

S I D E B A R D I V I N E C A U S AT I O N

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Divine causation

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

O D Y S S E U S T O P O LY P H E M U S H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 9 2 6 9 - 7 1

But revere the gods most noble one We are supplicants (hiketai) to you Zeus is the avenger (epitimētōr) of suppliants and strangers

the guest god who attends venerable strangers

W E A R E I N Z E U S rsquo W O R L D ( A S D E S C R I B E D I N THEOGONY )

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

T H E LY R I C P O E T SC 6 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Pindar of Thebes

Simonides of Ceos

Sappho of Lesbos

LY R I C I N T R O D U C T I O N

bull Occasional poetry

bull Often sung to the lyre (lyrē) in varied meters

bull CHORAL LYRIC

bull Dancing choruses at religious festivals contests family events

bull Enforcing collective civic values

bull MONODIC LYRIC

bull Individual performance

bull Personal in emotion amp outlookBrygos Painter c 490 BCE

Sappho and Alcaeus

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

Creatures of the passing day What is any one What is any one not Shadows dream is man But when the radiance given of Zeus comes

there is a bright light upon men and life is sweet

P I N D A R P Y T H 8 9 5 - 9 7

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

I praise and embrace everyone who willingly does nothing base (aischron) but with necessity not even the gods fight A man not too helpless suffices for me one who knows the justice that benefits the

city (polis) a sound and healthy man I will not lay blame for the generation of fools is limitless Everything is noble (kala) with which

base deeds are not mingled

S I M O N I D E S 5 4 2 2 7 - 4 0

Simonides is criticizing the traditional definition of the good noble or successful man (agathos esthlos) Such goodness or nobility depends upon external achievements and possessions (wealth honour prowess in battle) which are too insecure to form a real basis for human excellence Instead Simonides stresses intention justice that benefits the city acknowledgement of the fragility of lifehellip

C S E G A L ldquo C H O R A L LY R I C I N T H E F I F T H C E N T U R Y rdquo I N P E E A S T E R L I N G amp B M W K N O X T H E C A M B R I D G E H I S T O R Y O F

C L A S S I C A L L I T E R AT U R E I ( C A M B R I D G E 2 0 0 8 ) 2 2 4

LY R I C C O N T E X T

Hoplites in phalanx formation From the Chigi Vase proto-Corinthian pitcher ca 650-640 BC

3 0 0 ( W A R N E R B R O S 2 0 0 6 ) ldquo W H AT I S Y O U R P R O F E S S I O N rdquo

W W W Y O U T U B E C O M W AT C H V = A N A 3 C O 8 3 _ G K

3 0 0 ( W A R N E R B R O S 2 0 0 6 ) ldquo F I G H T I N T H E S H A D E rdquo

Y O U T U B E 4 J K P G D D M A R S T = 1 2 4

τοιόνδ ἄνθος Περσίδος αἴας οἴχεται ἀνδρῶν

οὓς πέρι πᾶσα χθὼν Ἀσιῆτις ρέψασα πόθῳ στένεται microαλερῷ τοκέης τ ἄλοχοί θ ἡmicroερολεγδὸν τείνοντα χρόνον τροmicroέονται

A E S C H Y L U S P E R S A I 5 9 - 6 4 C P I L I A D 9 4 1 0 - 1 6

S E E C A S E Y D U Eacute T H E C A P T I V E W O M A N rsquo S L A M E N T I N G R E E K T R A G E DY C H 2

Such is the flower [anthos] of the Persian land such is the flower of men that has disappeared

The entire land of Asia laments the men she nourished with fierce

longing [pothos] Parents and wives counting the days

tremble at the increasing length of time

P I N D A R

bull Born near Thebes c 518 BCE

bull Composed important epinician odes (epi-nikia for-a-victory in a contest)

bull Depicts the gods as maintaining civic values of justice (O 1 P 1-3 P 8) compassionate (N 10) and forgiving (O 7456) guardians of polis morality

bull Celebrated ldquoroughrdquo style

bull ldquoA soaring eaglehellip a rushing streamrdquo (Horace Od 42) ldquoA vast firerdquo (Longinus Sublime 335)

Bust of the lyric poet Pindar Roman copy from original of the mid-5 century BC

F I F T H - C E N T U R Y C H O R A L LY R I C

A C O R N T O O A K T R E E N E I L B R O M H A L L bull y o u t u b e Z K 4 L j U R t a D w

Some people pray for gold others for limitless lands but I pray to please my fellow citizens and then to cover my limbs in earth

having praised the praiseworthy and scattered reproof on the wicked Excellence soars upward like a tree fed on fresh dews

lifted among the wise and just toward the liquid upper air The need for friends comes in many forms

it is most valued in times of trouble but joy too craves to look upon trusty support

P I N D A R N E M E A N 8 3 6 - 4 3

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

F R A G I L I T Ybull How can we be praiseworthy if we are vulnerable (to circumstances)

bull [The poetic world-view and Pindarrsquos career as praise poet of aretē require] ldquothe belief that the excellence of a good person is something of that persons own for whose possession and exercise that person can appropriately be held accountablerdquo (Nussbaum 1)

bull But ldquoHow can we be givers and receivers of praise if our worth ishellip a plant in need of wateringrdquo (2)

bull ldquoWe need to be born with adequate capacities to live in fostering natural and social circumstances to stay clear of abrupt catastrophe to develop confirming associations with other human beingsrdquo (1)

bull A further complication ldquoThe tenderness of a plant is not the dazzling hardness of a gemrdquo perhaps ldquopart of the peculiar beauty of human excellence just is its vulnerabilityrdquo (2)

M A R T H A N U S S B A U M T H E F R A G I L I T Y O F G O O D N E S S C H 1 L U C K amp E T H I C S

T H E P O W E R O F R E A S O N [T]here is the consolation that so far Pindar has apparently left something out However much human beings resemble lower forms of life we are unlike we want to insist in one crucial respect We have reason We are able to deliberate and choose to make a plan in which ends are ranked to decide actively what is to have value and how much All this must count for something If it is true that a lot about us is messy needy uncontrolled rooted in the dirt and standing helplessly in the rain it is also true that there is something about us that is pure and purely active something that we could think of as divine immortal intelligible unitary indissoluble ever self-consistent and invariablelsquo [Plato Phaedo 80B] It seems possible that this rational element in us can rule and guide the rest thereby saving the whole person from living at the mercy of luck

N U S S B A U M F R A G I L I T Y 2

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S S O P H I S T S A N D T R A G E D I A N SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Athens

AT H E N S rsquo A C R O P O L I S A S I M A G I N E D B Y L E O V O N K L E N Z E O I L O N C A N VA S 1 8 4 6 N E U E P I N A K O T H E K

A S S A S S I N rsquo S C R E E D O D Y S S E Y bull A T O U R O F AT H E N S U B I S O F T ( 2 0 1 8 )

bull Athens is the first lsquopeople-ruledrsquo polis (dēmokratia) in the Mediterranean world

bull She has achieved unchallenged naval authority and an empire which is labeled a lsquocommonwealthrsquo

bull At the commercial and cultural crossroads of Italy Greece Egypt and the Near East

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

S P E E C H A N D D E M O C R A C Y

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

bull In this cosmopolitan environment traditional views are challenged leading to a perceived erosion of moral values

bull The rhapsodes use poetic forms to transmit traditional morality

bull The tragedians use poetic forms to explore amp challenge mythrsquos assumptions

bull The sophists teach ldquowisdomrdquo (sophia) including rhetoric and political oratory perceived as a new lsquotechnologyrsquo to steer the ship of state for onersquos own ends

bull Use onersquos own wits ldquoA person is the measure of all thingsrdquo Protagoras B1

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

T R A G E D Y V U L N E R A B I L I T Y A N D R E A S O NC 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E AT H E N S

Aeschylus Agamemnon (458 BCE) and Euripides Iphigeneia at Aulis (405 BCE) The Sacrifice of Iphigeneia by Francesco Fontebasso bull 1749 oil on canvas

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousnesshellip what is great is fragile andhellip what is necessary may be destructivehellip

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

In such cases we see a wrong action committed without any direct physical compulsion and in full knowledge of its nature by a person whose ethical character or commitments would otherwise dispose him to reject the acthellip circumstanceshellip prevent the adequate fulfillment of two valid ethical claims

N U S S B A U M 2 5

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

[Aeschylus in Agamemnon] shows us not so much a solution to the problem of practical conflict as the richness and depth of the problem itself (This achievement is closely connected with his poetic resources which put the scene vividly before us show us debate about it and evoke in us responses important to its assessment)

The best the agent can do is to have his suffering the natural expression of his goodness of character and not to stifle these responses out of misguided optimism The best we (the Chorus) can do for him is to respect the gravity of his predicament to respect the responses that express his goodness and to think about his case as showing a possibility for human life in general

N U S S B A U M 4 9 - 5 0

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

bull In a world that allows such dilemmas are there truly gods with a coherent vision for the world

bull Can individual reason and ingenuity suffice for a good life

T H E S O P H I S T SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Hesiod Works amp Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale Piteously she transfixed by his crooked claws was lamenting When the imperious hawk addressed her in arrogant parlance Why little lady such shrieks One stronger than you now has got you Where you are going Ill take you myself though you are a songstress For as I please Ill make you my dinner or give you your freedom Witless is one who attempts to strive against those who are stronger When he is stripped of the prize its injury added to insult Thus said the fast-flying hawk that bird with the generous wing-spanPay more attention to justice and curb high-handedness [brother] Violence ill suits men who are lowly not even the noble Man can lightly endure it it weighs on a person whos fallen Into affliction Its better to take your way on the other Road which conduces to right For outrage (hubris) surrenders to

justice (dikē)hellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Thucydides History 584-116 The Melian Dialogue ATHENIANS [Y]ou know as well as we do that when these matters are discussed by practical people the standard of justice depends on the equality of power to compel and that in fact the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they musthellip Our opinion of the gods and our knowledge of men lead us to conclude that it is a general and necessary law of nature to rule whatever one can This is not a law that we made ourselves nor were we the first to act upon it when it was made We found it already in existence and we shall leave it to exist for ever among those who come after us

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos

advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Republic I 343A-D Thrasymachusrsquo complaint Tell me Socrates do you still have a wet nursehellip Because shersquos letting you run around with a snotty nose and doesnrsquot wipe it when she needs tohellip You think that shepherds and cowherds seek the good of their sheep and cattle and fatten them and take care of them looking to something other than their masterrsquos good and their own Moreover you believe that rulershellip think of something besides their own advantage You are so far from understandinghellip that you donrsquot realize that justice is really the good of another the advantage of the stronger and the ruler and harmful to the one who obeys and serves Injustice is the opposite it rules the truly simple and just and those it rules do what is to the advantage of the other and stronger and they make the one they serve happy but themselves not at all You must look at it as follows my most simple Socrates A just man always gets less than an unjust onehellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Gorgias 482C-484C Callicles on nature and convention [Y]oursquore in fact bringing the discussion around to the sort of crowd-pleasing vulgarities that are admirable only by law [nomos also translatable ldquoconventionrdquo or ldquocustomrdquo] and not by nature And these nature and law are for the most part opposed to each otherhellip I believe that the people who institute our laws are the weak and the many So they institute laws and assign praise and blame with themselves and their own advantage in mind As a way of frightening the more powerfulhellip out of getting a greater share than they they say that getting more than onersquos share is ldquoshamefulrdquo and ldquounjusthelliprdquo But surely if a man whose nature is equal to it arises he will shake off tear apart and escape all this he will trample underfoot our documents our tricks and charms and all our laws that violate nature He the slave will rise up and be revealed as our master and here the justice of nature will shine forth

The New Teachers of Athens

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

P R E - S O C R AT I C ldquo P H I L O S O P H E R S 6 T H - 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

P R E - S O C R AT I C P H I L O S O P H E R S

bull Though not usually calling themselves ldquophilosophersrdquo they seemed to have contributed inspiration for Socratesrsquo method of free inquiry applying logos

bull Scholars adopt different views of what constitutes their innovation and ldquophilosophicalrdquo method (see readings)

bull Basing views on argument and evidence

bull De-ldquomythologizationrdquo

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Miletus

E A R LY P H I L O S O P H Y A N C I E N T M I L E T U S

M I L E T U S

bull Wealthy city-state in Asia Minor

bull Key city for trading and shipping between Near East amp Greece

bull Ionian Greek culture

bull Freedom of thought

bull Open political debate

bull Wealth (for some) providing leisure

bull Thales and his successors Anaximander Anaximenes

bull ldquoPhilosophicalrdquo investigation

bull Later Presocratics Heraclitus ParmenidesldquoORIENTALIZINGrdquo POTTERY

The Milesian school strikes a new note unheard before It has a fresh sense of the meaning of truth ndash a feeling for the sort of thing it is reasonable to suppose The hypothesis it characteristically deals in is concerned with the nature of the one primary stuff the Milesians seem to make a great conscious effort to get at something which really does exist They strike us as throwing off the vast symbolic visions of mythology and waking clear-headed to see and touch real things If we have a rational temperament we feel at once a refreshment Here at last is a statement about the world which is meant and offered as true ndash a logos [explanation] not a mythos [story]

ndash F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952 ed) 42

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The questions which excited them were of this kind Can this apparently confused and disordered world be reduced to simpler principles so that our reason can grasp what it is and how it works What is it made of How does change take place They abandoned mythological and substituted intellectual solutions [It] was no longer satisfying to say that storms were roused by the wrath of Poseidon or death caused by the arrows of Apollo or Artemis A world ruled by anthropomorphic gods human in their passions was a world ruled by caprice Philosophy and science start with the bold confession of faith that not caprice but an inherent orderliness underlies the phenomena and the explanation of nature is to be sought within nature itself ndashWKC Guthrie History of Greek Philosophy (Cambridge 1969) 1 44-45

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

Thales of Miletus

bull Lived late 7th-6th centurybull Born to a Phoenician aristocratic

family ndash so leisurebull Traveled to Egypt and Babylon (by

tradition)bull Legendary wisdombull ldquoFounder of Western philosophyrdquo

bull First to seek an ldquooriginal causerdquo (archecirc)

bull to explain how unseen facts caused visible results without appeal to mythology

bull To provide generalizable proofs or laws

Thales of Miletus

AstronomyMathematicsWater as the archecircAll things are full of gods

bull Traditionally Thalesrsquo star student

bull 25 years old during Thalesrsquo eclipse (585 BCE)

bull Lived c 610-540 BCE

bull ldquoFirst to draw the inhabited world on a tabletrdquo (first mapmaker)

bull Unambiguously our first ldquophilosopherrdquo by standards of demythologization originality generality and observation

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

ldquoAnaximander has expurgated the supernatural with a boldness and completeness to which many of his successors failed to attain The primary order is still said to be lsquoaccording to what is ordainedrsquo it is still a moral order in which Justice prevails but the will of the personal God has disappeared and its place is partly taken by a natural cause the eternal motionrdquo

- F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952) 41 Anaximander relief 1st century AD

Rome Museo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Key contributions

bull Physics the archecircbull Cosmologybull ldquoEvolutionrdquobull Astronomy and Cartography

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Anaximander said that the APEIRON [indefinite unlimited] was the ARCHE and the element of things that are and he was the first to introduce this name for the ARCHE He says that the ARCHE is neither water nor any other of the things called elements but some other nature called APEIRON out of which come to be all the heavens and the worlds in them (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2413-18)

The things that are perish into the things out of which they come to be according to necessity for ldquothey pay penalty and retribution to one another according to their injustice in accordance with the ordering of timerdquo as he says in rather poetical language (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2418-21)

Anaximander of Miletus

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The ARCHE

bull One and unlimitedbull But not undefined Itrsquos AIR

Anaximenes of Miletus

bull Not opposites but a continuum FIRE AIR larr WIND larr CLOUD larr WATER larr EARTH larr STONEbull ldquoLooseningrdquo and ldquotighteningrdquo explain hot and cold

H E R A C L I T U S B 1 0 1 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 3 7 )

I searched out myself

Listening not to me but to the logos it is wise to agree that all things are one

H E R A C L I T U S B 5 0 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 1 1 )

E X A M P L E S

THE ROAD TO PHILOSOP HY

The Hero of Lyric Poets of the Polis (6th century)

bull According to the lyric poets of the polis culture such as Pindar Simonides Tyrtaeus and Sappho (7th-6th century BCE)

bull Pursues collective good of the polis based on strong ties of interdependent responsibility amp cooperation in a just world governed by the gods

Individual Freedom The ldquoSophistsrdquo (5th century)

bull Sources in thinkers like Protagoras and Gorgias (5th century BCE predominantly working in Athens) constructed as a category by Platorsquos later writings

bull Pursues individual advantage based on their personal beliefs and wits using persuasion and power skepticism of traditional values

Vulnerability The Hero of Tragedy (5th century)

bull Iconic examples include Sophoclesrsquo Oedipus and Aeschylusrsquo Agamemnon and Orestes

bull Pursuit of individual amp collective good in a world of apparently conflicting divine values sometimes hampered by their own lack of self-knowledge

I N T E R D E P E N D E N C Y I N T R O D U C E S V U L N E R A B I L I T Y W H I C H M AY B E

C E L E B R AT E D O R R E S I S T E D

The Hero of Epic Homer and Hesiod (8th century)

bull Found in the epic Iliad and Odyssey attributed to Homer (c 8th century BCE) examples include the powerful Achilles and thoughtful persuasive Odysseus

bull Pursues individual honour (timē) in a just world governed by the gods

CH

IGI V

AS

E C

70

0 B

CE

The Hero of Reason The ldquoPresocratics (6th-5th cent)

bull Founding figures including Thales Anaximander Anaximenes Pythagoras Heraclitus Parmenides Seeking to understand the basic original causes (aitiai) of the world through reason

I S T H E W O R L D G E N U I N E LY

I N T E L L I G I B L E T O R E A S O N

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Born in Athens to a stonemason named Sophroniscus in 469 BCE

bull ldquoSocratic problemrdquo Socrates wrote nothing we know about him through Plato Xenophon and Aristophanes whose accounts vary

bull Conversed with anyone ldquorich or poor citizen or foreignerrdquo (Apology 23C)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Non-conformity reliance on individual values and wits (contrast with the earlier poets and rhapsodes)

bull Claims of ignorance interest in shared truth and not only persuasion and resistance of ldquoselfish morality (contrast with the sophists)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Methods based on question and answer (the elenchus) requiring unity or consistency (a) of onersquos beliefs and (b) of onersquos beliefs and actions

bull Behaviour peculiar enough to warrant its own verb (sōkratein) (Arist Birds 1282) before generalized philosophia

bull Brought to trial in 399 BCE by two Athenians Meletus and Anytus charged with ldquoimpiety and corrupting the youngrdquo

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

S O C R AT E S C R I T O 4 6 A

I am the kind of person who listens to nothing within me but the logos that on reflection seems

best to me

L O G O S R E A S O N VA L U E C O N S C I E N C E M E A N I N G

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousness A sense of such significances that what is great is fragile and that what is necessary may be destructive which is present in the literature of the fifth century and earlier has disappeared [later] from the ethics of the philosophers and perhaps altogether from their minds Greek philosophy in its sustained pursuit of rational self-sufficiency does turn its back on kinds of human experience and human necessity of which Greek literature itself offers the purest if not the richest expression

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y A N D P H I L O S O P H Y

The continuity between Greek tragedy and Greek philosophy on these questions is however far greater than Williams has allowed On the one hand inside tragedy itself we find arresting portrayals of the human ambition to rational self-sufficiency we come to understand the ways in which problems of exposure motivate this ambition On the other Platos philosophical search for a self- sufficient good life is motivated by a keen sense of these same problems Far from having forgotten about what tragedy describes he sees the problems of exposure so clearly that only a radical solution seems adequate to their depth Nor is he naiumlve about the costs of this solution

N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y P R A C T I C A L C O N F L I C T

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identical which is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A)

Socrates ldquoencourages Euthyphro [a pious Greek] to revise tradition by considering as binding only those requirements concerning which there is divine unanimity he expresses further his own doubt as to whether gods really do disagreerdquo (Nussbaum 30)

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identicalwhich is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A Nussbaum 25)

Death of the suitors Athenian red-figure cup c 450-440 BC

A W H A D K I N S ldquo H O M E R I C E T H I C S rdquo I N I M O R R I S amp B P O W E L L ( E D S )

A N E W C O M PA N I O N T O H O M E R ( B R I L L 1 9 9 6 ) 7 0 4 - 5

ldquoThe Homeric hero deprived of any significant quantity of timē reacts violently

aware as he is of the bottom of the scale [the metanastēs]hellip the primary function of the

agathos [good person hero] is to defend his timē with all the resources at his commandrdquo

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Divine causation

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

H U B R I S N E M E S I S

Nemesis by Gheorghe Tattarescu (1853)

Hesiod Works amp Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

Piteously she transfixed by his crooked claws was lamenting When the imperious hawk addressed her in arrogant parlance Why little lady such shrieks One stronger than you now has got you Where you are going Ill take you myself though you are a songstress For as I please Ill make you my dinner or give you your freedom Witless is one who attempts to strive against those who are stronger When he is stripped of the prize its injury added to insult Thus said the fast-flying hawk that bird with the generous wing-span

Pay more attention to justice and curb high-handedness [brother] Violence ill suits those who are lowly not even the noble Person can lightly endure it it weighs on a person whos fallen Into affliction Its better to take your way on the other Road which conduces to right For outrage (hubris) surrenders to justice (dikē)hellip

W E A R E I N Z E U S rsquo JUST W O R L D D E S C R I B E D I N THEOGONY

S I D E B A R D I V I N E C A U S AT I O N

bull The Homeric and Hesiodic herorsquos individual mission only makes sense in a world governed by gods (theoi)

bull Homer Iliad The gods are primarily responsiblecausal of events (aitios)

bull Early Greek science begins here theoi subsequently naturalized as consistent patterns of regularity in human and natural experience (elements laws)

bull Homer Odyssey Humans are (also) responsiblecausal for our own actions

bull How do we use our freedom

AT H E N A A N D O D Y S S E U S T H E O D Y S S E Y ( N B C 1 9 9 7 )

H O M E R I L I A D 5 1 2 3

Athena drew near to his side and spoke to him in winged words Have courage for I have drawn the mist from your eyes

that you may discern in truth gods from humans

So they spoke but Priam aloud called out to Helen Come over where I am dear child and sit down beside me

to look at your husband of time past your friends and your people I am not blaming you (ou ti moi aitiē essi) to me the gods are

responsible (theoihellipaitioi) who drove upon me this sorrowful war against the Achaians

H O M E R I L I A D 3 1 6 4

S I D E B A R D I V I N E C A U S AT I O N

Zeus is probably responsible (aitios) who gives to men who work for bread to each one however he wishes

H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 1 3 4 8 [ T E L E M A C H U S S P E A K S ]

How mortals now blame [from aitios] gods for they say that evils are from us Yet they themselves

have woes beyond their lot by their own recklessnesshellip

H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 1 3 2 [ Z E U S S P E A K S ]

Tell me of these things Muses that dwell on the heights of Olympus From the origin (archē) and say which first of them came into beinghellip

H E S I O D T H E O G O N Y 1 1 4

Responsibility lies with the one who makes the choice the god is blameless (theos anaitios)

P L AT O R E P U B L I C 1 0 6 1 7 E

S I D E B A R D I V I N E C A U S AT I O N

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Divine causation

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

O D Y S S E U S T O P O LY P H E M U S H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 9 2 6 9 - 7 1

But revere the gods most noble one We are supplicants (hiketai) to you Zeus is the avenger (epitimētōr) of suppliants and strangers

the guest god who attends venerable strangers

W E A R E I N Z E U S rsquo W O R L D ( A S D E S C R I B E D I N THEOGONY )

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

T H E LY R I C P O E T SC 6 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Pindar of Thebes

Simonides of Ceos

Sappho of Lesbos

LY R I C I N T R O D U C T I O N

bull Occasional poetry

bull Often sung to the lyre (lyrē) in varied meters

bull CHORAL LYRIC

bull Dancing choruses at religious festivals contests family events

bull Enforcing collective civic values

bull MONODIC LYRIC

bull Individual performance

bull Personal in emotion amp outlookBrygos Painter c 490 BCE

Sappho and Alcaeus

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

Creatures of the passing day What is any one What is any one not Shadows dream is man But when the radiance given of Zeus comes

there is a bright light upon men and life is sweet

P I N D A R P Y T H 8 9 5 - 9 7

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

I praise and embrace everyone who willingly does nothing base (aischron) but with necessity not even the gods fight A man not too helpless suffices for me one who knows the justice that benefits the

city (polis) a sound and healthy man I will not lay blame for the generation of fools is limitless Everything is noble (kala) with which

base deeds are not mingled

S I M O N I D E S 5 4 2 2 7 - 4 0

Simonides is criticizing the traditional definition of the good noble or successful man (agathos esthlos) Such goodness or nobility depends upon external achievements and possessions (wealth honour prowess in battle) which are too insecure to form a real basis for human excellence Instead Simonides stresses intention justice that benefits the city acknowledgement of the fragility of lifehellip

C S E G A L ldquo C H O R A L LY R I C I N T H E F I F T H C E N T U R Y rdquo I N P E E A S T E R L I N G amp B M W K N O X T H E C A M B R I D G E H I S T O R Y O F

C L A S S I C A L L I T E R AT U R E I ( C A M B R I D G E 2 0 0 8 ) 2 2 4

LY R I C C O N T E X T

Hoplites in phalanx formation From the Chigi Vase proto-Corinthian pitcher ca 650-640 BC

3 0 0 ( W A R N E R B R O S 2 0 0 6 ) ldquo W H AT I S Y O U R P R O F E S S I O N rdquo

W W W Y O U T U B E C O M W AT C H V = A N A 3 C O 8 3 _ G K

3 0 0 ( W A R N E R B R O S 2 0 0 6 ) ldquo F I G H T I N T H E S H A D E rdquo

Y O U T U B E 4 J K P G D D M A R S T = 1 2 4

τοιόνδ ἄνθος Περσίδος αἴας οἴχεται ἀνδρῶν

οὓς πέρι πᾶσα χθὼν Ἀσιῆτις ρέψασα πόθῳ στένεται microαλερῷ τοκέης τ ἄλοχοί θ ἡmicroερολεγδὸν τείνοντα χρόνον τροmicroέονται

A E S C H Y L U S P E R S A I 5 9 - 6 4 C P I L I A D 9 4 1 0 - 1 6

S E E C A S E Y D U Eacute T H E C A P T I V E W O M A N rsquo S L A M E N T I N G R E E K T R A G E DY C H 2

Such is the flower [anthos] of the Persian land such is the flower of men that has disappeared

The entire land of Asia laments the men she nourished with fierce

longing [pothos] Parents and wives counting the days

tremble at the increasing length of time

P I N D A R

bull Born near Thebes c 518 BCE

bull Composed important epinician odes (epi-nikia for-a-victory in a contest)

bull Depicts the gods as maintaining civic values of justice (O 1 P 1-3 P 8) compassionate (N 10) and forgiving (O 7456) guardians of polis morality

bull Celebrated ldquoroughrdquo style

bull ldquoA soaring eaglehellip a rushing streamrdquo (Horace Od 42) ldquoA vast firerdquo (Longinus Sublime 335)

Bust of the lyric poet Pindar Roman copy from original of the mid-5 century BC

F I F T H - C E N T U R Y C H O R A L LY R I C

A C O R N T O O A K T R E E N E I L B R O M H A L L bull y o u t u b e Z K 4 L j U R t a D w

Some people pray for gold others for limitless lands but I pray to please my fellow citizens and then to cover my limbs in earth

having praised the praiseworthy and scattered reproof on the wicked Excellence soars upward like a tree fed on fresh dews

lifted among the wise and just toward the liquid upper air The need for friends comes in many forms

it is most valued in times of trouble but joy too craves to look upon trusty support

P I N D A R N E M E A N 8 3 6 - 4 3

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

F R A G I L I T Ybull How can we be praiseworthy if we are vulnerable (to circumstances)

bull [The poetic world-view and Pindarrsquos career as praise poet of aretē require] ldquothe belief that the excellence of a good person is something of that persons own for whose possession and exercise that person can appropriately be held accountablerdquo (Nussbaum 1)

bull But ldquoHow can we be givers and receivers of praise if our worth ishellip a plant in need of wateringrdquo (2)

bull ldquoWe need to be born with adequate capacities to live in fostering natural and social circumstances to stay clear of abrupt catastrophe to develop confirming associations with other human beingsrdquo (1)

bull A further complication ldquoThe tenderness of a plant is not the dazzling hardness of a gemrdquo perhaps ldquopart of the peculiar beauty of human excellence just is its vulnerabilityrdquo (2)

M A R T H A N U S S B A U M T H E F R A G I L I T Y O F G O O D N E S S C H 1 L U C K amp E T H I C S

T H E P O W E R O F R E A S O N [T]here is the consolation that so far Pindar has apparently left something out However much human beings resemble lower forms of life we are unlike we want to insist in one crucial respect We have reason We are able to deliberate and choose to make a plan in which ends are ranked to decide actively what is to have value and how much All this must count for something If it is true that a lot about us is messy needy uncontrolled rooted in the dirt and standing helplessly in the rain it is also true that there is something about us that is pure and purely active something that we could think of as divine immortal intelligible unitary indissoluble ever self-consistent and invariablelsquo [Plato Phaedo 80B] It seems possible that this rational element in us can rule and guide the rest thereby saving the whole person from living at the mercy of luck

N U S S B A U M F R A G I L I T Y 2

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S S O P H I S T S A N D T R A G E D I A N SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Athens

AT H E N S rsquo A C R O P O L I S A S I M A G I N E D B Y L E O V O N K L E N Z E O I L O N C A N VA S 1 8 4 6 N E U E P I N A K O T H E K

A S S A S S I N rsquo S C R E E D O D Y S S E Y bull A T O U R O F AT H E N S U B I S O F T ( 2 0 1 8 )

bull Athens is the first lsquopeople-ruledrsquo polis (dēmokratia) in the Mediterranean world

bull She has achieved unchallenged naval authority and an empire which is labeled a lsquocommonwealthrsquo

bull At the commercial and cultural crossroads of Italy Greece Egypt and the Near East

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

S P E E C H A N D D E M O C R A C Y

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

bull In this cosmopolitan environment traditional views are challenged leading to a perceived erosion of moral values

bull The rhapsodes use poetic forms to transmit traditional morality

bull The tragedians use poetic forms to explore amp challenge mythrsquos assumptions

bull The sophists teach ldquowisdomrdquo (sophia) including rhetoric and political oratory perceived as a new lsquotechnologyrsquo to steer the ship of state for onersquos own ends

bull Use onersquos own wits ldquoA person is the measure of all thingsrdquo Protagoras B1

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

T R A G E D Y V U L N E R A B I L I T Y A N D R E A S O NC 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E AT H E N S

Aeschylus Agamemnon (458 BCE) and Euripides Iphigeneia at Aulis (405 BCE) The Sacrifice of Iphigeneia by Francesco Fontebasso bull 1749 oil on canvas

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousnesshellip what is great is fragile andhellip what is necessary may be destructivehellip

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

In such cases we see a wrong action committed without any direct physical compulsion and in full knowledge of its nature by a person whose ethical character or commitments would otherwise dispose him to reject the acthellip circumstanceshellip prevent the adequate fulfillment of two valid ethical claims

N U S S B A U M 2 5

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

[Aeschylus in Agamemnon] shows us not so much a solution to the problem of practical conflict as the richness and depth of the problem itself (This achievement is closely connected with his poetic resources which put the scene vividly before us show us debate about it and evoke in us responses important to its assessment)

The best the agent can do is to have his suffering the natural expression of his goodness of character and not to stifle these responses out of misguided optimism The best we (the Chorus) can do for him is to respect the gravity of his predicament to respect the responses that express his goodness and to think about his case as showing a possibility for human life in general

N U S S B A U M 4 9 - 5 0

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

bull In a world that allows such dilemmas are there truly gods with a coherent vision for the world

bull Can individual reason and ingenuity suffice for a good life

T H E S O P H I S T SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Hesiod Works amp Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale Piteously she transfixed by his crooked claws was lamenting When the imperious hawk addressed her in arrogant parlance Why little lady such shrieks One stronger than you now has got you Where you are going Ill take you myself though you are a songstress For as I please Ill make you my dinner or give you your freedom Witless is one who attempts to strive against those who are stronger When he is stripped of the prize its injury added to insult Thus said the fast-flying hawk that bird with the generous wing-spanPay more attention to justice and curb high-handedness [brother] Violence ill suits men who are lowly not even the noble Man can lightly endure it it weighs on a person whos fallen Into affliction Its better to take your way on the other Road which conduces to right For outrage (hubris) surrenders to

justice (dikē)hellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Thucydides History 584-116 The Melian Dialogue ATHENIANS [Y]ou know as well as we do that when these matters are discussed by practical people the standard of justice depends on the equality of power to compel and that in fact the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they musthellip Our opinion of the gods and our knowledge of men lead us to conclude that it is a general and necessary law of nature to rule whatever one can This is not a law that we made ourselves nor were we the first to act upon it when it was made We found it already in existence and we shall leave it to exist for ever among those who come after us

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos

advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Republic I 343A-D Thrasymachusrsquo complaint Tell me Socrates do you still have a wet nursehellip Because shersquos letting you run around with a snotty nose and doesnrsquot wipe it when she needs tohellip You think that shepherds and cowherds seek the good of their sheep and cattle and fatten them and take care of them looking to something other than their masterrsquos good and their own Moreover you believe that rulershellip think of something besides their own advantage You are so far from understandinghellip that you donrsquot realize that justice is really the good of another the advantage of the stronger and the ruler and harmful to the one who obeys and serves Injustice is the opposite it rules the truly simple and just and those it rules do what is to the advantage of the other and stronger and they make the one they serve happy but themselves not at all You must look at it as follows my most simple Socrates A just man always gets less than an unjust onehellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Gorgias 482C-484C Callicles on nature and convention [Y]oursquore in fact bringing the discussion around to the sort of crowd-pleasing vulgarities that are admirable only by law [nomos also translatable ldquoconventionrdquo or ldquocustomrdquo] and not by nature And these nature and law are for the most part opposed to each otherhellip I believe that the people who institute our laws are the weak and the many So they institute laws and assign praise and blame with themselves and their own advantage in mind As a way of frightening the more powerfulhellip out of getting a greater share than they they say that getting more than onersquos share is ldquoshamefulrdquo and ldquounjusthelliprdquo But surely if a man whose nature is equal to it arises he will shake off tear apart and escape all this he will trample underfoot our documents our tricks and charms and all our laws that violate nature He the slave will rise up and be revealed as our master and here the justice of nature will shine forth

The New Teachers of Athens

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

P R E - S O C R AT I C ldquo P H I L O S O P H E R S 6 T H - 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

P R E - S O C R AT I C P H I L O S O P H E R S

bull Though not usually calling themselves ldquophilosophersrdquo they seemed to have contributed inspiration for Socratesrsquo method of free inquiry applying logos

bull Scholars adopt different views of what constitutes their innovation and ldquophilosophicalrdquo method (see readings)

bull Basing views on argument and evidence

bull De-ldquomythologizationrdquo

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Miletus

E A R LY P H I L O S O P H Y A N C I E N T M I L E T U S

M I L E T U S

bull Wealthy city-state in Asia Minor

bull Key city for trading and shipping between Near East amp Greece

bull Ionian Greek culture

bull Freedom of thought

bull Open political debate

bull Wealth (for some) providing leisure

bull Thales and his successors Anaximander Anaximenes

bull ldquoPhilosophicalrdquo investigation

bull Later Presocratics Heraclitus ParmenidesldquoORIENTALIZINGrdquo POTTERY

The Milesian school strikes a new note unheard before It has a fresh sense of the meaning of truth ndash a feeling for the sort of thing it is reasonable to suppose The hypothesis it characteristically deals in is concerned with the nature of the one primary stuff the Milesians seem to make a great conscious effort to get at something which really does exist They strike us as throwing off the vast symbolic visions of mythology and waking clear-headed to see and touch real things If we have a rational temperament we feel at once a refreshment Here at last is a statement about the world which is meant and offered as true ndash a logos [explanation] not a mythos [story]

ndash F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952 ed) 42

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The questions which excited them were of this kind Can this apparently confused and disordered world be reduced to simpler principles so that our reason can grasp what it is and how it works What is it made of How does change take place They abandoned mythological and substituted intellectual solutions [It] was no longer satisfying to say that storms were roused by the wrath of Poseidon or death caused by the arrows of Apollo or Artemis A world ruled by anthropomorphic gods human in their passions was a world ruled by caprice Philosophy and science start with the bold confession of faith that not caprice but an inherent orderliness underlies the phenomena and the explanation of nature is to be sought within nature itself ndashWKC Guthrie History of Greek Philosophy (Cambridge 1969) 1 44-45

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

Thales of Miletus

bull Lived late 7th-6th centurybull Born to a Phoenician aristocratic

family ndash so leisurebull Traveled to Egypt and Babylon (by

tradition)bull Legendary wisdombull ldquoFounder of Western philosophyrdquo

bull First to seek an ldquooriginal causerdquo (archecirc)

bull to explain how unseen facts caused visible results without appeal to mythology

bull To provide generalizable proofs or laws

Thales of Miletus

AstronomyMathematicsWater as the archecircAll things are full of gods

bull Traditionally Thalesrsquo star student

bull 25 years old during Thalesrsquo eclipse (585 BCE)

bull Lived c 610-540 BCE

bull ldquoFirst to draw the inhabited world on a tabletrdquo (first mapmaker)

bull Unambiguously our first ldquophilosopherrdquo by standards of demythologization originality generality and observation

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

ldquoAnaximander has expurgated the supernatural with a boldness and completeness to which many of his successors failed to attain The primary order is still said to be lsquoaccording to what is ordainedrsquo it is still a moral order in which Justice prevails but the will of the personal God has disappeared and its place is partly taken by a natural cause the eternal motionrdquo

- F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952) 41 Anaximander relief 1st century AD

Rome Museo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Key contributions

bull Physics the archecircbull Cosmologybull ldquoEvolutionrdquobull Astronomy and Cartography

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Anaximander said that the APEIRON [indefinite unlimited] was the ARCHE and the element of things that are and he was the first to introduce this name for the ARCHE He says that the ARCHE is neither water nor any other of the things called elements but some other nature called APEIRON out of which come to be all the heavens and the worlds in them (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2413-18)

The things that are perish into the things out of which they come to be according to necessity for ldquothey pay penalty and retribution to one another according to their injustice in accordance with the ordering of timerdquo as he says in rather poetical language (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2418-21)

Anaximander of Miletus

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The ARCHE

bull One and unlimitedbull But not undefined Itrsquos AIR

Anaximenes of Miletus

bull Not opposites but a continuum FIRE AIR larr WIND larr CLOUD larr WATER larr EARTH larr STONEbull ldquoLooseningrdquo and ldquotighteningrdquo explain hot and cold

H E R A C L I T U S B 1 0 1 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 3 7 )

I searched out myself

Listening not to me but to the logos it is wise to agree that all things are one

H E R A C L I T U S B 5 0 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 1 1 )

E X A M P L E S

THE ROAD TO PHILOSOP HY

The Hero of Lyric Poets of the Polis (6th century)

bull According to the lyric poets of the polis culture such as Pindar Simonides Tyrtaeus and Sappho (7th-6th century BCE)

bull Pursues collective good of the polis based on strong ties of interdependent responsibility amp cooperation in a just world governed by the gods

Individual Freedom The ldquoSophistsrdquo (5th century)

bull Sources in thinkers like Protagoras and Gorgias (5th century BCE predominantly working in Athens) constructed as a category by Platorsquos later writings

bull Pursues individual advantage based on their personal beliefs and wits using persuasion and power skepticism of traditional values

Vulnerability The Hero of Tragedy (5th century)

bull Iconic examples include Sophoclesrsquo Oedipus and Aeschylusrsquo Agamemnon and Orestes

bull Pursuit of individual amp collective good in a world of apparently conflicting divine values sometimes hampered by their own lack of self-knowledge

I N T E R D E P E N D E N C Y I N T R O D U C E S V U L N E R A B I L I T Y W H I C H M AY B E

C E L E B R AT E D O R R E S I S T E D

The Hero of Epic Homer and Hesiod (8th century)

bull Found in the epic Iliad and Odyssey attributed to Homer (c 8th century BCE) examples include the powerful Achilles and thoughtful persuasive Odysseus

bull Pursues individual honour (timē) in a just world governed by the gods

CH

IGI V

AS

E C

70

0 B

CE

The Hero of Reason The ldquoPresocratics (6th-5th cent)

bull Founding figures including Thales Anaximander Anaximenes Pythagoras Heraclitus Parmenides Seeking to understand the basic original causes (aitiai) of the world through reason

I S T H E W O R L D G E N U I N E LY

I N T E L L I G I B L E T O R E A S O N

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Born in Athens to a stonemason named Sophroniscus in 469 BCE

bull ldquoSocratic problemrdquo Socrates wrote nothing we know about him through Plato Xenophon and Aristophanes whose accounts vary

bull Conversed with anyone ldquorich or poor citizen or foreignerrdquo (Apology 23C)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Non-conformity reliance on individual values and wits (contrast with the earlier poets and rhapsodes)

bull Claims of ignorance interest in shared truth and not only persuasion and resistance of ldquoselfish morality (contrast with the sophists)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Methods based on question and answer (the elenchus) requiring unity or consistency (a) of onersquos beliefs and (b) of onersquos beliefs and actions

bull Behaviour peculiar enough to warrant its own verb (sōkratein) (Arist Birds 1282) before generalized philosophia

bull Brought to trial in 399 BCE by two Athenians Meletus and Anytus charged with ldquoimpiety and corrupting the youngrdquo

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

S O C R AT E S C R I T O 4 6 A

I am the kind of person who listens to nothing within me but the logos that on reflection seems

best to me

L O G O S R E A S O N VA L U E C O N S C I E N C E M E A N I N G

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousness A sense of such significances that what is great is fragile and that what is necessary may be destructive which is present in the literature of the fifth century and earlier has disappeared [later] from the ethics of the philosophers and perhaps altogether from their minds Greek philosophy in its sustained pursuit of rational self-sufficiency does turn its back on kinds of human experience and human necessity of which Greek literature itself offers the purest if not the richest expression

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y A N D P H I L O S O P H Y

The continuity between Greek tragedy and Greek philosophy on these questions is however far greater than Williams has allowed On the one hand inside tragedy itself we find arresting portrayals of the human ambition to rational self-sufficiency we come to understand the ways in which problems of exposure motivate this ambition On the other Platos philosophical search for a self- sufficient good life is motivated by a keen sense of these same problems Far from having forgotten about what tragedy describes he sees the problems of exposure so clearly that only a radical solution seems adequate to their depth Nor is he naiumlve about the costs of this solution

N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y P R A C T I C A L C O N F L I C T

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identical which is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A)

Socrates ldquoencourages Euthyphro [a pious Greek] to revise tradition by considering as binding only those requirements concerning which there is divine unanimity he expresses further his own doubt as to whether gods really do disagreerdquo (Nussbaum 30)

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identicalwhich is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A Nussbaum 25)

A W H A D K I N S ldquo H O M E R I C E T H I C S rdquo I N I M O R R I S amp B P O W E L L ( E D S )

A N E W C O M PA N I O N T O H O M E R ( B R I L L 1 9 9 6 ) 7 0 4 - 5

ldquoThe Homeric hero deprived of any significant quantity of timē reacts violently

aware as he is of the bottom of the scale [the metanastēs]hellip the primary function of the

agathos [good person hero] is to defend his timē with all the resources at his commandrdquo

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Divine causation

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

H U B R I S N E M E S I S

Nemesis by Gheorghe Tattarescu (1853)

Hesiod Works amp Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

Piteously she transfixed by his crooked claws was lamenting When the imperious hawk addressed her in arrogant parlance Why little lady such shrieks One stronger than you now has got you Where you are going Ill take you myself though you are a songstress For as I please Ill make you my dinner or give you your freedom Witless is one who attempts to strive against those who are stronger When he is stripped of the prize its injury added to insult Thus said the fast-flying hawk that bird with the generous wing-span

Pay more attention to justice and curb high-handedness [brother] Violence ill suits those who are lowly not even the noble Person can lightly endure it it weighs on a person whos fallen Into affliction Its better to take your way on the other Road which conduces to right For outrage (hubris) surrenders to justice (dikē)hellip

W E A R E I N Z E U S rsquo JUST W O R L D D E S C R I B E D I N THEOGONY

S I D E B A R D I V I N E C A U S AT I O N

bull The Homeric and Hesiodic herorsquos individual mission only makes sense in a world governed by gods (theoi)

bull Homer Iliad The gods are primarily responsiblecausal of events (aitios)

bull Early Greek science begins here theoi subsequently naturalized as consistent patterns of regularity in human and natural experience (elements laws)

bull Homer Odyssey Humans are (also) responsiblecausal for our own actions

bull How do we use our freedom

AT H E N A A N D O D Y S S E U S T H E O D Y S S E Y ( N B C 1 9 9 7 )

H O M E R I L I A D 5 1 2 3

Athena drew near to his side and spoke to him in winged words Have courage for I have drawn the mist from your eyes

that you may discern in truth gods from humans

So they spoke but Priam aloud called out to Helen Come over where I am dear child and sit down beside me

to look at your husband of time past your friends and your people I am not blaming you (ou ti moi aitiē essi) to me the gods are

responsible (theoihellipaitioi) who drove upon me this sorrowful war against the Achaians

H O M E R I L I A D 3 1 6 4

S I D E B A R D I V I N E C A U S AT I O N

Zeus is probably responsible (aitios) who gives to men who work for bread to each one however he wishes

H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 1 3 4 8 [ T E L E M A C H U S S P E A K S ]

How mortals now blame [from aitios] gods for they say that evils are from us Yet they themselves

have woes beyond their lot by their own recklessnesshellip

H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 1 3 2 [ Z E U S S P E A K S ]

Tell me of these things Muses that dwell on the heights of Olympus From the origin (archē) and say which first of them came into beinghellip

H E S I O D T H E O G O N Y 1 1 4

Responsibility lies with the one who makes the choice the god is blameless (theos anaitios)

P L AT O R E P U B L I C 1 0 6 1 7 E

S I D E B A R D I V I N E C A U S AT I O N

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Divine causation

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

O D Y S S E U S T O P O LY P H E M U S H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 9 2 6 9 - 7 1

But revere the gods most noble one We are supplicants (hiketai) to you Zeus is the avenger (epitimētōr) of suppliants and strangers

the guest god who attends venerable strangers

W E A R E I N Z E U S rsquo W O R L D ( A S D E S C R I B E D I N THEOGONY )

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

T H E LY R I C P O E T SC 6 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Pindar of Thebes

Simonides of Ceos

Sappho of Lesbos

LY R I C I N T R O D U C T I O N

bull Occasional poetry

bull Often sung to the lyre (lyrē) in varied meters

bull CHORAL LYRIC

bull Dancing choruses at religious festivals contests family events

bull Enforcing collective civic values

bull MONODIC LYRIC

bull Individual performance

bull Personal in emotion amp outlookBrygos Painter c 490 BCE

Sappho and Alcaeus

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

Creatures of the passing day What is any one What is any one not Shadows dream is man But when the radiance given of Zeus comes

there is a bright light upon men and life is sweet

P I N D A R P Y T H 8 9 5 - 9 7

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

I praise and embrace everyone who willingly does nothing base (aischron) but with necessity not even the gods fight A man not too helpless suffices for me one who knows the justice that benefits the

city (polis) a sound and healthy man I will not lay blame for the generation of fools is limitless Everything is noble (kala) with which

base deeds are not mingled

S I M O N I D E S 5 4 2 2 7 - 4 0

Simonides is criticizing the traditional definition of the good noble or successful man (agathos esthlos) Such goodness or nobility depends upon external achievements and possessions (wealth honour prowess in battle) which are too insecure to form a real basis for human excellence Instead Simonides stresses intention justice that benefits the city acknowledgement of the fragility of lifehellip

C S E G A L ldquo C H O R A L LY R I C I N T H E F I F T H C E N T U R Y rdquo I N P E E A S T E R L I N G amp B M W K N O X T H E C A M B R I D G E H I S T O R Y O F

C L A S S I C A L L I T E R AT U R E I ( C A M B R I D G E 2 0 0 8 ) 2 2 4

LY R I C C O N T E X T

Hoplites in phalanx formation From the Chigi Vase proto-Corinthian pitcher ca 650-640 BC

3 0 0 ( W A R N E R B R O S 2 0 0 6 ) ldquo W H AT I S Y O U R P R O F E S S I O N rdquo

W W W Y O U T U B E C O M W AT C H V = A N A 3 C O 8 3 _ G K

3 0 0 ( W A R N E R B R O S 2 0 0 6 ) ldquo F I G H T I N T H E S H A D E rdquo

Y O U T U B E 4 J K P G D D M A R S T = 1 2 4

τοιόνδ ἄνθος Περσίδος αἴας οἴχεται ἀνδρῶν

οὓς πέρι πᾶσα χθὼν Ἀσιῆτις ρέψασα πόθῳ στένεται microαλερῷ τοκέης τ ἄλοχοί θ ἡmicroερολεγδὸν τείνοντα χρόνον τροmicroέονται

A E S C H Y L U S P E R S A I 5 9 - 6 4 C P I L I A D 9 4 1 0 - 1 6

S E E C A S E Y D U Eacute T H E C A P T I V E W O M A N rsquo S L A M E N T I N G R E E K T R A G E DY C H 2

Such is the flower [anthos] of the Persian land such is the flower of men that has disappeared

The entire land of Asia laments the men she nourished with fierce

longing [pothos] Parents and wives counting the days

tremble at the increasing length of time

P I N D A R

bull Born near Thebes c 518 BCE

bull Composed important epinician odes (epi-nikia for-a-victory in a contest)

bull Depicts the gods as maintaining civic values of justice (O 1 P 1-3 P 8) compassionate (N 10) and forgiving (O 7456) guardians of polis morality

bull Celebrated ldquoroughrdquo style

bull ldquoA soaring eaglehellip a rushing streamrdquo (Horace Od 42) ldquoA vast firerdquo (Longinus Sublime 335)

Bust of the lyric poet Pindar Roman copy from original of the mid-5 century BC

F I F T H - C E N T U R Y C H O R A L LY R I C

A C O R N T O O A K T R E E N E I L B R O M H A L L bull y o u t u b e Z K 4 L j U R t a D w

Some people pray for gold others for limitless lands but I pray to please my fellow citizens and then to cover my limbs in earth

having praised the praiseworthy and scattered reproof on the wicked Excellence soars upward like a tree fed on fresh dews

lifted among the wise and just toward the liquid upper air The need for friends comes in many forms

it is most valued in times of trouble but joy too craves to look upon trusty support

P I N D A R N E M E A N 8 3 6 - 4 3

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

F R A G I L I T Ybull How can we be praiseworthy if we are vulnerable (to circumstances)

bull [The poetic world-view and Pindarrsquos career as praise poet of aretē require] ldquothe belief that the excellence of a good person is something of that persons own for whose possession and exercise that person can appropriately be held accountablerdquo (Nussbaum 1)

bull But ldquoHow can we be givers and receivers of praise if our worth ishellip a plant in need of wateringrdquo (2)

bull ldquoWe need to be born with adequate capacities to live in fostering natural and social circumstances to stay clear of abrupt catastrophe to develop confirming associations with other human beingsrdquo (1)

bull A further complication ldquoThe tenderness of a plant is not the dazzling hardness of a gemrdquo perhaps ldquopart of the peculiar beauty of human excellence just is its vulnerabilityrdquo (2)

M A R T H A N U S S B A U M T H E F R A G I L I T Y O F G O O D N E S S C H 1 L U C K amp E T H I C S

T H E P O W E R O F R E A S O N [T]here is the consolation that so far Pindar has apparently left something out However much human beings resemble lower forms of life we are unlike we want to insist in one crucial respect We have reason We are able to deliberate and choose to make a plan in which ends are ranked to decide actively what is to have value and how much All this must count for something If it is true that a lot about us is messy needy uncontrolled rooted in the dirt and standing helplessly in the rain it is also true that there is something about us that is pure and purely active something that we could think of as divine immortal intelligible unitary indissoluble ever self-consistent and invariablelsquo [Plato Phaedo 80B] It seems possible that this rational element in us can rule and guide the rest thereby saving the whole person from living at the mercy of luck

N U S S B A U M F R A G I L I T Y 2

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S S O P H I S T S A N D T R A G E D I A N SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Athens

AT H E N S rsquo A C R O P O L I S A S I M A G I N E D B Y L E O V O N K L E N Z E O I L O N C A N VA S 1 8 4 6 N E U E P I N A K O T H E K

A S S A S S I N rsquo S C R E E D O D Y S S E Y bull A T O U R O F AT H E N S U B I S O F T ( 2 0 1 8 )

bull Athens is the first lsquopeople-ruledrsquo polis (dēmokratia) in the Mediterranean world

bull She has achieved unchallenged naval authority and an empire which is labeled a lsquocommonwealthrsquo

bull At the commercial and cultural crossroads of Italy Greece Egypt and the Near East

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

S P E E C H A N D D E M O C R A C Y

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

bull In this cosmopolitan environment traditional views are challenged leading to a perceived erosion of moral values

bull The rhapsodes use poetic forms to transmit traditional morality

bull The tragedians use poetic forms to explore amp challenge mythrsquos assumptions

bull The sophists teach ldquowisdomrdquo (sophia) including rhetoric and political oratory perceived as a new lsquotechnologyrsquo to steer the ship of state for onersquos own ends

bull Use onersquos own wits ldquoA person is the measure of all thingsrdquo Protagoras B1

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

T R A G E D Y V U L N E R A B I L I T Y A N D R E A S O NC 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E AT H E N S

Aeschylus Agamemnon (458 BCE) and Euripides Iphigeneia at Aulis (405 BCE) The Sacrifice of Iphigeneia by Francesco Fontebasso bull 1749 oil on canvas

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousnesshellip what is great is fragile andhellip what is necessary may be destructivehellip

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

In such cases we see a wrong action committed without any direct physical compulsion and in full knowledge of its nature by a person whose ethical character or commitments would otherwise dispose him to reject the acthellip circumstanceshellip prevent the adequate fulfillment of two valid ethical claims

N U S S B A U M 2 5

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

[Aeschylus in Agamemnon] shows us not so much a solution to the problem of practical conflict as the richness and depth of the problem itself (This achievement is closely connected with his poetic resources which put the scene vividly before us show us debate about it and evoke in us responses important to its assessment)

The best the agent can do is to have his suffering the natural expression of his goodness of character and not to stifle these responses out of misguided optimism The best we (the Chorus) can do for him is to respect the gravity of his predicament to respect the responses that express his goodness and to think about his case as showing a possibility for human life in general

N U S S B A U M 4 9 - 5 0

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

bull In a world that allows such dilemmas are there truly gods with a coherent vision for the world

bull Can individual reason and ingenuity suffice for a good life

T H E S O P H I S T SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Hesiod Works amp Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale Piteously she transfixed by his crooked claws was lamenting When the imperious hawk addressed her in arrogant parlance Why little lady such shrieks One stronger than you now has got you Where you are going Ill take you myself though you are a songstress For as I please Ill make you my dinner or give you your freedom Witless is one who attempts to strive against those who are stronger When he is stripped of the prize its injury added to insult Thus said the fast-flying hawk that bird with the generous wing-spanPay more attention to justice and curb high-handedness [brother] Violence ill suits men who are lowly not even the noble Man can lightly endure it it weighs on a person whos fallen Into affliction Its better to take your way on the other Road which conduces to right For outrage (hubris) surrenders to

justice (dikē)hellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Thucydides History 584-116 The Melian Dialogue ATHENIANS [Y]ou know as well as we do that when these matters are discussed by practical people the standard of justice depends on the equality of power to compel and that in fact the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they musthellip Our opinion of the gods and our knowledge of men lead us to conclude that it is a general and necessary law of nature to rule whatever one can This is not a law that we made ourselves nor were we the first to act upon it when it was made We found it already in existence and we shall leave it to exist for ever among those who come after us

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos

advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Republic I 343A-D Thrasymachusrsquo complaint Tell me Socrates do you still have a wet nursehellip Because shersquos letting you run around with a snotty nose and doesnrsquot wipe it when she needs tohellip You think that shepherds and cowherds seek the good of their sheep and cattle and fatten them and take care of them looking to something other than their masterrsquos good and their own Moreover you believe that rulershellip think of something besides their own advantage You are so far from understandinghellip that you donrsquot realize that justice is really the good of another the advantage of the stronger and the ruler and harmful to the one who obeys and serves Injustice is the opposite it rules the truly simple and just and those it rules do what is to the advantage of the other and stronger and they make the one they serve happy but themselves not at all You must look at it as follows my most simple Socrates A just man always gets less than an unjust onehellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Gorgias 482C-484C Callicles on nature and convention [Y]oursquore in fact bringing the discussion around to the sort of crowd-pleasing vulgarities that are admirable only by law [nomos also translatable ldquoconventionrdquo or ldquocustomrdquo] and not by nature And these nature and law are for the most part opposed to each otherhellip I believe that the people who institute our laws are the weak and the many So they institute laws and assign praise and blame with themselves and their own advantage in mind As a way of frightening the more powerfulhellip out of getting a greater share than they they say that getting more than onersquos share is ldquoshamefulrdquo and ldquounjusthelliprdquo But surely if a man whose nature is equal to it arises he will shake off tear apart and escape all this he will trample underfoot our documents our tricks and charms and all our laws that violate nature He the slave will rise up and be revealed as our master and here the justice of nature will shine forth

The New Teachers of Athens

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

P R E - S O C R AT I C ldquo P H I L O S O P H E R S 6 T H - 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

P R E - S O C R AT I C P H I L O S O P H E R S

bull Though not usually calling themselves ldquophilosophersrdquo they seemed to have contributed inspiration for Socratesrsquo method of free inquiry applying logos

bull Scholars adopt different views of what constitutes their innovation and ldquophilosophicalrdquo method (see readings)

bull Basing views on argument and evidence

bull De-ldquomythologizationrdquo

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Miletus

E A R LY P H I L O S O P H Y A N C I E N T M I L E T U S

M I L E T U S

bull Wealthy city-state in Asia Minor

bull Key city for trading and shipping between Near East amp Greece

bull Ionian Greek culture

bull Freedom of thought

bull Open political debate

bull Wealth (for some) providing leisure

bull Thales and his successors Anaximander Anaximenes

bull ldquoPhilosophicalrdquo investigation

bull Later Presocratics Heraclitus ParmenidesldquoORIENTALIZINGrdquo POTTERY

The Milesian school strikes a new note unheard before It has a fresh sense of the meaning of truth ndash a feeling for the sort of thing it is reasonable to suppose The hypothesis it characteristically deals in is concerned with the nature of the one primary stuff the Milesians seem to make a great conscious effort to get at something which really does exist They strike us as throwing off the vast symbolic visions of mythology and waking clear-headed to see and touch real things If we have a rational temperament we feel at once a refreshment Here at last is a statement about the world which is meant and offered as true ndash a logos [explanation] not a mythos [story]

ndash F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952 ed) 42

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The questions which excited them were of this kind Can this apparently confused and disordered world be reduced to simpler principles so that our reason can grasp what it is and how it works What is it made of How does change take place They abandoned mythological and substituted intellectual solutions [It] was no longer satisfying to say that storms were roused by the wrath of Poseidon or death caused by the arrows of Apollo or Artemis A world ruled by anthropomorphic gods human in their passions was a world ruled by caprice Philosophy and science start with the bold confession of faith that not caprice but an inherent orderliness underlies the phenomena and the explanation of nature is to be sought within nature itself ndashWKC Guthrie History of Greek Philosophy (Cambridge 1969) 1 44-45

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

Thales of Miletus

bull Lived late 7th-6th centurybull Born to a Phoenician aristocratic

family ndash so leisurebull Traveled to Egypt and Babylon (by

tradition)bull Legendary wisdombull ldquoFounder of Western philosophyrdquo

bull First to seek an ldquooriginal causerdquo (archecirc)

bull to explain how unseen facts caused visible results without appeal to mythology

bull To provide generalizable proofs or laws

Thales of Miletus

AstronomyMathematicsWater as the archecircAll things are full of gods

bull Traditionally Thalesrsquo star student

bull 25 years old during Thalesrsquo eclipse (585 BCE)

bull Lived c 610-540 BCE

bull ldquoFirst to draw the inhabited world on a tabletrdquo (first mapmaker)

bull Unambiguously our first ldquophilosopherrdquo by standards of demythologization originality generality and observation

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

ldquoAnaximander has expurgated the supernatural with a boldness and completeness to which many of his successors failed to attain The primary order is still said to be lsquoaccording to what is ordainedrsquo it is still a moral order in which Justice prevails but the will of the personal God has disappeared and its place is partly taken by a natural cause the eternal motionrdquo

- F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952) 41 Anaximander relief 1st century AD

Rome Museo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Key contributions

bull Physics the archecircbull Cosmologybull ldquoEvolutionrdquobull Astronomy and Cartography

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Anaximander said that the APEIRON [indefinite unlimited] was the ARCHE and the element of things that are and he was the first to introduce this name for the ARCHE He says that the ARCHE is neither water nor any other of the things called elements but some other nature called APEIRON out of which come to be all the heavens and the worlds in them (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2413-18)

The things that are perish into the things out of which they come to be according to necessity for ldquothey pay penalty and retribution to one another according to their injustice in accordance with the ordering of timerdquo as he says in rather poetical language (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2418-21)

Anaximander of Miletus

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The ARCHE

bull One and unlimitedbull But not undefined Itrsquos AIR

Anaximenes of Miletus

bull Not opposites but a continuum FIRE AIR larr WIND larr CLOUD larr WATER larr EARTH larr STONEbull ldquoLooseningrdquo and ldquotighteningrdquo explain hot and cold

H E R A C L I T U S B 1 0 1 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 3 7 )

I searched out myself

Listening not to me but to the logos it is wise to agree that all things are one

H E R A C L I T U S B 5 0 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 1 1 )

E X A M P L E S

THE ROAD TO PHILOSOP HY

The Hero of Lyric Poets of the Polis (6th century)

bull According to the lyric poets of the polis culture such as Pindar Simonides Tyrtaeus and Sappho (7th-6th century BCE)

bull Pursues collective good of the polis based on strong ties of interdependent responsibility amp cooperation in a just world governed by the gods

Individual Freedom The ldquoSophistsrdquo (5th century)

bull Sources in thinkers like Protagoras and Gorgias (5th century BCE predominantly working in Athens) constructed as a category by Platorsquos later writings

bull Pursues individual advantage based on their personal beliefs and wits using persuasion and power skepticism of traditional values

Vulnerability The Hero of Tragedy (5th century)

bull Iconic examples include Sophoclesrsquo Oedipus and Aeschylusrsquo Agamemnon and Orestes

bull Pursuit of individual amp collective good in a world of apparently conflicting divine values sometimes hampered by their own lack of self-knowledge

I N T E R D E P E N D E N C Y I N T R O D U C E S V U L N E R A B I L I T Y W H I C H M AY B E

C E L E B R AT E D O R R E S I S T E D

The Hero of Epic Homer and Hesiod (8th century)

bull Found in the epic Iliad and Odyssey attributed to Homer (c 8th century BCE) examples include the powerful Achilles and thoughtful persuasive Odysseus

bull Pursues individual honour (timē) in a just world governed by the gods

CH

IGI V

AS

E C

70

0 B

CE

The Hero of Reason The ldquoPresocratics (6th-5th cent)

bull Founding figures including Thales Anaximander Anaximenes Pythagoras Heraclitus Parmenides Seeking to understand the basic original causes (aitiai) of the world through reason

I S T H E W O R L D G E N U I N E LY

I N T E L L I G I B L E T O R E A S O N

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Born in Athens to a stonemason named Sophroniscus in 469 BCE

bull ldquoSocratic problemrdquo Socrates wrote nothing we know about him through Plato Xenophon and Aristophanes whose accounts vary

bull Conversed with anyone ldquorich or poor citizen or foreignerrdquo (Apology 23C)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Non-conformity reliance on individual values and wits (contrast with the earlier poets and rhapsodes)

bull Claims of ignorance interest in shared truth and not only persuasion and resistance of ldquoselfish morality (contrast with the sophists)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Methods based on question and answer (the elenchus) requiring unity or consistency (a) of onersquos beliefs and (b) of onersquos beliefs and actions

bull Behaviour peculiar enough to warrant its own verb (sōkratein) (Arist Birds 1282) before generalized philosophia

bull Brought to trial in 399 BCE by two Athenians Meletus and Anytus charged with ldquoimpiety and corrupting the youngrdquo

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

S O C R AT E S C R I T O 4 6 A

I am the kind of person who listens to nothing within me but the logos that on reflection seems

best to me

L O G O S R E A S O N VA L U E C O N S C I E N C E M E A N I N G

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousness A sense of such significances that what is great is fragile and that what is necessary may be destructive which is present in the literature of the fifth century and earlier has disappeared [later] from the ethics of the philosophers and perhaps altogether from their minds Greek philosophy in its sustained pursuit of rational self-sufficiency does turn its back on kinds of human experience and human necessity of which Greek literature itself offers the purest if not the richest expression

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y A N D P H I L O S O P H Y

The continuity between Greek tragedy and Greek philosophy on these questions is however far greater than Williams has allowed On the one hand inside tragedy itself we find arresting portrayals of the human ambition to rational self-sufficiency we come to understand the ways in which problems of exposure motivate this ambition On the other Platos philosophical search for a self- sufficient good life is motivated by a keen sense of these same problems Far from having forgotten about what tragedy describes he sees the problems of exposure so clearly that only a radical solution seems adequate to their depth Nor is he naiumlve about the costs of this solution

N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y P R A C T I C A L C O N F L I C T

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identical which is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A)

Socrates ldquoencourages Euthyphro [a pious Greek] to revise tradition by considering as binding only those requirements concerning which there is divine unanimity he expresses further his own doubt as to whether gods really do disagreerdquo (Nussbaum 30)

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identicalwhich is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A Nussbaum 25)

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Divine causation

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

H U B R I S N E M E S I S

Nemesis by Gheorghe Tattarescu (1853)

Hesiod Works amp Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

Piteously she transfixed by his crooked claws was lamenting When the imperious hawk addressed her in arrogant parlance Why little lady such shrieks One stronger than you now has got you Where you are going Ill take you myself though you are a songstress For as I please Ill make you my dinner or give you your freedom Witless is one who attempts to strive against those who are stronger When he is stripped of the prize its injury added to insult Thus said the fast-flying hawk that bird with the generous wing-span

Pay more attention to justice and curb high-handedness [brother] Violence ill suits those who are lowly not even the noble Person can lightly endure it it weighs on a person whos fallen Into affliction Its better to take your way on the other Road which conduces to right For outrage (hubris) surrenders to justice (dikē)hellip

W E A R E I N Z E U S rsquo JUST W O R L D D E S C R I B E D I N THEOGONY

S I D E B A R D I V I N E C A U S AT I O N

bull The Homeric and Hesiodic herorsquos individual mission only makes sense in a world governed by gods (theoi)

bull Homer Iliad The gods are primarily responsiblecausal of events (aitios)

bull Early Greek science begins here theoi subsequently naturalized as consistent patterns of regularity in human and natural experience (elements laws)

bull Homer Odyssey Humans are (also) responsiblecausal for our own actions

bull How do we use our freedom

AT H E N A A N D O D Y S S E U S T H E O D Y S S E Y ( N B C 1 9 9 7 )

H O M E R I L I A D 5 1 2 3

Athena drew near to his side and spoke to him in winged words Have courage for I have drawn the mist from your eyes

that you may discern in truth gods from humans

So they spoke but Priam aloud called out to Helen Come over where I am dear child and sit down beside me

to look at your husband of time past your friends and your people I am not blaming you (ou ti moi aitiē essi) to me the gods are

responsible (theoihellipaitioi) who drove upon me this sorrowful war against the Achaians

H O M E R I L I A D 3 1 6 4

S I D E B A R D I V I N E C A U S AT I O N

Zeus is probably responsible (aitios) who gives to men who work for bread to each one however he wishes

H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 1 3 4 8 [ T E L E M A C H U S S P E A K S ]

How mortals now blame [from aitios] gods for they say that evils are from us Yet they themselves

have woes beyond their lot by their own recklessnesshellip

H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 1 3 2 [ Z E U S S P E A K S ]

Tell me of these things Muses that dwell on the heights of Olympus From the origin (archē) and say which first of them came into beinghellip

H E S I O D T H E O G O N Y 1 1 4

Responsibility lies with the one who makes the choice the god is blameless (theos anaitios)

P L AT O R E P U B L I C 1 0 6 1 7 E

S I D E B A R D I V I N E C A U S AT I O N

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Divine causation

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

O D Y S S E U S T O P O LY P H E M U S H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 9 2 6 9 - 7 1

But revere the gods most noble one We are supplicants (hiketai) to you Zeus is the avenger (epitimētōr) of suppliants and strangers

the guest god who attends venerable strangers

W E A R E I N Z E U S rsquo W O R L D ( A S D E S C R I B E D I N THEOGONY )

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

T H E LY R I C P O E T SC 6 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Pindar of Thebes

Simonides of Ceos

Sappho of Lesbos

LY R I C I N T R O D U C T I O N

bull Occasional poetry

bull Often sung to the lyre (lyrē) in varied meters

bull CHORAL LYRIC

bull Dancing choruses at religious festivals contests family events

bull Enforcing collective civic values

bull MONODIC LYRIC

bull Individual performance

bull Personal in emotion amp outlookBrygos Painter c 490 BCE

Sappho and Alcaeus

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

Creatures of the passing day What is any one What is any one not Shadows dream is man But when the radiance given of Zeus comes

there is a bright light upon men and life is sweet

P I N D A R P Y T H 8 9 5 - 9 7

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

I praise and embrace everyone who willingly does nothing base (aischron) but with necessity not even the gods fight A man not too helpless suffices for me one who knows the justice that benefits the

city (polis) a sound and healthy man I will not lay blame for the generation of fools is limitless Everything is noble (kala) with which

base deeds are not mingled

S I M O N I D E S 5 4 2 2 7 - 4 0

Simonides is criticizing the traditional definition of the good noble or successful man (agathos esthlos) Such goodness or nobility depends upon external achievements and possessions (wealth honour prowess in battle) which are too insecure to form a real basis for human excellence Instead Simonides stresses intention justice that benefits the city acknowledgement of the fragility of lifehellip

C S E G A L ldquo C H O R A L LY R I C I N T H E F I F T H C E N T U R Y rdquo I N P E E A S T E R L I N G amp B M W K N O X T H E C A M B R I D G E H I S T O R Y O F

C L A S S I C A L L I T E R AT U R E I ( C A M B R I D G E 2 0 0 8 ) 2 2 4

LY R I C C O N T E X T

Hoplites in phalanx formation From the Chigi Vase proto-Corinthian pitcher ca 650-640 BC

3 0 0 ( W A R N E R B R O S 2 0 0 6 ) ldquo W H AT I S Y O U R P R O F E S S I O N rdquo

W W W Y O U T U B E C O M W AT C H V = A N A 3 C O 8 3 _ G K

3 0 0 ( W A R N E R B R O S 2 0 0 6 ) ldquo F I G H T I N T H E S H A D E rdquo

Y O U T U B E 4 J K P G D D M A R S T = 1 2 4

τοιόνδ ἄνθος Περσίδος αἴας οἴχεται ἀνδρῶν

οὓς πέρι πᾶσα χθὼν Ἀσιῆτις ρέψασα πόθῳ στένεται microαλερῷ τοκέης τ ἄλοχοί θ ἡmicroερολεγδὸν τείνοντα χρόνον τροmicroέονται

A E S C H Y L U S P E R S A I 5 9 - 6 4 C P I L I A D 9 4 1 0 - 1 6

S E E C A S E Y D U Eacute T H E C A P T I V E W O M A N rsquo S L A M E N T I N G R E E K T R A G E DY C H 2

Such is the flower [anthos] of the Persian land such is the flower of men that has disappeared

The entire land of Asia laments the men she nourished with fierce

longing [pothos] Parents and wives counting the days

tremble at the increasing length of time

P I N D A R

bull Born near Thebes c 518 BCE

bull Composed important epinician odes (epi-nikia for-a-victory in a contest)

bull Depicts the gods as maintaining civic values of justice (O 1 P 1-3 P 8) compassionate (N 10) and forgiving (O 7456) guardians of polis morality

bull Celebrated ldquoroughrdquo style

bull ldquoA soaring eaglehellip a rushing streamrdquo (Horace Od 42) ldquoA vast firerdquo (Longinus Sublime 335)

Bust of the lyric poet Pindar Roman copy from original of the mid-5 century BC

F I F T H - C E N T U R Y C H O R A L LY R I C

A C O R N T O O A K T R E E N E I L B R O M H A L L bull y o u t u b e Z K 4 L j U R t a D w

Some people pray for gold others for limitless lands but I pray to please my fellow citizens and then to cover my limbs in earth

having praised the praiseworthy and scattered reproof on the wicked Excellence soars upward like a tree fed on fresh dews

lifted among the wise and just toward the liquid upper air The need for friends comes in many forms

it is most valued in times of trouble but joy too craves to look upon trusty support

P I N D A R N E M E A N 8 3 6 - 4 3

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

F R A G I L I T Ybull How can we be praiseworthy if we are vulnerable (to circumstances)

bull [The poetic world-view and Pindarrsquos career as praise poet of aretē require] ldquothe belief that the excellence of a good person is something of that persons own for whose possession and exercise that person can appropriately be held accountablerdquo (Nussbaum 1)

bull But ldquoHow can we be givers and receivers of praise if our worth ishellip a plant in need of wateringrdquo (2)

bull ldquoWe need to be born with adequate capacities to live in fostering natural and social circumstances to stay clear of abrupt catastrophe to develop confirming associations with other human beingsrdquo (1)

bull A further complication ldquoThe tenderness of a plant is not the dazzling hardness of a gemrdquo perhaps ldquopart of the peculiar beauty of human excellence just is its vulnerabilityrdquo (2)

M A R T H A N U S S B A U M T H E F R A G I L I T Y O F G O O D N E S S C H 1 L U C K amp E T H I C S

T H E P O W E R O F R E A S O N [T]here is the consolation that so far Pindar has apparently left something out However much human beings resemble lower forms of life we are unlike we want to insist in one crucial respect We have reason We are able to deliberate and choose to make a plan in which ends are ranked to decide actively what is to have value and how much All this must count for something If it is true that a lot about us is messy needy uncontrolled rooted in the dirt and standing helplessly in the rain it is also true that there is something about us that is pure and purely active something that we could think of as divine immortal intelligible unitary indissoluble ever self-consistent and invariablelsquo [Plato Phaedo 80B] It seems possible that this rational element in us can rule and guide the rest thereby saving the whole person from living at the mercy of luck

N U S S B A U M F R A G I L I T Y 2

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S S O P H I S T S A N D T R A G E D I A N SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Athens

AT H E N S rsquo A C R O P O L I S A S I M A G I N E D B Y L E O V O N K L E N Z E O I L O N C A N VA S 1 8 4 6 N E U E P I N A K O T H E K

A S S A S S I N rsquo S C R E E D O D Y S S E Y bull A T O U R O F AT H E N S U B I S O F T ( 2 0 1 8 )

bull Athens is the first lsquopeople-ruledrsquo polis (dēmokratia) in the Mediterranean world

bull She has achieved unchallenged naval authority and an empire which is labeled a lsquocommonwealthrsquo

bull At the commercial and cultural crossroads of Italy Greece Egypt and the Near East

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

S P E E C H A N D D E M O C R A C Y

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

bull In this cosmopolitan environment traditional views are challenged leading to a perceived erosion of moral values

bull The rhapsodes use poetic forms to transmit traditional morality

bull The tragedians use poetic forms to explore amp challenge mythrsquos assumptions

bull The sophists teach ldquowisdomrdquo (sophia) including rhetoric and political oratory perceived as a new lsquotechnologyrsquo to steer the ship of state for onersquos own ends

bull Use onersquos own wits ldquoA person is the measure of all thingsrdquo Protagoras B1

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

T R A G E D Y V U L N E R A B I L I T Y A N D R E A S O NC 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E AT H E N S

Aeschylus Agamemnon (458 BCE) and Euripides Iphigeneia at Aulis (405 BCE) The Sacrifice of Iphigeneia by Francesco Fontebasso bull 1749 oil on canvas

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousnesshellip what is great is fragile andhellip what is necessary may be destructivehellip

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

In such cases we see a wrong action committed without any direct physical compulsion and in full knowledge of its nature by a person whose ethical character or commitments would otherwise dispose him to reject the acthellip circumstanceshellip prevent the adequate fulfillment of two valid ethical claims

N U S S B A U M 2 5

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

[Aeschylus in Agamemnon] shows us not so much a solution to the problem of practical conflict as the richness and depth of the problem itself (This achievement is closely connected with his poetic resources which put the scene vividly before us show us debate about it and evoke in us responses important to its assessment)

The best the agent can do is to have his suffering the natural expression of his goodness of character and not to stifle these responses out of misguided optimism The best we (the Chorus) can do for him is to respect the gravity of his predicament to respect the responses that express his goodness and to think about his case as showing a possibility for human life in general

N U S S B A U M 4 9 - 5 0

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

bull In a world that allows such dilemmas are there truly gods with a coherent vision for the world

bull Can individual reason and ingenuity suffice for a good life

T H E S O P H I S T SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Hesiod Works amp Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale Piteously she transfixed by his crooked claws was lamenting When the imperious hawk addressed her in arrogant parlance Why little lady such shrieks One stronger than you now has got you Where you are going Ill take you myself though you are a songstress For as I please Ill make you my dinner or give you your freedom Witless is one who attempts to strive against those who are stronger When he is stripped of the prize its injury added to insult Thus said the fast-flying hawk that bird with the generous wing-spanPay more attention to justice and curb high-handedness [brother] Violence ill suits men who are lowly not even the noble Man can lightly endure it it weighs on a person whos fallen Into affliction Its better to take your way on the other Road which conduces to right For outrage (hubris) surrenders to

justice (dikē)hellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Thucydides History 584-116 The Melian Dialogue ATHENIANS [Y]ou know as well as we do that when these matters are discussed by practical people the standard of justice depends on the equality of power to compel and that in fact the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they musthellip Our opinion of the gods and our knowledge of men lead us to conclude that it is a general and necessary law of nature to rule whatever one can This is not a law that we made ourselves nor were we the first to act upon it when it was made We found it already in existence and we shall leave it to exist for ever among those who come after us

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos

advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Republic I 343A-D Thrasymachusrsquo complaint Tell me Socrates do you still have a wet nursehellip Because shersquos letting you run around with a snotty nose and doesnrsquot wipe it when she needs tohellip You think that shepherds and cowherds seek the good of their sheep and cattle and fatten them and take care of them looking to something other than their masterrsquos good and their own Moreover you believe that rulershellip think of something besides their own advantage You are so far from understandinghellip that you donrsquot realize that justice is really the good of another the advantage of the stronger and the ruler and harmful to the one who obeys and serves Injustice is the opposite it rules the truly simple and just and those it rules do what is to the advantage of the other and stronger and they make the one they serve happy but themselves not at all You must look at it as follows my most simple Socrates A just man always gets less than an unjust onehellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Gorgias 482C-484C Callicles on nature and convention [Y]oursquore in fact bringing the discussion around to the sort of crowd-pleasing vulgarities that are admirable only by law [nomos also translatable ldquoconventionrdquo or ldquocustomrdquo] and not by nature And these nature and law are for the most part opposed to each otherhellip I believe that the people who institute our laws are the weak and the many So they institute laws and assign praise and blame with themselves and their own advantage in mind As a way of frightening the more powerfulhellip out of getting a greater share than they they say that getting more than onersquos share is ldquoshamefulrdquo and ldquounjusthelliprdquo But surely if a man whose nature is equal to it arises he will shake off tear apart and escape all this he will trample underfoot our documents our tricks and charms and all our laws that violate nature He the slave will rise up and be revealed as our master and here the justice of nature will shine forth

The New Teachers of Athens

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

P R E - S O C R AT I C ldquo P H I L O S O P H E R S 6 T H - 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

P R E - S O C R AT I C P H I L O S O P H E R S

bull Though not usually calling themselves ldquophilosophersrdquo they seemed to have contributed inspiration for Socratesrsquo method of free inquiry applying logos

bull Scholars adopt different views of what constitutes their innovation and ldquophilosophicalrdquo method (see readings)

bull Basing views on argument and evidence

bull De-ldquomythologizationrdquo

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Miletus

E A R LY P H I L O S O P H Y A N C I E N T M I L E T U S

M I L E T U S

bull Wealthy city-state in Asia Minor

bull Key city for trading and shipping between Near East amp Greece

bull Ionian Greek culture

bull Freedom of thought

bull Open political debate

bull Wealth (for some) providing leisure

bull Thales and his successors Anaximander Anaximenes

bull ldquoPhilosophicalrdquo investigation

bull Later Presocratics Heraclitus ParmenidesldquoORIENTALIZINGrdquo POTTERY

The Milesian school strikes a new note unheard before It has a fresh sense of the meaning of truth ndash a feeling for the sort of thing it is reasonable to suppose The hypothesis it characteristically deals in is concerned with the nature of the one primary stuff the Milesians seem to make a great conscious effort to get at something which really does exist They strike us as throwing off the vast symbolic visions of mythology and waking clear-headed to see and touch real things If we have a rational temperament we feel at once a refreshment Here at last is a statement about the world which is meant and offered as true ndash a logos [explanation] not a mythos [story]

ndash F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952 ed) 42

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The questions which excited them were of this kind Can this apparently confused and disordered world be reduced to simpler principles so that our reason can grasp what it is and how it works What is it made of How does change take place They abandoned mythological and substituted intellectual solutions [It] was no longer satisfying to say that storms were roused by the wrath of Poseidon or death caused by the arrows of Apollo or Artemis A world ruled by anthropomorphic gods human in their passions was a world ruled by caprice Philosophy and science start with the bold confession of faith that not caprice but an inherent orderliness underlies the phenomena and the explanation of nature is to be sought within nature itself ndashWKC Guthrie History of Greek Philosophy (Cambridge 1969) 1 44-45

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

Thales of Miletus

bull Lived late 7th-6th centurybull Born to a Phoenician aristocratic

family ndash so leisurebull Traveled to Egypt and Babylon (by

tradition)bull Legendary wisdombull ldquoFounder of Western philosophyrdquo

bull First to seek an ldquooriginal causerdquo (archecirc)

bull to explain how unseen facts caused visible results without appeal to mythology

bull To provide generalizable proofs or laws

Thales of Miletus

AstronomyMathematicsWater as the archecircAll things are full of gods

bull Traditionally Thalesrsquo star student

bull 25 years old during Thalesrsquo eclipse (585 BCE)

bull Lived c 610-540 BCE

bull ldquoFirst to draw the inhabited world on a tabletrdquo (first mapmaker)

bull Unambiguously our first ldquophilosopherrdquo by standards of demythologization originality generality and observation

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

ldquoAnaximander has expurgated the supernatural with a boldness and completeness to which many of his successors failed to attain The primary order is still said to be lsquoaccording to what is ordainedrsquo it is still a moral order in which Justice prevails but the will of the personal God has disappeared and its place is partly taken by a natural cause the eternal motionrdquo

- F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952) 41 Anaximander relief 1st century AD

Rome Museo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Key contributions

bull Physics the archecircbull Cosmologybull ldquoEvolutionrdquobull Astronomy and Cartography

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Anaximander said that the APEIRON [indefinite unlimited] was the ARCHE and the element of things that are and he was the first to introduce this name for the ARCHE He says that the ARCHE is neither water nor any other of the things called elements but some other nature called APEIRON out of which come to be all the heavens and the worlds in them (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2413-18)

The things that are perish into the things out of which they come to be according to necessity for ldquothey pay penalty and retribution to one another according to their injustice in accordance with the ordering of timerdquo as he says in rather poetical language (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2418-21)

Anaximander of Miletus

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The ARCHE

bull One and unlimitedbull But not undefined Itrsquos AIR

Anaximenes of Miletus

bull Not opposites but a continuum FIRE AIR larr WIND larr CLOUD larr WATER larr EARTH larr STONEbull ldquoLooseningrdquo and ldquotighteningrdquo explain hot and cold

H E R A C L I T U S B 1 0 1 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 3 7 )

I searched out myself

Listening not to me but to the logos it is wise to agree that all things are one

H E R A C L I T U S B 5 0 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 1 1 )

E X A M P L E S

THE ROAD TO PHILOSOP HY

The Hero of Lyric Poets of the Polis (6th century)

bull According to the lyric poets of the polis culture such as Pindar Simonides Tyrtaeus and Sappho (7th-6th century BCE)

bull Pursues collective good of the polis based on strong ties of interdependent responsibility amp cooperation in a just world governed by the gods

Individual Freedom The ldquoSophistsrdquo (5th century)

bull Sources in thinkers like Protagoras and Gorgias (5th century BCE predominantly working in Athens) constructed as a category by Platorsquos later writings

bull Pursues individual advantage based on their personal beliefs and wits using persuasion and power skepticism of traditional values

Vulnerability The Hero of Tragedy (5th century)

bull Iconic examples include Sophoclesrsquo Oedipus and Aeschylusrsquo Agamemnon and Orestes

bull Pursuit of individual amp collective good in a world of apparently conflicting divine values sometimes hampered by their own lack of self-knowledge

I N T E R D E P E N D E N C Y I N T R O D U C E S V U L N E R A B I L I T Y W H I C H M AY B E

C E L E B R AT E D O R R E S I S T E D

The Hero of Epic Homer and Hesiod (8th century)

bull Found in the epic Iliad and Odyssey attributed to Homer (c 8th century BCE) examples include the powerful Achilles and thoughtful persuasive Odysseus

bull Pursues individual honour (timē) in a just world governed by the gods

CH

IGI V

AS

E C

70

0 B

CE

The Hero of Reason The ldquoPresocratics (6th-5th cent)

bull Founding figures including Thales Anaximander Anaximenes Pythagoras Heraclitus Parmenides Seeking to understand the basic original causes (aitiai) of the world through reason

I S T H E W O R L D G E N U I N E LY

I N T E L L I G I B L E T O R E A S O N

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Born in Athens to a stonemason named Sophroniscus in 469 BCE

bull ldquoSocratic problemrdquo Socrates wrote nothing we know about him through Plato Xenophon and Aristophanes whose accounts vary

bull Conversed with anyone ldquorich or poor citizen or foreignerrdquo (Apology 23C)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Non-conformity reliance on individual values and wits (contrast with the earlier poets and rhapsodes)

bull Claims of ignorance interest in shared truth and not only persuasion and resistance of ldquoselfish morality (contrast with the sophists)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Methods based on question and answer (the elenchus) requiring unity or consistency (a) of onersquos beliefs and (b) of onersquos beliefs and actions

bull Behaviour peculiar enough to warrant its own verb (sōkratein) (Arist Birds 1282) before generalized philosophia

bull Brought to trial in 399 BCE by two Athenians Meletus and Anytus charged with ldquoimpiety and corrupting the youngrdquo

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

S O C R AT E S C R I T O 4 6 A

I am the kind of person who listens to nothing within me but the logos that on reflection seems

best to me

L O G O S R E A S O N VA L U E C O N S C I E N C E M E A N I N G

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousness A sense of such significances that what is great is fragile and that what is necessary may be destructive which is present in the literature of the fifth century and earlier has disappeared [later] from the ethics of the philosophers and perhaps altogether from their minds Greek philosophy in its sustained pursuit of rational self-sufficiency does turn its back on kinds of human experience and human necessity of which Greek literature itself offers the purest if not the richest expression

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y A N D P H I L O S O P H Y

The continuity between Greek tragedy and Greek philosophy on these questions is however far greater than Williams has allowed On the one hand inside tragedy itself we find arresting portrayals of the human ambition to rational self-sufficiency we come to understand the ways in which problems of exposure motivate this ambition On the other Platos philosophical search for a self- sufficient good life is motivated by a keen sense of these same problems Far from having forgotten about what tragedy describes he sees the problems of exposure so clearly that only a radical solution seems adequate to their depth Nor is he naiumlve about the costs of this solution

N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y P R A C T I C A L C O N F L I C T

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identical which is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A)

Socrates ldquoencourages Euthyphro [a pious Greek] to revise tradition by considering as binding only those requirements concerning which there is divine unanimity he expresses further his own doubt as to whether gods really do disagreerdquo (Nussbaum 30)

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identicalwhich is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A Nussbaum 25)

H U B R I S N E M E S I S

Nemesis by Gheorghe Tattarescu (1853)

Hesiod Works amp Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

Piteously she transfixed by his crooked claws was lamenting When the imperious hawk addressed her in arrogant parlance Why little lady such shrieks One stronger than you now has got you Where you are going Ill take you myself though you are a songstress For as I please Ill make you my dinner or give you your freedom Witless is one who attempts to strive against those who are stronger When he is stripped of the prize its injury added to insult Thus said the fast-flying hawk that bird with the generous wing-span

Pay more attention to justice and curb high-handedness [brother] Violence ill suits those who are lowly not even the noble Person can lightly endure it it weighs on a person whos fallen Into affliction Its better to take your way on the other Road which conduces to right For outrage (hubris) surrenders to justice (dikē)hellip

W E A R E I N Z E U S rsquo JUST W O R L D D E S C R I B E D I N THEOGONY

S I D E B A R D I V I N E C A U S AT I O N

bull The Homeric and Hesiodic herorsquos individual mission only makes sense in a world governed by gods (theoi)

bull Homer Iliad The gods are primarily responsiblecausal of events (aitios)

bull Early Greek science begins here theoi subsequently naturalized as consistent patterns of regularity in human and natural experience (elements laws)

bull Homer Odyssey Humans are (also) responsiblecausal for our own actions

bull How do we use our freedom

AT H E N A A N D O D Y S S E U S T H E O D Y S S E Y ( N B C 1 9 9 7 )

H O M E R I L I A D 5 1 2 3

Athena drew near to his side and spoke to him in winged words Have courage for I have drawn the mist from your eyes

that you may discern in truth gods from humans

So they spoke but Priam aloud called out to Helen Come over where I am dear child and sit down beside me

to look at your husband of time past your friends and your people I am not blaming you (ou ti moi aitiē essi) to me the gods are

responsible (theoihellipaitioi) who drove upon me this sorrowful war against the Achaians

H O M E R I L I A D 3 1 6 4

S I D E B A R D I V I N E C A U S AT I O N

Zeus is probably responsible (aitios) who gives to men who work for bread to each one however he wishes

H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 1 3 4 8 [ T E L E M A C H U S S P E A K S ]

How mortals now blame [from aitios] gods for they say that evils are from us Yet they themselves

have woes beyond their lot by their own recklessnesshellip

H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 1 3 2 [ Z E U S S P E A K S ]

Tell me of these things Muses that dwell on the heights of Olympus From the origin (archē) and say which first of them came into beinghellip

H E S I O D T H E O G O N Y 1 1 4

Responsibility lies with the one who makes the choice the god is blameless (theos anaitios)

P L AT O R E P U B L I C 1 0 6 1 7 E

S I D E B A R D I V I N E C A U S AT I O N

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Divine causation

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

O D Y S S E U S T O P O LY P H E M U S H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 9 2 6 9 - 7 1

But revere the gods most noble one We are supplicants (hiketai) to you Zeus is the avenger (epitimētōr) of suppliants and strangers

the guest god who attends venerable strangers

W E A R E I N Z E U S rsquo W O R L D ( A S D E S C R I B E D I N THEOGONY )

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

T H E LY R I C P O E T SC 6 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Pindar of Thebes

Simonides of Ceos

Sappho of Lesbos

LY R I C I N T R O D U C T I O N

bull Occasional poetry

bull Often sung to the lyre (lyrē) in varied meters

bull CHORAL LYRIC

bull Dancing choruses at religious festivals contests family events

bull Enforcing collective civic values

bull MONODIC LYRIC

bull Individual performance

bull Personal in emotion amp outlookBrygos Painter c 490 BCE

Sappho and Alcaeus

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

Creatures of the passing day What is any one What is any one not Shadows dream is man But when the radiance given of Zeus comes

there is a bright light upon men and life is sweet

P I N D A R P Y T H 8 9 5 - 9 7

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

I praise and embrace everyone who willingly does nothing base (aischron) but with necessity not even the gods fight A man not too helpless suffices for me one who knows the justice that benefits the

city (polis) a sound and healthy man I will not lay blame for the generation of fools is limitless Everything is noble (kala) with which

base deeds are not mingled

S I M O N I D E S 5 4 2 2 7 - 4 0

Simonides is criticizing the traditional definition of the good noble or successful man (agathos esthlos) Such goodness or nobility depends upon external achievements and possessions (wealth honour prowess in battle) which are too insecure to form a real basis for human excellence Instead Simonides stresses intention justice that benefits the city acknowledgement of the fragility of lifehellip

C S E G A L ldquo C H O R A L LY R I C I N T H E F I F T H C E N T U R Y rdquo I N P E E A S T E R L I N G amp B M W K N O X T H E C A M B R I D G E H I S T O R Y O F

C L A S S I C A L L I T E R AT U R E I ( C A M B R I D G E 2 0 0 8 ) 2 2 4

LY R I C C O N T E X T

Hoplites in phalanx formation From the Chigi Vase proto-Corinthian pitcher ca 650-640 BC

3 0 0 ( W A R N E R B R O S 2 0 0 6 ) ldquo W H AT I S Y O U R P R O F E S S I O N rdquo

W W W Y O U T U B E C O M W AT C H V = A N A 3 C O 8 3 _ G K

3 0 0 ( W A R N E R B R O S 2 0 0 6 ) ldquo F I G H T I N T H E S H A D E rdquo

Y O U T U B E 4 J K P G D D M A R S T = 1 2 4

τοιόνδ ἄνθος Περσίδος αἴας οἴχεται ἀνδρῶν

οὓς πέρι πᾶσα χθὼν Ἀσιῆτις ρέψασα πόθῳ στένεται microαλερῷ τοκέης τ ἄλοχοί θ ἡmicroερολεγδὸν τείνοντα χρόνον τροmicroέονται

A E S C H Y L U S P E R S A I 5 9 - 6 4 C P I L I A D 9 4 1 0 - 1 6

S E E C A S E Y D U Eacute T H E C A P T I V E W O M A N rsquo S L A M E N T I N G R E E K T R A G E DY C H 2

Such is the flower [anthos] of the Persian land such is the flower of men that has disappeared

The entire land of Asia laments the men she nourished with fierce

longing [pothos] Parents and wives counting the days

tremble at the increasing length of time

P I N D A R

bull Born near Thebes c 518 BCE

bull Composed important epinician odes (epi-nikia for-a-victory in a contest)

bull Depicts the gods as maintaining civic values of justice (O 1 P 1-3 P 8) compassionate (N 10) and forgiving (O 7456) guardians of polis morality

bull Celebrated ldquoroughrdquo style

bull ldquoA soaring eaglehellip a rushing streamrdquo (Horace Od 42) ldquoA vast firerdquo (Longinus Sublime 335)

Bust of the lyric poet Pindar Roman copy from original of the mid-5 century BC

F I F T H - C E N T U R Y C H O R A L LY R I C

A C O R N T O O A K T R E E N E I L B R O M H A L L bull y o u t u b e Z K 4 L j U R t a D w

Some people pray for gold others for limitless lands but I pray to please my fellow citizens and then to cover my limbs in earth

having praised the praiseworthy and scattered reproof on the wicked Excellence soars upward like a tree fed on fresh dews

lifted among the wise and just toward the liquid upper air The need for friends comes in many forms

it is most valued in times of trouble but joy too craves to look upon trusty support

P I N D A R N E M E A N 8 3 6 - 4 3

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

F R A G I L I T Ybull How can we be praiseworthy if we are vulnerable (to circumstances)

bull [The poetic world-view and Pindarrsquos career as praise poet of aretē require] ldquothe belief that the excellence of a good person is something of that persons own for whose possession and exercise that person can appropriately be held accountablerdquo (Nussbaum 1)

bull But ldquoHow can we be givers and receivers of praise if our worth ishellip a plant in need of wateringrdquo (2)

bull ldquoWe need to be born with adequate capacities to live in fostering natural and social circumstances to stay clear of abrupt catastrophe to develop confirming associations with other human beingsrdquo (1)

bull A further complication ldquoThe tenderness of a plant is not the dazzling hardness of a gemrdquo perhaps ldquopart of the peculiar beauty of human excellence just is its vulnerabilityrdquo (2)

M A R T H A N U S S B A U M T H E F R A G I L I T Y O F G O O D N E S S C H 1 L U C K amp E T H I C S

T H E P O W E R O F R E A S O N [T]here is the consolation that so far Pindar has apparently left something out However much human beings resemble lower forms of life we are unlike we want to insist in one crucial respect We have reason We are able to deliberate and choose to make a plan in which ends are ranked to decide actively what is to have value and how much All this must count for something If it is true that a lot about us is messy needy uncontrolled rooted in the dirt and standing helplessly in the rain it is also true that there is something about us that is pure and purely active something that we could think of as divine immortal intelligible unitary indissoluble ever self-consistent and invariablelsquo [Plato Phaedo 80B] It seems possible that this rational element in us can rule and guide the rest thereby saving the whole person from living at the mercy of luck

N U S S B A U M F R A G I L I T Y 2

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S S O P H I S T S A N D T R A G E D I A N SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Athens

AT H E N S rsquo A C R O P O L I S A S I M A G I N E D B Y L E O V O N K L E N Z E O I L O N C A N VA S 1 8 4 6 N E U E P I N A K O T H E K

A S S A S S I N rsquo S C R E E D O D Y S S E Y bull A T O U R O F AT H E N S U B I S O F T ( 2 0 1 8 )

bull Athens is the first lsquopeople-ruledrsquo polis (dēmokratia) in the Mediterranean world

bull She has achieved unchallenged naval authority and an empire which is labeled a lsquocommonwealthrsquo

bull At the commercial and cultural crossroads of Italy Greece Egypt and the Near East

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

S P E E C H A N D D E M O C R A C Y

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

bull In this cosmopolitan environment traditional views are challenged leading to a perceived erosion of moral values

bull The rhapsodes use poetic forms to transmit traditional morality

bull The tragedians use poetic forms to explore amp challenge mythrsquos assumptions

bull The sophists teach ldquowisdomrdquo (sophia) including rhetoric and political oratory perceived as a new lsquotechnologyrsquo to steer the ship of state for onersquos own ends

bull Use onersquos own wits ldquoA person is the measure of all thingsrdquo Protagoras B1

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

T R A G E D Y V U L N E R A B I L I T Y A N D R E A S O NC 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E AT H E N S

Aeschylus Agamemnon (458 BCE) and Euripides Iphigeneia at Aulis (405 BCE) The Sacrifice of Iphigeneia by Francesco Fontebasso bull 1749 oil on canvas

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousnesshellip what is great is fragile andhellip what is necessary may be destructivehellip

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

In such cases we see a wrong action committed without any direct physical compulsion and in full knowledge of its nature by a person whose ethical character or commitments would otherwise dispose him to reject the acthellip circumstanceshellip prevent the adequate fulfillment of two valid ethical claims

N U S S B A U M 2 5

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

[Aeschylus in Agamemnon] shows us not so much a solution to the problem of practical conflict as the richness and depth of the problem itself (This achievement is closely connected with his poetic resources which put the scene vividly before us show us debate about it and evoke in us responses important to its assessment)

The best the agent can do is to have his suffering the natural expression of his goodness of character and not to stifle these responses out of misguided optimism The best we (the Chorus) can do for him is to respect the gravity of his predicament to respect the responses that express his goodness and to think about his case as showing a possibility for human life in general

N U S S B A U M 4 9 - 5 0

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

bull In a world that allows such dilemmas are there truly gods with a coherent vision for the world

bull Can individual reason and ingenuity suffice for a good life

T H E S O P H I S T SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Hesiod Works amp Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale Piteously she transfixed by his crooked claws was lamenting When the imperious hawk addressed her in arrogant parlance Why little lady such shrieks One stronger than you now has got you Where you are going Ill take you myself though you are a songstress For as I please Ill make you my dinner or give you your freedom Witless is one who attempts to strive against those who are stronger When he is stripped of the prize its injury added to insult Thus said the fast-flying hawk that bird with the generous wing-spanPay more attention to justice and curb high-handedness [brother] Violence ill suits men who are lowly not even the noble Man can lightly endure it it weighs on a person whos fallen Into affliction Its better to take your way on the other Road which conduces to right For outrage (hubris) surrenders to

justice (dikē)hellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Thucydides History 584-116 The Melian Dialogue ATHENIANS [Y]ou know as well as we do that when these matters are discussed by practical people the standard of justice depends on the equality of power to compel and that in fact the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they musthellip Our opinion of the gods and our knowledge of men lead us to conclude that it is a general and necessary law of nature to rule whatever one can This is not a law that we made ourselves nor were we the first to act upon it when it was made We found it already in existence and we shall leave it to exist for ever among those who come after us

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos

advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Republic I 343A-D Thrasymachusrsquo complaint Tell me Socrates do you still have a wet nursehellip Because shersquos letting you run around with a snotty nose and doesnrsquot wipe it when she needs tohellip You think that shepherds and cowherds seek the good of their sheep and cattle and fatten them and take care of them looking to something other than their masterrsquos good and their own Moreover you believe that rulershellip think of something besides their own advantage You are so far from understandinghellip that you donrsquot realize that justice is really the good of another the advantage of the stronger and the ruler and harmful to the one who obeys and serves Injustice is the opposite it rules the truly simple and just and those it rules do what is to the advantage of the other and stronger and they make the one they serve happy but themselves not at all You must look at it as follows my most simple Socrates A just man always gets less than an unjust onehellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Gorgias 482C-484C Callicles on nature and convention [Y]oursquore in fact bringing the discussion around to the sort of crowd-pleasing vulgarities that are admirable only by law [nomos also translatable ldquoconventionrdquo or ldquocustomrdquo] and not by nature And these nature and law are for the most part opposed to each otherhellip I believe that the people who institute our laws are the weak and the many So they institute laws and assign praise and blame with themselves and their own advantage in mind As a way of frightening the more powerfulhellip out of getting a greater share than they they say that getting more than onersquos share is ldquoshamefulrdquo and ldquounjusthelliprdquo But surely if a man whose nature is equal to it arises he will shake off tear apart and escape all this he will trample underfoot our documents our tricks and charms and all our laws that violate nature He the slave will rise up and be revealed as our master and here the justice of nature will shine forth

The New Teachers of Athens

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

P R E - S O C R AT I C ldquo P H I L O S O P H E R S 6 T H - 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

P R E - S O C R AT I C P H I L O S O P H E R S

bull Though not usually calling themselves ldquophilosophersrdquo they seemed to have contributed inspiration for Socratesrsquo method of free inquiry applying logos

bull Scholars adopt different views of what constitutes their innovation and ldquophilosophicalrdquo method (see readings)

bull Basing views on argument and evidence

bull De-ldquomythologizationrdquo

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Miletus

E A R LY P H I L O S O P H Y A N C I E N T M I L E T U S

M I L E T U S

bull Wealthy city-state in Asia Minor

bull Key city for trading and shipping between Near East amp Greece

bull Ionian Greek culture

bull Freedom of thought

bull Open political debate

bull Wealth (for some) providing leisure

bull Thales and his successors Anaximander Anaximenes

bull ldquoPhilosophicalrdquo investigation

bull Later Presocratics Heraclitus ParmenidesldquoORIENTALIZINGrdquo POTTERY

The Milesian school strikes a new note unheard before It has a fresh sense of the meaning of truth ndash a feeling for the sort of thing it is reasonable to suppose The hypothesis it characteristically deals in is concerned with the nature of the one primary stuff the Milesians seem to make a great conscious effort to get at something which really does exist They strike us as throwing off the vast symbolic visions of mythology and waking clear-headed to see and touch real things If we have a rational temperament we feel at once a refreshment Here at last is a statement about the world which is meant and offered as true ndash a logos [explanation] not a mythos [story]

ndash F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952 ed) 42

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The questions which excited them were of this kind Can this apparently confused and disordered world be reduced to simpler principles so that our reason can grasp what it is and how it works What is it made of How does change take place They abandoned mythological and substituted intellectual solutions [It] was no longer satisfying to say that storms were roused by the wrath of Poseidon or death caused by the arrows of Apollo or Artemis A world ruled by anthropomorphic gods human in their passions was a world ruled by caprice Philosophy and science start with the bold confession of faith that not caprice but an inherent orderliness underlies the phenomena and the explanation of nature is to be sought within nature itself ndashWKC Guthrie History of Greek Philosophy (Cambridge 1969) 1 44-45

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

Thales of Miletus

bull Lived late 7th-6th centurybull Born to a Phoenician aristocratic

family ndash so leisurebull Traveled to Egypt and Babylon (by

tradition)bull Legendary wisdombull ldquoFounder of Western philosophyrdquo

bull First to seek an ldquooriginal causerdquo (archecirc)

bull to explain how unseen facts caused visible results without appeal to mythology

bull To provide generalizable proofs or laws

Thales of Miletus

AstronomyMathematicsWater as the archecircAll things are full of gods

bull Traditionally Thalesrsquo star student

bull 25 years old during Thalesrsquo eclipse (585 BCE)

bull Lived c 610-540 BCE

bull ldquoFirst to draw the inhabited world on a tabletrdquo (first mapmaker)

bull Unambiguously our first ldquophilosopherrdquo by standards of demythologization originality generality and observation

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

ldquoAnaximander has expurgated the supernatural with a boldness and completeness to which many of his successors failed to attain The primary order is still said to be lsquoaccording to what is ordainedrsquo it is still a moral order in which Justice prevails but the will of the personal God has disappeared and its place is partly taken by a natural cause the eternal motionrdquo

- F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952) 41 Anaximander relief 1st century AD

Rome Museo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Key contributions

bull Physics the archecircbull Cosmologybull ldquoEvolutionrdquobull Astronomy and Cartography

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Anaximander said that the APEIRON [indefinite unlimited] was the ARCHE and the element of things that are and he was the first to introduce this name for the ARCHE He says that the ARCHE is neither water nor any other of the things called elements but some other nature called APEIRON out of which come to be all the heavens and the worlds in them (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2413-18)

The things that are perish into the things out of which they come to be according to necessity for ldquothey pay penalty and retribution to one another according to their injustice in accordance with the ordering of timerdquo as he says in rather poetical language (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2418-21)

Anaximander of Miletus

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The ARCHE

bull One and unlimitedbull But not undefined Itrsquos AIR

Anaximenes of Miletus

bull Not opposites but a continuum FIRE AIR larr WIND larr CLOUD larr WATER larr EARTH larr STONEbull ldquoLooseningrdquo and ldquotighteningrdquo explain hot and cold

H E R A C L I T U S B 1 0 1 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 3 7 )

I searched out myself

Listening not to me but to the logos it is wise to agree that all things are one

H E R A C L I T U S B 5 0 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 1 1 )

E X A M P L E S

THE ROAD TO PHILOSOP HY

The Hero of Lyric Poets of the Polis (6th century)

bull According to the lyric poets of the polis culture such as Pindar Simonides Tyrtaeus and Sappho (7th-6th century BCE)

bull Pursues collective good of the polis based on strong ties of interdependent responsibility amp cooperation in a just world governed by the gods

Individual Freedom The ldquoSophistsrdquo (5th century)

bull Sources in thinkers like Protagoras and Gorgias (5th century BCE predominantly working in Athens) constructed as a category by Platorsquos later writings

bull Pursues individual advantage based on their personal beliefs and wits using persuasion and power skepticism of traditional values

Vulnerability The Hero of Tragedy (5th century)

bull Iconic examples include Sophoclesrsquo Oedipus and Aeschylusrsquo Agamemnon and Orestes

bull Pursuit of individual amp collective good in a world of apparently conflicting divine values sometimes hampered by their own lack of self-knowledge

I N T E R D E P E N D E N C Y I N T R O D U C E S V U L N E R A B I L I T Y W H I C H M AY B E

C E L E B R AT E D O R R E S I S T E D

The Hero of Epic Homer and Hesiod (8th century)

bull Found in the epic Iliad and Odyssey attributed to Homer (c 8th century BCE) examples include the powerful Achilles and thoughtful persuasive Odysseus

bull Pursues individual honour (timē) in a just world governed by the gods

CH

IGI V

AS

E C

70

0 B

CE

The Hero of Reason The ldquoPresocratics (6th-5th cent)

bull Founding figures including Thales Anaximander Anaximenes Pythagoras Heraclitus Parmenides Seeking to understand the basic original causes (aitiai) of the world through reason

I S T H E W O R L D G E N U I N E LY

I N T E L L I G I B L E T O R E A S O N

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Born in Athens to a stonemason named Sophroniscus in 469 BCE

bull ldquoSocratic problemrdquo Socrates wrote nothing we know about him through Plato Xenophon and Aristophanes whose accounts vary

bull Conversed with anyone ldquorich or poor citizen or foreignerrdquo (Apology 23C)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Non-conformity reliance on individual values and wits (contrast with the earlier poets and rhapsodes)

bull Claims of ignorance interest in shared truth and not only persuasion and resistance of ldquoselfish morality (contrast with the sophists)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Methods based on question and answer (the elenchus) requiring unity or consistency (a) of onersquos beliefs and (b) of onersquos beliefs and actions

bull Behaviour peculiar enough to warrant its own verb (sōkratein) (Arist Birds 1282) before generalized philosophia

bull Brought to trial in 399 BCE by two Athenians Meletus and Anytus charged with ldquoimpiety and corrupting the youngrdquo

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

S O C R AT E S C R I T O 4 6 A

I am the kind of person who listens to nothing within me but the logos that on reflection seems

best to me

L O G O S R E A S O N VA L U E C O N S C I E N C E M E A N I N G

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousness A sense of such significances that what is great is fragile and that what is necessary may be destructive which is present in the literature of the fifth century and earlier has disappeared [later] from the ethics of the philosophers and perhaps altogether from their minds Greek philosophy in its sustained pursuit of rational self-sufficiency does turn its back on kinds of human experience and human necessity of which Greek literature itself offers the purest if not the richest expression

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y A N D P H I L O S O P H Y

The continuity between Greek tragedy and Greek philosophy on these questions is however far greater than Williams has allowed On the one hand inside tragedy itself we find arresting portrayals of the human ambition to rational self-sufficiency we come to understand the ways in which problems of exposure motivate this ambition On the other Platos philosophical search for a self- sufficient good life is motivated by a keen sense of these same problems Far from having forgotten about what tragedy describes he sees the problems of exposure so clearly that only a radical solution seems adequate to their depth Nor is he naiumlve about the costs of this solution

N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y P R A C T I C A L C O N F L I C T

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identical which is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A)

Socrates ldquoencourages Euthyphro [a pious Greek] to revise tradition by considering as binding only those requirements concerning which there is divine unanimity he expresses further his own doubt as to whether gods really do disagreerdquo (Nussbaum 30)

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identicalwhich is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A Nussbaum 25)

Hesiod Works amp Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

Piteously she transfixed by his crooked claws was lamenting When the imperious hawk addressed her in arrogant parlance Why little lady such shrieks One stronger than you now has got you Where you are going Ill take you myself though you are a songstress For as I please Ill make you my dinner or give you your freedom Witless is one who attempts to strive against those who are stronger When he is stripped of the prize its injury added to insult Thus said the fast-flying hawk that bird with the generous wing-span

Pay more attention to justice and curb high-handedness [brother] Violence ill suits those who are lowly not even the noble Person can lightly endure it it weighs on a person whos fallen Into affliction Its better to take your way on the other Road which conduces to right For outrage (hubris) surrenders to justice (dikē)hellip

W E A R E I N Z E U S rsquo JUST W O R L D D E S C R I B E D I N THEOGONY

S I D E B A R D I V I N E C A U S AT I O N

bull The Homeric and Hesiodic herorsquos individual mission only makes sense in a world governed by gods (theoi)

bull Homer Iliad The gods are primarily responsiblecausal of events (aitios)

bull Early Greek science begins here theoi subsequently naturalized as consistent patterns of regularity in human and natural experience (elements laws)

bull Homer Odyssey Humans are (also) responsiblecausal for our own actions

bull How do we use our freedom

AT H E N A A N D O D Y S S E U S T H E O D Y S S E Y ( N B C 1 9 9 7 )

H O M E R I L I A D 5 1 2 3

Athena drew near to his side and spoke to him in winged words Have courage for I have drawn the mist from your eyes

that you may discern in truth gods from humans

So they spoke but Priam aloud called out to Helen Come over where I am dear child and sit down beside me

to look at your husband of time past your friends and your people I am not blaming you (ou ti moi aitiē essi) to me the gods are

responsible (theoihellipaitioi) who drove upon me this sorrowful war against the Achaians

H O M E R I L I A D 3 1 6 4

S I D E B A R D I V I N E C A U S AT I O N

Zeus is probably responsible (aitios) who gives to men who work for bread to each one however he wishes

H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 1 3 4 8 [ T E L E M A C H U S S P E A K S ]

How mortals now blame [from aitios] gods for they say that evils are from us Yet they themselves

have woes beyond their lot by their own recklessnesshellip

H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 1 3 2 [ Z E U S S P E A K S ]

Tell me of these things Muses that dwell on the heights of Olympus From the origin (archē) and say which first of them came into beinghellip

H E S I O D T H E O G O N Y 1 1 4

Responsibility lies with the one who makes the choice the god is blameless (theos anaitios)

P L AT O R E P U B L I C 1 0 6 1 7 E

S I D E B A R D I V I N E C A U S AT I O N

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Divine causation

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

O D Y S S E U S T O P O LY P H E M U S H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 9 2 6 9 - 7 1

But revere the gods most noble one We are supplicants (hiketai) to you Zeus is the avenger (epitimētōr) of suppliants and strangers

the guest god who attends venerable strangers

W E A R E I N Z E U S rsquo W O R L D ( A S D E S C R I B E D I N THEOGONY )

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

T H E LY R I C P O E T SC 6 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Pindar of Thebes

Simonides of Ceos

Sappho of Lesbos

LY R I C I N T R O D U C T I O N

bull Occasional poetry

bull Often sung to the lyre (lyrē) in varied meters

bull CHORAL LYRIC

bull Dancing choruses at religious festivals contests family events

bull Enforcing collective civic values

bull MONODIC LYRIC

bull Individual performance

bull Personal in emotion amp outlookBrygos Painter c 490 BCE

Sappho and Alcaeus

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

Creatures of the passing day What is any one What is any one not Shadows dream is man But when the radiance given of Zeus comes

there is a bright light upon men and life is sweet

P I N D A R P Y T H 8 9 5 - 9 7

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

I praise and embrace everyone who willingly does nothing base (aischron) but with necessity not even the gods fight A man not too helpless suffices for me one who knows the justice that benefits the

city (polis) a sound and healthy man I will not lay blame for the generation of fools is limitless Everything is noble (kala) with which

base deeds are not mingled

S I M O N I D E S 5 4 2 2 7 - 4 0

Simonides is criticizing the traditional definition of the good noble or successful man (agathos esthlos) Such goodness or nobility depends upon external achievements and possessions (wealth honour prowess in battle) which are too insecure to form a real basis for human excellence Instead Simonides stresses intention justice that benefits the city acknowledgement of the fragility of lifehellip

C S E G A L ldquo C H O R A L LY R I C I N T H E F I F T H C E N T U R Y rdquo I N P E E A S T E R L I N G amp B M W K N O X T H E C A M B R I D G E H I S T O R Y O F

C L A S S I C A L L I T E R AT U R E I ( C A M B R I D G E 2 0 0 8 ) 2 2 4

LY R I C C O N T E X T

Hoplites in phalanx formation From the Chigi Vase proto-Corinthian pitcher ca 650-640 BC

3 0 0 ( W A R N E R B R O S 2 0 0 6 ) ldquo W H AT I S Y O U R P R O F E S S I O N rdquo

W W W Y O U T U B E C O M W AT C H V = A N A 3 C O 8 3 _ G K

3 0 0 ( W A R N E R B R O S 2 0 0 6 ) ldquo F I G H T I N T H E S H A D E rdquo

Y O U T U B E 4 J K P G D D M A R S T = 1 2 4

τοιόνδ ἄνθος Περσίδος αἴας οἴχεται ἀνδρῶν

οὓς πέρι πᾶσα χθὼν Ἀσιῆτις ρέψασα πόθῳ στένεται microαλερῷ τοκέης τ ἄλοχοί θ ἡmicroερολεγδὸν τείνοντα χρόνον τροmicroέονται

A E S C H Y L U S P E R S A I 5 9 - 6 4 C P I L I A D 9 4 1 0 - 1 6

S E E C A S E Y D U Eacute T H E C A P T I V E W O M A N rsquo S L A M E N T I N G R E E K T R A G E DY C H 2

Such is the flower [anthos] of the Persian land such is the flower of men that has disappeared

The entire land of Asia laments the men she nourished with fierce

longing [pothos] Parents and wives counting the days

tremble at the increasing length of time

P I N D A R

bull Born near Thebes c 518 BCE

bull Composed important epinician odes (epi-nikia for-a-victory in a contest)

bull Depicts the gods as maintaining civic values of justice (O 1 P 1-3 P 8) compassionate (N 10) and forgiving (O 7456) guardians of polis morality

bull Celebrated ldquoroughrdquo style

bull ldquoA soaring eaglehellip a rushing streamrdquo (Horace Od 42) ldquoA vast firerdquo (Longinus Sublime 335)

Bust of the lyric poet Pindar Roman copy from original of the mid-5 century BC

F I F T H - C E N T U R Y C H O R A L LY R I C

A C O R N T O O A K T R E E N E I L B R O M H A L L bull y o u t u b e Z K 4 L j U R t a D w

Some people pray for gold others for limitless lands but I pray to please my fellow citizens and then to cover my limbs in earth

having praised the praiseworthy and scattered reproof on the wicked Excellence soars upward like a tree fed on fresh dews

lifted among the wise and just toward the liquid upper air The need for friends comes in many forms

it is most valued in times of trouble but joy too craves to look upon trusty support

P I N D A R N E M E A N 8 3 6 - 4 3

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

F R A G I L I T Ybull How can we be praiseworthy if we are vulnerable (to circumstances)

bull [The poetic world-view and Pindarrsquos career as praise poet of aretē require] ldquothe belief that the excellence of a good person is something of that persons own for whose possession and exercise that person can appropriately be held accountablerdquo (Nussbaum 1)

bull But ldquoHow can we be givers and receivers of praise if our worth ishellip a plant in need of wateringrdquo (2)

bull ldquoWe need to be born with adequate capacities to live in fostering natural and social circumstances to stay clear of abrupt catastrophe to develop confirming associations with other human beingsrdquo (1)

bull A further complication ldquoThe tenderness of a plant is not the dazzling hardness of a gemrdquo perhaps ldquopart of the peculiar beauty of human excellence just is its vulnerabilityrdquo (2)

M A R T H A N U S S B A U M T H E F R A G I L I T Y O F G O O D N E S S C H 1 L U C K amp E T H I C S

T H E P O W E R O F R E A S O N [T]here is the consolation that so far Pindar has apparently left something out However much human beings resemble lower forms of life we are unlike we want to insist in one crucial respect We have reason We are able to deliberate and choose to make a plan in which ends are ranked to decide actively what is to have value and how much All this must count for something If it is true that a lot about us is messy needy uncontrolled rooted in the dirt and standing helplessly in the rain it is also true that there is something about us that is pure and purely active something that we could think of as divine immortal intelligible unitary indissoluble ever self-consistent and invariablelsquo [Plato Phaedo 80B] It seems possible that this rational element in us can rule and guide the rest thereby saving the whole person from living at the mercy of luck

N U S S B A U M F R A G I L I T Y 2

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S S O P H I S T S A N D T R A G E D I A N SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Athens

AT H E N S rsquo A C R O P O L I S A S I M A G I N E D B Y L E O V O N K L E N Z E O I L O N C A N VA S 1 8 4 6 N E U E P I N A K O T H E K

A S S A S S I N rsquo S C R E E D O D Y S S E Y bull A T O U R O F AT H E N S U B I S O F T ( 2 0 1 8 )

bull Athens is the first lsquopeople-ruledrsquo polis (dēmokratia) in the Mediterranean world

bull She has achieved unchallenged naval authority and an empire which is labeled a lsquocommonwealthrsquo

bull At the commercial and cultural crossroads of Italy Greece Egypt and the Near East

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

S P E E C H A N D D E M O C R A C Y

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

bull In this cosmopolitan environment traditional views are challenged leading to a perceived erosion of moral values

bull The rhapsodes use poetic forms to transmit traditional morality

bull The tragedians use poetic forms to explore amp challenge mythrsquos assumptions

bull The sophists teach ldquowisdomrdquo (sophia) including rhetoric and political oratory perceived as a new lsquotechnologyrsquo to steer the ship of state for onersquos own ends

bull Use onersquos own wits ldquoA person is the measure of all thingsrdquo Protagoras B1

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

T R A G E D Y V U L N E R A B I L I T Y A N D R E A S O NC 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E AT H E N S

Aeschylus Agamemnon (458 BCE) and Euripides Iphigeneia at Aulis (405 BCE) The Sacrifice of Iphigeneia by Francesco Fontebasso bull 1749 oil on canvas

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousnesshellip what is great is fragile andhellip what is necessary may be destructivehellip

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

In such cases we see a wrong action committed without any direct physical compulsion and in full knowledge of its nature by a person whose ethical character or commitments would otherwise dispose him to reject the acthellip circumstanceshellip prevent the adequate fulfillment of two valid ethical claims

N U S S B A U M 2 5

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

[Aeschylus in Agamemnon] shows us not so much a solution to the problem of practical conflict as the richness and depth of the problem itself (This achievement is closely connected with his poetic resources which put the scene vividly before us show us debate about it and evoke in us responses important to its assessment)

The best the agent can do is to have his suffering the natural expression of his goodness of character and not to stifle these responses out of misguided optimism The best we (the Chorus) can do for him is to respect the gravity of his predicament to respect the responses that express his goodness and to think about his case as showing a possibility for human life in general

N U S S B A U M 4 9 - 5 0

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

bull In a world that allows such dilemmas are there truly gods with a coherent vision for the world

bull Can individual reason and ingenuity suffice for a good life

T H E S O P H I S T SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Hesiod Works amp Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale Piteously she transfixed by his crooked claws was lamenting When the imperious hawk addressed her in arrogant parlance Why little lady such shrieks One stronger than you now has got you Where you are going Ill take you myself though you are a songstress For as I please Ill make you my dinner or give you your freedom Witless is one who attempts to strive against those who are stronger When he is stripped of the prize its injury added to insult Thus said the fast-flying hawk that bird with the generous wing-spanPay more attention to justice and curb high-handedness [brother] Violence ill suits men who are lowly not even the noble Man can lightly endure it it weighs on a person whos fallen Into affliction Its better to take your way on the other Road which conduces to right For outrage (hubris) surrenders to

justice (dikē)hellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Thucydides History 584-116 The Melian Dialogue ATHENIANS [Y]ou know as well as we do that when these matters are discussed by practical people the standard of justice depends on the equality of power to compel and that in fact the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they musthellip Our opinion of the gods and our knowledge of men lead us to conclude that it is a general and necessary law of nature to rule whatever one can This is not a law that we made ourselves nor were we the first to act upon it when it was made We found it already in existence and we shall leave it to exist for ever among those who come after us

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos

advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Republic I 343A-D Thrasymachusrsquo complaint Tell me Socrates do you still have a wet nursehellip Because shersquos letting you run around with a snotty nose and doesnrsquot wipe it when she needs tohellip You think that shepherds and cowherds seek the good of their sheep and cattle and fatten them and take care of them looking to something other than their masterrsquos good and their own Moreover you believe that rulershellip think of something besides their own advantage You are so far from understandinghellip that you donrsquot realize that justice is really the good of another the advantage of the stronger and the ruler and harmful to the one who obeys and serves Injustice is the opposite it rules the truly simple and just and those it rules do what is to the advantage of the other and stronger and they make the one they serve happy but themselves not at all You must look at it as follows my most simple Socrates A just man always gets less than an unjust onehellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Gorgias 482C-484C Callicles on nature and convention [Y]oursquore in fact bringing the discussion around to the sort of crowd-pleasing vulgarities that are admirable only by law [nomos also translatable ldquoconventionrdquo or ldquocustomrdquo] and not by nature And these nature and law are for the most part opposed to each otherhellip I believe that the people who institute our laws are the weak and the many So they institute laws and assign praise and blame with themselves and their own advantage in mind As a way of frightening the more powerfulhellip out of getting a greater share than they they say that getting more than onersquos share is ldquoshamefulrdquo and ldquounjusthelliprdquo But surely if a man whose nature is equal to it arises he will shake off tear apart and escape all this he will trample underfoot our documents our tricks and charms and all our laws that violate nature He the slave will rise up and be revealed as our master and here the justice of nature will shine forth

The New Teachers of Athens

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

P R E - S O C R AT I C ldquo P H I L O S O P H E R S 6 T H - 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

P R E - S O C R AT I C P H I L O S O P H E R S

bull Though not usually calling themselves ldquophilosophersrdquo they seemed to have contributed inspiration for Socratesrsquo method of free inquiry applying logos

bull Scholars adopt different views of what constitutes their innovation and ldquophilosophicalrdquo method (see readings)

bull Basing views on argument and evidence

bull De-ldquomythologizationrdquo

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Miletus

E A R LY P H I L O S O P H Y A N C I E N T M I L E T U S

M I L E T U S

bull Wealthy city-state in Asia Minor

bull Key city for trading and shipping between Near East amp Greece

bull Ionian Greek culture

bull Freedom of thought

bull Open political debate

bull Wealth (for some) providing leisure

bull Thales and his successors Anaximander Anaximenes

bull ldquoPhilosophicalrdquo investigation

bull Later Presocratics Heraclitus ParmenidesldquoORIENTALIZINGrdquo POTTERY

The Milesian school strikes a new note unheard before It has a fresh sense of the meaning of truth ndash a feeling for the sort of thing it is reasonable to suppose The hypothesis it characteristically deals in is concerned with the nature of the one primary stuff the Milesians seem to make a great conscious effort to get at something which really does exist They strike us as throwing off the vast symbolic visions of mythology and waking clear-headed to see and touch real things If we have a rational temperament we feel at once a refreshment Here at last is a statement about the world which is meant and offered as true ndash a logos [explanation] not a mythos [story]

ndash F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952 ed) 42

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The questions which excited them were of this kind Can this apparently confused and disordered world be reduced to simpler principles so that our reason can grasp what it is and how it works What is it made of How does change take place They abandoned mythological and substituted intellectual solutions [It] was no longer satisfying to say that storms were roused by the wrath of Poseidon or death caused by the arrows of Apollo or Artemis A world ruled by anthropomorphic gods human in their passions was a world ruled by caprice Philosophy and science start with the bold confession of faith that not caprice but an inherent orderliness underlies the phenomena and the explanation of nature is to be sought within nature itself ndashWKC Guthrie History of Greek Philosophy (Cambridge 1969) 1 44-45

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

Thales of Miletus

bull Lived late 7th-6th centurybull Born to a Phoenician aristocratic

family ndash so leisurebull Traveled to Egypt and Babylon (by

tradition)bull Legendary wisdombull ldquoFounder of Western philosophyrdquo

bull First to seek an ldquooriginal causerdquo (archecirc)

bull to explain how unseen facts caused visible results without appeal to mythology

bull To provide generalizable proofs or laws

Thales of Miletus

AstronomyMathematicsWater as the archecircAll things are full of gods

bull Traditionally Thalesrsquo star student

bull 25 years old during Thalesrsquo eclipse (585 BCE)

bull Lived c 610-540 BCE

bull ldquoFirst to draw the inhabited world on a tabletrdquo (first mapmaker)

bull Unambiguously our first ldquophilosopherrdquo by standards of demythologization originality generality and observation

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

ldquoAnaximander has expurgated the supernatural with a boldness and completeness to which many of his successors failed to attain The primary order is still said to be lsquoaccording to what is ordainedrsquo it is still a moral order in which Justice prevails but the will of the personal God has disappeared and its place is partly taken by a natural cause the eternal motionrdquo

- F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952) 41 Anaximander relief 1st century AD

Rome Museo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Key contributions

bull Physics the archecircbull Cosmologybull ldquoEvolutionrdquobull Astronomy and Cartography

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Anaximander said that the APEIRON [indefinite unlimited] was the ARCHE and the element of things that are and he was the first to introduce this name for the ARCHE He says that the ARCHE is neither water nor any other of the things called elements but some other nature called APEIRON out of which come to be all the heavens and the worlds in them (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2413-18)

The things that are perish into the things out of which they come to be according to necessity for ldquothey pay penalty and retribution to one another according to their injustice in accordance with the ordering of timerdquo as he says in rather poetical language (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2418-21)

Anaximander of Miletus

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The ARCHE

bull One and unlimitedbull But not undefined Itrsquos AIR

Anaximenes of Miletus

bull Not opposites but a continuum FIRE AIR larr WIND larr CLOUD larr WATER larr EARTH larr STONEbull ldquoLooseningrdquo and ldquotighteningrdquo explain hot and cold

H E R A C L I T U S B 1 0 1 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 3 7 )

I searched out myself

Listening not to me but to the logos it is wise to agree that all things are one

H E R A C L I T U S B 5 0 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 1 1 )

E X A M P L E S

THE ROAD TO PHILOSOP HY

The Hero of Lyric Poets of the Polis (6th century)

bull According to the lyric poets of the polis culture such as Pindar Simonides Tyrtaeus and Sappho (7th-6th century BCE)

bull Pursues collective good of the polis based on strong ties of interdependent responsibility amp cooperation in a just world governed by the gods

Individual Freedom The ldquoSophistsrdquo (5th century)

bull Sources in thinkers like Protagoras and Gorgias (5th century BCE predominantly working in Athens) constructed as a category by Platorsquos later writings

bull Pursues individual advantage based on their personal beliefs and wits using persuasion and power skepticism of traditional values

Vulnerability The Hero of Tragedy (5th century)

bull Iconic examples include Sophoclesrsquo Oedipus and Aeschylusrsquo Agamemnon and Orestes

bull Pursuit of individual amp collective good in a world of apparently conflicting divine values sometimes hampered by their own lack of self-knowledge

I N T E R D E P E N D E N C Y I N T R O D U C E S V U L N E R A B I L I T Y W H I C H M AY B E

C E L E B R AT E D O R R E S I S T E D

The Hero of Epic Homer and Hesiod (8th century)

bull Found in the epic Iliad and Odyssey attributed to Homer (c 8th century BCE) examples include the powerful Achilles and thoughtful persuasive Odysseus

bull Pursues individual honour (timē) in a just world governed by the gods

CH

IGI V

AS

E C

70

0 B

CE

The Hero of Reason The ldquoPresocratics (6th-5th cent)

bull Founding figures including Thales Anaximander Anaximenes Pythagoras Heraclitus Parmenides Seeking to understand the basic original causes (aitiai) of the world through reason

I S T H E W O R L D G E N U I N E LY

I N T E L L I G I B L E T O R E A S O N

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Born in Athens to a stonemason named Sophroniscus in 469 BCE

bull ldquoSocratic problemrdquo Socrates wrote nothing we know about him through Plato Xenophon and Aristophanes whose accounts vary

bull Conversed with anyone ldquorich or poor citizen or foreignerrdquo (Apology 23C)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Non-conformity reliance on individual values and wits (contrast with the earlier poets and rhapsodes)

bull Claims of ignorance interest in shared truth and not only persuasion and resistance of ldquoselfish morality (contrast with the sophists)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Methods based on question and answer (the elenchus) requiring unity or consistency (a) of onersquos beliefs and (b) of onersquos beliefs and actions

bull Behaviour peculiar enough to warrant its own verb (sōkratein) (Arist Birds 1282) before generalized philosophia

bull Brought to trial in 399 BCE by two Athenians Meletus and Anytus charged with ldquoimpiety and corrupting the youngrdquo

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

S O C R AT E S C R I T O 4 6 A

I am the kind of person who listens to nothing within me but the logos that on reflection seems

best to me

L O G O S R E A S O N VA L U E C O N S C I E N C E M E A N I N G

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousness A sense of such significances that what is great is fragile and that what is necessary may be destructive which is present in the literature of the fifth century and earlier has disappeared [later] from the ethics of the philosophers and perhaps altogether from their minds Greek philosophy in its sustained pursuit of rational self-sufficiency does turn its back on kinds of human experience and human necessity of which Greek literature itself offers the purest if not the richest expression

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y A N D P H I L O S O P H Y

The continuity between Greek tragedy and Greek philosophy on these questions is however far greater than Williams has allowed On the one hand inside tragedy itself we find arresting portrayals of the human ambition to rational self-sufficiency we come to understand the ways in which problems of exposure motivate this ambition On the other Platos philosophical search for a self- sufficient good life is motivated by a keen sense of these same problems Far from having forgotten about what tragedy describes he sees the problems of exposure so clearly that only a radical solution seems adequate to their depth Nor is he naiumlve about the costs of this solution

N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y P R A C T I C A L C O N F L I C T

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identical which is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A)

Socrates ldquoencourages Euthyphro [a pious Greek] to revise tradition by considering as binding only those requirements concerning which there is divine unanimity he expresses further his own doubt as to whether gods really do disagreerdquo (Nussbaum 30)

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identicalwhich is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A Nussbaum 25)

S I D E B A R D I V I N E C A U S AT I O N

bull The Homeric and Hesiodic herorsquos individual mission only makes sense in a world governed by gods (theoi)

bull Homer Iliad The gods are primarily responsiblecausal of events (aitios)

bull Early Greek science begins here theoi subsequently naturalized as consistent patterns of regularity in human and natural experience (elements laws)

bull Homer Odyssey Humans are (also) responsiblecausal for our own actions

bull How do we use our freedom

AT H E N A A N D O D Y S S E U S T H E O D Y S S E Y ( N B C 1 9 9 7 )

H O M E R I L I A D 5 1 2 3

Athena drew near to his side and spoke to him in winged words Have courage for I have drawn the mist from your eyes

that you may discern in truth gods from humans

So they spoke but Priam aloud called out to Helen Come over where I am dear child and sit down beside me

to look at your husband of time past your friends and your people I am not blaming you (ou ti moi aitiē essi) to me the gods are

responsible (theoihellipaitioi) who drove upon me this sorrowful war against the Achaians

H O M E R I L I A D 3 1 6 4

S I D E B A R D I V I N E C A U S AT I O N

Zeus is probably responsible (aitios) who gives to men who work for bread to each one however he wishes

H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 1 3 4 8 [ T E L E M A C H U S S P E A K S ]

How mortals now blame [from aitios] gods for they say that evils are from us Yet they themselves

have woes beyond their lot by their own recklessnesshellip

H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 1 3 2 [ Z E U S S P E A K S ]

Tell me of these things Muses that dwell on the heights of Olympus From the origin (archē) and say which first of them came into beinghellip

H E S I O D T H E O G O N Y 1 1 4

Responsibility lies with the one who makes the choice the god is blameless (theos anaitios)

P L AT O R E P U B L I C 1 0 6 1 7 E

S I D E B A R D I V I N E C A U S AT I O N

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Divine causation

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

O D Y S S E U S T O P O LY P H E M U S H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 9 2 6 9 - 7 1

But revere the gods most noble one We are supplicants (hiketai) to you Zeus is the avenger (epitimētōr) of suppliants and strangers

the guest god who attends venerable strangers

W E A R E I N Z E U S rsquo W O R L D ( A S D E S C R I B E D I N THEOGONY )

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

T H E LY R I C P O E T SC 6 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Pindar of Thebes

Simonides of Ceos

Sappho of Lesbos

LY R I C I N T R O D U C T I O N

bull Occasional poetry

bull Often sung to the lyre (lyrē) in varied meters

bull CHORAL LYRIC

bull Dancing choruses at religious festivals contests family events

bull Enforcing collective civic values

bull MONODIC LYRIC

bull Individual performance

bull Personal in emotion amp outlookBrygos Painter c 490 BCE

Sappho and Alcaeus

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

Creatures of the passing day What is any one What is any one not Shadows dream is man But when the radiance given of Zeus comes

there is a bright light upon men and life is sweet

P I N D A R P Y T H 8 9 5 - 9 7

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

I praise and embrace everyone who willingly does nothing base (aischron) but with necessity not even the gods fight A man not too helpless suffices for me one who knows the justice that benefits the

city (polis) a sound and healthy man I will not lay blame for the generation of fools is limitless Everything is noble (kala) with which

base deeds are not mingled

S I M O N I D E S 5 4 2 2 7 - 4 0

Simonides is criticizing the traditional definition of the good noble or successful man (agathos esthlos) Such goodness or nobility depends upon external achievements and possessions (wealth honour prowess in battle) which are too insecure to form a real basis for human excellence Instead Simonides stresses intention justice that benefits the city acknowledgement of the fragility of lifehellip

C S E G A L ldquo C H O R A L LY R I C I N T H E F I F T H C E N T U R Y rdquo I N P E E A S T E R L I N G amp B M W K N O X T H E C A M B R I D G E H I S T O R Y O F

C L A S S I C A L L I T E R AT U R E I ( C A M B R I D G E 2 0 0 8 ) 2 2 4

LY R I C C O N T E X T

Hoplites in phalanx formation From the Chigi Vase proto-Corinthian pitcher ca 650-640 BC

3 0 0 ( W A R N E R B R O S 2 0 0 6 ) ldquo W H AT I S Y O U R P R O F E S S I O N rdquo

W W W Y O U T U B E C O M W AT C H V = A N A 3 C O 8 3 _ G K

3 0 0 ( W A R N E R B R O S 2 0 0 6 ) ldquo F I G H T I N T H E S H A D E rdquo

Y O U T U B E 4 J K P G D D M A R S T = 1 2 4

τοιόνδ ἄνθος Περσίδος αἴας οἴχεται ἀνδρῶν

οὓς πέρι πᾶσα χθὼν Ἀσιῆτις ρέψασα πόθῳ στένεται microαλερῷ τοκέης τ ἄλοχοί θ ἡmicroερολεγδὸν τείνοντα χρόνον τροmicroέονται

A E S C H Y L U S P E R S A I 5 9 - 6 4 C P I L I A D 9 4 1 0 - 1 6

S E E C A S E Y D U Eacute T H E C A P T I V E W O M A N rsquo S L A M E N T I N G R E E K T R A G E DY C H 2

Such is the flower [anthos] of the Persian land such is the flower of men that has disappeared

The entire land of Asia laments the men she nourished with fierce

longing [pothos] Parents and wives counting the days

tremble at the increasing length of time

P I N D A R

bull Born near Thebes c 518 BCE

bull Composed important epinician odes (epi-nikia for-a-victory in a contest)

bull Depicts the gods as maintaining civic values of justice (O 1 P 1-3 P 8) compassionate (N 10) and forgiving (O 7456) guardians of polis morality

bull Celebrated ldquoroughrdquo style

bull ldquoA soaring eaglehellip a rushing streamrdquo (Horace Od 42) ldquoA vast firerdquo (Longinus Sublime 335)

Bust of the lyric poet Pindar Roman copy from original of the mid-5 century BC

F I F T H - C E N T U R Y C H O R A L LY R I C

A C O R N T O O A K T R E E N E I L B R O M H A L L bull y o u t u b e Z K 4 L j U R t a D w

Some people pray for gold others for limitless lands but I pray to please my fellow citizens and then to cover my limbs in earth

having praised the praiseworthy and scattered reproof on the wicked Excellence soars upward like a tree fed on fresh dews

lifted among the wise and just toward the liquid upper air The need for friends comes in many forms

it is most valued in times of trouble but joy too craves to look upon trusty support

P I N D A R N E M E A N 8 3 6 - 4 3

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

F R A G I L I T Ybull How can we be praiseworthy if we are vulnerable (to circumstances)

bull [The poetic world-view and Pindarrsquos career as praise poet of aretē require] ldquothe belief that the excellence of a good person is something of that persons own for whose possession and exercise that person can appropriately be held accountablerdquo (Nussbaum 1)

bull But ldquoHow can we be givers and receivers of praise if our worth ishellip a plant in need of wateringrdquo (2)

bull ldquoWe need to be born with adequate capacities to live in fostering natural and social circumstances to stay clear of abrupt catastrophe to develop confirming associations with other human beingsrdquo (1)

bull A further complication ldquoThe tenderness of a plant is not the dazzling hardness of a gemrdquo perhaps ldquopart of the peculiar beauty of human excellence just is its vulnerabilityrdquo (2)

M A R T H A N U S S B A U M T H E F R A G I L I T Y O F G O O D N E S S C H 1 L U C K amp E T H I C S

T H E P O W E R O F R E A S O N [T]here is the consolation that so far Pindar has apparently left something out However much human beings resemble lower forms of life we are unlike we want to insist in one crucial respect We have reason We are able to deliberate and choose to make a plan in which ends are ranked to decide actively what is to have value and how much All this must count for something If it is true that a lot about us is messy needy uncontrolled rooted in the dirt and standing helplessly in the rain it is also true that there is something about us that is pure and purely active something that we could think of as divine immortal intelligible unitary indissoluble ever self-consistent and invariablelsquo [Plato Phaedo 80B] It seems possible that this rational element in us can rule and guide the rest thereby saving the whole person from living at the mercy of luck

N U S S B A U M F R A G I L I T Y 2

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S S O P H I S T S A N D T R A G E D I A N SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Athens

AT H E N S rsquo A C R O P O L I S A S I M A G I N E D B Y L E O V O N K L E N Z E O I L O N C A N VA S 1 8 4 6 N E U E P I N A K O T H E K

A S S A S S I N rsquo S C R E E D O D Y S S E Y bull A T O U R O F AT H E N S U B I S O F T ( 2 0 1 8 )

bull Athens is the first lsquopeople-ruledrsquo polis (dēmokratia) in the Mediterranean world

bull She has achieved unchallenged naval authority and an empire which is labeled a lsquocommonwealthrsquo

bull At the commercial and cultural crossroads of Italy Greece Egypt and the Near East

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

S P E E C H A N D D E M O C R A C Y

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

bull In this cosmopolitan environment traditional views are challenged leading to a perceived erosion of moral values

bull The rhapsodes use poetic forms to transmit traditional morality

bull The tragedians use poetic forms to explore amp challenge mythrsquos assumptions

bull The sophists teach ldquowisdomrdquo (sophia) including rhetoric and political oratory perceived as a new lsquotechnologyrsquo to steer the ship of state for onersquos own ends

bull Use onersquos own wits ldquoA person is the measure of all thingsrdquo Protagoras B1

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

T R A G E D Y V U L N E R A B I L I T Y A N D R E A S O NC 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E AT H E N S

Aeschylus Agamemnon (458 BCE) and Euripides Iphigeneia at Aulis (405 BCE) The Sacrifice of Iphigeneia by Francesco Fontebasso bull 1749 oil on canvas

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousnesshellip what is great is fragile andhellip what is necessary may be destructivehellip

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

In such cases we see a wrong action committed without any direct physical compulsion and in full knowledge of its nature by a person whose ethical character or commitments would otherwise dispose him to reject the acthellip circumstanceshellip prevent the adequate fulfillment of two valid ethical claims

N U S S B A U M 2 5

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

[Aeschylus in Agamemnon] shows us not so much a solution to the problem of practical conflict as the richness and depth of the problem itself (This achievement is closely connected with his poetic resources which put the scene vividly before us show us debate about it and evoke in us responses important to its assessment)

The best the agent can do is to have his suffering the natural expression of his goodness of character and not to stifle these responses out of misguided optimism The best we (the Chorus) can do for him is to respect the gravity of his predicament to respect the responses that express his goodness and to think about his case as showing a possibility for human life in general

N U S S B A U M 4 9 - 5 0

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

bull In a world that allows such dilemmas are there truly gods with a coherent vision for the world

bull Can individual reason and ingenuity suffice for a good life

T H E S O P H I S T SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Hesiod Works amp Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale Piteously she transfixed by his crooked claws was lamenting When the imperious hawk addressed her in arrogant parlance Why little lady such shrieks One stronger than you now has got you Where you are going Ill take you myself though you are a songstress For as I please Ill make you my dinner or give you your freedom Witless is one who attempts to strive against those who are stronger When he is stripped of the prize its injury added to insult Thus said the fast-flying hawk that bird with the generous wing-spanPay more attention to justice and curb high-handedness [brother] Violence ill suits men who are lowly not even the noble Man can lightly endure it it weighs on a person whos fallen Into affliction Its better to take your way on the other Road which conduces to right For outrage (hubris) surrenders to

justice (dikē)hellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Thucydides History 584-116 The Melian Dialogue ATHENIANS [Y]ou know as well as we do that when these matters are discussed by practical people the standard of justice depends on the equality of power to compel and that in fact the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they musthellip Our opinion of the gods and our knowledge of men lead us to conclude that it is a general and necessary law of nature to rule whatever one can This is not a law that we made ourselves nor were we the first to act upon it when it was made We found it already in existence and we shall leave it to exist for ever among those who come after us

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos

advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Republic I 343A-D Thrasymachusrsquo complaint Tell me Socrates do you still have a wet nursehellip Because shersquos letting you run around with a snotty nose and doesnrsquot wipe it when she needs tohellip You think that shepherds and cowherds seek the good of their sheep and cattle and fatten them and take care of them looking to something other than their masterrsquos good and their own Moreover you believe that rulershellip think of something besides their own advantage You are so far from understandinghellip that you donrsquot realize that justice is really the good of another the advantage of the stronger and the ruler and harmful to the one who obeys and serves Injustice is the opposite it rules the truly simple and just and those it rules do what is to the advantage of the other and stronger and they make the one they serve happy but themselves not at all You must look at it as follows my most simple Socrates A just man always gets less than an unjust onehellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Gorgias 482C-484C Callicles on nature and convention [Y]oursquore in fact bringing the discussion around to the sort of crowd-pleasing vulgarities that are admirable only by law [nomos also translatable ldquoconventionrdquo or ldquocustomrdquo] and not by nature And these nature and law are for the most part opposed to each otherhellip I believe that the people who institute our laws are the weak and the many So they institute laws and assign praise and blame with themselves and their own advantage in mind As a way of frightening the more powerfulhellip out of getting a greater share than they they say that getting more than onersquos share is ldquoshamefulrdquo and ldquounjusthelliprdquo But surely if a man whose nature is equal to it arises he will shake off tear apart and escape all this he will trample underfoot our documents our tricks and charms and all our laws that violate nature He the slave will rise up and be revealed as our master and here the justice of nature will shine forth

The New Teachers of Athens

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

P R E - S O C R AT I C ldquo P H I L O S O P H E R S 6 T H - 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

P R E - S O C R AT I C P H I L O S O P H E R S

bull Though not usually calling themselves ldquophilosophersrdquo they seemed to have contributed inspiration for Socratesrsquo method of free inquiry applying logos

bull Scholars adopt different views of what constitutes their innovation and ldquophilosophicalrdquo method (see readings)

bull Basing views on argument and evidence

bull De-ldquomythologizationrdquo

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Miletus

E A R LY P H I L O S O P H Y A N C I E N T M I L E T U S

M I L E T U S

bull Wealthy city-state in Asia Minor

bull Key city for trading and shipping between Near East amp Greece

bull Ionian Greek culture

bull Freedom of thought

bull Open political debate

bull Wealth (for some) providing leisure

bull Thales and his successors Anaximander Anaximenes

bull ldquoPhilosophicalrdquo investigation

bull Later Presocratics Heraclitus ParmenidesldquoORIENTALIZINGrdquo POTTERY

The Milesian school strikes a new note unheard before It has a fresh sense of the meaning of truth ndash a feeling for the sort of thing it is reasonable to suppose The hypothesis it characteristically deals in is concerned with the nature of the one primary stuff the Milesians seem to make a great conscious effort to get at something which really does exist They strike us as throwing off the vast symbolic visions of mythology and waking clear-headed to see and touch real things If we have a rational temperament we feel at once a refreshment Here at last is a statement about the world which is meant and offered as true ndash a logos [explanation] not a mythos [story]

ndash F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952 ed) 42

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The questions which excited them were of this kind Can this apparently confused and disordered world be reduced to simpler principles so that our reason can grasp what it is and how it works What is it made of How does change take place They abandoned mythological and substituted intellectual solutions [It] was no longer satisfying to say that storms were roused by the wrath of Poseidon or death caused by the arrows of Apollo or Artemis A world ruled by anthropomorphic gods human in their passions was a world ruled by caprice Philosophy and science start with the bold confession of faith that not caprice but an inherent orderliness underlies the phenomena and the explanation of nature is to be sought within nature itself ndashWKC Guthrie History of Greek Philosophy (Cambridge 1969) 1 44-45

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

Thales of Miletus

bull Lived late 7th-6th centurybull Born to a Phoenician aristocratic

family ndash so leisurebull Traveled to Egypt and Babylon (by

tradition)bull Legendary wisdombull ldquoFounder of Western philosophyrdquo

bull First to seek an ldquooriginal causerdquo (archecirc)

bull to explain how unseen facts caused visible results without appeal to mythology

bull To provide generalizable proofs or laws

Thales of Miletus

AstronomyMathematicsWater as the archecircAll things are full of gods

bull Traditionally Thalesrsquo star student

bull 25 years old during Thalesrsquo eclipse (585 BCE)

bull Lived c 610-540 BCE

bull ldquoFirst to draw the inhabited world on a tabletrdquo (first mapmaker)

bull Unambiguously our first ldquophilosopherrdquo by standards of demythologization originality generality and observation

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

ldquoAnaximander has expurgated the supernatural with a boldness and completeness to which many of his successors failed to attain The primary order is still said to be lsquoaccording to what is ordainedrsquo it is still a moral order in which Justice prevails but the will of the personal God has disappeared and its place is partly taken by a natural cause the eternal motionrdquo

- F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952) 41 Anaximander relief 1st century AD

Rome Museo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Key contributions

bull Physics the archecircbull Cosmologybull ldquoEvolutionrdquobull Astronomy and Cartography

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Anaximander said that the APEIRON [indefinite unlimited] was the ARCHE and the element of things that are and he was the first to introduce this name for the ARCHE He says that the ARCHE is neither water nor any other of the things called elements but some other nature called APEIRON out of which come to be all the heavens and the worlds in them (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2413-18)

The things that are perish into the things out of which they come to be according to necessity for ldquothey pay penalty and retribution to one another according to their injustice in accordance with the ordering of timerdquo as he says in rather poetical language (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2418-21)

Anaximander of Miletus

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The ARCHE

bull One and unlimitedbull But not undefined Itrsquos AIR

Anaximenes of Miletus

bull Not opposites but a continuum FIRE AIR larr WIND larr CLOUD larr WATER larr EARTH larr STONEbull ldquoLooseningrdquo and ldquotighteningrdquo explain hot and cold

H E R A C L I T U S B 1 0 1 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 3 7 )

I searched out myself

Listening not to me but to the logos it is wise to agree that all things are one

H E R A C L I T U S B 5 0 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 1 1 )

E X A M P L E S

THE ROAD TO PHILOSOP HY

The Hero of Lyric Poets of the Polis (6th century)

bull According to the lyric poets of the polis culture such as Pindar Simonides Tyrtaeus and Sappho (7th-6th century BCE)

bull Pursues collective good of the polis based on strong ties of interdependent responsibility amp cooperation in a just world governed by the gods

Individual Freedom The ldquoSophistsrdquo (5th century)

bull Sources in thinkers like Protagoras and Gorgias (5th century BCE predominantly working in Athens) constructed as a category by Platorsquos later writings

bull Pursues individual advantage based on their personal beliefs and wits using persuasion and power skepticism of traditional values

Vulnerability The Hero of Tragedy (5th century)

bull Iconic examples include Sophoclesrsquo Oedipus and Aeschylusrsquo Agamemnon and Orestes

bull Pursuit of individual amp collective good in a world of apparently conflicting divine values sometimes hampered by their own lack of self-knowledge

I N T E R D E P E N D E N C Y I N T R O D U C E S V U L N E R A B I L I T Y W H I C H M AY B E

C E L E B R AT E D O R R E S I S T E D

The Hero of Epic Homer and Hesiod (8th century)

bull Found in the epic Iliad and Odyssey attributed to Homer (c 8th century BCE) examples include the powerful Achilles and thoughtful persuasive Odysseus

bull Pursues individual honour (timē) in a just world governed by the gods

CH

IGI V

AS

E C

70

0 B

CE

The Hero of Reason The ldquoPresocratics (6th-5th cent)

bull Founding figures including Thales Anaximander Anaximenes Pythagoras Heraclitus Parmenides Seeking to understand the basic original causes (aitiai) of the world through reason

I S T H E W O R L D G E N U I N E LY

I N T E L L I G I B L E T O R E A S O N

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Born in Athens to a stonemason named Sophroniscus in 469 BCE

bull ldquoSocratic problemrdquo Socrates wrote nothing we know about him through Plato Xenophon and Aristophanes whose accounts vary

bull Conversed with anyone ldquorich or poor citizen or foreignerrdquo (Apology 23C)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Non-conformity reliance on individual values and wits (contrast with the earlier poets and rhapsodes)

bull Claims of ignorance interest in shared truth and not only persuasion and resistance of ldquoselfish morality (contrast with the sophists)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Methods based on question and answer (the elenchus) requiring unity or consistency (a) of onersquos beliefs and (b) of onersquos beliefs and actions

bull Behaviour peculiar enough to warrant its own verb (sōkratein) (Arist Birds 1282) before generalized philosophia

bull Brought to trial in 399 BCE by two Athenians Meletus and Anytus charged with ldquoimpiety and corrupting the youngrdquo

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

S O C R AT E S C R I T O 4 6 A

I am the kind of person who listens to nothing within me but the logos that on reflection seems

best to me

L O G O S R E A S O N VA L U E C O N S C I E N C E M E A N I N G

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousness A sense of such significances that what is great is fragile and that what is necessary may be destructive which is present in the literature of the fifth century and earlier has disappeared [later] from the ethics of the philosophers and perhaps altogether from their minds Greek philosophy in its sustained pursuit of rational self-sufficiency does turn its back on kinds of human experience and human necessity of which Greek literature itself offers the purest if not the richest expression

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y A N D P H I L O S O P H Y

The continuity between Greek tragedy and Greek philosophy on these questions is however far greater than Williams has allowed On the one hand inside tragedy itself we find arresting portrayals of the human ambition to rational self-sufficiency we come to understand the ways in which problems of exposure motivate this ambition On the other Platos philosophical search for a self- sufficient good life is motivated by a keen sense of these same problems Far from having forgotten about what tragedy describes he sees the problems of exposure so clearly that only a radical solution seems adequate to their depth Nor is he naiumlve about the costs of this solution

N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y P R A C T I C A L C O N F L I C T

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identical which is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A)

Socrates ldquoencourages Euthyphro [a pious Greek] to revise tradition by considering as binding only those requirements concerning which there is divine unanimity he expresses further his own doubt as to whether gods really do disagreerdquo (Nussbaum 30)

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identicalwhich is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A Nussbaum 25)

AT H E N A A N D O D Y S S E U S T H E O D Y S S E Y ( N B C 1 9 9 7 )

H O M E R I L I A D 5 1 2 3

Athena drew near to his side and spoke to him in winged words Have courage for I have drawn the mist from your eyes

that you may discern in truth gods from humans

So they spoke but Priam aloud called out to Helen Come over where I am dear child and sit down beside me

to look at your husband of time past your friends and your people I am not blaming you (ou ti moi aitiē essi) to me the gods are

responsible (theoihellipaitioi) who drove upon me this sorrowful war against the Achaians

H O M E R I L I A D 3 1 6 4

S I D E B A R D I V I N E C A U S AT I O N

Zeus is probably responsible (aitios) who gives to men who work for bread to each one however he wishes

H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 1 3 4 8 [ T E L E M A C H U S S P E A K S ]

How mortals now blame [from aitios] gods for they say that evils are from us Yet they themselves

have woes beyond their lot by their own recklessnesshellip

H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 1 3 2 [ Z E U S S P E A K S ]

Tell me of these things Muses that dwell on the heights of Olympus From the origin (archē) and say which first of them came into beinghellip

H E S I O D T H E O G O N Y 1 1 4

Responsibility lies with the one who makes the choice the god is blameless (theos anaitios)

P L AT O R E P U B L I C 1 0 6 1 7 E

S I D E B A R D I V I N E C A U S AT I O N

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Divine causation

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

O D Y S S E U S T O P O LY P H E M U S H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 9 2 6 9 - 7 1

But revere the gods most noble one We are supplicants (hiketai) to you Zeus is the avenger (epitimētōr) of suppliants and strangers

the guest god who attends venerable strangers

W E A R E I N Z E U S rsquo W O R L D ( A S D E S C R I B E D I N THEOGONY )

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

T H E LY R I C P O E T SC 6 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Pindar of Thebes

Simonides of Ceos

Sappho of Lesbos

LY R I C I N T R O D U C T I O N

bull Occasional poetry

bull Often sung to the lyre (lyrē) in varied meters

bull CHORAL LYRIC

bull Dancing choruses at religious festivals contests family events

bull Enforcing collective civic values

bull MONODIC LYRIC

bull Individual performance

bull Personal in emotion amp outlookBrygos Painter c 490 BCE

Sappho and Alcaeus

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

Creatures of the passing day What is any one What is any one not Shadows dream is man But when the radiance given of Zeus comes

there is a bright light upon men and life is sweet

P I N D A R P Y T H 8 9 5 - 9 7

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

I praise and embrace everyone who willingly does nothing base (aischron) but with necessity not even the gods fight A man not too helpless suffices for me one who knows the justice that benefits the

city (polis) a sound and healthy man I will not lay blame for the generation of fools is limitless Everything is noble (kala) with which

base deeds are not mingled

S I M O N I D E S 5 4 2 2 7 - 4 0

Simonides is criticizing the traditional definition of the good noble or successful man (agathos esthlos) Such goodness or nobility depends upon external achievements and possessions (wealth honour prowess in battle) which are too insecure to form a real basis for human excellence Instead Simonides stresses intention justice that benefits the city acknowledgement of the fragility of lifehellip

C S E G A L ldquo C H O R A L LY R I C I N T H E F I F T H C E N T U R Y rdquo I N P E E A S T E R L I N G amp B M W K N O X T H E C A M B R I D G E H I S T O R Y O F

C L A S S I C A L L I T E R AT U R E I ( C A M B R I D G E 2 0 0 8 ) 2 2 4

LY R I C C O N T E X T

Hoplites in phalanx formation From the Chigi Vase proto-Corinthian pitcher ca 650-640 BC

3 0 0 ( W A R N E R B R O S 2 0 0 6 ) ldquo W H AT I S Y O U R P R O F E S S I O N rdquo

W W W Y O U T U B E C O M W AT C H V = A N A 3 C O 8 3 _ G K

3 0 0 ( W A R N E R B R O S 2 0 0 6 ) ldquo F I G H T I N T H E S H A D E rdquo

Y O U T U B E 4 J K P G D D M A R S T = 1 2 4

τοιόνδ ἄνθος Περσίδος αἴας οἴχεται ἀνδρῶν

οὓς πέρι πᾶσα χθὼν Ἀσιῆτις ρέψασα πόθῳ στένεται microαλερῷ τοκέης τ ἄλοχοί θ ἡmicroερολεγδὸν τείνοντα χρόνον τροmicroέονται

A E S C H Y L U S P E R S A I 5 9 - 6 4 C P I L I A D 9 4 1 0 - 1 6

S E E C A S E Y D U Eacute T H E C A P T I V E W O M A N rsquo S L A M E N T I N G R E E K T R A G E DY C H 2

Such is the flower [anthos] of the Persian land such is the flower of men that has disappeared

The entire land of Asia laments the men she nourished with fierce

longing [pothos] Parents and wives counting the days

tremble at the increasing length of time

P I N D A R

bull Born near Thebes c 518 BCE

bull Composed important epinician odes (epi-nikia for-a-victory in a contest)

bull Depicts the gods as maintaining civic values of justice (O 1 P 1-3 P 8) compassionate (N 10) and forgiving (O 7456) guardians of polis morality

bull Celebrated ldquoroughrdquo style

bull ldquoA soaring eaglehellip a rushing streamrdquo (Horace Od 42) ldquoA vast firerdquo (Longinus Sublime 335)

Bust of the lyric poet Pindar Roman copy from original of the mid-5 century BC

F I F T H - C E N T U R Y C H O R A L LY R I C

A C O R N T O O A K T R E E N E I L B R O M H A L L bull y o u t u b e Z K 4 L j U R t a D w

Some people pray for gold others for limitless lands but I pray to please my fellow citizens and then to cover my limbs in earth

having praised the praiseworthy and scattered reproof on the wicked Excellence soars upward like a tree fed on fresh dews

lifted among the wise and just toward the liquid upper air The need for friends comes in many forms

it is most valued in times of trouble but joy too craves to look upon trusty support

P I N D A R N E M E A N 8 3 6 - 4 3

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

F R A G I L I T Ybull How can we be praiseworthy if we are vulnerable (to circumstances)

bull [The poetic world-view and Pindarrsquos career as praise poet of aretē require] ldquothe belief that the excellence of a good person is something of that persons own for whose possession and exercise that person can appropriately be held accountablerdquo (Nussbaum 1)

bull But ldquoHow can we be givers and receivers of praise if our worth ishellip a plant in need of wateringrdquo (2)

bull ldquoWe need to be born with adequate capacities to live in fostering natural and social circumstances to stay clear of abrupt catastrophe to develop confirming associations with other human beingsrdquo (1)

bull A further complication ldquoThe tenderness of a plant is not the dazzling hardness of a gemrdquo perhaps ldquopart of the peculiar beauty of human excellence just is its vulnerabilityrdquo (2)

M A R T H A N U S S B A U M T H E F R A G I L I T Y O F G O O D N E S S C H 1 L U C K amp E T H I C S

T H E P O W E R O F R E A S O N [T]here is the consolation that so far Pindar has apparently left something out However much human beings resemble lower forms of life we are unlike we want to insist in one crucial respect We have reason We are able to deliberate and choose to make a plan in which ends are ranked to decide actively what is to have value and how much All this must count for something If it is true that a lot about us is messy needy uncontrolled rooted in the dirt and standing helplessly in the rain it is also true that there is something about us that is pure and purely active something that we could think of as divine immortal intelligible unitary indissoluble ever self-consistent and invariablelsquo [Plato Phaedo 80B] It seems possible that this rational element in us can rule and guide the rest thereby saving the whole person from living at the mercy of luck

N U S S B A U M F R A G I L I T Y 2

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S S O P H I S T S A N D T R A G E D I A N SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Athens

AT H E N S rsquo A C R O P O L I S A S I M A G I N E D B Y L E O V O N K L E N Z E O I L O N C A N VA S 1 8 4 6 N E U E P I N A K O T H E K

A S S A S S I N rsquo S C R E E D O D Y S S E Y bull A T O U R O F AT H E N S U B I S O F T ( 2 0 1 8 )

bull Athens is the first lsquopeople-ruledrsquo polis (dēmokratia) in the Mediterranean world

bull She has achieved unchallenged naval authority and an empire which is labeled a lsquocommonwealthrsquo

bull At the commercial and cultural crossroads of Italy Greece Egypt and the Near East

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

S P E E C H A N D D E M O C R A C Y

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

bull In this cosmopolitan environment traditional views are challenged leading to a perceived erosion of moral values

bull The rhapsodes use poetic forms to transmit traditional morality

bull The tragedians use poetic forms to explore amp challenge mythrsquos assumptions

bull The sophists teach ldquowisdomrdquo (sophia) including rhetoric and political oratory perceived as a new lsquotechnologyrsquo to steer the ship of state for onersquos own ends

bull Use onersquos own wits ldquoA person is the measure of all thingsrdquo Protagoras B1

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

T R A G E D Y V U L N E R A B I L I T Y A N D R E A S O NC 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E AT H E N S

Aeschylus Agamemnon (458 BCE) and Euripides Iphigeneia at Aulis (405 BCE) The Sacrifice of Iphigeneia by Francesco Fontebasso bull 1749 oil on canvas

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousnesshellip what is great is fragile andhellip what is necessary may be destructivehellip

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

In such cases we see a wrong action committed without any direct physical compulsion and in full knowledge of its nature by a person whose ethical character or commitments would otherwise dispose him to reject the acthellip circumstanceshellip prevent the adequate fulfillment of two valid ethical claims

N U S S B A U M 2 5

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

[Aeschylus in Agamemnon] shows us not so much a solution to the problem of practical conflict as the richness and depth of the problem itself (This achievement is closely connected with his poetic resources which put the scene vividly before us show us debate about it and evoke in us responses important to its assessment)

The best the agent can do is to have his suffering the natural expression of his goodness of character and not to stifle these responses out of misguided optimism The best we (the Chorus) can do for him is to respect the gravity of his predicament to respect the responses that express his goodness and to think about his case as showing a possibility for human life in general

N U S S B A U M 4 9 - 5 0

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

bull In a world that allows such dilemmas are there truly gods with a coherent vision for the world

bull Can individual reason and ingenuity suffice for a good life

T H E S O P H I S T SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Hesiod Works amp Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale Piteously she transfixed by his crooked claws was lamenting When the imperious hawk addressed her in arrogant parlance Why little lady such shrieks One stronger than you now has got you Where you are going Ill take you myself though you are a songstress For as I please Ill make you my dinner or give you your freedom Witless is one who attempts to strive against those who are stronger When he is stripped of the prize its injury added to insult Thus said the fast-flying hawk that bird with the generous wing-spanPay more attention to justice and curb high-handedness [brother] Violence ill suits men who are lowly not even the noble Man can lightly endure it it weighs on a person whos fallen Into affliction Its better to take your way on the other Road which conduces to right For outrage (hubris) surrenders to

justice (dikē)hellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Thucydides History 584-116 The Melian Dialogue ATHENIANS [Y]ou know as well as we do that when these matters are discussed by practical people the standard of justice depends on the equality of power to compel and that in fact the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they musthellip Our opinion of the gods and our knowledge of men lead us to conclude that it is a general and necessary law of nature to rule whatever one can This is not a law that we made ourselves nor were we the first to act upon it when it was made We found it already in existence and we shall leave it to exist for ever among those who come after us

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos

advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Republic I 343A-D Thrasymachusrsquo complaint Tell me Socrates do you still have a wet nursehellip Because shersquos letting you run around with a snotty nose and doesnrsquot wipe it when she needs tohellip You think that shepherds and cowherds seek the good of their sheep and cattle and fatten them and take care of them looking to something other than their masterrsquos good and their own Moreover you believe that rulershellip think of something besides their own advantage You are so far from understandinghellip that you donrsquot realize that justice is really the good of another the advantage of the stronger and the ruler and harmful to the one who obeys and serves Injustice is the opposite it rules the truly simple and just and those it rules do what is to the advantage of the other and stronger and they make the one they serve happy but themselves not at all You must look at it as follows my most simple Socrates A just man always gets less than an unjust onehellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Gorgias 482C-484C Callicles on nature and convention [Y]oursquore in fact bringing the discussion around to the sort of crowd-pleasing vulgarities that are admirable only by law [nomos also translatable ldquoconventionrdquo or ldquocustomrdquo] and not by nature And these nature and law are for the most part opposed to each otherhellip I believe that the people who institute our laws are the weak and the many So they institute laws and assign praise and blame with themselves and their own advantage in mind As a way of frightening the more powerfulhellip out of getting a greater share than they they say that getting more than onersquos share is ldquoshamefulrdquo and ldquounjusthelliprdquo But surely if a man whose nature is equal to it arises he will shake off tear apart and escape all this he will trample underfoot our documents our tricks and charms and all our laws that violate nature He the slave will rise up and be revealed as our master and here the justice of nature will shine forth

The New Teachers of Athens

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

P R E - S O C R AT I C ldquo P H I L O S O P H E R S 6 T H - 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

P R E - S O C R AT I C P H I L O S O P H E R S

bull Though not usually calling themselves ldquophilosophersrdquo they seemed to have contributed inspiration for Socratesrsquo method of free inquiry applying logos

bull Scholars adopt different views of what constitutes their innovation and ldquophilosophicalrdquo method (see readings)

bull Basing views on argument and evidence

bull De-ldquomythologizationrdquo

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Miletus

E A R LY P H I L O S O P H Y A N C I E N T M I L E T U S

M I L E T U S

bull Wealthy city-state in Asia Minor

bull Key city for trading and shipping between Near East amp Greece

bull Ionian Greek culture

bull Freedom of thought

bull Open political debate

bull Wealth (for some) providing leisure

bull Thales and his successors Anaximander Anaximenes

bull ldquoPhilosophicalrdquo investigation

bull Later Presocratics Heraclitus ParmenidesldquoORIENTALIZINGrdquo POTTERY

The Milesian school strikes a new note unheard before It has a fresh sense of the meaning of truth ndash a feeling for the sort of thing it is reasonable to suppose The hypothesis it characteristically deals in is concerned with the nature of the one primary stuff the Milesians seem to make a great conscious effort to get at something which really does exist They strike us as throwing off the vast symbolic visions of mythology and waking clear-headed to see and touch real things If we have a rational temperament we feel at once a refreshment Here at last is a statement about the world which is meant and offered as true ndash a logos [explanation] not a mythos [story]

ndash F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952 ed) 42

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The questions which excited them were of this kind Can this apparently confused and disordered world be reduced to simpler principles so that our reason can grasp what it is and how it works What is it made of How does change take place They abandoned mythological and substituted intellectual solutions [It] was no longer satisfying to say that storms were roused by the wrath of Poseidon or death caused by the arrows of Apollo or Artemis A world ruled by anthropomorphic gods human in their passions was a world ruled by caprice Philosophy and science start with the bold confession of faith that not caprice but an inherent orderliness underlies the phenomena and the explanation of nature is to be sought within nature itself ndashWKC Guthrie History of Greek Philosophy (Cambridge 1969) 1 44-45

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

Thales of Miletus

bull Lived late 7th-6th centurybull Born to a Phoenician aristocratic

family ndash so leisurebull Traveled to Egypt and Babylon (by

tradition)bull Legendary wisdombull ldquoFounder of Western philosophyrdquo

bull First to seek an ldquooriginal causerdquo (archecirc)

bull to explain how unseen facts caused visible results without appeal to mythology

bull To provide generalizable proofs or laws

Thales of Miletus

AstronomyMathematicsWater as the archecircAll things are full of gods

bull Traditionally Thalesrsquo star student

bull 25 years old during Thalesrsquo eclipse (585 BCE)

bull Lived c 610-540 BCE

bull ldquoFirst to draw the inhabited world on a tabletrdquo (first mapmaker)

bull Unambiguously our first ldquophilosopherrdquo by standards of demythologization originality generality and observation

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

ldquoAnaximander has expurgated the supernatural with a boldness and completeness to which many of his successors failed to attain The primary order is still said to be lsquoaccording to what is ordainedrsquo it is still a moral order in which Justice prevails but the will of the personal God has disappeared and its place is partly taken by a natural cause the eternal motionrdquo

- F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952) 41 Anaximander relief 1st century AD

Rome Museo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Key contributions

bull Physics the archecircbull Cosmologybull ldquoEvolutionrdquobull Astronomy and Cartography

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Anaximander said that the APEIRON [indefinite unlimited] was the ARCHE and the element of things that are and he was the first to introduce this name for the ARCHE He says that the ARCHE is neither water nor any other of the things called elements but some other nature called APEIRON out of which come to be all the heavens and the worlds in them (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2413-18)

The things that are perish into the things out of which they come to be according to necessity for ldquothey pay penalty and retribution to one another according to their injustice in accordance with the ordering of timerdquo as he says in rather poetical language (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2418-21)

Anaximander of Miletus

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The ARCHE

bull One and unlimitedbull But not undefined Itrsquos AIR

Anaximenes of Miletus

bull Not opposites but a continuum FIRE AIR larr WIND larr CLOUD larr WATER larr EARTH larr STONEbull ldquoLooseningrdquo and ldquotighteningrdquo explain hot and cold

H E R A C L I T U S B 1 0 1 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 3 7 )

I searched out myself

Listening not to me but to the logos it is wise to agree that all things are one

H E R A C L I T U S B 5 0 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 1 1 )

E X A M P L E S

THE ROAD TO PHILOSOP HY

The Hero of Lyric Poets of the Polis (6th century)

bull According to the lyric poets of the polis culture such as Pindar Simonides Tyrtaeus and Sappho (7th-6th century BCE)

bull Pursues collective good of the polis based on strong ties of interdependent responsibility amp cooperation in a just world governed by the gods

Individual Freedom The ldquoSophistsrdquo (5th century)

bull Sources in thinkers like Protagoras and Gorgias (5th century BCE predominantly working in Athens) constructed as a category by Platorsquos later writings

bull Pursues individual advantage based on their personal beliefs and wits using persuasion and power skepticism of traditional values

Vulnerability The Hero of Tragedy (5th century)

bull Iconic examples include Sophoclesrsquo Oedipus and Aeschylusrsquo Agamemnon and Orestes

bull Pursuit of individual amp collective good in a world of apparently conflicting divine values sometimes hampered by their own lack of self-knowledge

I N T E R D E P E N D E N C Y I N T R O D U C E S V U L N E R A B I L I T Y W H I C H M AY B E

C E L E B R AT E D O R R E S I S T E D

The Hero of Epic Homer and Hesiod (8th century)

bull Found in the epic Iliad and Odyssey attributed to Homer (c 8th century BCE) examples include the powerful Achilles and thoughtful persuasive Odysseus

bull Pursues individual honour (timē) in a just world governed by the gods

CH

IGI V

AS

E C

70

0 B

CE

The Hero of Reason The ldquoPresocratics (6th-5th cent)

bull Founding figures including Thales Anaximander Anaximenes Pythagoras Heraclitus Parmenides Seeking to understand the basic original causes (aitiai) of the world through reason

I S T H E W O R L D G E N U I N E LY

I N T E L L I G I B L E T O R E A S O N

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Born in Athens to a stonemason named Sophroniscus in 469 BCE

bull ldquoSocratic problemrdquo Socrates wrote nothing we know about him through Plato Xenophon and Aristophanes whose accounts vary

bull Conversed with anyone ldquorich or poor citizen or foreignerrdquo (Apology 23C)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Non-conformity reliance on individual values and wits (contrast with the earlier poets and rhapsodes)

bull Claims of ignorance interest in shared truth and not only persuasion and resistance of ldquoselfish morality (contrast with the sophists)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Methods based on question and answer (the elenchus) requiring unity or consistency (a) of onersquos beliefs and (b) of onersquos beliefs and actions

bull Behaviour peculiar enough to warrant its own verb (sōkratein) (Arist Birds 1282) before generalized philosophia

bull Brought to trial in 399 BCE by two Athenians Meletus and Anytus charged with ldquoimpiety and corrupting the youngrdquo

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

S O C R AT E S C R I T O 4 6 A

I am the kind of person who listens to nothing within me but the logos that on reflection seems

best to me

L O G O S R E A S O N VA L U E C O N S C I E N C E M E A N I N G

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousness A sense of such significances that what is great is fragile and that what is necessary may be destructive which is present in the literature of the fifth century and earlier has disappeared [later] from the ethics of the philosophers and perhaps altogether from their minds Greek philosophy in its sustained pursuit of rational self-sufficiency does turn its back on kinds of human experience and human necessity of which Greek literature itself offers the purest if not the richest expression

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y A N D P H I L O S O P H Y

The continuity between Greek tragedy and Greek philosophy on these questions is however far greater than Williams has allowed On the one hand inside tragedy itself we find arresting portrayals of the human ambition to rational self-sufficiency we come to understand the ways in which problems of exposure motivate this ambition On the other Platos philosophical search for a self- sufficient good life is motivated by a keen sense of these same problems Far from having forgotten about what tragedy describes he sees the problems of exposure so clearly that only a radical solution seems adequate to their depth Nor is he naiumlve about the costs of this solution

N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y P R A C T I C A L C O N F L I C T

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identical which is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A)

Socrates ldquoencourages Euthyphro [a pious Greek] to revise tradition by considering as binding only those requirements concerning which there is divine unanimity he expresses further his own doubt as to whether gods really do disagreerdquo (Nussbaum 30)

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identicalwhich is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A Nussbaum 25)

H O M E R I L I A D 5 1 2 3

Athena drew near to his side and spoke to him in winged words Have courage for I have drawn the mist from your eyes

that you may discern in truth gods from humans

So they spoke but Priam aloud called out to Helen Come over where I am dear child and sit down beside me

to look at your husband of time past your friends and your people I am not blaming you (ou ti moi aitiē essi) to me the gods are

responsible (theoihellipaitioi) who drove upon me this sorrowful war against the Achaians

H O M E R I L I A D 3 1 6 4

S I D E B A R D I V I N E C A U S AT I O N

Zeus is probably responsible (aitios) who gives to men who work for bread to each one however he wishes

H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 1 3 4 8 [ T E L E M A C H U S S P E A K S ]

How mortals now blame [from aitios] gods for they say that evils are from us Yet they themselves

have woes beyond their lot by their own recklessnesshellip

H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 1 3 2 [ Z E U S S P E A K S ]

Tell me of these things Muses that dwell on the heights of Olympus From the origin (archē) and say which first of them came into beinghellip

H E S I O D T H E O G O N Y 1 1 4

Responsibility lies with the one who makes the choice the god is blameless (theos anaitios)

P L AT O R E P U B L I C 1 0 6 1 7 E

S I D E B A R D I V I N E C A U S AT I O N

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Divine causation

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

O D Y S S E U S T O P O LY P H E M U S H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 9 2 6 9 - 7 1

But revere the gods most noble one We are supplicants (hiketai) to you Zeus is the avenger (epitimētōr) of suppliants and strangers

the guest god who attends venerable strangers

W E A R E I N Z E U S rsquo W O R L D ( A S D E S C R I B E D I N THEOGONY )

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

T H E LY R I C P O E T SC 6 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Pindar of Thebes

Simonides of Ceos

Sappho of Lesbos

LY R I C I N T R O D U C T I O N

bull Occasional poetry

bull Often sung to the lyre (lyrē) in varied meters

bull CHORAL LYRIC

bull Dancing choruses at religious festivals contests family events

bull Enforcing collective civic values

bull MONODIC LYRIC

bull Individual performance

bull Personal in emotion amp outlookBrygos Painter c 490 BCE

Sappho and Alcaeus

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

Creatures of the passing day What is any one What is any one not Shadows dream is man But when the radiance given of Zeus comes

there is a bright light upon men and life is sweet

P I N D A R P Y T H 8 9 5 - 9 7

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

I praise and embrace everyone who willingly does nothing base (aischron) but with necessity not even the gods fight A man not too helpless suffices for me one who knows the justice that benefits the

city (polis) a sound and healthy man I will not lay blame for the generation of fools is limitless Everything is noble (kala) with which

base deeds are not mingled

S I M O N I D E S 5 4 2 2 7 - 4 0

Simonides is criticizing the traditional definition of the good noble or successful man (agathos esthlos) Such goodness or nobility depends upon external achievements and possessions (wealth honour prowess in battle) which are too insecure to form a real basis for human excellence Instead Simonides stresses intention justice that benefits the city acknowledgement of the fragility of lifehellip

C S E G A L ldquo C H O R A L LY R I C I N T H E F I F T H C E N T U R Y rdquo I N P E E A S T E R L I N G amp B M W K N O X T H E C A M B R I D G E H I S T O R Y O F

C L A S S I C A L L I T E R AT U R E I ( C A M B R I D G E 2 0 0 8 ) 2 2 4

LY R I C C O N T E X T

Hoplites in phalanx formation From the Chigi Vase proto-Corinthian pitcher ca 650-640 BC

3 0 0 ( W A R N E R B R O S 2 0 0 6 ) ldquo W H AT I S Y O U R P R O F E S S I O N rdquo

W W W Y O U T U B E C O M W AT C H V = A N A 3 C O 8 3 _ G K

3 0 0 ( W A R N E R B R O S 2 0 0 6 ) ldquo F I G H T I N T H E S H A D E rdquo

Y O U T U B E 4 J K P G D D M A R S T = 1 2 4

τοιόνδ ἄνθος Περσίδος αἴας οἴχεται ἀνδρῶν

οὓς πέρι πᾶσα χθὼν Ἀσιῆτις ρέψασα πόθῳ στένεται microαλερῷ τοκέης τ ἄλοχοί θ ἡmicroερολεγδὸν τείνοντα χρόνον τροmicroέονται

A E S C H Y L U S P E R S A I 5 9 - 6 4 C P I L I A D 9 4 1 0 - 1 6

S E E C A S E Y D U Eacute T H E C A P T I V E W O M A N rsquo S L A M E N T I N G R E E K T R A G E DY C H 2

Such is the flower [anthos] of the Persian land such is the flower of men that has disappeared

The entire land of Asia laments the men she nourished with fierce

longing [pothos] Parents and wives counting the days

tremble at the increasing length of time

P I N D A R

bull Born near Thebes c 518 BCE

bull Composed important epinician odes (epi-nikia for-a-victory in a contest)

bull Depicts the gods as maintaining civic values of justice (O 1 P 1-3 P 8) compassionate (N 10) and forgiving (O 7456) guardians of polis morality

bull Celebrated ldquoroughrdquo style

bull ldquoA soaring eaglehellip a rushing streamrdquo (Horace Od 42) ldquoA vast firerdquo (Longinus Sublime 335)

Bust of the lyric poet Pindar Roman copy from original of the mid-5 century BC

F I F T H - C E N T U R Y C H O R A L LY R I C

A C O R N T O O A K T R E E N E I L B R O M H A L L bull y o u t u b e Z K 4 L j U R t a D w

Some people pray for gold others for limitless lands but I pray to please my fellow citizens and then to cover my limbs in earth

having praised the praiseworthy and scattered reproof on the wicked Excellence soars upward like a tree fed on fresh dews

lifted among the wise and just toward the liquid upper air The need for friends comes in many forms

it is most valued in times of trouble but joy too craves to look upon trusty support

P I N D A R N E M E A N 8 3 6 - 4 3

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

F R A G I L I T Ybull How can we be praiseworthy if we are vulnerable (to circumstances)

bull [The poetic world-view and Pindarrsquos career as praise poet of aretē require] ldquothe belief that the excellence of a good person is something of that persons own for whose possession and exercise that person can appropriately be held accountablerdquo (Nussbaum 1)

bull But ldquoHow can we be givers and receivers of praise if our worth ishellip a plant in need of wateringrdquo (2)

bull ldquoWe need to be born with adequate capacities to live in fostering natural and social circumstances to stay clear of abrupt catastrophe to develop confirming associations with other human beingsrdquo (1)

bull A further complication ldquoThe tenderness of a plant is not the dazzling hardness of a gemrdquo perhaps ldquopart of the peculiar beauty of human excellence just is its vulnerabilityrdquo (2)

M A R T H A N U S S B A U M T H E F R A G I L I T Y O F G O O D N E S S C H 1 L U C K amp E T H I C S

T H E P O W E R O F R E A S O N [T]here is the consolation that so far Pindar has apparently left something out However much human beings resemble lower forms of life we are unlike we want to insist in one crucial respect We have reason We are able to deliberate and choose to make a plan in which ends are ranked to decide actively what is to have value and how much All this must count for something If it is true that a lot about us is messy needy uncontrolled rooted in the dirt and standing helplessly in the rain it is also true that there is something about us that is pure and purely active something that we could think of as divine immortal intelligible unitary indissoluble ever self-consistent and invariablelsquo [Plato Phaedo 80B] It seems possible that this rational element in us can rule and guide the rest thereby saving the whole person from living at the mercy of luck

N U S S B A U M F R A G I L I T Y 2

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S S O P H I S T S A N D T R A G E D I A N SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Athens

AT H E N S rsquo A C R O P O L I S A S I M A G I N E D B Y L E O V O N K L E N Z E O I L O N C A N VA S 1 8 4 6 N E U E P I N A K O T H E K

A S S A S S I N rsquo S C R E E D O D Y S S E Y bull A T O U R O F AT H E N S U B I S O F T ( 2 0 1 8 )

bull Athens is the first lsquopeople-ruledrsquo polis (dēmokratia) in the Mediterranean world

bull She has achieved unchallenged naval authority and an empire which is labeled a lsquocommonwealthrsquo

bull At the commercial and cultural crossroads of Italy Greece Egypt and the Near East

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

S P E E C H A N D D E M O C R A C Y

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

bull In this cosmopolitan environment traditional views are challenged leading to a perceived erosion of moral values

bull The rhapsodes use poetic forms to transmit traditional morality

bull The tragedians use poetic forms to explore amp challenge mythrsquos assumptions

bull The sophists teach ldquowisdomrdquo (sophia) including rhetoric and political oratory perceived as a new lsquotechnologyrsquo to steer the ship of state for onersquos own ends

bull Use onersquos own wits ldquoA person is the measure of all thingsrdquo Protagoras B1

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

T R A G E D Y V U L N E R A B I L I T Y A N D R E A S O NC 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E AT H E N S

Aeschylus Agamemnon (458 BCE) and Euripides Iphigeneia at Aulis (405 BCE) The Sacrifice of Iphigeneia by Francesco Fontebasso bull 1749 oil on canvas

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousnesshellip what is great is fragile andhellip what is necessary may be destructivehellip

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

In such cases we see a wrong action committed without any direct physical compulsion and in full knowledge of its nature by a person whose ethical character or commitments would otherwise dispose him to reject the acthellip circumstanceshellip prevent the adequate fulfillment of two valid ethical claims

N U S S B A U M 2 5

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

[Aeschylus in Agamemnon] shows us not so much a solution to the problem of practical conflict as the richness and depth of the problem itself (This achievement is closely connected with his poetic resources which put the scene vividly before us show us debate about it and evoke in us responses important to its assessment)

The best the agent can do is to have his suffering the natural expression of his goodness of character and not to stifle these responses out of misguided optimism The best we (the Chorus) can do for him is to respect the gravity of his predicament to respect the responses that express his goodness and to think about his case as showing a possibility for human life in general

N U S S B A U M 4 9 - 5 0

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

bull In a world that allows such dilemmas are there truly gods with a coherent vision for the world

bull Can individual reason and ingenuity suffice for a good life

T H E S O P H I S T SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Hesiod Works amp Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale Piteously she transfixed by his crooked claws was lamenting When the imperious hawk addressed her in arrogant parlance Why little lady such shrieks One stronger than you now has got you Where you are going Ill take you myself though you are a songstress For as I please Ill make you my dinner or give you your freedom Witless is one who attempts to strive against those who are stronger When he is stripped of the prize its injury added to insult Thus said the fast-flying hawk that bird with the generous wing-spanPay more attention to justice and curb high-handedness [brother] Violence ill suits men who are lowly not even the noble Man can lightly endure it it weighs on a person whos fallen Into affliction Its better to take your way on the other Road which conduces to right For outrage (hubris) surrenders to

justice (dikē)hellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Thucydides History 584-116 The Melian Dialogue ATHENIANS [Y]ou know as well as we do that when these matters are discussed by practical people the standard of justice depends on the equality of power to compel and that in fact the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they musthellip Our opinion of the gods and our knowledge of men lead us to conclude that it is a general and necessary law of nature to rule whatever one can This is not a law that we made ourselves nor were we the first to act upon it when it was made We found it already in existence and we shall leave it to exist for ever among those who come after us

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos

advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Republic I 343A-D Thrasymachusrsquo complaint Tell me Socrates do you still have a wet nursehellip Because shersquos letting you run around with a snotty nose and doesnrsquot wipe it when she needs tohellip You think that shepherds and cowherds seek the good of their sheep and cattle and fatten them and take care of them looking to something other than their masterrsquos good and their own Moreover you believe that rulershellip think of something besides their own advantage You are so far from understandinghellip that you donrsquot realize that justice is really the good of another the advantage of the stronger and the ruler and harmful to the one who obeys and serves Injustice is the opposite it rules the truly simple and just and those it rules do what is to the advantage of the other and stronger and they make the one they serve happy but themselves not at all You must look at it as follows my most simple Socrates A just man always gets less than an unjust onehellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Gorgias 482C-484C Callicles on nature and convention [Y]oursquore in fact bringing the discussion around to the sort of crowd-pleasing vulgarities that are admirable only by law [nomos also translatable ldquoconventionrdquo or ldquocustomrdquo] and not by nature And these nature and law are for the most part opposed to each otherhellip I believe that the people who institute our laws are the weak and the many So they institute laws and assign praise and blame with themselves and their own advantage in mind As a way of frightening the more powerfulhellip out of getting a greater share than they they say that getting more than onersquos share is ldquoshamefulrdquo and ldquounjusthelliprdquo But surely if a man whose nature is equal to it arises he will shake off tear apart and escape all this he will trample underfoot our documents our tricks and charms and all our laws that violate nature He the slave will rise up and be revealed as our master and here the justice of nature will shine forth

The New Teachers of Athens

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

P R E - S O C R AT I C ldquo P H I L O S O P H E R S 6 T H - 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

P R E - S O C R AT I C P H I L O S O P H E R S

bull Though not usually calling themselves ldquophilosophersrdquo they seemed to have contributed inspiration for Socratesrsquo method of free inquiry applying logos

bull Scholars adopt different views of what constitutes their innovation and ldquophilosophicalrdquo method (see readings)

bull Basing views on argument and evidence

bull De-ldquomythologizationrdquo

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Miletus

E A R LY P H I L O S O P H Y A N C I E N T M I L E T U S

M I L E T U S

bull Wealthy city-state in Asia Minor

bull Key city for trading and shipping between Near East amp Greece

bull Ionian Greek culture

bull Freedom of thought

bull Open political debate

bull Wealth (for some) providing leisure

bull Thales and his successors Anaximander Anaximenes

bull ldquoPhilosophicalrdquo investigation

bull Later Presocratics Heraclitus ParmenidesldquoORIENTALIZINGrdquo POTTERY

The Milesian school strikes a new note unheard before It has a fresh sense of the meaning of truth ndash a feeling for the sort of thing it is reasonable to suppose The hypothesis it characteristically deals in is concerned with the nature of the one primary stuff the Milesians seem to make a great conscious effort to get at something which really does exist They strike us as throwing off the vast symbolic visions of mythology and waking clear-headed to see and touch real things If we have a rational temperament we feel at once a refreshment Here at last is a statement about the world which is meant and offered as true ndash a logos [explanation] not a mythos [story]

ndash F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952 ed) 42

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The questions which excited them were of this kind Can this apparently confused and disordered world be reduced to simpler principles so that our reason can grasp what it is and how it works What is it made of How does change take place They abandoned mythological and substituted intellectual solutions [It] was no longer satisfying to say that storms were roused by the wrath of Poseidon or death caused by the arrows of Apollo or Artemis A world ruled by anthropomorphic gods human in their passions was a world ruled by caprice Philosophy and science start with the bold confession of faith that not caprice but an inherent orderliness underlies the phenomena and the explanation of nature is to be sought within nature itself ndashWKC Guthrie History of Greek Philosophy (Cambridge 1969) 1 44-45

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

Thales of Miletus

bull Lived late 7th-6th centurybull Born to a Phoenician aristocratic

family ndash so leisurebull Traveled to Egypt and Babylon (by

tradition)bull Legendary wisdombull ldquoFounder of Western philosophyrdquo

bull First to seek an ldquooriginal causerdquo (archecirc)

bull to explain how unseen facts caused visible results without appeal to mythology

bull To provide generalizable proofs or laws

Thales of Miletus

AstronomyMathematicsWater as the archecircAll things are full of gods

bull Traditionally Thalesrsquo star student

bull 25 years old during Thalesrsquo eclipse (585 BCE)

bull Lived c 610-540 BCE

bull ldquoFirst to draw the inhabited world on a tabletrdquo (first mapmaker)

bull Unambiguously our first ldquophilosopherrdquo by standards of demythologization originality generality and observation

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

ldquoAnaximander has expurgated the supernatural with a boldness and completeness to which many of his successors failed to attain The primary order is still said to be lsquoaccording to what is ordainedrsquo it is still a moral order in which Justice prevails but the will of the personal God has disappeared and its place is partly taken by a natural cause the eternal motionrdquo

- F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952) 41 Anaximander relief 1st century AD

Rome Museo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Key contributions

bull Physics the archecircbull Cosmologybull ldquoEvolutionrdquobull Astronomy and Cartography

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Anaximander said that the APEIRON [indefinite unlimited] was the ARCHE and the element of things that are and he was the first to introduce this name for the ARCHE He says that the ARCHE is neither water nor any other of the things called elements but some other nature called APEIRON out of which come to be all the heavens and the worlds in them (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2413-18)

The things that are perish into the things out of which they come to be according to necessity for ldquothey pay penalty and retribution to one another according to their injustice in accordance with the ordering of timerdquo as he says in rather poetical language (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2418-21)

Anaximander of Miletus

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The ARCHE

bull One and unlimitedbull But not undefined Itrsquos AIR

Anaximenes of Miletus

bull Not opposites but a continuum FIRE AIR larr WIND larr CLOUD larr WATER larr EARTH larr STONEbull ldquoLooseningrdquo and ldquotighteningrdquo explain hot and cold

H E R A C L I T U S B 1 0 1 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 3 7 )

I searched out myself

Listening not to me but to the logos it is wise to agree that all things are one

H E R A C L I T U S B 5 0 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 1 1 )

E X A M P L E S

THE ROAD TO PHILOSOP HY

The Hero of Lyric Poets of the Polis (6th century)

bull According to the lyric poets of the polis culture such as Pindar Simonides Tyrtaeus and Sappho (7th-6th century BCE)

bull Pursues collective good of the polis based on strong ties of interdependent responsibility amp cooperation in a just world governed by the gods

Individual Freedom The ldquoSophistsrdquo (5th century)

bull Sources in thinkers like Protagoras and Gorgias (5th century BCE predominantly working in Athens) constructed as a category by Platorsquos later writings

bull Pursues individual advantage based on their personal beliefs and wits using persuasion and power skepticism of traditional values

Vulnerability The Hero of Tragedy (5th century)

bull Iconic examples include Sophoclesrsquo Oedipus and Aeschylusrsquo Agamemnon and Orestes

bull Pursuit of individual amp collective good in a world of apparently conflicting divine values sometimes hampered by their own lack of self-knowledge

I N T E R D E P E N D E N C Y I N T R O D U C E S V U L N E R A B I L I T Y W H I C H M AY B E

C E L E B R AT E D O R R E S I S T E D

The Hero of Epic Homer and Hesiod (8th century)

bull Found in the epic Iliad and Odyssey attributed to Homer (c 8th century BCE) examples include the powerful Achilles and thoughtful persuasive Odysseus

bull Pursues individual honour (timē) in a just world governed by the gods

CH

IGI V

AS

E C

70

0 B

CE

The Hero of Reason The ldquoPresocratics (6th-5th cent)

bull Founding figures including Thales Anaximander Anaximenes Pythagoras Heraclitus Parmenides Seeking to understand the basic original causes (aitiai) of the world through reason

I S T H E W O R L D G E N U I N E LY

I N T E L L I G I B L E T O R E A S O N

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Born in Athens to a stonemason named Sophroniscus in 469 BCE

bull ldquoSocratic problemrdquo Socrates wrote nothing we know about him through Plato Xenophon and Aristophanes whose accounts vary

bull Conversed with anyone ldquorich or poor citizen or foreignerrdquo (Apology 23C)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Non-conformity reliance on individual values and wits (contrast with the earlier poets and rhapsodes)

bull Claims of ignorance interest in shared truth and not only persuasion and resistance of ldquoselfish morality (contrast with the sophists)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Methods based on question and answer (the elenchus) requiring unity or consistency (a) of onersquos beliefs and (b) of onersquos beliefs and actions

bull Behaviour peculiar enough to warrant its own verb (sōkratein) (Arist Birds 1282) before generalized philosophia

bull Brought to trial in 399 BCE by two Athenians Meletus and Anytus charged with ldquoimpiety and corrupting the youngrdquo

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

S O C R AT E S C R I T O 4 6 A

I am the kind of person who listens to nothing within me but the logos that on reflection seems

best to me

L O G O S R E A S O N VA L U E C O N S C I E N C E M E A N I N G

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousness A sense of such significances that what is great is fragile and that what is necessary may be destructive which is present in the literature of the fifth century and earlier has disappeared [later] from the ethics of the philosophers and perhaps altogether from their minds Greek philosophy in its sustained pursuit of rational self-sufficiency does turn its back on kinds of human experience and human necessity of which Greek literature itself offers the purest if not the richest expression

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y A N D P H I L O S O P H Y

The continuity between Greek tragedy and Greek philosophy on these questions is however far greater than Williams has allowed On the one hand inside tragedy itself we find arresting portrayals of the human ambition to rational self-sufficiency we come to understand the ways in which problems of exposure motivate this ambition On the other Platos philosophical search for a self- sufficient good life is motivated by a keen sense of these same problems Far from having forgotten about what tragedy describes he sees the problems of exposure so clearly that only a radical solution seems adequate to their depth Nor is he naiumlve about the costs of this solution

N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y P R A C T I C A L C O N F L I C T

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identical which is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A)

Socrates ldquoencourages Euthyphro [a pious Greek] to revise tradition by considering as binding only those requirements concerning which there is divine unanimity he expresses further his own doubt as to whether gods really do disagreerdquo (Nussbaum 30)

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identicalwhich is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A Nussbaum 25)

Zeus is probably responsible (aitios) who gives to men who work for bread to each one however he wishes

H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 1 3 4 8 [ T E L E M A C H U S S P E A K S ]

How mortals now blame [from aitios] gods for they say that evils are from us Yet they themselves

have woes beyond their lot by their own recklessnesshellip

H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 1 3 2 [ Z E U S S P E A K S ]

Tell me of these things Muses that dwell on the heights of Olympus From the origin (archē) and say which first of them came into beinghellip

H E S I O D T H E O G O N Y 1 1 4

Responsibility lies with the one who makes the choice the god is blameless (theos anaitios)

P L AT O R E P U B L I C 1 0 6 1 7 E

S I D E B A R D I V I N E C A U S AT I O N

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Divine causation

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

O D Y S S E U S T O P O LY P H E M U S H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 9 2 6 9 - 7 1

But revere the gods most noble one We are supplicants (hiketai) to you Zeus is the avenger (epitimētōr) of suppliants and strangers

the guest god who attends venerable strangers

W E A R E I N Z E U S rsquo W O R L D ( A S D E S C R I B E D I N THEOGONY )

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

T H E LY R I C P O E T SC 6 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Pindar of Thebes

Simonides of Ceos

Sappho of Lesbos

LY R I C I N T R O D U C T I O N

bull Occasional poetry

bull Often sung to the lyre (lyrē) in varied meters

bull CHORAL LYRIC

bull Dancing choruses at religious festivals contests family events

bull Enforcing collective civic values

bull MONODIC LYRIC

bull Individual performance

bull Personal in emotion amp outlookBrygos Painter c 490 BCE

Sappho and Alcaeus

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

Creatures of the passing day What is any one What is any one not Shadows dream is man But when the radiance given of Zeus comes

there is a bright light upon men and life is sweet

P I N D A R P Y T H 8 9 5 - 9 7

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

I praise and embrace everyone who willingly does nothing base (aischron) but with necessity not even the gods fight A man not too helpless suffices for me one who knows the justice that benefits the

city (polis) a sound and healthy man I will not lay blame for the generation of fools is limitless Everything is noble (kala) with which

base deeds are not mingled

S I M O N I D E S 5 4 2 2 7 - 4 0

Simonides is criticizing the traditional definition of the good noble or successful man (agathos esthlos) Such goodness or nobility depends upon external achievements and possessions (wealth honour prowess in battle) which are too insecure to form a real basis for human excellence Instead Simonides stresses intention justice that benefits the city acknowledgement of the fragility of lifehellip

C S E G A L ldquo C H O R A L LY R I C I N T H E F I F T H C E N T U R Y rdquo I N P E E A S T E R L I N G amp B M W K N O X T H E C A M B R I D G E H I S T O R Y O F

C L A S S I C A L L I T E R AT U R E I ( C A M B R I D G E 2 0 0 8 ) 2 2 4

LY R I C C O N T E X T

Hoplites in phalanx formation From the Chigi Vase proto-Corinthian pitcher ca 650-640 BC

3 0 0 ( W A R N E R B R O S 2 0 0 6 ) ldquo W H AT I S Y O U R P R O F E S S I O N rdquo

W W W Y O U T U B E C O M W AT C H V = A N A 3 C O 8 3 _ G K

3 0 0 ( W A R N E R B R O S 2 0 0 6 ) ldquo F I G H T I N T H E S H A D E rdquo

Y O U T U B E 4 J K P G D D M A R S T = 1 2 4

τοιόνδ ἄνθος Περσίδος αἴας οἴχεται ἀνδρῶν

οὓς πέρι πᾶσα χθὼν Ἀσιῆτις ρέψασα πόθῳ στένεται microαλερῷ τοκέης τ ἄλοχοί θ ἡmicroερολεγδὸν τείνοντα χρόνον τροmicroέονται

A E S C H Y L U S P E R S A I 5 9 - 6 4 C P I L I A D 9 4 1 0 - 1 6

S E E C A S E Y D U Eacute T H E C A P T I V E W O M A N rsquo S L A M E N T I N G R E E K T R A G E DY C H 2

Such is the flower [anthos] of the Persian land such is the flower of men that has disappeared

The entire land of Asia laments the men she nourished with fierce

longing [pothos] Parents and wives counting the days

tremble at the increasing length of time

P I N D A R

bull Born near Thebes c 518 BCE

bull Composed important epinician odes (epi-nikia for-a-victory in a contest)

bull Depicts the gods as maintaining civic values of justice (O 1 P 1-3 P 8) compassionate (N 10) and forgiving (O 7456) guardians of polis morality

bull Celebrated ldquoroughrdquo style

bull ldquoA soaring eaglehellip a rushing streamrdquo (Horace Od 42) ldquoA vast firerdquo (Longinus Sublime 335)

Bust of the lyric poet Pindar Roman copy from original of the mid-5 century BC

F I F T H - C E N T U R Y C H O R A L LY R I C

A C O R N T O O A K T R E E N E I L B R O M H A L L bull y o u t u b e Z K 4 L j U R t a D w

Some people pray for gold others for limitless lands but I pray to please my fellow citizens and then to cover my limbs in earth

having praised the praiseworthy and scattered reproof on the wicked Excellence soars upward like a tree fed on fresh dews

lifted among the wise and just toward the liquid upper air The need for friends comes in many forms

it is most valued in times of trouble but joy too craves to look upon trusty support

P I N D A R N E M E A N 8 3 6 - 4 3

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

F R A G I L I T Ybull How can we be praiseworthy if we are vulnerable (to circumstances)

bull [The poetic world-view and Pindarrsquos career as praise poet of aretē require] ldquothe belief that the excellence of a good person is something of that persons own for whose possession and exercise that person can appropriately be held accountablerdquo (Nussbaum 1)

bull But ldquoHow can we be givers and receivers of praise if our worth ishellip a plant in need of wateringrdquo (2)

bull ldquoWe need to be born with adequate capacities to live in fostering natural and social circumstances to stay clear of abrupt catastrophe to develop confirming associations with other human beingsrdquo (1)

bull A further complication ldquoThe tenderness of a plant is not the dazzling hardness of a gemrdquo perhaps ldquopart of the peculiar beauty of human excellence just is its vulnerabilityrdquo (2)

M A R T H A N U S S B A U M T H E F R A G I L I T Y O F G O O D N E S S C H 1 L U C K amp E T H I C S

T H E P O W E R O F R E A S O N [T]here is the consolation that so far Pindar has apparently left something out However much human beings resemble lower forms of life we are unlike we want to insist in one crucial respect We have reason We are able to deliberate and choose to make a plan in which ends are ranked to decide actively what is to have value and how much All this must count for something If it is true that a lot about us is messy needy uncontrolled rooted in the dirt and standing helplessly in the rain it is also true that there is something about us that is pure and purely active something that we could think of as divine immortal intelligible unitary indissoluble ever self-consistent and invariablelsquo [Plato Phaedo 80B] It seems possible that this rational element in us can rule and guide the rest thereby saving the whole person from living at the mercy of luck

N U S S B A U M F R A G I L I T Y 2

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S S O P H I S T S A N D T R A G E D I A N SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Athens

AT H E N S rsquo A C R O P O L I S A S I M A G I N E D B Y L E O V O N K L E N Z E O I L O N C A N VA S 1 8 4 6 N E U E P I N A K O T H E K

A S S A S S I N rsquo S C R E E D O D Y S S E Y bull A T O U R O F AT H E N S U B I S O F T ( 2 0 1 8 )

bull Athens is the first lsquopeople-ruledrsquo polis (dēmokratia) in the Mediterranean world

bull She has achieved unchallenged naval authority and an empire which is labeled a lsquocommonwealthrsquo

bull At the commercial and cultural crossroads of Italy Greece Egypt and the Near East

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

S P E E C H A N D D E M O C R A C Y

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

bull In this cosmopolitan environment traditional views are challenged leading to a perceived erosion of moral values

bull The rhapsodes use poetic forms to transmit traditional morality

bull The tragedians use poetic forms to explore amp challenge mythrsquos assumptions

bull The sophists teach ldquowisdomrdquo (sophia) including rhetoric and political oratory perceived as a new lsquotechnologyrsquo to steer the ship of state for onersquos own ends

bull Use onersquos own wits ldquoA person is the measure of all thingsrdquo Protagoras B1

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

T R A G E D Y V U L N E R A B I L I T Y A N D R E A S O NC 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E AT H E N S

Aeschylus Agamemnon (458 BCE) and Euripides Iphigeneia at Aulis (405 BCE) The Sacrifice of Iphigeneia by Francesco Fontebasso bull 1749 oil on canvas

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousnesshellip what is great is fragile andhellip what is necessary may be destructivehellip

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

In such cases we see a wrong action committed without any direct physical compulsion and in full knowledge of its nature by a person whose ethical character or commitments would otherwise dispose him to reject the acthellip circumstanceshellip prevent the adequate fulfillment of two valid ethical claims

N U S S B A U M 2 5

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

[Aeschylus in Agamemnon] shows us not so much a solution to the problem of practical conflict as the richness and depth of the problem itself (This achievement is closely connected with his poetic resources which put the scene vividly before us show us debate about it and evoke in us responses important to its assessment)

The best the agent can do is to have his suffering the natural expression of his goodness of character and not to stifle these responses out of misguided optimism The best we (the Chorus) can do for him is to respect the gravity of his predicament to respect the responses that express his goodness and to think about his case as showing a possibility for human life in general

N U S S B A U M 4 9 - 5 0

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

bull In a world that allows such dilemmas are there truly gods with a coherent vision for the world

bull Can individual reason and ingenuity suffice for a good life

T H E S O P H I S T SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Hesiod Works amp Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale Piteously she transfixed by his crooked claws was lamenting When the imperious hawk addressed her in arrogant parlance Why little lady such shrieks One stronger than you now has got you Where you are going Ill take you myself though you are a songstress For as I please Ill make you my dinner or give you your freedom Witless is one who attempts to strive against those who are stronger When he is stripped of the prize its injury added to insult Thus said the fast-flying hawk that bird with the generous wing-spanPay more attention to justice and curb high-handedness [brother] Violence ill suits men who are lowly not even the noble Man can lightly endure it it weighs on a person whos fallen Into affliction Its better to take your way on the other Road which conduces to right For outrage (hubris) surrenders to

justice (dikē)hellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Thucydides History 584-116 The Melian Dialogue ATHENIANS [Y]ou know as well as we do that when these matters are discussed by practical people the standard of justice depends on the equality of power to compel and that in fact the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they musthellip Our opinion of the gods and our knowledge of men lead us to conclude that it is a general and necessary law of nature to rule whatever one can This is not a law that we made ourselves nor were we the first to act upon it when it was made We found it already in existence and we shall leave it to exist for ever among those who come after us

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos

advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Republic I 343A-D Thrasymachusrsquo complaint Tell me Socrates do you still have a wet nursehellip Because shersquos letting you run around with a snotty nose and doesnrsquot wipe it when she needs tohellip You think that shepherds and cowherds seek the good of their sheep and cattle and fatten them and take care of them looking to something other than their masterrsquos good and their own Moreover you believe that rulershellip think of something besides their own advantage You are so far from understandinghellip that you donrsquot realize that justice is really the good of another the advantage of the stronger and the ruler and harmful to the one who obeys and serves Injustice is the opposite it rules the truly simple and just and those it rules do what is to the advantage of the other and stronger and they make the one they serve happy but themselves not at all You must look at it as follows my most simple Socrates A just man always gets less than an unjust onehellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Gorgias 482C-484C Callicles on nature and convention [Y]oursquore in fact bringing the discussion around to the sort of crowd-pleasing vulgarities that are admirable only by law [nomos also translatable ldquoconventionrdquo or ldquocustomrdquo] and not by nature And these nature and law are for the most part opposed to each otherhellip I believe that the people who institute our laws are the weak and the many So they institute laws and assign praise and blame with themselves and their own advantage in mind As a way of frightening the more powerfulhellip out of getting a greater share than they they say that getting more than onersquos share is ldquoshamefulrdquo and ldquounjusthelliprdquo But surely if a man whose nature is equal to it arises he will shake off tear apart and escape all this he will trample underfoot our documents our tricks and charms and all our laws that violate nature He the slave will rise up and be revealed as our master and here the justice of nature will shine forth

The New Teachers of Athens

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

P R E - S O C R AT I C ldquo P H I L O S O P H E R S 6 T H - 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

P R E - S O C R AT I C P H I L O S O P H E R S

bull Though not usually calling themselves ldquophilosophersrdquo they seemed to have contributed inspiration for Socratesrsquo method of free inquiry applying logos

bull Scholars adopt different views of what constitutes their innovation and ldquophilosophicalrdquo method (see readings)

bull Basing views on argument and evidence

bull De-ldquomythologizationrdquo

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Miletus

E A R LY P H I L O S O P H Y A N C I E N T M I L E T U S

M I L E T U S

bull Wealthy city-state in Asia Minor

bull Key city for trading and shipping between Near East amp Greece

bull Ionian Greek culture

bull Freedom of thought

bull Open political debate

bull Wealth (for some) providing leisure

bull Thales and his successors Anaximander Anaximenes

bull ldquoPhilosophicalrdquo investigation

bull Later Presocratics Heraclitus ParmenidesldquoORIENTALIZINGrdquo POTTERY

The Milesian school strikes a new note unheard before It has a fresh sense of the meaning of truth ndash a feeling for the sort of thing it is reasonable to suppose The hypothesis it characteristically deals in is concerned with the nature of the one primary stuff the Milesians seem to make a great conscious effort to get at something which really does exist They strike us as throwing off the vast symbolic visions of mythology and waking clear-headed to see and touch real things If we have a rational temperament we feel at once a refreshment Here at last is a statement about the world which is meant and offered as true ndash a logos [explanation] not a mythos [story]

ndash F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952 ed) 42

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The questions which excited them were of this kind Can this apparently confused and disordered world be reduced to simpler principles so that our reason can grasp what it is and how it works What is it made of How does change take place They abandoned mythological and substituted intellectual solutions [It] was no longer satisfying to say that storms were roused by the wrath of Poseidon or death caused by the arrows of Apollo or Artemis A world ruled by anthropomorphic gods human in their passions was a world ruled by caprice Philosophy and science start with the bold confession of faith that not caprice but an inherent orderliness underlies the phenomena and the explanation of nature is to be sought within nature itself ndashWKC Guthrie History of Greek Philosophy (Cambridge 1969) 1 44-45

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

Thales of Miletus

bull Lived late 7th-6th centurybull Born to a Phoenician aristocratic

family ndash so leisurebull Traveled to Egypt and Babylon (by

tradition)bull Legendary wisdombull ldquoFounder of Western philosophyrdquo

bull First to seek an ldquooriginal causerdquo (archecirc)

bull to explain how unseen facts caused visible results without appeal to mythology

bull To provide generalizable proofs or laws

Thales of Miletus

AstronomyMathematicsWater as the archecircAll things are full of gods

bull Traditionally Thalesrsquo star student

bull 25 years old during Thalesrsquo eclipse (585 BCE)

bull Lived c 610-540 BCE

bull ldquoFirst to draw the inhabited world on a tabletrdquo (first mapmaker)

bull Unambiguously our first ldquophilosopherrdquo by standards of demythologization originality generality and observation

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

ldquoAnaximander has expurgated the supernatural with a boldness and completeness to which many of his successors failed to attain The primary order is still said to be lsquoaccording to what is ordainedrsquo it is still a moral order in which Justice prevails but the will of the personal God has disappeared and its place is partly taken by a natural cause the eternal motionrdquo

- F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952) 41 Anaximander relief 1st century AD

Rome Museo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Key contributions

bull Physics the archecircbull Cosmologybull ldquoEvolutionrdquobull Astronomy and Cartography

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Anaximander said that the APEIRON [indefinite unlimited] was the ARCHE and the element of things that are and he was the first to introduce this name for the ARCHE He says that the ARCHE is neither water nor any other of the things called elements but some other nature called APEIRON out of which come to be all the heavens and the worlds in them (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2413-18)

The things that are perish into the things out of which they come to be according to necessity for ldquothey pay penalty and retribution to one another according to their injustice in accordance with the ordering of timerdquo as he says in rather poetical language (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2418-21)

Anaximander of Miletus

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The ARCHE

bull One and unlimitedbull But not undefined Itrsquos AIR

Anaximenes of Miletus

bull Not opposites but a continuum FIRE AIR larr WIND larr CLOUD larr WATER larr EARTH larr STONEbull ldquoLooseningrdquo and ldquotighteningrdquo explain hot and cold

H E R A C L I T U S B 1 0 1 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 3 7 )

I searched out myself

Listening not to me but to the logos it is wise to agree that all things are one

H E R A C L I T U S B 5 0 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 1 1 )

E X A M P L E S

THE ROAD TO PHILOSOP HY

The Hero of Lyric Poets of the Polis (6th century)

bull According to the lyric poets of the polis culture such as Pindar Simonides Tyrtaeus and Sappho (7th-6th century BCE)

bull Pursues collective good of the polis based on strong ties of interdependent responsibility amp cooperation in a just world governed by the gods

Individual Freedom The ldquoSophistsrdquo (5th century)

bull Sources in thinkers like Protagoras and Gorgias (5th century BCE predominantly working in Athens) constructed as a category by Platorsquos later writings

bull Pursues individual advantage based on their personal beliefs and wits using persuasion and power skepticism of traditional values

Vulnerability The Hero of Tragedy (5th century)

bull Iconic examples include Sophoclesrsquo Oedipus and Aeschylusrsquo Agamemnon and Orestes

bull Pursuit of individual amp collective good in a world of apparently conflicting divine values sometimes hampered by their own lack of self-knowledge

I N T E R D E P E N D E N C Y I N T R O D U C E S V U L N E R A B I L I T Y W H I C H M AY B E

C E L E B R AT E D O R R E S I S T E D

The Hero of Epic Homer and Hesiod (8th century)

bull Found in the epic Iliad and Odyssey attributed to Homer (c 8th century BCE) examples include the powerful Achilles and thoughtful persuasive Odysseus

bull Pursues individual honour (timē) in a just world governed by the gods

CH

IGI V

AS

E C

70

0 B

CE

The Hero of Reason The ldquoPresocratics (6th-5th cent)

bull Founding figures including Thales Anaximander Anaximenes Pythagoras Heraclitus Parmenides Seeking to understand the basic original causes (aitiai) of the world through reason

I S T H E W O R L D G E N U I N E LY

I N T E L L I G I B L E T O R E A S O N

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Born in Athens to a stonemason named Sophroniscus in 469 BCE

bull ldquoSocratic problemrdquo Socrates wrote nothing we know about him through Plato Xenophon and Aristophanes whose accounts vary

bull Conversed with anyone ldquorich or poor citizen or foreignerrdquo (Apology 23C)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Non-conformity reliance on individual values and wits (contrast with the earlier poets and rhapsodes)

bull Claims of ignorance interest in shared truth and not only persuasion and resistance of ldquoselfish morality (contrast with the sophists)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Methods based on question and answer (the elenchus) requiring unity or consistency (a) of onersquos beliefs and (b) of onersquos beliefs and actions

bull Behaviour peculiar enough to warrant its own verb (sōkratein) (Arist Birds 1282) before generalized philosophia

bull Brought to trial in 399 BCE by two Athenians Meletus and Anytus charged with ldquoimpiety and corrupting the youngrdquo

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

S O C R AT E S C R I T O 4 6 A

I am the kind of person who listens to nothing within me but the logos that on reflection seems

best to me

L O G O S R E A S O N VA L U E C O N S C I E N C E M E A N I N G

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousness A sense of such significances that what is great is fragile and that what is necessary may be destructive which is present in the literature of the fifth century and earlier has disappeared [later] from the ethics of the philosophers and perhaps altogether from their minds Greek philosophy in its sustained pursuit of rational self-sufficiency does turn its back on kinds of human experience and human necessity of which Greek literature itself offers the purest if not the richest expression

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y A N D P H I L O S O P H Y

The continuity between Greek tragedy and Greek philosophy on these questions is however far greater than Williams has allowed On the one hand inside tragedy itself we find arresting portrayals of the human ambition to rational self-sufficiency we come to understand the ways in which problems of exposure motivate this ambition On the other Platos philosophical search for a self- sufficient good life is motivated by a keen sense of these same problems Far from having forgotten about what tragedy describes he sees the problems of exposure so clearly that only a radical solution seems adequate to their depth Nor is he naiumlve about the costs of this solution

N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y P R A C T I C A L C O N F L I C T

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identical which is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A)

Socrates ldquoencourages Euthyphro [a pious Greek] to revise tradition by considering as binding only those requirements concerning which there is divine unanimity he expresses further his own doubt as to whether gods really do disagreerdquo (Nussbaum 30)

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identicalwhich is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A Nussbaum 25)

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Divine causation

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

O D Y S S E U S T O P O LY P H E M U S H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 9 2 6 9 - 7 1

But revere the gods most noble one We are supplicants (hiketai) to you Zeus is the avenger (epitimētōr) of suppliants and strangers

the guest god who attends venerable strangers

W E A R E I N Z E U S rsquo W O R L D ( A S D E S C R I B E D I N THEOGONY )

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

T H E LY R I C P O E T SC 6 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Pindar of Thebes

Simonides of Ceos

Sappho of Lesbos

LY R I C I N T R O D U C T I O N

bull Occasional poetry

bull Often sung to the lyre (lyrē) in varied meters

bull CHORAL LYRIC

bull Dancing choruses at religious festivals contests family events

bull Enforcing collective civic values

bull MONODIC LYRIC

bull Individual performance

bull Personal in emotion amp outlookBrygos Painter c 490 BCE

Sappho and Alcaeus

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

Creatures of the passing day What is any one What is any one not Shadows dream is man But when the radiance given of Zeus comes

there is a bright light upon men and life is sweet

P I N D A R P Y T H 8 9 5 - 9 7

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

I praise and embrace everyone who willingly does nothing base (aischron) but with necessity not even the gods fight A man not too helpless suffices for me one who knows the justice that benefits the

city (polis) a sound and healthy man I will not lay blame for the generation of fools is limitless Everything is noble (kala) with which

base deeds are not mingled

S I M O N I D E S 5 4 2 2 7 - 4 0

Simonides is criticizing the traditional definition of the good noble or successful man (agathos esthlos) Such goodness or nobility depends upon external achievements and possessions (wealth honour prowess in battle) which are too insecure to form a real basis for human excellence Instead Simonides stresses intention justice that benefits the city acknowledgement of the fragility of lifehellip

C S E G A L ldquo C H O R A L LY R I C I N T H E F I F T H C E N T U R Y rdquo I N P E E A S T E R L I N G amp B M W K N O X T H E C A M B R I D G E H I S T O R Y O F

C L A S S I C A L L I T E R AT U R E I ( C A M B R I D G E 2 0 0 8 ) 2 2 4

LY R I C C O N T E X T

Hoplites in phalanx formation From the Chigi Vase proto-Corinthian pitcher ca 650-640 BC

3 0 0 ( W A R N E R B R O S 2 0 0 6 ) ldquo W H AT I S Y O U R P R O F E S S I O N rdquo

W W W Y O U T U B E C O M W AT C H V = A N A 3 C O 8 3 _ G K

3 0 0 ( W A R N E R B R O S 2 0 0 6 ) ldquo F I G H T I N T H E S H A D E rdquo

Y O U T U B E 4 J K P G D D M A R S T = 1 2 4

τοιόνδ ἄνθος Περσίδος αἴας οἴχεται ἀνδρῶν

οὓς πέρι πᾶσα χθὼν Ἀσιῆτις ρέψασα πόθῳ στένεται microαλερῷ τοκέης τ ἄλοχοί θ ἡmicroερολεγδὸν τείνοντα χρόνον τροmicroέονται

A E S C H Y L U S P E R S A I 5 9 - 6 4 C P I L I A D 9 4 1 0 - 1 6

S E E C A S E Y D U Eacute T H E C A P T I V E W O M A N rsquo S L A M E N T I N G R E E K T R A G E DY C H 2

Such is the flower [anthos] of the Persian land such is the flower of men that has disappeared

The entire land of Asia laments the men she nourished with fierce

longing [pothos] Parents and wives counting the days

tremble at the increasing length of time

P I N D A R

bull Born near Thebes c 518 BCE

bull Composed important epinician odes (epi-nikia for-a-victory in a contest)

bull Depicts the gods as maintaining civic values of justice (O 1 P 1-3 P 8) compassionate (N 10) and forgiving (O 7456) guardians of polis morality

bull Celebrated ldquoroughrdquo style

bull ldquoA soaring eaglehellip a rushing streamrdquo (Horace Od 42) ldquoA vast firerdquo (Longinus Sublime 335)

Bust of the lyric poet Pindar Roman copy from original of the mid-5 century BC

F I F T H - C E N T U R Y C H O R A L LY R I C

A C O R N T O O A K T R E E N E I L B R O M H A L L bull y o u t u b e Z K 4 L j U R t a D w

Some people pray for gold others for limitless lands but I pray to please my fellow citizens and then to cover my limbs in earth

having praised the praiseworthy and scattered reproof on the wicked Excellence soars upward like a tree fed on fresh dews

lifted among the wise and just toward the liquid upper air The need for friends comes in many forms

it is most valued in times of trouble but joy too craves to look upon trusty support

P I N D A R N E M E A N 8 3 6 - 4 3

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

F R A G I L I T Ybull How can we be praiseworthy if we are vulnerable (to circumstances)

bull [The poetic world-view and Pindarrsquos career as praise poet of aretē require] ldquothe belief that the excellence of a good person is something of that persons own for whose possession and exercise that person can appropriately be held accountablerdquo (Nussbaum 1)

bull But ldquoHow can we be givers and receivers of praise if our worth ishellip a plant in need of wateringrdquo (2)

bull ldquoWe need to be born with adequate capacities to live in fostering natural and social circumstances to stay clear of abrupt catastrophe to develop confirming associations with other human beingsrdquo (1)

bull A further complication ldquoThe tenderness of a plant is not the dazzling hardness of a gemrdquo perhaps ldquopart of the peculiar beauty of human excellence just is its vulnerabilityrdquo (2)

M A R T H A N U S S B A U M T H E F R A G I L I T Y O F G O O D N E S S C H 1 L U C K amp E T H I C S

T H E P O W E R O F R E A S O N [T]here is the consolation that so far Pindar has apparently left something out However much human beings resemble lower forms of life we are unlike we want to insist in one crucial respect We have reason We are able to deliberate and choose to make a plan in which ends are ranked to decide actively what is to have value and how much All this must count for something If it is true that a lot about us is messy needy uncontrolled rooted in the dirt and standing helplessly in the rain it is also true that there is something about us that is pure and purely active something that we could think of as divine immortal intelligible unitary indissoluble ever self-consistent and invariablelsquo [Plato Phaedo 80B] It seems possible that this rational element in us can rule and guide the rest thereby saving the whole person from living at the mercy of luck

N U S S B A U M F R A G I L I T Y 2

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S S O P H I S T S A N D T R A G E D I A N SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Athens

AT H E N S rsquo A C R O P O L I S A S I M A G I N E D B Y L E O V O N K L E N Z E O I L O N C A N VA S 1 8 4 6 N E U E P I N A K O T H E K

A S S A S S I N rsquo S C R E E D O D Y S S E Y bull A T O U R O F AT H E N S U B I S O F T ( 2 0 1 8 )

bull Athens is the first lsquopeople-ruledrsquo polis (dēmokratia) in the Mediterranean world

bull She has achieved unchallenged naval authority and an empire which is labeled a lsquocommonwealthrsquo

bull At the commercial and cultural crossroads of Italy Greece Egypt and the Near East

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

S P E E C H A N D D E M O C R A C Y

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

bull In this cosmopolitan environment traditional views are challenged leading to a perceived erosion of moral values

bull The rhapsodes use poetic forms to transmit traditional morality

bull The tragedians use poetic forms to explore amp challenge mythrsquos assumptions

bull The sophists teach ldquowisdomrdquo (sophia) including rhetoric and political oratory perceived as a new lsquotechnologyrsquo to steer the ship of state for onersquos own ends

bull Use onersquos own wits ldquoA person is the measure of all thingsrdquo Protagoras B1

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

T R A G E D Y V U L N E R A B I L I T Y A N D R E A S O NC 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E AT H E N S

Aeschylus Agamemnon (458 BCE) and Euripides Iphigeneia at Aulis (405 BCE) The Sacrifice of Iphigeneia by Francesco Fontebasso bull 1749 oil on canvas

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousnesshellip what is great is fragile andhellip what is necessary may be destructivehellip

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

In such cases we see a wrong action committed without any direct physical compulsion and in full knowledge of its nature by a person whose ethical character or commitments would otherwise dispose him to reject the acthellip circumstanceshellip prevent the adequate fulfillment of two valid ethical claims

N U S S B A U M 2 5

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

[Aeschylus in Agamemnon] shows us not so much a solution to the problem of practical conflict as the richness and depth of the problem itself (This achievement is closely connected with his poetic resources which put the scene vividly before us show us debate about it and evoke in us responses important to its assessment)

The best the agent can do is to have his suffering the natural expression of his goodness of character and not to stifle these responses out of misguided optimism The best we (the Chorus) can do for him is to respect the gravity of his predicament to respect the responses that express his goodness and to think about his case as showing a possibility for human life in general

N U S S B A U M 4 9 - 5 0

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

bull In a world that allows such dilemmas are there truly gods with a coherent vision for the world

bull Can individual reason and ingenuity suffice for a good life

T H E S O P H I S T SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Hesiod Works amp Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale Piteously she transfixed by his crooked claws was lamenting When the imperious hawk addressed her in arrogant parlance Why little lady such shrieks One stronger than you now has got you Where you are going Ill take you myself though you are a songstress For as I please Ill make you my dinner or give you your freedom Witless is one who attempts to strive against those who are stronger When he is stripped of the prize its injury added to insult Thus said the fast-flying hawk that bird with the generous wing-spanPay more attention to justice and curb high-handedness [brother] Violence ill suits men who are lowly not even the noble Man can lightly endure it it weighs on a person whos fallen Into affliction Its better to take your way on the other Road which conduces to right For outrage (hubris) surrenders to

justice (dikē)hellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Thucydides History 584-116 The Melian Dialogue ATHENIANS [Y]ou know as well as we do that when these matters are discussed by practical people the standard of justice depends on the equality of power to compel and that in fact the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they musthellip Our opinion of the gods and our knowledge of men lead us to conclude that it is a general and necessary law of nature to rule whatever one can This is not a law that we made ourselves nor were we the first to act upon it when it was made We found it already in existence and we shall leave it to exist for ever among those who come after us

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos

advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Republic I 343A-D Thrasymachusrsquo complaint Tell me Socrates do you still have a wet nursehellip Because shersquos letting you run around with a snotty nose and doesnrsquot wipe it when she needs tohellip You think that shepherds and cowherds seek the good of their sheep and cattle and fatten them and take care of them looking to something other than their masterrsquos good and their own Moreover you believe that rulershellip think of something besides their own advantage You are so far from understandinghellip that you donrsquot realize that justice is really the good of another the advantage of the stronger and the ruler and harmful to the one who obeys and serves Injustice is the opposite it rules the truly simple and just and those it rules do what is to the advantage of the other and stronger and they make the one they serve happy but themselves not at all You must look at it as follows my most simple Socrates A just man always gets less than an unjust onehellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Gorgias 482C-484C Callicles on nature and convention [Y]oursquore in fact bringing the discussion around to the sort of crowd-pleasing vulgarities that are admirable only by law [nomos also translatable ldquoconventionrdquo or ldquocustomrdquo] and not by nature And these nature and law are for the most part opposed to each otherhellip I believe that the people who institute our laws are the weak and the many So they institute laws and assign praise and blame with themselves and their own advantage in mind As a way of frightening the more powerfulhellip out of getting a greater share than they they say that getting more than onersquos share is ldquoshamefulrdquo and ldquounjusthelliprdquo But surely if a man whose nature is equal to it arises he will shake off tear apart and escape all this he will trample underfoot our documents our tricks and charms and all our laws that violate nature He the slave will rise up and be revealed as our master and here the justice of nature will shine forth

The New Teachers of Athens

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

P R E - S O C R AT I C ldquo P H I L O S O P H E R S 6 T H - 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

P R E - S O C R AT I C P H I L O S O P H E R S

bull Though not usually calling themselves ldquophilosophersrdquo they seemed to have contributed inspiration for Socratesrsquo method of free inquiry applying logos

bull Scholars adopt different views of what constitutes their innovation and ldquophilosophicalrdquo method (see readings)

bull Basing views on argument and evidence

bull De-ldquomythologizationrdquo

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Miletus

E A R LY P H I L O S O P H Y A N C I E N T M I L E T U S

M I L E T U S

bull Wealthy city-state in Asia Minor

bull Key city for trading and shipping between Near East amp Greece

bull Ionian Greek culture

bull Freedom of thought

bull Open political debate

bull Wealth (for some) providing leisure

bull Thales and his successors Anaximander Anaximenes

bull ldquoPhilosophicalrdquo investigation

bull Later Presocratics Heraclitus ParmenidesldquoORIENTALIZINGrdquo POTTERY

The Milesian school strikes a new note unheard before It has a fresh sense of the meaning of truth ndash a feeling for the sort of thing it is reasonable to suppose The hypothesis it characteristically deals in is concerned with the nature of the one primary stuff the Milesians seem to make a great conscious effort to get at something which really does exist They strike us as throwing off the vast symbolic visions of mythology and waking clear-headed to see and touch real things If we have a rational temperament we feel at once a refreshment Here at last is a statement about the world which is meant and offered as true ndash a logos [explanation] not a mythos [story]

ndash F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952 ed) 42

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The questions which excited them were of this kind Can this apparently confused and disordered world be reduced to simpler principles so that our reason can grasp what it is and how it works What is it made of How does change take place They abandoned mythological and substituted intellectual solutions [It] was no longer satisfying to say that storms were roused by the wrath of Poseidon or death caused by the arrows of Apollo or Artemis A world ruled by anthropomorphic gods human in their passions was a world ruled by caprice Philosophy and science start with the bold confession of faith that not caprice but an inherent orderliness underlies the phenomena and the explanation of nature is to be sought within nature itself ndashWKC Guthrie History of Greek Philosophy (Cambridge 1969) 1 44-45

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

Thales of Miletus

bull Lived late 7th-6th centurybull Born to a Phoenician aristocratic

family ndash so leisurebull Traveled to Egypt and Babylon (by

tradition)bull Legendary wisdombull ldquoFounder of Western philosophyrdquo

bull First to seek an ldquooriginal causerdquo (archecirc)

bull to explain how unseen facts caused visible results without appeal to mythology

bull To provide generalizable proofs or laws

Thales of Miletus

AstronomyMathematicsWater as the archecircAll things are full of gods

bull Traditionally Thalesrsquo star student

bull 25 years old during Thalesrsquo eclipse (585 BCE)

bull Lived c 610-540 BCE

bull ldquoFirst to draw the inhabited world on a tabletrdquo (first mapmaker)

bull Unambiguously our first ldquophilosopherrdquo by standards of demythologization originality generality and observation

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

ldquoAnaximander has expurgated the supernatural with a boldness and completeness to which many of his successors failed to attain The primary order is still said to be lsquoaccording to what is ordainedrsquo it is still a moral order in which Justice prevails but the will of the personal God has disappeared and its place is partly taken by a natural cause the eternal motionrdquo

- F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952) 41 Anaximander relief 1st century AD

Rome Museo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Key contributions

bull Physics the archecircbull Cosmologybull ldquoEvolutionrdquobull Astronomy and Cartography

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Anaximander said that the APEIRON [indefinite unlimited] was the ARCHE and the element of things that are and he was the first to introduce this name for the ARCHE He says that the ARCHE is neither water nor any other of the things called elements but some other nature called APEIRON out of which come to be all the heavens and the worlds in them (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2413-18)

The things that are perish into the things out of which they come to be according to necessity for ldquothey pay penalty and retribution to one another according to their injustice in accordance with the ordering of timerdquo as he says in rather poetical language (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2418-21)

Anaximander of Miletus

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The ARCHE

bull One and unlimitedbull But not undefined Itrsquos AIR

Anaximenes of Miletus

bull Not opposites but a continuum FIRE AIR larr WIND larr CLOUD larr WATER larr EARTH larr STONEbull ldquoLooseningrdquo and ldquotighteningrdquo explain hot and cold

H E R A C L I T U S B 1 0 1 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 3 7 )

I searched out myself

Listening not to me but to the logos it is wise to agree that all things are one

H E R A C L I T U S B 5 0 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 1 1 )

E X A M P L E S

THE ROAD TO PHILOSOP HY

The Hero of Lyric Poets of the Polis (6th century)

bull According to the lyric poets of the polis culture such as Pindar Simonides Tyrtaeus and Sappho (7th-6th century BCE)

bull Pursues collective good of the polis based on strong ties of interdependent responsibility amp cooperation in a just world governed by the gods

Individual Freedom The ldquoSophistsrdquo (5th century)

bull Sources in thinkers like Protagoras and Gorgias (5th century BCE predominantly working in Athens) constructed as a category by Platorsquos later writings

bull Pursues individual advantage based on their personal beliefs and wits using persuasion and power skepticism of traditional values

Vulnerability The Hero of Tragedy (5th century)

bull Iconic examples include Sophoclesrsquo Oedipus and Aeschylusrsquo Agamemnon and Orestes

bull Pursuit of individual amp collective good in a world of apparently conflicting divine values sometimes hampered by their own lack of self-knowledge

I N T E R D E P E N D E N C Y I N T R O D U C E S V U L N E R A B I L I T Y W H I C H M AY B E

C E L E B R AT E D O R R E S I S T E D

The Hero of Epic Homer and Hesiod (8th century)

bull Found in the epic Iliad and Odyssey attributed to Homer (c 8th century BCE) examples include the powerful Achilles and thoughtful persuasive Odysseus

bull Pursues individual honour (timē) in a just world governed by the gods

CH

IGI V

AS

E C

70

0 B

CE

The Hero of Reason The ldquoPresocratics (6th-5th cent)

bull Founding figures including Thales Anaximander Anaximenes Pythagoras Heraclitus Parmenides Seeking to understand the basic original causes (aitiai) of the world through reason

I S T H E W O R L D G E N U I N E LY

I N T E L L I G I B L E T O R E A S O N

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Born in Athens to a stonemason named Sophroniscus in 469 BCE

bull ldquoSocratic problemrdquo Socrates wrote nothing we know about him through Plato Xenophon and Aristophanes whose accounts vary

bull Conversed with anyone ldquorich or poor citizen or foreignerrdquo (Apology 23C)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Non-conformity reliance on individual values and wits (contrast with the earlier poets and rhapsodes)

bull Claims of ignorance interest in shared truth and not only persuasion and resistance of ldquoselfish morality (contrast with the sophists)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Methods based on question and answer (the elenchus) requiring unity or consistency (a) of onersquos beliefs and (b) of onersquos beliefs and actions

bull Behaviour peculiar enough to warrant its own verb (sōkratein) (Arist Birds 1282) before generalized philosophia

bull Brought to trial in 399 BCE by two Athenians Meletus and Anytus charged with ldquoimpiety and corrupting the youngrdquo

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

S O C R AT E S C R I T O 4 6 A

I am the kind of person who listens to nothing within me but the logos that on reflection seems

best to me

L O G O S R E A S O N VA L U E C O N S C I E N C E M E A N I N G

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousness A sense of such significances that what is great is fragile and that what is necessary may be destructive which is present in the literature of the fifth century and earlier has disappeared [later] from the ethics of the philosophers and perhaps altogether from their minds Greek philosophy in its sustained pursuit of rational self-sufficiency does turn its back on kinds of human experience and human necessity of which Greek literature itself offers the purest if not the richest expression

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y A N D P H I L O S O P H Y

The continuity between Greek tragedy and Greek philosophy on these questions is however far greater than Williams has allowed On the one hand inside tragedy itself we find arresting portrayals of the human ambition to rational self-sufficiency we come to understand the ways in which problems of exposure motivate this ambition On the other Platos philosophical search for a self- sufficient good life is motivated by a keen sense of these same problems Far from having forgotten about what tragedy describes he sees the problems of exposure so clearly that only a radical solution seems adequate to their depth Nor is he naiumlve about the costs of this solution

N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y P R A C T I C A L C O N F L I C T

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identical which is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A)

Socrates ldquoencourages Euthyphro [a pious Greek] to revise tradition by considering as binding only those requirements concerning which there is divine unanimity he expresses further his own doubt as to whether gods really do disagreerdquo (Nussbaum 30)

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identicalwhich is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A Nussbaum 25)

O D Y S S E U S T O P O LY P H E M U S H O M E R O D Y S S E Y 9 2 6 9 - 7 1

But revere the gods most noble one We are supplicants (hiketai) to you Zeus is the avenger (epitimētōr) of suppliants and strangers

the guest god who attends venerable strangers

W E A R E I N Z E U S rsquo W O R L D ( A S D E S C R I B E D I N THEOGONY )

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

T H E LY R I C P O E T SC 6 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Pindar of Thebes

Simonides of Ceos

Sappho of Lesbos

LY R I C I N T R O D U C T I O N

bull Occasional poetry

bull Often sung to the lyre (lyrē) in varied meters

bull CHORAL LYRIC

bull Dancing choruses at religious festivals contests family events

bull Enforcing collective civic values

bull MONODIC LYRIC

bull Individual performance

bull Personal in emotion amp outlookBrygos Painter c 490 BCE

Sappho and Alcaeus

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

Creatures of the passing day What is any one What is any one not Shadows dream is man But when the radiance given of Zeus comes

there is a bright light upon men and life is sweet

P I N D A R P Y T H 8 9 5 - 9 7

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

I praise and embrace everyone who willingly does nothing base (aischron) but with necessity not even the gods fight A man not too helpless suffices for me one who knows the justice that benefits the

city (polis) a sound and healthy man I will not lay blame for the generation of fools is limitless Everything is noble (kala) with which

base deeds are not mingled

S I M O N I D E S 5 4 2 2 7 - 4 0

Simonides is criticizing the traditional definition of the good noble or successful man (agathos esthlos) Such goodness or nobility depends upon external achievements and possessions (wealth honour prowess in battle) which are too insecure to form a real basis for human excellence Instead Simonides stresses intention justice that benefits the city acknowledgement of the fragility of lifehellip

C S E G A L ldquo C H O R A L LY R I C I N T H E F I F T H C E N T U R Y rdquo I N P E E A S T E R L I N G amp B M W K N O X T H E C A M B R I D G E H I S T O R Y O F

C L A S S I C A L L I T E R AT U R E I ( C A M B R I D G E 2 0 0 8 ) 2 2 4

LY R I C C O N T E X T

Hoplites in phalanx formation From the Chigi Vase proto-Corinthian pitcher ca 650-640 BC

3 0 0 ( W A R N E R B R O S 2 0 0 6 ) ldquo W H AT I S Y O U R P R O F E S S I O N rdquo

W W W Y O U T U B E C O M W AT C H V = A N A 3 C O 8 3 _ G K

3 0 0 ( W A R N E R B R O S 2 0 0 6 ) ldquo F I G H T I N T H E S H A D E rdquo

Y O U T U B E 4 J K P G D D M A R S T = 1 2 4

τοιόνδ ἄνθος Περσίδος αἴας οἴχεται ἀνδρῶν

οὓς πέρι πᾶσα χθὼν Ἀσιῆτις ρέψασα πόθῳ στένεται microαλερῷ τοκέης τ ἄλοχοί θ ἡmicroερολεγδὸν τείνοντα χρόνον τροmicroέονται

A E S C H Y L U S P E R S A I 5 9 - 6 4 C P I L I A D 9 4 1 0 - 1 6

S E E C A S E Y D U Eacute T H E C A P T I V E W O M A N rsquo S L A M E N T I N G R E E K T R A G E DY C H 2

Such is the flower [anthos] of the Persian land such is the flower of men that has disappeared

The entire land of Asia laments the men she nourished with fierce

longing [pothos] Parents and wives counting the days

tremble at the increasing length of time

P I N D A R

bull Born near Thebes c 518 BCE

bull Composed important epinician odes (epi-nikia for-a-victory in a contest)

bull Depicts the gods as maintaining civic values of justice (O 1 P 1-3 P 8) compassionate (N 10) and forgiving (O 7456) guardians of polis morality

bull Celebrated ldquoroughrdquo style

bull ldquoA soaring eaglehellip a rushing streamrdquo (Horace Od 42) ldquoA vast firerdquo (Longinus Sublime 335)

Bust of the lyric poet Pindar Roman copy from original of the mid-5 century BC

F I F T H - C E N T U R Y C H O R A L LY R I C

A C O R N T O O A K T R E E N E I L B R O M H A L L bull y o u t u b e Z K 4 L j U R t a D w

Some people pray for gold others for limitless lands but I pray to please my fellow citizens and then to cover my limbs in earth

having praised the praiseworthy and scattered reproof on the wicked Excellence soars upward like a tree fed on fresh dews

lifted among the wise and just toward the liquid upper air The need for friends comes in many forms

it is most valued in times of trouble but joy too craves to look upon trusty support

P I N D A R N E M E A N 8 3 6 - 4 3

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

F R A G I L I T Ybull How can we be praiseworthy if we are vulnerable (to circumstances)

bull [The poetic world-view and Pindarrsquos career as praise poet of aretē require] ldquothe belief that the excellence of a good person is something of that persons own for whose possession and exercise that person can appropriately be held accountablerdquo (Nussbaum 1)

bull But ldquoHow can we be givers and receivers of praise if our worth ishellip a plant in need of wateringrdquo (2)

bull ldquoWe need to be born with adequate capacities to live in fostering natural and social circumstances to stay clear of abrupt catastrophe to develop confirming associations with other human beingsrdquo (1)

bull A further complication ldquoThe tenderness of a plant is not the dazzling hardness of a gemrdquo perhaps ldquopart of the peculiar beauty of human excellence just is its vulnerabilityrdquo (2)

M A R T H A N U S S B A U M T H E F R A G I L I T Y O F G O O D N E S S C H 1 L U C K amp E T H I C S

T H E P O W E R O F R E A S O N [T]here is the consolation that so far Pindar has apparently left something out However much human beings resemble lower forms of life we are unlike we want to insist in one crucial respect We have reason We are able to deliberate and choose to make a plan in which ends are ranked to decide actively what is to have value and how much All this must count for something If it is true that a lot about us is messy needy uncontrolled rooted in the dirt and standing helplessly in the rain it is also true that there is something about us that is pure and purely active something that we could think of as divine immortal intelligible unitary indissoluble ever self-consistent and invariablelsquo [Plato Phaedo 80B] It seems possible that this rational element in us can rule and guide the rest thereby saving the whole person from living at the mercy of luck

N U S S B A U M F R A G I L I T Y 2

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S S O P H I S T S A N D T R A G E D I A N SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Athens

AT H E N S rsquo A C R O P O L I S A S I M A G I N E D B Y L E O V O N K L E N Z E O I L O N C A N VA S 1 8 4 6 N E U E P I N A K O T H E K

A S S A S S I N rsquo S C R E E D O D Y S S E Y bull A T O U R O F AT H E N S U B I S O F T ( 2 0 1 8 )

bull Athens is the first lsquopeople-ruledrsquo polis (dēmokratia) in the Mediterranean world

bull She has achieved unchallenged naval authority and an empire which is labeled a lsquocommonwealthrsquo

bull At the commercial and cultural crossroads of Italy Greece Egypt and the Near East

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

S P E E C H A N D D E M O C R A C Y

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

bull In this cosmopolitan environment traditional views are challenged leading to a perceived erosion of moral values

bull The rhapsodes use poetic forms to transmit traditional morality

bull The tragedians use poetic forms to explore amp challenge mythrsquos assumptions

bull The sophists teach ldquowisdomrdquo (sophia) including rhetoric and political oratory perceived as a new lsquotechnologyrsquo to steer the ship of state for onersquos own ends

bull Use onersquos own wits ldquoA person is the measure of all thingsrdquo Protagoras B1

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

T R A G E D Y V U L N E R A B I L I T Y A N D R E A S O NC 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E AT H E N S

Aeschylus Agamemnon (458 BCE) and Euripides Iphigeneia at Aulis (405 BCE) The Sacrifice of Iphigeneia by Francesco Fontebasso bull 1749 oil on canvas

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousnesshellip what is great is fragile andhellip what is necessary may be destructivehellip

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

In such cases we see a wrong action committed without any direct physical compulsion and in full knowledge of its nature by a person whose ethical character or commitments would otherwise dispose him to reject the acthellip circumstanceshellip prevent the adequate fulfillment of two valid ethical claims

N U S S B A U M 2 5

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

[Aeschylus in Agamemnon] shows us not so much a solution to the problem of practical conflict as the richness and depth of the problem itself (This achievement is closely connected with his poetic resources which put the scene vividly before us show us debate about it and evoke in us responses important to its assessment)

The best the agent can do is to have his suffering the natural expression of his goodness of character and not to stifle these responses out of misguided optimism The best we (the Chorus) can do for him is to respect the gravity of his predicament to respect the responses that express his goodness and to think about his case as showing a possibility for human life in general

N U S S B A U M 4 9 - 5 0

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

bull In a world that allows such dilemmas are there truly gods with a coherent vision for the world

bull Can individual reason and ingenuity suffice for a good life

T H E S O P H I S T SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Hesiod Works amp Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale Piteously she transfixed by his crooked claws was lamenting When the imperious hawk addressed her in arrogant parlance Why little lady such shrieks One stronger than you now has got you Where you are going Ill take you myself though you are a songstress For as I please Ill make you my dinner or give you your freedom Witless is one who attempts to strive against those who are stronger When he is stripped of the prize its injury added to insult Thus said the fast-flying hawk that bird with the generous wing-spanPay more attention to justice and curb high-handedness [brother] Violence ill suits men who are lowly not even the noble Man can lightly endure it it weighs on a person whos fallen Into affliction Its better to take your way on the other Road which conduces to right For outrage (hubris) surrenders to

justice (dikē)hellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Thucydides History 584-116 The Melian Dialogue ATHENIANS [Y]ou know as well as we do that when these matters are discussed by practical people the standard of justice depends on the equality of power to compel and that in fact the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they musthellip Our opinion of the gods and our knowledge of men lead us to conclude that it is a general and necessary law of nature to rule whatever one can This is not a law that we made ourselves nor were we the first to act upon it when it was made We found it already in existence and we shall leave it to exist for ever among those who come after us

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos

advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Republic I 343A-D Thrasymachusrsquo complaint Tell me Socrates do you still have a wet nursehellip Because shersquos letting you run around with a snotty nose and doesnrsquot wipe it when she needs tohellip You think that shepherds and cowherds seek the good of their sheep and cattle and fatten them and take care of them looking to something other than their masterrsquos good and their own Moreover you believe that rulershellip think of something besides their own advantage You are so far from understandinghellip that you donrsquot realize that justice is really the good of another the advantage of the stronger and the ruler and harmful to the one who obeys and serves Injustice is the opposite it rules the truly simple and just and those it rules do what is to the advantage of the other and stronger and they make the one they serve happy but themselves not at all You must look at it as follows my most simple Socrates A just man always gets less than an unjust onehellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Gorgias 482C-484C Callicles on nature and convention [Y]oursquore in fact bringing the discussion around to the sort of crowd-pleasing vulgarities that are admirable only by law [nomos also translatable ldquoconventionrdquo or ldquocustomrdquo] and not by nature And these nature and law are for the most part opposed to each otherhellip I believe that the people who institute our laws are the weak and the many So they institute laws and assign praise and blame with themselves and their own advantage in mind As a way of frightening the more powerfulhellip out of getting a greater share than they they say that getting more than onersquos share is ldquoshamefulrdquo and ldquounjusthelliprdquo But surely if a man whose nature is equal to it arises he will shake off tear apart and escape all this he will trample underfoot our documents our tricks and charms and all our laws that violate nature He the slave will rise up and be revealed as our master and here the justice of nature will shine forth

The New Teachers of Athens

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

P R E - S O C R AT I C ldquo P H I L O S O P H E R S 6 T H - 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

P R E - S O C R AT I C P H I L O S O P H E R S

bull Though not usually calling themselves ldquophilosophersrdquo they seemed to have contributed inspiration for Socratesrsquo method of free inquiry applying logos

bull Scholars adopt different views of what constitutes their innovation and ldquophilosophicalrdquo method (see readings)

bull Basing views on argument and evidence

bull De-ldquomythologizationrdquo

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Miletus

E A R LY P H I L O S O P H Y A N C I E N T M I L E T U S

M I L E T U S

bull Wealthy city-state in Asia Minor

bull Key city for trading and shipping between Near East amp Greece

bull Ionian Greek culture

bull Freedom of thought

bull Open political debate

bull Wealth (for some) providing leisure

bull Thales and his successors Anaximander Anaximenes

bull ldquoPhilosophicalrdquo investigation

bull Later Presocratics Heraclitus ParmenidesldquoORIENTALIZINGrdquo POTTERY

The Milesian school strikes a new note unheard before It has a fresh sense of the meaning of truth ndash a feeling for the sort of thing it is reasonable to suppose The hypothesis it characteristically deals in is concerned with the nature of the one primary stuff the Milesians seem to make a great conscious effort to get at something which really does exist They strike us as throwing off the vast symbolic visions of mythology and waking clear-headed to see and touch real things If we have a rational temperament we feel at once a refreshment Here at last is a statement about the world which is meant and offered as true ndash a logos [explanation] not a mythos [story]

ndash F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952 ed) 42

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The questions which excited them were of this kind Can this apparently confused and disordered world be reduced to simpler principles so that our reason can grasp what it is and how it works What is it made of How does change take place They abandoned mythological and substituted intellectual solutions [It] was no longer satisfying to say that storms were roused by the wrath of Poseidon or death caused by the arrows of Apollo or Artemis A world ruled by anthropomorphic gods human in their passions was a world ruled by caprice Philosophy and science start with the bold confession of faith that not caprice but an inherent orderliness underlies the phenomena and the explanation of nature is to be sought within nature itself ndashWKC Guthrie History of Greek Philosophy (Cambridge 1969) 1 44-45

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

Thales of Miletus

bull Lived late 7th-6th centurybull Born to a Phoenician aristocratic

family ndash so leisurebull Traveled to Egypt and Babylon (by

tradition)bull Legendary wisdombull ldquoFounder of Western philosophyrdquo

bull First to seek an ldquooriginal causerdquo (archecirc)

bull to explain how unseen facts caused visible results without appeal to mythology

bull To provide generalizable proofs or laws

Thales of Miletus

AstronomyMathematicsWater as the archecircAll things are full of gods

bull Traditionally Thalesrsquo star student

bull 25 years old during Thalesrsquo eclipse (585 BCE)

bull Lived c 610-540 BCE

bull ldquoFirst to draw the inhabited world on a tabletrdquo (first mapmaker)

bull Unambiguously our first ldquophilosopherrdquo by standards of demythologization originality generality and observation

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

ldquoAnaximander has expurgated the supernatural with a boldness and completeness to which many of his successors failed to attain The primary order is still said to be lsquoaccording to what is ordainedrsquo it is still a moral order in which Justice prevails but the will of the personal God has disappeared and its place is partly taken by a natural cause the eternal motionrdquo

- F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952) 41 Anaximander relief 1st century AD

Rome Museo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Key contributions

bull Physics the archecircbull Cosmologybull ldquoEvolutionrdquobull Astronomy and Cartography

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Anaximander said that the APEIRON [indefinite unlimited] was the ARCHE and the element of things that are and he was the first to introduce this name for the ARCHE He says that the ARCHE is neither water nor any other of the things called elements but some other nature called APEIRON out of which come to be all the heavens and the worlds in them (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2413-18)

The things that are perish into the things out of which they come to be according to necessity for ldquothey pay penalty and retribution to one another according to their injustice in accordance with the ordering of timerdquo as he says in rather poetical language (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2418-21)

Anaximander of Miletus

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The ARCHE

bull One and unlimitedbull But not undefined Itrsquos AIR

Anaximenes of Miletus

bull Not opposites but a continuum FIRE AIR larr WIND larr CLOUD larr WATER larr EARTH larr STONEbull ldquoLooseningrdquo and ldquotighteningrdquo explain hot and cold

H E R A C L I T U S B 1 0 1 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 3 7 )

I searched out myself

Listening not to me but to the logos it is wise to agree that all things are one

H E R A C L I T U S B 5 0 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 1 1 )

E X A M P L E S

THE ROAD TO PHILOSOP HY

The Hero of Lyric Poets of the Polis (6th century)

bull According to the lyric poets of the polis culture such as Pindar Simonides Tyrtaeus and Sappho (7th-6th century BCE)

bull Pursues collective good of the polis based on strong ties of interdependent responsibility amp cooperation in a just world governed by the gods

Individual Freedom The ldquoSophistsrdquo (5th century)

bull Sources in thinkers like Protagoras and Gorgias (5th century BCE predominantly working in Athens) constructed as a category by Platorsquos later writings

bull Pursues individual advantage based on their personal beliefs and wits using persuasion and power skepticism of traditional values

Vulnerability The Hero of Tragedy (5th century)

bull Iconic examples include Sophoclesrsquo Oedipus and Aeschylusrsquo Agamemnon and Orestes

bull Pursuit of individual amp collective good in a world of apparently conflicting divine values sometimes hampered by their own lack of self-knowledge

I N T E R D E P E N D E N C Y I N T R O D U C E S V U L N E R A B I L I T Y W H I C H M AY B E

C E L E B R AT E D O R R E S I S T E D

The Hero of Epic Homer and Hesiod (8th century)

bull Found in the epic Iliad and Odyssey attributed to Homer (c 8th century BCE) examples include the powerful Achilles and thoughtful persuasive Odysseus

bull Pursues individual honour (timē) in a just world governed by the gods

CH

IGI V

AS

E C

70

0 B

CE

The Hero of Reason The ldquoPresocratics (6th-5th cent)

bull Founding figures including Thales Anaximander Anaximenes Pythagoras Heraclitus Parmenides Seeking to understand the basic original causes (aitiai) of the world through reason

I S T H E W O R L D G E N U I N E LY

I N T E L L I G I B L E T O R E A S O N

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Born in Athens to a stonemason named Sophroniscus in 469 BCE

bull ldquoSocratic problemrdquo Socrates wrote nothing we know about him through Plato Xenophon and Aristophanes whose accounts vary

bull Conversed with anyone ldquorich or poor citizen or foreignerrdquo (Apology 23C)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Non-conformity reliance on individual values and wits (contrast with the earlier poets and rhapsodes)

bull Claims of ignorance interest in shared truth and not only persuasion and resistance of ldquoselfish morality (contrast with the sophists)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Methods based on question and answer (the elenchus) requiring unity or consistency (a) of onersquos beliefs and (b) of onersquos beliefs and actions

bull Behaviour peculiar enough to warrant its own verb (sōkratein) (Arist Birds 1282) before generalized philosophia

bull Brought to trial in 399 BCE by two Athenians Meletus and Anytus charged with ldquoimpiety and corrupting the youngrdquo

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

S O C R AT E S C R I T O 4 6 A

I am the kind of person who listens to nothing within me but the logos that on reflection seems

best to me

L O G O S R E A S O N VA L U E C O N S C I E N C E M E A N I N G

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousness A sense of such significances that what is great is fragile and that what is necessary may be destructive which is present in the literature of the fifth century and earlier has disappeared [later] from the ethics of the philosophers and perhaps altogether from their minds Greek philosophy in its sustained pursuit of rational self-sufficiency does turn its back on kinds of human experience and human necessity of which Greek literature itself offers the purest if not the richest expression

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y A N D P H I L O S O P H Y

The continuity between Greek tragedy and Greek philosophy on these questions is however far greater than Williams has allowed On the one hand inside tragedy itself we find arresting portrayals of the human ambition to rational self-sufficiency we come to understand the ways in which problems of exposure motivate this ambition On the other Platos philosophical search for a self- sufficient good life is motivated by a keen sense of these same problems Far from having forgotten about what tragedy describes he sees the problems of exposure so clearly that only a radical solution seems adequate to their depth Nor is he naiumlve about the costs of this solution

N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y P R A C T I C A L C O N F L I C T

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identical which is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A)

Socrates ldquoencourages Euthyphro [a pious Greek] to revise tradition by considering as binding only those requirements concerning which there is divine unanimity he expresses further his own doubt as to whether gods really do disagreerdquo (Nussbaum 30)

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identicalwhich is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A Nussbaum 25)

T H E H O M E R I C H E R O

bull His challenge

bull The pursuit of timē

bull Of the hero

bull Of the gods

bull Of the needy

Brad Pitt as Achilles Publicity photograph from Troy (2004)

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

T H E LY R I C P O E T SC 6 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Pindar of Thebes

Simonides of Ceos

Sappho of Lesbos

LY R I C I N T R O D U C T I O N

bull Occasional poetry

bull Often sung to the lyre (lyrē) in varied meters

bull CHORAL LYRIC

bull Dancing choruses at religious festivals contests family events

bull Enforcing collective civic values

bull MONODIC LYRIC

bull Individual performance

bull Personal in emotion amp outlookBrygos Painter c 490 BCE

Sappho and Alcaeus

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

Creatures of the passing day What is any one What is any one not Shadows dream is man But when the radiance given of Zeus comes

there is a bright light upon men and life is sweet

P I N D A R P Y T H 8 9 5 - 9 7

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

I praise and embrace everyone who willingly does nothing base (aischron) but with necessity not even the gods fight A man not too helpless suffices for me one who knows the justice that benefits the

city (polis) a sound and healthy man I will not lay blame for the generation of fools is limitless Everything is noble (kala) with which

base deeds are not mingled

S I M O N I D E S 5 4 2 2 7 - 4 0

Simonides is criticizing the traditional definition of the good noble or successful man (agathos esthlos) Such goodness or nobility depends upon external achievements and possessions (wealth honour prowess in battle) which are too insecure to form a real basis for human excellence Instead Simonides stresses intention justice that benefits the city acknowledgement of the fragility of lifehellip

C S E G A L ldquo C H O R A L LY R I C I N T H E F I F T H C E N T U R Y rdquo I N P E E A S T E R L I N G amp B M W K N O X T H E C A M B R I D G E H I S T O R Y O F

C L A S S I C A L L I T E R AT U R E I ( C A M B R I D G E 2 0 0 8 ) 2 2 4

LY R I C C O N T E X T

Hoplites in phalanx formation From the Chigi Vase proto-Corinthian pitcher ca 650-640 BC

3 0 0 ( W A R N E R B R O S 2 0 0 6 ) ldquo W H AT I S Y O U R P R O F E S S I O N rdquo

W W W Y O U T U B E C O M W AT C H V = A N A 3 C O 8 3 _ G K

3 0 0 ( W A R N E R B R O S 2 0 0 6 ) ldquo F I G H T I N T H E S H A D E rdquo

Y O U T U B E 4 J K P G D D M A R S T = 1 2 4

τοιόνδ ἄνθος Περσίδος αἴας οἴχεται ἀνδρῶν

οὓς πέρι πᾶσα χθὼν Ἀσιῆτις ρέψασα πόθῳ στένεται microαλερῷ τοκέης τ ἄλοχοί θ ἡmicroερολεγδὸν τείνοντα χρόνον τροmicroέονται

A E S C H Y L U S P E R S A I 5 9 - 6 4 C P I L I A D 9 4 1 0 - 1 6

S E E C A S E Y D U Eacute T H E C A P T I V E W O M A N rsquo S L A M E N T I N G R E E K T R A G E DY C H 2

Such is the flower [anthos] of the Persian land such is the flower of men that has disappeared

The entire land of Asia laments the men she nourished with fierce

longing [pothos] Parents and wives counting the days

tremble at the increasing length of time

P I N D A R

bull Born near Thebes c 518 BCE

bull Composed important epinician odes (epi-nikia for-a-victory in a contest)

bull Depicts the gods as maintaining civic values of justice (O 1 P 1-3 P 8) compassionate (N 10) and forgiving (O 7456) guardians of polis morality

bull Celebrated ldquoroughrdquo style

bull ldquoA soaring eaglehellip a rushing streamrdquo (Horace Od 42) ldquoA vast firerdquo (Longinus Sublime 335)

Bust of the lyric poet Pindar Roman copy from original of the mid-5 century BC

F I F T H - C E N T U R Y C H O R A L LY R I C

A C O R N T O O A K T R E E N E I L B R O M H A L L bull y o u t u b e Z K 4 L j U R t a D w

Some people pray for gold others for limitless lands but I pray to please my fellow citizens and then to cover my limbs in earth

having praised the praiseworthy and scattered reproof on the wicked Excellence soars upward like a tree fed on fresh dews

lifted among the wise and just toward the liquid upper air The need for friends comes in many forms

it is most valued in times of trouble but joy too craves to look upon trusty support

P I N D A R N E M E A N 8 3 6 - 4 3

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

F R A G I L I T Ybull How can we be praiseworthy if we are vulnerable (to circumstances)

bull [The poetic world-view and Pindarrsquos career as praise poet of aretē require] ldquothe belief that the excellence of a good person is something of that persons own for whose possession and exercise that person can appropriately be held accountablerdquo (Nussbaum 1)

bull But ldquoHow can we be givers and receivers of praise if our worth ishellip a plant in need of wateringrdquo (2)

bull ldquoWe need to be born with adequate capacities to live in fostering natural and social circumstances to stay clear of abrupt catastrophe to develop confirming associations with other human beingsrdquo (1)

bull A further complication ldquoThe tenderness of a plant is not the dazzling hardness of a gemrdquo perhaps ldquopart of the peculiar beauty of human excellence just is its vulnerabilityrdquo (2)

M A R T H A N U S S B A U M T H E F R A G I L I T Y O F G O O D N E S S C H 1 L U C K amp E T H I C S

T H E P O W E R O F R E A S O N [T]here is the consolation that so far Pindar has apparently left something out However much human beings resemble lower forms of life we are unlike we want to insist in one crucial respect We have reason We are able to deliberate and choose to make a plan in which ends are ranked to decide actively what is to have value and how much All this must count for something If it is true that a lot about us is messy needy uncontrolled rooted in the dirt and standing helplessly in the rain it is also true that there is something about us that is pure and purely active something that we could think of as divine immortal intelligible unitary indissoluble ever self-consistent and invariablelsquo [Plato Phaedo 80B] It seems possible that this rational element in us can rule and guide the rest thereby saving the whole person from living at the mercy of luck

N U S S B A U M F R A G I L I T Y 2

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S S O P H I S T S A N D T R A G E D I A N SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Athens

AT H E N S rsquo A C R O P O L I S A S I M A G I N E D B Y L E O V O N K L E N Z E O I L O N C A N VA S 1 8 4 6 N E U E P I N A K O T H E K

A S S A S S I N rsquo S C R E E D O D Y S S E Y bull A T O U R O F AT H E N S U B I S O F T ( 2 0 1 8 )

bull Athens is the first lsquopeople-ruledrsquo polis (dēmokratia) in the Mediterranean world

bull She has achieved unchallenged naval authority and an empire which is labeled a lsquocommonwealthrsquo

bull At the commercial and cultural crossroads of Italy Greece Egypt and the Near East

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

S P E E C H A N D D E M O C R A C Y

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

bull In this cosmopolitan environment traditional views are challenged leading to a perceived erosion of moral values

bull The rhapsodes use poetic forms to transmit traditional morality

bull The tragedians use poetic forms to explore amp challenge mythrsquos assumptions

bull The sophists teach ldquowisdomrdquo (sophia) including rhetoric and political oratory perceived as a new lsquotechnologyrsquo to steer the ship of state for onersquos own ends

bull Use onersquos own wits ldquoA person is the measure of all thingsrdquo Protagoras B1

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

T R A G E D Y V U L N E R A B I L I T Y A N D R E A S O NC 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E AT H E N S

Aeschylus Agamemnon (458 BCE) and Euripides Iphigeneia at Aulis (405 BCE) The Sacrifice of Iphigeneia by Francesco Fontebasso bull 1749 oil on canvas

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousnesshellip what is great is fragile andhellip what is necessary may be destructivehellip

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

In such cases we see a wrong action committed without any direct physical compulsion and in full knowledge of its nature by a person whose ethical character or commitments would otherwise dispose him to reject the acthellip circumstanceshellip prevent the adequate fulfillment of two valid ethical claims

N U S S B A U M 2 5

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

[Aeschylus in Agamemnon] shows us not so much a solution to the problem of practical conflict as the richness and depth of the problem itself (This achievement is closely connected with his poetic resources which put the scene vividly before us show us debate about it and evoke in us responses important to its assessment)

The best the agent can do is to have his suffering the natural expression of his goodness of character and not to stifle these responses out of misguided optimism The best we (the Chorus) can do for him is to respect the gravity of his predicament to respect the responses that express his goodness and to think about his case as showing a possibility for human life in general

N U S S B A U M 4 9 - 5 0

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

bull In a world that allows such dilemmas are there truly gods with a coherent vision for the world

bull Can individual reason and ingenuity suffice for a good life

T H E S O P H I S T SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Hesiod Works amp Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale Piteously she transfixed by his crooked claws was lamenting When the imperious hawk addressed her in arrogant parlance Why little lady such shrieks One stronger than you now has got you Where you are going Ill take you myself though you are a songstress For as I please Ill make you my dinner or give you your freedom Witless is one who attempts to strive against those who are stronger When he is stripped of the prize its injury added to insult Thus said the fast-flying hawk that bird with the generous wing-spanPay more attention to justice and curb high-handedness [brother] Violence ill suits men who are lowly not even the noble Man can lightly endure it it weighs on a person whos fallen Into affliction Its better to take your way on the other Road which conduces to right For outrage (hubris) surrenders to

justice (dikē)hellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Thucydides History 584-116 The Melian Dialogue ATHENIANS [Y]ou know as well as we do that when these matters are discussed by practical people the standard of justice depends on the equality of power to compel and that in fact the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they musthellip Our opinion of the gods and our knowledge of men lead us to conclude that it is a general and necessary law of nature to rule whatever one can This is not a law that we made ourselves nor were we the first to act upon it when it was made We found it already in existence and we shall leave it to exist for ever among those who come after us

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos

advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Republic I 343A-D Thrasymachusrsquo complaint Tell me Socrates do you still have a wet nursehellip Because shersquos letting you run around with a snotty nose and doesnrsquot wipe it when she needs tohellip You think that shepherds and cowherds seek the good of their sheep and cattle and fatten them and take care of them looking to something other than their masterrsquos good and their own Moreover you believe that rulershellip think of something besides their own advantage You are so far from understandinghellip that you donrsquot realize that justice is really the good of another the advantage of the stronger and the ruler and harmful to the one who obeys and serves Injustice is the opposite it rules the truly simple and just and those it rules do what is to the advantage of the other and stronger and they make the one they serve happy but themselves not at all You must look at it as follows my most simple Socrates A just man always gets less than an unjust onehellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Gorgias 482C-484C Callicles on nature and convention [Y]oursquore in fact bringing the discussion around to the sort of crowd-pleasing vulgarities that are admirable only by law [nomos also translatable ldquoconventionrdquo or ldquocustomrdquo] and not by nature And these nature and law are for the most part opposed to each otherhellip I believe that the people who institute our laws are the weak and the many So they institute laws and assign praise and blame with themselves and their own advantage in mind As a way of frightening the more powerfulhellip out of getting a greater share than they they say that getting more than onersquos share is ldquoshamefulrdquo and ldquounjusthelliprdquo But surely if a man whose nature is equal to it arises he will shake off tear apart and escape all this he will trample underfoot our documents our tricks and charms and all our laws that violate nature He the slave will rise up and be revealed as our master and here the justice of nature will shine forth

The New Teachers of Athens

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

P R E - S O C R AT I C ldquo P H I L O S O P H E R S 6 T H - 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

P R E - S O C R AT I C P H I L O S O P H E R S

bull Though not usually calling themselves ldquophilosophersrdquo they seemed to have contributed inspiration for Socratesrsquo method of free inquiry applying logos

bull Scholars adopt different views of what constitutes their innovation and ldquophilosophicalrdquo method (see readings)

bull Basing views on argument and evidence

bull De-ldquomythologizationrdquo

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Miletus

E A R LY P H I L O S O P H Y A N C I E N T M I L E T U S

M I L E T U S

bull Wealthy city-state in Asia Minor

bull Key city for trading and shipping between Near East amp Greece

bull Ionian Greek culture

bull Freedom of thought

bull Open political debate

bull Wealth (for some) providing leisure

bull Thales and his successors Anaximander Anaximenes

bull ldquoPhilosophicalrdquo investigation

bull Later Presocratics Heraclitus ParmenidesldquoORIENTALIZINGrdquo POTTERY

The Milesian school strikes a new note unheard before It has a fresh sense of the meaning of truth ndash a feeling for the sort of thing it is reasonable to suppose The hypothesis it characteristically deals in is concerned with the nature of the one primary stuff the Milesians seem to make a great conscious effort to get at something which really does exist They strike us as throwing off the vast symbolic visions of mythology and waking clear-headed to see and touch real things If we have a rational temperament we feel at once a refreshment Here at last is a statement about the world which is meant and offered as true ndash a logos [explanation] not a mythos [story]

ndash F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952 ed) 42

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The questions which excited them were of this kind Can this apparently confused and disordered world be reduced to simpler principles so that our reason can grasp what it is and how it works What is it made of How does change take place They abandoned mythological and substituted intellectual solutions [It] was no longer satisfying to say that storms were roused by the wrath of Poseidon or death caused by the arrows of Apollo or Artemis A world ruled by anthropomorphic gods human in their passions was a world ruled by caprice Philosophy and science start with the bold confession of faith that not caprice but an inherent orderliness underlies the phenomena and the explanation of nature is to be sought within nature itself ndashWKC Guthrie History of Greek Philosophy (Cambridge 1969) 1 44-45

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

Thales of Miletus

bull Lived late 7th-6th centurybull Born to a Phoenician aristocratic

family ndash so leisurebull Traveled to Egypt and Babylon (by

tradition)bull Legendary wisdombull ldquoFounder of Western philosophyrdquo

bull First to seek an ldquooriginal causerdquo (archecirc)

bull to explain how unseen facts caused visible results without appeal to mythology

bull To provide generalizable proofs or laws

Thales of Miletus

AstronomyMathematicsWater as the archecircAll things are full of gods

bull Traditionally Thalesrsquo star student

bull 25 years old during Thalesrsquo eclipse (585 BCE)

bull Lived c 610-540 BCE

bull ldquoFirst to draw the inhabited world on a tabletrdquo (first mapmaker)

bull Unambiguously our first ldquophilosopherrdquo by standards of demythologization originality generality and observation

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

ldquoAnaximander has expurgated the supernatural with a boldness and completeness to which many of his successors failed to attain The primary order is still said to be lsquoaccording to what is ordainedrsquo it is still a moral order in which Justice prevails but the will of the personal God has disappeared and its place is partly taken by a natural cause the eternal motionrdquo

- F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952) 41 Anaximander relief 1st century AD

Rome Museo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Key contributions

bull Physics the archecircbull Cosmologybull ldquoEvolutionrdquobull Astronomy and Cartography

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Anaximander said that the APEIRON [indefinite unlimited] was the ARCHE and the element of things that are and he was the first to introduce this name for the ARCHE He says that the ARCHE is neither water nor any other of the things called elements but some other nature called APEIRON out of which come to be all the heavens and the worlds in them (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2413-18)

The things that are perish into the things out of which they come to be according to necessity for ldquothey pay penalty and retribution to one another according to their injustice in accordance with the ordering of timerdquo as he says in rather poetical language (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2418-21)

Anaximander of Miletus

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The ARCHE

bull One and unlimitedbull But not undefined Itrsquos AIR

Anaximenes of Miletus

bull Not opposites but a continuum FIRE AIR larr WIND larr CLOUD larr WATER larr EARTH larr STONEbull ldquoLooseningrdquo and ldquotighteningrdquo explain hot and cold

H E R A C L I T U S B 1 0 1 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 3 7 )

I searched out myself

Listening not to me but to the logos it is wise to agree that all things are one

H E R A C L I T U S B 5 0 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 1 1 )

E X A M P L E S

THE ROAD TO PHILOSOP HY

The Hero of Lyric Poets of the Polis (6th century)

bull According to the lyric poets of the polis culture such as Pindar Simonides Tyrtaeus and Sappho (7th-6th century BCE)

bull Pursues collective good of the polis based on strong ties of interdependent responsibility amp cooperation in a just world governed by the gods

Individual Freedom The ldquoSophistsrdquo (5th century)

bull Sources in thinkers like Protagoras and Gorgias (5th century BCE predominantly working in Athens) constructed as a category by Platorsquos later writings

bull Pursues individual advantage based on their personal beliefs and wits using persuasion and power skepticism of traditional values

Vulnerability The Hero of Tragedy (5th century)

bull Iconic examples include Sophoclesrsquo Oedipus and Aeschylusrsquo Agamemnon and Orestes

bull Pursuit of individual amp collective good in a world of apparently conflicting divine values sometimes hampered by their own lack of self-knowledge

I N T E R D E P E N D E N C Y I N T R O D U C E S V U L N E R A B I L I T Y W H I C H M AY B E

C E L E B R AT E D O R R E S I S T E D

The Hero of Epic Homer and Hesiod (8th century)

bull Found in the epic Iliad and Odyssey attributed to Homer (c 8th century BCE) examples include the powerful Achilles and thoughtful persuasive Odysseus

bull Pursues individual honour (timē) in a just world governed by the gods

CH

IGI V

AS

E C

70

0 B

CE

The Hero of Reason The ldquoPresocratics (6th-5th cent)

bull Founding figures including Thales Anaximander Anaximenes Pythagoras Heraclitus Parmenides Seeking to understand the basic original causes (aitiai) of the world through reason

I S T H E W O R L D G E N U I N E LY

I N T E L L I G I B L E T O R E A S O N

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Born in Athens to a stonemason named Sophroniscus in 469 BCE

bull ldquoSocratic problemrdquo Socrates wrote nothing we know about him through Plato Xenophon and Aristophanes whose accounts vary

bull Conversed with anyone ldquorich or poor citizen or foreignerrdquo (Apology 23C)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Non-conformity reliance on individual values and wits (contrast with the earlier poets and rhapsodes)

bull Claims of ignorance interest in shared truth and not only persuasion and resistance of ldquoselfish morality (contrast with the sophists)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Methods based on question and answer (the elenchus) requiring unity or consistency (a) of onersquos beliefs and (b) of onersquos beliefs and actions

bull Behaviour peculiar enough to warrant its own verb (sōkratein) (Arist Birds 1282) before generalized philosophia

bull Brought to trial in 399 BCE by two Athenians Meletus and Anytus charged with ldquoimpiety and corrupting the youngrdquo

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

S O C R AT E S C R I T O 4 6 A

I am the kind of person who listens to nothing within me but the logos that on reflection seems

best to me

L O G O S R E A S O N VA L U E C O N S C I E N C E M E A N I N G

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousness A sense of such significances that what is great is fragile and that what is necessary may be destructive which is present in the literature of the fifth century and earlier has disappeared [later] from the ethics of the philosophers and perhaps altogether from their minds Greek philosophy in its sustained pursuit of rational self-sufficiency does turn its back on kinds of human experience and human necessity of which Greek literature itself offers the purest if not the richest expression

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y A N D P H I L O S O P H Y

The continuity between Greek tragedy and Greek philosophy on these questions is however far greater than Williams has allowed On the one hand inside tragedy itself we find arresting portrayals of the human ambition to rational self-sufficiency we come to understand the ways in which problems of exposure motivate this ambition On the other Platos philosophical search for a self- sufficient good life is motivated by a keen sense of these same problems Far from having forgotten about what tragedy describes he sees the problems of exposure so clearly that only a radical solution seems adequate to their depth Nor is he naiumlve about the costs of this solution

N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y P R A C T I C A L C O N F L I C T

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identical which is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A)

Socrates ldquoencourages Euthyphro [a pious Greek] to revise tradition by considering as binding only those requirements concerning which there is divine unanimity he expresses further his own doubt as to whether gods really do disagreerdquo (Nussbaum 30)

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identicalwhich is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A Nussbaum 25)

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

T H E LY R I C P O E T SC 6 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Pindar of Thebes

Simonides of Ceos

Sappho of Lesbos

LY R I C I N T R O D U C T I O N

bull Occasional poetry

bull Often sung to the lyre (lyrē) in varied meters

bull CHORAL LYRIC

bull Dancing choruses at religious festivals contests family events

bull Enforcing collective civic values

bull MONODIC LYRIC

bull Individual performance

bull Personal in emotion amp outlookBrygos Painter c 490 BCE

Sappho and Alcaeus

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

Creatures of the passing day What is any one What is any one not Shadows dream is man But when the radiance given of Zeus comes

there is a bright light upon men and life is sweet

P I N D A R P Y T H 8 9 5 - 9 7

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

I praise and embrace everyone who willingly does nothing base (aischron) but with necessity not even the gods fight A man not too helpless suffices for me one who knows the justice that benefits the

city (polis) a sound and healthy man I will not lay blame for the generation of fools is limitless Everything is noble (kala) with which

base deeds are not mingled

S I M O N I D E S 5 4 2 2 7 - 4 0

Simonides is criticizing the traditional definition of the good noble or successful man (agathos esthlos) Such goodness or nobility depends upon external achievements and possessions (wealth honour prowess in battle) which are too insecure to form a real basis for human excellence Instead Simonides stresses intention justice that benefits the city acknowledgement of the fragility of lifehellip

C S E G A L ldquo C H O R A L LY R I C I N T H E F I F T H C E N T U R Y rdquo I N P E E A S T E R L I N G amp B M W K N O X T H E C A M B R I D G E H I S T O R Y O F

C L A S S I C A L L I T E R AT U R E I ( C A M B R I D G E 2 0 0 8 ) 2 2 4

LY R I C C O N T E X T

Hoplites in phalanx formation From the Chigi Vase proto-Corinthian pitcher ca 650-640 BC

3 0 0 ( W A R N E R B R O S 2 0 0 6 ) ldquo W H AT I S Y O U R P R O F E S S I O N rdquo

W W W Y O U T U B E C O M W AT C H V = A N A 3 C O 8 3 _ G K

3 0 0 ( W A R N E R B R O S 2 0 0 6 ) ldquo F I G H T I N T H E S H A D E rdquo

Y O U T U B E 4 J K P G D D M A R S T = 1 2 4

τοιόνδ ἄνθος Περσίδος αἴας οἴχεται ἀνδρῶν

οὓς πέρι πᾶσα χθὼν Ἀσιῆτις ρέψασα πόθῳ στένεται microαλερῷ τοκέης τ ἄλοχοί θ ἡmicroερολεγδὸν τείνοντα χρόνον τροmicroέονται

A E S C H Y L U S P E R S A I 5 9 - 6 4 C P I L I A D 9 4 1 0 - 1 6

S E E C A S E Y D U Eacute T H E C A P T I V E W O M A N rsquo S L A M E N T I N G R E E K T R A G E DY C H 2

Such is the flower [anthos] of the Persian land such is the flower of men that has disappeared

The entire land of Asia laments the men she nourished with fierce

longing [pothos] Parents and wives counting the days

tremble at the increasing length of time

P I N D A R

bull Born near Thebes c 518 BCE

bull Composed important epinician odes (epi-nikia for-a-victory in a contest)

bull Depicts the gods as maintaining civic values of justice (O 1 P 1-3 P 8) compassionate (N 10) and forgiving (O 7456) guardians of polis morality

bull Celebrated ldquoroughrdquo style

bull ldquoA soaring eaglehellip a rushing streamrdquo (Horace Od 42) ldquoA vast firerdquo (Longinus Sublime 335)

Bust of the lyric poet Pindar Roman copy from original of the mid-5 century BC

F I F T H - C E N T U R Y C H O R A L LY R I C

A C O R N T O O A K T R E E N E I L B R O M H A L L bull y o u t u b e Z K 4 L j U R t a D w

Some people pray for gold others for limitless lands but I pray to please my fellow citizens and then to cover my limbs in earth

having praised the praiseworthy and scattered reproof on the wicked Excellence soars upward like a tree fed on fresh dews

lifted among the wise and just toward the liquid upper air The need for friends comes in many forms

it is most valued in times of trouble but joy too craves to look upon trusty support

P I N D A R N E M E A N 8 3 6 - 4 3

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

F R A G I L I T Ybull How can we be praiseworthy if we are vulnerable (to circumstances)

bull [The poetic world-view and Pindarrsquos career as praise poet of aretē require] ldquothe belief that the excellence of a good person is something of that persons own for whose possession and exercise that person can appropriately be held accountablerdquo (Nussbaum 1)

bull But ldquoHow can we be givers and receivers of praise if our worth ishellip a plant in need of wateringrdquo (2)

bull ldquoWe need to be born with adequate capacities to live in fostering natural and social circumstances to stay clear of abrupt catastrophe to develop confirming associations with other human beingsrdquo (1)

bull A further complication ldquoThe tenderness of a plant is not the dazzling hardness of a gemrdquo perhaps ldquopart of the peculiar beauty of human excellence just is its vulnerabilityrdquo (2)

M A R T H A N U S S B A U M T H E F R A G I L I T Y O F G O O D N E S S C H 1 L U C K amp E T H I C S

T H E P O W E R O F R E A S O N [T]here is the consolation that so far Pindar has apparently left something out However much human beings resemble lower forms of life we are unlike we want to insist in one crucial respect We have reason We are able to deliberate and choose to make a plan in which ends are ranked to decide actively what is to have value and how much All this must count for something If it is true that a lot about us is messy needy uncontrolled rooted in the dirt and standing helplessly in the rain it is also true that there is something about us that is pure and purely active something that we could think of as divine immortal intelligible unitary indissoluble ever self-consistent and invariablelsquo [Plato Phaedo 80B] It seems possible that this rational element in us can rule and guide the rest thereby saving the whole person from living at the mercy of luck

N U S S B A U M F R A G I L I T Y 2

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S S O P H I S T S A N D T R A G E D I A N SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Athens

AT H E N S rsquo A C R O P O L I S A S I M A G I N E D B Y L E O V O N K L E N Z E O I L O N C A N VA S 1 8 4 6 N E U E P I N A K O T H E K

A S S A S S I N rsquo S C R E E D O D Y S S E Y bull A T O U R O F AT H E N S U B I S O F T ( 2 0 1 8 )

bull Athens is the first lsquopeople-ruledrsquo polis (dēmokratia) in the Mediterranean world

bull She has achieved unchallenged naval authority and an empire which is labeled a lsquocommonwealthrsquo

bull At the commercial and cultural crossroads of Italy Greece Egypt and the Near East

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

S P E E C H A N D D E M O C R A C Y

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

bull In this cosmopolitan environment traditional views are challenged leading to a perceived erosion of moral values

bull The rhapsodes use poetic forms to transmit traditional morality

bull The tragedians use poetic forms to explore amp challenge mythrsquos assumptions

bull The sophists teach ldquowisdomrdquo (sophia) including rhetoric and political oratory perceived as a new lsquotechnologyrsquo to steer the ship of state for onersquos own ends

bull Use onersquos own wits ldquoA person is the measure of all thingsrdquo Protagoras B1

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

T R A G E D Y V U L N E R A B I L I T Y A N D R E A S O NC 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E AT H E N S

Aeschylus Agamemnon (458 BCE) and Euripides Iphigeneia at Aulis (405 BCE) The Sacrifice of Iphigeneia by Francesco Fontebasso bull 1749 oil on canvas

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousnesshellip what is great is fragile andhellip what is necessary may be destructivehellip

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

In such cases we see a wrong action committed without any direct physical compulsion and in full knowledge of its nature by a person whose ethical character or commitments would otherwise dispose him to reject the acthellip circumstanceshellip prevent the adequate fulfillment of two valid ethical claims

N U S S B A U M 2 5

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

[Aeschylus in Agamemnon] shows us not so much a solution to the problem of practical conflict as the richness and depth of the problem itself (This achievement is closely connected with his poetic resources which put the scene vividly before us show us debate about it and evoke in us responses important to its assessment)

The best the agent can do is to have his suffering the natural expression of his goodness of character and not to stifle these responses out of misguided optimism The best we (the Chorus) can do for him is to respect the gravity of his predicament to respect the responses that express his goodness and to think about his case as showing a possibility for human life in general

N U S S B A U M 4 9 - 5 0

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

bull In a world that allows such dilemmas are there truly gods with a coherent vision for the world

bull Can individual reason and ingenuity suffice for a good life

T H E S O P H I S T SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Hesiod Works amp Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale Piteously she transfixed by his crooked claws was lamenting When the imperious hawk addressed her in arrogant parlance Why little lady such shrieks One stronger than you now has got you Where you are going Ill take you myself though you are a songstress For as I please Ill make you my dinner or give you your freedom Witless is one who attempts to strive against those who are stronger When he is stripped of the prize its injury added to insult Thus said the fast-flying hawk that bird with the generous wing-spanPay more attention to justice and curb high-handedness [brother] Violence ill suits men who are lowly not even the noble Man can lightly endure it it weighs on a person whos fallen Into affliction Its better to take your way on the other Road which conduces to right For outrage (hubris) surrenders to

justice (dikē)hellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Thucydides History 584-116 The Melian Dialogue ATHENIANS [Y]ou know as well as we do that when these matters are discussed by practical people the standard of justice depends on the equality of power to compel and that in fact the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they musthellip Our opinion of the gods and our knowledge of men lead us to conclude that it is a general and necessary law of nature to rule whatever one can This is not a law that we made ourselves nor were we the first to act upon it when it was made We found it already in existence and we shall leave it to exist for ever among those who come after us

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos

advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Republic I 343A-D Thrasymachusrsquo complaint Tell me Socrates do you still have a wet nursehellip Because shersquos letting you run around with a snotty nose and doesnrsquot wipe it when she needs tohellip You think that shepherds and cowherds seek the good of their sheep and cattle and fatten them and take care of them looking to something other than their masterrsquos good and their own Moreover you believe that rulershellip think of something besides their own advantage You are so far from understandinghellip that you donrsquot realize that justice is really the good of another the advantage of the stronger and the ruler and harmful to the one who obeys and serves Injustice is the opposite it rules the truly simple and just and those it rules do what is to the advantage of the other and stronger and they make the one they serve happy but themselves not at all You must look at it as follows my most simple Socrates A just man always gets less than an unjust onehellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Gorgias 482C-484C Callicles on nature and convention [Y]oursquore in fact bringing the discussion around to the sort of crowd-pleasing vulgarities that are admirable only by law [nomos also translatable ldquoconventionrdquo or ldquocustomrdquo] and not by nature And these nature and law are for the most part opposed to each otherhellip I believe that the people who institute our laws are the weak and the many So they institute laws and assign praise and blame with themselves and their own advantage in mind As a way of frightening the more powerfulhellip out of getting a greater share than they they say that getting more than onersquos share is ldquoshamefulrdquo and ldquounjusthelliprdquo But surely if a man whose nature is equal to it arises he will shake off tear apart and escape all this he will trample underfoot our documents our tricks and charms and all our laws that violate nature He the slave will rise up and be revealed as our master and here the justice of nature will shine forth

The New Teachers of Athens

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

P R E - S O C R AT I C ldquo P H I L O S O P H E R S 6 T H - 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

P R E - S O C R AT I C P H I L O S O P H E R S

bull Though not usually calling themselves ldquophilosophersrdquo they seemed to have contributed inspiration for Socratesrsquo method of free inquiry applying logos

bull Scholars adopt different views of what constitutes their innovation and ldquophilosophicalrdquo method (see readings)

bull Basing views on argument and evidence

bull De-ldquomythologizationrdquo

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Miletus

E A R LY P H I L O S O P H Y A N C I E N T M I L E T U S

M I L E T U S

bull Wealthy city-state in Asia Minor

bull Key city for trading and shipping between Near East amp Greece

bull Ionian Greek culture

bull Freedom of thought

bull Open political debate

bull Wealth (for some) providing leisure

bull Thales and his successors Anaximander Anaximenes

bull ldquoPhilosophicalrdquo investigation

bull Later Presocratics Heraclitus ParmenidesldquoORIENTALIZINGrdquo POTTERY

The Milesian school strikes a new note unheard before It has a fresh sense of the meaning of truth ndash a feeling for the sort of thing it is reasonable to suppose The hypothesis it characteristically deals in is concerned with the nature of the one primary stuff the Milesians seem to make a great conscious effort to get at something which really does exist They strike us as throwing off the vast symbolic visions of mythology and waking clear-headed to see and touch real things If we have a rational temperament we feel at once a refreshment Here at last is a statement about the world which is meant and offered as true ndash a logos [explanation] not a mythos [story]

ndash F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952 ed) 42

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The questions which excited them were of this kind Can this apparently confused and disordered world be reduced to simpler principles so that our reason can grasp what it is and how it works What is it made of How does change take place They abandoned mythological and substituted intellectual solutions [It] was no longer satisfying to say that storms were roused by the wrath of Poseidon or death caused by the arrows of Apollo or Artemis A world ruled by anthropomorphic gods human in their passions was a world ruled by caprice Philosophy and science start with the bold confession of faith that not caprice but an inherent orderliness underlies the phenomena and the explanation of nature is to be sought within nature itself ndashWKC Guthrie History of Greek Philosophy (Cambridge 1969) 1 44-45

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

Thales of Miletus

bull Lived late 7th-6th centurybull Born to a Phoenician aristocratic

family ndash so leisurebull Traveled to Egypt and Babylon (by

tradition)bull Legendary wisdombull ldquoFounder of Western philosophyrdquo

bull First to seek an ldquooriginal causerdquo (archecirc)

bull to explain how unseen facts caused visible results without appeal to mythology

bull To provide generalizable proofs or laws

Thales of Miletus

AstronomyMathematicsWater as the archecircAll things are full of gods

bull Traditionally Thalesrsquo star student

bull 25 years old during Thalesrsquo eclipse (585 BCE)

bull Lived c 610-540 BCE

bull ldquoFirst to draw the inhabited world on a tabletrdquo (first mapmaker)

bull Unambiguously our first ldquophilosopherrdquo by standards of demythologization originality generality and observation

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

ldquoAnaximander has expurgated the supernatural with a boldness and completeness to which many of his successors failed to attain The primary order is still said to be lsquoaccording to what is ordainedrsquo it is still a moral order in which Justice prevails but the will of the personal God has disappeared and its place is partly taken by a natural cause the eternal motionrdquo

- F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952) 41 Anaximander relief 1st century AD

Rome Museo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Key contributions

bull Physics the archecircbull Cosmologybull ldquoEvolutionrdquobull Astronomy and Cartography

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Anaximander said that the APEIRON [indefinite unlimited] was the ARCHE and the element of things that are and he was the first to introduce this name for the ARCHE He says that the ARCHE is neither water nor any other of the things called elements but some other nature called APEIRON out of which come to be all the heavens and the worlds in them (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2413-18)

The things that are perish into the things out of which they come to be according to necessity for ldquothey pay penalty and retribution to one another according to their injustice in accordance with the ordering of timerdquo as he says in rather poetical language (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2418-21)

Anaximander of Miletus

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The ARCHE

bull One and unlimitedbull But not undefined Itrsquos AIR

Anaximenes of Miletus

bull Not opposites but a continuum FIRE AIR larr WIND larr CLOUD larr WATER larr EARTH larr STONEbull ldquoLooseningrdquo and ldquotighteningrdquo explain hot and cold

H E R A C L I T U S B 1 0 1 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 3 7 )

I searched out myself

Listening not to me but to the logos it is wise to agree that all things are one

H E R A C L I T U S B 5 0 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 1 1 )

E X A M P L E S

THE ROAD TO PHILOSOP HY

The Hero of Lyric Poets of the Polis (6th century)

bull According to the lyric poets of the polis culture such as Pindar Simonides Tyrtaeus and Sappho (7th-6th century BCE)

bull Pursues collective good of the polis based on strong ties of interdependent responsibility amp cooperation in a just world governed by the gods

Individual Freedom The ldquoSophistsrdquo (5th century)

bull Sources in thinkers like Protagoras and Gorgias (5th century BCE predominantly working in Athens) constructed as a category by Platorsquos later writings

bull Pursues individual advantage based on their personal beliefs and wits using persuasion and power skepticism of traditional values

Vulnerability The Hero of Tragedy (5th century)

bull Iconic examples include Sophoclesrsquo Oedipus and Aeschylusrsquo Agamemnon and Orestes

bull Pursuit of individual amp collective good in a world of apparently conflicting divine values sometimes hampered by their own lack of self-knowledge

I N T E R D E P E N D E N C Y I N T R O D U C E S V U L N E R A B I L I T Y W H I C H M AY B E

C E L E B R AT E D O R R E S I S T E D

The Hero of Epic Homer and Hesiod (8th century)

bull Found in the epic Iliad and Odyssey attributed to Homer (c 8th century BCE) examples include the powerful Achilles and thoughtful persuasive Odysseus

bull Pursues individual honour (timē) in a just world governed by the gods

CH

IGI V

AS

E C

70

0 B

CE

The Hero of Reason The ldquoPresocratics (6th-5th cent)

bull Founding figures including Thales Anaximander Anaximenes Pythagoras Heraclitus Parmenides Seeking to understand the basic original causes (aitiai) of the world through reason

I S T H E W O R L D G E N U I N E LY

I N T E L L I G I B L E T O R E A S O N

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Born in Athens to a stonemason named Sophroniscus in 469 BCE

bull ldquoSocratic problemrdquo Socrates wrote nothing we know about him through Plato Xenophon and Aristophanes whose accounts vary

bull Conversed with anyone ldquorich or poor citizen or foreignerrdquo (Apology 23C)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Non-conformity reliance on individual values and wits (contrast with the earlier poets and rhapsodes)

bull Claims of ignorance interest in shared truth and not only persuasion and resistance of ldquoselfish morality (contrast with the sophists)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Methods based on question and answer (the elenchus) requiring unity or consistency (a) of onersquos beliefs and (b) of onersquos beliefs and actions

bull Behaviour peculiar enough to warrant its own verb (sōkratein) (Arist Birds 1282) before generalized philosophia

bull Brought to trial in 399 BCE by two Athenians Meletus and Anytus charged with ldquoimpiety and corrupting the youngrdquo

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

S O C R AT E S C R I T O 4 6 A

I am the kind of person who listens to nothing within me but the logos that on reflection seems

best to me

L O G O S R E A S O N VA L U E C O N S C I E N C E M E A N I N G

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousness A sense of such significances that what is great is fragile and that what is necessary may be destructive which is present in the literature of the fifth century and earlier has disappeared [later] from the ethics of the philosophers and perhaps altogether from their minds Greek philosophy in its sustained pursuit of rational self-sufficiency does turn its back on kinds of human experience and human necessity of which Greek literature itself offers the purest if not the richest expression

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y A N D P H I L O S O P H Y

The continuity between Greek tragedy and Greek philosophy on these questions is however far greater than Williams has allowed On the one hand inside tragedy itself we find arresting portrayals of the human ambition to rational self-sufficiency we come to understand the ways in which problems of exposure motivate this ambition On the other Platos philosophical search for a self- sufficient good life is motivated by a keen sense of these same problems Far from having forgotten about what tragedy describes he sees the problems of exposure so clearly that only a radical solution seems adequate to their depth Nor is he naiumlve about the costs of this solution

N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y P R A C T I C A L C O N F L I C T

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identical which is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A)

Socrates ldquoencourages Euthyphro [a pious Greek] to revise tradition by considering as binding only those requirements concerning which there is divine unanimity he expresses further his own doubt as to whether gods really do disagreerdquo (Nussbaum 30)

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identicalwhich is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A Nussbaum 25)

T H E LY R I C P O E T SC 6 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Pindar of Thebes

Simonides of Ceos

Sappho of Lesbos

LY R I C I N T R O D U C T I O N

bull Occasional poetry

bull Often sung to the lyre (lyrē) in varied meters

bull CHORAL LYRIC

bull Dancing choruses at religious festivals contests family events

bull Enforcing collective civic values

bull MONODIC LYRIC

bull Individual performance

bull Personal in emotion amp outlookBrygos Painter c 490 BCE

Sappho and Alcaeus

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

Creatures of the passing day What is any one What is any one not Shadows dream is man But when the radiance given of Zeus comes

there is a bright light upon men and life is sweet

P I N D A R P Y T H 8 9 5 - 9 7

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

I praise and embrace everyone who willingly does nothing base (aischron) but with necessity not even the gods fight A man not too helpless suffices for me one who knows the justice that benefits the

city (polis) a sound and healthy man I will not lay blame for the generation of fools is limitless Everything is noble (kala) with which

base deeds are not mingled

S I M O N I D E S 5 4 2 2 7 - 4 0

Simonides is criticizing the traditional definition of the good noble or successful man (agathos esthlos) Such goodness or nobility depends upon external achievements and possessions (wealth honour prowess in battle) which are too insecure to form a real basis for human excellence Instead Simonides stresses intention justice that benefits the city acknowledgement of the fragility of lifehellip

C S E G A L ldquo C H O R A L LY R I C I N T H E F I F T H C E N T U R Y rdquo I N P E E A S T E R L I N G amp B M W K N O X T H E C A M B R I D G E H I S T O R Y O F

C L A S S I C A L L I T E R AT U R E I ( C A M B R I D G E 2 0 0 8 ) 2 2 4

LY R I C C O N T E X T

Hoplites in phalanx formation From the Chigi Vase proto-Corinthian pitcher ca 650-640 BC

3 0 0 ( W A R N E R B R O S 2 0 0 6 ) ldquo W H AT I S Y O U R P R O F E S S I O N rdquo

W W W Y O U T U B E C O M W AT C H V = A N A 3 C O 8 3 _ G K

3 0 0 ( W A R N E R B R O S 2 0 0 6 ) ldquo F I G H T I N T H E S H A D E rdquo

Y O U T U B E 4 J K P G D D M A R S T = 1 2 4

τοιόνδ ἄνθος Περσίδος αἴας οἴχεται ἀνδρῶν

οὓς πέρι πᾶσα χθὼν Ἀσιῆτις ρέψασα πόθῳ στένεται microαλερῷ τοκέης τ ἄλοχοί θ ἡmicroερολεγδὸν τείνοντα χρόνον τροmicroέονται

A E S C H Y L U S P E R S A I 5 9 - 6 4 C P I L I A D 9 4 1 0 - 1 6

S E E C A S E Y D U Eacute T H E C A P T I V E W O M A N rsquo S L A M E N T I N G R E E K T R A G E DY C H 2

Such is the flower [anthos] of the Persian land such is the flower of men that has disappeared

The entire land of Asia laments the men she nourished with fierce

longing [pothos] Parents and wives counting the days

tremble at the increasing length of time

P I N D A R

bull Born near Thebes c 518 BCE

bull Composed important epinician odes (epi-nikia for-a-victory in a contest)

bull Depicts the gods as maintaining civic values of justice (O 1 P 1-3 P 8) compassionate (N 10) and forgiving (O 7456) guardians of polis morality

bull Celebrated ldquoroughrdquo style

bull ldquoA soaring eaglehellip a rushing streamrdquo (Horace Od 42) ldquoA vast firerdquo (Longinus Sublime 335)

Bust of the lyric poet Pindar Roman copy from original of the mid-5 century BC

F I F T H - C E N T U R Y C H O R A L LY R I C

A C O R N T O O A K T R E E N E I L B R O M H A L L bull y o u t u b e Z K 4 L j U R t a D w

Some people pray for gold others for limitless lands but I pray to please my fellow citizens and then to cover my limbs in earth

having praised the praiseworthy and scattered reproof on the wicked Excellence soars upward like a tree fed on fresh dews

lifted among the wise and just toward the liquid upper air The need for friends comes in many forms

it is most valued in times of trouble but joy too craves to look upon trusty support

P I N D A R N E M E A N 8 3 6 - 4 3

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

F R A G I L I T Ybull How can we be praiseworthy if we are vulnerable (to circumstances)

bull [The poetic world-view and Pindarrsquos career as praise poet of aretē require] ldquothe belief that the excellence of a good person is something of that persons own for whose possession and exercise that person can appropriately be held accountablerdquo (Nussbaum 1)

bull But ldquoHow can we be givers and receivers of praise if our worth ishellip a plant in need of wateringrdquo (2)

bull ldquoWe need to be born with adequate capacities to live in fostering natural and social circumstances to stay clear of abrupt catastrophe to develop confirming associations with other human beingsrdquo (1)

bull A further complication ldquoThe tenderness of a plant is not the dazzling hardness of a gemrdquo perhaps ldquopart of the peculiar beauty of human excellence just is its vulnerabilityrdquo (2)

M A R T H A N U S S B A U M T H E F R A G I L I T Y O F G O O D N E S S C H 1 L U C K amp E T H I C S

T H E P O W E R O F R E A S O N [T]here is the consolation that so far Pindar has apparently left something out However much human beings resemble lower forms of life we are unlike we want to insist in one crucial respect We have reason We are able to deliberate and choose to make a plan in which ends are ranked to decide actively what is to have value and how much All this must count for something If it is true that a lot about us is messy needy uncontrolled rooted in the dirt and standing helplessly in the rain it is also true that there is something about us that is pure and purely active something that we could think of as divine immortal intelligible unitary indissoluble ever self-consistent and invariablelsquo [Plato Phaedo 80B] It seems possible that this rational element in us can rule and guide the rest thereby saving the whole person from living at the mercy of luck

N U S S B A U M F R A G I L I T Y 2

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S S O P H I S T S A N D T R A G E D I A N SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Athens

AT H E N S rsquo A C R O P O L I S A S I M A G I N E D B Y L E O V O N K L E N Z E O I L O N C A N VA S 1 8 4 6 N E U E P I N A K O T H E K

A S S A S S I N rsquo S C R E E D O D Y S S E Y bull A T O U R O F AT H E N S U B I S O F T ( 2 0 1 8 )

bull Athens is the first lsquopeople-ruledrsquo polis (dēmokratia) in the Mediterranean world

bull She has achieved unchallenged naval authority and an empire which is labeled a lsquocommonwealthrsquo

bull At the commercial and cultural crossroads of Italy Greece Egypt and the Near East

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

S P E E C H A N D D E M O C R A C Y

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

bull In this cosmopolitan environment traditional views are challenged leading to a perceived erosion of moral values

bull The rhapsodes use poetic forms to transmit traditional morality

bull The tragedians use poetic forms to explore amp challenge mythrsquos assumptions

bull The sophists teach ldquowisdomrdquo (sophia) including rhetoric and political oratory perceived as a new lsquotechnologyrsquo to steer the ship of state for onersquos own ends

bull Use onersquos own wits ldquoA person is the measure of all thingsrdquo Protagoras B1

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

T R A G E D Y V U L N E R A B I L I T Y A N D R E A S O NC 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E AT H E N S

Aeschylus Agamemnon (458 BCE) and Euripides Iphigeneia at Aulis (405 BCE) The Sacrifice of Iphigeneia by Francesco Fontebasso bull 1749 oil on canvas

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousnesshellip what is great is fragile andhellip what is necessary may be destructivehellip

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

In such cases we see a wrong action committed without any direct physical compulsion and in full knowledge of its nature by a person whose ethical character or commitments would otherwise dispose him to reject the acthellip circumstanceshellip prevent the adequate fulfillment of two valid ethical claims

N U S S B A U M 2 5

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

[Aeschylus in Agamemnon] shows us not so much a solution to the problem of practical conflict as the richness and depth of the problem itself (This achievement is closely connected with his poetic resources which put the scene vividly before us show us debate about it and evoke in us responses important to its assessment)

The best the agent can do is to have his suffering the natural expression of his goodness of character and not to stifle these responses out of misguided optimism The best we (the Chorus) can do for him is to respect the gravity of his predicament to respect the responses that express his goodness and to think about his case as showing a possibility for human life in general

N U S S B A U M 4 9 - 5 0

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

bull In a world that allows such dilemmas are there truly gods with a coherent vision for the world

bull Can individual reason and ingenuity suffice for a good life

T H E S O P H I S T SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Hesiod Works amp Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale Piteously she transfixed by his crooked claws was lamenting When the imperious hawk addressed her in arrogant parlance Why little lady such shrieks One stronger than you now has got you Where you are going Ill take you myself though you are a songstress For as I please Ill make you my dinner or give you your freedom Witless is one who attempts to strive against those who are stronger When he is stripped of the prize its injury added to insult Thus said the fast-flying hawk that bird with the generous wing-spanPay more attention to justice and curb high-handedness [brother] Violence ill suits men who are lowly not even the noble Man can lightly endure it it weighs on a person whos fallen Into affliction Its better to take your way on the other Road which conduces to right For outrage (hubris) surrenders to

justice (dikē)hellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Thucydides History 584-116 The Melian Dialogue ATHENIANS [Y]ou know as well as we do that when these matters are discussed by practical people the standard of justice depends on the equality of power to compel and that in fact the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they musthellip Our opinion of the gods and our knowledge of men lead us to conclude that it is a general and necessary law of nature to rule whatever one can This is not a law that we made ourselves nor were we the first to act upon it when it was made We found it already in existence and we shall leave it to exist for ever among those who come after us

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos

advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Republic I 343A-D Thrasymachusrsquo complaint Tell me Socrates do you still have a wet nursehellip Because shersquos letting you run around with a snotty nose and doesnrsquot wipe it when she needs tohellip You think that shepherds and cowherds seek the good of their sheep and cattle and fatten them and take care of them looking to something other than their masterrsquos good and their own Moreover you believe that rulershellip think of something besides their own advantage You are so far from understandinghellip that you donrsquot realize that justice is really the good of another the advantage of the stronger and the ruler and harmful to the one who obeys and serves Injustice is the opposite it rules the truly simple and just and those it rules do what is to the advantage of the other and stronger and they make the one they serve happy but themselves not at all You must look at it as follows my most simple Socrates A just man always gets less than an unjust onehellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Gorgias 482C-484C Callicles on nature and convention [Y]oursquore in fact bringing the discussion around to the sort of crowd-pleasing vulgarities that are admirable only by law [nomos also translatable ldquoconventionrdquo or ldquocustomrdquo] and not by nature And these nature and law are for the most part opposed to each otherhellip I believe that the people who institute our laws are the weak and the many So they institute laws and assign praise and blame with themselves and their own advantage in mind As a way of frightening the more powerfulhellip out of getting a greater share than they they say that getting more than onersquos share is ldquoshamefulrdquo and ldquounjusthelliprdquo But surely if a man whose nature is equal to it arises he will shake off tear apart and escape all this he will trample underfoot our documents our tricks and charms and all our laws that violate nature He the slave will rise up and be revealed as our master and here the justice of nature will shine forth

The New Teachers of Athens

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

P R E - S O C R AT I C ldquo P H I L O S O P H E R S 6 T H - 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

P R E - S O C R AT I C P H I L O S O P H E R S

bull Though not usually calling themselves ldquophilosophersrdquo they seemed to have contributed inspiration for Socratesrsquo method of free inquiry applying logos

bull Scholars adopt different views of what constitutes their innovation and ldquophilosophicalrdquo method (see readings)

bull Basing views on argument and evidence

bull De-ldquomythologizationrdquo

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Miletus

E A R LY P H I L O S O P H Y A N C I E N T M I L E T U S

M I L E T U S

bull Wealthy city-state in Asia Minor

bull Key city for trading and shipping between Near East amp Greece

bull Ionian Greek culture

bull Freedom of thought

bull Open political debate

bull Wealth (for some) providing leisure

bull Thales and his successors Anaximander Anaximenes

bull ldquoPhilosophicalrdquo investigation

bull Later Presocratics Heraclitus ParmenidesldquoORIENTALIZINGrdquo POTTERY

The Milesian school strikes a new note unheard before It has a fresh sense of the meaning of truth ndash a feeling for the sort of thing it is reasonable to suppose The hypothesis it characteristically deals in is concerned with the nature of the one primary stuff the Milesians seem to make a great conscious effort to get at something which really does exist They strike us as throwing off the vast symbolic visions of mythology and waking clear-headed to see and touch real things If we have a rational temperament we feel at once a refreshment Here at last is a statement about the world which is meant and offered as true ndash a logos [explanation] not a mythos [story]

ndash F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952 ed) 42

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The questions which excited them were of this kind Can this apparently confused and disordered world be reduced to simpler principles so that our reason can grasp what it is and how it works What is it made of How does change take place They abandoned mythological and substituted intellectual solutions [It] was no longer satisfying to say that storms were roused by the wrath of Poseidon or death caused by the arrows of Apollo or Artemis A world ruled by anthropomorphic gods human in their passions was a world ruled by caprice Philosophy and science start with the bold confession of faith that not caprice but an inherent orderliness underlies the phenomena and the explanation of nature is to be sought within nature itself ndashWKC Guthrie History of Greek Philosophy (Cambridge 1969) 1 44-45

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

Thales of Miletus

bull Lived late 7th-6th centurybull Born to a Phoenician aristocratic

family ndash so leisurebull Traveled to Egypt and Babylon (by

tradition)bull Legendary wisdombull ldquoFounder of Western philosophyrdquo

bull First to seek an ldquooriginal causerdquo (archecirc)

bull to explain how unseen facts caused visible results without appeal to mythology

bull To provide generalizable proofs or laws

Thales of Miletus

AstronomyMathematicsWater as the archecircAll things are full of gods

bull Traditionally Thalesrsquo star student

bull 25 years old during Thalesrsquo eclipse (585 BCE)

bull Lived c 610-540 BCE

bull ldquoFirst to draw the inhabited world on a tabletrdquo (first mapmaker)

bull Unambiguously our first ldquophilosopherrdquo by standards of demythologization originality generality and observation

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

ldquoAnaximander has expurgated the supernatural with a boldness and completeness to which many of his successors failed to attain The primary order is still said to be lsquoaccording to what is ordainedrsquo it is still a moral order in which Justice prevails but the will of the personal God has disappeared and its place is partly taken by a natural cause the eternal motionrdquo

- F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952) 41 Anaximander relief 1st century AD

Rome Museo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Key contributions

bull Physics the archecircbull Cosmologybull ldquoEvolutionrdquobull Astronomy and Cartography

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Anaximander said that the APEIRON [indefinite unlimited] was the ARCHE and the element of things that are and he was the first to introduce this name for the ARCHE He says that the ARCHE is neither water nor any other of the things called elements but some other nature called APEIRON out of which come to be all the heavens and the worlds in them (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2413-18)

The things that are perish into the things out of which they come to be according to necessity for ldquothey pay penalty and retribution to one another according to their injustice in accordance with the ordering of timerdquo as he says in rather poetical language (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2418-21)

Anaximander of Miletus

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The ARCHE

bull One and unlimitedbull But not undefined Itrsquos AIR

Anaximenes of Miletus

bull Not opposites but a continuum FIRE AIR larr WIND larr CLOUD larr WATER larr EARTH larr STONEbull ldquoLooseningrdquo and ldquotighteningrdquo explain hot and cold

H E R A C L I T U S B 1 0 1 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 3 7 )

I searched out myself

Listening not to me but to the logos it is wise to agree that all things are one

H E R A C L I T U S B 5 0 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 1 1 )

E X A M P L E S

THE ROAD TO PHILOSOP HY

The Hero of Lyric Poets of the Polis (6th century)

bull According to the lyric poets of the polis culture such as Pindar Simonides Tyrtaeus and Sappho (7th-6th century BCE)

bull Pursues collective good of the polis based on strong ties of interdependent responsibility amp cooperation in a just world governed by the gods

Individual Freedom The ldquoSophistsrdquo (5th century)

bull Sources in thinkers like Protagoras and Gorgias (5th century BCE predominantly working in Athens) constructed as a category by Platorsquos later writings

bull Pursues individual advantage based on their personal beliefs and wits using persuasion and power skepticism of traditional values

Vulnerability The Hero of Tragedy (5th century)

bull Iconic examples include Sophoclesrsquo Oedipus and Aeschylusrsquo Agamemnon and Orestes

bull Pursuit of individual amp collective good in a world of apparently conflicting divine values sometimes hampered by their own lack of self-knowledge

I N T E R D E P E N D E N C Y I N T R O D U C E S V U L N E R A B I L I T Y W H I C H M AY B E

C E L E B R AT E D O R R E S I S T E D

The Hero of Epic Homer and Hesiod (8th century)

bull Found in the epic Iliad and Odyssey attributed to Homer (c 8th century BCE) examples include the powerful Achilles and thoughtful persuasive Odysseus

bull Pursues individual honour (timē) in a just world governed by the gods

CH

IGI V

AS

E C

70

0 B

CE

The Hero of Reason The ldquoPresocratics (6th-5th cent)

bull Founding figures including Thales Anaximander Anaximenes Pythagoras Heraclitus Parmenides Seeking to understand the basic original causes (aitiai) of the world through reason

I S T H E W O R L D G E N U I N E LY

I N T E L L I G I B L E T O R E A S O N

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Born in Athens to a stonemason named Sophroniscus in 469 BCE

bull ldquoSocratic problemrdquo Socrates wrote nothing we know about him through Plato Xenophon and Aristophanes whose accounts vary

bull Conversed with anyone ldquorich or poor citizen or foreignerrdquo (Apology 23C)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Non-conformity reliance on individual values and wits (contrast with the earlier poets and rhapsodes)

bull Claims of ignorance interest in shared truth and not only persuasion and resistance of ldquoselfish morality (contrast with the sophists)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Methods based on question and answer (the elenchus) requiring unity or consistency (a) of onersquos beliefs and (b) of onersquos beliefs and actions

bull Behaviour peculiar enough to warrant its own verb (sōkratein) (Arist Birds 1282) before generalized philosophia

bull Brought to trial in 399 BCE by two Athenians Meletus and Anytus charged with ldquoimpiety and corrupting the youngrdquo

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

S O C R AT E S C R I T O 4 6 A

I am the kind of person who listens to nothing within me but the logos that on reflection seems

best to me

L O G O S R E A S O N VA L U E C O N S C I E N C E M E A N I N G

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousness A sense of such significances that what is great is fragile and that what is necessary may be destructive which is present in the literature of the fifth century and earlier has disappeared [later] from the ethics of the philosophers and perhaps altogether from their minds Greek philosophy in its sustained pursuit of rational self-sufficiency does turn its back on kinds of human experience and human necessity of which Greek literature itself offers the purest if not the richest expression

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y A N D P H I L O S O P H Y

The continuity between Greek tragedy and Greek philosophy on these questions is however far greater than Williams has allowed On the one hand inside tragedy itself we find arresting portrayals of the human ambition to rational self-sufficiency we come to understand the ways in which problems of exposure motivate this ambition On the other Platos philosophical search for a self- sufficient good life is motivated by a keen sense of these same problems Far from having forgotten about what tragedy describes he sees the problems of exposure so clearly that only a radical solution seems adequate to their depth Nor is he naiumlve about the costs of this solution

N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y P R A C T I C A L C O N F L I C T

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identical which is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A)

Socrates ldquoencourages Euthyphro [a pious Greek] to revise tradition by considering as binding only those requirements concerning which there is divine unanimity he expresses further his own doubt as to whether gods really do disagreerdquo (Nussbaum 30)

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identicalwhich is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A Nussbaum 25)

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Pindar of Thebes

Simonides of Ceos

Sappho of Lesbos

LY R I C I N T R O D U C T I O N

bull Occasional poetry

bull Often sung to the lyre (lyrē) in varied meters

bull CHORAL LYRIC

bull Dancing choruses at religious festivals contests family events

bull Enforcing collective civic values

bull MONODIC LYRIC

bull Individual performance

bull Personal in emotion amp outlookBrygos Painter c 490 BCE

Sappho and Alcaeus

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

Creatures of the passing day What is any one What is any one not Shadows dream is man But when the radiance given of Zeus comes

there is a bright light upon men and life is sweet

P I N D A R P Y T H 8 9 5 - 9 7

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

I praise and embrace everyone who willingly does nothing base (aischron) but with necessity not even the gods fight A man not too helpless suffices for me one who knows the justice that benefits the

city (polis) a sound and healthy man I will not lay blame for the generation of fools is limitless Everything is noble (kala) with which

base deeds are not mingled

S I M O N I D E S 5 4 2 2 7 - 4 0

Simonides is criticizing the traditional definition of the good noble or successful man (agathos esthlos) Such goodness or nobility depends upon external achievements and possessions (wealth honour prowess in battle) which are too insecure to form a real basis for human excellence Instead Simonides stresses intention justice that benefits the city acknowledgement of the fragility of lifehellip

C S E G A L ldquo C H O R A L LY R I C I N T H E F I F T H C E N T U R Y rdquo I N P E E A S T E R L I N G amp B M W K N O X T H E C A M B R I D G E H I S T O R Y O F

C L A S S I C A L L I T E R AT U R E I ( C A M B R I D G E 2 0 0 8 ) 2 2 4

LY R I C C O N T E X T

Hoplites in phalanx formation From the Chigi Vase proto-Corinthian pitcher ca 650-640 BC

3 0 0 ( W A R N E R B R O S 2 0 0 6 ) ldquo W H AT I S Y O U R P R O F E S S I O N rdquo

W W W Y O U T U B E C O M W AT C H V = A N A 3 C O 8 3 _ G K

3 0 0 ( W A R N E R B R O S 2 0 0 6 ) ldquo F I G H T I N T H E S H A D E rdquo

Y O U T U B E 4 J K P G D D M A R S T = 1 2 4

τοιόνδ ἄνθος Περσίδος αἴας οἴχεται ἀνδρῶν

οὓς πέρι πᾶσα χθὼν Ἀσιῆτις ρέψασα πόθῳ στένεται microαλερῷ τοκέης τ ἄλοχοί θ ἡmicroερολεγδὸν τείνοντα χρόνον τροmicroέονται

A E S C H Y L U S P E R S A I 5 9 - 6 4 C P I L I A D 9 4 1 0 - 1 6

S E E C A S E Y D U Eacute T H E C A P T I V E W O M A N rsquo S L A M E N T I N G R E E K T R A G E DY C H 2

Such is the flower [anthos] of the Persian land such is the flower of men that has disappeared

The entire land of Asia laments the men she nourished with fierce

longing [pothos] Parents and wives counting the days

tremble at the increasing length of time

P I N D A R

bull Born near Thebes c 518 BCE

bull Composed important epinician odes (epi-nikia for-a-victory in a contest)

bull Depicts the gods as maintaining civic values of justice (O 1 P 1-3 P 8) compassionate (N 10) and forgiving (O 7456) guardians of polis morality

bull Celebrated ldquoroughrdquo style

bull ldquoA soaring eaglehellip a rushing streamrdquo (Horace Od 42) ldquoA vast firerdquo (Longinus Sublime 335)

Bust of the lyric poet Pindar Roman copy from original of the mid-5 century BC

F I F T H - C E N T U R Y C H O R A L LY R I C

A C O R N T O O A K T R E E N E I L B R O M H A L L bull y o u t u b e Z K 4 L j U R t a D w

Some people pray for gold others for limitless lands but I pray to please my fellow citizens and then to cover my limbs in earth

having praised the praiseworthy and scattered reproof on the wicked Excellence soars upward like a tree fed on fresh dews

lifted among the wise and just toward the liquid upper air The need for friends comes in many forms

it is most valued in times of trouble but joy too craves to look upon trusty support

P I N D A R N E M E A N 8 3 6 - 4 3

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

F R A G I L I T Ybull How can we be praiseworthy if we are vulnerable (to circumstances)

bull [The poetic world-view and Pindarrsquos career as praise poet of aretē require] ldquothe belief that the excellence of a good person is something of that persons own for whose possession and exercise that person can appropriately be held accountablerdquo (Nussbaum 1)

bull But ldquoHow can we be givers and receivers of praise if our worth ishellip a plant in need of wateringrdquo (2)

bull ldquoWe need to be born with adequate capacities to live in fostering natural and social circumstances to stay clear of abrupt catastrophe to develop confirming associations with other human beingsrdquo (1)

bull A further complication ldquoThe tenderness of a plant is not the dazzling hardness of a gemrdquo perhaps ldquopart of the peculiar beauty of human excellence just is its vulnerabilityrdquo (2)

M A R T H A N U S S B A U M T H E F R A G I L I T Y O F G O O D N E S S C H 1 L U C K amp E T H I C S

T H E P O W E R O F R E A S O N [T]here is the consolation that so far Pindar has apparently left something out However much human beings resemble lower forms of life we are unlike we want to insist in one crucial respect We have reason We are able to deliberate and choose to make a plan in which ends are ranked to decide actively what is to have value and how much All this must count for something If it is true that a lot about us is messy needy uncontrolled rooted in the dirt and standing helplessly in the rain it is also true that there is something about us that is pure and purely active something that we could think of as divine immortal intelligible unitary indissoluble ever self-consistent and invariablelsquo [Plato Phaedo 80B] It seems possible that this rational element in us can rule and guide the rest thereby saving the whole person from living at the mercy of luck

N U S S B A U M F R A G I L I T Y 2

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S S O P H I S T S A N D T R A G E D I A N SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Athens

AT H E N S rsquo A C R O P O L I S A S I M A G I N E D B Y L E O V O N K L E N Z E O I L O N C A N VA S 1 8 4 6 N E U E P I N A K O T H E K

A S S A S S I N rsquo S C R E E D O D Y S S E Y bull A T O U R O F AT H E N S U B I S O F T ( 2 0 1 8 )

bull Athens is the first lsquopeople-ruledrsquo polis (dēmokratia) in the Mediterranean world

bull She has achieved unchallenged naval authority and an empire which is labeled a lsquocommonwealthrsquo

bull At the commercial and cultural crossroads of Italy Greece Egypt and the Near East

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

S P E E C H A N D D E M O C R A C Y

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

bull In this cosmopolitan environment traditional views are challenged leading to a perceived erosion of moral values

bull The rhapsodes use poetic forms to transmit traditional morality

bull The tragedians use poetic forms to explore amp challenge mythrsquos assumptions

bull The sophists teach ldquowisdomrdquo (sophia) including rhetoric and political oratory perceived as a new lsquotechnologyrsquo to steer the ship of state for onersquos own ends

bull Use onersquos own wits ldquoA person is the measure of all thingsrdquo Protagoras B1

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

T R A G E D Y V U L N E R A B I L I T Y A N D R E A S O NC 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E AT H E N S

Aeschylus Agamemnon (458 BCE) and Euripides Iphigeneia at Aulis (405 BCE) The Sacrifice of Iphigeneia by Francesco Fontebasso bull 1749 oil on canvas

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousnesshellip what is great is fragile andhellip what is necessary may be destructivehellip

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

In such cases we see a wrong action committed without any direct physical compulsion and in full knowledge of its nature by a person whose ethical character or commitments would otherwise dispose him to reject the acthellip circumstanceshellip prevent the adequate fulfillment of two valid ethical claims

N U S S B A U M 2 5

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

[Aeschylus in Agamemnon] shows us not so much a solution to the problem of practical conflict as the richness and depth of the problem itself (This achievement is closely connected with his poetic resources which put the scene vividly before us show us debate about it and evoke in us responses important to its assessment)

The best the agent can do is to have his suffering the natural expression of his goodness of character and not to stifle these responses out of misguided optimism The best we (the Chorus) can do for him is to respect the gravity of his predicament to respect the responses that express his goodness and to think about his case as showing a possibility for human life in general

N U S S B A U M 4 9 - 5 0

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

bull In a world that allows such dilemmas are there truly gods with a coherent vision for the world

bull Can individual reason and ingenuity suffice for a good life

T H E S O P H I S T SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Hesiod Works amp Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale Piteously she transfixed by his crooked claws was lamenting When the imperious hawk addressed her in arrogant parlance Why little lady such shrieks One stronger than you now has got you Where you are going Ill take you myself though you are a songstress For as I please Ill make you my dinner or give you your freedom Witless is one who attempts to strive against those who are stronger When he is stripped of the prize its injury added to insult Thus said the fast-flying hawk that bird with the generous wing-spanPay more attention to justice and curb high-handedness [brother] Violence ill suits men who are lowly not even the noble Man can lightly endure it it weighs on a person whos fallen Into affliction Its better to take your way on the other Road which conduces to right For outrage (hubris) surrenders to

justice (dikē)hellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Thucydides History 584-116 The Melian Dialogue ATHENIANS [Y]ou know as well as we do that when these matters are discussed by practical people the standard of justice depends on the equality of power to compel and that in fact the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they musthellip Our opinion of the gods and our knowledge of men lead us to conclude that it is a general and necessary law of nature to rule whatever one can This is not a law that we made ourselves nor were we the first to act upon it when it was made We found it already in existence and we shall leave it to exist for ever among those who come after us

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos

advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Republic I 343A-D Thrasymachusrsquo complaint Tell me Socrates do you still have a wet nursehellip Because shersquos letting you run around with a snotty nose and doesnrsquot wipe it when she needs tohellip You think that shepherds and cowherds seek the good of their sheep and cattle and fatten them and take care of them looking to something other than their masterrsquos good and their own Moreover you believe that rulershellip think of something besides their own advantage You are so far from understandinghellip that you donrsquot realize that justice is really the good of another the advantage of the stronger and the ruler and harmful to the one who obeys and serves Injustice is the opposite it rules the truly simple and just and those it rules do what is to the advantage of the other and stronger and they make the one they serve happy but themselves not at all You must look at it as follows my most simple Socrates A just man always gets less than an unjust onehellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Gorgias 482C-484C Callicles on nature and convention [Y]oursquore in fact bringing the discussion around to the sort of crowd-pleasing vulgarities that are admirable only by law [nomos also translatable ldquoconventionrdquo or ldquocustomrdquo] and not by nature And these nature and law are for the most part opposed to each otherhellip I believe that the people who institute our laws are the weak and the many So they institute laws and assign praise and blame with themselves and their own advantage in mind As a way of frightening the more powerfulhellip out of getting a greater share than they they say that getting more than onersquos share is ldquoshamefulrdquo and ldquounjusthelliprdquo But surely if a man whose nature is equal to it arises he will shake off tear apart and escape all this he will trample underfoot our documents our tricks and charms and all our laws that violate nature He the slave will rise up and be revealed as our master and here the justice of nature will shine forth

The New Teachers of Athens

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

P R E - S O C R AT I C ldquo P H I L O S O P H E R S 6 T H - 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

P R E - S O C R AT I C P H I L O S O P H E R S

bull Though not usually calling themselves ldquophilosophersrdquo they seemed to have contributed inspiration for Socratesrsquo method of free inquiry applying logos

bull Scholars adopt different views of what constitutes their innovation and ldquophilosophicalrdquo method (see readings)

bull Basing views on argument and evidence

bull De-ldquomythologizationrdquo

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Miletus

E A R LY P H I L O S O P H Y A N C I E N T M I L E T U S

M I L E T U S

bull Wealthy city-state in Asia Minor

bull Key city for trading and shipping between Near East amp Greece

bull Ionian Greek culture

bull Freedom of thought

bull Open political debate

bull Wealth (for some) providing leisure

bull Thales and his successors Anaximander Anaximenes

bull ldquoPhilosophicalrdquo investigation

bull Later Presocratics Heraclitus ParmenidesldquoORIENTALIZINGrdquo POTTERY

The Milesian school strikes a new note unheard before It has a fresh sense of the meaning of truth ndash a feeling for the sort of thing it is reasonable to suppose The hypothesis it characteristically deals in is concerned with the nature of the one primary stuff the Milesians seem to make a great conscious effort to get at something which really does exist They strike us as throwing off the vast symbolic visions of mythology and waking clear-headed to see and touch real things If we have a rational temperament we feel at once a refreshment Here at last is a statement about the world which is meant and offered as true ndash a logos [explanation] not a mythos [story]

ndash F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952 ed) 42

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The questions which excited them were of this kind Can this apparently confused and disordered world be reduced to simpler principles so that our reason can grasp what it is and how it works What is it made of How does change take place They abandoned mythological and substituted intellectual solutions [It] was no longer satisfying to say that storms were roused by the wrath of Poseidon or death caused by the arrows of Apollo or Artemis A world ruled by anthropomorphic gods human in their passions was a world ruled by caprice Philosophy and science start with the bold confession of faith that not caprice but an inherent orderliness underlies the phenomena and the explanation of nature is to be sought within nature itself ndashWKC Guthrie History of Greek Philosophy (Cambridge 1969) 1 44-45

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

Thales of Miletus

bull Lived late 7th-6th centurybull Born to a Phoenician aristocratic

family ndash so leisurebull Traveled to Egypt and Babylon (by

tradition)bull Legendary wisdombull ldquoFounder of Western philosophyrdquo

bull First to seek an ldquooriginal causerdquo (archecirc)

bull to explain how unseen facts caused visible results without appeal to mythology

bull To provide generalizable proofs or laws

Thales of Miletus

AstronomyMathematicsWater as the archecircAll things are full of gods

bull Traditionally Thalesrsquo star student

bull 25 years old during Thalesrsquo eclipse (585 BCE)

bull Lived c 610-540 BCE

bull ldquoFirst to draw the inhabited world on a tabletrdquo (first mapmaker)

bull Unambiguously our first ldquophilosopherrdquo by standards of demythologization originality generality and observation

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

ldquoAnaximander has expurgated the supernatural with a boldness and completeness to which many of his successors failed to attain The primary order is still said to be lsquoaccording to what is ordainedrsquo it is still a moral order in which Justice prevails but the will of the personal God has disappeared and its place is partly taken by a natural cause the eternal motionrdquo

- F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952) 41 Anaximander relief 1st century AD

Rome Museo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Key contributions

bull Physics the archecircbull Cosmologybull ldquoEvolutionrdquobull Astronomy and Cartography

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Anaximander said that the APEIRON [indefinite unlimited] was the ARCHE and the element of things that are and he was the first to introduce this name for the ARCHE He says that the ARCHE is neither water nor any other of the things called elements but some other nature called APEIRON out of which come to be all the heavens and the worlds in them (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2413-18)

The things that are perish into the things out of which they come to be according to necessity for ldquothey pay penalty and retribution to one another according to their injustice in accordance with the ordering of timerdquo as he says in rather poetical language (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2418-21)

Anaximander of Miletus

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The ARCHE

bull One and unlimitedbull But not undefined Itrsquos AIR

Anaximenes of Miletus

bull Not opposites but a continuum FIRE AIR larr WIND larr CLOUD larr WATER larr EARTH larr STONEbull ldquoLooseningrdquo and ldquotighteningrdquo explain hot and cold

H E R A C L I T U S B 1 0 1 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 3 7 )

I searched out myself

Listening not to me but to the logos it is wise to agree that all things are one

H E R A C L I T U S B 5 0 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 1 1 )

E X A M P L E S

THE ROAD TO PHILOSOP HY

The Hero of Lyric Poets of the Polis (6th century)

bull According to the lyric poets of the polis culture such as Pindar Simonides Tyrtaeus and Sappho (7th-6th century BCE)

bull Pursues collective good of the polis based on strong ties of interdependent responsibility amp cooperation in a just world governed by the gods

Individual Freedom The ldquoSophistsrdquo (5th century)

bull Sources in thinkers like Protagoras and Gorgias (5th century BCE predominantly working in Athens) constructed as a category by Platorsquos later writings

bull Pursues individual advantage based on their personal beliefs and wits using persuasion and power skepticism of traditional values

Vulnerability The Hero of Tragedy (5th century)

bull Iconic examples include Sophoclesrsquo Oedipus and Aeschylusrsquo Agamemnon and Orestes

bull Pursuit of individual amp collective good in a world of apparently conflicting divine values sometimes hampered by their own lack of self-knowledge

I N T E R D E P E N D E N C Y I N T R O D U C E S V U L N E R A B I L I T Y W H I C H M AY B E

C E L E B R AT E D O R R E S I S T E D

The Hero of Epic Homer and Hesiod (8th century)

bull Found in the epic Iliad and Odyssey attributed to Homer (c 8th century BCE) examples include the powerful Achilles and thoughtful persuasive Odysseus

bull Pursues individual honour (timē) in a just world governed by the gods

CH

IGI V

AS

E C

70

0 B

CE

The Hero of Reason The ldquoPresocratics (6th-5th cent)

bull Founding figures including Thales Anaximander Anaximenes Pythagoras Heraclitus Parmenides Seeking to understand the basic original causes (aitiai) of the world through reason

I S T H E W O R L D G E N U I N E LY

I N T E L L I G I B L E T O R E A S O N

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Born in Athens to a stonemason named Sophroniscus in 469 BCE

bull ldquoSocratic problemrdquo Socrates wrote nothing we know about him through Plato Xenophon and Aristophanes whose accounts vary

bull Conversed with anyone ldquorich or poor citizen or foreignerrdquo (Apology 23C)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Non-conformity reliance on individual values and wits (contrast with the earlier poets and rhapsodes)

bull Claims of ignorance interest in shared truth and not only persuasion and resistance of ldquoselfish morality (contrast with the sophists)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Methods based on question and answer (the elenchus) requiring unity or consistency (a) of onersquos beliefs and (b) of onersquos beliefs and actions

bull Behaviour peculiar enough to warrant its own verb (sōkratein) (Arist Birds 1282) before generalized philosophia

bull Brought to trial in 399 BCE by two Athenians Meletus and Anytus charged with ldquoimpiety and corrupting the youngrdquo

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

S O C R AT E S C R I T O 4 6 A

I am the kind of person who listens to nothing within me but the logos that on reflection seems

best to me

L O G O S R E A S O N VA L U E C O N S C I E N C E M E A N I N G

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousness A sense of such significances that what is great is fragile and that what is necessary may be destructive which is present in the literature of the fifth century and earlier has disappeared [later] from the ethics of the philosophers and perhaps altogether from their minds Greek philosophy in its sustained pursuit of rational self-sufficiency does turn its back on kinds of human experience and human necessity of which Greek literature itself offers the purest if not the richest expression

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y A N D P H I L O S O P H Y

The continuity between Greek tragedy and Greek philosophy on these questions is however far greater than Williams has allowed On the one hand inside tragedy itself we find arresting portrayals of the human ambition to rational self-sufficiency we come to understand the ways in which problems of exposure motivate this ambition On the other Platos philosophical search for a self- sufficient good life is motivated by a keen sense of these same problems Far from having forgotten about what tragedy describes he sees the problems of exposure so clearly that only a radical solution seems adequate to their depth Nor is he naiumlve about the costs of this solution

N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y P R A C T I C A L C O N F L I C T

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identical which is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A)

Socrates ldquoencourages Euthyphro [a pious Greek] to revise tradition by considering as binding only those requirements concerning which there is divine unanimity he expresses further his own doubt as to whether gods really do disagreerdquo (Nussbaum 30)

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identicalwhich is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A Nussbaum 25)

LY R I C I N T R O D U C T I O N

bull Occasional poetry

bull Often sung to the lyre (lyrē) in varied meters

bull CHORAL LYRIC

bull Dancing choruses at religious festivals contests family events

bull Enforcing collective civic values

bull MONODIC LYRIC

bull Individual performance

bull Personal in emotion amp outlookBrygos Painter c 490 BCE

Sappho and Alcaeus

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

Creatures of the passing day What is any one What is any one not Shadows dream is man But when the radiance given of Zeus comes

there is a bright light upon men and life is sweet

P I N D A R P Y T H 8 9 5 - 9 7

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

I praise and embrace everyone who willingly does nothing base (aischron) but with necessity not even the gods fight A man not too helpless suffices for me one who knows the justice that benefits the

city (polis) a sound and healthy man I will not lay blame for the generation of fools is limitless Everything is noble (kala) with which

base deeds are not mingled

S I M O N I D E S 5 4 2 2 7 - 4 0

Simonides is criticizing the traditional definition of the good noble or successful man (agathos esthlos) Such goodness or nobility depends upon external achievements and possessions (wealth honour prowess in battle) which are too insecure to form a real basis for human excellence Instead Simonides stresses intention justice that benefits the city acknowledgement of the fragility of lifehellip

C S E G A L ldquo C H O R A L LY R I C I N T H E F I F T H C E N T U R Y rdquo I N P E E A S T E R L I N G amp B M W K N O X T H E C A M B R I D G E H I S T O R Y O F

C L A S S I C A L L I T E R AT U R E I ( C A M B R I D G E 2 0 0 8 ) 2 2 4

LY R I C C O N T E X T

Hoplites in phalanx formation From the Chigi Vase proto-Corinthian pitcher ca 650-640 BC

3 0 0 ( W A R N E R B R O S 2 0 0 6 ) ldquo W H AT I S Y O U R P R O F E S S I O N rdquo

W W W Y O U T U B E C O M W AT C H V = A N A 3 C O 8 3 _ G K

3 0 0 ( W A R N E R B R O S 2 0 0 6 ) ldquo F I G H T I N T H E S H A D E rdquo

Y O U T U B E 4 J K P G D D M A R S T = 1 2 4

τοιόνδ ἄνθος Περσίδος αἴας οἴχεται ἀνδρῶν

οὓς πέρι πᾶσα χθὼν Ἀσιῆτις ρέψασα πόθῳ στένεται microαλερῷ τοκέης τ ἄλοχοί θ ἡmicroερολεγδὸν τείνοντα χρόνον τροmicroέονται

A E S C H Y L U S P E R S A I 5 9 - 6 4 C P I L I A D 9 4 1 0 - 1 6

S E E C A S E Y D U Eacute T H E C A P T I V E W O M A N rsquo S L A M E N T I N G R E E K T R A G E DY C H 2

Such is the flower [anthos] of the Persian land such is the flower of men that has disappeared

The entire land of Asia laments the men she nourished with fierce

longing [pothos] Parents and wives counting the days

tremble at the increasing length of time

P I N D A R

bull Born near Thebes c 518 BCE

bull Composed important epinician odes (epi-nikia for-a-victory in a contest)

bull Depicts the gods as maintaining civic values of justice (O 1 P 1-3 P 8) compassionate (N 10) and forgiving (O 7456) guardians of polis morality

bull Celebrated ldquoroughrdquo style

bull ldquoA soaring eaglehellip a rushing streamrdquo (Horace Od 42) ldquoA vast firerdquo (Longinus Sublime 335)

Bust of the lyric poet Pindar Roman copy from original of the mid-5 century BC

F I F T H - C E N T U R Y C H O R A L LY R I C

A C O R N T O O A K T R E E N E I L B R O M H A L L bull y o u t u b e Z K 4 L j U R t a D w

Some people pray for gold others for limitless lands but I pray to please my fellow citizens and then to cover my limbs in earth

having praised the praiseworthy and scattered reproof on the wicked Excellence soars upward like a tree fed on fresh dews

lifted among the wise and just toward the liquid upper air The need for friends comes in many forms

it is most valued in times of trouble but joy too craves to look upon trusty support

P I N D A R N E M E A N 8 3 6 - 4 3

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

F R A G I L I T Ybull How can we be praiseworthy if we are vulnerable (to circumstances)

bull [The poetic world-view and Pindarrsquos career as praise poet of aretē require] ldquothe belief that the excellence of a good person is something of that persons own for whose possession and exercise that person can appropriately be held accountablerdquo (Nussbaum 1)

bull But ldquoHow can we be givers and receivers of praise if our worth ishellip a plant in need of wateringrdquo (2)

bull ldquoWe need to be born with adequate capacities to live in fostering natural and social circumstances to stay clear of abrupt catastrophe to develop confirming associations with other human beingsrdquo (1)

bull A further complication ldquoThe tenderness of a plant is not the dazzling hardness of a gemrdquo perhaps ldquopart of the peculiar beauty of human excellence just is its vulnerabilityrdquo (2)

M A R T H A N U S S B A U M T H E F R A G I L I T Y O F G O O D N E S S C H 1 L U C K amp E T H I C S

T H E P O W E R O F R E A S O N [T]here is the consolation that so far Pindar has apparently left something out However much human beings resemble lower forms of life we are unlike we want to insist in one crucial respect We have reason We are able to deliberate and choose to make a plan in which ends are ranked to decide actively what is to have value and how much All this must count for something If it is true that a lot about us is messy needy uncontrolled rooted in the dirt and standing helplessly in the rain it is also true that there is something about us that is pure and purely active something that we could think of as divine immortal intelligible unitary indissoluble ever self-consistent and invariablelsquo [Plato Phaedo 80B] It seems possible that this rational element in us can rule and guide the rest thereby saving the whole person from living at the mercy of luck

N U S S B A U M F R A G I L I T Y 2

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S S O P H I S T S A N D T R A G E D I A N SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Athens

AT H E N S rsquo A C R O P O L I S A S I M A G I N E D B Y L E O V O N K L E N Z E O I L O N C A N VA S 1 8 4 6 N E U E P I N A K O T H E K

A S S A S S I N rsquo S C R E E D O D Y S S E Y bull A T O U R O F AT H E N S U B I S O F T ( 2 0 1 8 )

bull Athens is the first lsquopeople-ruledrsquo polis (dēmokratia) in the Mediterranean world

bull She has achieved unchallenged naval authority and an empire which is labeled a lsquocommonwealthrsquo

bull At the commercial and cultural crossroads of Italy Greece Egypt and the Near East

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

S P E E C H A N D D E M O C R A C Y

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

bull In this cosmopolitan environment traditional views are challenged leading to a perceived erosion of moral values

bull The rhapsodes use poetic forms to transmit traditional morality

bull The tragedians use poetic forms to explore amp challenge mythrsquos assumptions

bull The sophists teach ldquowisdomrdquo (sophia) including rhetoric and political oratory perceived as a new lsquotechnologyrsquo to steer the ship of state for onersquos own ends

bull Use onersquos own wits ldquoA person is the measure of all thingsrdquo Protagoras B1

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

T R A G E D Y V U L N E R A B I L I T Y A N D R E A S O NC 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E AT H E N S

Aeschylus Agamemnon (458 BCE) and Euripides Iphigeneia at Aulis (405 BCE) The Sacrifice of Iphigeneia by Francesco Fontebasso bull 1749 oil on canvas

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousnesshellip what is great is fragile andhellip what is necessary may be destructivehellip

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

In such cases we see a wrong action committed without any direct physical compulsion and in full knowledge of its nature by a person whose ethical character or commitments would otherwise dispose him to reject the acthellip circumstanceshellip prevent the adequate fulfillment of two valid ethical claims

N U S S B A U M 2 5

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

[Aeschylus in Agamemnon] shows us not so much a solution to the problem of practical conflict as the richness and depth of the problem itself (This achievement is closely connected with his poetic resources which put the scene vividly before us show us debate about it and evoke in us responses important to its assessment)

The best the agent can do is to have his suffering the natural expression of his goodness of character and not to stifle these responses out of misguided optimism The best we (the Chorus) can do for him is to respect the gravity of his predicament to respect the responses that express his goodness and to think about his case as showing a possibility for human life in general

N U S S B A U M 4 9 - 5 0

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

bull In a world that allows such dilemmas are there truly gods with a coherent vision for the world

bull Can individual reason and ingenuity suffice for a good life

T H E S O P H I S T SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Hesiod Works amp Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale Piteously she transfixed by his crooked claws was lamenting When the imperious hawk addressed her in arrogant parlance Why little lady such shrieks One stronger than you now has got you Where you are going Ill take you myself though you are a songstress For as I please Ill make you my dinner or give you your freedom Witless is one who attempts to strive against those who are stronger When he is stripped of the prize its injury added to insult Thus said the fast-flying hawk that bird with the generous wing-spanPay more attention to justice and curb high-handedness [brother] Violence ill suits men who are lowly not even the noble Man can lightly endure it it weighs on a person whos fallen Into affliction Its better to take your way on the other Road which conduces to right For outrage (hubris) surrenders to

justice (dikē)hellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Thucydides History 584-116 The Melian Dialogue ATHENIANS [Y]ou know as well as we do that when these matters are discussed by practical people the standard of justice depends on the equality of power to compel and that in fact the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they musthellip Our opinion of the gods and our knowledge of men lead us to conclude that it is a general and necessary law of nature to rule whatever one can This is not a law that we made ourselves nor were we the first to act upon it when it was made We found it already in existence and we shall leave it to exist for ever among those who come after us

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos

advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Republic I 343A-D Thrasymachusrsquo complaint Tell me Socrates do you still have a wet nursehellip Because shersquos letting you run around with a snotty nose and doesnrsquot wipe it when she needs tohellip You think that shepherds and cowherds seek the good of their sheep and cattle and fatten them and take care of them looking to something other than their masterrsquos good and their own Moreover you believe that rulershellip think of something besides their own advantage You are so far from understandinghellip that you donrsquot realize that justice is really the good of another the advantage of the stronger and the ruler and harmful to the one who obeys and serves Injustice is the opposite it rules the truly simple and just and those it rules do what is to the advantage of the other and stronger and they make the one they serve happy but themselves not at all You must look at it as follows my most simple Socrates A just man always gets less than an unjust onehellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Gorgias 482C-484C Callicles on nature and convention [Y]oursquore in fact bringing the discussion around to the sort of crowd-pleasing vulgarities that are admirable only by law [nomos also translatable ldquoconventionrdquo or ldquocustomrdquo] and not by nature And these nature and law are for the most part opposed to each otherhellip I believe that the people who institute our laws are the weak and the many So they institute laws and assign praise and blame with themselves and their own advantage in mind As a way of frightening the more powerfulhellip out of getting a greater share than they they say that getting more than onersquos share is ldquoshamefulrdquo and ldquounjusthelliprdquo But surely if a man whose nature is equal to it arises he will shake off tear apart and escape all this he will trample underfoot our documents our tricks and charms and all our laws that violate nature He the slave will rise up and be revealed as our master and here the justice of nature will shine forth

The New Teachers of Athens

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

P R E - S O C R AT I C ldquo P H I L O S O P H E R S 6 T H - 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

P R E - S O C R AT I C P H I L O S O P H E R S

bull Though not usually calling themselves ldquophilosophersrdquo they seemed to have contributed inspiration for Socratesrsquo method of free inquiry applying logos

bull Scholars adopt different views of what constitutes their innovation and ldquophilosophicalrdquo method (see readings)

bull Basing views on argument and evidence

bull De-ldquomythologizationrdquo

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Miletus

E A R LY P H I L O S O P H Y A N C I E N T M I L E T U S

M I L E T U S

bull Wealthy city-state in Asia Minor

bull Key city for trading and shipping between Near East amp Greece

bull Ionian Greek culture

bull Freedom of thought

bull Open political debate

bull Wealth (for some) providing leisure

bull Thales and his successors Anaximander Anaximenes

bull ldquoPhilosophicalrdquo investigation

bull Later Presocratics Heraclitus ParmenidesldquoORIENTALIZINGrdquo POTTERY

The Milesian school strikes a new note unheard before It has a fresh sense of the meaning of truth ndash a feeling for the sort of thing it is reasonable to suppose The hypothesis it characteristically deals in is concerned with the nature of the one primary stuff the Milesians seem to make a great conscious effort to get at something which really does exist They strike us as throwing off the vast symbolic visions of mythology and waking clear-headed to see and touch real things If we have a rational temperament we feel at once a refreshment Here at last is a statement about the world which is meant and offered as true ndash a logos [explanation] not a mythos [story]

ndash F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952 ed) 42

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The questions which excited them were of this kind Can this apparently confused and disordered world be reduced to simpler principles so that our reason can grasp what it is and how it works What is it made of How does change take place They abandoned mythological and substituted intellectual solutions [It] was no longer satisfying to say that storms were roused by the wrath of Poseidon or death caused by the arrows of Apollo or Artemis A world ruled by anthropomorphic gods human in their passions was a world ruled by caprice Philosophy and science start with the bold confession of faith that not caprice but an inherent orderliness underlies the phenomena and the explanation of nature is to be sought within nature itself ndashWKC Guthrie History of Greek Philosophy (Cambridge 1969) 1 44-45

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

Thales of Miletus

bull Lived late 7th-6th centurybull Born to a Phoenician aristocratic

family ndash so leisurebull Traveled to Egypt and Babylon (by

tradition)bull Legendary wisdombull ldquoFounder of Western philosophyrdquo

bull First to seek an ldquooriginal causerdquo (archecirc)

bull to explain how unseen facts caused visible results without appeal to mythology

bull To provide generalizable proofs or laws

Thales of Miletus

AstronomyMathematicsWater as the archecircAll things are full of gods

bull Traditionally Thalesrsquo star student

bull 25 years old during Thalesrsquo eclipse (585 BCE)

bull Lived c 610-540 BCE

bull ldquoFirst to draw the inhabited world on a tabletrdquo (first mapmaker)

bull Unambiguously our first ldquophilosopherrdquo by standards of demythologization originality generality and observation

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

ldquoAnaximander has expurgated the supernatural with a boldness and completeness to which many of his successors failed to attain The primary order is still said to be lsquoaccording to what is ordainedrsquo it is still a moral order in which Justice prevails but the will of the personal God has disappeared and its place is partly taken by a natural cause the eternal motionrdquo

- F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952) 41 Anaximander relief 1st century AD

Rome Museo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Key contributions

bull Physics the archecircbull Cosmologybull ldquoEvolutionrdquobull Astronomy and Cartography

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Anaximander said that the APEIRON [indefinite unlimited] was the ARCHE and the element of things that are and he was the first to introduce this name for the ARCHE He says that the ARCHE is neither water nor any other of the things called elements but some other nature called APEIRON out of which come to be all the heavens and the worlds in them (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2413-18)

The things that are perish into the things out of which they come to be according to necessity for ldquothey pay penalty and retribution to one another according to their injustice in accordance with the ordering of timerdquo as he says in rather poetical language (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2418-21)

Anaximander of Miletus

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The ARCHE

bull One and unlimitedbull But not undefined Itrsquos AIR

Anaximenes of Miletus

bull Not opposites but a continuum FIRE AIR larr WIND larr CLOUD larr WATER larr EARTH larr STONEbull ldquoLooseningrdquo and ldquotighteningrdquo explain hot and cold

H E R A C L I T U S B 1 0 1 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 3 7 )

I searched out myself

Listening not to me but to the logos it is wise to agree that all things are one

H E R A C L I T U S B 5 0 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 1 1 )

E X A M P L E S

THE ROAD TO PHILOSOP HY

The Hero of Lyric Poets of the Polis (6th century)

bull According to the lyric poets of the polis culture such as Pindar Simonides Tyrtaeus and Sappho (7th-6th century BCE)

bull Pursues collective good of the polis based on strong ties of interdependent responsibility amp cooperation in a just world governed by the gods

Individual Freedom The ldquoSophistsrdquo (5th century)

bull Sources in thinkers like Protagoras and Gorgias (5th century BCE predominantly working in Athens) constructed as a category by Platorsquos later writings

bull Pursues individual advantage based on their personal beliefs and wits using persuasion and power skepticism of traditional values

Vulnerability The Hero of Tragedy (5th century)

bull Iconic examples include Sophoclesrsquo Oedipus and Aeschylusrsquo Agamemnon and Orestes

bull Pursuit of individual amp collective good in a world of apparently conflicting divine values sometimes hampered by their own lack of self-knowledge

I N T E R D E P E N D E N C Y I N T R O D U C E S V U L N E R A B I L I T Y W H I C H M AY B E

C E L E B R AT E D O R R E S I S T E D

The Hero of Epic Homer and Hesiod (8th century)

bull Found in the epic Iliad and Odyssey attributed to Homer (c 8th century BCE) examples include the powerful Achilles and thoughtful persuasive Odysseus

bull Pursues individual honour (timē) in a just world governed by the gods

CH

IGI V

AS

E C

70

0 B

CE

The Hero of Reason The ldquoPresocratics (6th-5th cent)

bull Founding figures including Thales Anaximander Anaximenes Pythagoras Heraclitus Parmenides Seeking to understand the basic original causes (aitiai) of the world through reason

I S T H E W O R L D G E N U I N E LY

I N T E L L I G I B L E T O R E A S O N

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Born in Athens to a stonemason named Sophroniscus in 469 BCE

bull ldquoSocratic problemrdquo Socrates wrote nothing we know about him through Plato Xenophon and Aristophanes whose accounts vary

bull Conversed with anyone ldquorich or poor citizen or foreignerrdquo (Apology 23C)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Non-conformity reliance on individual values and wits (contrast with the earlier poets and rhapsodes)

bull Claims of ignorance interest in shared truth and not only persuasion and resistance of ldquoselfish morality (contrast with the sophists)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Methods based on question and answer (the elenchus) requiring unity or consistency (a) of onersquos beliefs and (b) of onersquos beliefs and actions

bull Behaviour peculiar enough to warrant its own verb (sōkratein) (Arist Birds 1282) before generalized philosophia

bull Brought to trial in 399 BCE by two Athenians Meletus and Anytus charged with ldquoimpiety and corrupting the youngrdquo

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

S O C R AT E S C R I T O 4 6 A

I am the kind of person who listens to nothing within me but the logos that on reflection seems

best to me

L O G O S R E A S O N VA L U E C O N S C I E N C E M E A N I N G

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousness A sense of such significances that what is great is fragile and that what is necessary may be destructive which is present in the literature of the fifth century and earlier has disappeared [later] from the ethics of the philosophers and perhaps altogether from their minds Greek philosophy in its sustained pursuit of rational self-sufficiency does turn its back on kinds of human experience and human necessity of which Greek literature itself offers the purest if not the richest expression

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y A N D P H I L O S O P H Y

The continuity between Greek tragedy and Greek philosophy on these questions is however far greater than Williams has allowed On the one hand inside tragedy itself we find arresting portrayals of the human ambition to rational self-sufficiency we come to understand the ways in which problems of exposure motivate this ambition On the other Platos philosophical search for a self- sufficient good life is motivated by a keen sense of these same problems Far from having forgotten about what tragedy describes he sees the problems of exposure so clearly that only a radical solution seems adequate to their depth Nor is he naiumlve about the costs of this solution

N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y P R A C T I C A L C O N F L I C T

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identical which is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A)

Socrates ldquoencourages Euthyphro [a pious Greek] to revise tradition by considering as binding only those requirements concerning which there is divine unanimity he expresses further his own doubt as to whether gods really do disagreerdquo (Nussbaum 30)

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identicalwhich is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A Nussbaum 25)

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

Creatures of the passing day What is any one What is any one not Shadows dream is man But when the radiance given of Zeus comes

there is a bright light upon men and life is sweet

P I N D A R P Y T H 8 9 5 - 9 7

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

I praise and embrace everyone who willingly does nothing base (aischron) but with necessity not even the gods fight A man not too helpless suffices for me one who knows the justice that benefits the

city (polis) a sound and healthy man I will not lay blame for the generation of fools is limitless Everything is noble (kala) with which

base deeds are not mingled

S I M O N I D E S 5 4 2 2 7 - 4 0

Simonides is criticizing the traditional definition of the good noble or successful man (agathos esthlos) Such goodness or nobility depends upon external achievements and possessions (wealth honour prowess in battle) which are too insecure to form a real basis for human excellence Instead Simonides stresses intention justice that benefits the city acknowledgement of the fragility of lifehellip

C S E G A L ldquo C H O R A L LY R I C I N T H E F I F T H C E N T U R Y rdquo I N P E E A S T E R L I N G amp B M W K N O X T H E C A M B R I D G E H I S T O R Y O F

C L A S S I C A L L I T E R AT U R E I ( C A M B R I D G E 2 0 0 8 ) 2 2 4

LY R I C C O N T E X T

Hoplites in phalanx formation From the Chigi Vase proto-Corinthian pitcher ca 650-640 BC

3 0 0 ( W A R N E R B R O S 2 0 0 6 ) ldquo W H AT I S Y O U R P R O F E S S I O N rdquo

W W W Y O U T U B E C O M W AT C H V = A N A 3 C O 8 3 _ G K

3 0 0 ( W A R N E R B R O S 2 0 0 6 ) ldquo F I G H T I N T H E S H A D E rdquo

Y O U T U B E 4 J K P G D D M A R S T = 1 2 4

τοιόνδ ἄνθος Περσίδος αἴας οἴχεται ἀνδρῶν

οὓς πέρι πᾶσα χθὼν Ἀσιῆτις ρέψασα πόθῳ στένεται microαλερῷ τοκέης τ ἄλοχοί θ ἡmicroερολεγδὸν τείνοντα χρόνον τροmicroέονται

A E S C H Y L U S P E R S A I 5 9 - 6 4 C P I L I A D 9 4 1 0 - 1 6

S E E C A S E Y D U Eacute T H E C A P T I V E W O M A N rsquo S L A M E N T I N G R E E K T R A G E DY C H 2

Such is the flower [anthos] of the Persian land such is the flower of men that has disappeared

The entire land of Asia laments the men she nourished with fierce

longing [pothos] Parents and wives counting the days

tremble at the increasing length of time

P I N D A R

bull Born near Thebes c 518 BCE

bull Composed important epinician odes (epi-nikia for-a-victory in a contest)

bull Depicts the gods as maintaining civic values of justice (O 1 P 1-3 P 8) compassionate (N 10) and forgiving (O 7456) guardians of polis morality

bull Celebrated ldquoroughrdquo style

bull ldquoA soaring eaglehellip a rushing streamrdquo (Horace Od 42) ldquoA vast firerdquo (Longinus Sublime 335)

Bust of the lyric poet Pindar Roman copy from original of the mid-5 century BC

F I F T H - C E N T U R Y C H O R A L LY R I C

A C O R N T O O A K T R E E N E I L B R O M H A L L bull y o u t u b e Z K 4 L j U R t a D w

Some people pray for gold others for limitless lands but I pray to please my fellow citizens and then to cover my limbs in earth

having praised the praiseworthy and scattered reproof on the wicked Excellence soars upward like a tree fed on fresh dews

lifted among the wise and just toward the liquid upper air The need for friends comes in many forms

it is most valued in times of trouble but joy too craves to look upon trusty support

P I N D A R N E M E A N 8 3 6 - 4 3

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

F R A G I L I T Ybull How can we be praiseworthy if we are vulnerable (to circumstances)

bull [The poetic world-view and Pindarrsquos career as praise poet of aretē require] ldquothe belief that the excellence of a good person is something of that persons own for whose possession and exercise that person can appropriately be held accountablerdquo (Nussbaum 1)

bull But ldquoHow can we be givers and receivers of praise if our worth ishellip a plant in need of wateringrdquo (2)

bull ldquoWe need to be born with adequate capacities to live in fostering natural and social circumstances to stay clear of abrupt catastrophe to develop confirming associations with other human beingsrdquo (1)

bull A further complication ldquoThe tenderness of a plant is not the dazzling hardness of a gemrdquo perhaps ldquopart of the peculiar beauty of human excellence just is its vulnerabilityrdquo (2)

M A R T H A N U S S B A U M T H E F R A G I L I T Y O F G O O D N E S S C H 1 L U C K amp E T H I C S

T H E P O W E R O F R E A S O N [T]here is the consolation that so far Pindar has apparently left something out However much human beings resemble lower forms of life we are unlike we want to insist in one crucial respect We have reason We are able to deliberate and choose to make a plan in which ends are ranked to decide actively what is to have value and how much All this must count for something If it is true that a lot about us is messy needy uncontrolled rooted in the dirt and standing helplessly in the rain it is also true that there is something about us that is pure and purely active something that we could think of as divine immortal intelligible unitary indissoluble ever self-consistent and invariablelsquo [Plato Phaedo 80B] It seems possible that this rational element in us can rule and guide the rest thereby saving the whole person from living at the mercy of luck

N U S S B A U M F R A G I L I T Y 2

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S S O P H I S T S A N D T R A G E D I A N SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Athens

AT H E N S rsquo A C R O P O L I S A S I M A G I N E D B Y L E O V O N K L E N Z E O I L O N C A N VA S 1 8 4 6 N E U E P I N A K O T H E K

A S S A S S I N rsquo S C R E E D O D Y S S E Y bull A T O U R O F AT H E N S U B I S O F T ( 2 0 1 8 )

bull Athens is the first lsquopeople-ruledrsquo polis (dēmokratia) in the Mediterranean world

bull She has achieved unchallenged naval authority and an empire which is labeled a lsquocommonwealthrsquo

bull At the commercial and cultural crossroads of Italy Greece Egypt and the Near East

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

S P E E C H A N D D E M O C R A C Y

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

bull In this cosmopolitan environment traditional views are challenged leading to a perceived erosion of moral values

bull The rhapsodes use poetic forms to transmit traditional morality

bull The tragedians use poetic forms to explore amp challenge mythrsquos assumptions

bull The sophists teach ldquowisdomrdquo (sophia) including rhetoric and political oratory perceived as a new lsquotechnologyrsquo to steer the ship of state for onersquos own ends

bull Use onersquos own wits ldquoA person is the measure of all thingsrdquo Protagoras B1

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

T R A G E D Y V U L N E R A B I L I T Y A N D R E A S O NC 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E AT H E N S

Aeschylus Agamemnon (458 BCE) and Euripides Iphigeneia at Aulis (405 BCE) The Sacrifice of Iphigeneia by Francesco Fontebasso bull 1749 oil on canvas

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousnesshellip what is great is fragile andhellip what is necessary may be destructivehellip

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

In such cases we see a wrong action committed without any direct physical compulsion and in full knowledge of its nature by a person whose ethical character or commitments would otherwise dispose him to reject the acthellip circumstanceshellip prevent the adequate fulfillment of two valid ethical claims

N U S S B A U M 2 5

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

[Aeschylus in Agamemnon] shows us not so much a solution to the problem of practical conflict as the richness and depth of the problem itself (This achievement is closely connected with his poetic resources which put the scene vividly before us show us debate about it and evoke in us responses important to its assessment)

The best the agent can do is to have his suffering the natural expression of his goodness of character and not to stifle these responses out of misguided optimism The best we (the Chorus) can do for him is to respect the gravity of his predicament to respect the responses that express his goodness and to think about his case as showing a possibility for human life in general

N U S S B A U M 4 9 - 5 0

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

bull In a world that allows such dilemmas are there truly gods with a coherent vision for the world

bull Can individual reason and ingenuity suffice for a good life

T H E S O P H I S T SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Hesiod Works amp Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale Piteously she transfixed by his crooked claws was lamenting When the imperious hawk addressed her in arrogant parlance Why little lady such shrieks One stronger than you now has got you Where you are going Ill take you myself though you are a songstress For as I please Ill make you my dinner or give you your freedom Witless is one who attempts to strive against those who are stronger When he is stripped of the prize its injury added to insult Thus said the fast-flying hawk that bird with the generous wing-spanPay more attention to justice and curb high-handedness [brother] Violence ill suits men who are lowly not even the noble Man can lightly endure it it weighs on a person whos fallen Into affliction Its better to take your way on the other Road which conduces to right For outrage (hubris) surrenders to

justice (dikē)hellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Thucydides History 584-116 The Melian Dialogue ATHENIANS [Y]ou know as well as we do that when these matters are discussed by practical people the standard of justice depends on the equality of power to compel and that in fact the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they musthellip Our opinion of the gods and our knowledge of men lead us to conclude that it is a general and necessary law of nature to rule whatever one can This is not a law that we made ourselves nor were we the first to act upon it when it was made We found it already in existence and we shall leave it to exist for ever among those who come after us

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos

advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Republic I 343A-D Thrasymachusrsquo complaint Tell me Socrates do you still have a wet nursehellip Because shersquos letting you run around with a snotty nose and doesnrsquot wipe it when she needs tohellip You think that shepherds and cowherds seek the good of their sheep and cattle and fatten them and take care of them looking to something other than their masterrsquos good and their own Moreover you believe that rulershellip think of something besides their own advantage You are so far from understandinghellip that you donrsquot realize that justice is really the good of another the advantage of the stronger and the ruler and harmful to the one who obeys and serves Injustice is the opposite it rules the truly simple and just and those it rules do what is to the advantage of the other and stronger and they make the one they serve happy but themselves not at all You must look at it as follows my most simple Socrates A just man always gets less than an unjust onehellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Gorgias 482C-484C Callicles on nature and convention [Y]oursquore in fact bringing the discussion around to the sort of crowd-pleasing vulgarities that are admirable only by law [nomos also translatable ldquoconventionrdquo or ldquocustomrdquo] and not by nature And these nature and law are for the most part opposed to each otherhellip I believe that the people who institute our laws are the weak and the many So they institute laws and assign praise and blame with themselves and their own advantage in mind As a way of frightening the more powerfulhellip out of getting a greater share than they they say that getting more than onersquos share is ldquoshamefulrdquo and ldquounjusthelliprdquo But surely if a man whose nature is equal to it arises he will shake off tear apart and escape all this he will trample underfoot our documents our tricks and charms and all our laws that violate nature He the slave will rise up and be revealed as our master and here the justice of nature will shine forth

The New Teachers of Athens

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

P R E - S O C R AT I C ldquo P H I L O S O P H E R S 6 T H - 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

P R E - S O C R AT I C P H I L O S O P H E R S

bull Though not usually calling themselves ldquophilosophersrdquo they seemed to have contributed inspiration for Socratesrsquo method of free inquiry applying logos

bull Scholars adopt different views of what constitutes their innovation and ldquophilosophicalrdquo method (see readings)

bull Basing views on argument and evidence

bull De-ldquomythologizationrdquo

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Miletus

E A R LY P H I L O S O P H Y A N C I E N T M I L E T U S

M I L E T U S

bull Wealthy city-state in Asia Minor

bull Key city for trading and shipping between Near East amp Greece

bull Ionian Greek culture

bull Freedom of thought

bull Open political debate

bull Wealth (for some) providing leisure

bull Thales and his successors Anaximander Anaximenes

bull ldquoPhilosophicalrdquo investigation

bull Later Presocratics Heraclitus ParmenidesldquoORIENTALIZINGrdquo POTTERY

The Milesian school strikes a new note unheard before It has a fresh sense of the meaning of truth ndash a feeling for the sort of thing it is reasonable to suppose The hypothesis it characteristically deals in is concerned with the nature of the one primary stuff the Milesians seem to make a great conscious effort to get at something which really does exist They strike us as throwing off the vast symbolic visions of mythology and waking clear-headed to see and touch real things If we have a rational temperament we feel at once a refreshment Here at last is a statement about the world which is meant and offered as true ndash a logos [explanation] not a mythos [story]

ndash F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952 ed) 42

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The questions which excited them were of this kind Can this apparently confused and disordered world be reduced to simpler principles so that our reason can grasp what it is and how it works What is it made of How does change take place They abandoned mythological and substituted intellectual solutions [It] was no longer satisfying to say that storms were roused by the wrath of Poseidon or death caused by the arrows of Apollo or Artemis A world ruled by anthropomorphic gods human in their passions was a world ruled by caprice Philosophy and science start with the bold confession of faith that not caprice but an inherent orderliness underlies the phenomena and the explanation of nature is to be sought within nature itself ndashWKC Guthrie History of Greek Philosophy (Cambridge 1969) 1 44-45

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

Thales of Miletus

bull Lived late 7th-6th centurybull Born to a Phoenician aristocratic

family ndash so leisurebull Traveled to Egypt and Babylon (by

tradition)bull Legendary wisdombull ldquoFounder of Western philosophyrdquo

bull First to seek an ldquooriginal causerdquo (archecirc)

bull to explain how unseen facts caused visible results without appeal to mythology

bull To provide generalizable proofs or laws

Thales of Miletus

AstronomyMathematicsWater as the archecircAll things are full of gods

bull Traditionally Thalesrsquo star student

bull 25 years old during Thalesrsquo eclipse (585 BCE)

bull Lived c 610-540 BCE

bull ldquoFirst to draw the inhabited world on a tabletrdquo (first mapmaker)

bull Unambiguously our first ldquophilosopherrdquo by standards of demythologization originality generality and observation

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

ldquoAnaximander has expurgated the supernatural with a boldness and completeness to which many of his successors failed to attain The primary order is still said to be lsquoaccording to what is ordainedrsquo it is still a moral order in which Justice prevails but the will of the personal God has disappeared and its place is partly taken by a natural cause the eternal motionrdquo

- F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952) 41 Anaximander relief 1st century AD

Rome Museo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Key contributions

bull Physics the archecircbull Cosmologybull ldquoEvolutionrdquobull Astronomy and Cartography

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Anaximander said that the APEIRON [indefinite unlimited] was the ARCHE and the element of things that are and he was the first to introduce this name for the ARCHE He says that the ARCHE is neither water nor any other of the things called elements but some other nature called APEIRON out of which come to be all the heavens and the worlds in them (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2413-18)

The things that are perish into the things out of which they come to be according to necessity for ldquothey pay penalty and retribution to one another according to their injustice in accordance with the ordering of timerdquo as he says in rather poetical language (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2418-21)

Anaximander of Miletus

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The ARCHE

bull One and unlimitedbull But not undefined Itrsquos AIR

Anaximenes of Miletus

bull Not opposites but a continuum FIRE AIR larr WIND larr CLOUD larr WATER larr EARTH larr STONEbull ldquoLooseningrdquo and ldquotighteningrdquo explain hot and cold

H E R A C L I T U S B 1 0 1 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 3 7 )

I searched out myself

Listening not to me but to the logos it is wise to agree that all things are one

H E R A C L I T U S B 5 0 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 1 1 )

E X A M P L E S

THE ROAD TO PHILOSOP HY

The Hero of Lyric Poets of the Polis (6th century)

bull According to the lyric poets of the polis culture such as Pindar Simonides Tyrtaeus and Sappho (7th-6th century BCE)

bull Pursues collective good of the polis based on strong ties of interdependent responsibility amp cooperation in a just world governed by the gods

Individual Freedom The ldquoSophistsrdquo (5th century)

bull Sources in thinkers like Protagoras and Gorgias (5th century BCE predominantly working in Athens) constructed as a category by Platorsquos later writings

bull Pursues individual advantage based on their personal beliefs and wits using persuasion and power skepticism of traditional values

Vulnerability The Hero of Tragedy (5th century)

bull Iconic examples include Sophoclesrsquo Oedipus and Aeschylusrsquo Agamemnon and Orestes

bull Pursuit of individual amp collective good in a world of apparently conflicting divine values sometimes hampered by their own lack of self-knowledge

I N T E R D E P E N D E N C Y I N T R O D U C E S V U L N E R A B I L I T Y W H I C H M AY B E

C E L E B R AT E D O R R E S I S T E D

The Hero of Epic Homer and Hesiod (8th century)

bull Found in the epic Iliad and Odyssey attributed to Homer (c 8th century BCE) examples include the powerful Achilles and thoughtful persuasive Odysseus

bull Pursues individual honour (timē) in a just world governed by the gods

CH

IGI V

AS

E C

70

0 B

CE

The Hero of Reason The ldquoPresocratics (6th-5th cent)

bull Founding figures including Thales Anaximander Anaximenes Pythagoras Heraclitus Parmenides Seeking to understand the basic original causes (aitiai) of the world through reason

I S T H E W O R L D G E N U I N E LY

I N T E L L I G I B L E T O R E A S O N

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Born in Athens to a stonemason named Sophroniscus in 469 BCE

bull ldquoSocratic problemrdquo Socrates wrote nothing we know about him through Plato Xenophon and Aristophanes whose accounts vary

bull Conversed with anyone ldquorich or poor citizen or foreignerrdquo (Apology 23C)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Non-conformity reliance on individual values and wits (contrast with the earlier poets and rhapsodes)

bull Claims of ignorance interest in shared truth and not only persuasion and resistance of ldquoselfish morality (contrast with the sophists)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Methods based on question and answer (the elenchus) requiring unity or consistency (a) of onersquos beliefs and (b) of onersquos beliefs and actions

bull Behaviour peculiar enough to warrant its own verb (sōkratein) (Arist Birds 1282) before generalized philosophia

bull Brought to trial in 399 BCE by two Athenians Meletus and Anytus charged with ldquoimpiety and corrupting the youngrdquo

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

S O C R AT E S C R I T O 4 6 A

I am the kind of person who listens to nothing within me but the logos that on reflection seems

best to me

L O G O S R E A S O N VA L U E C O N S C I E N C E M E A N I N G

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousness A sense of such significances that what is great is fragile and that what is necessary may be destructive which is present in the literature of the fifth century and earlier has disappeared [later] from the ethics of the philosophers and perhaps altogether from their minds Greek philosophy in its sustained pursuit of rational self-sufficiency does turn its back on kinds of human experience and human necessity of which Greek literature itself offers the purest if not the richest expression

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y A N D P H I L O S O P H Y

The continuity between Greek tragedy and Greek philosophy on these questions is however far greater than Williams has allowed On the one hand inside tragedy itself we find arresting portrayals of the human ambition to rational self-sufficiency we come to understand the ways in which problems of exposure motivate this ambition On the other Platos philosophical search for a self- sufficient good life is motivated by a keen sense of these same problems Far from having forgotten about what tragedy describes he sees the problems of exposure so clearly that only a radical solution seems adequate to their depth Nor is he naiumlve about the costs of this solution

N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y P R A C T I C A L C O N F L I C T

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identical which is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A)

Socrates ldquoencourages Euthyphro [a pious Greek] to revise tradition by considering as binding only those requirements concerning which there is divine unanimity he expresses further his own doubt as to whether gods really do disagreerdquo (Nussbaum 30)

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identicalwhich is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A Nussbaum 25)

Creatures of the passing day What is any one What is any one not Shadows dream is man But when the radiance given of Zeus comes

there is a bright light upon men and life is sweet

P I N D A R P Y T H 8 9 5 - 9 7

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

I praise and embrace everyone who willingly does nothing base (aischron) but with necessity not even the gods fight A man not too helpless suffices for me one who knows the justice that benefits the

city (polis) a sound and healthy man I will not lay blame for the generation of fools is limitless Everything is noble (kala) with which

base deeds are not mingled

S I M O N I D E S 5 4 2 2 7 - 4 0

Simonides is criticizing the traditional definition of the good noble or successful man (agathos esthlos) Such goodness or nobility depends upon external achievements and possessions (wealth honour prowess in battle) which are too insecure to form a real basis for human excellence Instead Simonides stresses intention justice that benefits the city acknowledgement of the fragility of lifehellip

C S E G A L ldquo C H O R A L LY R I C I N T H E F I F T H C E N T U R Y rdquo I N P E E A S T E R L I N G amp B M W K N O X T H E C A M B R I D G E H I S T O R Y O F

C L A S S I C A L L I T E R AT U R E I ( C A M B R I D G E 2 0 0 8 ) 2 2 4

LY R I C C O N T E X T

Hoplites in phalanx formation From the Chigi Vase proto-Corinthian pitcher ca 650-640 BC

3 0 0 ( W A R N E R B R O S 2 0 0 6 ) ldquo W H AT I S Y O U R P R O F E S S I O N rdquo

W W W Y O U T U B E C O M W AT C H V = A N A 3 C O 8 3 _ G K

3 0 0 ( W A R N E R B R O S 2 0 0 6 ) ldquo F I G H T I N T H E S H A D E rdquo

Y O U T U B E 4 J K P G D D M A R S T = 1 2 4

τοιόνδ ἄνθος Περσίδος αἴας οἴχεται ἀνδρῶν

οὓς πέρι πᾶσα χθὼν Ἀσιῆτις ρέψασα πόθῳ στένεται microαλερῷ τοκέης τ ἄλοχοί θ ἡmicroερολεγδὸν τείνοντα χρόνον τροmicroέονται

A E S C H Y L U S P E R S A I 5 9 - 6 4 C P I L I A D 9 4 1 0 - 1 6

S E E C A S E Y D U Eacute T H E C A P T I V E W O M A N rsquo S L A M E N T I N G R E E K T R A G E DY C H 2

Such is the flower [anthos] of the Persian land such is the flower of men that has disappeared

The entire land of Asia laments the men she nourished with fierce

longing [pothos] Parents and wives counting the days

tremble at the increasing length of time

P I N D A R

bull Born near Thebes c 518 BCE

bull Composed important epinician odes (epi-nikia for-a-victory in a contest)

bull Depicts the gods as maintaining civic values of justice (O 1 P 1-3 P 8) compassionate (N 10) and forgiving (O 7456) guardians of polis morality

bull Celebrated ldquoroughrdquo style

bull ldquoA soaring eaglehellip a rushing streamrdquo (Horace Od 42) ldquoA vast firerdquo (Longinus Sublime 335)

Bust of the lyric poet Pindar Roman copy from original of the mid-5 century BC

F I F T H - C E N T U R Y C H O R A L LY R I C

A C O R N T O O A K T R E E N E I L B R O M H A L L bull y o u t u b e Z K 4 L j U R t a D w

Some people pray for gold others for limitless lands but I pray to please my fellow citizens and then to cover my limbs in earth

having praised the praiseworthy and scattered reproof on the wicked Excellence soars upward like a tree fed on fresh dews

lifted among the wise and just toward the liquid upper air The need for friends comes in many forms

it is most valued in times of trouble but joy too craves to look upon trusty support

P I N D A R N E M E A N 8 3 6 - 4 3

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

F R A G I L I T Ybull How can we be praiseworthy if we are vulnerable (to circumstances)

bull [The poetic world-view and Pindarrsquos career as praise poet of aretē require] ldquothe belief that the excellence of a good person is something of that persons own for whose possession and exercise that person can appropriately be held accountablerdquo (Nussbaum 1)

bull But ldquoHow can we be givers and receivers of praise if our worth ishellip a plant in need of wateringrdquo (2)

bull ldquoWe need to be born with adequate capacities to live in fostering natural and social circumstances to stay clear of abrupt catastrophe to develop confirming associations with other human beingsrdquo (1)

bull A further complication ldquoThe tenderness of a plant is not the dazzling hardness of a gemrdquo perhaps ldquopart of the peculiar beauty of human excellence just is its vulnerabilityrdquo (2)

M A R T H A N U S S B A U M T H E F R A G I L I T Y O F G O O D N E S S C H 1 L U C K amp E T H I C S

T H E P O W E R O F R E A S O N [T]here is the consolation that so far Pindar has apparently left something out However much human beings resemble lower forms of life we are unlike we want to insist in one crucial respect We have reason We are able to deliberate and choose to make a plan in which ends are ranked to decide actively what is to have value and how much All this must count for something If it is true that a lot about us is messy needy uncontrolled rooted in the dirt and standing helplessly in the rain it is also true that there is something about us that is pure and purely active something that we could think of as divine immortal intelligible unitary indissoluble ever self-consistent and invariablelsquo [Plato Phaedo 80B] It seems possible that this rational element in us can rule and guide the rest thereby saving the whole person from living at the mercy of luck

N U S S B A U M F R A G I L I T Y 2

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S S O P H I S T S A N D T R A G E D I A N SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Athens

AT H E N S rsquo A C R O P O L I S A S I M A G I N E D B Y L E O V O N K L E N Z E O I L O N C A N VA S 1 8 4 6 N E U E P I N A K O T H E K

A S S A S S I N rsquo S C R E E D O D Y S S E Y bull A T O U R O F AT H E N S U B I S O F T ( 2 0 1 8 )

bull Athens is the first lsquopeople-ruledrsquo polis (dēmokratia) in the Mediterranean world

bull She has achieved unchallenged naval authority and an empire which is labeled a lsquocommonwealthrsquo

bull At the commercial and cultural crossroads of Italy Greece Egypt and the Near East

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

S P E E C H A N D D E M O C R A C Y

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

bull In this cosmopolitan environment traditional views are challenged leading to a perceived erosion of moral values

bull The rhapsodes use poetic forms to transmit traditional morality

bull The tragedians use poetic forms to explore amp challenge mythrsquos assumptions

bull The sophists teach ldquowisdomrdquo (sophia) including rhetoric and political oratory perceived as a new lsquotechnologyrsquo to steer the ship of state for onersquos own ends

bull Use onersquos own wits ldquoA person is the measure of all thingsrdquo Protagoras B1

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

T R A G E D Y V U L N E R A B I L I T Y A N D R E A S O NC 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E AT H E N S

Aeschylus Agamemnon (458 BCE) and Euripides Iphigeneia at Aulis (405 BCE) The Sacrifice of Iphigeneia by Francesco Fontebasso bull 1749 oil on canvas

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousnesshellip what is great is fragile andhellip what is necessary may be destructivehellip

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

In such cases we see a wrong action committed without any direct physical compulsion and in full knowledge of its nature by a person whose ethical character or commitments would otherwise dispose him to reject the acthellip circumstanceshellip prevent the adequate fulfillment of two valid ethical claims

N U S S B A U M 2 5

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

[Aeschylus in Agamemnon] shows us not so much a solution to the problem of practical conflict as the richness and depth of the problem itself (This achievement is closely connected with his poetic resources which put the scene vividly before us show us debate about it and evoke in us responses important to its assessment)

The best the agent can do is to have his suffering the natural expression of his goodness of character and not to stifle these responses out of misguided optimism The best we (the Chorus) can do for him is to respect the gravity of his predicament to respect the responses that express his goodness and to think about his case as showing a possibility for human life in general

N U S S B A U M 4 9 - 5 0

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

bull In a world that allows such dilemmas are there truly gods with a coherent vision for the world

bull Can individual reason and ingenuity suffice for a good life

T H E S O P H I S T SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Hesiod Works amp Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale Piteously she transfixed by his crooked claws was lamenting When the imperious hawk addressed her in arrogant parlance Why little lady such shrieks One stronger than you now has got you Where you are going Ill take you myself though you are a songstress For as I please Ill make you my dinner or give you your freedom Witless is one who attempts to strive against those who are stronger When he is stripped of the prize its injury added to insult Thus said the fast-flying hawk that bird with the generous wing-spanPay more attention to justice and curb high-handedness [brother] Violence ill suits men who are lowly not even the noble Man can lightly endure it it weighs on a person whos fallen Into affliction Its better to take your way on the other Road which conduces to right For outrage (hubris) surrenders to

justice (dikē)hellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Thucydides History 584-116 The Melian Dialogue ATHENIANS [Y]ou know as well as we do that when these matters are discussed by practical people the standard of justice depends on the equality of power to compel and that in fact the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they musthellip Our opinion of the gods and our knowledge of men lead us to conclude that it is a general and necessary law of nature to rule whatever one can This is not a law that we made ourselves nor were we the first to act upon it when it was made We found it already in existence and we shall leave it to exist for ever among those who come after us

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos

advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Republic I 343A-D Thrasymachusrsquo complaint Tell me Socrates do you still have a wet nursehellip Because shersquos letting you run around with a snotty nose and doesnrsquot wipe it when she needs tohellip You think that shepherds and cowherds seek the good of their sheep and cattle and fatten them and take care of them looking to something other than their masterrsquos good and their own Moreover you believe that rulershellip think of something besides their own advantage You are so far from understandinghellip that you donrsquot realize that justice is really the good of another the advantage of the stronger and the ruler and harmful to the one who obeys and serves Injustice is the opposite it rules the truly simple and just and those it rules do what is to the advantage of the other and stronger and they make the one they serve happy but themselves not at all You must look at it as follows my most simple Socrates A just man always gets less than an unjust onehellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Gorgias 482C-484C Callicles on nature and convention [Y]oursquore in fact bringing the discussion around to the sort of crowd-pleasing vulgarities that are admirable only by law [nomos also translatable ldquoconventionrdquo or ldquocustomrdquo] and not by nature And these nature and law are for the most part opposed to each otherhellip I believe that the people who institute our laws are the weak and the many So they institute laws and assign praise and blame with themselves and their own advantage in mind As a way of frightening the more powerfulhellip out of getting a greater share than they they say that getting more than onersquos share is ldquoshamefulrdquo and ldquounjusthelliprdquo But surely if a man whose nature is equal to it arises he will shake off tear apart and escape all this he will trample underfoot our documents our tricks and charms and all our laws that violate nature He the slave will rise up and be revealed as our master and here the justice of nature will shine forth

The New Teachers of Athens

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

P R E - S O C R AT I C ldquo P H I L O S O P H E R S 6 T H - 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

P R E - S O C R AT I C P H I L O S O P H E R S

bull Though not usually calling themselves ldquophilosophersrdquo they seemed to have contributed inspiration for Socratesrsquo method of free inquiry applying logos

bull Scholars adopt different views of what constitutes their innovation and ldquophilosophicalrdquo method (see readings)

bull Basing views on argument and evidence

bull De-ldquomythologizationrdquo

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Miletus

E A R LY P H I L O S O P H Y A N C I E N T M I L E T U S

M I L E T U S

bull Wealthy city-state in Asia Minor

bull Key city for trading and shipping between Near East amp Greece

bull Ionian Greek culture

bull Freedom of thought

bull Open political debate

bull Wealth (for some) providing leisure

bull Thales and his successors Anaximander Anaximenes

bull ldquoPhilosophicalrdquo investigation

bull Later Presocratics Heraclitus ParmenidesldquoORIENTALIZINGrdquo POTTERY

The Milesian school strikes a new note unheard before It has a fresh sense of the meaning of truth ndash a feeling for the sort of thing it is reasonable to suppose The hypothesis it characteristically deals in is concerned with the nature of the one primary stuff the Milesians seem to make a great conscious effort to get at something which really does exist They strike us as throwing off the vast symbolic visions of mythology and waking clear-headed to see and touch real things If we have a rational temperament we feel at once a refreshment Here at last is a statement about the world which is meant and offered as true ndash a logos [explanation] not a mythos [story]

ndash F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952 ed) 42

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The questions which excited them were of this kind Can this apparently confused and disordered world be reduced to simpler principles so that our reason can grasp what it is and how it works What is it made of How does change take place They abandoned mythological and substituted intellectual solutions [It] was no longer satisfying to say that storms were roused by the wrath of Poseidon or death caused by the arrows of Apollo or Artemis A world ruled by anthropomorphic gods human in their passions was a world ruled by caprice Philosophy and science start with the bold confession of faith that not caprice but an inherent orderliness underlies the phenomena and the explanation of nature is to be sought within nature itself ndashWKC Guthrie History of Greek Philosophy (Cambridge 1969) 1 44-45

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

Thales of Miletus

bull Lived late 7th-6th centurybull Born to a Phoenician aristocratic

family ndash so leisurebull Traveled to Egypt and Babylon (by

tradition)bull Legendary wisdombull ldquoFounder of Western philosophyrdquo

bull First to seek an ldquooriginal causerdquo (archecirc)

bull to explain how unseen facts caused visible results without appeal to mythology

bull To provide generalizable proofs or laws

Thales of Miletus

AstronomyMathematicsWater as the archecircAll things are full of gods

bull Traditionally Thalesrsquo star student

bull 25 years old during Thalesrsquo eclipse (585 BCE)

bull Lived c 610-540 BCE

bull ldquoFirst to draw the inhabited world on a tabletrdquo (first mapmaker)

bull Unambiguously our first ldquophilosopherrdquo by standards of demythologization originality generality and observation

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

ldquoAnaximander has expurgated the supernatural with a boldness and completeness to which many of his successors failed to attain The primary order is still said to be lsquoaccording to what is ordainedrsquo it is still a moral order in which Justice prevails but the will of the personal God has disappeared and its place is partly taken by a natural cause the eternal motionrdquo

- F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952) 41 Anaximander relief 1st century AD

Rome Museo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Key contributions

bull Physics the archecircbull Cosmologybull ldquoEvolutionrdquobull Astronomy and Cartography

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Anaximander said that the APEIRON [indefinite unlimited] was the ARCHE and the element of things that are and he was the first to introduce this name for the ARCHE He says that the ARCHE is neither water nor any other of the things called elements but some other nature called APEIRON out of which come to be all the heavens and the worlds in them (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2413-18)

The things that are perish into the things out of which they come to be according to necessity for ldquothey pay penalty and retribution to one another according to their injustice in accordance with the ordering of timerdquo as he says in rather poetical language (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2418-21)

Anaximander of Miletus

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The ARCHE

bull One and unlimitedbull But not undefined Itrsquos AIR

Anaximenes of Miletus

bull Not opposites but a continuum FIRE AIR larr WIND larr CLOUD larr WATER larr EARTH larr STONEbull ldquoLooseningrdquo and ldquotighteningrdquo explain hot and cold

H E R A C L I T U S B 1 0 1 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 3 7 )

I searched out myself

Listening not to me but to the logos it is wise to agree that all things are one

H E R A C L I T U S B 5 0 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 1 1 )

E X A M P L E S

THE ROAD TO PHILOSOP HY

The Hero of Lyric Poets of the Polis (6th century)

bull According to the lyric poets of the polis culture such as Pindar Simonides Tyrtaeus and Sappho (7th-6th century BCE)

bull Pursues collective good of the polis based on strong ties of interdependent responsibility amp cooperation in a just world governed by the gods

Individual Freedom The ldquoSophistsrdquo (5th century)

bull Sources in thinkers like Protagoras and Gorgias (5th century BCE predominantly working in Athens) constructed as a category by Platorsquos later writings

bull Pursues individual advantage based on their personal beliefs and wits using persuasion and power skepticism of traditional values

Vulnerability The Hero of Tragedy (5th century)

bull Iconic examples include Sophoclesrsquo Oedipus and Aeschylusrsquo Agamemnon and Orestes

bull Pursuit of individual amp collective good in a world of apparently conflicting divine values sometimes hampered by their own lack of self-knowledge

I N T E R D E P E N D E N C Y I N T R O D U C E S V U L N E R A B I L I T Y W H I C H M AY B E

C E L E B R AT E D O R R E S I S T E D

The Hero of Epic Homer and Hesiod (8th century)

bull Found in the epic Iliad and Odyssey attributed to Homer (c 8th century BCE) examples include the powerful Achilles and thoughtful persuasive Odysseus

bull Pursues individual honour (timē) in a just world governed by the gods

CH

IGI V

AS

E C

70

0 B

CE

The Hero of Reason The ldquoPresocratics (6th-5th cent)

bull Founding figures including Thales Anaximander Anaximenes Pythagoras Heraclitus Parmenides Seeking to understand the basic original causes (aitiai) of the world through reason

I S T H E W O R L D G E N U I N E LY

I N T E L L I G I B L E T O R E A S O N

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Born in Athens to a stonemason named Sophroniscus in 469 BCE

bull ldquoSocratic problemrdquo Socrates wrote nothing we know about him through Plato Xenophon and Aristophanes whose accounts vary

bull Conversed with anyone ldquorich or poor citizen or foreignerrdquo (Apology 23C)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Non-conformity reliance on individual values and wits (contrast with the earlier poets and rhapsodes)

bull Claims of ignorance interest in shared truth and not only persuasion and resistance of ldquoselfish morality (contrast with the sophists)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Methods based on question and answer (the elenchus) requiring unity or consistency (a) of onersquos beliefs and (b) of onersquos beliefs and actions

bull Behaviour peculiar enough to warrant its own verb (sōkratein) (Arist Birds 1282) before generalized philosophia

bull Brought to trial in 399 BCE by two Athenians Meletus and Anytus charged with ldquoimpiety and corrupting the youngrdquo

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

S O C R AT E S C R I T O 4 6 A

I am the kind of person who listens to nothing within me but the logos that on reflection seems

best to me

L O G O S R E A S O N VA L U E C O N S C I E N C E M E A N I N G

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousness A sense of such significances that what is great is fragile and that what is necessary may be destructive which is present in the literature of the fifth century and earlier has disappeared [later] from the ethics of the philosophers and perhaps altogether from their minds Greek philosophy in its sustained pursuit of rational self-sufficiency does turn its back on kinds of human experience and human necessity of which Greek literature itself offers the purest if not the richest expression

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y A N D P H I L O S O P H Y

The continuity between Greek tragedy and Greek philosophy on these questions is however far greater than Williams has allowed On the one hand inside tragedy itself we find arresting portrayals of the human ambition to rational self-sufficiency we come to understand the ways in which problems of exposure motivate this ambition On the other Platos philosophical search for a self- sufficient good life is motivated by a keen sense of these same problems Far from having forgotten about what tragedy describes he sees the problems of exposure so clearly that only a radical solution seems adequate to their depth Nor is he naiumlve about the costs of this solution

N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y P R A C T I C A L C O N F L I C T

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identical which is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A)

Socrates ldquoencourages Euthyphro [a pious Greek] to revise tradition by considering as binding only those requirements concerning which there is divine unanimity he expresses further his own doubt as to whether gods really do disagreerdquo (Nussbaum 30)

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identicalwhich is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A Nussbaum 25)

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

I praise and embrace everyone who willingly does nothing base (aischron) but with necessity not even the gods fight A man not too helpless suffices for me one who knows the justice that benefits the

city (polis) a sound and healthy man I will not lay blame for the generation of fools is limitless Everything is noble (kala) with which

base deeds are not mingled

S I M O N I D E S 5 4 2 2 7 - 4 0

Simonides is criticizing the traditional definition of the good noble or successful man (agathos esthlos) Such goodness or nobility depends upon external achievements and possessions (wealth honour prowess in battle) which are too insecure to form a real basis for human excellence Instead Simonides stresses intention justice that benefits the city acknowledgement of the fragility of lifehellip

C S E G A L ldquo C H O R A L LY R I C I N T H E F I F T H C E N T U R Y rdquo I N P E E A S T E R L I N G amp B M W K N O X T H E C A M B R I D G E H I S T O R Y O F

C L A S S I C A L L I T E R AT U R E I ( C A M B R I D G E 2 0 0 8 ) 2 2 4

LY R I C C O N T E X T

Hoplites in phalanx formation From the Chigi Vase proto-Corinthian pitcher ca 650-640 BC

3 0 0 ( W A R N E R B R O S 2 0 0 6 ) ldquo W H AT I S Y O U R P R O F E S S I O N rdquo

W W W Y O U T U B E C O M W AT C H V = A N A 3 C O 8 3 _ G K

3 0 0 ( W A R N E R B R O S 2 0 0 6 ) ldquo F I G H T I N T H E S H A D E rdquo

Y O U T U B E 4 J K P G D D M A R S T = 1 2 4

τοιόνδ ἄνθος Περσίδος αἴας οἴχεται ἀνδρῶν

οὓς πέρι πᾶσα χθὼν Ἀσιῆτις ρέψασα πόθῳ στένεται microαλερῷ τοκέης τ ἄλοχοί θ ἡmicroερολεγδὸν τείνοντα χρόνον τροmicroέονται

A E S C H Y L U S P E R S A I 5 9 - 6 4 C P I L I A D 9 4 1 0 - 1 6

S E E C A S E Y D U Eacute T H E C A P T I V E W O M A N rsquo S L A M E N T I N G R E E K T R A G E DY C H 2

Such is the flower [anthos] of the Persian land such is the flower of men that has disappeared

The entire land of Asia laments the men she nourished with fierce

longing [pothos] Parents and wives counting the days

tremble at the increasing length of time

P I N D A R

bull Born near Thebes c 518 BCE

bull Composed important epinician odes (epi-nikia for-a-victory in a contest)

bull Depicts the gods as maintaining civic values of justice (O 1 P 1-3 P 8) compassionate (N 10) and forgiving (O 7456) guardians of polis morality

bull Celebrated ldquoroughrdquo style

bull ldquoA soaring eaglehellip a rushing streamrdquo (Horace Od 42) ldquoA vast firerdquo (Longinus Sublime 335)

Bust of the lyric poet Pindar Roman copy from original of the mid-5 century BC

F I F T H - C E N T U R Y C H O R A L LY R I C

A C O R N T O O A K T R E E N E I L B R O M H A L L bull y o u t u b e Z K 4 L j U R t a D w

Some people pray for gold others for limitless lands but I pray to please my fellow citizens and then to cover my limbs in earth

having praised the praiseworthy and scattered reproof on the wicked Excellence soars upward like a tree fed on fresh dews

lifted among the wise and just toward the liquid upper air The need for friends comes in many forms

it is most valued in times of trouble but joy too craves to look upon trusty support

P I N D A R N E M E A N 8 3 6 - 4 3

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

F R A G I L I T Ybull How can we be praiseworthy if we are vulnerable (to circumstances)

bull [The poetic world-view and Pindarrsquos career as praise poet of aretē require] ldquothe belief that the excellence of a good person is something of that persons own for whose possession and exercise that person can appropriately be held accountablerdquo (Nussbaum 1)

bull But ldquoHow can we be givers and receivers of praise if our worth ishellip a plant in need of wateringrdquo (2)

bull ldquoWe need to be born with adequate capacities to live in fostering natural and social circumstances to stay clear of abrupt catastrophe to develop confirming associations with other human beingsrdquo (1)

bull A further complication ldquoThe tenderness of a plant is not the dazzling hardness of a gemrdquo perhaps ldquopart of the peculiar beauty of human excellence just is its vulnerabilityrdquo (2)

M A R T H A N U S S B A U M T H E F R A G I L I T Y O F G O O D N E S S C H 1 L U C K amp E T H I C S

T H E P O W E R O F R E A S O N [T]here is the consolation that so far Pindar has apparently left something out However much human beings resemble lower forms of life we are unlike we want to insist in one crucial respect We have reason We are able to deliberate and choose to make a plan in which ends are ranked to decide actively what is to have value and how much All this must count for something If it is true that a lot about us is messy needy uncontrolled rooted in the dirt and standing helplessly in the rain it is also true that there is something about us that is pure and purely active something that we could think of as divine immortal intelligible unitary indissoluble ever self-consistent and invariablelsquo [Plato Phaedo 80B] It seems possible that this rational element in us can rule and guide the rest thereby saving the whole person from living at the mercy of luck

N U S S B A U M F R A G I L I T Y 2

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S S O P H I S T S A N D T R A G E D I A N SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Athens

AT H E N S rsquo A C R O P O L I S A S I M A G I N E D B Y L E O V O N K L E N Z E O I L O N C A N VA S 1 8 4 6 N E U E P I N A K O T H E K

A S S A S S I N rsquo S C R E E D O D Y S S E Y bull A T O U R O F AT H E N S U B I S O F T ( 2 0 1 8 )

bull Athens is the first lsquopeople-ruledrsquo polis (dēmokratia) in the Mediterranean world

bull She has achieved unchallenged naval authority and an empire which is labeled a lsquocommonwealthrsquo

bull At the commercial and cultural crossroads of Italy Greece Egypt and the Near East

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

S P E E C H A N D D E M O C R A C Y

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

bull In this cosmopolitan environment traditional views are challenged leading to a perceived erosion of moral values

bull The rhapsodes use poetic forms to transmit traditional morality

bull The tragedians use poetic forms to explore amp challenge mythrsquos assumptions

bull The sophists teach ldquowisdomrdquo (sophia) including rhetoric and political oratory perceived as a new lsquotechnologyrsquo to steer the ship of state for onersquos own ends

bull Use onersquos own wits ldquoA person is the measure of all thingsrdquo Protagoras B1

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

T R A G E D Y V U L N E R A B I L I T Y A N D R E A S O NC 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E AT H E N S

Aeschylus Agamemnon (458 BCE) and Euripides Iphigeneia at Aulis (405 BCE) The Sacrifice of Iphigeneia by Francesco Fontebasso bull 1749 oil on canvas

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousnesshellip what is great is fragile andhellip what is necessary may be destructivehellip

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

In such cases we see a wrong action committed without any direct physical compulsion and in full knowledge of its nature by a person whose ethical character or commitments would otherwise dispose him to reject the acthellip circumstanceshellip prevent the adequate fulfillment of two valid ethical claims

N U S S B A U M 2 5

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

[Aeschylus in Agamemnon] shows us not so much a solution to the problem of practical conflict as the richness and depth of the problem itself (This achievement is closely connected with his poetic resources which put the scene vividly before us show us debate about it and evoke in us responses important to its assessment)

The best the agent can do is to have his suffering the natural expression of his goodness of character and not to stifle these responses out of misguided optimism The best we (the Chorus) can do for him is to respect the gravity of his predicament to respect the responses that express his goodness and to think about his case as showing a possibility for human life in general

N U S S B A U M 4 9 - 5 0

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

bull In a world that allows such dilemmas are there truly gods with a coherent vision for the world

bull Can individual reason and ingenuity suffice for a good life

T H E S O P H I S T SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Hesiod Works amp Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale Piteously she transfixed by his crooked claws was lamenting When the imperious hawk addressed her in arrogant parlance Why little lady such shrieks One stronger than you now has got you Where you are going Ill take you myself though you are a songstress For as I please Ill make you my dinner or give you your freedom Witless is one who attempts to strive against those who are stronger When he is stripped of the prize its injury added to insult Thus said the fast-flying hawk that bird with the generous wing-spanPay more attention to justice and curb high-handedness [brother] Violence ill suits men who are lowly not even the noble Man can lightly endure it it weighs on a person whos fallen Into affliction Its better to take your way on the other Road which conduces to right For outrage (hubris) surrenders to

justice (dikē)hellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Thucydides History 584-116 The Melian Dialogue ATHENIANS [Y]ou know as well as we do that when these matters are discussed by practical people the standard of justice depends on the equality of power to compel and that in fact the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they musthellip Our opinion of the gods and our knowledge of men lead us to conclude that it is a general and necessary law of nature to rule whatever one can This is not a law that we made ourselves nor were we the first to act upon it when it was made We found it already in existence and we shall leave it to exist for ever among those who come after us

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos

advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Republic I 343A-D Thrasymachusrsquo complaint Tell me Socrates do you still have a wet nursehellip Because shersquos letting you run around with a snotty nose and doesnrsquot wipe it when she needs tohellip You think that shepherds and cowherds seek the good of their sheep and cattle and fatten them and take care of them looking to something other than their masterrsquos good and their own Moreover you believe that rulershellip think of something besides their own advantage You are so far from understandinghellip that you donrsquot realize that justice is really the good of another the advantage of the stronger and the ruler and harmful to the one who obeys and serves Injustice is the opposite it rules the truly simple and just and those it rules do what is to the advantage of the other and stronger and they make the one they serve happy but themselves not at all You must look at it as follows my most simple Socrates A just man always gets less than an unjust onehellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Gorgias 482C-484C Callicles on nature and convention [Y]oursquore in fact bringing the discussion around to the sort of crowd-pleasing vulgarities that are admirable only by law [nomos also translatable ldquoconventionrdquo or ldquocustomrdquo] and not by nature And these nature and law are for the most part opposed to each otherhellip I believe that the people who institute our laws are the weak and the many So they institute laws and assign praise and blame with themselves and their own advantage in mind As a way of frightening the more powerfulhellip out of getting a greater share than they they say that getting more than onersquos share is ldquoshamefulrdquo and ldquounjusthelliprdquo But surely if a man whose nature is equal to it arises he will shake off tear apart and escape all this he will trample underfoot our documents our tricks and charms and all our laws that violate nature He the slave will rise up and be revealed as our master and here the justice of nature will shine forth

The New Teachers of Athens

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

P R E - S O C R AT I C ldquo P H I L O S O P H E R S 6 T H - 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

P R E - S O C R AT I C P H I L O S O P H E R S

bull Though not usually calling themselves ldquophilosophersrdquo they seemed to have contributed inspiration for Socratesrsquo method of free inquiry applying logos

bull Scholars adopt different views of what constitutes their innovation and ldquophilosophicalrdquo method (see readings)

bull Basing views on argument and evidence

bull De-ldquomythologizationrdquo

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Miletus

E A R LY P H I L O S O P H Y A N C I E N T M I L E T U S

M I L E T U S

bull Wealthy city-state in Asia Minor

bull Key city for trading and shipping between Near East amp Greece

bull Ionian Greek culture

bull Freedom of thought

bull Open political debate

bull Wealth (for some) providing leisure

bull Thales and his successors Anaximander Anaximenes

bull ldquoPhilosophicalrdquo investigation

bull Later Presocratics Heraclitus ParmenidesldquoORIENTALIZINGrdquo POTTERY

The Milesian school strikes a new note unheard before It has a fresh sense of the meaning of truth ndash a feeling for the sort of thing it is reasonable to suppose The hypothesis it characteristically deals in is concerned with the nature of the one primary stuff the Milesians seem to make a great conscious effort to get at something which really does exist They strike us as throwing off the vast symbolic visions of mythology and waking clear-headed to see and touch real things If we have a rational temperament we feel at once a refreshment Here at last is a statement about the world which is meant and offered as true ndash a logos [explanation] not a mythos [story]

ndash F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952 ed) 42

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The questions which excited them were of this kind Can this apparently confused and disordered world be reduced to simpler principles so that our reason can grasp what it is and how it works What is it made of How does change take place They abandoned mythological and substituted intellectual solutions [It] was no longer satisfying to say that storms were roused by the wrath of Poseidon or death caused by the arrows of Apollo or Artemis A world ruled by anthropomorphic gods human in their passions was a world ruled by caprice Philosophy and science start with the bold confession of faith that not caprice but an inherent orderliness underlies the phenomena and the explanation of nature is to be sought within nature itself ndashWKC Guthrie History of Greek Philosophy (Cambridge 1969) 1 44-45

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

Thales of Miletus

bull Lived late 7th-6th centurybull Born to a Phoenician aristocratic

family ndash so leisurebull Traveled to Egypt and Babylon (by

tradition)bull Legendary wisdombull ldquoFounder of Western philosophyrdquo

bull First to seek an ldquooriginal causerdquo (archecirc)

bull to explain how unseen facts caused visible results without appeal to mythology

bull To provide generalizable proofs or laws

Thales of Miletus

AstronomyMathematicsWater as the archecircAll things are full of gods

bull Traditionally Thalesrsquo star student

bull 25 years old during Thalesrsquo eclipse (585 BCE)

bull Lived c 610-540 BCE

bull ldquoFirst to draw the inhabited world on a tabletrdquo (first mapmaker)

bull Unambiguously our first ldquophilosopherrdquo by standards of demythologization originality generality and observation

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

ldquoAnaximander has expurgated the supernatural with a boldness and completeness to which many of his successors failed to attain The primary order is still said to be lsquoaccording to what is ordainedrsquo it is still a moral order in which Justice prevails but the will of the personal God has disappeared and its place is partly taken by a natural cause the eternal motionrdquo

- F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952) 41 Anaximander relief 1st century AD

Rome Museo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Key contributions

bull Physics the archecircbull Cosmologybull ldquoEvolutionrdquobull Astronomy and Cartography

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Anaximander said that the APEIRON [indefinite unlimited] was the ARCHE and the element of things that are and he was the first to introduce this name for the ARCHE He says that the ARCHE is neither water nor any other of the things called elements but some other nature called APEIRON out of which come to be all the heavens and the worlds in them (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2413-18)

The things that are perish into the things out of which they come to be according to necessity for ldquothey pay penalty and retribution to one another according to their injustice in accordance with the ordering of timerdquo as he says in rather poetical language (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2418-21)

Anaximander of Miletus

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The ARCHE

bull One and unlimitedbull But not undefined Itrsquos AIR

Anaximenes of Miletus

bull Not opposites but a continuum FIRE AIR larr WIND larr CLOUD larr WATER larr EARTH larr STONEbull ldquoLooseningrdquo and ldquotighteningrdquo explain hot and cold

H E R A C L I T U S B 1 0 1 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 3 7 )

I searched out myself

Listening not to me but to the logos it is wise to agree that all things are one

H E R A C L I T U S B 5 0 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 1 1 )

E X A M P L E S

THE ROAD TO PHILOSOP HY

The Hero of Lyric Poets of the Polis (6th century)

bull According to the lyric poets of the polis culture such as Pindar Simonides Tyrtaeus and Sappho (7th-6th century BCE)

bull Pursues collective good of the polis based on strong ties of interdependent responsibility amp cooperation in a just world governed by the gods

Individual Freedom The ldquoSophistsrdquo (5th century)

bull Sources in thinkers like Protagoras and Gorgias (5th century BCE predominantly working in Athens) constructed as a category by Platorsquos later writings

bull Pursues individual advantage based on their personal beliefs and wits using persuasion and power skepticism of traditional values

Vulnerability The Hero of Tragedy (5th century)

bull Iconic examples include Sophoclesrsquo Oedipus and Aeschylusrsquo Agamemnon and Orestes

bull Pursuit of individual amp collective good in a world of apparently conflicting divine values sometimes hampered by their own lack of self-knowledge

I N T E R D E P E N D E N C Y I N T R O D U C E S V U L N E R A B I L I T Y W H I C H M AY B E

C E L E B R AT E D O R R E S I S T E D

The Hero of Epic Homer and Hesiod (8th century)

bull Found in the epic Iliad and Odyssey attributed to Homer (c 8th century BCE) examples include the powerful Achilles and thoughtful persuasive Odysseus

bull Pursues individual honour (timē) in a just world governed by the gods

CH

IGI V

AS

E C

70

0 B

CE

The Hero of Reason The ldquoPresocratics (6th-5th cent)

bull Founding figures including Thales Anaximander Anaximenes Pythagoras Heraclitus Parmenides Seeking to understand the basic original causes (aitiai) of the world through reason

I S T H E W O R L D G E N U I N E LY

I N T E L L I G I B L E T O R E A S O N

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Born in Athens to a stonemason named Sophroniscus in 469 BCE

bull ldquoSocratic problemrdquo Socrates wrote nothing we know about him through Plato Xenophon and Aristophanes whose accounts vary

bull Conversed with anyone ldquorich or poor citizen or foreignerrdquo (Apology 23C)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Non-conformity reliance on individual values and wits (contrast with the earlier poets and rhapsodes)

bull Claims of ignorance interest in shared truth and not only persuasion and resistance of ldquoselfish morality (contrast with the sophists)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Methods based on question and answer (the elenchus) requiring unity or consistency (a) of onersquos beliefs and (b) of onersquos beliefs and actions

bull Behaviour peculiar enough to warrant its own verb (sōkratein) (Arist Birds 1282) before generalized philosophia

bull Brought to trial in 399 BCE by two Athenians Meletus and Anytus charged with ldquoimpiety and corrupting the youngrdquo

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

S O C R AT E S C R I T O 4 6 A

I am the kind of person who listens to nothing within me but the logos that on reflection seems

best to me

L O G O S R E A S O N VA L U E C O N S C I E N C E M E A N I N G

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousness A sense of such significances that what is great is fragile and that what is necessary may be destructive which is present in the literature of the fifth century and earlier has disappeared [later] from the ethics of the philosophers and perhaps altogether from their minds Greek philosophy in its sustained pursuit of rational self-sufficiency does turn its back on kinds of human experience and human necessity of which Greek literature itself offers the purest if not the richest expression

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y A N D P H I L O S O P H Y

The continuity between Greek tragedy and Greek philosophy on these questions is however far greater than Williams has allowed On the one hand inside tragedy itself we find arresting portrayals of the human ambition to rational self-sufficiency we come to understand the ways in which problems of exposure motivate this ambition On the other Platos philosophical search for a self- sufficient good life is motivated by a keen sense of these same problems Far from having forgotten about what tragedy describes he sees the problems of exposure so clearly that only a radical solution seems adequate to their depth Nor is he naiumlve about the costs of this solution

N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y P R A C T I C A L C O N F L I C T

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identical which is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A)

Socrates ldquoencourages Euthyphro [a pious Greek] to revise tradition by considering as binding only those requirements concerning which there is divine unanimity he expresses further his own doubt as to whether gods really do disagreerdquo (Nussbaum 30)

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identicalwhich is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A Nussbaum 25)

I praise and embrace everyone who willingly does nothing base (aischron) but with necessity not even the gods fight A man not too helpless suffices for me one who knows the justice that benefits the

city (polis) a sound and healthy man I will not lay blame for the generation of fools is limitless Everything is noble (kala) with which

base deeds are not mingled

S I M O N I D E S 5 4 2 2 7 - 4 0

Simonides is criticizing the traditional definition of the good noble or successful man (agathos esthlos) Such goodness or nobility depends upon external achievements and possessions (wealth honour prowess in battle) which are too insecure to form a real basis for human excellence Instead Simonides stresses intention justice that benefits the city acknowledgement of the fragility of lifehellip

C S E G A L ldquo C H O R A L LY R I C I N T H E F I F T H C E N T U R Y rdquo I N P E E A S T E R L I N G amp B M W K N O X T H E C A M B R I D G E H I S T O R Y O F

C L A S S I C A L L I T E R AT U R E I ( C A M B R I D G E 2 0 0 8 ) 2 2 4

LY R I C C O N T E X T

Hoplites in phalanx formation From the Chigi Vase proto-Corinthian pitcher ca 650-640 BC

3 0 0 ( W A R N E R B R O S 2 0 0 6 ) ldquo W H AT I S Y O U R P R O F E S S I O N rdquo

W W W Y O U T U B E C O M W AT C H V = A N A 3 C O 8 3 _ G K

3 0 0 ( W A R N E R B R O S 2 0 0 6 ) ldquo F I G H T I N T H E S H A D E rdquo

Y O U T U B E 4 J K P G D D M A R S T = 1 2 4

τοιόνδ ἄνθος Περσίδος αἴας οἴχεται ἀνδρῶν

οὓς πέρι πᾶσα χθὼν Ἀσιῆτις ρέψασα πόθῳ στένεται microαλερῷ τοκέης τ ἄλοχοί θ ἡmicroερολεγδὸν τείνοντα χρόνον τροmicroέονται

A E S C H Y L U S P E R S A I 5 9 - 6 4 C P I L I A D 9 4 1 0 - 1 6

S E E C A S E Y D U Eacute T H E C A P T I V E W O M A N rsquo S L A M E N T I N G R E E K T R A G E DY C H 2

Such is the flower [anthos] of the Persian land such is the flower of men that has disappeared

The entire land of Asia laments the men she nourished with fierce

longing [pothos] Parents and wives counting the days

tremble at the increasing length of time

P I N D A R

bull Born near Thebes c 518 BCE

bull Composed important epinician odes (epi-nikia for-a-victory in a contest)

bull Depicts the gods as maintaining civic values of justice (O 1 P 1-3 P 8) compassionate (N 10) and forgiving (O 7456) guardians of polis morality

bull Celebrated ldquoroughrdquo style

bull ldquoA soaring eaglehellip a rushing streamrdquo (Horace Od 42) ldquoA vast firerdquo (Longinus Sublime 335)

Bust of the lyric poet Pindar Roman copy from original of the mid-5 century BC

F I F T H - C E N T U R Y C H O R A L LY R I C

A C O R N T O O A K T R E E N E I L B R O M H A L L bull y o u t u b e Z K 4 L j U R t a D w

Some people pray for gold others for limitless lands but I pray to please my fellow citizens and then to cover my limbs in earth

having praised the praiseworthy and scattered reproof on the wicked Excellence soars upward like a tree fed on fresh dews

lifted among the wise and just toward the liquid upper air The need for friends comes in many forms

it is most valued in times of trouble but joy too craves to look upon trusty support

P I N D A R N E M E A N 8 3 6 - 4 3

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

F R A G I L I T Ybull How can we be praiseworthy if we are vulnerable (to circumstances)

bull [The poetic world-view and Pindarrsquos career as praise poet of aretē require] ldquothe belief that the excellence of a good person is something of that persons own for whose possession and exercise that person can appropriately be held accountablerdquo (Nussbaum 1)

bull But ldquoHow can we be givers and receivers of praise if our worth ishellip a plant in need of wateringrdquo (2)

bull ldquoWe need to be born with adequate capacities to live in fostering natural and social circumstances to stay clear of abrupt catastrophe to develop confirming associations with other human beingsrdquo (1)

bull A further complication ldquoThe tenderness of a plant is not the dazzling hardness of a gemrdquo perhaps ldquopart of the peculiar beauty of human excellence just is its vulnerabilityrdquo (2)

M A R T H A N U S S B A U M T H E F R A G I L I T Y O F G O O D N E S S C H 1 L U C K amp E T H I C S

T H E P O W E R O F R E A S O N [T]here is the consolation that so far Pindar has apparently left something out However much human beings resemble lower forms of life we are unlike we want to insist in one crucial respect We have reason We are able to deliberate and choose to make a plan in which ends are ranked to decide actively what is to have value and how much All this must count for something If it is true that a lot about us is messy needy uncontrolled rooted in the dirt and standing helplessly in the rain it is also true that there is something about us that is pure and purely active something that we could think of as divine immortal intelligible unitary indissoluble ever self-consistent and invariablelsquo [Plato Phaedo 80B] It seems possible that this rational element in us can rule and guide the rest thereby saving the whole person from living at the mercy of luck

N U S S B A U M F R A G I L I T Y 2

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S S O P H I S T S A N D T R A G E D I A N SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Athens

AT H E N S rsquo A C R O P O L I S A S I M A G I N E D B Y L E O V O N K L E N Z E O I L O N C A N VA S 1 8 4 6 N E U E P I N A K O T H E K

A S S A S S I N rsquo S C R E E D O D Y S S E Y bull A T O U R O F AT H E N S U B I S O F T ( 2 0 1 8 )

bull Athens is the first lsquopeople-ruledrsquo polis (dēmokratia) in the Mediterranean world

bull She has achieved unchallenged naval authority and an empire which is labeled a lsquocommonwealthrsquo

bull At the commercial and cultural crossroads of Italy Greece Egypt and the Near East

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

S P E E C H A N D D E M O C R A C Y

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

bull In this cosmopolitan environment traditional views are challenged leading to a perceived erosion of moral values

bull The rhapsodes use poetic forms to transmit traditional morality

bull The tragedians use poetic forms to explore amp challenge mythrsquos assumptions

bull The sophists teach ldquowisdomrdquo (sophia) including rhetoric and political oratory perceived as a new lsquotechnologyrsquo to steer the ship of state for onersquos own ends

bull Use onersquos own wits ldquoA person is the measure of all thingsrdquo Protagoras B1

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

T R A G E D Y V U L N E R A B I L I T Y A N D R E A S O NC 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E AT H E N S

Aeschylus Agamemnon (458 BCE) and Euripides Iphigeneia at Aulis (405 BCE) The Sacrifice of Iphigeneia by Francesco Fontebasso bull 1749 oil on canvas

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousnesshellip what is great is fragile andhellip what is necessary may be destructivehellip

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

In such cases we see a wrong action committed without any direct physical compulsion and in full knowledge of its nature by a person whose ethical character or commitments would otherwise dispose him to reject the acthellip circumstanceshellip prevent the adequate fulfillment of two valid ethical claims

N U S S B A U M 2 5

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

[Aeschylus in Agamemnon] shows us not so much a solution to the problem of practical conflict as the richness and depth of the problem itself (This achievement is closely connected with his poetic resources which put the scene vividly before us show us debate about it and evoke in us responses important to its assessment)

The best the agent can do is to have his suffering the natural expression of his goodness of character and not to stifle these responses out of misguided optimism The best we (the Chorus) can do for him is to respect the gravity of his predicament to respect the responses that express his goodness and to think about his case as showing a possibility for human life in general

N U S S B A U M 4 9 - 5 0

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

bull In a world that allows such dilemmas are there truly gods with a coherent vision for the world

bull Can individual reason and ingenuity suffice for a good life

T H E S O P H I S T SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Hesiod Works amp Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale Piteously she transfixed by his crooked claws was lamenting When the imperious hawk addressed her in arrogant parlance Why little lady such shrieks One stronger than you now has got you Where you are going Ill take you myself though you are a songstress For as I please Ill make you my dinner or give you your freedom Witless is one who attempts to strive against those who are stronger When he is stripped of the prize its injury added to insult Thus said the fast-flying hawk that bird with the generous wing-spanPay more attention to justice and curb high-handedness [brother] Violence ill suits men who are lowly not even the noble Man can lightly endure it it weighs on a person whos fallen Into affliction Its better to take your way on the other Road which conduces to right For outrage (hubris) surrenders to

justice (dikē)hellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Thucydides History 584-116 The Melian Dialogue ATHENIANS [Y]ou know as well as we do that when these matters are discussed by practical people the standard of justice depends on the equality of power to compel and that in fact the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they musthellip Our opinion of the gods and our knowledge of men lead us to conclude that it is a general and necessary law of nature to rule whatever one can This is not a law that we made ourselves nor were we the first to act upon it when it was made We found it already in existence and we shall leave it to exist for ever among those who come after us

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos

advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Republic I 343A-D Thrasymachusrsquo complaint Tell me Socrates do you still have a wet nursehellip Because shersquos letting you run around with a snotty nose and doesnrsquot wipe it when she needs tohellip You think that shepherds and cowherds seek the good of their sheep and cattle and fatten them and take care of them looking to something other than their masterrsquos good and their own Moreover you believe that rulershellip think of something besides their own advantage You are so far from understandinghellip that you donrsquot realize that justice is really the good of another the advantage of the stronger and the ruler and harmful to the one who obeys and serves Injustice is the opposite it rules the truly simple and just and those it rules do what is to the advantage of the other and stronger and they make the one they serve happy but themselves not at all You must look at it as follows my most simple Socrates A just man always gets less than an unjust onehellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Gorgias 482C-484C Callicles on nature and convention [Y]oursquore in fact bringing the discussion around to the sort of crowd-pleasing vulgarities that are admirable only by law [nomos also translatable ldquoconventionrdquo or ldquocustomrdquo] and not by nature And these nature and law are for the most part opposed to each otherhellip I believe that the people who institute our laws are the weak and the many So they institute laws and assign praise and blame with themselves and their own advantage in mind As a way of frightening the more powerfulhellip out of getting a greater share than they they say that getting more than onersquos share is ldquoshamefulrdquo and ldquounjusthelliprdquo But surely if a man whose nature is equal to it arises he will shake off tear apart and escape all this he will trample underfoot our documents our tricks and charms and all our laws that violate nature He the slave will rise up and be revealed as our master and here the justice of nature will shine forth

The New Teachers of Athens

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

P R E - S O C R AT I C ldquo P H I L O S O P H E R S 6 T H - 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

P R E - S O C R AT I C P H I L O S O P H E R S

bull Though not usually calling themselves ldquophilosophersrdquo they seemed to have contributed inspiration for Socratesrsquo method of free inquiry applying logos

bull Scholars adopt different views of what constitutes their innovation and ldquophilosophicalrdquo method (see readings)

bull Basing views on argument and evidence

bull De-ldquomythologizationrdquo

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Miletus

E A R LY P H I L O S O P H Y A N C I E N T M I L E T U S

M I L E T U S

bull Wealthy city-state in Asia Minor

bull Key city for trading and shipping between Near East amp Greece

bull Ionian Greek culture

bull Freedom of thought

bull Open political debate

bull Wealth (for some) providing leisure

bull Thales and his successors Anaximander Anaximenes

bull ldquoPhilosophicalrdquo investigation

bull Later Presocratics Heraclitus ParmenidesldquoORIENTALIZINGrdquo POTTERY

The Milesian school strikes a new note unheard before It has a fresh sense of the meaning of truth ndash a feeling for the sort of thing it is reasonable to suppose The hypothesis it characteristically deals in is concerned with the nature of the one primary stuff the Milesians seem to make a great conscious effort to get at something which really does exist They strike us as throwing off the vast symbolic visions of mythology and waking clear-headed to see and touch real things If we have a rational temperament we feel at once a refreshment Here at last is a statement about the world which is meant and offered as true ndash a logos [explanation] not a mythos [story]

ndash F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952 ed) 42

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The questions which excited them were of this kind Can this apparently confused and disordered world be reduced to simpler principles so that our reason can grasp what it is and how it works What is it made of How does change take place They abandoned mythological and substituted intellectual solutions [It] was no longer satisfying to say that storms were roused by the wrath of Poseidon or death caused by the arrows of Apollo or Artemis A world ruled by anthropomorphic gods human in their passions was a world ruled by caprice Philosophy and science start with the bold confession of faith that not caprice but an inherent orderliness underlies the phenomena and the explanation of nature is to be sought within nature itself ndashWKC Guthrie History of Greek Philosophy (Cambridge 1969) 1 44-45

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

Thales of Miletus

bull Lived late 7th-6th centurybull Born to a Phoenician aristocratic

family ndash so leisurebull Traveled to Egypt and Babylon (by

tradition)bull Legendary wisdombull ldquoFounder of Western philosophyrdquo

bull First to seek an ldquooriginal causerdquo (archecirc)

bull to explain how unseen facts caused visible results without appeal to mythology

bull To provide generalizable proofs or laws

Thales of Miletus

AstronomyMathematicsWater as the archecircAll things are full of gods

bull Traditionally Thalesrsquo star student

bull 25 years old during Thalesrsquo eclipse (585 BCE)

bull Lived c 610-540 BCE

bull ldquoFirst to draw the inhabited world on a tabletrdquo (first mapmaker)

bull Unambiguously our first ldquophilosopherrdquo by standards of demythologization originality generality and observation

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

ldquoAnaximander has expurgated the supernatural with a boldness and completeness to which many of his successors failed to attain The primary order is still said to be lsquoaccording to what is ordainedrsquo it is still a moral order in which Justice prevails but the will of the personal God has disappeared and its place is partly taken by a natural cause the eternal motionrdquo

- F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952) 41 Anaximander relief 1st century AD

Rome Museo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Key contributions

bull Physics the archecircbull Cosmologybull ldquoEvolutionrdquobull Astronomy and Cartography

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Anaximander said that the APEIRON [indefinite unlimited] was the ARCHE and the element of things that are and he was the first to introduce this name for the ARCHE He says that the ARCHE is neither water nor any other of the things called elements but some other nature called APEIRON out of which come to be all the heavens and the worlds in them (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2413-18)

The things that are perish into the things out of which they come to be according to necessity for ldquothey pay penalty and retribution to one another according to their injustice in accordance with the ordering of timerdquo as he says in rather poetical language (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2418-21)

Anaximander of Miletus

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The ARCHE

bull One and unlimitedbull But not undefined Itrsquos AIR

Anaximenes of Miletus

bull Not opposites but a continuum FIRE AIR larr WIND larr CLOUD larr WATER larr EARTH larr STONEbull ldquoLooseningrdquo and ldquotighteningrdquo explain hot and cold

H E R A C L I T U S B 1 0 1 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 3 7 )

I searched out myself

Listening not to me but to the logos it is wise to agree that all things are one

H E R A C L I T U S B 5 0 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 1 1 )

E X A M P L E S

THE ROAD TO PHILOSOP HY

The Hero of Lyric Poets of the Polis (6th century)

bull According to the lyric poets of the polis culture such as Pindar Simonides Tyrtaeus and Sappho (7th-6th century BCE)

bull Pursues collective good of the polis based on strong ties of interdependent responsibility amp cooperation in a just world governed by the gods

Individual Freedom The ldquoSophistsrdquo (5th century)

bull Sources in thinkers like Protagoras and Gorgias (5th century BCE predominantly working in Athens) constructed as a category by Platorsquos later writings

bull Pursues individual advantage based on their personal beliefs and wits using persuasion and power skepticism of traditional values

Vulnerability The Hero of Tragedy (5th century)

bull Iconic examples include Sophoclesrsquo Oedipus and Aeschylusrsquo Agamemnon and Orestes

bull Pursuit of individual amp collective good in a world of apparently conflicting divine values sometimes hampered by their own lack of self-knowledge

I N T E R D E P E N D E N C Y I N T R O D U C E S V U L N E R A B I L I T Y W H I C H M AY B E

C E L E B R AT E D O R R E S I S T E D

The Hero of Epic Homer and Hesiod (8th century)

bull Found in the epic Iliad and Odyssey attributed to Homer (c 8th century BCE) examples include the powerful Achilles and thoughtful persuasive Odysseus

bull Pursues individual honour (timē) in a just world governed by the gods

CH

IGI V

AS

E C

70

0 B

CE

The Hero of Reason The ldquoPresocratics (6th-5th cent)

bull Founding figures including Thales Anaximander Anaximenes Pythagoras Heraclitus Parmenides Seeking to understand the basic original causes (aitiai) of the world through reason

I S T H E W O R L D G E N U I N E LY

I N T E L L I G I B L E T O R E A S O N

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Born in Athens to a stonemason named Sophroniscus in 469 BCE

bull ldquoSocratic problemrdquo Socrates wrote nothing we know about him through Plato Xenophon and Aristophanes whose accounts vary

bull Conversed with anyone ldquorich or poor citizen or foreignerrdquo (Apology 23C)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Non-conformity reliance on individual values and wits (contrast with the earlier poets and rhapsodes)

bull Claims of ignorance interest in shared truth and not only persuasion and resistance of ldquoselfish morality (contrast with the sophists)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Methods based on question and answer (the elenchus) requiring unity or consistency (a) of onersquos beliefs and (b) of onersquos beliefs and actions

bull Behaviour peculiar enough to warrant its own verb (sōkratein) (Arist Birds 1282) before generalized philosophia

bull Brought to trial in 399 BCE by two Athenians Meletus and Anytus charged with ldquoimpiety and corrupting the youngrdquo

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

S O C R AT E S C R I T O 4 6 A

I am the kind of person who listens to nothing within me but the logos that on reflection seems

best to me

L O G O S R E A S O N VA L U E C O N S C I E N C E M E A N I N G

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousness A sense of such significances that what is great is fragile and that what is necessary may be destructive which is present in the literature of the fifth century and earlier has disappeared [later] from the ethics of the philosophers and perhaps altogether from their minds Greek philosophy in its sustained pursuit of rational self-sufficiency does turn its back on kinds of human experience and human necessity of which Greek literature itself offers the purest if not the richest expression

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y A N D P H I L O S O P H Y

The continuity between Greek tragedy and Greek philosophy on these questions is however far greater than Williams has allowed On the one hand inside tragedy itself we find arresting portrayals of the human ambition to rational self-sufficiency we come to understand the ways in which problems of exposure motivate this ambition On the other Platos philosophical search for a self- sufficient good life is motivated by a keen sense of these same problems Far from having forgotten about what tragedy describes he sees the problems of exposure so clearly that only a radical solution seems adequate to their depth Nor is he naiumlve about the costs of this solution

N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y P R A C T I C A L C O N F L I C T

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identical which is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A)

Socrates ldquoencourages Euthyphro [a pious Greek] to revise tradition by considering as binding only those requirements concerning which there is divine unanimity he expresses further his own doubt as to whether gods really do disagreerdquo (Nussbaum 30)

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identicalwhich is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A Nussbaum 25)

Simonides is criticizing the traditional definition of the good noble or successful man (agathos esthlos) Such goodness or nobility depends upon external achievements and possessions (wealth honour prowess in battle) which are too insecure to form a real basis for human excellence Instead Simonides stresses intention justice that benefits the city acknowledgement of the fragility of lifehellip

C S E G A L ldquo C H O R A L LY R I C I N T H E F I F T H C E N T U R Y rdquo I N P E E A S T E R L I N G amp B M W K N O X T H E C A M B R I D G E H I S T O R Y O F

C L A S S I C A L L I T E R AT U R E I ( C A M B R I D G E 2 0 0 8 ) 2 2 4

LY R I C C O N T E X T

Hoplites in phalanx formation From the Chigi Vase proto-Corinthian pitcher ca 650-640 BC

3 0 0 ( W A R N E R B R O S 2 0 0 6 ) ldquo W H AT I S Y O U R P R O F E S S I O N rdquo

W W W Y O U T U B E C O M W AT C H V = A N A 3 C O 8 3 _ G K

3 0 0 ( W A R N E R B R O S 2 0 0 6 ) ldquo F I G H T I N T H E S H A D E rdquo

Y O U T U B E 4 J K P G D D M A R S T = 1 2 4

τοιόνδ ἄνθος Περσίδος αἴας οἴχεται ἀνδρῶν

οὓς πέρι πᾶσα χθὼν Ἀσιῆτις ρέψασα πόθῳ στένεται microαλερῷ τοκέης τ ἄλοχοί θ ἡmicroερολεγδὸν τείνοντα χρόνον τροmicroέονται

A E S C H Y L U S P E R S A I 5 9 - 6 4 C P I L I A D 9 4 1 0 - 1 6

S E E C A S E Y D U Eacute T H E C A P T I V E W O M A N rsquo S L A M E N T I N G R E E K T R A G E DY C H 2

Such is the flower [anthos] of the Persian land such is the flower of men that has disappeared

The entire land of Asia laments the men she nourished with fierce

longing [pothos] Parents and wives counting the days

tremble at the increasing length of time

P I N D A R

bull Born near Thebes c 518 BCE

bull Composed important epinician odes (epi-nikia for-a-victory in a contest)

bull Depicts the gods as maintaining civic values of justice (O 1 P 1-3 P 8) compassionate (N 10) and forgiving (O 7456) guardians of polis morality

bull Celebrated ldquoroughrdquo style

bull ldquoA soaring eaglehellip a rushing streamrdquo (Horace Od 42) ldquoA vast firerdquo (Longinus Sublime 335)

Bust of the lyric poet Pindar Roman copy from original of the mid-5 century BC

F I F T H - C E N T U R Y C H O R A L LY R I C

A C O R N T O O A K T R E E N E I L B R O M H A L L bull y o u t u b e Z K 4 L j U R t a D w

Some people pray for gold others for limitless lands but I pray to please my fellow citizens and then to cover my limbs in earth

having praised the praiseworthy and scattered reproof on the wicked Excellence soars upward like a tree fed on fresh dews

lifted among the wise and just toward the liquid upper air The need for friends comes in many forms

it is most valued in times of trouble but joy too craves to look upon trusty support

P I N D A R N E M E A N 8 3 6 - 4 3

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

F R A G I L I T Ybull How can we be praiseworthy if we are vulnerable (to circumstances)

bull [The poetic world-view and Pindarrsquos career as praise poet of aretē require] ldquothe belief that the excellence of a good person is something of that persons own for whose possession and exercise that person can appropriately be held accountablerdquo (Nussbaum 1)

bull But ldquoHow can we be givers and receivers of praise if our worth ishellip a plant in need of wateringrdquo (2)

bull ldquoWe need to be born with adequate capacities to live in fostering natural and social circumstances to stay clear of abrupt catastrophe to develop confirming associations with other human beingsrdquo (1)

bull A further complication ldquoThe tenderness of a plant is not the dazzling hardness of a gemrdquo perhaps ldquopart of the peculiar beauty of human excellence just is its vulnerabilityrdquo (2)

M A R T H A N U S S B A U M T H E F R A G I L I T Y O F G O O D N E S S C H 1 L U C K amp E T H I C S

T H E P O W E R O F R E A S O N [T]here is the consolation that so far Pindar has apparently left something out However much human beings resemble lower forms of life we are unlike we want to insist in one crucial respect We have reason We are able to deliberate and choose to make a plan in which ends are ranked to decide actively what is to have value and how much All this must count for something If it is true that a lot about us is messy needy uncontrolled rooted in the dirt and standing helplessly in the rain it is also true that there is something about us that is pure and purely active something that we could think of as divine immortal intelligible unitary indissoluble ever self-consistent and invariablelsquo [Plato Phaedo 80B] It seems possible that this rational element in us can rule and guide the rest thereby saving the whole person from living at the mercy of luck

N U S S B A U M F R A G I L I T Y 2

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S S O P H I S T S A N D T R A G E D I A N SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Athens

AT H E N S rsquo A C R O P O L I S A S I M A G I N E D B Y L E O V O N K L E N Z E O I L O N C A N VA S 1 8 4 6 N E U E P I N A K O T H E K

A S S A S S I N rsquo S C R E E D O D Y S S E Y bull A T O U R O F AT H E N S U B I S O F T ( 2 0 1 8 )

bull Athens is the first lsquopeople-ruledrsquo polis (dēmokratia) in the Mediterranean world

bull She has achieved unchallenged naval authority and an empire which is labeled a lsquocommonwealthrsquo

bull At the commercial and cultural crossroads of Italy Greece Egypt and the Near East

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

S P E E C H A N D D E M O C R A C Y

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

bull In this cosmopolitan environment traditional views are challenged leading to a perceived erosion of moral values

bull The rhapsodes use poetic forms to transmit traditional morality

bull The tragedians use poetic forms to explore amp challenge mythrsquos assumptions

bull The sophists teach ldquowisdomrdquo (sophia) including rhetoric and political oratory perceived as a new lsquotechnologyrsquo to steer the ship of state for onersquos own ends

bull Use onersquos own wits ldquoA person is the measure of all thingsrdquo Protagoras B1

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

T R A G E D Y V U L N E R A B I L I T Y A N D R E A S O NC 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E AT H E N S

Aeschylus Agamemnon (458 BCE) and Euripides Iphigeneia at Aulis (405 BCE) The Sacrifice of Iphigeneia by Francesco Fontebasso bull 1749 oil on canvas

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousnesshellip what is great is fragile andhellip what is necessary may be destructivehellip

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

In such cases we see a wrong action committed without any direct physical compulsion and in full knowledge of its nature by a person whose ethical character or commitments would otherwise dispose him to reject the acthellip circumstanceshellip prevent the adequate fulfillment of two valid ethical claims

N U S S B A U M 2 5

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

[Aeschylus in Agamemnon] shows us not so much a solution to the problem of practical conflict as the richness and depth of the problem itself (This achievement is closely connected with his poetic resources which put the scene vividly before us show us debate about it and evoke in us responses important to its assessment)

The best the agent can do is to have his suffering the natural expression of his goodness of character and not to stifle these responses out of misguided optimism The best we (the Chorus) can do for him is to respect the gravity of his predicament to respect the responses that express his goodness and to think about his case as showing a possibility for human life in general

N U S S B A U M 4 9 - 5 0

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

bull In a world that allows such dilemmas are there truly gods with a coherent vision for the world

bull Can individual reason and ingenuity suffice for a good life

T H E S O P H I S T SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Hesiod Works amp Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale Piteously she transfixed by his crooked claws was lamenting When the imperious hawk addressed her in arrogant parlance Why little lady such shrieks One stronger than you now has got you Where you are going Ill take you myself though you are a songstress For as I please Ill make you my dinner or give you your freedom Witless is one who attempts to strive against those who are stronger When he is stripped of the prize its injury added to insult Thus said the fast-flying hawk that bird with the generous wing-spanPay more attention to justice and curb high-handedness [brother] Violence ill suits men who are lowly not even the noble Man can lightly endure it it weighs on a person whos fallen Into affliction Its better to take your way on the other Road which conduces to right For outrage (hubris) surrenders to

justice (dikē)hellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Thucydides History 584-116 The Melian Dialogue ATHENIANS [Y]ou know as well as we do that when these matters are discussed by practical people the standard of justice depends on the equality of power to compel and that in fact the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they musthellip Our opinion of the gods and our knowledge of men lead us to conclude that it is a general and necessary law of nature to rule whatever one can This is not a law that we made ourselves nor were we the first to act upon it when it was made We found it already in existence and we shall leave it to exist for ever among those who come after us

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos

advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Republic I 343A-D Thrasymachusrsquo complaint Tell me Socrates do you still have a wet nursehellip Because shersquos letting you run around with a snotty nose and doesnrsquot wipe it when she needs tohellip You think that shepherds and cowherds seek the good of their sheep and cattle and fatten them and take care of them looking to something other than their masterrsquos good and their own Moreover you believe that rulershellip think of something besides their own advantage You are so far from understandinghellip that you donrsquot realize that justice is really the good of another the advantage of the stronger and the ruler and harmful to the one who obeys and serves Injustice is the opposite it rules the truly simple and just and those it rules do what is to the advantage of the other and stronger and they make the one they serve happy but themselves not at all You must look at it as follows my most simple Socrates A just man always gets less than an unjust onehellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Gorgias 482C-484C Callicles on nature and convention [Y]oursquore in fact bringing the discussion around to the sort of crowd-pleasing vulgarities that are admirable only by law [nomos also translatable ldquoconventionrdquo or ldquocustomrdquo] and not by nature And these nature and law are for the most part opposed to each otherhellip I believe that the people who institute our laws are the weak and the many So they institute laws and assign praise and blame with themselves and their own advantage in mind As a way of frightening the more powerfulhellip out of getting a greater share than they they say that getting more than onersquos share is ldquoshamefulrdquo and ldquounjusthelliprdquo But surely if a man whose nature is equal to it arises he will shake off tear apart and escape all this he will trample underfoot our documents our tricks and charms and all our laws that violate nature He the slave will rise up and be revealed as our master and here the justice of nature will shine forth

The New Teachers of Athens

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

P R E - S O C R AT I C ldquo P H I L O S O P H E R S 6 T H - 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

P R E - S O C R AT I C P H I L O S O P H E R S

bull Though not usually calling themselves ldquophilosophersrdquo they seemed to have contributed inspiration for Socratesrsquo method of free inquiry applying logos

bull Scholars adopt different views of what constitutes their innovation and ldquophilosophicalrdquo method (see readings)

bull Basing views on argument and evidence

bull De-ldquomythologizationrdquo

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Miletus

E A R LY P H I L O S O P H Y A N C I E N T M I L E T U S

M I L E T U S

bull Wealthy city-state in Asia Minor

bull Key city for trading and shipping between Near East amp Greece

bull Ionian Greek culture

bull Freedom of thought

bull Open political debate

bull Wealth (for some) providing leisure

bull Thales and his successors Anaximander Anaximenes

bull ldquoPhilosophicalrdquo investigation

bull Later Presocratics Heraclitus ParmenidesldquoORIENTALIZINGrdquo POTTERY

The Milesian school strikes a new note unheard before It has a fresh sense of the meaning of truth ndash a feeling for the sort of thing it is reasonable to suppose The hypothesis it characteristically deals in is concerned with the nature of the one primary stuff the Milesians seem to make a great conscious effort to get at something which really does exist They strike us as throwing off the vast symbolic visions of mythology and waking clear-headed to see and touch real things If we have a rational temperament we feel at once a refreshment Here at last is a statement about the world which is meant and offered as true ndash a logos [explanation] not a mythos [story]

ndash F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952 ed) 42

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The questions which excited them were of this kind Can this apparently confused and disordered world be reduced to simpler principles so that our reason can grasp what it is and how it works What is it made of How does change take place They abandoned mythological and substituted intellectual solutions [It] was no longer satisfying to say that storms were roused by the wrath of Poseidon or death caused by the arrows of Apollo or Artemis A world ruled by anthropomorphic gods human in their passions was a world ruled by caprice Philosophy and science start with the bold confession of faith that not caprice but an inherent orderliness underlies the phenomena and the explanation of nature is to be sought within nature itself ndashWKC Guthrie History of Greek Philosophy (Cambridge 1969) 1 44-45

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

Thales of Miletus

bull Lived late 7th-6th centurybull Born to a Phoenician aristocratic

family ndash so leisurebull Traveled to Egypt and Babylon (by

tradition)bull Legendary wisdombull ldquoFounder of Western philosophyrdquo

bull First to seek an ldquooriginal causerdquo (archecirc)

bull to explain how unseen facts caused visible results without appeal to mythology

bull To provide generalizable proofs or laws

Thales of Miletus

AstronomyMathematicsWater as the archecircAll things are full of gods

bull Traditionally Thalesrsquo star student

bull 25 years old during Thalesrsquo eclipse (585 BCE)

bull Lived c 610-540 BCE

bull ldquoFirst to draw the inhabited world on a tabletrdquo (first mapmaker)

bull Unambiguously our first ldquophilosopherrdquo by standards of demythologization originality generality and observation

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

ldquoAnaximander has expurgated the supernatural with a boldness and completeness to which many of his successors failed to attain The primary order is still said to be lsquoaccording to what is ordainedrsquo it is still a moral order in which Justice prevails but the will of the personal God has disappeared and its place is partly taken by a natural cause the eternal motionrdquo

- F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952) 41 Anaximander relief 1st century AD

Rome Museo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Key contributions

bull Physics the archecircbull Cosmologybull ldquoEvolutionrdquobull Astronomy and Cartography

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Anaximander said that the APEIRON [indefinite unlimited] was the ARCHE and the element of things that are and he was the first to introduce this name for the ARCHE He says that the ARCHE is neither water nor any other of the things called elements but some other nature called APEIRON out of which come to be all the heavens and the worlds in them (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2413-18)

The things that are perish into the things out of which they come to be according to necessity for ldquothey pay penalty and retribution to one another according to their injustice in accordance with the ordering of timerdquo as he says in rather poetical language (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2418-21)

Anaximander of Miletus

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The ARCHE

bull One and unlimitedbull But not undefined Itrsquos AIR

Anaximenes of Miletus

bull Not opposites but a continuum FIRE AIR larr WIND larr CLOUD larr WATER larr EARTH larr STONEbull ldquoLooseningrdquo and ldquotighteningrdquo explain hot and cold

H E R A C L I T U S B 1 0 1 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 3 7 )

I searched out myself

Listening not to me but to the logos it is wise to agree that all things are one

H E R A C L I T U S B 5 0 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 1 1 )

E X A M P L E S

THE ROAD TO PHILOSOP HY

The Hero of Lyric Poets of the Polis (6th century)

bull According to the lyric poets of the polis culture such as Pindar Simonides Tyrtaeus and Sappho (7th-6th century BCE)

bull Pursues collective good of the polis based on strong ties of interdependent responsibility amp cooperation in a just world governed by the gods

Individual Freedom The ldquoSophistsrdquo (5th century)

bull Sources in thinkers like Protagoras and Gorgias (5th century BCE predominantly working in Athens) constructed as a category by Platorsquos later writings

bull Pursues individual advantage based on their personal beliefs and wits using persuasion and power skepticism of traditional values

Vulnerability The Hero of Tragedy (5th century)

bull Iconic examples include Sophoclesrsquo Oedipus and Aeschylusrsquo Agamemnon and Orestes

bull Pursuit of individual amp collective good in a world of apparently conflicting divine values sometimes hampered by their own lack of self-knowledge

I N T E R D E P E N D E N C Y I N T R O D U C E S V U L N E R A B I L I T Y W H I C H M AY B E

C E L E B R AT E D O R R E S I S T E D

The Hero of Epic Homer and Hesiod (8th century)

bull Found in the epic Iliad and Odyssey attributed to Homer (c 8th century BCE) examples include the powerful Achilles and thoughtful persuasive Odysseus

bull Pursues individual honour (timē) in a just world governed by the gods

CH

IGI V

AS

E C

70

0 B

CE

The Hero of Reason The ldquoPresocratics (6th-5th cent)

bull Founding figures including Thales Anaximander Anaximenes Pythagoras Heraclitus Parmenides Seeking to understand the basic original causes (aitiai) of the world through reason

I S T H E W O R L D G E N U I N E LY

I N T E L L I G I B L E T O R E A S O N

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Born in Athens to a stonemason named Sophroniscus in 469 BCE

bull ldquoSocratic problemrdquo Socrates wrote nothing we know about him through Plato Xenophon and Aristophanes whose accounts vary

bull Conversed with anyone ldquorich or poor citizen or foreignerrdquo (Apology 23C)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Non-conformity reliance on individual values and wits (contrast with the earlier poets and rhapsodes)

bull Claims of ignorance interest in shared truth and not only persuasion and resistance of ldquoselfish morality (contrast with the sophists)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Methods based on question and answer (the elenchus) requiring unity or consistency (a) of onersquos beliefs and (b) of onersquos beliefs and actions

bull Behaviour peculiar enough to warrant its own verb (sōkratein) (Arist Birds 1282) before generalized philosophia

bull Brought to trial in 399 BCE by two Athenians Meletus and Anytus charged with ldquoimpiety and corrupting the youngrdquo

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

S O C R AT E S C R I T O 4 6 A

I am the kind of person who listens to nothing within me but the logos that on reflection seems

best to me

L O G O S R E A S O N VA L U E C O N S C I E N C E M E A N I N G

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousness A sense of such significances that what is great is fragile and that what is necessary may be destructive which is present in the literature of the fifth century and earlier has disappeared [later] from the ethics of the philosophers and perhaps altogether from their minds Greek philosophy in its sustained pursuit of rational self-sufficiency does turn its back on kinds of human experience and human necessity of which Greek literature itself offers the purest if not the richest expression

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y A N D P H I L O S O P H Y

The continuity between Greek tragedy and Greek philosophy on these questions is however far greater than Williams has allowed On the one hand inside tragedy itself we find arresting portrayals of the human ambition to rational self-sufficiency we come to understand the ways in which problems of exposure motivate this ambition On the other Platos philosophical search for a self- sufficient good life is motivated by a keen sense of these same problems Far from having forgotten about what tragedy describes he sees the problems of exposure so clearly that only a radical solution seems adequate to their depth Nor is he naiumlve about the costs of this solution

N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y P R A C T I C A L C O N F L I C T

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identical which is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A)

Socrates ldquoencourages Euthyphro [a pious Greek] to revise tradition by considering as binding only those requirements concerning which there is divine unanimity he expresses further his own doubt as to whether gods really do disagreerdquo (Nussbaum 30)

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identicalwhich is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A Nussbaum 25)

LY R I C C O N T E X T

Hoplites in phalanx formation From the Chigi Vase proto-Corinthian pitcher ca 650-640 BC

3 0 0 ( W A R N E R B R O S 2 0 0 6 ) ldquo W H AT I S Y O U R P R O F E S S I O N rdquo

W W W Y O U T U B E C O M W AT C H V = A N A 3 C O 8 3 _ G K

3 0 0 ( W A R N E R B R O S 2 0 0 6 ) ldquo F I G H T I N T H E S H A D E rdquo

Y O U T U B E 4 J K P G D D M A R S T = 1 2 4

τοιόνδ ἄνθος Περσίδος αἴας οἴχεται ἀνδρῶν

οὓς πέρι πᾶσα χθὼν Ἀσιῆτις ρέψασα πόθῳ στένεται microαλερῷ τοκέης τ ἄλοχοί θ ἡmicroερολεγδὸν τείνοντα χρόνον τροmicroέονται

A E S C H Y L U S P E R S A I 5 9 - 6 4 C P I L I A D 9 4 1 0 - 1 6

S E E C A S E Y D U Eacute T H E C A P T I V E W O M A N rsquo S L A M E N T I N G R E E K T R A G E DY C H 2

Such is the flower [anthos] of the Persian land such is the flower of men that has disappeared

The entire land of Asia laments the men she nourished with fierce

longing [pothos] Parents and wives counting the days

tremble at the increasing length of time

P I N D A R

bull Born near Thebes c 518 BCE

bull Composed important epinician odes (epi-nikia for-a-victory in a contest)

bull Depicts the gods as maintaining civic values of justice (O 1 P 1-3 P 8) compassionate (N 10) and forgiving (O 7456) guardians of polis morality

bull Celebrated ldquoroughrdquo style

bull ldquoA soaring eaglehellip a rushing streamrdquo (Horace Od 42) ldquoA vast firerdquo (Longinus Sublime 335)

Bust of the lyric poet Pindar Roman copy from original of the mid-5 century BC

F I F T H - C E N T U R Y C H O R A L LY R I C

A C O R N T O O A K T R E E N E I L B R O M H A L L bull y o u t u b e Z K 4 L j U R t a D w

Some people pray for gold others for limitless lands but I pray to please my fellow citizens and then to cover my limbs in earth

having praised the praiseworthy and scattered reproof on the wicked Excellence soars upward like a tree fed on fresh dews

lifted among the wise and just toward the liquid upper air The need for friends comes in many forms

it is most valued in times of trouble but joy too craves to look upon trusty support

P I N D A R N E M E A N 8 3 6 - 4 3

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

F R A G I L I T Ybull How can we be praiseworthy if we are vulnerable (to circumstances)

bull [The poetic world-view and Pindarrsquos career as praise poet of aretē require] ldquothe belief that the excellence of a good person is something of that persons own for whose possession and exercise that person can appropriately be held accountablerdquo (Nussbaum 1)

bull But ldquoHow can we be givers and receivers of praise if our worth ishellip a plant in need of wateringrdquo (2)

bull ldquoWe need to be born with adequate capacities to live in fostering natural and social circumstances to stay clear of abrupt catastrophe to develop confirming associations with other human beingsrdquo (1)

bull A further complication ldquoThe tenderness of a plant is not the dazzling hardness of a gemrdquo perhaps ldquopart of the peculiar beauty of human excellence just is its vulnerabilityrdquo (2)

M A R T H A N U S S B A U M T H E F R A G I L I T Y O F G O O D N E S S C H 1 L U C K amp E T H I C S

T H E P O W E R O F R E A S O N [T]here is the consolation that so far Pindar has apparently left something out However much human beings resemble lower forms of life we are unlike we want to insist in one crucial respect We have reason We are able to deliberate and choose to make a plan in which ends are ranked to decide actively what is to have value and how much All this must count for something If it is true that a lot about us is messy needy uncontrolled rooted in the dirt and standing helplessly in the rain it is also true that there is something about us that is pure and purely active something that we could think of as divine immortal intelligible unitary indissoluble ever self-consistent and invariablelsquo [Plato Phaedo 80B] It seems possible that this rational element in us can rule and guide the rest thereby saving the whole person from living at the mercy of luck

N U S S B A U M F R A G I L I T Y 2

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S S O P H I S T S A N D T R A G E D I A N SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Athens

AT H E N S rsquo A C R O P O L I S A S I M A G I N E D B Y L E O V O N K L E N Z E O I L O N C A N VA S 1 8 4 6 N E U E P I N A K O T H E K

A S S A S S I N rsquo S C R E E D O D Y S S E Y bull A T O U R O F AT H E N S U B I S O F T ( 2 0 1 8 )

bull Athens is the first lsquopeople-ruledrsquo polis (dēmokratia) in the Mediterranean world

bull She has achieved unchallenged naval authority and an empire which is labeled a lsquocommonwealthrsquo

bull At the commercial and cultural crossroads of Italy Greece Egypt and the Near East

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

S P E E C H A N D D E M O C R A C Y

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

bull In this cosmopolitan environment traditional views are challenged leading to a perceived erosion of moral values

bull The rhapsodes use poetic forms to transmit traditional morality

bull The tragedians use poetic forms to explore amp challenge mythrsquos assumptions

bull The sophists teach ldquowisdomrdquo (sophia) including rhetoric and political oratory perceived as a new lsquotechnologyrsquo to steer the ship of state for onersquos own ends

bull Use onersquos own wits ldquoA person is the measure of all thingsrdquo Protagoras B1

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

T R A G E D Y V U L N E R A B I L I T Y A N D R E A S O NC 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E AT H E N S

Aeschylus Agamemnon (458 BCE) and Euripides Iphigeneia at Aulis (405 BCE) The Sacrifice of Iphigeneia by Francesco Fontebasso bull 1749 oil on canvas

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousnesshellip what is great is fragile andhellip what is necessary may be destructivehellip

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

In such cases we see a wrong action committed without any direct physical compulsion and in full knowledge of its nature by a person whose ethical character or commitments would otherwise dispose him to reject the acthellip circumstanceshellip prevent the adequate fulfillment of two valid ethical claims

N U S S B A U M 2 5

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

[Aeschylus in Agamemnon] shows us not so much a solution to the problem of practical conflict as the richness and depth of the problem itself (This achievement is closely connected with his poetic resources which put the scene vividly before us show us debate about it and evoke in us responses important to its assessment)

The best the agent can do is to have his suffering the natural expression of his goodness of character and not to stifle these responses out of misguided optimism The best we (the Chorus) can do for him is to respect the gravity of his predicament to respect the responses that express his goodness and to think about his case as showing a possibility for human life in general

N U S S B A U M 4 9 - 5 0

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

bull In a world that allows such dilemmas are there truly gods with a coherent vision for the world

bull Can individual reason and ingenuity suffice for a good life

T H E S O P H I S T SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Hesiod Works amp Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale Piteously she transfixed by his crooked claws was lamenting When the imperious hawk addressed her in arrogant parlance Why little lady such shrieks One stronger than you now has got you Where you are going Ill take you myself though you are a songstress For as I please Ill make you my dinner or give you your freedom Witless is one who attempts to strive against those who are stronger When he is stripped of the prize its injury added to insult Thus said the fast-flying hawk that bird with the generous wing-spanPay more attention to justice and curb high-handedness [brother] Violence ill suits men who are lowly not even the noble Man can lightly endure it it weighs on a person whos fallen Into affliction Its better to take your way on the other Road which conduces to right For outrage (hubris) surrenders to

justice (dikē)hellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Thucydides History 584-116 The Melian Dialogue ATHENIANS [Y]ou know as well as we do that when these matters are discussed by practical people the standard of justice depends on the equality of power to compel and that in fact the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they musthellip Our opinion of the gods and our knowledge of men lead us to conclude that it is a general and necessary law of nature to rule whatever one can This is not a law that we made ourselves nor were we the first to act upon it when it was made We found it already in existence and we shall leave it to exist for ever among those who come after us

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos

advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Republic I 343A-D Thrasymachusrsquo complaint Tell me Socrates do you still have a wet nursehellip Because shersquos letting you run around with a snotty nose and doesnrsquot wipe it when she needs tohellip You think that shepherds and cowherds seek the good of their sheep and cattle and fatten them and take care of them looking to something other than their masterrsquos good and their own Moreover you believe that rulershellip think of something besides their own advantage You are so far from understandinghellip that you donrsquot realize that justice is really the good of another the advantage of the stronger and the ruler and harmful to the one who obeys and serves Injustice is the opposite it rules the truly simple and just and those it rules do what is to the advantage of the other and stronger and they make the one they serve happy but themselves not at all You must look at it as follows my most simple Socrates A just man always gets less than an unjust onehellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Gorgias 482C-484C Callicles on nature and convention [Y]oursquore in fact bringing the discussion around to the sort of crowd-pleasing vulgarities that are admirable only by law [nomos also translatable ldquoconventionrdquo or ldquocustomrdquo] and not by nature And these nature and law are for the most part opposed to each otherhellip I believe that the people who institute our laws are the weak and the many So they institute laws and assign praise and blame with themselves and their own advantage in mind As a way of frightening the more powerfulhellip out of getting a greater share than they they say that getting more than onersquos share is ldquoshamefulrdquo and ldquounjusthelliprdquo But surely if a man whose nature is equal to it arises he will shake off tear apart and escape all this he will trample underfoot our documents our tricks and charms and all our laws that violate nature He the slave will rise up and be revealed as our master and here the justice of nature will shine forth

The New Teachers of Athens

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

P R E - S O C R AT I C ldquo P H I L O S O P H E R S 6 T H - 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

P R E - S O C R AT I C P H I L O S O P H E R S

bull Though not usually calling themselves ldquophilosophersrdquo they seemed to have contributed inspiration for Socratesrsquo method of free inquiry applying logos

bull Scholars adopt different views of what constitutes their innovation and ldquophilosophicalrdquo method (see readings)

bull Basing views on argument and evidence

bull De-ldquomythologizationrdquo

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Miletus

E A R LY P H I L O S O P H Y A N C I E N T M I L E T U S

M I L E T U S

bull Wealthy city-state in Asia Minor

bull Key city for trading and shipping between Near East amp Greece

bull Ionian Greek culture

bull Freedom of thought

bull Open political debate

bull Wealth (for some) providing leisure

bull Thales and his successors Anaximander Anaximenes

bull ldquoPhilosophicalrdquo investigation

bull Later Presocratics Heraclitus ParmenidesldquoORIENTALIZINGrdquo POTTERY

The Milesian school strikes a new note unheard before It has a fresh sense of the meaning of truth ndash a feeling for the sort of thing it is reasonable to suppose The hypothesis it characteristically deals in is concerned with the nature of the one primary stuff the Milesians seem to make a great conscious effort to get at something which really does exist They strike us as throwing off the vast symbolic visions of mythology and waking clear-headed to see and touch real things If we have a rational temperament we feel at once a refreshment Here at last is a statement about the world which is meant and offered as true ndash a logos [explanation] not a mythos [story]

ndash F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952 ed) 42

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The questions which excited them were of this kind Can this apparently confused and disordered world be reduced to simpler principles so that our reason can grasp what it is and how it works What is it made of How does change take place They abandoned mythological and substituted intellectual solutions [It] was no longer satisfying to say that storms were roused by the wrath of Poseidon or death caused by the arrows of Apollo or Artemis A world ruled by anthropomorphic gods human in their passions was a world ruled by caprice Philosophy and science start with the bold confession of faith that not caprice but an inherent orderliness underlies the phenomena and the explanation of nature is to be sought within nature itself ndashWKC Guthrie History of Greek Philosophy (Cambridge 1969) 1 44-45

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

Thales of Miletus

bull Lived late 7th-6th centurybull Born to a Phoenician aristocratic

family ndash so leisurebull Traveled to Egypt and Babylon (by

tradition)bull Legendary wisdombull ldquoFounder of Western philosophyrdquo

bull First to seek an ldquooriginal causerdquo (archecirc)

bull to explain how unseen facts caused visible results without appeal to mythology

bull To provide generalizable proofs or laws

Thales of Miletus

AstronomyMathematicsWater as the archecircAll things are full of gods

bull Traditionally Thalesrsquo star student

bull 25 years old during Thalesrsquo eclipse (585 BCE)

bull Lived c 610-540 BCE

bull ldquoFirst to draw the inhabited world on a tabletrdquo (first mapmaker)

bull Unambiguously our first ldquophilosopherrdquo by standards of demythologization originality generality and observation

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

ldquoAnaximander has expurgated the supernatural with a boldness and completeness to which many of his successors failed to attain The primary order is still said to be lsquoaccording to what is ordainedrsquo it is still a moral order in which Justice prevails but the will of the personal God has disappeared and its place is partly taken by a natural cause the eternal motionrdquo

- F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952) 41 Anaximander relief 1st century AD

Rome Museo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Key contributions

bull Physics the archecircbull Cosmologybull ldquoEvolutionrdquobull Astronomy and Cartography

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Anaximander said that the APEIRON [indefinite unlimited] was the ARCHE and the element of things that are and he was the first to introduce this name for the ARCHE He says that the ARCHE is neither water nor any other of the things called elements but some other nature called APEIRON out of which come to be all the heavens and the worlds in them (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2413-18)

The things that are perish into the things out of which they come to be according to necessity for ldquothey pay penalty and retribution to one another according to their injustice in accordance with the ordering of timerdquo as he says in rather poetical language (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2418-21)

Anaximander of Miletus

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The ARCHE

bull One and unlimitedbull But not undefined Itrsquos AIR

Anaximenes of Miletus

bull Not opposites but a continuum FIRE AIR larr WIND larr CLOUD larr WATER larr EARTH larr STONEbull ldquoLooseningrdquo and ldquotighteningrdquo explain hot and cold

H E R A C L I T U S B 1 0 1 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 3 7 )

I searched out myself

Listening not to me but to the logos it is wise to agree that all things are one

H E R A C L I T U S B 5 0 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 1 1 )

E X A M P L E S

THE ROAD TO PHILOSOP HY

The Hero of Lyric Poets of the Polis (6th century)

bull According to the lyric poets of the polis culture such as Pindar Simonides Tyrtaeus and Sappho (7th-6th century BCE)

bull Pursues collective good of the polis based on strong ties of interdependent responsibility amp cooperation in a just world governed by the gods

Individual Freedom The ldquoSophistsrdquo (5th century)

bull Sources in thinkers like Protagoras and Gorgias (5th century BCE predominantly working in Athens) constructed as a category by Platorsquos later writings

bull Pursues individual advantage based on their personal beliefs and wits using persuasion and power skepticism of traditional values

Vulnerability The Hero of Tragedy (5th century)

bull Iconic examples include Sophoclesrsquo Oedipus and Aeschylusrsquo Agamemnon and Orestes

bull Pursuit of individual amp collective good in a world of apparently conflicting divine values sometimes hampered by their own lack of self-knowledge

I N T E R D E P E N D E N C Y I N T R O D U C E S V U L N E R A B I L I T Y W H I C H M AY B E

C E L E B R AT E D O R R E S I S T E D

The Hero of Epic Homer and Hesiod (8th century)

bull Found in the epic Iliad and Odyssey attributed to Homer (c 8th century BCE) examples include the powerful Achilles and thoughtful persuasive Odysseus

bull Pursues individual honour (timē) in a just world governed by the gods

CH

IGI V

AS

E C

70

0 B

CE

The Hero of Reason The ldquoPresocratics (6th-5th cent)

bull Founding figures including Thales Anaximander Anaximenes Pythagoras Heraclitus Parmenides Seeking to understand the basic original causes (aitiai) of the world through reason

I S T H E W O R L D G E N U I N E LY

I N T E L L I G I B L E T O R E A S O N

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Born in Athens to a stonemason named Sophroniscus in 469 BCE

bull ldquoSocratic problemrdquo Socrates wrote nothing we know about him through Plato Xenophon and Aristophanes whose accounts vary

bull Conversed with anyone ldquorich or poor citizen or foreignerrdquo (Apology 23C)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Non-conformity reliance on individual values and wits (contrast with the earlier poets and rhapsodes)

bull Claims of ignorance interest in shared truth and not only persuasion and resistance of ldquoselfish morality (contrast with the sophists)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Methods based on question and answer (the elenchus) requiring unity or consistency (a) of onersquos beliefs and (b) of onersquos beliefs and actions

bull Behaviour peculiar enough to warrant its own verb (sōkratein) (Arist Birds 1282) before generalized philosophia

bull Brought to trial in 399 BCE by two Athenians Meletus and Anytus charged with ldquoimpiety and corrupting the youngrdquo

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

S O C R AT E S C R I T O 4 6 A

I am the kind of person who listens to nothing within me but the logos that on reflection seems

best to me

L O G O S R E A S O N VA L U E C O N S C I E N C E M E A N I N G

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousness A sense of such significances that what is great is fragile and that what is necessary may be destructive which is present in the literature of the fifth century and earlier has disappeared [later] from the ethics of the philosophers and perhaps altogether from their minds Greek philosophy in its sustained pursuit of rational self-sufficiency does turn its back on kinds of human experience and human necessity of which Greek literature itself offers the purest if not the richest expression

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y A N D P H I L O S O P H Y

The continuity between Greek tragedy and Greek philosophy on these questions is however far greater than Williams has allowed On the one hand inside tragedy itself we find arresting portrayals of the human ambition to rational self-sufficiency we come to understand the ways in which problems of exposure motivate this ambition On the other Platos philosophical search for a self- sufficient good life is motivated by a keen sense of these same problems Far from having forgotten about what tragedy describes he sees the problems of exposure so clearly that only a radical solution seems adequate to their depth Nor is he naiumlve about the costs of this solution

N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y P R A C T I C A L C O N F L I C T

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identical which is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A)

Socrates ldquoencourages Euthyphro [a pious Greek] to revise tradition by considering as binding only those requirements concerning which there is divine unanimity he expresses further his own doubt as to whether gods really do disagreerdquo (Nussbaum 30)

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identicalwhich is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A Nussbaum 25)

3 0 0 ( W A R N E R B R O S 2 0 0 6 ) ldquo W H AT I S Y O U R P R O F E S S I O N rdquo

W W W Y O U T U B E C O M W AT C H V = A N A 3 C O 8 3 _ G K

3 0 0 ( W A R N E R B R O S 2 0 0 6 ) ldquo F I G H T I N T H E S H A D E rdquo

Y O U T U B E 4 J K P G D D M A R S T = 1 2 4

τοιόνδ ἄνθος Περσίδος αἴας οἴχεται ἀνδρῶν

οὓς πέρι πᾶσα χθὼν Ἀσιῆτις ρέψασα πόθῳ στένεται microαλερῷ τοκέης τ ἄλοχοί θ ἡmicroερολεγδὸν τείνοντα χρόνον τροmicroέονται

A E S C H Y L U S P E R S A I 5 9 - 6 4 C P I L I A D 9 4 1 0 - 1 6

S E E C A S E Y D U Eacute T H E C A P T I V E W O M A N rsquo S L A M E N T I N G R E E K T R A G E DY C H 2

Such is the flower [anthos] of the Persian land such is the flower of men that has disappeared

The entire land of Asia laments the men she nourished with fierce

longing [pothos] Parents and wives counting the days

tremble at the increasing length of time

P I N D A R

bull Born near Thebes c 518 BCE

bull Composed important epinician odes (epi-nikia for-a-victory in a contest)

bull Depicts the gods as maintaining civic values of justice (O 1 P 1-3 P 8) compassionate (N 10) and forgiving (O 7456) guardians of polis morality

bull Celebrated ldquoroughrdquo style

bull ldquoA soaring eaglehellip a rushing streamrdquo (Horace Od 42) ldquoA vast firerdquo (Longinus Sublime 335)

Bust of the lyric poet Pindar Roman copy from original of the mid-5 century BC

F I F T H - C E N T U R Y C H O R A L LY R I C

A C O R N T O O A K T R E E N E I L B R O M H A L L bull y o u t u b e Z K 4 L j U R t a D w

Some people pray for gold others for limitless lands but I pray to please my fellow citizens and then to cover my limbs in earth

having praised the praiseworthy and scattered reproof on the wicked Excellence soars upward like a tree fed on fresh dews

lifted among the wise and just toward the liquid upper air The need for friends comes in many forms

it is most valued in times of trouble but joy too craves to look upon trusty support

P I N D A R N E M E A N 8 3 6 - 4 3

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

F R A G I L I T Ybull How can we be praiseworthy if we are vulnerable (to circumstances)

bull [The poetic world-view and Pindarrsquos career as praise poet of aretē require] ldquothe belief that the excellence of a good person is something of that persons own for whose possession and exercise that person can appropriately be held accountablerdquo (Nussbaum 1)

bull But ldquoHow can we be givers and receivers of praise if our worth ishellip a plant in need of wateringrdquo (2)

bull ldquoWe need to be born with adequate capacities to live in fostering natural and social circumstances to stay clear of abrupt catastrophe to develop confirming associations with other human beingsrdquo (1)

bull A further complication ldquoThe tenderness of a plant is not the dazzling hardness of a gemrdquo perhaps ldquopart of the peculiar beauty of human excellence just is its vulnerabilityrdquo (2)

M A R T H A N U S S B A U M T H E F R A G I L I T Y O F G O O D N E S S C H 1 L U C K amp E T H I C S

T H E P O W E R O F R E A S O N [T]here is the consolation that so far Pindar has apparently left something out However much human beings resemble lower forms of life we are unlike we want to insist in one crucial respect We have reason We are able to deliberate and choose to make a plan in which ends are ranked to decide actively what is to have value and how much All this must count for something If it is true that a lot about us is messy needy uncontrolled rooted in the dirt and standing helplessly in the rain it is also true that there is something about us that is pure and purely active something that we could think of as divine immortal intelligible unitary indissoluble ever self-consistent and invariablelsquo [Plato Phaedo 80B] It seems possible that this rational element in us can rule and guide the rest thereby saving the whole person from living at the mercy of luck

N U S S B A U M F R A G I L I T Y 2

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S S O P H I S T S A N D T R A G E D I A N SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Athens

AT H E N S rsquo A C R O P O L I S A S I M A G I N E D B Y L E O V O N K L E N Z E O I L O N C A N VA S 1 8 4 6 N E U E P I N A K O T H E K

A S S A S S I N rsquo S C R E E D O D Y S S E Y bull A T O U R O F AT H E N S U B I S O F T ( 2 0 1 8 )

bull Athens is the first lsquopeople-ruledrsquo polis (dēmokratia) in the Mediterranean world

bull She has achieved unchallenged naval authority and an empire which is labeled a lsquocommonwealthrsquo

bull At the commercial and cultural crossroads of Italy Greece Egypt and the Near East

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

S P E E C H A N D D E M O C R A C Y

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

bull In this cosmopolitan environment traditional views are challenged leading to a perceived erosion of moral values

bull The rhapsodes use poetic forms to transmit traditional morality

bull The tragedians use poetic forms to explore amp challenge mythrsquos assumptions

bull The sophists teach ldquowisdomrdquo (sophia) including rhetoric and political oratory perceived as a new lsquotechnologyrsquo to steer the ship of state for onersquos own ends

bull Use onersquos own wits ldquoA person is the measure of all thingsrdquo Protagoras B1

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

T R A G E D Y V U L N E R A B I L I T Y A N D R E A S O NC 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E AT H E N S

Aeschylus Agamemnon (458 BCE) and Euripides Iphigeneia at Aulis (405 BCE) The Sacrifice of Iphigeneia by Francesco Fontebasso bull 1749 oil on canvas

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousnesshellip what is great is fragile andhellip what is necessary may be destructivehellip

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

In such cases we see a wrong action committed without any direct physical compulsion and in full knowledge of its nature by a person whose ethical character or commitments would otherwise dispose him to reject the acthellip circumstanceshellip prevent the adequate fulfillment of two valid ethical claims

N U S S B A U M 2 5

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

[Aeschylus in Agamemnon] shows us not so much a solution to the problem of practical conflict as the richness and depth of the problem itself (This achievement is closely connected with his poetic resources which put the scene vividly before us show us debate about it and evoke in us responses important to its assessment)

The best the agent can do is to have his suffering the natural expression of his goodness of character and not to stifle these responses out of misguided optimism The best we (the Chorus) can do for him is to respect the gravity of his predicament to respect the responses that express his goodness and to think about his case as showing a possibility for human life in general

N U S S B A U M 4 9 - 5 0

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

bull In a world that allows such dilemmas are there truly gods with a coherent vision for the world

bull Can individual reason and ingenuity suffice for a good life

T H E S O P H I S T SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Hesiod Works amp Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale Piteously she transfixed by his crooked claws was lamenting When the imperious hawk addressed her in arrogant parlance Why little lady such shrieks One stronger than you now has got you Where you are going Ill take you myself though you are a songstress For as I please Ill make you my dinner or give you your freedom Witless is one who attempts to strive against those who are stronger When he is stripped of the prize its injury added to insult Thus said the fast-flying hawk that bird with the generous wing-spanPay more attention to justice and curb high-handedness [brother] Violence ill suits men who are lowly not even the noble Man can lightly endure it it weighs on a person whos fallen Into affliction Its better to take your way on the other Road which conduces to right For outrage (hubris) surrenders to

justice (dikē)hellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Thucydides History 584-116 The Melian Dialogue ATHENIANS [Y]ou know as well as we do that when these matters are discussed by practical people the standard of justice depends on the equality of power to compel and that in fact the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they musthellip Our opinion of the gods and our knowledge of men lead us to conclude that it is a general and necessary law of nature to rule whatever one can This is not a law that we made ourselves nor were we the first to act upon it when it was made We found it already in existence and we shall leave it to exist for ever among those who come after us

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos

advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Republic I 343A-D Thrasymachusrsquo complaint Tell me Socrates do you still have a wet nursehellip Because shersquos letting you run around with a snotty nose and doesnrsquot wipe it when she needs tohellip You think that shepherds and cowherds seek the good of their sheep and cattle and fatten them and take care of them looking to something other than their masterrsquos good and their own Moreover you believe that rulershellip think of something besides their own advantage You are so far from understandinghellip that you donrsquot realize that justice is really the good of another the advantage of the stronger and the ruler and harmful to the one who obeys and serves Injustice is the opposite it rules the truly simple and just and those it rules do what is to the advantage of the other and stronger and they make the one they serve happy but themselves not at all You must look at it as follows my most simple Socrates A just man always gets less than an unjust onehellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Gorgias 482C-484C Callicles on nature and convention [Y]oursquore in fact bringing the discussion around to the sort of crowd-pleasing vulgarities that are admirable only by law [nomos also translatable ldquoconventionrdquo or ldquocustomrdquo] and not by nature And these nature and law are for the most part opposed to each otherhellip I believe that the people who institute our laws are the weak and the many So they institute laws and assign praise and blame with themselves and their own advantage in mind As a way of frightening the more powerfulhellip out of getting a greater share than they they say that getting more than onersquos share is ldquoshamefulrdquo and ldquounjusthelliprdquo But surely if a man whose nature is equal to it arises he will shake off tear apart and escape all this he will trample underfoot our documents our tricks and charms and all our laws that violate nature He the slave will rise up and be revealed as our master and here the justice of nature will shine forth

The New Teachers of Athens

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

P R E - S O C R AT I C ldquo P H I L O S O P H E R S 6 T H - 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

P R E - S O C R AT I C P H I L O S O P H E R S

bull Though not usually calling themselves ldquophilosophersrdquo they seemed to have contributed inspiration for Socratesrsquo method of free inquiry applying logos

bull Scholars adopt different views of what constitutes their innovation and ldquophilosophicalrdquo method (see readings)

bull Basing views on argument and evidence

bull De-ldquomythologizationrdquo

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Miletus

E A R LY P H I L O S O P H Y A N C I E N T M I L E T U S

M I L E T U S

bull Wealthy city-state in Asia Minor

bull Key city for trading and shipping between Near East amp Greece

bull Ionian Greek culture

bull Freedom of thought

bull Open political debate

bull Wealth (for some) providing leisure

bull Thales and his successors Anaximander Anaximenes

bull ldquoPhilosophicalrdquo investigation

bull Later Presocratics Heraclitus ParmenidesldquoORIENTALIZINGrdquo POTTERY

The Milesian school strikes a new note unheard before It has a fresh sense of the meaning of truth ndash a feeling for the sort of thing it is reasonable to suppose The hypothesis it characteristically deals in is concerned with the nature of the one primary stuff the Milesians seem to make a great conscious effort to get at something which really does exist They strike us as throwing off the vast symbolic visions of mythology and waking clear-headed to see and touch real things If we have a rational temperament we feel at once a refreshment Here at last is a statement about the world which is meant and offered as true ndash a logos [explanation] not a mythos [story]

ndash F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952 ed) 42

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The questions which excited them were of this kind Can this apparently confused and disordered world be reduced to simpler principles so that our reason can grasp what it is and how it works What is it made of How does change take place They abandoned mythological and substituted intellectual solutions [It] was no longer satisfying to say that storms were roused by the wrath of Poseidon or death caused by the arrows of Apollo or Artemis A world ruled by anthropomorphic gods human in their passions was a world ruled by caprice Philosophy and science start with the bold confession of faith that not caprice but an inherent orderliness underlies the phenomena and the explanation of nature is to be sought within nature itself ndashWKC Guthrie History of Greek Philosophy (Cambridge 1969) 1 44-45

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

Thales of Miletus

bull Lived late 7th-6th centurybull Born to a Phoenician aristocratic

family ndash so leisurebull Traveled to Egypt and Babylon (by

tradition)bull Legendary wisdombull ldquoFounder of Western philosophyrdquo

bull First to seek an ldquooriginal causerdquo (archecirc)

bull to explain how unseen facts caused visible results without appeal to mythology

bull To provide generalizable proofs or laws

Thales of Miletus

AstronomyMathematicsWater as the archecircAll things are full of gods

bull Traditionally Thalesrsquo star student

bull 25 years old during Thalesrsquo eclipse (585 BCE)

bull Lived c 610-540 BCE

bull ldquoFirst to draw the inhabited world on a tabletrdquo (first mapmaker)

bull Unambiguously our first ldquophilosopherrdquo by standards of demythologization originality generality and observation

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

ldquoAnaximander has expurgated the supernatural with a boldness and completeness to which many of his successors failed to attain The primary order is still said to be lsquoaccording to what is ordainedrsquo it is still a moral order in which Justice prevails but the will of the personal God has disappeared and its place is partly taken by a natural cause the eternal motionrdquo

- F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952) 41 Anaximander relief 1st century AD

Rome Museo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Key contributions

bull Physics the archecircbull Cosmologybull ldquoEvolutionrdquobull Astronomy and Cartography

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Anaximander said that the APEIRON [indefinite unlimited] was the ARCHE and the element of things that are and he was the first to introduce this name for the ARCHE He says that the ARCHE is neither water nor any other of the things called elements but some other nature called APEIRON out of which come to be all the heavens and the worlds in them (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2413-18)

The things that are perish into the things out of which they come to be according to necessity for ldquothey pay penalty and retribution to one another according to their injustice in accordance with the ordering of timerdquo as he says in rather poetical language (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2418-21)

Anaximander of Miletus

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The ARCHE

bull One and unlimitedbull But not undefined Itrsquos AIR

Anaximenes of Miletus

bull Not opposites but a continuum FIRE AIR larr WIND larr CLOUD larr WATER larr EARTH larr STONEbull ldquoLooseningrdquo and ldquotighteningrdquo explain hot and cold

H E R A C L I T U S B 1 0 1 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 3 7 )

I searched out myself

Listening not to me but to the logos it is wise to agree that all things are one

H E R A C L I T U S B 5 0 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 1 1 )

E X A M P L E S

THE ROAD TO PHILOSOP HY

The Hero of Lyric Poets of the Polis (6th century)

bull According to the lyric poets of the polis culture such as Pindar Simonides Tyrtaeus and Sappho (7th-6th century BCE)

bull Pursues collective good of the polis based on strong ties of interdependent responsibility amp cooperation in a just world governed by the gods

Individual Freedom The ldquoSophistsrdquo (5th century)

bull Sources in thinkers like Protagoras and Gorgias (5th century BCE predominantly working in Athens) constructed as a category by Platorsquos later writings

bull Pursues individual advantage based on their personal beliefs and wits using persuasion and power skepticism of traditional values

Vulnerability The Hero of Tragedy (5th century)

bull Iconic examples include Sophoclesrsquo Oedipus and Aeschylusrsquo Agamemnon and Orestes

bull Pursuit of individual amp collective good in a world of apparently conflicting divine values sometimes hampered by their own lack of self-knowledge

I N T E R D E P E N D E N C Y I N T R O D U C E S V U L N E R A B I L I T Y W H I C H M AY B E

C E L E B R AT E D O R R E S I S T E D

The Hero of Epic Homer and Hesiod (8th century)

bull Found in the epic Iliad and Odyssey attributed to Homer (c 8th century BCE) examples include the powerful Achilles and thoughtful persuasive Odysseus

bull Pursues individual honour (timē) in a just world governed by the gods

CH

IGI V

AS

E C

70

0 B

CE

The Hero of Reason The ldquoPresocratics (6th-5th cent)

bull Founding figures including Thales Anaximander Anaximenes Pythagoras Heraclitus Parmenides Seeking to understand the basic original causes (aitiai) of the world through reason

I S T H E W O R L D G E N U I N E LY

I N T E L L I G I B L E T O R E A S O N

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Born in Athens to a stonemason named Sophroniscus in 469 BCE

bull ldquoSocratic problemrdquo Socrates wrote nothing we know about him through Plato Xenophon and Aristophanes whose accounts vary

bull Conversed with anyone ldquorich or poor citizen or foreignerrdquo (Apology 23C)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Non-conformity reliance on individual values and wits (contrast with the earlier poets and rhapsodes)

bull Claims of ignorance interest in shared truth and not only persuasion and resistance of ldquoselfish morality (contrast with the sophists)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Methods based on question and answer (the elenchus) requiring unity or consistency (a) of onersquos beliefs and (b) of onersquos beliefs and actions

bull Behaviour peculiar enough to warrant its own verb (sōkratein) (Arist Birds 1282) before generalized philosophia

bull Brought to trial in 399 BCE by two Athenians Meletus and Anytus charged with ldquoimpiety and corrupting the youngrdquo

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

S O C R AT E S C R I T O 4 6 A

I am the kind of person who listens to nothing within me but the logos that on reflection seems

best to me

L O G O S R E A S O N VA L U E C O N S C I E N C E M E A N I N G

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousness A sense of such significances that what is great is fragile and that what is necessary may be destructive which is present in the literature of the fifth century and earlier has disappeared [later] from the ethics of the philosophers and perhaps altogether from their minds Greek philosophy in its sustained pursuit of rational self-sufficiency does turn its back on kinds of human experience and human necessity of which Greek literature itself offers the purest if not the richest expression

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y A N D P H I L O S O P H Y

The continuity between Greek tragedy and Greek philosophy on these questions is however far greater than Williams has allowed On the one hand inside tragedy itself we find arresting portrayals of the human ambition to rational self-sufficiency we come to understand the ways in which problems of exposure motivate this ambition On the other Platos philosophical search for a self- sufficient good life is motivated by a keen sense of these same problems Far from having forgotten about what tragedy describes he sees the problems of exposure so clearly that only a radical solution seems adequate to their depth Nor is he naiumlve about the costs of this solution

N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y P R A C T I C A L C O N F L I C T

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identical which is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A)

Socrates ldquoencourages Euthyphro [a pious Greek] to revise tradition by considering as binding only those requirements concerning which there is divine unanimity he expresses further his own doubt as to whether gods really do disagreerdquo (Nussbaum 30)

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identicalwhich is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A Nussbaum 25)

3 0 0 ( W A R N E R B R O S 2 0 0 6 ) ldquo F I G H T I N T H E S H A D E rdquo

Y O U T U B E 4 J K P G D D M A R S T = 1 2 4

τοιόνδ ἄνθος Περσίδος αἴας οἴχεται ἀνδρῶν

οὓς πέρι πᾶσα χθὼν Ἀσιῆτις ρέψασα πόθῳ στένεται microαλερῷ τοκέης τ ἄλοχοί θ ἡmicroερολεγδὸν τείνοντα χρόνον τροmicroέονται

A E S C H Y L U S P E R S A I 5 9 - 6 4 C P I L I A D 9 4 1 0 - 1 6

S E E C A S E Y D U Eacute T H E C A P T I V E W O M A N rsquo S L A M E N T I N G R E E K T R A G E DY C H 2

Such is the flower [anthos] of the Persian land such is the flower of men that has disappeared

The entire land of Asia laments the men she nourished with fierce

longing [pothos] Parents and wives counting the days

tremble at the increasing length of time

P I N D A R

bull Born near Thebes c 518 BCE

bull Composed important epinician odes (epi-nikia for-a-victory in a contest)

bull Depicts the gods as maintaining civic values of justice (O 1 P 1-3 P 8) compassionate (N 10) and forgiving (O 7456) guardians of polis morality

bull Celebrated ldquoroughrdquo style

bull ldquoA soaring eaglehellip a rushing streamrdquo (Horace Od 42) ldquoA vast firerdquo (Longinus Sublime 335)

Bust of the lyric poet Pindar Roman copy from original of the mid-5 century BC

F I F T H - C E N T U R Y C H O R A L LY R I C

A C O R N T O O A K T R E E N E I L B R O M H A L L bull y o u t u b e Z K 4 L j U R t a D w

Some people pray for gold others for limitless lands but I pray to please my fellow citizens and then to cover my limbs in earth

having praised the praiseworthy and scattered reproof on the wicked Excellence soars upward like a tree fed on fresh dews

lifted among the wise and just toward the liquid upper air The need for friends comes in many forms

it is most valued in times of trouble but joy too craves to look upon trusty support

P I N D A R N E M E A N 8 3 6 - 4 3

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

F R A G I L I T Ybull How can we be praiseworthy if we are vulnerable (to circumstances)

bull [The poetic world-view and Pindarrsquos career as praise poet of aretē require] ldquothe belief that the excellence of a good person is something of that persons own for whose possession and exercise that person can appropriately be held accountablerdquo (Nussbaum 1)

bull But ldquoHow can we be givers and receivers of praise if our worth ishellip a plant in need of wateringrdquo (2)

bull ldquoWe need to be born with adequate capacities to live in fostering natural and social circumstances to stay clear of abrupt catastrophe to develop confirming associations with other human beingsrdquo (1)

bull A further complication ldquoThe tenderness of a plant is not the dazzling hardness of a gemrdquo perhaps ldquopart of the peculiar beauty of human excellence just is its vulnerabilityrdquo (2)

M A R T H A N U S S B A U M T H E F R A G I L I T Y O F G O O D N E S S C H 1 L U C K amp E T H I C S

T H E P O W E R O F R E A S O N [T]here is the consolation that so far Pindar has apparently left something out However much human beings resemble lower forms of life we are unlike we want to insist in one crucial respect We have reason We are able to deliberate and choose to make a plan in which ends are ranked to decide actively what is to have value and how much All this must count for something If it is true that a lot about us is messy needy uncontrolled rooted in the dirt and standing helplessly in the rain it is also true that there is something about us that is pure and purely active something that we could think of as divine immortal intelligible unitary indissoluble ever self-consistent and invariablelsquo [Plato Phaedo 80B] It seems possible that this rational element in us can rule and guide the rest thereby saving the whole person from living at the mercy of luck

N U S S B A U M F R A G I L I T Y 2

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S S O P H I S T S A N D T R A G E D I A N SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Athens

AT H E N S rsquo A C R O P O L I S A S I M A G I N E D B Y L E O V O N K L E N Z E O I L O N C A N VA S 1 8 4 6 N E U E P I N A K O T H E K

A S S A S S I N rsquo S C R E E D O D Y S S E Y bull A T O U R O F AT H E N S U B I S O F T ( 2 0 1 8 )

bull Athens is the first lsquopeople-ruledrsquo polis (dēmokratia) in the Mediterranean world

bull She has achieved unchallenged naval authority and an empire which is labeled a lsquocommonwealthrsquo

bull At the commercial and cultural crossroads of Italy Greece Egypt and the Near East

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

S P E E C H A N D D E M O C R A C Y

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

bull In this cosmopolitan environment traditional views are challenged leading to a perceived erosion of moral values

bull The rhapsodes use poetic forms to transmit traditional morality

bull The tragedians use poetic forms to explore amp challenge mythrsquos assumptions

bull The sophists teach ldquowisdomrdquo (sophia) including rhetoric and political oratory perceived as a new lsquotechnologyrsquo to steer the ship of state for onersquos own ends

bull Use onersquos own wits ldquoA person is the measure of all thingsrdquo Protagoras B1

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

T R A G E D Y V U L N E R A B I L I T Y A N D R E A S O NC 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E AT H E N S

Aeschylus Agamemnon (458 BCE) and Euripides Iphigeneia at Aulis (405 BCE) The Sacrifice of Iphigeneia by Francesco Fontebasso bull 1749 oil on canvas

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousnesshellip what is great is fragile andhellip what is necessary may be destructivehellip

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

In such cases we see a wrong action committed without any direct physical compulsion and in full knowledge of its nature by a person whose ethical character or commitments would otherwise dispose him to reject the acthellip circumstanceshellip prevent the adequate fulfillment of two valid ethical claims

N U S S B A U M 2 5

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

[Aeschylus in Agamemnon] shows us not so much a solution to the problem of practical conflict as the richness and depth of the problem itself (This achievement is closely connected with his poetic resources which put the scene vividly before us show us debate about it and evoke in us responses important to its assessment)

The best the agent can do is to have his suffering the natural expression of his goodness of character and not to stifle these responses out of misguided optimism The best we (the Chorus) can do for him is to respect the gravity of his predicament to respect the responses that express his goodness and to think about his case as showing a possibility for human life in general

N U S S B A U M 4 9 - 5 0

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

bull In a world that allows such dilemmas are there truly gods with a coherent vision for the world

bull Can individual reason and ingenuity suffice for a good life

T H E S O P H I S T SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Hesiod Works amp Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale Piteously she transfixed by his crooked claws was lamenting When the imperious hawk addressed her in arrogant parlance Why little lady such shrieks One stronger than you now has got you Where you are going Ill take you myself though you are a songstress For as I please Ill make you my dinner or give you your freedom Witless is one who attempts to strive against those who are stronger When he is stripped of the prize its injury added to insult Thus said the fast-flying hawk that bird with the generous wing-spanPay more attention to justice and curb high-handedness [brother] Violence ill suits men who are lowly not even the noble Man can lightly endure it it weighs on a person whos fallen Into affliction Its better to take your way on the other Road which conduces to right For outrage (hubris) surrenders to

justice (dikē)hellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Thucydides History 584-116 The Melian Dialogue ATHENIANS [Y]ou know as well as we do that when these matters are discussed by practical people the standard of justice depends on the equality of power to compel and that in fact the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they musthellip Our opinion of the gods and our knowledge of men lead us to conclude that it is a general and necessary law of nature to rule whatever one can This is not a law that we made ourselves nor were we the first to act upon it when it was made We found it already in existence and we shall leave it to exist for ever among those who come after us

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos

advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Republic I 343A-D Thrasymachusrsquo complaint Tell me Socrates do you still have a wet nursehellip Because shersquos letting you run around with a snotty nose and doesnrsquot wipe it when she needs tohellip You think that shepherds and cowherds seek the good of their sheep and cattle and fatten them and take care of them looking to something other than their masterrsquos good and their own Moreover you believe that rulershellip think of something besides their own advantage You are so far from understandinghellip that you donrsquot realize that justice is really the good of another the advantage of the stronger and the ruler and harmful to the one who obeys and serves Injustice is the opposite it rules the truly simple and just and those it rules do what is to the advantage of the other and stronger and they make the one they serve happy but themselves not at all You must look at it as follows my most simple Socrates A just man always gets less than an unjust onehellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Gorgias 482C-484C Callicles on nature and convention [Y]oursquore in fact bringing the discussion around to the sort of crowd-pleasing vulgarities that are admirable only by law [nomos also translatable ldquoconventionrdquo or ldquocustomrdquo] and not by nature And these nature and law are for the most part opposed to each otherhellip I believe that the people who institute our laws are the weak and the many So they institute laws and assign praise and blame with themselves and their own advantage in mind As a way of frightening the more powerfulhellip out of getting a greater share than they they say that getting more than onersquos share is ldquoshamefulrdquo and ldquounjusthelliprdquo But surely if a man whose nature is equal to it arises he will shake off tear apart and escape all this he will trample underfoot our documents our tricks and charms and all our laws that violate nature He the slave will rise up and be revealed as our master and here the justice of nature will shine forth

The New Teachers of Athens

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

P R E - S O C R AT I C ldquo P H I L O S O P H E R S 6 T H - 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

P R E - S O C R AT I C P H I L O S O P H E R S

bull Though not usually calling themselves ldquophilosophersrdquo they seemed to have contributed inspiration for Socratesrsquo method of free inquiry applying logos

bull Scholars adopt different views of what constitutes their innovation and ldquophilosophicalrdquo method (see readings)

bull Basing views on argument and evidence

bull De-ldquomythologizationrdquo

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Miletus

E A R LY P H I L O S O P H Y A N C I E N T M I L E T U S

M I L E T U S

bull Wealthy city-state in Asia Minor

bull Key city for trading and shipping between Near East amp Greece

bull Ionian Greek culture

bull Freedom of thought

bull Open political debate

bull Wealth (for some) providing leisure

bull Thales and his successors Anaximander Anaximenes

bull ldquoPhilosophicalrdquo investigation

bull Later Presocratics Heraclitus ParmenidesldquoORIENTALIZINGrdquo POTTERY

The Milesian school strikes a new note unheard before It has a fresh sense of the meaning of truth ndash a feeling for the sort of thing it is reasonable to suppose The hypothesis it characteristically deals in is concerned with the nature of the one primary stuff the Milesians seem to make a great conscious effort to get at something which really does exist They strike us as throwing off the vast symbolic visions of mythology and waking clear-headed to see and touch real things If we have a rational temperament we feel at once a refreshment Here at last is a statement about the world which is meant and offered as true ndash a logos [explanation] not a mythos [story]

ndash F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952 ed) 42

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The questions which excited them were of this kind Can this apparently confused and disordered world be reduced to simpler principles so that our reason can grasp what it is and how it works What is it made of How does change take place They abandoned mythological and substituted intellectual solutions [It] was no longer satisfying to say that storms were roused by the wrath of Poseidon or death caused by the arrows of Apollo or Artemis A world ruled by anthropomorphic gods human in their passions was a world ruled by caprice Philosophy and science start with the bold confession of faith that not caprice but an inherent orderliness underlies the phenomena and the explanation of nature is to be sought within nature itself ndashWKC Guthrie History of Greek Philosophy (Cambridge 1969) 1 44-45

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

Thales of Miletus

bull Lived late 7th-6th centurybull Born to a Phoenician aristocratic

family ndash so leisurebull Traveled to Egypt and Babylon (by

tradition)bull Legendary wisdombull ldquoFounder of Western philosophyrdquo

bull First to seek an ldquooriginal causerdquo (archecirc)

bull to explain how unseen facts caused visible results without appeal to mythology

bull To provide generalizable proofs or laws

Thales of Miletus

AstronomyMathematicsWater as the archecircAll things are full of gods

bull Traditionally Thalesrsquo star student

bull 25 years old during Thalesrsquo eclipse (585 BCE)

bull Lived c 610-540 BCE

bull ldquoFirst to draw the inhabited world on a tabletrdquo (first mapmaker)

bull Unambiguously our first ldquophilosopherrdquo by standards of demythologization originality generality and observation

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

ldquoAnaximander has expurgated the supernatural with a boldness and completeness to which many of his successors failed to attain The primary order is still said to be lsquoaccording to what is ordainedrsquo it is still a moral order in which Justice prevails but the will of the personal God has disappeared and its place is partly taken by a natural cause the eternal motionrdquo

- F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952) 41 Anaximander relief 1st century AD

Rome Museo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Key contributions

bull Physics the archecircbull Cosmologybull ldquoEvolutionrdquobull Astronomy and Cartography

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Anaximander said that the APEIRON [indefinite unlimited] was the ARCHE and the element of things that are and he was the first to introduce this name for the ARCHE He says that the ARCHE is neither water nor any other of the things called elements but some other nature called APEIRON out of which come to be all the heavens and the worlds in them (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2413-18)

The things that are perish into the things out of which they come to be according to necessity for ldquothey pay penalty and retribution to one another according to their injustice in accordance with the ordering of timerdquo as he says in rather poetical language (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2418-21)

Anaximander of Miletus

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The ARCHE

bull One and unlimitedbull But not undefined Itrsquos AIR

Anaximenes of Miletus

bull Not opposites but a continuum FIRE AIR larr WIND larr CLOUD larr WATER larr EARTH larr STONEbull ldquoLooseningrdquo and ldquotighteningrdquo explain hot and cold

H E R A C L I T U S B 1 0 1 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 3 7 )

I searched out myself

Listening not to me but to the logos it is wise to agree that all things are one

H E R A C L I T U S B 5 0 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 1 1 )

E X A M P L E S

THE ROAD TO PHILOSOP HY

The Hero of Lyric Poets of the Polis (6th century)

bull According to the lyric poets of the polis culture such as Pindar Simonides Tyrtaeus and Sappho (7th-6th century BCE)

bull Pursues collective good of the polis based on strong ties of interdependent responsibility amp cooperation in a just world governed by the gods

Individual Freedom The ldquoSophistsrdquo (5th century)

bull Sources in thinkers like Protagoras and Gorgias (5th century BCE predominantly working in Athens) constructed as a category by Platorsquos later writings

bull Pursues individual advantage based on their personal beliefs and wits using persuasion and power skepticism of traditional values

Vulnerability The Hero of Tragedy (5th century)

bull Iconic examples include Sophoclesrsquo Oedipus and Aeschylusrsquo Agamemnon and Orestes

bull Pursuit of individual amp collective good in a world of apparently conflicting divine values sometimes hampered by their own lack of self-knowledge

I N T E R D E P E N D E N C Y I N T R O D U C E S V U L N E R A B I L I T Y W H I C H M AY B E

C E L E B R AT E D O R R E S I S T E D

The Hero of Epic Homer and Hesiod (8th century)

bull Found in the epic Iliad and Odyssey attributed to Homer (c 8th century BCE) examples include the powerful Achilles and thoughtful persuasive Odysseus

bull Pursues individual honour (timē) in a just world governed by the gods

CH

IGI V

AS

E C

70

0 B

CE

The Hero of Reason The ldquoPresocratics (6th-5th cent)

bull Founding figures including Thales Anaximander Anaximenes Pythagoras Heraclitus Parmenides Seeking to understand the basic original causes (aitiai) of the world through reason

I S T H E W O R L D G E N U I N E LY

I N T E L L I G I B L E T O R E A S O N

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Born in Athens to a stonemason named Sophroniscus in 469 BCE

bull ldquoSocratic problemrdquo Socrates wrote nothing we know about him through Plato Xenophon and Aristophanes whose accounts vary

bull Conversed with anyone ldquorich or poor citizen or foreignerrdquo (Apology 23C)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Non-conformity reliance on individual values and wits (contrast with the earlier poets and rhapsodes)

bull Claims of ignorance interest in shared truth and not only persuasion and resistance of ldquoselfish morality (contrast with the sophists)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Methods based on question and answer (the elenchus) requiring unity or consistency (a) of onersquos beliefs and (b) of onersquos beliefs and actions

bull Behaviour peculiar enough to warrant its own verb (sōkratein) (Arist Birds 1282) before generalized philosophia

bull Brought to trial in 399 BCE by two Athenians Meletus and Anytus charged with ldquoimpiety and corrupting the youngrdquo

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

S O C R AT E S C R I T O 4 6 A

I am the kind of person who listens to nothing within me but the logos that on reflection seems

best to me

L O G O S R E A S O N VA L U E C O N S C I E N C E M E A N I N G

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousness A sense of such significances that what is great is fragile and that what is necessary may be destructive which is present in the literature of the fifth century and earlier has disappeared [later] from the ethics of the philosophers and perhaps altogether from their minds Greek philosophy in its sustained pursuit of rational self-sufficiency does turn its back on kinds of human experience and human necessity of which Greek literature itself offers the purest if not the richest expression

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y A N D P H I L O S O P H Y

The continuity between Greek tragedy and Greek philosophy on these questions is however far greater than Williams has allowed On the one hand inside tragedy itself we find arresting portrayals of the human ambition to rational self-sufficiency we come to understand the ways in which problems of exposure motivate this ambition On the other Platos philosophical search for a self- sufficient good life is motivated by a keen sense of these same problems Far from having forgotten about what tragedy describes he sees the problems of exposure so clearly that only a radical solution seems adequate to their depth Nor is he naiumlve about the costs of this solution

N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y P R A C T I C A L C O N F L I C T

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identical which is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A)

Socrates ldquoencourages Euthyphro [a pious Greek] to revise tradition by considering as binding only those requirements concerning which there is divine unanimity he expresses further his own doubt as to whether gods really do disagreerdquo (Nussbaum 30)

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identicalwhich is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A Nussbaum 25)

τοιόνδ ἄνθος Περσίδος αἴας οἴχεται ἀνδρῶν

οὓς πέρι πᾶσα χθὼν Ἀσιῆτις ρέψασα πόθῳ στένεται microαλερῷ τοκέης τ ἄλοχοί θ ἡmicroερολεγδὸν τείνοντα χρόνον τροmicroέονται

A E S C H Y L U S P E R S A I 5 9 - 6 4 C P I L I A D 9 4 1 0 - 1 6

S E E C A S E Y D U Eacute T H E C A P T I V E W O M A N rsquo S L A M E N T I N G R E E K T R A G E DY C H 2

Such is the flower [anthos] of the Persian land such is the flower of men that has disappeared

The entire land of Asia laments the men she nourished with fierce

longing [pothos] Parents and wives counting the days

tremble at the increasing length of time

P I N D A R

bull Born near Thebes c 518 BCE

bull Composed important epinician odes (epi-nikia for-a-victory in a contest)

bull Depicts the gods as maintaining civic values of justice (O 1 P 1-3 P 8) compassionate (N 10) and forgiving (O 7456) guardians of polis morality

bull Celebrated ldquoroughrdquo style

bull ldquoA soaring eaglehellip a rushing streamrdquo (Horace Od 42) ldquoA vast firerdquo (Longinus Sublime 335)

Bust of the lyric poet Pindar Roman copy from original of the mid-5 century BC

F I F T H - C E N T U R Y C H O R A L LY R I C

A C O R N T O O A K T R E E N E I L B R O M H A L L bull y o u t u b e Z K 4 L j U R t a D w

Some people pray for gold others for limitless lands but I pray to please my fellow citizens and then to cover my limbs in earth

having praised the praiseworthy and scattered reproof on the wicked Excellence soars upward like a tree fed on fresh dews

lifted among the wise and just toward the liquid upper air The need for friends comes in many forms

it is most valued in times of trouble but joy too craves to look upon trusty support

P I N D A R N E M E A N 8 3 6 - 4 3

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

F R A G I L I T Ybull How can we be praiseworthy if we are vulnerable (to circumstances)

bull [The poetic world-view and Pindarrsquos career as praise poet of aretē require] ldquothe belief that the excellence of a good person is something of that persons own for whose possession and exercise that person can appropriately be held accountablerdquo (Nussbaum 1)

bull But ldquoHow can we be givers and receivers of praise if our worth ishellip a plant in need of wateringrdquo (2)

bull ldquoWe need to be born with adequate capacities to live in fostering natural and social circumstances to stay clear of abrupt catastrophe to develop confirming associations with other human beingsrdquo (1)

bull A further complication ldquoThe tenderness of a plant is not the dazzling hardness of a gemrdquo perhaps ldquopart of the peculiar beauty of human excellence just is its vulnerabilityrdquo (2)

M A R T H A N U S S B A U M T H E F R A G I L I T Y O F G O O D N E S S C H 1 L U C K amp E T H I C S

T H E P O W E R O F R E A S O N [T]here is the consolation that so far Pindar has apparently left something out However much human beings resemble lower forms of life we are unlike we want to insist in one crucial respect We have reason We are able to deliberate and choose to make a plan in which ends are ranked to decide actively what is to have value and how much All this must count for something If it is true that a lot about us is messy needy uncontrolled rooted in the dirt and standing helplessly in the rain it is also true that there is something about us that is pure and purely active something that we could think of as divine immortal intelligible unitary indissoluble ever self-consistent and invariablelsquo [Plato Phaedo 80B] It seems possible that this rational element in us can rule and guide the rest thereby saving the whole person from living at the mercy of luck

N U S S B A U M F R A G I L I T Y 2

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S S O P H I S T S A N D T R A G E D I A N SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Athens

AT H E N S rsquo A C R O P O L I S A S I M A G I N E D B Y L E O V O N K L E N Z E O I L O N C A N VA S 1 8 4 6 N E U E P I N A K O T H E K

A S S A S S I N rsquo S C R E E D O D Y S S E Y bull A T O U R O F AT H E N S U B I S O F T ( 2 0 1 8 )

bull Athens is the first lsquopeople-ruledrsquo polis (dēmokratia) in the Mediterranean world

bull She has achieved unchallenged naval authority and an empire which is labeled a lsquocommonwealthrsquo

bull At the commercial and cultural crossroads of Italy Greece Egypt and the Near East

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

S P E E C H A N D D E M O C R A C Y

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

bull In this cosmopolitan environment traditional views are challenged leading to a perceived erosion of moral values

bull The rhapsodes use poetic forms to transmit traditional morality

bull The tragedians use poetic forms to explore amp challenge mythrsquos assumptions

bull The sophists teach ldquowisdomrdquo (sophia) including rhetoric and political oratory perceived as a new lsquotechnologyrsquo to steer the ship of state for onersquos own ends

bull Use onersquos own wits ldquoA person is the measure of all thingsrdquo Protagoras B1

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

T R A G E D Y V U L N E R A B I L I T Y A N D R E A S O NC 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E AT H E N S

Aeschylus Agamemnon (458 BCE) and Euripides Iphigeneia at Aulis (405 BCE) The Sacrifice of Iphigeneia by Francesco Fontebasso bull 1749 oil on canvas

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousnesshellip what is great is fragile andhellip what is necessary may be destructivehellip

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

In such cases we see a wrong action committed without any direct physical compulsion and in full knowledge of its nature by a person whose ethical character or commitments would otherwise dispose him to reject the acthellip circumstanceshellip prevent the adequate fulfillment of two valid ethical claims

N U S S B A U M 2 5

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

[Aeschylus in Agamemnon] shows us not so much a solution to the problem of practical conflict as the richness and depth of the problem itself (This achievement is closely connected with his poetic resources which put the scene vividly before us show us debate about it and evoke in us responses important to its assessment)

The best the agent can do is to have his suffering the natural expression of his goodness of character and not to stifle these responses out of misguided optimism The best we (the Chorus) can do for him is to respect the gravity of his predicament to respect the responses that express his goodness and to think about his case as showing a possibility for human life in general

N U S S B A U M 4 9 - 5 0

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

bull In a world that allows such dilemmas are there truly gods with a coherent vision for the world

bull Can individual reason and ingenuity suffice for a good life

T H E S O P H I S T SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Hesiod Works amp Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale Piteously she transfixed by his crooked claws was lamenting When the imperious hawk addressed her in arrogant parlance Why little lady such shrieks One stronger than you now has got you Where you are going Ill take you myself though you are a songstress For as I please Ill make you my dinner or give you your freedom Witless is one who attempts to strive against those who are stronger When he is stripped of the prize its injury added to insult Thus said the fast-flying hawk that bird with the generous wing-spanPay more attention to justice and curb high-handedness [brother] Violence ill suits men who are lowly not even the noble Man can lightly endure it it weighs on a person whos fallen Into affliction Its better to take your way on the other Road which conduces to right For outrage (hubris) surrenders to

justice (dikē)hellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Thucydides History 584-116 The Melian Dialogue ATHENIANS [Y]ou know as well as we do that when these matters are discussed by practical people the standard of justice depends on the equality of power to compel and that in fact the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they musthellip Our opinion of the gods and our knowledge of men lead us to conclude that it is a general and necessary law of nature to rule whatever one can This is not a law that we made ourselves nor were we the first to act upon it when it was made We found it already in existence and we shall leave it to exist for ever among those who come after us

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos

advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Republic I 343A-D Thrasymachusrsquo complaint Tell me Socrates do you still have a wet nursehellip Because shersquos letting you run around with a snotty nose and doesnrsquot wipe it when she needs tohellip You think that shepherds and cowherds seek the good of their sheep and cattle and fatten them and take care of them looking to something other than their masterrsquos good and their own Moreover you believe that rulershellip think of something besides their own advantage You are so far from understandinghellip that you donrsquot realize that justice is really the good of another the advantage of the stronger and the ruler and harmful to the one who obeys and serves Injustice is the opposite it rules the truly simple and just and those it rules do what is to the advantage of the other and stronger and they make the one they serve happy but themselves not at all You must look at it as follows my most simple Socrates A just man always gets less than an unjust onehellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Gorgias 482C-484C Callicles on nature and convention [Y]oursquore in fact bringing the discussion around to the sort of crowd-pleasing vulgarities that are admirable only by law [nomos also translatable ldquoconventionrdquo or ldquocustomrdquo] and not by nature And these nature and law are for the most part opposed to each otherhellip I believe that the people who institute our laws are the weak and the many So they institute laws and assign praise and blame with themselves and their own advantage in mind As a way of frightening the more powerfulhellip out of getting a greater share than they they say that getting more than onersquos share is ldquoshamefulrdquo and ldquounjusthelliprdquo But surely if a man whose nature is equal to it arises he will shake off tear apart and escape all this he will trample underfoot our documents our tricks and charms and all our laws that violate nature He the slave will rise up and be revealed as our master and here the justice of nature will shine forth

The New Teachers of Athens

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

P R E - S O C R AT I C ldquo P H I L O S O P H E R S 6 T H - 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

P R E - S O C R AT I C P H I L O S O P H E R S

bull Though not usually calling themselves ldquophilosophersrdquo they seemed to have contributed inspiration for Socratesrsquo method of free inquiry applying logos

bull Scholars adopt different views of what constitutes their innovation and ldquophilosophicalrdquo method (see readings)

bull Basing views on argument and evidence

bull De-ldquomythologizationrdquo

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Miletus

E A R LY P H I L O S O P H Y A N C I E N T M I L E T U S

M I L E T U S

bull Wealthy city-state in Asia Minor

bull Key city for trading and shipping between Near East amp Greece

bull Ionian Greek culture

bull Freedom of thought

bull Open political debate

bull Wealth (for some) providing leisure

bull Thales and his successors Anaximander Anaximenes

bull ldquoPhilosophicalrdquo investigation

bull Later Presocratics Heraclitus ParmenidesldquoORIENTALIZINGrdquo POTTERY

The Milesian school strikes a new note unheard before It has a fresh sense of the meaning of truth ndash a feeling for the sort of thing it is reasonable to suppose The hypothesis it characteristically deals in is concerned with the nature of the one primary stuff the Milesians seem to make a great conscious effort to get at something which really does exist They strike us as throwing off the vast symbolic visions of mythology and waking clear-headed to see and touch real things If we have a rational temperament we feel at once a refreshment Here at last is a statement about the world which is meant and offered as true ndash a logos [explanation] not a mythos [story]

ndash F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952 ed) 42

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The questions which excited them were of this kind Can this apparently confused and disordered world be reduced to simpler principles so that our reason can grasp what it is and how it works What is it made of How does change take place They abandoned mythological and substituted intellectual solutions [It] was no longer satisfying to say that storms were roused by the wrath of Poseidon or death caused by the arrows of Apollo or Artemis A world ruled by anthropomorphic gods human in their passions was a world ruled by caprice Philosophy and science start with the bold confession of faith that not caprice but an inherent orderliness underlies the phenomena and the explanation of nature is to be sought within nature itself ndashWKC Guthrie History of Greek Philosophy (Cambridge 1969) 1 44-45

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

Thales of Miletus

bull Lived late 7th-6th centurybull Born to a Phoenician aristocratic

family ndash so leisurebull Traveled to Egypt and Babylon (by

tradition)bull Legendary wisdombull ldquoFounder of Western philosophyrdquo

bull First to seek an ldquooriginal causerdquo (archecirc)

bull to explain how unseen facts caused visible results without appeal to mythology

bull To provide generalizable proofs or laws

Thales of Miletus

AstronomyMathematicsWater as the archecircAll things are full of gods

bull Traditionally Thalesrsquo star student

bull 25 years old during Thalesrsquo eclipse (585 BCE)

bull Lived c 610-540 BCE

bull ldquoFirst to draw the inhabited world on a tabletrdquo (first mapmaker)

bull Unambiguously our first ldquophilosopherrdquo by standards of demythologization originality generality and observation

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

ldquoAnaximander has expurgated the supernatural with a boldness and completeness to which many of his successors failed to attain The primary order is still said to be lsquoaccording to what is ordainedrsquo it is still a moral order in which Justice prevails but the will of the personal God has disappeared and its place is partly taken by a natural cause the eternal motionrdquo

- F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952) 41 Anaximander relief 1st century AD

Rome Museo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Key contributions

bull Physics the archecircbull Cosmologybull ldquoEvolutionrdquobull Astronomy and Cartography

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Anaximander said that the APEIRON [indefinite unlimited] was the ARCHE and the element of things that are and he was the first to introduce this name for the ARCHE He says that the ARCHE is neither water nor any other of the things called elements but some other nature called APEIRON out of which come to be all the heavens and the worlds in them (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2413-18)

The things that are perish into the things out of which they come to be according to necessity for ldquothey pay penalty and retribution to one another according to their injustice in accordance with the ordering of timerdquo as he says in rather poetical language (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2418-21)

Anaximander of Miletus

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The ARCHE

bull One and unlimitedbull But not undefined Itrsquos AIR

Anaximenes of Miletus

bull Not opposites but a continuum FIRE AIR larr WIND larr CLOUD larr WATER larr EARTH larr STONEbull ldquoLooseningrdquo and ldquotighteningrdquo explain hot and cold

H E R A C L I T U S B 1 0 1 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 3 7 )

I searched out myself

Listening not to me but to the logos it is wise to agree that all things are one

H E R A C L I T U S B 5 0 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 1 1 )

E X A M P L E S

THE ROAD TO PHILOSOP HY

The Hero of Lyric Poets of the Polis (6th century)

bull According to the lyric poets of the polis culture such as Pindar Simonides Tyrtaeus and Sappho (7th-6th century BCE)

bull Pursues collective good of the polis based on strong ties of interdependent responsibility amp cooperation in a just world governed by the gods

Individual Freedom The ldquoSophistsrdquo (5th century)

bull Sources in thinkers like Protagoras and Gorgias (5th century BCE predominantly working in Athens) constructed as a category by Platorsquos later writings

bull Pursues individual advantage based on their personal beliefs and wits using persuasion and power skepticism of traditional values

Vulnerability The Hero of Tragedy (5th century)

bull Iconic examples include Sophoclesrsquo Oedipus and Aeschylusrsquo Agamemnon and Orestes

bull Pursuit of individual amp collective good in a world of apparently conflicting divine values sometimes hampered by their own lack of self-knowledge

I N T E R D E P E N D E N C Y I N T R O D U C E S V U L N E R A B I L I T Y W H I C H M AY B E

C E L E B R AT E D O R R E S I S T E D

The Hero of Epic Homer and Hesiod (8th century)

bull Found in the epic Iliad and Odyssey attributed to Homer (c 8th century BCE) examples include the powerful Achilles and thoughtful persuasive Odysseus

bull Pursues individual honour (timē) in a just world governed by the gods

CH

IGI V

AS

E C

70

0 B

CE

The Hero of Reason The ldquoPresocratics (6th-5th cent)

bull Founding figures including Thales Anaximander Anaximenes Pythagoras Heraclitus Parmenides Seeking to understand the basic original causes (aitiai) of the world through reason

I S T H E W O R L D G E N U I N E LY

I N T E L L I G I B L E T O R E A S O N

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Born in Athens to a stonemason named Sophroniscus in 469 BCE

bull ldquoSocratic problemrdquo Socrates wrote nothing we know about him through Plato Xenophon and Aristophanes whose accounts vary

bull Conversed with anyone ldquorich or poor citizen or foreignerrdquo (Apology 23C)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Non-conformity reliance on individual values and wits (contrast with the earlier poets and rhapsodes)

bull Claims of ignorance interest in shared truth and not only persuasion and resistance of ldquoselfish morality (contrast with the sophists)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Methods based on question and answer (the elenchus) requiring unity or consistency (a) of onersquos beliefs and (b) of onersquos beliefs and actions

bull Behaviour peculiar enough to warrant its own verb (sōkratein) (Arist Birds 1282) before generalized philosophia

bull Brought to trial in 399 BCE by two Athenians Meletus and Anytus charged with ldquoimpiety and corrupting the youngrdquo

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

S O C R AT E S C R I T O 4 6 A

I am the kind of person who listens to nothing within me but the logos that on reflection seems

best to me

L O G O S R E A S O N VA L U E C O N S C I E N C E M E A N I N G

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousness A sense of such significances that what is great is fragile and that what is necessary may be destructive which is present in the literature of the fifth century and earlier has disappeared [later] from the ethics of the philosophers and perhaps altogether from their minds Greek philosophy in its sustained pursuit of rational self-sufficiency does turn its back on kinds of human experience and human necessity of which Greek literature itself offers the purest if not the richest expression

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y A N D P H I L O S O P H Y

The continuity between Greek tragedy and Greek philosophy on these questions is however far greater than Williams has allowed On the one hand inside tragedy itself we find arresting portrayals of the human ambition to rational self-sufficiency we come to understand the ways in which problems of exposure motivate this ambition On the other Platos philosophical search for a self- sufficient good life is motivated by a keen sense of these same problems Far from having forgotten about what tragedy describes he sees the problems of exposure so clearly that only a radical solution seems adequate to their depth Nor is he naiumlve about the costs of this solution

N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y P R A C T I C A L C O N F L I C T

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identical which is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A)

Socrates ldquoencourages Euthyphro [a pious Greek] to revise tradition by considering as binding only those requirements concerning which there is divine unanimity he expresses further his own doubt as to whether gods really do disagreerdquo (Nussbaum 30)

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identicalwhich is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A Nussbaum 25)

P I N D A R

bull Born near Thebes c 518 BCE

bull Composed important epinician odes (epi-nikia for-a-victory in a contest)

bull Depicts the gods as maintaining civic values of justice (O 1 P 1-3 P 8) compassionate (N 10) and forgiving (O 7456) guardians of polis morality

bull Celebrated ldquoroughrdquo style

bull ldquoA soaring eaglehellip a rushing streamrdquo (Horace Od 42) ldquoA vast firerdquo (Longinus Sublime 335)

Bust of the lyric poet Pindar Roman copy from original of the mid-5 century BC

F I F T H - C E N T U R Y C H O R A L LY R I C

A C O R N T O O A K T R E E N E I L B R O M H A L L bull y o u t u b e Z K 4 L j U R t a D w

Some people pray for gold others for limitless lands but I pray to please my fellow citizens and then to cover my limbs in earth

having praised the praiseworthy and scattered reproof on the wicked Excellence soars upward like a tree fed on fresh dews

lifted among the wise and just toward the liquid upper air The need for friends comes in many forms

it is most valued in times of trouble but joy too craves to look upon trusty support

P I N D A R N E M E A N 8 3 6 - 4 3

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

F R A G I L I T Ybull How can we be praiseworthy if we are vulnerable (to circumstances)

bull [The poetic world-view and Pindarrsquos career as praise poet of aretē require] ldquothe belief that the excellence of a good person is something of that persons own for whose possession and exercise that person can appropriately be held accountablerdquo (Nussbaum 1)

bull But ldquoHow can we be givers and receivers of praise if our worth ishellip a plant in need of wateringrdquo (2)

bull ldquoWe need to be born with adequate capacities to live in fostering natural and social circumstances to stay clear of abrupt catastrophe to develop confirming associations with other human beingsrdquo (1)

bull A further complication ldquoThe tenderness of a plant is not the dazzling hardness of a gemrdquo perhaps ldquopart of the peculiar beauty of human excellence just is its vulnerabilityrdquo (2)

M A R T H A N U S S B A U M T H E F R A G I L I T Y O F G O O D N E S S C H 1 L U C K amp E T H I C S

T H E P O W E R O F R E A S O N [T]here is the consolation that so far Pindar has apparently left something out However much human beings resemble lower forms of life we are unlike we want to insist in one crucial respect We have reason We are able to deliberate and choose to make a plan in which ends are ranked to decide actively what is to have value and how much All this must count for something If it is true that a lot about us is messy needy uncontrolled rooted in the dirt and standing helplessly in the rain it is also true that there is something about us that is pure and purely active something that we could think of as divine immortal intelligible unitary indissoluble ever self-consistent and invariablelsquo [Plato Phaedo 80B] It seems possible that this rational element in us can rule and guide the rest thereby saving the whole person from living at the mercy of luck

N U S S B A U M F R A G I L I T Y 2

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S S O P H I S T S A N D T R A G E D I A N SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Athens

AT H E N S rsquo A C R O P O L I S A S I M A G I N E D B Y L E O V O N K L E N Z E O I L O N C A N VA S 1 8 4 6 N E U E P I N A K O T H E K

A S S A S S I N rsquo S C R E E D O D Y S S E Y bull A T O U R O F AT H E N S U B I S O F T ( 2 0 1 8 )

bull Athens is the first lsquopeople-ruledrsquo polis (dēmokratia) in the Mediterranean world

bull She has achieved unchallenged naval authority and an empire which is labeled a lsquocommonwealthrsquo

bull At the commercial and cultural crossroads of Italy Greece Egypt and the Near East

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

S P E E C H A N D D E M O C R A C Y

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

bull In this cosmopolitan environment traditional views are challenged leading to a perceived erosion of moral values

bull The rhapsodes use poetic forms to transmit traditional morality

bull The tragedians use poetic forms to explore amp challenge mythrsquos assumptions

bull The sophists teach ldquowisdomrdquo (sophia) including rhetoric and political oratory perceived as a new lsquotechnologyrsquo to steer the ship of state for onersquos own ends

bull Use onersquos own wits ldquoA person is the measure of all thingsrdquo Protagoras B1

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

T R A G E D Y V U L N E R A B I L I T Y A N D R E A S O NC 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E AT H E N S

Aeschylus Agamemnon (458 BCE) and Euripides Iphigeneia at Aulis (405 BCE) The Sacrifice of Iphigeneia by Francesco Fontebasso bull 1749 oil on canvas

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousnesshellip what is great is fragile andhellip what is necessary may be destructivehellip

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

In such cases we see a wrong action committed without any direct physical compulsion and in full knowledge of its nature by a person whose ethical character or commitments would otherwise dispose him to reject the acthellip circumstanceshellip prevent the adequate fulfillment of two valid ethical claims

N U S S B A U M 2 5

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

[Aeschylus in Agamemnon] shows us not so much a solution to the problem of practical conflict as the richness and depth of the problem itself (This achievement is closely connected with his poetic resources which put the scene vividly before us show us debate about it and evoke in us responses important to its assessment)

The best the agent can do is to have his suffering the natural expression of his goodness of character and not to stifle these responses out of misguided optimism The best we (the Chorus) can do for him is to respect the gravity of his predicament to respect the responses that express his goodness and to think about his case as showing a possibility for human life in general

N U S S B A U M 4 9 - 5 0

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

bull In a world that allows such dilemmas are there truly gods with a coherent vision for the world

bull Can individual reason and ingenuity suffice for a good life

T H E S O P H I S T SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Hesiod Works amp Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale Piteously she transfixed by his crooked claws was lamenting When the imperious hawk addressed her in arrogant parlance Why little lady such shrieks One stronger than you now has got you Where you are going Ill take you myself though you are a songstress For as I please Ill make you my dinner or give you your freedom Witless is one who attempts to strive against those who are stronger When he is stripped of the prize its injury added to insult Thus said the fast-flying hawk that bird with the generous wing-spanPay more attention to justice and curb high-handedness [brother] Violence ill suits men who are lowly not even the noble Man can lightly endure it it weighs on a person whos fallen Into affliction Its better to take your way on the other Road which conduces to right For outrage (hubris) surrenders to

justice (dikē)hellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Thucydides History 584-116 The Melian Dialogue ATHENIANS [Y]ou know as well as we do that when these matters are discussed by practical people the standard of justice depends on the equality of power to compel and that in fact the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they musthellip Our opinion of the gods and our knowledge of men lead us to conclude that it is a general and necessary law of nature to rule whatever one can This is not a law that we made ourselves nor were we the first to act upon it when it was made We found it already in existence and we shall leave it to exist for ever among those who come after us

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos

advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Republic I 343A-D Thrasymachusrsquo complaint Tell me Socrates do you still have a wet nursehellip Because shersquos letting you run around with a snotty nose and doesnrsquot wipe it when she needs tohellip You think that shepherds and cowherds seek the good of their sheep and cattle and fatten them and take care of them looking to something other than their masterrsquos good and their own Moreover you believe that rulershellip think of something besides their own advantage You are so far from understandinghellip that you donrsquot realize that justice is really the good of another the advantage of the stronger and the ruler and harmful to the one who obeys and serves Injustice is the opposite it rules the truly simple and just and those it rules do what is to the advantage of the other and stronger and they make the one they serve happy but themselves not at all You must look at it as follows my most simple Socrates A just man always gets less than an unjust onehellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Gorgias 482C-484C Callicles on nature and convention [Y]oursquore in fact bringing the discussion around to the sort of crowd-pleasing vulgarities that are admirable only by law [nomos also translatable ldquoconventionrdquo or ldquocustomrdquo] and not by nature And these nature and law are for the most part opposed to each otherhellip I believe that the people who institute our laws are the weak and the many So they institute laws and assign praise and blame with themselves and their own advantage in mind As a way of frightening the more powerfulhellip out of getting a greater share than they they say that getting more than onersquos share is ldquoshamefulrdquo and ldquounjusthelliprdquo But surely if a man whose nature is equal to it arises he will shake off tear apart and escape all this he will trample underfoot our documents our tricks and charms and all our laws that violate nature He the slave will rise up and be revealed as our master and here the justice of nature will shine forth

The New Teachers of Athens

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

P R E - S O C R AT I C ldquo P H I L O S O P H E R S 6 T H - 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

P R E - S O C R AT I C P H I L O S O P H E R S

bull Though not usually calling themselves ldquophilosophersrdquo they seemed to have contributed inspiration for Socratesrsquo method of free inquiry applying logos

bull Scholars adopt different views of what constitutes their innovation and ldquophilosophicalrdquo method (see readings)

bull Basing views on argument and evidence

bull De-ldquomythologizationrdquo

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Miletus

E A R LY P H I L O S O P H Y A N C I E N T M I L E T U S

M I L E T U S

bull Wealthy city-state in Asia Minor

bull Key city for trading and shipping between Near East amp Greece

bull Ionian Greek culture

bull Freedom of thought

bull Open political debate

bull Wealth (for some) providing leisure

bull Thales and his successors Anaximander Anaximenes

bull ldquoPhilosophicalrdquo investigation

bull Later Presocratics Heraclitus ParmenidesldquoORIENTALIZINGrdquo POTTERY

The Milesian school strikes a new note unheard before It has a fresh sense of the meaning of truth ndash a feeling for the sort of thing it is reasonable to suppose The hypothesis it characteristically deals in is concerned with the nature of the one primary stuff the Milesians seem to make a great conscious effort to get at something which really does exist They strike us as throwing off the vast symbolic visions of mythology and waking clear-headed to see and touch real things If we have a rational temperament we feel at once a refreshment Here at last is a statement about the world which is meant and offered as true ndash a logos [explanation] not a mythos [story]

ndash F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952 ed) 42

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The questions which excited them were of this kind Can this apparently confused and disordered world be reduced to simpler principles so that our reason can grasp what it is and how it works What is it made of How does change take place They abandoned mythological and substituted intellectual solutions [It] was no longer satisfying to say that storms were roused by the wrath of Poseidon or death caused by the arrows of Apollo or Artemis A world ruled by anthropomorphic gods human in their passions was a world ruled by caprice Philosophy and science start with the bold confession of faith that not caprice but an inherent orderliness underlies the phenomena and the explanation of nature is to be sought within nature itself ndashWKC Guthrie History of Greek Philosophy (Cambridge 1969) 1 44-45

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

Thales of Miletus

bull Lived late 7th-6th centurybull Born to a Phoenician aristocratic

family ndash so leisurebull Traveled to Egypt and Babylon (by

tradition)bull Legendary wisdombull ldquoFounder of Western philosophyrdquo

bull First to seek an ldquooriginal causerdquo (archecirc)

bull to explain how unseen facts caused visible results without appeal to mythology

bull To provide generalizable proofs or laws

Thales of Miletus

AstronomyMathematicsWater as the archecircAll things are full of gods

bull Traditionally Thalesrsquo star student

bull 25 years old during Thalesrsquo eclipse (585 BCE)

bull Lived c 610-540 BCE

bull ldquoFirst to draw the inhabited world on a tabletrdquo (first mapmaker)

bull Unambiguously our first ldquophilosopherrdquo by standards of demythologization originality generality and observation

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

ldquoAnaximander has expurgated the supernatural with a boldness and completeness to which many of his successors failed to attain The primary order is still said to be lsquoaccording to what is ordainedrsquo it is still a moral order in which Justice prevails but the will of the personal God has disappeared and its place is partly taken by a natural cause the eternal motionrdquo

- F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952) 41 Anaximander relief 1st century AD

Rome Museo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Key contributions

bull Physics the archecircbull Cosmologybull ldquoEvolutionrdquobull Astronomy and Cartography

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Anaximander said that the APEIRON [indefinite unlimited] was the ARCHE and the element of things that are and he was the first to introduce this name for the ARCHE He says that the ARCHE is neither water nor any other of the things called elements but some other nature called APEIRON out of which come to be all the heavens and the worlds in them (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2413-18)

The things that are perish into the things out of which they come to be according to necessity for ldquothey pay penalty and retribution to one another according to their injustice in accordance with the ordering of timerdquo as he says in rather poetical language (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2418-21)

Anaximander of Miletus

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The ARCHE

bull One and unlimitedbull But not undefined Itrsquos AIR

Anaximenes of Miletus

bull Not opposites but a continuum FIRE AIR larr WIND larr CLOUD larr WATER larr EARTH larr STONEbull ldquoLooseningrdquo and ldquotighteningrdquo explain hot and cold

H E R A C L I T U S B 1 0 1 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 3 7 )

I searched out myself

Listening not to me but to the logos it is wise to agree that all things are one

H E R A C L I T U S B 5 0 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 1 1 )

E X A M P L E S

THE ROAD TO PHILOSOP HY

The Hero of Lyric Poets of the Polis (6th century)

bull According to the lyric poets of the polis culture such as Pindar Simonides Tyrtaeus and Sappho (7th-6th century BCE)

bull Pursues collective good of the polis based on strong ties of interdependent responsibility amp cooperation in a just world governed by the gods

Individual Freedom The ldquoSophistsrdquo (5th century)

bull Sources in thinkers like Protagoras and Gorgias (5th century BCE predominantly working in Athens) constructed as a category by Platorsquos later writings

bull Pursues individual advantage based on their personal beliefs and wits using persuasion and power skepticism of traditional values

Vulnerability The Hero of Tragedy (5th century)

bull Iconic examples include Sophoclesrsquo Oedipus and Aeschylusrsquo Agamemnon and Orestes

bull Pursuit of individual amp collective good in a world of apparently conflicting divine values sometimes hampered by their own lack of self-knowledge

I N T E R D E P E N D E N C Y I N T R O D U C E S V U L N E R A B I L I T Y W H I C H M AY B E

C E L E B R AT E D O R R E S I S T E D

The Hero of Epic Homer and Hesiod (8th century)

bull Found in the epic Iliad and Odyssey attributed to Homer (c 8th century BCE) examples include the powerful Achilles and thoughtful persuasive Odysseus

bull Pursues individual honour (timē) in a just world governed by the gods

CH

IGI V

AS

E C

70

0 B

CE

The Hero of Reason The ldquoPresocratics (6th-5th cent)

bull Founding figures including Thales Anaximander Anaximenes Pythagoras Heraclitus Parmenides Seeking to understand the basic original causes (aitiai) of the world through reason

I S T H E W O R L D G E N U I N E LY

I N T E L L I G I B L E T O R E A S O N

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Born in Athens to a stonemason named Sophroniscus in 469 BCE

bull ldquoSocratic problemrdquo Socrates wrote nothing we know about him through Plato Xenophon and Aristophanes whose accounts vary

bull Conversed with anyone ldquorich or poor citizen or foreignerrdquo (Apology 23C)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Non-conformity reliance on individual values and wits (contrast with the earlier poets and rhapsodes)

bull Claims of ignorance interest in shared truth and not only persuasion and resistance of ldquoselfish morality (contrast with the sophists)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Methods based on question and answer (the elenchus) requiring unity or consistency (a) of onersquos beliefs and (b) of onersquos beliefs and actions

bull Behaviour peculiar enough to warrant its own verb (sōkratein) (Arist Birds 1282) before generalized philosophia

bull Brought to trial in 399 BCE by two Athenians Meletus and Anytus charged with ldquoimpiety and corrupting the youngrdquo

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

S O C R AT E S C R I T O 4 6 A

I am the kind of person who listens to nothing within me but the logos that on reflection seems

best to me

L O G O S R E A S O N VA L U E C O N S C I E N C E M E A N I N G

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousness A sense of such significances that what is great is fragile and that what is necessary may be destructive which is present in the literature of the fifth century and earlier has disappeared [later] from the ethics of the philosophers and perhaps altogether from their minds Greek philosophy in its sustained pursuit of rational self-sufficiency does turn its back on kinds of human experience and human necessity of which Greek literature itself offers the purest if not the richest expression

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y A N D P H I L O S O P H Y

The continuity between Greek tragedy and Greek philosophy on these questions is however far greater than Williams has allowed On the one hand inside tragedy itself we find arresting portrayals of the human ambition to rational self-sufficiency we come to understand the ways in which problems of exposure motivate this ambition On the other Platos philosophical search for a self- sufficient good life is motivated by a keen sense of these same problems Far from having forgotten about what tragedy describes he sees the problems of exposure so clearly that only a radical solution seems adequate to their depth Nor is he naiumlve about the costs of this solution

N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y P R A C T I C A L C O N F L I C T

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identical which is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A)

Socrates ldquoencourages Euthyphro [a pious Greek] to revise tradition by considering as binding only those requirements concerning which there is divine unanimity he expresses further his own doubt as to whether gods really do disagreerdquo (Nussbaum 30)

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identicalwhich is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A Nussbaum 25)

A C O R N T O O A K T R E E N E I L B R O M H A L L bull y o u t u b e Z K 4 L j U R t a D w

Some people pray for gold others for limitless lands but I pray to please my fellow citizens and then to cover my limbs in earth

having praised the praiseworthy and scattered reproof on the wicked Excellence soars upward like a tree fed on fresh dews

lifted among the wise and just toward the liquid upper air The need for friends comes in many forms

it is most valued in times of trouble but joy too craves to look upon trusty support

P I N D A R N E M E A N 8 3 6 - 4 3

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

F R A G I L I T Ybull How can we be praiseworthy if we are vulnerable (to circumstances)

bull [The poetic world-view and Pindarrsquos career as praise poet of aretē require] ldquothe belief that the excellence of a good person is something of that persons own for whose possession and exercise that person can appropriately be held accountablerdquo (Nussbaum 1)

bull But ldquoHow can we be givers and receivers of praise if our worth ishellip a plant in need of wateringrdquo (2)

bull ldquoWe need to be born with adequate capacities to live in fostering natural and social circumstances to stay clear of abrupt catastrophe to develop confirming associations with other human beingsrdquo (1)

bull A further complication ldquoThe tenderness of a plant is not the dazzling hardness of a gemrdquo perhaps ldquopart of the peculiar beauty of human excellence just is its vulnerabilityrdquo (2)

M A R T H A N U S S B A U M T H E F R A G I L I T Y O F G O O D N E S S C H 1 L U C K amp E T H I C S

T H E P O W E R O F R E A S O N [T]here is the consolation that so far Pindar has apparently left something out However much human beings resemble lower forms of life we are unlike we want to insist in one crucial respect We have reason We are able to deliberate and choose to make a plan in which ends are ranked to decide actively what is to have value and how much All this must count for something If it is true that a lot about us is messy needy uncontrolled rooted in the dirt and standing helplessly in the rain it is also true that there is something about us that is pure and purely active something that we could think of as divine immortal intelligible unitary indissoluble ever self-consistent and invariablelsquo [Plato Phaedo 80B] It seems possible that this rational element in us can rule and guide the rest thereby saving the whole person from living at the mercy of luck

N U S S B A U M F R A G I L I T Y 2

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S S O P H I S T S A N D T R A G E D I A N SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Athens

AT H E N S rsquo A C R O P O L I S A S I M A G I N E D B Y L E O V O N K L E N Z E O I L O N C A N VA S 1 8 4 6 N E U E P I N A K O T H E K

A S S A S S I N rsquo S C R E E D O D Y S S E Y bull A T O U R O F AT H E N S U B I S O F T ( 2 0 1 8 )

bull Athens is the first lsquopeople-ruledrsquo polis (dēmokratia) in the Mediterranean world

bull She has achieved unchallenged naval authority and an empire which is labeled a lsquocommonwealthrsquo

bull At the commercial and cultural crossroads of Italy Greece Egypt and the Near East

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

S P E E C H A N D D E M O C R A C Y

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

bull In this cosmopolitan environment traditional views are challenged leading to a perceived erosion of moral values

bull The rhapsodes use poetic forms to transmit traditional morality

bull The tragedians use poetic forms to explore amp challenge mythrsquos assumptions

bull The sophists teach ldquowisdomrdquo (sophia) including rhetoric and political oratory perceived as a new lsquotechnologyrsquo to steer the ship of state for onersquos own ends

bull Use onersquos own wits ldquoA person is the measure of all thingsrdquo Protagoras B1

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

T R A G E D Y V U L N E R A B I L I T Y A N D R E A S O NC 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E AT H E N S

Aeschylus Agamemnon (458 BCE) and Euripides Iphigeneia at Aulis (405 BCE) The Sacrifice of Iphigeneia by Francesco Fontebasso bull 1749 oil on canvas

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousnesshellip what is great is fragile andhellip what is necessary may be destructivehellip

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

In such cases we see a wrong action committed without any direct physical compulsion and in full knowledge of its nature by a person whose ethical character or commitments would otherwise dispose him to reject the acthellip circumstanceshellip prevent the adequate fulfillment of two valid ethical claims

N U S S B A U M 2 5

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

[Aeschylus in Agamemnon] shows us not so much a solution to the problem of practical conflict as the richness and depth of the problem itself (This achievement is closely connected with his poetic resources which put the scene vividly before us show us debate about it and evoke in us responses important to its assessment)

The best the agent can do is to have his suffering the natural expression of his goodness of character and not to stifle these responses out of misguided optimism The best we (the Chorus) can do for him is to respect the gravity of his predicament to respect the responses that express his goodness and to think about his case as showing a possibility for human life in general

N U S S B A U M 4 9 - 5 0

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

bull In a world that allows such dilemmas are there truly gods with a coherent vision for the world

bull Can individual reason and ingenuity suffice for a good life

T H E S O P H I S T SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Hesiod Works amp Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale Piteously she transfixed by his crooked claws was lamenting When the imperious hawk addressed her in arrogant parlance Why little lady such shrieks One stronger than you now has got you Where you are going Ill take you myself though you are a songstress For as I please Ill make you my dinner or give you your freedom Witless is one who attempts to strive against those who are stronger When he is stripped of the prize its injury added to insult Thus said the fast-flying hawk that bird with the generous wing-spanPay more attention to justice and curb high-handedness [brother] Violence ill suits men who are lowly not even the noble Man can lightly endure it it weighs on a person whos fallen Into affliction Its better to take your way on the other Road which conduces to right For outrage (hubris) surrenders to

justice (dikē)hellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Thucydides History 584-116 The Melian Dialogue ATHENIANS [Y]ou know as well as we do that when these matters are discussed by practical people the standard of justice depends on the equality of power to compel and that in fact the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they musthellip Our opinion of the gods and our knowledge of men lead us to conclude that it is a general and necessary law of nature to rule whatever one can This is not a law that we made ourselves nor were we the first to act upon it when it was made We found it already in existence and we shall leave it to exist for ever among those who come after us

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos

advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Republic I 343A-D Thrasymachusrsquo complaint Tell me Socrates do you still have a wet nursehellip Because shersquos letting you run around with a snotty nose and doesnrsquot wipe it when she needs tohellip You think that shepherds and cowherds seek the good of their sheep and cattle and fatten them and take care of them looking to something other than their masterrsquos good and their own Moreover you believe that rulershellip think of something besides their own advantage You are so far from understandinghellip that you donrsquot realize that justice is really the good of another the advantage of the stronger and the ruler and harmful to the one who obeys and serves Injustice is the opposite it rules the truly simple and just and those it rules do what is to the advantage of the other and stronger and they make the one they serve happy but themselves not at all You must look at it as follows my most simple Socrates A just man always gets less than an unjust onehellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Gorgias 482C-484C Callicles on nature and convention [Y]oursquore in fact bringing the discussion around to the sort of crowd-pleasing vulgarities that are admirable only by law [nomos also translatable ldquoconventionrdquo or ldquocustomrdquo] and not by nature And these nature and law are for the most part opposed to each otherhellip I believe that the people who institute our laws are the weak and the many So they institute laws and assign praise and blame with themselves and their own advantage in mind As a way of frightening the more powerfulhellip out of getting a greater share than they they say that getting more than onersquos share is ldquoshamefulrdquo and ldquounjusthelliprdquo But surely if a man whose nature is equal to it arises he will shake off tear apart and escape all this he will trample underfoot our documents our tricks and charms and all our laws that violate nature He the slave will rise up and be revealed as our master and here the justice of nature will shine forth

The New Teachers of Athens

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

P R E - S O C R AT I C ldquo P H I L O S O P H E R S 6 T H - 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

P R E - S O C R AT I C P H I L O S O P H E R S

bull Though not usually calling themselves ldquophilosophersrdquo they seemed to have contributed inspiration for Socratesrsquo method of free inquiry applying logos

bull Scholars adopt different views of what constitutes their innovation and ldquophilosophicalrdquo method (see readings)

bull Basing views on argument and evidence

bull De-ldquomythologizationrdquo

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Miletus

E A R LY P H I L O S O P H Y A N C I E N T M I L E T U S

M I L E T U S

bull Wealthy city-state in Asia Minor

bull Key city for trading and shipping between Near East amp Greece

bull Ionian Greek culture

bull Freedom of thought

bull Open political debate

bull Wealth (for some) providing leisure

bull Thales and his successors Anaximander Anaximenes

bull ldquoPhilosophicalrdquo investigation

bull Later Presocratics Heraclitus ParmenidesldquoORIENTALIZINGrdquo POTTERY

The Milesian school strikes a new note unheard before It has a fresh sense of the meaning of truth ndash a feeling for the sort of thing it is reasonable to suppose The hypothesis it characteristically deals in is concerned with the nature of the one primary stuff the Milesians seem to make a great conscious effort to get at something which really does exist They strike us as throwing off the vast symbolic visions of mythology and waking clear-headed to see and touch real things If we have a rational temperament we feel at once a refreshment Here at last is a statement about the world which is meant and offered as true ndash a logos [explanation] not a mythos [story]

ndash F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952 ed) 42

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The questions which excited them were of this kind Can this apparently confused and disordered world be reduced to simpler principles so that our reason can grasp what it is and how it works What is it made of How does change take place They abandoned mythological and substituted intellectual solutions [It] was no longer satisfying to say that storms were roused by the wrath of Poseidon or death caused by the arrows of Apollo or Artemis A world ruled by anthropomorphic gods human in their passions was a world ruled by caprice Philosophy and science start with the bold confession of faith that not caprice but an inherent orderliness underlies the phenomena and the explanation of nature is to be sought within nature itself ndashWKC Guthrie History of Greek Philosophy (Cambridge 1969) 1 44-45

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

Thales of Miletus

bull Lived late 7th-6th centurybull Born to a Phoenician aristocratic

family ndash so leisurebull Traveled to Egypt and Babylon (by

tradition)bull Legendary wisdombull ldquoFounder of Western philosophyrdquo

bull First to seek an ldquooriginal causerdquo (archecirc)

bull to explain how unseen facts caused visible results without appeal to mythology

bull To provide generalizable proofs or laws

Thales of Miletus

AstronomyMathematicsWater as the archecircAll things are full of gods

bull Traditionally Thalesrsquo star student

bull 25 years old during Thalesrsquo eclipse (585 BCE)

bull Lived c 610-540 BCE

bull ldquoFirst to draw the inhabited world on a tabletrdquo (first mapmaker)

bull Unambiguously our first ldquophilosopherrdquo by standards of demythologization originality generality and observation

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

ldquoAnaximander has expurgated the supernatural with a boldness and completeness to which many of his successors failed to attain The primary order is still said to be lsquoaccording to what is ordainedrsquo it is still a moral order in which Justice prevails but the will of the personal God has disappeared and its place is partly taken by a natural cause the eternal motionrdquo

- F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952) 41 Anaximander relief 1st century AD

Rome Museo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Key contributions

bull Physics the archecircbull Cosmologybull ldquoEvolutionrdquobull Astronomy and Cartography

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Anaximander said that the APEIRON [indefinite unlimited] was the ARCHE and the element of things that are and he was the first to introduce this name for the ARCHE He says that the ARCHE is neither water nor any other of the things called elements but some other nature called APEIRON out of which come to be all the heavens and the worlds in them (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2413-18)

The things that are perish into the things out of which they come to be according to necessity for ldquothey pay penalty and retribution to one another according to their injustice in accordance with the ordering of timerdquo as he says in rather poetical language (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2418-21)

Anaximander of Miletus

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The ARCHE

bull One and unlimitedbull But not undefined Itrsquos AIR

Anaximenes of Miletus

bull Not opposites but a continuum FIRE AIR larr WIND larr CLOUD larr WATER larr EARTH larr STONEbull ldquoLooseningrdquo and ldquotighteningrdquo explain hot and cold

H E R A C L I T U S B 1 0 1 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 3 7 )

I searched out myself

Listening not to me but to the logos it is wise to agree that all things are one

H E R A C L I T U S B 5 0 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 1 1 )

E X A M P L E S

THE ROAD TO PHILOSOP HY

The Hero of Lyric Poets of the Polis (6th century)

bull According to the lyric poets of the polis culture such as Pindar Simonides Tyrtaeus and Sappho (7th-6th century BCE)

bull Pursues collective good of the polis based on strong ties of interdependent responsibility amp cooperation in a just world governed by the gods

Individual Freedom The ldquoSophistsrdquo (5th century)

bull Sources in thinkers like Protagoras and Gorgias (5th century BCE predominantly working in Athens) constructed as a category by Platorsquos later writings

bull Pursues individual advantage based on their personal beliefs and wits using persuasion and power skepticism of traditional values

Vulnerability The Hero of Tragedy (5th century)

bull Iconic examples include Sophoclesrsquo Oedipus and Aeschylusrsquo Agamemnon and Orestes

bull Pursuit of individual amp collective good in a world of apparently conflicting divine values sometimes hampered by their own lack of self-knowledge

I N T E R D E P E N D E N C Y I N T R O D U C E S V U L N E R A B I L I T Y W H I C H M AY B E

C E L E B R AT E D O R R E S I S T E D

The Hero of Epic Homer and Hesiod (8th century)

bull Found in the epic Iliad and Odyssey attributed to Homer (c 8th century BCE) examples include the powerful Achilles and thoughtful persuasive Odysseus

bull Pursues individual honour (timē) in a just world governed by the gods

CH

IGI V

AS

E C

70

0 B

CE

The Hero of Reason The ldquoPresocratics (6th-5th cent)

bull Founding figures including Thales Anaximander Anaximenes Pythagoras Heraclitus Parmenides Seeking to understand the basic original causes (aitiai) of the world through reason

I S T H E W O R L D G E N U I N E LY

I N T E L L I G I B L E T O R E A S O N

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Born in Athens to a stonemason named Sophroniscus in 469 BCE

bull ldquoSocratic problemrdquo Socrates wrote nothing we know about him through Plato Xenophon and Aristophanes whose accounts vary

bull Conversed with anyone ldquorich or poor citizen or foreignerrdquo (Apology 23C)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Non-conformity reliance on individual values and wits (contrast with the earlier poets and rhapsodes)

bull Claims of ignorance interest in shared truth and not only persuasion and resistance of ldquoselfish morality (contrast with the sophists)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Methods based on question and answer (the elenchus) requiring unity or consistency (a) of onersquos beliefs and (b) of onersquos beliefs and actions

bull Behaviour peculiar enough to warrant its own verb (sōkratein) (Arist Birds 1282) before generalized philosophia

bull Brought to trial in 399 BCE by two Athenians Meletus and Anytus charged with ldquoimpiety and corrupting the youngrdquo

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

S O C R AT E S C R I T O 4 6 A

I am the kind of person who listens to nothing within me but the logos that on reflection seems

best to me

L O G O S R E A S O N VA L U E C O N S C I E N C E M E A N I N G

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousness A sense of such significances that what is great is fragile and that what is necessary may be destructive which is present in the literature of the fifth century and earlier has disappeared [later] from the ethics of the philosophers and perhaps altogether from their minds Greek philosophy in its sustained pursuit of rational self-sufficiency does turn its back on kinds of human experience and human necessity of which Greek literature itself offers the purest if not the richest expression

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y A N D P H I L O S O P H Y

The continuity between Greek tragedy and Greek philosophy on these questions is however far greater than Williams has allowed On the one hand inside tragedy itself we find arresting portrayals of the human ambition to rational self-sufficiency we come to understand the ways in which problems of exposure motivate this ambition On the other Platos philosophical search for a self- sufficient good life is motivated by a keen sense of these same problems Far from having forgotten about what tragedy describes he sees the problems of exposure so clearly that only a radical solution seems adequate to their depth Nor is he naiumlve about the costs of this solution

N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y P R A C T I C A L C O N F L I C T

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identical which is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A)

Socrates ldquoencourages Euthyphro [a pious Greek] to revise tradition by considering as binding only those requirements concerning which there is divine unanimity he expresses further his own doubt as to whether gods really do disagreerdquo (Nussbaum 30)

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identicalwhich is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A Nussbaum 25)

Some people pray for gold others for limitless lands but I pray to please my fellow citizens and then to cover my limbs in earth

having praised the praiseworthy and scattered reproof on the wicked Excellence soars upward like a tree fed on fresh dews

lifted among the wise and just toward the liquid upper air The need for friends comes in many forms

it is most valued in times of trouble but joy too craves to look upon trusty support

P I N D A R N E M E A N 8 3 6 - 4 3

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

F R A G I L I T Ybull How can we be praiseworthy if we are vulnerable (to circumstances)

bull [The poetic world-view and Pindarrsquos career as praise poet of aretē require] ldquothe belief that the excellence of a good person is something of that persons own for whose possession and exercise that person can appropriately be held accountablerdquo (Nussbaum 1)

bull But ldquoHow can we be givers and receivers of praise if our worth ishellip a plant in need of wateringrdquo (2)

bull ldquoWe need to be born with adequate capacities to live in fostering natural and social circumstances to stay clear of abrupt catastrophe to develop confirming associations with other human beingsrdquo (1)

bull A further complication ldquoThe tenderness of a plant is not the dazzling hardness of a gemrdquo perhaps ldquopart of the peculiar beauty of human excellence just is its vulnerabilityrdquo (2)

M A R T H A N U S S B A U M T H E F R A G I L I T Y O F G O O D N E S S C H 1 L U C K amp E T H I C S

T H E P O W E R O F R E A S O N [T]here is the consolation that so far Pindar has apparently left something out However much human beings resemble lower forms of life we are unlike we want to insist in one crucial respect We have reason We are able to deliberate and choose to make a plan in which ends are ranked to decide actively what is to have value and how much All this must count for something If it is true that a lot about us is messy needy uncontrolled rooted in the dirt and standing helplessly in the rain it is also true that there is something about us that is pure and purely active something that we could think of as divine immortal intelligible unitary indissoluble ever self-consistent and invariablelsquo [Plato Phaedo 80B] It seems possible that this rational element in us can rule and guide the rest thereby saving the whole person from living at the mercy of luck

N U S S B A U M F R A G I L I T Y 2

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S S O P H I S T S A N D T R A G E D I A N SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Athens

AT H E N S rsquo A C R O P O L I S A S I M A G I N E D B Y L E O V O N K L E N Z E O I L O N C A N VA S 1 8 4 6 N E U E P I N A K O T H E K

A S S A S S I N rsquo S C R E E D O D Y S S E Y bull A T O U R O F AT H E N S U B I S O F T ( 2 0 1 8 )

bull Athens is the first lsquopeople-ruledrsquo polis (dēmokratia) in the Mediterranean world

bull She has achieved unchallenged naval authority and an empire which is labeled a lsquocommonwealthrsquo

bull At the commercial and cultural crossroads of Italy Greece Egypt and the Near East

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

S P E E C H A N D D E M O C R A C Y

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

bull In this cosmopolitan environment traditional views are challenged leading to a perceived erosion of moral values

bull The rhapsodes use poetic forms to transmit traditional morality

bull The tragedians use poetic forms to explore amp challenge mythrsquos assumptions

bull The sophists teach ldquowisdomrdquo (sophia) including rhetoric and political oratory perceived as a new lsquotechnologyrsquo to steer the ship of state for onersquos own ends

bull Use onersquos own wits ldquoA person is the measure of all thingsrdquo Protagoras B1

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

T R A G E D Y V U L N E R A B I L I T Y A N D R E A S O NC 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E AT H E N S

Aeschylus Agamemnon (458 BCE) and Euripides Iphigeneia at Aulis (405 BCE) The Sacrifice of Iphigeneia by Francesco Fontebasso bull 1749 oil on canvas

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousnesshellip what is great is fragile andhellip what is necessary may be destructivehellip

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

In such cases we see a wrong action committed without any direct physical compulsion and in full knowledge of its nature by a person whose ethical character or commitments would otherwise dispose him to reject the acthellip circumstanceshellip prevent the adequate fulfillment of two valid ethical claims

N U S S B A U M 2 5

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

[Aeschylus in Agamemnon] shows us not so much a solution to the problem of practical conflict as the richness and depth of the problem itself (This achievement is closely connected with his poetic resources which put the scene vividly before us show us debate about it and evoke in us responses important to its assessment)

The best the agent can do is to have his suffering the natural expression of his goodness of character and not to stifle these responses out of misguided optimism The best we (the Chorus) can do for him is to respect the gravity of his predicament to respect the responses that express his goodness and to think about his case as showing a possibility for human life in general

N U S S B A U M 4 9 - 5 0

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

bull In a world that allows such dilemmas are there truly gods with a coherent vision for the world

bull Can individual reason and ingenuity suffice for a good life

T H E S O P H I S T SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Hesiod Works amp Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale Piteously she transfixed by his crooked claws was lamenting When the imperious hawk addressed her in arrogant parlance Why little lady such shrieks One stronger than you now has got you Where you are going Ill take you myself though you are a songstress For as I please Ill make you my dinner or give you your freedom Witless is one who attempts to strive against those who are stronger When he is stripped of the prize its injury added to insult Thus said the fast-flying hawk that bird with the generous wing-spanPay more attention to justice and curb high-handedness [brother] Violence ill suits men who are lowly not even the noble Man can lightly endure it it weighs on a person whos fallen Into affliction Its better to take your way on the other Road which conduces to right For outrage (hubris) surrenders to

justice (dikē)hellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Thucydides History 584-116 The Melian Dialogue ATHENIANS [Y]ou know as well as we do that when these matters are discussed by practical people the standard of justice depends on the equality of power to compel and that in fact the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they musthellip Our opinion of the gods and our knowledge of men lead us to conclude that it is a general and necessary law of nature to rule whatever one can This is not a law that we made ourselves nor were we the first to act upon it when it was made We found it already in existence and we shall leave it to exist for ever among those who come after us

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos

advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Republic I 343A-D Thrasymachusrsquo complaint Tell me Socrates do you still have a wet nursehellip Because shersquos letting you run around with a snotty nose and doesnrsquot wipe it when she needs tohellip You think that shepherds and cowherds seek the good of their sheep and cattle and fatten them and take care of them looking to something other than their masterrsquos good and their own Moreover you believe that rulershellip think of something besides their own advantage You are so far from understandinghellip that you donrsquot realize that justice is really the good of another the advantage of the stronger and the ruler and harmful to the one who obeys and serves Injustice is the opposite it rules the truly simple and just and those it rules do what is to the advantage of the other and stronger and they make the one they serve happy but themselves not at all You must look at it as follows my most simple Socrates A just man always gets less than an unjust onehellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Gorgias 482C-484C Callicles on nature and convention [Y]oursquore in fact bringing the discussion around to the sort of crowd-pleasing vulgarities that are admirable only by law [nomos also translatable ldquoconventionrdquo or ldquocustomrdquo] and not by nature And these nature and law are for the most part opposed to each otherhellip I believe that the people who institute our laws are the weak and the many So they institute laws and assign praise and blame with themselves and their own advantage in mind As a way of frightening the more powerfulhellip out of getting a greater share than they they say that getting more than onersquos share is ldquoshamefulrdquo and ldquounjusthelliprdquo But surely if a man whose nature is equal to it arises he will shake off tear apart and escape all this he will trample underfoot our documents our tricks and charms and all our laws that violate nature He the slave will rise up and be revealed as our master and here the justice of nature will shine forth

The New Teachers of Athens

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

P R E - S O C R AT I C ldquo P H I L O S O P H E R S 6 T H - 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

P R E - S O C R AT I C P H I L O S O P H E R S

bull Though not usually calling themselves ldquophilosophersrdquo they seemed to have contributed inspiration for Socratesrsquo method of free inquiry applying logos

bull Scholars adopt different views of what constitutes their innovation and ldquophilosophicalrdquo method (see readings)

bull Basing views on argument and evidence

bull De-ldquomythologizationrdquo

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Miletus

E A R LY P H I L O S O P H Y A N C I E N T M I L E T U S

M I L E T U S

bull Wealthy city-state in Asia Minor

bull Key city for trading and shipping between Near East amp Greece

bull Ionian Greek culture

bull Freedom of thought

bull Open political debate

bull Wealth (for some) providing leisure

bull Thales and his successors Anaximander Anaximenes

bull ldquoPhilosophicalrdquo investigation

bull Later Presocratics Heraclitus ParmenidesldquoORIENTALIZINGrdquo POTTERY

The Milesian school strikes a new note unheard before It has a fresh sense of the meaning of truth ndash a feeling for the sort of thing it is reasonable to suppose The hypothesis it characteristically deals in is concerned with the nature of the one primary stuff the Milesians seem to make a great conscious effort to get at something which really does exist They strike us as throwing off the vast symbolic visions of mythology and waking clear-headed to see and touch real things If we have a rational temperament we feel at once a refreshment Here at last is a statement about the world which is meant and offered as true ndash a logos [explanation] not a mythos [story]

ndash F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952 ed) 42

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The questions which excited them were of this kind Can this apparently confused and disordered world be reduced to simpler principles so that our reason can grasp what it is and how it works What is it made of How does change take place They abandoned mythological and substituted intellectual solutions [It] was no longer satisfying to say that storms were roused by the wrath of Poseidon or death caused by the arrows of Apollo or Artemis A world ruled by anthropomorphic gods human in their passions was a world ruled by caprice Philosophy and science start with the bold confession of faith that not caprice but an inherent orderliness underlies the phenomena and the explanation of nature is to be sought within nature itself ndashWKC Guthrie History of Greek Philosophy (Cambridge 1969) 1 44-45

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

Thales of Miletus

bull Lived late 7th-6th centurybull Born to a Phoenician aristocratic

family ndash so leisurebull Traveled to Egypt and Babylon (by

tradition)bull Legendary wisdombull ldquoFounder of Western philosophyrdquo

bull First to seek an ldquooriginal causerdquo (archecirc)

bull to explain how unseen facts caused visible results without appeal to mythology

bull To provide generalizable proofs or laws

Thales of Miletus

AstronomyMathematicsWater as the archecircAll things are full of gods

bull Traditionally Thalesrsquo star student

bull 25 years old during Thalesrsquo eclipse (585 BCE)

bull Lived c 610-540 BCE

bull ldquoFirst to draw the inhabited world on a tabletrdquo (first mapmaker)

bull Unambiguously our first ldquophilosopherrdquo by standards of demythologization originality generality and observation

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

ldquoAnaximander has expurgated the supernatural with a boldness and completeness to which many of his successors failed to attain The primary order is still said to be lsquoaccording to what is ordainedrsquo it is still a moral order in which Justice prevails but the will of the personal God has disappeared and its place is partly taken by a natural cause the eternal motionrdquo

- F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952) 41 Anaximander relief 1st century AD

Rome Museo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Key contributions

bull Physics the archecircbull Cosmologybull ldquoEvolutionrdquobull Astronomy and Cartography

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Anaximander said that the APEIRON [indefinite unlimited] was the ARCHE and the element of things that are and he was the first to introduce this name for the ARCHE He says that the ARCHE is neither water nor any other of the things called elements but some other nature called APEIRON out of which come to be all the heavens and the worlds in them (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2413-18)

The things that are perish into the things out of which they come to be according to necessity for ldquothey pay penalty and retribution to one another according to their injustice in accordance with the ordering of timerdquo as he says in rather poetical language (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2418-21)

Anaximander of Miletus

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The ARCHE

bull One and unlimitedbull But not undefined Itrsquos AIR

Anaximenes of Miletus

bull Not opposites but a continuum FIRE AIR larr WIND larr CLOUD larr WATER larr EARTH larr STONEbull ldquoLooseningrdquo and ldquotighteningrdquo explain hot and cold

H E R A C L I T U S B 1 0 1 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 3 7 )

I searched out myself

Listening not to me but to the logos it is wise to agree that all things are one

H E R A C L I T U S B 5 0 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 1 1 )

E X A M P L E S

THE ROAD TO PHILOSOP HY

The Hero of Lyric Poets of the Polis (6th century)

bull According to the lyric poets of the polis culture such as Pindar Simonides Tyrtaeus and Sappho (7th-6th century BCE)

bull Pursues collective good of the polis based on strong ties of interdependent responsibility amp cooperation in a just world governed by the gods

Individual Freedom The ldquoSophistsrdquo (5th century)

bull Sources in thinkers like Protagoras and Gorgias (5th century BCE predominantly working in Athens) constructed as a category by Platorsquos later writings

bull Pursues individual advantage based on their personal beliefs and wits using persuasion and power skepticism of traditional values

Vulnerability The Hero of Tragedy (5th century)

bull Iconic examples include Sophoclesrsquo Oedipus and Aeschylusrsquo Agamemnon and Orestes

bull Pursuit of individual amp collective good in a world of apparently conflicting divine values sometimes hampered by their own lack of self-knowledge

I N T E R D E P E N D E N C Y I N T R O D U C E S V U L N E R A B I L I T Y W H I C H M AY B E

C E L E B R AT E D O R R E S I S T E D

The Hero of Epic Homer and Hesiod (8th century)

bull Found in the epic Iliad and Odyssey attributed to Homer (c 8th century BCE) examples include the powerful Achilles and thoughtful persuasive Odysseus

bull Pursues individual honour (timē) in a just world governed by the gods

CH

IGI V

AS

E C

70

0 B

CE

The Hero of Reason The ldquoPresocratics (6th-5th cent)

bull Founding figures including Thales Anaximander Anaximenes Pythagoras Heraclitus Parmenides Seeking to understand the basic original causes (aitiai) of the world through reason

I S T H E W O R L D G E N U I N E LY

I N T E L L I G I B L E T O R E A S O N

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Born in Athens to a stonemason named Sophroniscus in 469 BCE

bull ldquoSocratic problemrdquo Socrates wrote nothing we know about him through Plato Xenophon and Aristophanes whose accounts vary

bull Conversed with anyone ldquorich or poor citizen or foreignerrdquo (Apology 23C)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Non-conformity reliance on individual values and wits (contrast with the earlier poets and rhapsodes)

bull Claims of ignorance interest in shared truth and not only persuasion and resistance of ldquoselfish morality (contrast with the sophists)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Methods based on question and answer (the elenchus) requiring unity or consistency (a) of onersquos beliefs and (b) of onersquos beliefs and actions

bull Behaviour peculiar enough to warrant its own verb (sōkratein) (Arist Birds 1282) before generalized philosophia

bull Brought to trial in 399 BCE by two Athenians Meletus and Anytus charged with ldquoimpiety and corrupting the youngrdquo

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

S O C R AT E S C R I T O 4 6 A

I am the kind of person who listens to nothing within me but the logos that on reflection seems

best to me

L O G O S R E A S O N VA L U E C O N S C I E N C E M E A N I N G

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousness A sense of such significances that what is great is fragile and that what is necessary may be destructive which is present in the literature of the fifth century and earlier has disappeared [later] from the ethics of the philosophers and perhaps altogether from their minds Greek philosophy in its sustained pursuit of rational self-sufficiency does turn its back on kinds of human experience and human necessity of which Greek literature itself offers the purest if not the richest expression

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y A N D P H I L O S O P H Y

The continuity between Greek tragedy and Greek philosophy on these questions is however far greater than Williams has allowed On the one hand inside tragedy itself we find arresting portrayals of the human ambition to rational self-sufficiency we come to understand the ways in which problems of exposure motivate this ambition On the other Platos philosophical search for a self- sufficient good life is motivated by a keen sense of these same problems Far from having forgotten about what tragedy describes he sees the problems of exposure so clearly that only a radical solution seems adequate to their depth Nor is he naiumlve about the costs of this solution

N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y P R A C T I C A L C O N F L I C T

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identical which is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A)

Socrates ldquoencourages Euthyphro [a pious Greek] to revise tradition by considering as binding only those requirements concerning which there is divine unanimity he expresses further his own doubt as to whether gods really do disagreerdquo (Nussbaum 30)

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identicalwhich is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A Nussbaum 25)

T H E LY R I C lsquo H E R O rsquobull The challenge remains

human life is fleeting how can we surmount it

bull But the solution is new ldquoknow the justice that benefits the polisrdquo this is what the gods wish

bull Individual fragility may be acknowledged even celebrated

Brygos Painter c 490 BCE Sappho and Alcaeus

F R A G I L I T Ybull How can we be praiseworthy if we are vulnerable (to circumstances)

bull [The poetic world-view and Pindarrsquos career as praise poet of aretē require] ldquothe belief that the excellence of a good person is something of that persons own for whose possession and exercise that person can appropriately be held accountablerdquo (Nussbaum 1)

bull But ldquoHow can we be givers and receivers of praise if our worth ishellip a plant in need of wateringrdquo (2)

bull ldquoWe need to be born with adequate capacities to live in fostering natural and social circumstances to stay clear of abrupt catastrophe to develop confirming associations with other human beingsrdquo (1)

bull A further complication ldquoThe tenderness of a plant is not the dazzling hardness of a gemrdquo perhaps ldquopart of the peculiar beauty of human excellence just is its vulnerabilityrdquo (2)

M A R T H A N U S S B A U M T H E F R A G I L I T Y O F G O O D N E S S C H 1 L U C K amp E T H I C S

T H E P O W E R O F R E A S O N [T]here is the consolation that so far Pindar has apparently left something out However much human beings resemble lower forms of life we are unlike we want to insist in one crucial respect We have reason We are able to deliberate and choose to make a plan in which ends are ranked to decide actively what is to have value and how much All this must count for something If it is true that a lot about us is messy needy uncontrolled rooted in the dirt and standing helplessly in the rain it is also true that there is something about us that is pure and purely active something that we could think of as divine immortal intelligible unitary indissoluble ever self-consistent and invariablelsquo [Plato Phaedo 80B] It seems possible that this rational element in us can rule and guide the rest thereby saving the whole person from living at the mercy of luck

N U S S B A U M F R A G I L I T Y 2

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S S O P H I S T S A N D T R A G E D I A N SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Athens

AT H E N S rsquo A C R O P O L I S A S I M A G I N E D B Y L E O V O N K L E N Z E O I L O N C A N VA S 1 8 4 6 N E U E P I N A K O T H E K

A S S A S S I N rsquo S C R E E D O D Y S S E Y bull A T O U R O F AT H E N S U B I S O F T ( 2 0 1 8 )

bull Athens is the first lsquopeople-ruledrsquo polis (dēmokratia) in the Mediterranean world

bull She has achieved unchallenged naval authority and an empire which is labeled a lsquocommonwealthrsquo

bull At the commercial and cultural crossroads of Italy Greece Egypt and the Near East

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

S P E E C H A N D D E M O C R A C Y

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

bull In this cosmopolitan environment traditional views are challenged leading to a perceived erosion of moral values

bull The rhapsodes use poetic forms to transmit traditional morality

bull The tragedians use poetic forms to explore amp challenge mythrsquos assumptions

bull The sophists teach ldquowisdomrdquo (sophia) including rhetoric and political oratory perceived as a new lsquotechnologyrsquo to steer the ship of state for onersquos own ends

bull Use onersquos own wits ldquoA person is the measure of all thingsrdquo Protagoras B1

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

T R A G E D Y V U L N E R A B I L I T Y A N D R E A S O NC 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E AT H E N S

Aeschylus Agamemnon (458 BCE) and Euripides Iphigeneia at Aulis (405 BCE) The Sacrifice of Iphigeneia by Francesco Fontebasso bull 1749 oil on canvas

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousnesshellip what is great is fragile andhellip what is necessary may be destructivehellip

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

In such cases we see a wrong action committed without any direct physical compulsion and in full knowledge of its nature by a person whose ethical character or commitments would otherwise dispose him to reject the acthellip circumstanceshellip prevent the adequate fulfillment of two valid ethical claims

N U S S B A U M 2 5

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

[Aeschylus in Agamemnon] shows us not so much a solution to the problem of practical conflict as the richness and depth of the problem itself (This achievement is closely connected with his poetic resources which put the scene vividly before us show us debate about it and evoke in us responses important to its assessment)

The best the agent can do is to have his suffering the natural expression of his goodness of character and not to stifle these responses out of misguided optimism The best we (the Chorus) can do for him is to respect the gravity of his predicament to respect the responses that express his goodness and to think about his case as showing a possibility for human life in general

N U S S B A U M 4 9 - 5 0

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

bull In a world that allows such dilemmas are there truly gods with a coherent vision for the world

bull Can individual reason and ingenuity suffice for a good life

T H E S O P H I S T SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Hesiod Works amp Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale Piteously she transfixed by his crooked claws was lamenting When the imperious hawk addressed her in arrogant parlance Why little lady such shrieks One stronger than you now has got you Where you are going Ill take you myself though you are a songstress For as I please Ill make you my dinner or give you your freedom Witless is one who attempts to strive against those who are stronger When he is stripped of the prize its injury added to insult Thus said the fast-flying hawk that bird with the generous wing-spanPay more attention to justice and curb high-handedness [brother] Violence ill suits men who are lowly not even the noble Man can lightly endure it it weighs on a person whos fallen Into affliction Its better to take your way on the other Road which conduces to right For outrage (hubris) surrenders to

justice (dikē)hellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Thucydides History 584-116 The Melian Dialogue ATHENIANS [Y]ou know as well as we do that when these matters are discussed by practical people the standard of justice depends on the equality of power to compel and that in fact the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they musthellip Our opinion of the gods and our knowledge of men lead us to conclude that it is a general and necessary law of nature to rule whatever one can This is not a law that we made ourselves nor were we the first to act upon it when it was made We found it already in existence and we shall leave it to exist for ever among those who come after us

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos

advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Republic I 343A-D Thrasymachusrsquo complaint Tell me Socrates do you still have a wet nursehellip Because shersquos letting you run around with a snotty nose and doesnrsquot wipe it when she needs tohellip You think that shepherds and cowherds seek the good of their sheep and cattle and fatten them and take care of them looking to something other than their masterrsquos good and their own Moreover you believe that rulershellip think of something besides their own advantage You are so far from understandinghellip that you donrsquot realize that justice is really the good of another the advantage of the stronger and the ruler and harmful to the one who obeys and serves Injustice is the opposite it rules the truly simple and just and those it rules do what is to the advantage of the other and stronger and they make the one they serve happy but themselves not at all You must look at it as follows my most simple Socrates A just man always gets less than an unjust onehellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Gorgias 482C-484C Callicles on nature and convention [Y]oursquore in fact bringing the discussion around to the sort of crowd-pleasing vulgarities that are admirable only by law [nomos also translatable ldquoconventionrdquo or ldquocustomrdquo] and not by nature And these nature and law are for the most part opposed to each otherhellip I believe that the people who institute our laws are the weak and the many So they institute laws and assign praise and blame with themselves and their own advantage in mind As a way of frightening the more powerfulhellip out of getting a greater share than they they say that getting more than onersquos share is ldquoshamefulrdquo and ldquounjusthelliprdquo But surely if a man whose nature is equal to it arises he will shake off tear apart and escape all this he will trample underfoot our documents our tricks and charms and all our laws that violate nature He the slave will rise up and be revealed as our master and here the justice of nature will shine forth

The New Teachers of Athens

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

P R E - S O C R AT I C ldquo P H I L O S O P H E R S 6 T H - 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

P R E - S O C R AT I C P H I L O S O P H E R S

bull Though not usually calling themselves ldquophilosophersrdquo they seemed to have contributed inspiration for Socratesrsquo method of free inquiry applying logos

bull Scholars adopt different views of what constitutes their innovation and ldquophilosophicalrdquo method (see readings)

bull Basing views on argument and evidence

bull De-ldquomythologizationrdquo

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Miletus

E A R LY P H I L O S O P H Y A N C I E N T M I L E T U S

M I L E T U S

bull Wealthy city-state in Asia Minor

bull Key city for trading and shipping between Near East amp Greece

bull Ionian Greek culture

bull Freedom of thought

bull Open political debate

bull Wealth (for some) providing leisure

bull Thales and his successors Anaximander Anaximenes

bull ldquoPhilosophicalrdquo investigation

bull Later Presocratics Heraclitus ParmenidesldquoORIENTALIZINGrdquo POTTERY

The Milesian school strikes a new note unheard before It has a fresh sense of the meaning of truth ndash a feeling for the sort of thing it is reasonable to suppose The hypothesis it characteristically deals in is concerned with the nature of the one primary stuff the Milesians seem to make a great conscious effort to get at something which really does exist They strike us as throwing off the vast symbolic visions of mythology and waking clear-headed to see and touch real things If we have a rational temperament we feel at once a refreshment Here at last is a statement about the world which is meant and offered as true ndash a logos [explanation] not a mythos [story]

ndash F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952 ed) 42

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The questions which excited them were of this kind Can this apparently confused and disordered world be reduced to simpler principles so that our reason can grasp what it is and how it works What is it made of How does change take place They abandoned mythological and substituted intellectual solutions [It] was no longer satisfying to say that storms were roused by the wrath of Poseidon or death caused by the arrows of Apollo or Artemis A world ruled by anthropomorphic gods human in their passions was a world ruled by caprice Philosophy and science start with the bold confession of faith that not caprice but an inherent orderliness underlies the phenomena and the explanation of nature is to be sought within nature itself ndashWKC Guthrie History of Greek Philosophy (Cambridge 1969) 1 44-45

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

Thales of Miletus

bull Lived late 7th-6th centurybull Born to a Phoenician aristocratic

family ndash so leisurebull Traveled to Egypt and Babylon (by

tradition)bull Legendary wisdombull ldquoFounder of Western philosophyrdquo

bull First to seek an ldquooriginal causerdquo (archecirc)

bull to explain how unseen facts caused visible results without appeal to mythology

bull To provide generalizable proofs or laws

Thales of Miletus

AstronomyMathematicsWater as the archecircAll things are full of gods

bull Traditionally Thalesrsquo star student

bull 25 years old during Thalesrsquo eclipse (585 BCE)

bull Lived c 610-540 BCE

bull ldquoFirst to draw the inhabited world on a tabletrdquo (first mapmaker)

bull Unambiguously our first ldquophilosopherrdquo by standards of demythologization originality generality and observation

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

ldquoAnaximander has expurgated the supernatural with a boldness and completeness to which many of his successors failed to attain The primary order is still said to be lsquoaccording to what is ordainedrsquo it is still a moral order in which Justice prevails but the will of the personal God has disappeared and its place is partly taken by a natural cause the eternal motionrdquo

- F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952) 41 Anaximander relief 1st century AD

Rome Museo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Key contributions

bull Physics the archecircbull Cosmologybull ldquoEvolutionrdquobull Astronomy and Cartography

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Anaximander said that the APEIRON [indefinite unlimited] was the ARCHE and the element of things that are and he was the first to introduce this name for the ARCHE He says that the ARCHE is neither water nor any other of the things called elements but some other nature called APEIRON out of which come to be all the heavens and the worlds in them (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2413-18)

The things that are perish into the things out of which they come to be according to necessity for ldquothey pay penalty and retribution to one another according to their injustice in accordance with the ordering of timerdquo as he says in rather poetical language (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2418-21)

Anaximander of Miletus

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The ARCHE

bull One and unlimitedbull But not undefined Itrsquos AIR

Anaximenes of Miletus

bull Not opposites but a continuum FIRE AIR larr WIND larr CLOUD larr WATER larr EARTH larr STONEbull ldquoLooseningrdquo and ldquotighteningrdquo explain hot and cold

H E R A C L I T U S B 1 0 1 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 3 7 )

I searched out myself

Listening not to me but to the logos it is wise to agree that all things are one

H E R A C L I T U S B 5 0 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 1 1 )

E X A M P L E S

THE ROAD TO PHILOSOP HY

The Hero of Lyric Poets of the Polis (6th century)

bull According to the lyric poets of the polis culture such as Pindar Simonides Tyrtaeus and Sappho (7th-6th century BCE)

bull Pursues collective good of the polis based on strong ties of interdependent responsibility amp cooperation in a just world governed by the gods

Individual Freedom The ldquoSophistsrdquo (5th century)

bull Sources in thinkers like Protagoras and Gorgias (5th century BCE predominantly working in Athens) constructed as a category by Platorsquos later writings

bull Pursues individual advantage based on their personal beliefs and wits using persuasion and power skepticism of traditional values

Vulnerability The Hero of Tragedy (5th century)

bull Iconic examples include Sophoclesrsquo Oedipus and Aeschylusrsquo Agamemnon and Orestes

bull Pursuit of individual amp collective good in a world of apparently conflicting divine values sometimes hampered by their own lack of self-knowledge

I N T E R D E P E N D E N C Y I N T R O D U C E S V U L N E R A B I L I T Y W H I C H M AY B E

C E L E B R AT E D O R R E S I S T E D

The Hero of Epic Homer and Hesiod (8th century)

bull Found in the epic Iliad and Odyssey attributed to Homer (c 8th century BCE) examples include the powerful Achilles and thoughtful persuasive Odysseus

bull Pursues individual honour (timē) in a just world governed by the gods

CH

IGI V

AS

E C

70

0 B

CE

The Hero of Reason The ldquoPresocratics (6th-5th cent)

bull Founding figures including Thales Anaximander Anaximenes Pythagoras Heraclitus Parmenides Seeking to understand the basic original causes (aitiai) of the world through reason

I S T H E W O R L D G E N U I N E LY

I N T E L L I G I B L E T O R E A S O N

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Born in Athens to a stonemason named Sophroniscus in 469 BCE

bull ldquoSocratic problemrdquo Socrates wrote nothing we know about him through Plato Xenophon and Aristophanes whose accounts vary

bull Conversed with anyone ldquorich or poor citizen or foreignerrdquo (Apology 23C)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Non-conformity reliance on individual values and wits (contrast with the earlier poets and rhapsodes)

bull Claims of ignorance interest in shared truth and not only persuasion and resistance of ldquoselfish morality (contrast with the sophists)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Methods based on question and answer (the elenchus) requiring unity or consistency (a) of onersquos beliefs and (b) of onersquos beliefs and actions

bull Behaviour peculiar enough to warrant its own verb (sōkratein) (Arist Birds 1282) before generalized philosophia

bull Brought to trial in 399 BCE by two Athenians Meletus and Anytus charged with ldquoimpiety and corrupting the youngrdquo

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

S O C R AT E S C R I T O 4 6 A

I am the kind of person who listens to nothing within me but the logos that on reflection seems

best to me

L O G O S R E A S O N VA L U E C O N S C I E N C E M E A N I N G

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousness A sense of such significances that what is great is fragile and that what is necessary may be destructive which is present in the literature of the fifth century and earlier has disappeared [later] from the ethics of the philosophers and perhaps altogether from their minds Greek philosophy in its sustained pursuit of rational self-sufficiency does turn its back on kinds of human experience and human necessity of which Greek literature itself offers the purest if not the richest expression

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y A N D P H I L O S O P H Y

The continuity between Greek tragedy and Greek philosophy on these questions is however far greater than Williams has allowed On the one hand inside tragedy itself we find arresting portrayals of the human ambition to rational self-sufficiency we come to understand the ways in which problems of exposure motivate this ambition On the other Platos philosophical search for a self- sufficient good life is motivated by a keen sense of these same problems Far from having forgotten about what tragedy describes he sees the problems of exposure so clearly that only a radical solution seems adequate to their depth Nor is he naiumlve about the costs of this solution

N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y P R A C T I C A L C O N F L I C T

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identical which is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A)

Socrates ldquoencourages Euthyphro [a pious Greek] to revise tradition by considering as binding only those requirements concerning which there is divine unanimity he expresses further his own doubt as to whether gods really do disagreerdquo (Nussbaum 30)

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identicalwhich is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A Nussbaum 25)

F R A G I L I T Ybull How can we be praiseworthy if we are vulnerable (to circumstances)

bull [The poetic world-view and Pindarrsquos career as praise poet of aretē require] ldquothe belief that the excellence of a good person is something of that persons own for whose possession and exercise that person can appropriately be held accountablerdquo (Nussbaum 1)

bull But ldquoHow can we be givers and receivers of praise if our worth ishellip a plant in need of wateringrdquo (2)

bull ldquoWe need to be born with adequate capacities to live in fostering natural and social circumstances to stay clear of abrupt catastrophe to develop confirming associations with other human beingsrdquo (1)

bull A further complication ldquoThe tenderness of a plant is not the dazzling hardness of a gemrdquo perhaps ldquopart of the peculiar beauty of human excellence just is its vulnerabilityrdquo (2)

M A R T H A N U S S B A U M T H E F R A G I L I T Y O F G O O D N E S S C H 1 L U C K amp E T H I C S

T H E P O W E R O F R E A S O N [T]here is the consolation that so far Pindar has apparently left something out However much human beings resemble lower forms of life we are unlike we want to insist in one crucial respect We have reason We are able to deliberate and choose to make a plan in which ends are ranked to decide actively what is to have value and how much All this must count for something If it is true that a lot about us is messy needy uncontrolled rooted in the dirt and standing helplessly in the rain it is also true that there is something about us that is pure and purely active something that we could think of as divine immortal intelligible unitary indissoluble ever self-consistent and invariablelsquo [Plato Phaedo 80B] It seems possible that this rational element in us can rule and guide the rest thereby saving the whole person from living at the mercy of luck

N U S S B A U M F R A G I L I T Y 2

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S S O P H I S T S A N D T R A G E D I A N SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Athens

AT H E N S rsquo A C R O P O L I S A S I M A G I N E D B Y L E O V O N K L E N Z E O I L O N C A N VA S 1 8 4 6 N E U E P I N A K O T H E K

A S S A S S I N rsquo S C R E E D O D Y S S E Y bull A T O U R O F AT H E N S U B I S O F T ( 2 0 1 8 )

bull Athens is the first lsquopeople-ruledrsquo polis (dēmokratia) in the Mediterranean world

bull She has achieved unchallenged naval authority and an empire which is labeled a lsquocommonwealthrsquo

bull At the commercial and cultural crossroads of Italy Greece Egypt and the Near East

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

S P E E C H A N D D E M O C R A C Y

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

bull In this cosmopolitan environment traditional views are challenged leading to a perceived erosion of moral values

bull The rhapsodes use poetic forms to transmit traditional morality

bull The tragedians use poetic forms to explore amp challenge mythrsquos assumptions

bull The sophists teach ldquowisdomrdquo (sophia) including rhetoric and political oratory perceived as a new lsquotechnologyrsquo to steer the ship of state for onersquos own ends

bull Use onersquos own wits ldquoA person is the measure of all thingsrdquo Protagoras B1

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

T R A G E D Y V U L N E R A B I L I T Y A N D R E A S O NC 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E AT H E N S

Aeschylus Agamemnon (458 BCE) and Euripides Iphigeneia at Aulis (405 BCE) The Sacrifice of Iphigeneia by Francesco Fontebasso bull 1749 oil on canvas

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousnesshellip what is great is fragile andhellip what is necessary may be destructivehellip

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

In such cases we see a wrong action committed without any direct physical compulsion and in full knowledge of its nature by a person whose ethical character or commitments would otherwise dispose him to reject the acthellip circumstanceshellip prevent the adequate fulfillment of two valid ethical claims

N U S S B A U M 2 5

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

[Aeschylus in Agamemnon] shows us not so much a solution to the problem of practical conflict as the richness and depth of the problem itself (This achievement is closely connected with his poetic resources which put the scene vividly before us show us debate about it and evoke in us responses important to its assessment)

The best the agent can do is to have his suffering the natural expression of his goodness of character and not to stifle these responses out of misguided optimism The best we (the Chorus) can do for him is to respect the gravity of his predicament to respect the responses that express his goodness and to think about his case as showing a possibility for human life in general

N U S S B A U M 4 9 - 5 0

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

bull In a world that allows such dilemmas are there truly gods with a coherent vision for the world

bull Can individual reason and ingenuity suffice for a good life

T H E S O P H I S T SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Hesiod Works amp Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale Piteously she transfixed by his crooked claws was lamenting When the imperious hawk addressed her in arrogant parlance Why little lady such shrieks One stronger than you now has got you Where you are going Ill take you myself though you are a songstress For as I please Ill make you my dinner or give you your freedom Witless is one who attempts to strive against those who are stronger When he is stripped of the prize its injury added to insult Thus said the fast-flying hawk that bird with the generous wing-spanPay more attention to justice and curb high-handedness [brother] Violence ill suits men who are lowly not even the noble Man can lightly endure it it weighs on a person whos fallen Into affliction Its better to take your way on the other Road which conduces to right For outrage (hubris) surrenders to

justice (dikē)hellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Thucydides History 584-116 The Melian Dialogue ATHENIANS [Y]ou know as well as we do that when these matters are discussed by practical people the standard of justice depends on the equality of power to compel and that in fact the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they musthellip Our opinion of the gods and our knowledge of men lead us to conclude that it is a general and necessary law of nature to rule whatever one can This is not a law that we made ourselves nor were we the first to act upon it when it was made We found it already in existence and we shall leave it to exist for ever among those who come after us

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos

advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Republic I 343A-D Thrasymachusrsquo complaint Tell me Socrates do you still have a wet nursehellip Because shersquos letting you run around with a snotty nose and doesnrsquot wipe it when she needs tohellip You think that shepherds and cowherds seek the good of their sheep and cattle and fatten them and take care of them looking to something other than their masterrsquos good and their own Moreover you believe that rulershellip think of something besides their own advantage You are so far from understandinghellip that you donrsquot realize that justice is really the good of another the advantage of the stronger and the ruler and harmful to the one who obeys and serves Injustice is the opposite it rules the truly simple and just and those it rules do what is to the advantage of the other and stronger and they make the one they serve happy but themselves not at all You must look at it as follows my most simple Socrates A just man always gets less than an unjust onehellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Gorgias 482C-484C Callicles on nature and convention [Y]oursquore in fact bringing the discussion around to the sort of crowd-pleasing vulgarities that are admirable only by law [nomos also translatable ldquoconventionrdquo or ldquocustomrdquo] and not by nature And these nature and law are for the most part opposed to each otherhellip I believe that the people who institute our laws are the weak and the many So they institute laws and assign praise and blame with themselves and their own advantage in mind As a way of frightening the more powerfulhellip out of getting a greater share than they they say that getting more than onersquos share is ldquoshamefulrdquo and ldquounjusthelliprdquo But surely if a man whose nature is equal to it arises he will shake off tear apart and escape all this he will trample underfoot our documents our tricks and charms and all our laws that violate nature He the slave will rise up and be revealed as our master and here the justice of nature will shine forth

The New Teachers of Athens

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

P R E - S O C R AT I C ldquo P H I L O S O P H E R S 6 T H - 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

P R E - S O C R AT I C P H I L O S O P H E R S

bull Though not usually calling themselves ldquophilosophersrdquo they seemed to have contributed inspiration for Socratesrsquo method of free inquiry applying logos

bull Scholars adopt different views of what constitutes their innovation and ldquophilosophicalrdquo method (see readings)

bull Basing views on argument and evidence

bull De-ldquomythologizationrdquo

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Miletus

E A R LY P H I L O S O P H Y A N C I E N T M I L E T U S

M I L E T U S

bull Wealthy city-state in Asia Minor

bull Key city for trading and shipping between Near East amp Greece

bull Ionian Greek culture

bull Freedom of thought

bull Open political debate

bull Wealth (for some) providing leisure

bull Thales and his successors Anaximander Anaximenes

bull ldquoPhilosophicalrdquo investigation

bull Later Presocratics Heraclitus ParmenidesldquoORIENTALIZINGrdquo POTTERY

The Milesian school strikes a new note unheard before It has a fresh sense of the meaning of truth ndash a feeling for the sort of thing it is reasonable to suppose The hypothesis it characteristically deals in is concerned with the nature of the one primary stuff the Milesians seem to make a great conscious effort to get at something which really does exist They strike us as throwing off the vast symbolic visions of mythology and waking clear-headed to see and touch real things If we have a rational temperament we feel at once a refreshment Here at last is a statement about the world which is meant and offered as true ndash a logos [explanation] not a mythos [story]

ndash F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952 ed) 42

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The questions which excited them were of this kind Can this apparently confused and disordered world be reduced to simpler principles so that our reason can grasp what it is and how it works What is it made of How does change take place They abandoned mythological and substituted intellectual solutions [It] was no longer satisfying to say that storms were roused by the wrath of Poseidon or death caused by the arrows of Apollo or Artemis A world ruled by anthropomorphic gods human in their passions was a world ruled by caprice Philosophy and science start with the bold confession of faith that not caprice but an inherent orderliness underlies the phenomena and the explanation of nature is to be sought within nature itself ndashWKC Guthrie History of Greek Philosophy (Cambridge 1969) 1 44-45

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

Thales of Miletus

bull Lived late 7th-6th centurybull Born to a Phoenician aristocratic

family ndash so leisurebull Traveled to Egypt and Babylon (by

tradition)bull Legendary wisdombull ldquoFounder of Western philosophyrdquo

bull First to seek an ldquooriginal causerdquo (archecirc)

bull to explain how unseen facts caused visible results without appeal to mythology

bull To provide generalizable proofs or laws

Thales of Miletus

AstronomyMathematicsWater as the archecircAll things are full of gods

bull Traditionally Thalesrsquo star student

bull 25 years old during Thalesrsquo eclipse (585 BCE)

bull Lived c 610-540 BCE

bull ldquoFirst to draw the inhabited world on a tabletrdquo (first mapmaker)

bull Unambiguously our first ldquophilosopherrdquo by standards of demythologization originality generality and observation

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

ldquoAnaximander has expurgated the supernatural with a boldness and completeness to which many of his successors failed to attain The primary order is still said to be lsquoaccording to what is ordainedrsquo it is still a moral order in which Justice prevails but the will of the personal God has disappeared and its place is partly taken by a natural cause the eternal motionrdquo

- F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952) 41 Anaximander relief 1st century AD

Rome Museo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Key contributions

bull Physics the archecircbull Cosmologybull ldquoEvolutionrdquobull Astronomy and Cartography

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Anaximander said that the APEIRON [indefinite unlimited] was the ARCHE and the element of things that are and he was the first to introduce this name for the ARCHE He says that the ARCHE is neither water nor any other of the things called elements but some other nature called APEIRON out of which come to be all the heavens and the worlds in them (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2413-18)

The things that are perish into the things out of which they come to be according to necessity for ldquothey pay penalty and retribution to one another according to their injustice in accordance with the ordering of timerdquo as he says in rather poetical language (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2418-21)

Anaximander of Miletus

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The ARCHE

bull One and unlimitedbull But not undefined Itrsquos AIR

Anaximenes of Miletus

bull Not opposites but a continuum FIRE AIR larr WIND larr CLOUD larr WATER larr EARTH larr STONEbull ldquoLooseningrdquo and ldquotighteningrdquo explain hot and cold

H E R A C L I T U S B 1 0 1 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 3 7 )

I searched out myself

Listening not to me but to the logos it is wise to agree that all things are one

H E R A C L I T U S B 5 0 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 1 1 )

E X A M P L E S

THE ROAD TO PHILOSOP HY

The Hero of Lyric Poets of the Polis (6th century)

bull According to the lyric poets of the polis culture such as Pindar Simonides Tyrtaeus and Sappho (7th-6th century BCE)

bull Pursues collective good of the polis based on strong ties of interdependent responsibility amp cooperation in a just world governed by the gods

Individual Freedom The ldquoSophistsrdquo (5th century)

bull Sources in thinkers like Protagoras and Gorgias (5th century BCE predominantly working in Athens) constructed as a category by Platorsquos later writings

bull Pursues individual advantage based on their personal beliefs and wits using persuasion and power skepticism of traditional values

Vulnerability The Hero of Tragedy (5th century)

bull Iconic examples include Sophoclesrsquo Oedipus and Aeschylusrsquo Agamemnon and Orestes

bull Pursuit of individual amp collective good in a world of apparently conflicting divine values sometimes hampered by their own lack of self-knowledge

I N T E R D E P E N D E N C Y I N T R O D U C E S V U L N E R A B I L I T Y W H I C H M AY B E

C E L E B R AT E D O R R E S I S T E D

The Hero of Epic Homer and Hesiod (8th century)

bull Found in the epic Iliad and Odyssey attributed to Homer (c 8th century BCE) examples include the powerful Achilles and thoughtful persuasive Odysseus

bull Pursues individual honour (timē) in a just world governed by the gods

CH

IGI V

AS

E C

70

0 B

CE

The Hero of Reason The ldquoPresocratics (6th-5th cent)

bull Founding figures including Thales Anaximander Anaximenes Pythagoras Heraclitus Parmenides Seeking to understand the basic original causes (aitiai) of the world through reason

I S T H E W O R L D G E N U I N E LY

I N T E L L I G I B L E T O R E A S O N

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Born in Athens to a stonemason named Sophroniscus in 469 BCE

bull ldquoSocratic problemrdquo Socrates wrote nothing we know about him through Plato Xenophon and Aristophanes whose accounts vary

bull Conversed with anyone ldquorich or poor citizen or foreignerrdquo (Apology 23C)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Non-conformity reliance on individual values and wits (contrast with the earlier poets and rhapsodes)

bull Claims of ignorance interest in shared truth and not only persuasion and resistance of ldquoselfish morality (contrast with the sophists)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Methods based on question and answer (the elenchus) requiring unity or consistency (a) of onersquos beliefs and (b) of onersquos beliefs and actions

bull Behaviour peculiar enough to warrant its own verb (sōkratein) (Arist Birds 1282) before generalized philosophia

bull Brought to trial in 399 BCE by two Athenians Meletus and Anytus charged with ldquoimpiety and corrupting the youngrdquo

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

S O C R AT E S C R I T O 4 6 A

I am the kind of person who listens to nothing within me but the logos that on reflection seems

best to me

L O G O S R E A S O N VA L U E C O N S C I E N C E M E A N I N G

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousness A sense of such significances that what is great is fragile and that what is necessary may be destructive which is present in the literature of the fifth century and earlier has disappeared [later] from the ethics of the philosophers and perhaps altogether from their minds Greek philosophy in its sustained pursuit of rational self-sufficiency does turn its back on kinds of human experience and human necessity of which Greek literature itself offers the purest if not the richest expression

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y A N D P H I L O S O P H Y

The continuity between Greek tragedy and Greek philosophy on these questions is however far greater than Williams has allowed On the one hand inside tragedy itself we find arresting portrayals of the human ambition to rational self-sufficiency we come to understand the ways in which problems of exposure motivate this ambition On the other Platos philosophical search for a self- sufficient good life is motivated by a keen sense of these same problems Far from having forgotten about what tragedy describes he sees the problems of exposure so clearly that only a radical solution seems adequate to their depth Nor is he naiumlve about the costs of this solution

N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y P R A C T I C A L C O N F L I C T

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identical which is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A)

Socrates ldquoencourages Euthyphro [a pious Greek] to revise tradition by considering as binding only those requirements concerning which there is divine unanimity he expresses further his own doubt as to whether gods really do disagreerdquo (Nussbaum 30)

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identicalwhich is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A Nussbaum 25)

T H E P O W E R O F R E A S O N [T]here is the consolation that so far Pindar has apparently left something out However much human beings resemble lower forms of life we are unlike we want to insist in one crucial respect We have reason We are able to deliberate and choose to make a plan in which ends are ranked to decide actively what is to have value and how much All this must count for something If it is true that a lot about us is messy needy uncontrolled rooted in the dirt and standing helplessly in the rain it is also true that there is something about us that is pure and purely active something that we could think of as divine immortal intelligible unitary indissoluble ever self-consistent and invariablelsquo [Plato Phaedo 80B] It seems possible that this rational element in us can rule and guide the rest thereby saving the whole person from living at the mercy of luck

N U S S B A U M F R A G I L I T Y 2

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S S O P H I S T S A N D T R A G E D I A N SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Athens

AT H E N S rsquo A C R O P O L I S A S I M A G I N E D B Y L E O V O N K L E N Z E O I L O N C A N VA S 1 8 4 6 N E U E P I N A K O T H E K

A S S A S S I N rsquo S C R E E D O D Y S S E Y bull A T O U R O F AT H E N S U B I S O F T ( 2 0 1 8 )

bull Athens is the first lsquopeople-ruledrsquo polis (dēmokratia) in the Mediterranean world

bull She has achieved unchallenged naval authority and an empire which is labeled a lsquocommonwealthrsquo

bull At the commercial and cultural crossroads of Italy Greece Egypt and the Near East

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

S P E E C H A N D D E M O C R A C Y

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

bull In this cosmopolitan environment traditional views are challenged leading to a perceived erosion of moral values

bull The rhapsodes use poetic forms to transmit traditional morality

bull The tragedians use poetic forms to explore amp challenge mythrsquos assumptions

bull The sophists teach ldquowisdomrdquo (sophia) including rhetoric and political oratory perceived as a new lsquotechnologyrsquo to steer the ship of state for onersquos own ends

bull Use onersquos own wits ldquoA person is the measure of all thingsrdquo Protagoras B1

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

T R A G E D Y V U L N E R A B I L I T Y A N D R E A S O NC 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E AT H E N S

Aeschylus Agamemnon (458 BCE) and Euripides Iphigeneia at Aulis (405 BCE) The Sacrifice of Iphigeneia by Francesco Fontebasso bull 1749 oil on canvas

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousnesshellip what is great is fragile andhellip what is necessary may be destructivehellip

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

In such cases we see a wrong action committed without any direct physical compulsion and in full knowledge of its nature by a person whose ethical character or commitments would otherwise dispose him to reject the acthellip circumstanceshellip prevent the adequate fulfillment of two valid ethical claims

N U S S B A U M 2 5

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

[Aeschylus in Agamemnon] shows us not so much a solution to the problem of practical conflict as the richness and depth of the problem itself (This achievement is closely connected with his poetic resources which put the scene vividly before us show us debate about it and evoke in us responses important to its assessment)

The best the agent can do is to have his suffering the natural expression of his goodness of character and not to stifle these responses out of misguided optimism The best we (the Chorus) can do for him is to respect the gravity of his predicament to respect the responses that express his goodness and to think about his case as showing a possibility for human life in general

N U S S B A U M 4 9 - 5 0

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

bull In a world that allows such dilemmas are there truly gods with a coherent vision for the world

bull Can individual reason and ingenuity suffice for a good life

T H E S O P H I S T SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Hesiod Works amp Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale Piteously she transfixed by his crooked claws was lamenting When the imperious hawk addressed her in arrogant parlance Why little lady such shrieks One stronger than you now has got you Where you are going Ill take you myself though you are a songstress For as I please Ill make you my dinner or give you your freedom Witless is one who attempts to strive against those who are stronger When he is stripped of the prize its injury added to insult Thus said the fast-flying hawk that bird with the generous wing-spanPay more attention to justice and curb high-handedness [brother] Violence ill suits men who are lowly not even the noble Man can lightly endure it it weighs on a person whos fallen Into affliction Its better to take your way on the other Road which conduces to right For outrage (hubris) surrenders to

justice (dikē)hellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Thucydides History 584-116 The Melian Dialogue ATHENIANS [Y]ou know as well as we do that when these matters are discussed by practical people the standard of justice depends on the equality of power to compel and that in fact the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they musthellip Our opinion of the gods and our knowledge of men lead us to conclude that it is a general and necessary law of nature to rule whatever one can This is not a law that we made ourselves nor were we the first to act upon it when it was made We found it already in existence and we shall leave it to exist for ever among those who come after us

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos

advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Republic I 343A-D Thrasymachusrsquo complaint Tell me Socrates do you still have a wet nursehellip Because shersquos letting you run around with a snotty nose and doesnrsquot wipe it when she needs tohellip You think that shepherds and cowherds seek the good of their sheep and cattle and fatten them and take care of them looking to something other than their masterrsquos good and their own Moreover you believe that rulershellip think of something besides their own advantage You are so far from understandinghellip that you donrsquot realize that justice is really the good of another the advantage of the stronger and the ruler and harmful to the one who obeys and serves Injustice is the opposite it rules the truly simple and just and those it rules do what is to the advantage of the other and stronger and they make the one they serve happy but themselves not at all You must look at it as follows my most simple Socrates A just man always gets less than an unjust onehellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Gorgias 482C-484C Callicles on nature and convention [Y]oursquore in fact bringing the discussion around to the sort of crowd-pleasing vulgarities that are admirable only by law [nomos also translatable ldquoconventionrdquo or ldquocustomrdquo] and not by nature And these nature and law are for the most part opposed to each otherhellip I believe that the people who institute our laws are the weak and the many So they institute laws and assign praise and blame with themselves and their own advantage in mind As a way of frightening the more powerfulhellip out of getting a greater share than they they say that getting more than onersquos share is ldquoshamefulrdquo and ldquounjusthelliprdquo But surely if a man whose nature is equal to it arises he will shake off tear apart and escape all this he will trample underfoot our documents our tricks and charms and all our laws that violate nature He the slave will rise up and be revealed as our master and here the justice of nature will shine forth

The New Teachers of Athens

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

P R E - S O C R AT I C ldquo P H I L O S O P H E R S 6 T H - 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

P R E - S O C R AT I C P H I L O S O P H E R S

bull Though not usually calling themselves ldquophilosophersrdquo they seemed to have contributed inspiration for Socratesrsquo method of free inquiry applying logos

bull Scholars adopt different views of what constitutes their innovation and ldquophilosophicalrdquo method (see readings)

bull Basing views on argument and evidence

bull De-ldquomythologizationrdquo

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Miletus

E A R LY P H I L O S O P H Y A N C I E N T M I L E T U S

M I L E T U S

bull Wealthy city-state in Asia Minor

bull Key city for trading and shipping between Near East amp Greece

bull Ionian Greek culture

bull Freedom of thought

bull Open political debate

bull Wealth (for some) providing leisure

bull Thales and his successors Anaximander Anaximenes

bull ldquoPhilosophicalrdquo investigation

bull Later Presocratics Heraclitus ParmenidesldquoORIENTALIZINGrdquo POTTERY

The Milesian school strikes a new note unheard before It has a fresh sense of the meaning of truth ndash a feeling for the sort of thing it is reasonable to suppose The hypothesis it characteristically deals in is concerned with the nature of the one primary stuff the Milesians seem to make a great conscious effort to get at something which really does exist They strike us as throwing off the vast symbolic visions of mythology and waking clear-headed to see and touch real things If we have a rational temperament we feel at once a refreshment Here at last is a statement about the world which is meant and offered as true ndash a logos [explanation] not a mythos [story]

ndash F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952 ed) 42

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The questions which excited them were of this kind Can this apparently confused and disordered world be reduced to simpler principles so that our reason can grasp what it is and how it works What is it made of How does change take place They abandoned mythological and substituted intellectual solutions [It] was no longer satisfying to say that storms were roused by the wrath of Poseidon or death caused by the arrows of Apollo or Artemis A world ruled by anthropomorphic gods human in their passions was a world ruled by caprice Philosophy and science start with the bold confession of faith that not caprice but an inherent orderliness underlies the phenomena and the explanation of nature is to be sought within nature itself ndashWKC Guthrie History of Greek Philosophy (Cambridge 1969) 1 44-45

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

Thales of Miletus

bull Lived late 7th-6th centurybull Born to a Phoenician aristocratic

family ndash so leisurebull Traveled to Egypt and Babylon (by

tradition)bull Legendary wisdombull ldquoFounder of Western philosophyrdquo

bull First to seek an ldquooriginal causerdquo (archecirc)

bull to explain how unseen facts caused visible results without appeal to mythology

bull To provide generalizable proofs or laws

Thales of Miletus

AstronomyMathematicsWater as the archecircAll things are full of gods

bull Traditionally Thalesrsquo star student

bull 25 years old during Thalesrsquo eclipse (585 BCE)

bull Lived c 610-540 BCE

bull ldquoFirst to draw the inhabited world on a tabletrdquo (first mapmaker)

bull Unambiguously our first ldquophilosopherrdquo by standards of demythologization originality generality and observation

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

ldquoAnaximander has expurgated the supernatural with a boldness and completeness to which many of his successors failed to attain The primary order is still said to be lsquoaccording to what is ordainedrsquo it is still a moral order in which Justice prevails but the will of the personal God has disappeared and its place is partly taken by a natural cause the eternal motionrdquo

- F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952) 41 Anaximander relief 1st century AD

Rome Museo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Key contributions

bull Physics the archecircbull Cosmologybull ldquoEvolutionrdquobull Astronomy and Cartography

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Anaximander said that the APEIRON [indefinite unlimited] was the ARCHE and the element of things that are and he was the first to introduce this name for the ARCHE He says that the ARCHE is neither water nor any other of the things called elements but some other nature called APEIRON out of which come to be all the heavens and the worlds in them (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2413-18)

The things that are perish into the things out of which they come to be according to necessity for ldquothey pay penalty and retribution to one another according to their injustice in accordance with the ordering of timerdquo as he says in rather poetical language (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2418-21)

Anaximander of Miletus

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The ARCHE

bull One and unlimitedbull But not undefined Itrsquos AIR

Anaximenes of Miletus

bull Not opposites but a continuum FIRE AIR larr WIND larr CLOUD larr WATER larr EARTH larr STONEbull ldquoLooseningrdquo and ldquotighteningrdquo explain hot and cold

H E R A C L I T U S B 1 0 1 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 3 7 )

I searched out myself

Listening not to me but to the logos it is wise to agree that all things are one

H E R A C L I T U S B 5 0 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 1 1 )

E X A M P L E S

THE ROAD TO PHILOSOP HY

The Hero of Lyric Poets of the Polis (6th century)

bull According to the lyric poets of the polis culture such as Pindar Simonides Tyrtaeus and Sappho (7th-6th century BCE)

bull Pursues collective good of the polis based on strong ties of interdependent responsibility amp cooperation in a just world governed by the gods

Individual Freedom The ldquoSophistsrdquo (5th century)

bull Sources in thinkers like Protagoras and Gorgias (5th century BCE predominantly working in Athens) constructed as a category by Platorsquos later writings

bull Pursues individual advantage based on their personal beliefs and wits using persuasion and power skepticism of traditional values

Vulnerability The Hero of Tragedy (5th century)

bull Iconic examples include Sophoclesrsquo Oedipus and Aeschylusrsquo Agamemnon and Orestes

bull Pursuit of individual amp collective good in a world of apparently conflicting divine values sometimes hampered by their own lack of self-knowledge

I N T E R D E P E N D E N C Y I N T R O D U C E S V U L N E R A B I L I T Y W H I C H M AY B E

C E L E B R AT E D O R R E S I S T E D

The Hero of Epic Homer and Hesiod (8th century)

bull Found in the epic Iliad and Odyssey attributed to Homer (c 8th century BCE) examples include the powerful Achilles and thoughtful persuasive Odysseus

bull Pursues individual honour (timē) in a just world governed by the gods

CH

IGI V

AS

E C

70

0 B

CE

The Hero of Reason The ldquoPresocratics (6th-5th cent)

bull Founding figures including Thales Anaximander Anaximenes Pythagoras Heraclitus Parmenides Seeking to understand the basic original causes (aitiai) of the world through reason

I S T H E W O R L D G E N U I N E LY

I N T E L L I G I B L E T O R E A S O N

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Born in Athens to a stonemason named Sophroniscus in 469 BCE

bull ldquoSocratic problemrdquo Socrates wrote nothing we know about him through Plato Xenophon and Aristophanes whose accounts vary

bull Conversed with anyone ldquorich or poor citizen or foreignerrdquo (Apology 23C)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Non-conformity reliance on individual values and wits (contrast with the earlier poets and rhapsodes)

bull Claims of ignorance interest in shared truth and not only persuasion and resistance of ldquoselfish morality (contrast with the sophists)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Methods based on question and answer (the elenchus) requiring unity or consistency (a) of onersquos beliefs and (b) of onersquos beliefs and actions

bull Behaviour peculiar enough to warrant its own verb (sōkratein) (Arist Birds 1282) before generalized philosophia

bull Brought to trial in 399 BCE by two Athenians Meletus and Anytus charged with ldquoimpiety and corrupting the youngrdquo

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

S O C R AT E S C R I T O 4 6 A

I am the kind of person who listens to nothing within me but the logos that on reflection seems

best to me

L O G O S R E A S O N VA L U E C O N S C I E N C E M E A N I N G

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousness A sense of such significances that what is great is fragile and that what is necessary may be destructive which is present in the literature of the fifth century and earlier has disappeared [later] from the ethics of the philosophers and perhaps altogether from their minds Greek philosophy in its sustained pursuit of rational self-sufficiency does turn its back on kinds of human experience and human necessity of which Greek literature itself offers the purest if not the richest expression

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y A N D P H I L O S O P H Y

The continuity between Greek tragedy and Greek philosophy on these questions is however far greater than Williams has allowed On the one hand inside tragedy itself we find arresting portrayals of the human ambition to rational self-sufficiency we come to understand the ways in which problems of exposure motivate this ambition On the other Platos philosophical search for a self- sufficient good life is motivated by a keen sense of these same problems Far from having forgotten about what tragedy describes he sees the problems of exposure so clearly that only a radical solution seems adequate to their depth Nor is he naiumlve about the costs of this solution

N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y P R A C T I C A L C O N F L I C T

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identical which is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A)

Socrates ldquoencourages Euthyphro [a pious Greek] to revise tradition by considering as binding only those requirements concerning which there is divine unanimity he expresses further his own doubt as to whether gods really do disagreerdquo (Nussbaum 30)

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identicalwhich is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A Nussbaum 25)

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S S O P H I S T S A N D T R A G E D I A N SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Athens

AT H E N S rsquo A C R O P O L I S A S I M A G I N E D B Y L E O V O N K L E N Z E O I L O N C A N VA S 1 8 4 6 N E U E P I N A K O T H E K

A S S A S S I N rsquo S C R E E D O D Y S S E Y bull A T O U R O F AT H E N S U B I S O F T ( 2 0 1 8 )

bull Athens is the first lsquopeople-ruledrsquo polis (dēmokratia) in the Mediterranean world

bull She has achieved unchallenged naval authority and an empire which is labeled a lsquocommonwealthrsquo

bull At the commercial and cultural crossroads of Italy Greece Egypt and the Near East

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

S P E E C H A N D D E M O C R A C Y

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

bull In this cosmopolitan environment traditional views are challenged leading to a perceived erosion of moral values

bull The rhapsodes use poetic forms to transmit traditional morality

bull The tragedians use poetic forms to explore amp challenge mythrsquos assumptions

bull The sophists teach ldquowisdomrdquo (sophia) including rhetoric and political oratory perceived as a new lsquotechnologyrsquo to steer the ship of state for onersquos own ends

bull Use onersquos own wits ldquoA person is the measure of all thingsrdquo Protagoras B1

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

T R A G E D Y V U L N E R A B I L I T Y A N D R E A S O NC 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E AT H E N S

Aeschylus Agamemnon (458 BCE) and Euripides Iphigeneia at Aulis (405 BCE) The Sacrifice of Iphigeneia by Francesco Fontebasso bull 1749 oil on canvas

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousnesshellip what is great is fragile andhellip what is necessary may be destructivehellip

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

In such cases we see a wrong action committed without any direct physical compulsion and in full knowledge of its nature by a person whose ethical character or commitments would otherwise dispose him to reject the acthellip circumstanceshellip prevent the adequate fulfillment of two valid ethical claims

N U S S B A U M 2 5

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

[Aeschylus in Agamemnon] shows us not so much a solution to the problem of practical conflict as the richness and depth of the problem itself (This achievement is closely connected with his poetic resources which put the scene vividly before us show us debate about it and evoke in us responses important to its assessment)

The best the agent can do is to have his suffering the natural expression of his goodness of character and not to stifle these responses out of misguided optimism The best we (the Chorus) can do for him is to respect the gravity of his predicament to respect the responses that express his goodness and to think about his case as showing a possibility for human life in general

N U S S B A U M 4 9 - 5 0

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

bull In a world that allows such dilemmas are there truly gods with a coherent vision for the world

bull Can individual reason and ingenuity suffice for a good life

T H E S O P H I S T SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Hesiod Works amp Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale Piteously she transfixed by his crooked claws was lamenting When the imperious hawk addressed her in arrogant parlance Why little lady such shrieks One stronger than you now has got you Where you are going Ill take you myself though you are a songstress For as I please Ill make you my dinner or give you your freedom Witless is one who attempts to strive against those who are stronger When he is stripped of the prize its injury added to insult Thus said the fast-flying hawk that bird with the generous wing-spanPay more attention to justice and curb high-handedness [brother] Violence ill suits men who are lowly not even the noble Man can lightly endure it it weighs on a person whos fallen Into affliction Its better to take your way on the other Road which conduces to right For outrage (hubris) surrenders to

justice (dikē)hellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Thucydides History 584-116 The Melian Dialogue ATHENIANS [Y]ou know as well as we do that when these matters are discussed by practical people the standard of justice depends on the equality of power to compel and that in fact the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they musthellip Our opinion of the gods and our knowledge of men lead us to conclude that it is a general and necessary law of nature to rule whatever one can This is not a law that we made ourselves nor were we the first to act upon it when it was made We found it already in existence and we shall leave it to exist for ever among those who come after us

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos

advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Republic I 343A-D Thrasymachusrsquo complaint Tell me Socrates do you still have a wet nursehellip Because shersquos letting you run around with a snotty nose and doesnrsquot wipe it when she needs tohellip You think that shepherds and cowherds seek the good of their sheep and cattle and fatten them and take care of them looking to something other than their masterrsquos good and their own Moreover you believe that rulershellip think of something besides their own advantage You are so far from understandinghellip that you donrsquot realize that justice is really the good of another the advantage of the stronger and the ruler and harmful to the one who obeys and serves Injustice is the opposite it rules the truly simple and just and those it rules do what is to the advantage of the other and stronger and they make the one they serve happy but themselves not at all You must look at it as follows my most simple Socrates A just man always gets less than an unjust onehellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Gorgias 482C-484C Callicles on nature and convention [Y]oursquore in fact bringing the discussion around to the sort of crowd-pleasing vulgarities that are admirable only by law [nomos also translatable ldquoconventionrdquo or ldquocustomrdquo] and not by nature And these nature and law are for the most part opposed to each otherhellip I believe that the people who institute our laws are the weak and the many So they institute laws and assign praise and blame with themselves and their own advantage in mind As a way of frightening the more powerfulhellip out of getting a greater share than they they say that getting more than onersquos share is ldquoshamefulrdquo and ldquounjusthelliprdquo But surely if a man whose nature is equal to it arises he will shake off tear apart and escape all this he will trample underfoot our documents our tricks and charms and all our laws that violate nature He the slave will rise up and be revealed as our master and here the justice of nature will shine forth

The New Teachers of Athens

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

P R E - S O C R AT I C ldquo P H I L O S O P H E R S 6 T H - 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

P R E - S O C R AT I C P H I L O S O P H E R S

bull Though not usually calling themselves ldquophilosophersrdquo they seemed to have contributed inspiration for Socratesrsquo method of free inquiry applying logos

bull Scholars adopt different views of what constitutes their innovation and ldquophilosophicalrdquo method (see readings)

bull Basing views on argument and evidence

bull De-ldquomythologizationrdquo

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Miletus

E A R LY P H I L O S O P H Y A N C I E N T M I L E T U S

M I L E T U S

bull Wealthy city-state in Asia Minor

bull Key city for trading and shipping between Near East amp Greece

bull Ionian Greek culture

bull Freedom of thought

bull Open political debate

bull Wealth (for some) providing leisure

bull Thales and his successors Anaximander Anaximenes

bull ldquoPhilosophicalrdquo investigation

bull Later Presocratics Heraclitus ParmenidesldquoORIENTALIZINGrdquo POTTERY

The Milesian school strikes a new note unheard before It has a fresh sense of the meaning of truth ndash a feeling for the sort of thing it is reasonable to suppose The hypothesis it characteristically deals in is concerned with the nature of the one primary stuff the Milesians seem to make a great conscious effort to get at something which really does exist They strike us as throwing off the vast symbolic visions of mythology and waking clear-headed to see and touch real things If we have a rational temperament we feel at once a refreshment Here at last is a statement about the world which is meant and offered as true ndash a logos [explanation] not a mythos [story]

ndash F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952 ed) 42

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The questions which excited them were of this kind Can this apparently confused and disordered world be reduced to simpler principles so that our reason can grasp what it is and how it works What is it made of How does change take place They abandoned mythological and substituted intellectual solutions [It] was no longer satisfying to say that storms were roused by the wrath of Poseidon or death caused by the arrows of Apollo or Artemis A world ruled by anthropomorphic gods human in their passions was a world ruled by caprice Philosophy and science start with the bold confession of faith that not caprice but an inherent orderliness underlies the phenomena and the explanation of nature is to be sought within nature itself ndashWKC Guthrie History of Greek Philosophy (Cambridge 1969) 1 44-45

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

Thales of Miletus

bull Lived late 7th-6th centurybull Born to a Phoenician aristocratic

family ndash so leisurebull Traveled to Egypt and Babylon (by

tradition)bull Legendary wisdombull ldquoFounder of Western philosophyrdquo

bull First to seek an ldquooriginal causerdquo (archecirc)

bull to explain how unseen facts caused visible results without appeal to mythology

bull To provide generalizable proofs or laws

Thales of Miletus

AstronomyMathematicsWater as the archecircAll things are full of gods

bull Traditionally Thalesrsquo star student

bull 25 years old during Thalesrsquo eclipse (585 BCE)

bull Lived c 610-540 BCE

bull ldquoFirst to draw the inhabited world on a tabletrdquo (first mapmaker)

bull Unambiguously our first ldquophilosopherrdquo by standards of demythologization originality generality and observation

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

ldquoAnaximander has expurgated the supernatural with a boldness and completeness to which many of his successors failed to attain The primary order is still said to be lsquoaccording to what is ordainedrsquo it is still a moral order in which Justice prevails but the will of the personal God has disappeared and its place is partly taken by a natural cause the eternal motionrdquo

- F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952) 41 Anaximander relief 1st century AD

Rome Museo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Key contributions

bull Physics the archecircbull Cosmologybull ldquoEvolutionrdquobull Astronomy and Cartography

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Anaximander said that the APEIRON [indefinite unlimited] was the ARCHE and the element of things that are and he was the first to introduce this name for the ARCHE He says that the ARCHE is neither water nor any other of the things called elements but some other nature called APEIRON out of which come to be all the heavens and the worlds in them (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2413-18)

The things that are perish into the things out of which they come to be according to necessity for ldquothey pay penalty and retribution to one another according to their injustice in accordance with the ordering of timerdquo as he says in rather poetical language (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2418-21)

Anaximander of Miletus

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The ARCHE

bull One and unlimitedbull But not undefined Itrsquos AIR

Anaximenes of Miletus

bull Not opposites but a continuum FIRE AIR larr WIND larr CLOUD larr WATER larr EARTH larr STONEbull ldquoLooseningrdquo and ldquotighteningrdquo explain hot and cold

H E R A C L I T U S B 1 0 1 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 3 7 )

I searched out myself

Listening not to me but to the logos it is wise to agree that all things are one

H E R A C L I T U S B 5 0 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 1 1 )

E X A M P L E S

THE ROAD TO PHILOSOP HY

The Hero of Lyric Poets of the Polis (6th century)

bull According to the lyric poets of the polis culture such as Pindar Simonides Tyrtaeus and Sappho (7th-6th century BCE)

bull Pursues collective good of the polis based on strong ties of interdependent responsibility amp cooperation in a just world governed by the gods

Individual Freedom The ldquoSophistsrdquo (5th century)

bull Sources in thinkers like Protagoras and Gorgias (5th century BCE predominantly working in Athens) constructed as a category by Platorsquos later writings

bull Pursues individual advantage based on their personal beliefs and wits using persuasion and power skepticism of traditional values

Vulnerability The Hero of Tragedy (5th century)

bull Iconic examples include Sophoclesrsquo Oedipus and Aeschylusrsquo Agamemnon and Orestes

bull Pursuit of individual amp collective good in a world of apparently conflicting divine values sometimes hampered by their own lack of self-knowledge

I N T E R D E P E N D E N C Y I N T R O D U C E S V U L N E R A B I L I T Y W H I C H M AY B E

C E L E B R AT E D O R R E S I S T E D

The Hero of Epic Homer and Hesiod (8th century)

bull Found in the epic Iliad and Odyssey attributed to Homer (c 8th century BCE) examples include the powerful Achilles and thoughtful persuasive Odysseus

bull Pursues individual honour (timē) in a just world governed by the gods

CH

IGI V

AS

E C

70

0 B

CE

The Hero of Reason The ldquoPresocratics (6th-5th cent)

bull Founding figures including Thales Anaximander Anaximenes Pythagoras Heraclitus Parmenides Seeking to understand the basic original causes (aitiai) of the world through reason

I S T H E W O R L D G E N U I N E LY

I N T E L L I G I B L E T O R E A S O N

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Born in Athens to a stonemason named Sophroniscus in 469 BCE

bull ldquoSocratic problemrdquo Socrates wrote nothing we know about him through Plato Xenophon and Aristophanes whose accounts vary

bull Conversed with anyone ldquorich or poor citizen or foreignerrdquo (Apology 23C)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Non-conformity reliance on individual values and wits (contrast with the earlier poets and rhapsodes)

bull Claims of ignorance interest in shared truth and not only persuasion and resistance of ldquoselfish morality (contrast with the sophists)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Methods based on question and answer (the elenchus) requiring unity or consistency (a) of onersquos beliefs and (b) of onersquos beliefs and actions

bull Behaviour peculiar enough to warrant its own verb (sōkratein) (Arist Birds 1282) before generalized philosophia

bull Brought to trial in 399 BCE by two Athenians Meletus and Anytus charged with ldquoimpiety and corrupting the youngrdquo

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

S O C R AT E S C R I T O 4 6 A

I am the kind of person who listens to nothing within me but the logos that on reflection seems

best to me

L O G O S R E A S O N VA L U E C O N S C I E N C E M E A N I N G

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousness A sense of such significances that what is great is fragile and that what is necessary may be destructive which is present in the literature of the fifth century and earlier has disappeared [later] from the ethics of the philosophers and perhaps altogether from their minds Greek philosophy in its sustained pursuit of rational self-sufficiency does turn its back on kinds of human experience and human necessity of which Greek literature itself offers the purest if not the richest expression

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y A N D P H I L O S O P H Y

The continuity between Greek tragedy and Greek philosophy on these questions is however far greater than Williams has allowed On the one hand inside tragedy itself we find arresting portrayals of the human ambition to rational self-sufficiency we come to understand the ways in which problems of exposure motivate this ambition On the other Platos philosophical search for a self- sufficient good life is motivated by a keen sense of these same problems Far from having forgotten about what tragedy describes he sees the problems of exposure so clearly that only a radical solution seems adequate to their depth Nor is he naiumlve about the costs of this solution

N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y P R A C T I C A L C O N F L I C T

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identical which is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A)

Socrates ldquoencourages Euthyphro [a pious Greek] to revise tradition by considering as binding only those requirements concerning which there is divine unanimity he expresses further his own doubt as to whether gods really do disagreerdquo (Nussbaum 30)

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identicalwhich is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A Nussbaum 25)

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S S O P H I S T S A N D T R A G E D I A N SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Athens

AT H E N S rsquo A C R O P O L I S A S I M A G I N E D B Y L E O V O N K L E N Z E O I L O N C A N VA S 1 8 4 6 N E U E P I N A K O T H E K

A S S A S S I N rsquo S C R E E D O D Y S S E Y bull A T O U R O F AT H E N S U B I S O F T ( 2 0 1 8 )

bull Athens is the first lsquopeople-ruledrsquo polis (dēmokratia) in the Mediterranean world

bull She has achieved unchallenged naval authority and an empire which is labeled a lsquocommonwealthrsquo

bull At the commercial and cultural crossroads of Italy Greece Egypt and the Near East

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

S P E E C H A N D D E M O C R A C Y

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

bull In this cosmopolitan environment traditional views are challenged leading to a perceived erosion of moral values

bull The rhapsodes use poetic forms to transmit traditional morality

bull The tragedians use poetic forms to explore amp challenge mythrsquos assumptions

bull The sophists teach ldquowisdomrdquo (sophia) including rhetoric and political oratory perceived as a new lsquotechnologyrsquo to steer the ship of state for onersquos own ends

bull Use onersquos own wits ldquoA person is the measure of all thingsrdquo Protagoras B1

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

T R A G E D Y V U L N E R A B I L I T Y A N D R E A S O NC 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E AT H E N S

Aeschylus Agamemnon (458 BCE) and Euripides Iphigeneia at Aulis (405 BCE) The Sacrifice of Iphigeneia by Francesco Fontebasso bull 1749 oil on canvas

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousnesshellip what is great is fragile andhellip what is necessary may be destructivehellip

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

In such cases we see a wrong action committed without any direct physical compulsion and in full knowledge of its nature by a person whose ethical character or commitments would otherwise dispose him to reject the acthellip circumstanceshellip prevent the adequate fulfillment of two valid ethical claims

N U S S B A U M 2 5

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

[Aeschylus in Agamemnon] shows us not so much a solution to the problem of practical conflict as the richness and depth of the problem itself (This achievement is closely connected with his poetic resources which put the scene vividly before us show us debate about it and evoke in us responses important to its assessment)

The best the agent can do is to have his suffering the natural expression of his goodness of character and not to stifle these responses out of misguided optimism The best we (the Chorus) can do for him is to respect the gravity of his predicament to respect the responses that express his goodness and to think about his case as showing a possibility for human life in general

N U S S B A U M 4 9 - 5 0

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

bull In a world that allows such dilemmas are there truly gods with a coherent vision for the world

bull Can individual reason and ingenuity suffice for a good life

T H E S O P H I S T SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Hesiod Works amp Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale Piteously she transfixed by his crooked claws was lamenting When the imperious hawk addressed her in arrogant parlance Why little lady such shrieks One stronger than you now has got you Where you are going Ill take you myself though you are a songstress For as I please Ill make you my dinner or give you your freedom Witless is one who attempts to strive against those who are stronger When he is stripped of the prize its injury added to insult Thus said the fast-flying hawk that bird with the generous wing-spanPay more attention to justice and curb high-handedness [brother] Violence ill suits men who are lowly not even the noble Man can lightly endure it it weighs on a person whos fallen Into affliction Its better to take your way on the other Road which conduces to right For outrage (hubris) surrenders to

justice (dikē)hellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Thucydides History 584-116 The Melian Dialogue ATHENIANS [Y]ou know as well as we do that when these matters are discussed by practical people the standard of justice depends on the equality of power to compel and that in fact the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they musthellip Our opinion of the gods and our knowledge of men lead us to conclude that it is a general and necessary law of nature to rule whatever one can This is not a law that we made ourselves nor were we the first to act upon it when it was made We found it already in existence and we shall leave it to exist for ever among those who come after us

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos

advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Republic I 343A-D Thrasymachusrsquo complaint Tell me Socrates do you still have a wet nursehellip Because shersquos letting you run around with a snotty nose and doesnrsquot wipe it when she needs tohellip You think that shepherds and cowherds seek the good of their sheep and cattle and fatten them and take care of them looking to something other than their masterrsquos good and their own Moreover you believe that rulershellip think of something besides their own advantage You are so far from understandinghellip that you donrsquot realize that justice is really the good of another the advantage of the stronger and the ruler and harmful to the one who obeys and serves Injustice is the opposite it rules the truly simple and just and those it rules do what is to the advantage of the other and stronger and they make the one they serve happy but themselves not at all You must look at it as follows my most simple Socrates A just man always gets less than an unjust onehellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Gorgias 482C-484C Callicles on nature and convention [Y]oursquore in fact bringing the discussion around to the sort of crowd-pleasing vulgarities that are admirable only by law [nomos also translatable ldquoconventionrdquo or ldquocustomrdquo] and not by nature And these nature and law are for the most part opposed to each otherhellip I believe that the people who institute our laws are the weak and the many So they institute laws and assign praise and blame with themselves and their own advantage in mind As a way of frightening the more powerfulhellip out of getting a greater share than they they say that getting more than onersquos share is ldquoshamefulrdquo and ldquounjusthelliprdquo But surely if a man whose nature is equal to it arises he will shake off tear apart and escape all this he will trample underfoot our documents our tricks and charms and all our laws that violate nature He the slave will rise up and be revealed as our master and here the justice of nature will shine forth

The New Teachers of Athens

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

P R E - S O C R AT I C ldquo P H I L O S O P H E R S 6 T H - 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

P R E - S O C R AT I C P H I L O S O P H E R S

bull Though not usually calling themselves ldquophilosophersrdquo they seemed to have contributed inspiration for Socratesrsquo method of free inquiry applying logos

bull Scholars adopt different views of what constitutes their innovation and ldquophilosophicalrdquo method (see readings)

bull Basing views on argument and evidence

bull De-ldquomythologizationrdquo

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Miletus

E A R LY P H I L O S O P H Y A N C I E N T M I L E T U S

M I L E T U S

bull Wealthy city-state in Asia Minor

bull Key city for trading and shipping between Near East amp Greece

bull Ionian Greek culture

bull Freedom of thought

bull Open political debate

bull Wealth (for some) providing leisure

bull Thales and his successors Anaximander Anaximenes

bull ldquoPhilosophicalrdquo investigation

bull Later Presocratics Heraclitus ParmenidesldquoORIENTALIZINGrdquo POTTERY

The Milesian school strikes a new note unheard before It has a fresh sense of the meaning of truth ndash a feeling for the sort of thing it is reasonable to suppose The hypothesis it characteristically deals in is concerned with the nature of the one primary stuff the Milesians seem to make a great conscious effort to get at something which really does exist They strike us as throwing off the vast symbolic visions of mythology and waking clear-headed to see and touch real things If we have a rational temperament we feel at once a refreshment Here at last is a statement about the world which is meant and offered as true ndash a logos [explanation] not a mythos [story]

ndash F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952 ed) 42

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The questions which excited them were of this kind Can this apparently confused and disordered world be reduced to simpler principles so that our reason can grasp what it is and how it works What is it made of How does change take place They abandoned mythological and substituted intellectual solutions [It] was no longer satisfying to say that storms were roused by the wrath of Poseidon or death caused by the arrows of Apollo or Artemis A world ruled by anthropomorphic gods human in their passions was a world ruled by caprice Philosophy and science start with the bold confession of faith that not caprice but an inherent orderliness underlies the phenomena and the explanation of nature is to be sought within nature itself ndashWKC Guthrie History of Greek Philosophy (Cambridge 1969) 1 44-45

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

Thales of Miletus

bull Lived late 7th-6th centurybull Born to a Phoenician aristocratic

family ndash so leisurebull Traveled to Egypt and Babylon (by

tradition)bull Legendary wisdombull ldquoFounder of Western philosophyrdquo

bull First to seek an ldquooriginal causerdquo (archecirc)

bull to explain how unseen facts caused visible results without appeal to mythology

bull To provide generalizable proofs or laws

Thales of Miletus

AstronomyMathematicsWater as the archecircAll things are full of gods

bull Traditionally Thalesrsquo star student

bull 25 years old during Thalesrsquo eclipse (585 BCE)

bull Lived c 610-540 BCE

bull ldquoFirst to draw the inhabited world on a tabletrdquo (first mapmaker)

bull Unambiguously our first ldquophilosopherrdquo by standards of demythologization originality generality and observation

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

ldquoAnaximander has expurgated the supernatural with a boldness and completeness to which many of his successors failed to attain The primary order is still said to be lsquoaccording to what is ordainedrsquo it is still a moral order in which Justice prevails but the will of the personal God has disappeared and its place is partly taken by a natural cause the eternal motionrdquo

- F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952) 41 Anaximander relief 1st century AD

Rome Museo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Key contributions

bull Physics the archecircbull Cosmologybull ldquoEvolutionrdquobull Astronomy and Cartography

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Anaximander said that the APEIRON [indefinite unlimited] was the ARCHE and the element of things that are and he was the first to introduce this name for the ARCHE He says that the ARCHE is neither water nor any other of the things called elements but some other nature called APEIRON out of which come to be all the heavens and the worlds in them (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2413-18)

The things that are perish into the things out of which they come to be according to necessity for ldquothey pay penalty and retribution to one another according to their injustice in accordance with the ordering of timerdquo as he says in rather poetical language (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2418-21)

Anaximander of Miletus

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The ARCHE

bull One and unlimitedbull But not undefined Itrsquos AIR

Anaximenes of Miletus

bull Not opposites but a continuum FIRE AIR larr WIND larr CLOUD larr WATER larr EARTH larr STONEbull ldquoLooseningrdquo and ldquotighteningrdquo explain hot and cold

H E R A C L I T U S B 1 0 1 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 3 7 )

I searched out myself

Listening not to me but to the logos it is wise to agree that all things are one

H E R A C L I T U S B 5 0 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 1 1 )

E X A M P L E S

THE ROAD TO PHILOSOP HY

The Hero of Lyric Poets of the Polis (6th century)

bull According to the lyric poets of the polis culture such as Pindar Simonides Tyrtaeus and Sappho (7th-6th century BCE)

bull Pursues collective good of the polis based on strong ties of interdependent responsibility amp cooperation in a just world governed by the gods

Individual Freedom The ldquoSophistsrdquo (5th century)

bull Sources in thinkers like Protagoras and Gorgias (5th century BCE predominantly working in Athens) constructed as a category by Platorsquos later writings

bull Pursues individual advantage based on their personal beliefs and wits using persuasion and power skepticism of traditional values

Vulnerability The Hero of Tragedy (5th century)

bull Iconic examples include Sophoclesrsquo Oedipus and Aeschylusrsquo Agamemnon and Orestes

bull Pursuit of individual amp collective good in a world of apparently conflicting divine values sometimes hampered by their own lack of self-knowledge

I N T E R D E P E N D E N C Y I N T R O D U C E S V U L N E R A B I L I T Y W H I C H M AY B E

C E L E B R AT E D O R R E S I S T E D

The Hero of Epic Homer and Hesiod (8th century)

bull Found in the epic Iliad and Odyssey attributed to Homer (c 8th century BCE) examples include the powerful Achilles and thoughtful persuasive Odysseus

bull Pursues individual honour (timē) in a just world governed by the gods

CH

IGI V

AS

E C

70

0 B

CE

The Hero of Reason The ldquoPresocratics (6th-5th cent)

bull Founding figures including Thales Anaximander Anaximenes Pythagoras Heraclitus Parmenides Seeking to understand the basic original causes (aitiai) of the world through reason

I S T H E W O R L D G E N U I N E LY

I N T E L L I G I B L E T O R E A S O N

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Born in Athens to a stonemason named Sophroniscus in 469 BCE

bull ldquoSocratic problemrdquo Socrates wrote nothing we know about him through Plato Xenophon and Aristophanes whose accounts vary

bull Conversed with anyone ldquorich or poor citizen or foreignerrdquo (Apology 23C)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Non-conformity reliance on individual values and wits (contrast with the earlier poets and rhapsodes)

bull Claims of ignorance interest in shared truth and not only persuasion and resistance of ldquoselfish morality (contrast with the sophists)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Methods based on question and answer (the elenchus) requiring unity or consistency (a) of onersquos beliefs and (b) of onersquos beliefs and actions

bull Behaviour peculiar enough to warrant its own verb (sōkratein) (Arist Birds 1282) before generalized philosophia

bull Brought to trial in 399 BCE by two Athenians Meletus and Anytus charged with ldquoimpiety and corrupting the youngrdquo

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

S O C R AT E S C R I T O 4 6 A

I am the kind of person who listens to nothing within me but the logos that on reflection seems

best to me

L O G O S R E A S O N VA L U E C O N S C I E N C E M E A N I N G

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousness A sense of such significances that what is great is fragile and that what is necessary may be destructive which is present in the literature of the fifth century and earlier has disappeared [later] from the ethics of the philosophers and perhaps altogether from their minds Greek philosophy in its sustained pursuit of rational self-sufficiency does turn its back on kinds of human experience and human necessity of which Greek literature itself offers the purest if not the richest expression

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y A N D P H I L O S O P H Y

The continuity between Greek tragedy and Greek philosophy on these questions is however far greater than Williams has allowed On the one hand inside tragedy itself we find arresting portrayals of the human ambition to rational self-sufficiency we come to understand the ways in which problems of exposure motivate this ambition On the other Platos philosophical search for a self- sufficient good life is motivated by a keen sense of these same problems Far from having forgotten about what tragedy describes he sees the problems of exposure so clearly that only a radical solution seems adequate to their depth Nor is he naiumlve about the costs of this solution

N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y P R A C T I C A L C O N F L I C T

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identical which is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A)

Socrates ldquoencourages Euthyphro [a pious Greek] to revise tradition by considering as binding only those requirements concerning which there is divine unanimity he expresses further his own doubt as to whether gods really do disagreerdquo (Nussbaum 30)

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identicalwhich is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A Nussbaum 25)

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Athens

AT H E N S rsquo A C R O P O L I S A S I M A G I N E D B Y L E O V O N K L E N Z E O I L O N C A N VA S 1 8 4 6 N E U E P I N A K O T H E K

A S S A S S I N rsquo S C R E E D O D Y S S E Y bull A T O U R O F AT H E N S U B I S O F T ( 2 0 1 8 )

bull Athens is the first lsquopeople-ruledrsquo polis (dēmokratia) in the Mediterranean world

bull She has achieved unchallenged naval authority and an empire which is labeled a lsquocommonwealthrsquo

bull At the commercial and cultural crossroads of Italy Greece Egypt and the Near East

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

S P E E C H A N D D E M O C R A C Y

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

bull In this cosmopolitan environment traditional views are challenged leading to a perceived erosion of moral values

bull The rhapsodes use poetic forms to transmit traditional morality

bull The tragedians use poetic forms to explore amp challenge mythrsquos assumptions

bull The sophists teach ldquowisdomrdquo (sophia) including rhetoric and political oratory perceived as a new lsquotechnologyrsquo to steer the ship of state for onersquos own ends

bull Use onersquos own wits ldquoA person is the measure of all thingsrdquo Protagoras B1

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

T R A G E D Y V U L N E R A B I L I T Y A N D R E A S O NC 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E AT H E N S

Aeschylus Agamemnon (458 BCE) and Euripides Iphigeneia at Aulis (405 BCE) The Sacrifice of Iphigeneia by Francesco Fontebasso bull 1749 oil on canvas

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousnesshellip what is great is fragile andhellip what is necessary may be destructivehellip

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

In such cases we see a wrong action committed without any direct physical compulsion and in full knowledge of its nature by a person whose ethical character or commitments would otherwise dispose him to reject the acthellip circumstanceshellip prevent the adequate fulfillment of two valid ethical claims

N U S S B A U M 2 5

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

[Aeschylus in Agamemnon] shows us not so much a solution to the problem of practical conflict as the richness and depth of the problem itself (This achievement is closely connected with his poetic resources which put the scene vividly before us show us debate about it and evoke in us responses important to its assessment)

The best the agent can do is to have his suffering the natural expression of his goodness of character and not to stifle these responses out of misguided optimism The best we (the Chorus) can do for him is to respect the gravity of his predicament to respect the responses that express his goodness and to think about his case as showing a possibility for human life in general

N U S S B A U M 4 9 - 5 0

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

bull In a world that allows such dilemmas are there truly gods with a coherent vision for the world

bull Can individual reason and ingenuity suffice for a good life

T H E S O P H I S T SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Hesiod Works amp Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale Piteously she transfixed by his crooked claws was lamenting When the imperious hawk addressed her in arrogant parlance Why little lady such shrieks One stronger than you now has got you Where you are going Ill take you myself though you are a songstress For as I please Ill make you my dinner or give you your freedom Witless is one who attempts to strive against those who are stronger When he is stripped of the prize its injury added to insult Thus said the fast-flying hawk that bird with the generous wing-spanPay more attention to justice and curb high-handedness [brother] Violence ill suits men who are lowly not even the noble Man can lightly endure it it weighs on a person whos fallen Into affliction Its better to take your way on the other Road which conduces to right For outrage (hubris) surrenders to

justice (dikē)hellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Thucydides History 584-116 The Melian Dialogue ATHENIANS [Y]ou know as well as we do that when these matters are discussed by practical people the standard of justice depends on the equality of power to compel and that in fact the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they musthellip Our opinion of the gods and our knowledge of men lead us to conclude that it is a general and necessary law of nature to rule whatever one can This is not a law that we made ourselves nor were we the first to act upon it when it was made We found it already in existence and we shall leave it to exist for ever among those who come after us

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos

advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Republic I 343A-D Thrasymachusrsquo complaint Tell me Socrates do you still have a wet nursehellip Because shersquos letting you run around with a snotty nose and doesnrsquot wipe it when she needs tohellip You think that shepherds and cowherds seek the good of their sheep and cattle and fatten them and take care of them looking to something other than their masterrsquos good and their own Moreover you believe that rulershellip think of something besides their own advantage You are so far from understandinghellip that you donrsquot realize that justice is really the good of another the advantage of the stronger and the ruler and harmful to the one who obeys and serves Injustice is the opposite it rules the truly simple and just and those it rules do what is to the advantage of the other and stronger and they make the one they serve happy but themselves not at all You must look at it as follows my most simple Socrates A just man always gets less than an unjust onehellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Gorgias 482C-484C Callicles on nature and convention [Y]oursquore in fact bringing the discussion around to the sort of crowd-pleasing vulgarities that are admirable only by law [nomos also translatable ldquoconventionrdquo or ldquocustomrdquo] and not by nature And these nature and law are for the most part opposed to each otherhellip I believe that the people who institute our laws are the weak and the many So they institute laws and assign praise and blame with themselves and their own advantage in mind As a way of frightening the more powerfulhellip out of getting a greater share than they they say that getting more than onersquos share is ldquoshamefulrdquo and ldquounjusthelliprdquo But surely if a man whose nature is equal to it arises he will shake off tear apart and escape all this he will trample underfoot our documents our tricks and charms and all our laws that violate nature He the slave will rise up and be revealed as our master and here the justice of nature will shine forth

The New Teachers of Athens

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

P R E - S O C R AT I C ldquo P H I L O S O P H E R S 6 T H - 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

P R E - S O C R AT I C P H I L O S O P H E R S

bull Though not usually calling themselves ldquophilosophersrdquo they seemed to have contributed inspiration for Socratesrsquo method of free inquiry applying logos

bull Scholars adopt different views of what constitutes their innovation and ldquophilosophicalrdquo method (see readings)

bull Basing views on argument and evidence

bull De-ldquomythologizationrdquo

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Miletus

E A R LY P H I L O S O P H Y A N C I E N T M I L E T U S

M I L E T U S

bull Wealthy city-state in Asia Minor

bull Key city for trading and shipping between Near East amp Greece

bull Ionian Greek culture

bull Freedom of thought

bull Open political debate

bull Wealth (for some) providing leisure

bull Thales and his successors Anaximander Anaximenes

bull ldquoPhilosophicalrdquo investigation

bull Later Presocratics Heraclitus ParmenidesldquoORIENTALIZINGrdquo POTTERY

The Milesian school strikes a new note unheard before It has a fresh sense of the meaning of truth ndash a feeling for the sort of thing it is reasonable to suppose The hypothesis it characteristically deals in is concerned with the nature of the one primary stuff the Milesians seem to make a great conscious effort to get at something which really does exist They strike us as throwing off the vast symbolic visions of mythology and waking clear-headed to see and touch real things If we have a rational temperament we feel at once a refreshment Here at last is a statement about the world which is meant and offered as true ndash a logos [explanation] not a mythos [story]

ndash F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952 ed) 42

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The questions which excited them were of this kind Can this apparently confused and disordered world be reduced to simpler principles so that our reason can grasp what it is and how it works What is it made of How does change take place They abandoned mythological and substituted intellectual solutions [It] was no longer satisfying to say that storms were roused by the wrath of Poseidon or death caused by the arrows of Apollo or Artemis A world ruled by anthropomorphic gods human in their passions was a world ruled by caprice Philosophy and science start with the bold confession of faith that not caprice but an inherent orderliness underlies the phenomena and the explanation of nature is to be sought within nature itself ndashWKC Guthrie History of Greek Philosophy (Cambridge 1969) 1 44-45

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

Thales of Miletus

bull Lived late 7th-6th centurybull Born to a Phoenician aristocratic

family ndash so leisurebull Traveled to Egypt and Babylon (by

tradition)bull Legendary wisdombull ldquoFounder of Western philosophyrdquo

bull First to seek an ldquooriginal causerdquo (archecirc)

bull to explain how unseen facts caused visible results without appeal to mythology

bull To provide generalizable proofs or laws

Thales of Miletus

AstronomyMathematicsWater as the archecircAll things are full of gods

bull Traditionally Thalesrsquo star student

bull 25 years old during Thalesrsquo eclipse (585 BCE)

bull Lived c 610-540 BCE

bull ldquoFirst to draw the inhabited world on a tabletrdquo (first mapmaker)

bull Unambiguously our first ldquophilosopherrdquo by standards of demythologization originality generality and observation

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

ldquoAnaximander has expurgated the supernatural with a boldness and completeness to which many of his successors failed to attain The primary order is still said to be lsquoaccording to what is ordainedrsquo it is still a moral order in which Justice prevails but the will of the personal God has disappeared and its place is partly taken by a natural cause the eternal motionrdquo

- F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952) 41 Anaximander relief 1st century AD

Rome Museo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Key contributions

bull Physics the archecircbull Cosmologybull ldquoEvolutionrdquobull Astronomy and Cartography

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Anaximander said that the APEIRON [indefinite unlimited] was the ARCHE and the element of things that are and he was the first to introduce this name for the ARCHE He says that the ARCHE is neither water nor any other of the things called elements but some other nature called APEIRON out of which come to be all the heavens and the worlds in them (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2413-18)

The things that are perish into the things out of which they come to be according to necessity for ldquothey pay penalty and retribution to one another according to their injustice in accordance with the ordering of timerdquo as he says in rather poetical language (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2418-21)

Anaximander of Miletus

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The ARCHE

bull One and unlimitedbull But not undefined Itrsquos AIR

Anaximenes of Miletus

bull Not opposites but a continuum FIRE AIR larr WIND larr CLOUD larr WATER larr EARTH larr STONEbull ldquoLooseningrdquo and ldquotighteningrdquo explain hot and cold

H E R A C L I T U S B 1 0 1 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 3 7 )

I searched out myself

Listening not to me but to the logos it is wise to agree that all things are one

H E R A C L I T U S B 5 0 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 1 1 )

E X A M P L E S

THE ROAD TO PHILOSOP HY

The Hero of Lyric Poets of the Polis (6th century)

bull According to the lyric poets of the polis culture such as Pindar Simonides Tyrtaeus and Sappho (7th-6th century BCE)

bull Pursues collective good of the polis based on strong ties of interdependent responsibility amp cooperation in a just world governed by the gods

Individual Freedom The ldquoSophistsrdquo (5th century)

bull Sources in thinkers like Protagoras and Gorgias (5th century BCE predominantly working in Athens) constructed as a category by Platorsquos later writings

bull Pursues individual advantage based on their personal beliefs and wits using persuasion and power skepticism of traditional values

Vulnerability The Hero of Tragedy (5th century)

bull Iconic examples include Sophoclesrsquo Oedipus and Aeschylusrsquo Agamemnon and Orestes

bull Pursuit of individual amp collective good in a world of apparently conflicting divine values sometimes hampered by their own lack of self-knowledge

I N T E R D E P E N D E N C Y I N T R O D U C E S V U L N E R A B I L I T Y W H I C H M AY B E

C E L E B R AT E D O R R E S I S T E D

The Hero of Epic Homer and Hesiod (8th century)

bull Found in the epic Iliad and Odyssey attributed to Homer (c 8th century BCE) examples include the powerful Achilles and thoughtful persuasive Odysseus

bull Pursues individual honour (timē) in a just world governed by the gods

CH

IGI V

AS

E C

70

0 B

CE

The Hero of Reason The ldquoPresocratics (6th-5th cent)

bull Founding figures including Thales Anaximander Anaximenes Pythagoras Heraclitus Parmenides Seeking to understand the basic original causes (aitiai) of the world through reason

I S T H E W O R L D G E N U I N E LY

I N T E L L I G I B L E T O R E A S O N

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Born in Athens to a stonemason named Sophroniscus in 469 BCE

bull ldquoSocratic problemrdquo Socrates wrote nothing we know about him through Plato Xenophon and Aristophanes whose accounts vary

bull Conversed with anyone ldquorich or poor citizen or foreignerrdquo (Apology 23C)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Non-conformity reliance on individual values and wits (contrast with the earlier poets and rhapsodes)

bull Claims of ignorance interest in shared truth and not only persuasion and resistance of ldquoselfish morality (contrast with the sophists)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Methods based on question and answer (the elenchus) requiring unity or consistency (a) of onersquos beliefs and (b) of onersquos beliefs and actions

bull Behaviour peculiar enough to warrant its own verb (sōkratein) (Arist Birds 1282) before generalized philosophia

bull Brought to trial in 399 BCE by two Athenians Meletus and Anytus charged with ldquoimpiety and corrupting the youngrdquo

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

S O C R AT E S C R I T O 4 6 A

I am the kind of person who listens to nothing within me but the logos that on reflection seems

best to me

L O G O S R E A S O N VA L U E C O N S C I E N C E M E A N I N G

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousness A sense of such significances that what is great is fragile and that what is necessary may be destructive which is present in the literature of the fifth century and earlier has disappeared [later] from the ethics of the philosophers and perhaps altogether from their minds Greek philosophy in its sustained pursuit of rational self-sufficiency does turn its back on kinds of human experience and human necessity of which Greek literature itself offers the purest if not the richest expression

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y A N D P H I L O S O P H Y

The continuity between Greek tragedy and Greek philosophy on these questions is however far greater than Williams has allowed On the one hand inside tragedy itself we find arresting portrayals of the human ambition to rational self-sufficiency we come to understand the ways in which problems of exposure motivate this ambition On the other Platos philosophical search for a self- sufficient good life is motivated by a keen sense of these same problems Far from having forgotten about what tragedy describes he sees the problems of exposure so clearly that only a radical solution seems adequate to their depth Nor is he naiumlve about the costs of this solution

N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y P R A C T I C A L C O N F L I C T

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identical which is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A)

Socrates ldquoencourages Euthyphro [a pious Greek] to revise tradition by considering as binding only those requirements concerning which there is divine unanimity he expresses further his own doubt as to whether gods really do disagreerdquo (Nussbaum 30)

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identicalwhich is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A Nussbaum 25)

AT H E N S rsquo A C R O P O L I S A S I M A G I N E D B Y L E O V O N K L E N Z E O I L O N C A N VA S 1 8 4 6 N E U E P I N A K O T H E K

A S S A S S I N rsquo S C R E E D O D Y S S E Y bull A T O U R O F AT H E N S U B I S O F T ( 2 0 1 8 )

bull Athens is the first lsquopeople-ruledrsquo polis (dēmokratia) in the Mediterranean world

bull She has achieved unchallenged naval authority and an empire which is labeled a lsquocommonwealthrsquo

bull At the commercial and cultural crossroads of Italy Greece Egypt and the Near East

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

S P E E C H A N D D E M O C R A C Y

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

bull In this cosmopolitan environment traditional views are challenged leading to a perceived erosion of moral values

bull The rhapsodes use poetic forms to transmit traditional morality

bull The tragedians use poetic forms to explore amp challenge mythrsquos assumptions

bull The sophists teach ldquowisdomrdquo (sophia) including rhetoric and political oratory perceived as a new lsquotechnologyrsquo to steer the ship of state for onersquos own ends

bull Use onersquos own wits ldquoA person is the measure of all thingsrdquo Protagoras B1

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

T R A G E D Y V U L N E R A B I L I T Y A N D R E A S O NC 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E AT H E N S

Aeschylus Agamemnon (458 BCE) and Euripides Iphigeneia at Aulis (405 BCE) The Sacrifice of Iphigeneia by Francesco Fontebasso bull 1749 oil on canvas

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousnesshellip what is great is fragile andhellip what is necessary may be destructivehellip

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

In such cases we see a wrong action committed without any direct physical compulsion and in full knowledge of its nature by a person whose ethical character or commitments would otherwise dispose him to reject the acthellip circumstanceshellip prevent the adequate fulfillment of two valid ethical claims

N U S S B A U M 2 5

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

[Aeschylus in Agamemnon] shows us not so much a solution to the problem of practical conflict as the richness and depth of the problem itself (This achievement is closely connected with his poetic resources which put the scene vividly before us show us debate about it and evoke in us responses important to its assessment)

The best the agent can do is to have his suffering the natural expression of his goodness of character and not to stifle these responses out of misguided optimism The best we (the Chorus) can do for him is to respect the gravity of his predicament to respect the responses that express his goodness and to think about his case as showing a possibility for human life in general

N U S S B A U M 4 9 - 5 0

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

bull In a world that allows such dilemmas are there truly gods with a coherent vision for the world

bull Can individual reason and ingenuity suffice for a good life

T H E S O P H I S T SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Hesiod Works amp Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale Piteously she transfixed by his crooked claws was lamenting When the imperious hawk addressed her in arrogant parlance Why little lady such shrieks One stronger than you now has got you Where you are going Ill take you myself though you are a songstress For as I please Ill make you my dinner or give you your freedom Witless is one who attempts to strive against those who are stronger When he is stripped of the prize its injury added to insult Thus said the fast-flying hawk that bird with the generous wing-spanPay more attention to justice and curb high-handedness [brother] Violence ill suits men who are lowly not even the noble Man can lightly endure it it weighs on a person whos fallen Into affliction Its better to take your way on the other Road which conduces to right For outrage (hubris) surrenders to

justice (dikē)hellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Thucydides History 584-116 The Melian Dialogue ATHENIANS [Y]ou know as well as we do that when these matters are discussed by practical people the standard of justice depends on the equality of power to compel and that in fact the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they musthellip Our opinion of the gods and our knowledge of men lead us to conclude that it is a general and necessary law of nature to rule whatever one can This is not a law that we made ourselves nor were we the first to act upon it when it was made We found it already in existence and we shall leave it to exist for ever among those who come after us

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos

advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Republic I 343A-D Thrasymachusrsquo complaint Tell me Socrates do you still have a wet nursehellip Because shersquos letting you run around with a snotty nose and doesnrsquot wipe it when she needs tohellip You think that shepherds and cowherds seek the good of their sheep and cattle and fatten them and take care of them looking to something other than their masterrsquos good and their own Moreover you believe that rulershellip think of something besides their own advantage You are so far from understandinghellip that you donrsquot realize that justice is really the good of another the advantage of the stronger and the ruler and harmful to the one who obeys and serves Injustice is the opposite it rules the truly simple and just and those it rules do what is to the advantage of the other and stronger and they make the one they serve happy but themselves not at all You must look at it as follows my most simple Socrates A just man always gets less than an unjust onehellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Gorgias 482C-484C Callicles on nature and convention [Y]oursquore in fact bringing the discussion around to the sort of crowd-pleasing vulgarities that are admirable only by law [nomos also translatable ldquoconventionrdquo or ldquocustomrdquo] and not by nature And these nature and law are for the most part opposed to each otherhellip I believe that the people who institute our laws are the weak and the many So they institute laws and assign praise and blame with themselves and their own advantage in mind As a way of frightening the more powerfulhellip out of getting a greater share than they they say that getting more than onersquos share is ldquoshamefulrdquo and ldquounjusthelliprdquo But surely if a man whose nature is equal to it arises he will shake off tear apart and escape all this he will trample underfoot our documents our tricks and charms and all our laws that violate nature He the slave will rise up and be revealed as our master and here the justice of nature will shine forth

The New Teachers of Athens

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

P R E - S O C R AT I C ldquo P H I L O S O P H E R S 6 T H - 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

P R E - S O C R AT I C P H I L O S O P H E R S

bull Though not usually calling themselves ldquophilosophersrdquo they seemed to have contributed inspiration for Socratesrsquo method of free inquiry applying logos

bull Scholars adopt different views of what constitutes their innovation and ldquophilosophicalrdquo method (see readings)

bull Basing views on argument and evidence

bull De-ldquomythologizationrdquo

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Miletus

E A R LY P H I L O S O P H Y A N C I E N T M I L E T U S

M I L E T U S

bull Wealthy city-state in Asia Minor

bull Key city for trading and shipping between Near East amp Greece

bull Ionian Greek culture

bull Freedom of thought

bull Open political debate

bull Wealth (for some) providing leisure

bull Thales and his successors Anaximander Anaximenes

bull ldquoPhilosophicalrdquo investigation

bull Later Presocratics Heraclitus ParmenidesldquoORIENTALIZINGrdquo POTTERY

The Milesian school strikes a new note unheard before It has a fresh sense of the meaning of truth ndash a feeling for the sort of thing it is reasonable to suppose The hypothesis it characteristically deals in is concerned with the nature of the one primary stuff the Milesians seem to make a great conscious effort to get at something which really does exist They strike us as throwing off the vast symbolic visions of mythology and waking clear-headed to see and touch real things If we have a rational temperament we feel at once a refreshment Here at last is a statement about the world which is meant and offered as true ndash a logos [explanation] not a mythos [story]

ndash F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952 ed) 42

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The questions which excited them were of this kind Can this apparently confused and disordered world be reduced to simpler principles so that our reason can grasp what it is and how it works What is it made of How does change take place They abandoned mythological and substituted intellectual solutions [It] was no longer satisfying to say that storms were roused by the wrath of Poseidon or death caused by the arrows of Apollo or Artemis A world ruled by anthropomorphic gods human in their passions was a world ruled by caprice Philosophy and science start with the bold confession of faith that not caprice but an inherent orderliness underlies the phenomena and the explanation of nature is to be sought within nature itself ndashWKC Guthrie History of Greek Philosophy (Cambridge 1969) 1 44-45

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

Thales of Miletus

bull Lived late 7th-6th centurybull Born to a Phoenician aristocratic

family ndash so leisurebull Traveled to Egypt and Babylon (by

tradition)bull Legendary wisdombull ldquoFounder of Western philosophyrdquo

bull First to seek an ldquooriginal causerdquo (archecirc)

bull to explain how unseen facts caused visible results without appeal to mythology

bull To provide generalizable proofs or laws

Thales of Miletus

AstronomyMathematicsWater as the archecircAll things are full of gods

bull Traditionally Thalesrsquo star student

bull 25 years old during Thalesrsquo eclipse (585 BCE)

bull Lived c 610-540 BCE

bull ldquoFirst to draw the inhabited world on a tabletrdquo (first mapmaker)

bull Unambiguously our first ldquophilosopherrdquo by standards of demythologization originality generality and observation

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

ldquoAnaximander has expurgated the supernatural with a boldness and completeness to which many of his successors failed to attain The primary order is still said to be lsquoaccording to what is ordainedrsquo it is still a moral order in which Justice prevails but the will of the personal God has disappeared and its place is partly taken by a natural cause the eternal motionrdquo

- F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952) 41 Anaximander relief 1st century AD

Rome Museo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Key contributions

bull Physics the archecircbull Cosmologybull ldquoEvolutionrdquobull Astronomy and Cartography

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Anaximander said that the APEIRON [indefinite unlimited] was the ARCHE and the element of things that are and he was the first to introduce this name for the ARCHE He says that the ARCHE is neither water nor any other of the things called elements but some other nature called APEIRON out of which come to be all the heavens and the worlds in them (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2413-18)

The things that are perish into the things out of which they come to be according to necessity for ldquothey pay penalty and retribution to one another according to their injustice in accordance with the ordering of timerdquo as he says in rather poetical language (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2418-21)

Anaximander of Miletus

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The ARCHE

bull One and unlimitedbull But not undefined Itrsquos AIR

Anaximenes of Miletus

bull Not opposites but a continuum FIRE AIR larr WIND larr CLOUD larr WATER larr EARTH larr STONEbull ldquoLooseningrdquo and ldquotighteningrdquo explain hot and cold

H E R A C L I T U S B 1 0 1 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 3 7 )

I searched out myself

Listening not to me but to the logos it is wise to agree that all things are one

H E R A C L I T U S B 5 0 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 1 1 )

E X A M P L E S

THE ROAD TO PHILOSOP HY

The Hero of Lyric Poets of the Polis (6th century)

bull According to the lyric poets of the polis culture such as Pindar Simonides Tyrtaeus and Sappho (7th-6th century BCE)

bull Pursues collective good of the polis based on strong ties of interdependent responsibility amp cooperation in a just world governed by the gods

Individual Freedom The ldquoSophistsrdquo (5th century)

bull Sources in thinkers like Protagoras and Gorgias (5th century BCE predominantly working in Athens) constructed as a category by Platorsquos later writings

bull Pursues individual advantage based on their personal beliefs and wits using persuasion and power skepticism of traditional values

Vulnerability The Hero of Tragedy (5th century)

bull Iconic examples include Sophoclesrsquo Oedipus and Aeschylusrsquo Agamemnon and Orestes

bull Pursuit of individual amp collective good in a world of apparently conflicting divine values sometimes hampered by their own lack of self-knowledge

I N T E R D E P E N D E N C Y I N T R O D U C E S V U L N E R A B I L I T Y W H I C H M AY B E

C E L E B R AT E D O R R E S I S T E D

The Hero of Epic Homer and Hesiod (8th century)

bull Found in the epic Iliad and Odyssey attributed to Homer (c 8th century BCE) examples include the powerful Achilles and thoughtful persuasive Odysseus

bull Pursues individual honour (timē) in a just world governed by the gods

CH

IGI V

AS

E C

70

0 B

CE

The Hero of Reason The ldquoPresocratics (6th-5th cent)

bull Founding figures including Thales Anaximander Anaximenes Pythagoras Heraclitus Parmenides Seeking to understand the basic original causes (aitiai) of the world through reason

I S T H E W O R L D G E N U I N E LY

I N T E L L I G I B L E T O R E A S O N

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Born in Athens to a stonemason named Sophroniscus in 469 BCE

bull ldquoSocratic problemrdquo Socrates wrote nothing we know about him through Plato Xenophon and Aristophanes whose accounts vary

bull Conversed with anyone ldquorich or poor citizen or foreignerrdquo (Apology 23C)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Non-conformity reliance on individual values and wits (contrast with the earlier poets and rhapsodes)

bull Claims of ignorance interest in shared truth and not only persuasion and resistance of ldquoselfish morality (contrast with the sophists)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Methods based on question and answer (the elenchus) requiring unity or consistency (a) of onersquos beliefs and (b) of onersquos beliefs and actions

bull Behaviour peculiar enough to warrant its own verb (sōkratein) (Arist Birds 1282) before generalized philosophia

bull Brought to trial in 399 BCE by two Athenians Meletus and Anytus charged with ldquoimpiety and corrupting the youngrdquo

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

S O C R AT E S C R I T O 4 6 A

I am the kind of person who listens to nothing within me but the logos that on reflection seems

best to me

L O G O S R E A S O N VA L U E C O N S C I E N C E M E A N I N G

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousness A sense of such significances that what is great is fragile and that what is necessary may be destructive which is present in the literature of the fifth century and earlier has disappeared [later] from the ethics of the philosophers and perhaps altogether from their minds Greek philosophy in its sustained pursuit of rational self-sufficiency does turn its back on kinds of human experience and human necessity of which Greek literature itself offers the purest if not the richest expression

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y A N D P H I L O S O P H Y

The continuity between Greek tragedy and Greek philosophy on these questions is however far greater than Williams has allowed On the one hand inside tragedy itself we find arresting portrayals of the human ambition to rational self-sufficiency we come to understand the ways in which problems of exposure motivate this ambition On the other Platos philosophical search for a self- sufficient good life is motivated by a keen sense of these same problems Far from having forgotten about what tragedy describes he sees the problems of exposure so clearly that only a radical solution seems adequate to their depth Nor is he naiumlve about the costs of this solution

N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y P R A C T I C A L C O N F L I C T

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identical which is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A)

Socrates ldquoencourages Euthyphro [a pious Greek] to revise tradition by considering as binding only those requirements concerning which there is divine unanimity he expresses further his own doubt as to whether gods really do disagreerdquo (Nussbaum 30)

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identicalwhich is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A Nussbaum 25)

A S S A S S I N rsquo S C R E E D O D Y S S E Y bull A T O U R O F AT H E N S U B I S O F T ( 2 0 1 8 )

bull Athens is the first lsquopeople-ruledrsquo polis (dēmokratia) in the Mediterranean world

bull She has achieved unchallenged naval authority and an empire which is labeled a lsquocommonwealthrsquo

bull At the commercial and cultural crossroads of Italy Greece Egypt and the Near East

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

S P E E C H A N D D E M O C R A C Y

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

bull In this cosmopolitan environment traditional views are challenged leading to a perceived erosion of moral values

bull The rhapsodes use poetic forms to transmit traditional morality

bull The tragedians use poetic forms to explore amp challenge mythrsquos assumptions

bull The sophists teach ldquowisdomrdquo (sophia) including rhetoric and political oratory perceived as a new lsquotechnologyrsquo to steer the ship of state for onersquos own ends

bull Use onersquos own wits ldquoA person is the measure of all thingsrdquo Protagoras B1

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

T R A G E D Y V U L N E R A B I L I T Y A N D R E A S O NC 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E AT H E N S

Aeschylus Agamemnon (458 BCE) and Euripides Iphigeneia at Aulis (405 BCE) The Sacrifice of Iphigeneia by Francesco Fontebasso bull 1749 oil on canvas

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousnesshellip what is great is fragile andhellip what is necessary may be destructivehellip

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

In such cases we see a wrong action committed without any direct physical compulsion and in full knowledge of its nature by a person whose ethical character or commitments would otherwise dispose him to reject the acthellip circumstanceshellip prevent the adequate fulfillment of two valid ethical claims

N U S S B A U M 2 5

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

[Aeschylus in Agamemnon] shows us not so much a solution to the problem of practical conflict as the richness and depth of the problem itself (This achievement is closely connected with his poetic resources which put the scene vividly before us show us debate about it and evoke in us responses important to its assessment)

The best the agent can do is to have his suffering the natural expression of his goodness of character and not to stifle these responses out of misguided optimism The best we (the Chorus) can do for him is to respect the gravity of his predicament to respect the responses that express his goodness and to think about his case as showing a possibility for human life in general

N U S S B A U M 4 9 - 5 0

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

bull In a world that allows such dilemmas are there truly gods with a coherent vision for the world

bull Can individual reason and ingenuity suffice for a good life

T H E S O P H I S T SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Hesiod Works amp Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale Piteously she transfixed by his crooked claws was lamenting When the imperious hawk addressed her in arrogant parlance Why little lady such shrieks One stronger than you now has got you Where you are going Ill take you myself though you are a songstress For as I please Ill make you my dinner or give you your freedom Witless is one who attempts to strive against those who are stronger When he is stripped of the prize its injury added to insult Thus said the fast-flying hawk that bird with the generous wing-spanPay more attention to justice and curb high-handedness [brother] Violence ill suits men who are lowly not even the noble Man can lightly endure it it weighs on a person whos fallen Into affliction Its better to take your way on the other Road which conduces to right For outrage (hubris) surrenders to

justice (dikē)hellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Thucydides History 584-116 The Melian Dialogue ATHENIANS [Y]ou know as well as we do that when these matters are discussed by practical people the standard of justice depends on the equality of power to compel and that in fact the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they musthellip Our opinion of the gods and our knowledge of men lead us to conclude that it is a general and necessary law of nature to rule whatever one can This is not a law that we made ourselves nor were we the first to act upon it when it was made We found it already in existence and we shall leave it to exist for ever among those who come after us

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos

advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Republic I 343A-D Thrasymachusrsquo complaint Tell me Socrates do you still have a wet nursehellip Because shersquos letting you run around with a snotty nose and doesnrsquot wipe it when she needs tohellip You think that shepherds and cowherds seek the good of their sheep and cattle and fatten them and take care of them looking to something other than their masterrsquos good and their own Moreover you believe that rulershellip think of something besides their own advantage You are so far from understandinghellip that you donrsquot realize that justice is really the good of another the advantage of the stronger and the ruler and harmful to the one who obeys and serves Injustice is the opposite it rules the truly simple and just and those it rules do what is to the advantage of the other and stronger and they make the one they serve happy but themselves not at all You must look at it as follows my most simple Socrates A just man always gets less than an unjust onehellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Gorgias 482C-484C Callicles on nature and convention [Y]oursquore in fact bringing the discussion around to the sort of crowd-pleasing vulgarities that are admirable only by law [nomos also translatable ldquoconventionrdquo or ldquocustomrdquo] and not by nature And these nature and law are for the most part opposed to each otherhellip I believe that the people who institute our laws are the weak and the many So they institute laws and assign praise and blame with themselves and their own advantage in mind As a way of frightening the more powerfulhellip out of getting a greater share than they they say that getting more than onersquos share is ldquoshamefulrdquo and ldquounjusthelliprdquo But surely if a man whose nature is equal to it arises he will shake off tear apart and escape all this he will trample underfoot our documents our tricks and charms and all our laws that violate nature He the slave will rise up and be revealed as our master and here the justice of nature will shine forth

The New Teachers of Athens

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

P R E - S O C R AT I C ldquo P H I L O S O P H E R S 6 T H - 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

P R E - S O C R AT I C P H I L O S O P H E R S

bull Though not usually calling themselves ldquophilosophersrdquo they seemed to have contributed inspiration for Socratesrsquo method of free inquiry applying logos

bull Scholars adopt different views of what constitutes their innovation and ldquophilosophicalrdquo method (see readings)

bull Basing views on argument and evidence

bull De-ldquomythologizationrdquo

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Miletus

E A R LY P H I L O S O P H Y A N C I E N T M I L E T U S

M I L E T U S

bull Wealthy city-state in Asia Minor

bull Key city for trading and shipping between Near East amp Greece

bull Ionian Greek culture

bull Freedom of thought

bull Open political debate

bull Wealth (for some) providing leisure

bull Thales and his successors Anaximander Anaximenes

bull ldquoPhilosophicalrdquo investigation

bull Later Presocratics Heraclitus ParmenidesldquoORIENTALIZINGrdquo POTTERY

The Milesian school strikes a new note unheard before It has a fresh sense of the meaning of truth ndash a feeling for the sort of thing it is reasonable to suppose The hypothesis it characteristically deals in is concerned with the nature of the one primary stuff the Milesians seem to make a great conscious effort to get at something which really does exist They strike us as throwing off the vast symbolic visions of mythology and waking clear-headed to see and touch real things If we have a rational temperament we feel at once a refreshment Here at last is a statement about the world which is meant and offered as true ndash a logos [explanation] not a mythos [story]

ndash F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952 ed) 42

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The questions which excited them were of this kind Can this apparently confused and disordered world be reduced to simpler principles so that our reason can grasp what it is and how it works What is it made of How does change take place They abandoned mythological and substituted intellectual solutions [It] was no longer satisfying to say that storms were roused by the wrath of Poseidon or death caused by the arrows of Apollo or Artemis A world ruled by anthropomorphic gods human in their passions was a world ruled by caprice Philosophy and science start with the bold confession of faith that not caprice but an inherent orderliness underlies the phenomena and the explanation of nature is to be sought within nature itself ndashWKC Guthrie History of Greek Philosophy (Cambridge 1969) 1 44-45

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

Thales of Miletus

bull Lived late 7th-6th centurybull Born to a Phoenician aristocratic

family ndash so leisurebull Traveled to Egypt and Babylon (by

tradition)bull Legendary wisdombull ldquoFounder of Western philosophyrdquo

bull First to seek an ldquooriginal causerdquo (archecirc)

bull to explain how unseen facts caused visible results without appeal to mythology

bull To provide generalizable proofs or laws

Thales of Miletus

AstronomyMathematicsWater as the archecircAll things are full of gods

bull Traditionally Thalesrsquo star student

bull 25 years old during Thalesrsquo eclipse (585 BCE)

bull Lived c 610-540 BCE

bull ldquoFirst to draw the inhabited world on a tabletrdquo (first mapmaker)

bull Unambiguously our first ldquophilosopherrdquo by standards of demythologization originality generality and observation

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

ldquoAnaximander has expurgated the supernatural with a boldness and completeness to which many of his successors failed to attain The primary order is still said to be lsquoaccording to what is ordainedrsquo it is still a moral order in which Justice prevails but the will of the personal God has disappeared and its place is partly taken by a natural cause the eternal motionrdquo

- F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952) 41 Anaximander relief 1st century AD

Rome Museo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Key contributions

bull Physics the archecircbull Cosmologybull ldquoEvolutionrdquobull Astronomy and Cartography

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Anaximander said that the APEIRON [indefinite unlimited] was the ARCHE and the element of things that are and he was the first to introduce this name for the ARCHE He says that the ARCHE is neither water nor any other of the things called elements but some other nature called APEIRON out of which come to be all the heavens and the worlds in them (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2413-18)

The things that are perish into the things out of which they come to be according to necessity for ldquothey pay penalty and retribution to one another according to their injustice in accordance with the ordering of timerdquo as he says in rather poetical language (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2418-21)

Anaximander of Miletus

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The ARCHE

bull One and unlimitedbull But not undefined Itrsquos AIR

Anaximenes of Miletus

bull Not opposites but a continuum FIRE AIR larr WIND larr CLOUD larr WATER larr EARTH larr STONEbull ldquoLooseningrdquo and ldquotighteningrdquo explain hot and cold

H E R A C L I T U S B 1 0 1 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 3 7 )

I searched out myself

Listening not to me but to the logos it is wise to agree that all things are one

H E R A C L I T U S B 5 0 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 1 1 )

E X A M P L E S

THE ROAD TO PHILOSOP HY

The Hero of Lyric Poets of the Polis (6th century)

bull According to the lyric poets of the polis culture such as Pindar Simonides Tyrtaeus and Sappho (7th-6th century BCE)

bull Pursues collective good of the polis based on strong ties of interdependent responsibility amp cooperation in a just world governed by the gods

Individual Freedom The ldquoSophistsrdquo (5th century)

bull Sources in thinkers like Protagoras and Gorgias (5th century BCE predominantly working in Athens) constructed as a category by Platorsquos later writings

bull Pursues individual advantage based on their personal beliefs and wits using persuasion and power skepticism of traditional values

Vulnerability The Hero of Tragedy (5th century)

bull Iconic examples include Sophoclesrsquo Oedipus and Aeschylusrsquo Agamemnon and Orestes

bull Pursuit of individual amp collective good in a world of apparently conflicting divine values sometimes hampered by their own lack of self-knowledge

I N T E R D E P E N D E N C Y I N T R O D U C E S V U L N E R A B I L I T Y W H I C H M AY B E

C E L E B R AT E D O R R E S I S T E D

The Hero of Epic Homer and Hesiod (8th century)

bull Found in the epic Iliad and Odyssey attributed to Homer (c 8th century BCE) examples include the powerful Achilles and thoughtful persuasive Odysseus

bull Pursues individual honour (timē) in a just world governed by the gods

CH

IGI V

AS

E C

70

0 B

CE

The Hero of Reason The ldquoPresocratics (6th-5th cent)

bull Founding figures including Thales Anaximander Anaximenes Pythagoras Heraclitus Parmenides Seeking to understand the basic original causes (aitiai) of the world through reason

I S T H E W O R L D G E N U I N E LY

I N T E L L I G I B L E T O R E A S O N

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Born in Athens to a stonemason named Sophroniscus in 469 BCE

bull ldquoSocratic problemrdquo Socrates wrote nothing we know about him through Plato Xenophon and Aristophanes whose accounts vary

bull Conversed with anyone ldquorich or poor citizen or foreignerrdquo (Apology 23C)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Non-conformity reliance on individual values and wits (contrast with the earlier poets and rhapsodes)

bull Claims of ignorance interest in shared truth and not only persuasion and resistance of ldquoselfish morality (contrast with the sophists)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Methods based on question and answer (the elenchus) requiring unity or consistency (a) of onersquos beliefs and (b) of onersquos beliefs and actions

bull Behaviour peculiar enough to warrant its own verb (sōkratein) (Arist Birds 1282) before generalized philosophia

bull Brought to trial in 399 BCE by two Athenians Meletus and Anytus charged with ldquoimpiety and corrupting the youngrdquo

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

S O C R AT E S C R I T O 4 6 A

I am the kind of person who listens to nothing within me but the logos that on reflection seems

best to me

L O G O S R E A S O N VA L U E C O N S C I E N C E M E A N I N G

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousness A sense of such significances that what is great is fragile and that what is necessary may be destructive which is present in the literature of the fifth century and earlier has disappeared [later] from the ethics of the philosophers and perhaps altogether from their minds Greek philosophy in its sustained pursuit of rational self-sufficiency does turn its back on kinds of human experience and human necessity of which Greek literature itself offers the purest if not the richest expression

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y A N D P H I L O S O P H Y

The continuity between Greek tragedy and Greek philosophy on these questions is however far greater than Williams has allowed On the one hand inside tragedy itself we find arresting portrayals of the human ambition to rational self-sufficiency we come to understand the ways in which problems of exposure motivate this ambition On the other Platos philosophical search for a self- sufficient good life is motivated by a keen sense of these same problems Far from having forgotten about what tragedy describes he sees the problems of exposure so clearly that only a radical solution seems adequate to their depth Nor is he naiumlve about the costs of this solution

N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y P R A C T I C A L C O N F L I C T

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identical which is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A)

Socrates ldquoencourages Euthyphro [a pious Greek] to revise tradition by considering as binding only those requirements concerning which there is divine unanimity he expresses further his own doubt as to whether gods really do disagreerdquo (Nussbaum 30)

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identicalwhich is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A Nussbaum 25)

bull Athens is the first lsquopeople-ruledrsquo polis (dēmokratia) in the Mediterranean world

bull She has achieved unchallenged naval authority and an empire which is labeled a lsquocommonwealthrsquo

bull At the commercial and cultural crossroads of Italy Greece Egypt and the Near East

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

S P E E C H A N D D E M O C R A C Y

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

bull In this cosmopolitan environment traditional views are challenged leading to a perceived erosion of moral values

bull The rhapsodes use poetic forms to transmit traditional morality

bull The tragedians use poetic forms to explore amp challenge mythrsquos assumptions

bull The sophists teach ldquowisdomrdquo (sophia) including rhetoric and political oratory perceived as a new lsquotechnologyrsquo to steer the ship of state for onersquos own ends

bull Use onersquos own wits ldquoA person is the measure of all thingsrdquo Protagoras B1

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

T R A G E D Y V U L N E R A B I L I T Y A N D R E A S O NC 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E AT H E N S

Aeschylus Agamemnon (458 BCE) and Euripides Iphigeneia at Aulis (405 BCE) The Sacrifice of Iphigeneia by Francesco Fontebasso bull 1749 oil on canvas

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousnesshellip what is great is fragile andhellip what is necessary may be destructivehellip

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

In such cases we see a wrong action committed without any direct physical compulsion and in full knowledge of its nature by a person whose ethical character or commitments would otherwise dispose him to reject the acthellip circumstanceshellip prevent the adequate fulfillment of two valid ethical claims

N U S S B A U M 2 5

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

[Aeschylus in Agamemnon] shows us not so much a solution to the problem of practical conflict as the richness and depth of the problem itself (This achievement is closely connected with his poetic resources which put the scene vividly before us show us debate about it and evoke in us responses important to its assessment)

The best the agent can do is to have his suffering the natural expression of his goodness of character and not to stifle these responses out of misguided optimism The best we (the Chorus) can do for him is to respect the gravity of his predicament to respect the responses that express his goodness and to think about his case as showing a possibility for human life in general

N U S S B A U M 4 9 - 5 0

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

bull In a world that allows such dilemmas are there truly gods with a coherent vision for the world

bull Can individual reason and ingenuity suffice for a good life

T H E S O P H I S T SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Hesiod Works amp Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale Piteously she transfixed by his crooked claws was lamenting When the imperious hawk addressed her in arrogant parlance Why little lady such shrieks One stronger than you now has got you Where you are going Ill take you myself though you are a songstress For as I please Ill make you my dinner or give you your freedom Witless is one who attempts to strive against those who are stronger When he is stripped of the prize its injury added to insult Thus said the fast-flying hawk that bird with the generous wing-spanPay more attention to justice and curb high-handedness [brother] Violence ill suits men who are lowly not even the noble Man can lightly endure it it weighs on a person whos fallen Into affliction Its better to take your way on the other Road which conduces to right For outrage (hubris) surrenders to

justice (dikē)hellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Thucydides History 584-116 The Melian Dialogue ATHENIANS [Y]ou know as well as we do that when these matters are discussed by practical people the standard of justice depends on the equality of power to compel and that in fact the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they musthellip Our opinion of the gods and our knowledge of men lead us to conclude that it is a general and necessary law of nature to rule whatever one can This is not a law that we made ourselves nor were we the first to act upon it when it was made We found it already in existence and we shall leave it to exist for ever among those who come after us

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos

advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Republic I 343A-D Thrasymachusrsquo complaint Tell me Socrates do you still have a wet nursehellip Because shersquos letting you run around with a snotty nose and doesnrsquot wipe it when she needs tohellip You think that shepherds and cowherds seek the good of their sheep and cattle and fatten them and take care of them looking to something other than their masterrsquos good and their own Moreover you believe that rulershellip think of something besides their own advantage You are so far from understandinghellip that you donrsquot realize that justice is really the good of another the advantage of the stronger and the ruler and harmful to the one who obeys and serves Injustice is the opposite it rules the truly simple and just and those it rules do what is to the advantage of the other and stronger and they make the one they serve happy but themselves not at all You must look at it as follows my most simple Socrates A just man always gets less than an unjust onehellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Gorgias 482C-484C Callicles on nature and convention [Y]oursquore in fact bringing the discussion around to the sort of crowd-pleasing vulgarities that are admirable only by law [nomos also translatable ldquoconventionrdquo or ldquocustomrdquo] and not by nature And these nature and law are for the most part opposed to each otherhellip I believe that the people who institute our laws are the weak and the many So they institute laws and assign praise and blame with themselves and their own advantage in mind As a way of frightening the more powerfulhellip out of getting a greater share than they they say that getting more than onersquos share is ldquoshamefulrdquo and ldquounjusthelliprdquo But surely if a man whose nature is equal to it arises he will shake off tear apart and escape all this he will trample underfoot our documents our tricks and charms and all our laws that violate nature He the slave will rise up and be revealed as our master and here the justice of nature will shine forth

The New Teachers of Athens

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

P R E - S O C R AT I C ldquo P H I L O S O P H E R S 6 T H - 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

P R E - S O C R AT I C P H I L O S O P H E R S

bull Though not usually calling themselves ldquophilosophersrdquo they seemed to have contributed inspiration for Socratesrsquo method of free inquiry applying logos

bull Scholars adopt different views of what constitutes their innovation and ldquophilosophicalrdquo method (see readings)

bull Basing views on argument and evidence

bull De-ldquomythologizationrdquo

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Miletus

E A R LY P H I L O S O P H Y A N C I E N T M I L E T U S

M I L E T U S

bull Wealthy city-state in Asia Minor

bull Key city for trading and shipping between Near East amp Greece

bull Ionian Greek culture

bull Freedom of thought

bull Open political debate

bull Wealth (for some) providing leisure

bull Thales and his successors Anaximander Anaximenes

bull ldquoPhilosophicalrdquo investigation

bull Later Presocratics Heraclitus ParmenidesldquoORIENTALIZINGrdquo POTTERY

The Milesian school strikes a new note unheard before It has a fresh sense of the meaning of truth ndash a feeling for the sort of thing it is reasonable to suppose The hypothesis it characteristically deals in is concerned with the nature of the one primary stuff the Milesians seem to make a great conscious effort to get at something which really does exist They strike us as throwing off the vast symbolic visions of mythology and waking clear-headed to see and touch real things If we have a rational temperament we feel at once a refreshment Here at last is a statement about the world which is meant and offered as true ndash a logos [explanation] not a mythos [story]

ndash F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952 ed) 42

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The questions which excited them were of this kind Can this apparently confused and disordered world be reduced to simpler principles so that our reason can grasp what it is and how it works What is it made of How does change take place They abandoned mythological and substituted intellectual solutions [It] was no longer satisfying to say that storms were roused by the wrath of Poseidon or death caused by the arrows of Apollo or Artemis A world ruled by anthropomorphic gods human in their passions was a world ruled by caprice Philosophy and science start with the bold confession of faith that not caprice but an inherent orderliness underlies the phenomena and the explanation of nature is to be sought within nature itself ndashWKC Guthrie History of Greek Philosophy (Cambridge 1969) 1 44-45

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

Thales of Miletus

bull Lived late 7th-6th centurybull Born to a Phoenician aristocratic

family ndash so leisurebull Traveled to Egypt and Babylon (by

tradition)bull Legendary wisdombull ldquoFounder of Western philosophyrdquo

bull First to seek an ldquooriginal causerdquo (archecirc)

bull to explain how unseen facts caused visible results without appeal to mythology

bull To provide generalizable proofs or laws

Thales of Miletus

AstronomyMathematicsWater as the archecircAll things are full of gods

bull Traditionally Thalesrsquo star student

bull 25 years old during Thalesrsquo eclipse (585 BCE)

bull Lived c 610-540 BCE

bull ldquoFirst to draw the inhabited world on a tabletrdquo (first mapmaker)

bull Unambiguously our first ldquophilosopherrdquo by standards of demythologization originality generality and observation

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

ldquoAnaximander has expurgated the supernatural with a boldness and completeness to which many of his successors failed to attain The primary order is still said to be lsquoaccording to what is ordainedrsquo it is still a moral order in which Justice prevails but the will of the personal God has disappeared and its place is partly taken by a natural cause the eternal motionrdquo

- F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952) 41 Anaximander relief 1st century AD

Rome Museo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Key contributions

bull Physics the archecircbull Cosmologybull ldquoEvolutionrdquobull Astronomy and Cartography

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Anaximander said that the APEIRON [indefinite unlimited] was the ARCHE and the element of things that are and he was the first to introduce this name for the ARCHE He says that the ARCHE is neither water nor any other of the things called elements but some other nature called APEIRON out of which come to be all the heavens and the worlds in them (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2413-18)

The things that are perish into the things out of which they come to be according to necessity for ldquothey pay penalty and retribution to one another according to their injustice in accordance with the ordering of timerdquo as he says in rather poetical language (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2418-21)

Anaximander of Miletus

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The ARCHE

bull One and unlimitedbull But not undefined Itrsquos AIR

Anaximenes of Miletus

bull Not opposites but a continuum FIRE AIR larr WIND larr CLOUD larr WATER larr EARTH larr STONEbull ldquoLooseningrdquo and ldquotighteningrdquo explain hot and cold

H E R A C L I T U S B 1 0 1 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 3 7 )

I searched out myself

Listening not to me but to the logos it is wise to agree that all things are one

H E R A C L I T U S B 5 0 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 1 1 )

E X A M P L E S

THE ROAD TO PHILOSOP HY

The Hero of Lyric Poets of the Polis (6th century)

bull According to the lyric poets of the polis culture such as Pindar Simonides Tyrtaeus and Sappho (7th-6th century BCE)

bull Pursues collective good of the polis based on strong ties of interdependent responsibility amp cooperation in a just world governed by the gods

Individual Freedom The ldquoSophistsrdquo (5th century)

bull Sources in thinkers like Protagoras and Gorgias (5th century BCE predominantly working in Athens) constructed as a category by Platorsquos later writings

bull Pursues individual advantage based on their personal beliefs and wits using persuasion and power skepticism of traditional values

Vulnerability The Hero of Tragedy (5th century)

bull Iconic examples include Sophoclesrsquo Oedipus and Aeschylusrsquo Agamemnon and Orestes

bull Pursuit of individual amp collective good in a world of apparently conflicting divine values sometimes hampered by their own lack of self-knowledge

I N T E R D E P E N D E N C Y I N T R O D U C E S V U L N E R A B I L I T Y W H I C H M AY B E

C E L E B R AT E D O R R E S I S T E D

The Hero of Epic Homer and Hesiod (8th century)

bull Found in the epic Iliad and Odyssey attributed to Homer (c 8th century BCE) examples include the powerful Achilles and thoughtful persuasive Odysseus

bull Pursues individual honour (timē) in a just world governed by the gods

CH

IGI V

AS

E C

70

0 B

CE

The Hero of Reason The ldquoPresocratics (6th-5th cent)

bull Founding figures including Thales Anaximander Anaximenes Pythagoras Heraclitus Parmenides Seeking to understand the basic original causes (aitiai) of the world through reason

I S T H E W O R L D G E N U I N E LY

I N T E L L I G I B L E T O R E A S O N

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Born in Athens to a stonemason named Sophroniscus in 469 BCE

bull ldquoSocratic problemrdquo Socrates wrote nothing we know about him through Plato Xenophon and Aristophanes whose accounts vary

bull Conversed with anyone ldquorich or poor citizen or foreignerrdquo (Apology 23C)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Non-conformity reliance on individual values and wits (contrast with the earlier poets and rhapsodes)

bull Claims of ignorance interest in shared truth and not only persuasion and resistance of ldquoselfish morality (contrast with the sophists)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Methods based on question and answer (the elenchus) requiring unity or consistency (a) of onersquos beliefs and (b) of onersquos beliefs and actions

bull Behaviour peculiar enough to warrant its own verb (sōkratein) (Arist Birds 1282) before generalized philosophia

bull Brought to trial in 399 BCE by two Athenians Meletus and Anytus charged with ldquoimpiety and corrupting the youngrdquo

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

S O C R AT E S C R I T O 4 6 A

I am the kind of person who listens to nothing within me but the logos that on reflection seems

best to me

L O G O S R E A S O N VA L U E C O N S C I E N C E M E A N I N G

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousness A sense of such significances that what is great is fragile and that what is necessary may be destructive which is present in the literature of the fifth century and earlier has disappeared [later] from the ethics of the philosophers and perhaps altogether from their minds Greek philosophy in its sustained pursuit of rational self-sufficiency does turn its back on kinds of human experience and human necessity of which Greek literature itself offers the purest if not the richest expression

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y A N D P H I L O S O P H Y

The continuity between Greek tragedy and Greek philosophy on these questions is however far greater than Williams has allowed On the one hand inside tragedy itself we find arresting portrayals of the human ambition to rational self-sufficiency we come to understand the ways in which problems of exposure motivate this ambition On the other Platos philosophical search for a self- sufficient good life is motivated by a keen sense of these same problems Far from having forgotten about what tragedy describes he sees the problems of exposure so clearly that only a radical solution seems adequate to their depth Nor is he naiumlve about the costs of this solution

N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y P R A C T I C A L C O N F L I C T

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identical which is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A)

Socrates ldquoencourages Euthyphro [a pious Greek] to revise tradition by considering as binding only those requirements concerning which there is divine unanimity he expresses further his own doubt as to whether gods really do disagreerdquo (Nussbaum 30)

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identicalwhich is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A Nussbaum 25)

S P E E C H A N D D E M O C R A C Y

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

bull In this cosmopolitan environment traditional views are challenged leading to a perceived erosion of moral values

bull The rhapsodes use poetic forms to transmit traditional morality

bull The tragedians use poetic forms to explore amp challenge mythrsquos assumptions

bull The sophists teach ldquowisdomrdquo (sophia) including rhetoric and political oratory perceived as a new lsquotechnologyrsquo to steer the ship of state for onersquos own ends

bull Use onersquos own wits ldquoA person is the measure of all thingsrdquo Protagoras B1

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

T R A G E D Y V U L N E R A B I L I T Y A N D R E A S O NC 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E AT H E N S

Aeschylus Agamemnon (458 BCE) and Euripides Iphigeneia at Aulis (405 BCE) The Sacrifice of Iphigeneia by Francesco Fontebasso bull 1749 oil on canvas

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousnesshellip what is great is fragile andhellip what is necessary may be destructivehellip

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

In such cases we see a wrong action committed without any direct physical compulsion and in full knowledge of its nature by a person whose ethical character or commitments would otherwise dispose him to reject the acthellip circumstanceshellip prevent the adequate fulfillment of two valid ethical claims

N U S S B A U M 2 5

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

[Aeschylus in Agamemnon] shows us not so much a solution to the problem of practical conflict as the richness and depth of the problem itself (This achievement is closely connected with his poetic resources which put the scene vividly before us show us debate about it and evoke in us responses important to its assessment)

The best the agent can do is to have his suffering the natural expression of his goodness of character and not to stifle these responses out of misguided optimism The best we (the Chorus) can do for him is to respect the gravity of his predicament to respect the responses that express his goodness and to think about his case as showing a possibility for human life in general

N U S S B A U M 4 9 - 5 0

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

bull In a world that allows such dilemmas are there truly gods with a coherent vision for the world

bull Can individual reason and ingenuity suffice for a good life

T H E S O P H I S T SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Hesiod Works amp Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale Piteously she transfixed by his crooked claws was lamenting When the imperious hawk addressed her in arrogant parlance Why little lady such shrieks One stronger than you now has got you Where you are going Ill take you myself though you are a songstress For as I please Ill make you my dinner or give you your freedom Witless is one who attempts to strive against those who are stronger When he is stripped of the prize its injury added to insult Thus said the fast-flying hawk that bird with the generous wing-spanPay more attention to justice and curb high-handedness [brother] Violence ill suits men who are lowly not even the noble Man can lightly endure it it weighs on a person whos fallen Into affliction Its better to take your way on the other Road which conduces to right For outrage (hubris) surrenders to

justice (dikē)hellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Thucydides History 584-116 The Melian Dialogue ATHENIANS [Y]ou know as well as we do that when these matters are discussed by practical people the standard of justice depends on the equality of power to compel and that in fact the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they musthellip Our opinion of the gods and our knowledge of men lead us to conclude that it is a general and necessary law of nature to rule whatever one can This is not a law that we made ourselves nor were we the first to act upon it when it was made We found it already in existence and we shall leave it to exist for ever among those who come after us

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos

advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Republic I 343A-D Thrasymachusrsquo complaint Tell me Socrates do you still have a wet nursehellip Because shersquos letting you run around with a snotty nose and doesnrsquot wipe it when she needs tohellip You think that shepherds and cowherds seek the good of their sheep and cattle and fatten them and take care of them looking to something other than their masterrsquos good and their own Moreover you believe that rulershellip think of something besides their own advantage You are so far from understandinghellip that you donrsquot realize that justice is really the good of another the advantage of the stronger and the ruler and harmful to the one who obeys and serves Injustice is the opposite it rules the truly simple and just and those it rules do what is to the advantage of the other and stronger and they make the one they serve happy but themselves not at all You must look at it as follows my most simple Socrates A just man always gets less than an unjust onehellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Gorgias 482C-484C Callicles on nature and convention [Y]oursquore in fact bringing the discussion around to the sort of crowd-pleasing vulgarities that are admirable only by law [nomos also translatable ldquoconventionrdquo or ldquocustomrdquo] and not by nature And these nature and law are for the most part opposed to each otherhellip I believe that the people who institute our laws are the weak and the many So they institute laws and assign praise and blame with themselves and their own advantage in mind As a way of frightening the more powerfulhellip out of getting a greater share than they they say that getting more than onersquos share is ldquoshamefulrdquo and ldquounjusthelliprdquo But surely if a man whose nature is equal to it arises he will shake off tear apart and escape all this he will trample underfoot our documents our tricks and charms and all our laws that violate nature He the slave will rise up and be revealed as our master and here the justice of nature will shine forth

The New Teachers of Athens

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

P R E - S O C R AT I C ldquo P H I L O S O P H E R S 6 T H - 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

P R E - S O C R AT I C P H I L O S O P H E R S

bull Though not usually calling themselves ldquophilosophersrdquo they seemed to have contributed inspiration for Socratesrsquo method of free inquiry applying logos

bull Scholars adopt different views of what constitutes their innovation and ldquophilosophicalrdquo method (see readings)

bull Basing views on argument and evidence

bull De-ldquomythologizationrdquo

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Miletus

E A R LY P H I L O S O P H Y A N C I E N T M I L E T U S

M I L E T U S

bull Wealthy city-state in Asia Minor

bull Key city for trading and shipping between Near East amp Greece

bull Ionian Greek culture

bull Freedom of thought

bull Open political debate

bull Wealth (for some) providing leisure

bull Thales and his successors Anaximander Anaximenes

bull ldquoPhilosophicalrdquo investigation

bull Later Presocratics Heraclitus ParmenidesldquoORIENTALIZINGrdquo POTTERY

The Milesian school strikes a new note unheard before It has a fresh sense of the meaning of truth ndash a feeling for the sort of thing it is reasonable to suppose The hypothesis it characteristically deals in is concerned with the nature of the one primary stuff the Milesians seem to make a great conscious effort to get at something which really does exist They strike us as throwing off the vast symbolic visions of mythology and waking clear-headed to see and touch real things If we have a rational temperament we feel at once a refreshment Here at last is a statement about the world which is meant and offered as true ndash a logos [explanation] not a mythos [story]

ndash F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952 ed) 42

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The questions which excited them were of this kind Can this apparently confused and disordered world be reduced to simpler principles so that our reason can grasp what it is and how it works What is it made of How does change take place They abandoned mythological and substituted intellectual solutions [It] was no longer satisfying to say that storms were roused by the wrath of Poseidon or death caused by the arrows of Apollo or Artemis A world ruled by anthropomorphic gods human in their passions was a world ruled by caprice Philosophy and science start with the bold confession of faith that not caprice but an inherent orderliness underlies the phenomena and the explanation of nature is to be sought within nature itself ndashWKC Guthrie History of Greek Philosophy (Cambridge 1969) 1 44-45

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

Thales of Miletus

bull Lived late 7th-6th centurybull Born to a Phoenician aristocratic

family ndash so leisurebull Traveled to Egypt and Babylon (by

tradition)bull Legendary wisdombull ldquoFounder of Western philosophyrdquo

bull First to seek an ldquooriginal causerdquo (archecirc)

bull to explain how unseen facts caused visible results without appeal to mythology

bull To provide generalizable proofs or laws

Thales of Miletus

AstronomyMathematicsWater as the archecircAll things are full of gods

bull Traditionally Thalesrsquo star student

bull 25 years old during Thalesrsquo eclipse (585 BCE)

bull Lived c 610-540 BCE

bull ldquoFirst to draw the inhabited world on a tabletrdquo (first mapmaker)

bull Unambiguously our first ldquophilosopherrdquo by standards of demythologization originality generality and observation

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

ldquoAnaximander has expurgated the supernatural with a boldness and completeness to which many of his successors failed to attain The primary order is still said to be lsquoaccording to what is ordainedrsquo it is still a moral order in which Justice prevails but the will of the personal God has disappeared and its place is partly taken by a natural cause the eternal motionrdquo

- F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952) 41 Anaximander relief 1st century AD

Rome Museo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Key contributions

bull Physics the archecircbull Cosmologybull ldquoEvolutionrdquobull Astronomy and Cartography

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Anaximander said that the APEIRON [indefinite unlimited] was the ARCHE and the element of things that are and he was the first to introduce this name for the ARCHE He says that the ARCHE is neither water nor any other of the things called elements but some other nature called APEIRON out of which come to be all the heavens and the worlds in them (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2413-18)

The things that are perish into the things out of which they come to be according to necessity for ldquothey pay penalty and retribution to one another according to their injustice in accordance with the ordering of timerdquo as he says in rather poetical language (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2418-21)

Anaximander of Miletus

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The ARCHE

bull One and unlimitedbull But not undefined Itrsquos AIR

Anaximenes of Miletus

bull Not opposites but a continuum FIRE AIR larr WIND larr CLOUD larr WATER larr EARTH larr STONEbull ldquoLooseningrdquo and ldquotighteningrdquo explain hot and cold

H E R A C L I T U S B 1 0 1 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 3 7 )

I searched out myself

Listening not to me but to the logos it is wise to agree that all things are one

H E R A C L I T U S B 5 0 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 1 1 )

E X A M P L E S

THE ROAD TO PHILOSOP HY

The Hero of Lyric Poets of the Polis (6th century)

bull According to the lyric poets of the polis culture such as Pindar Simonides Tyrtaeus and Sappho (7th-6th century BCE)

bull Pursues collective good of the polis based on strong ties of interdependent responsibility amp cooperation in a just world governed by the gods

Individual Freedom The ldquoSophistsrdquo (5th century)

bull Sources in thinkers like Protagoras and Gorgias (5th century BCE predominantly working in Athens) constructed as a category by Platorsquos later writings

bull Pursues individual advantage based on their personal beliefs and wits using persuasion and power skepticism of traditional values

Vulnerability The Hero of Tragedy (5th century)

bull Iconic examples include Sophoclesrsquo Oedipus and Aeschylusrsquo Agamemnon and Orestes

bull Pursuit of individual amp collective good in a world of apparently conflicting divine values sometimes hampered by their own lack of self-knowledge

I N T E R D E P E N D E N C Y I N T R O D U C E S V U L N E R A B I L I T Y W H I C H M AY B E

C E L E B R AT E D O R R E S I S T E D

The Hero of Epic Homer and Hesiod (8th century)

bull Found in the epic Iliad and Odyssey attributed to Homer (c 8th century BCE) examples include the powerful Achilles and thoughtful persuasive Odysseus

bull Pursues individual honour (timē) in a just world governed by the gods

CH

IGI V

AS

E C

70

0 B

CE

The Hero of Reason The ldquoPresocratics (6th-5th cent)

bull Founding figures including Thales Anaximander Anaximenes Pythagoras Heraclitus Parmenides Seeking to understand the basic original causes (aitiai) of the world through reason

I S T H E W O R L D G E N U I N E LY

I N T E L L I G I B L E T O R E A S O N

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Born in Athens to a stonemason named Sophroniscus in 469 BCE

bull ldquoSocratic problemrdquo Socrates wrote nothing we know about him through Plato Xenophon and Aristophanes whose accounts vary

bull Conversed with anyone ldquorich or poor citizen or foreignerrdquo (Apology 23C)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Non-conformity reliance on individual values and wits (contrast with the earlier poets and rhapsodes)

bull Claims of ignorance interest in shared truth and not only persuasion and resistance of ldquoselfish morality (contrast with the sophists)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Methods based on question and answer (the elenchus) requiring unity or consistency (a) of onersquos beliefs and (b) of onersquos beliefs and actions

bull Behaviour peculiar enough to warrant its own verb (sōkratein) (Arist Birds 1282) before generalized philosophia

bull Brought to trial in 399 BCE by two Athenians Meletus and Anytus charged with ldquoimpiety and corrupting the youngrdquo

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

S O C R AT E S C R I T O 4 6 A

I am the kind of person who listens to nothing within me but the logos that on reflection seems

best to me

L O G O S R E A S O N VA L U E C O N S C I E N C E M E A N I N G

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousness A sense of such significances that what is great is fragile and that what is necessary may be destructive which is present in the literature of the fifth century and earlier has disappeared [later] from the ethics of the philosophers and perhaps altogether from their minds Greek philosophy in its sustained pursuit of rational self-sufficiency does turn its back on kinds of human experience and human necessity of which Greek literature itself offers the purest if not the richest expression

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y A N D P H I L O S O P H Y

The continuity between Greek tragedy and Greek philosophy on these questions is however far greater than Williams has allowed On the one hand inside tragedy itself we find arresting portrayals of the human ambition to rational self-sufficiency we come to understand the ways in which problems of exposure motivate this ambition On the other Platos philosophical search for a self- sufficient good life is motivated by a keen sense of these same problems Far from having forgotten about what tragedy describes he sees the problems of exposure so clearly that only a radical solution seems adequate to their depth Nor is he naiumlve about the costs of this solution

N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y P R A C T I C A L C O N F L I C T

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identical which is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A)

Socrates ldquoencourages Euthyphro [a pious Greek] to revise tradition by considering as binding only those requirements concerning which there is divine unanimity he expresses further his own doubt as to whether gods really do disagreerdquo (Nussbaum 30)

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identicalwhich is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A Nussbaum 25)

bull In this cosmopolitan environment traditional views are challenged leading to a perceived erosion of moral values

bull The rhapsodes use poetic forms to transmit traditional morality

bull The tragedians use poetic forms to explore amp challenge mythrsquos assumptions

bull The sophists teach ldquowisdomrdquo (sophia) including rhetoric and political oratory perceived as a new lsquotechnologyrsquo to steer the ship of state for onersquos own ends

bull Use onersquos own wits ldquoA person is the measure of all thingsrdquo Protagoras B1

C L A S S I C A L AT H E N S

T R A G E D Y V U L N E R A B I L I T Y A N D R E A S O NC 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E AT H E N S

Aeschylus Agamemnon (458 BCE) and Euripides Iphigeneia at Aulis (405 BCE) The Sacrifice of Iphigeneia by Francesco Fontebasso bull 1749 oil on canvas

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousnesshellip what is great is fragile andhellip what is necessary may be destructivehellip

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

In such cases we see a wrong action committed without any direct physical compulsion and in full knowledge of its nature by a person whose ethical character or commitments would otherwise dispose him to reject the acthellip circumstanceshellip prevent the adequate fulfillment of two valid ethical claims

N U S S B A U M 2 5

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

[Aeschylus in Agamemnon] shows us not so much a solution to the problem of practical conflict as the richness and depth of the problem itself (This achievement is closely connected with his poetic resources which put the scene vividly before us show us debate about it and evoke in us responses important to its assessment)

The best the agent can do is to have his suffering the natural expression of his goodness of character and not to stifle these responses out of misguided optimism The best we (the Chorus) can do for him is to respect the gravity of his predicament to respect the responses that express his goodness and to think about his case as showing a possibility for human life in general

N U S S B A U M 4 9 - 5 0

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

bull In a world that allows such dilemmas are there truly gods with a coherent vision for the world

bull Can individual reason and ingenuity suffice for a good life

T H E S O P H I S T SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Hesiod Works amp Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale Piteously she transfixed by his crooked claws was lamenting When the imperious hawk addressed her in arrogant parlance Why little lady such shrieks One stronger than you now has got you Where you are going Ill take you myself though you are a songstress For as I please Ill make you my dinner or give you your freedom Witless is one who attempts to strive against those who are stronger When he is stripped of the prize its injury added to insult Thus said the fast-flying hawk that bird with the generous wing-spanPay more attention to justice and curb high-handedness [brother] Violence ill suits men who are lowly not even the noble Man can lightly endure it it weighs on a person whos fallen Into affliction Its better to take your way on the other Road which conduces to right For outrage (hubris) surrenders to

justice (dikē)hellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Thucydides History 584-116 The Melian Dialogue ATHENIANS [Y]ou know as well as we do that when these matters are discussed by practical people the standard of justice depends on the equality of power to compel and that in fact the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they musthellip Our opinion of the gods and our knowledge of men lead us to conclude that it is a general and necessary law of nature to rule whatever one can This is not a law that we made ourselves nor were we the first to act upon it when it was made We found it already in existence and we shall leave it to exist for ever among those who come after us

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos

advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Republic I 343A-D Thrasymachusrsquo complaint Tell me Socrates do you still have a wet nursehellip Because shersquos letting you run around with a snotty nose and doesnrsquot wipe it when she needs tohellip You think that shepherds and cowherds seek the good of their sheep and cattle and fatten them and take care of them looking to something other than their masterrsquos good and their own Moreover you believe that rulershellip think of something besides their own advantage You are so far from understandinghellip that you donrsquot realize that justice is really the good of another the advantage of the stronger and the ruler and harmful to the one who obeys and serves Injustice is the opposite it rules the truly simple and just and those it rules do what is to the advantage of the other and stronger and they make the one they serve happy but themselves not at all You must look at it as follows my most simple Socrates A just man always gets less than an unjust onehellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Gorgias 482C-484C Callicles on nature and convention [Y]oursquore in fact bringing the discussion around to the sort of crowd-pleasing vulgarities that are admirable only by law [nomos also translatable ldquoconventionrdquo or ldquocustomrdquo] and not by nature And these nature and law are for the most part opposed to each otherhellip I believe that the people who institute our laws are the weak and the many So they institute laws and assign praise and blame with themselves and their own advantage in mind As a way of frightening the more powerfulhellip out of getting a greater share than they they say that getting more than onersquos share is ldquoshamefulrdquo and ldquounjusthelliprdquo But surely if a man whose nature is equal to it arises he will shake off tear apart and escape all this he will trample underfoot our documents our tricks and charms and all our laws that violate nature He the slave will rise up and be revealed as our master and here the justice of nature will shine forth

The New Teachers of Athens

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

P R E - S O C R AT I C ldquo P H I L O S O P H E R S 6 T H - 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

P R E - S O C R AT I C P H I L O S O P H E R S

bull Though not usually calling themselves ldquophilosophersrdquo they seemed to have contributed inspiration for Socratesrsquo method of free inquiry applying logos

bull Scholars adopt different views of what constitutes their innovation and ldquophilosophicalrdquo method (see readings)

bull Basing views on argument and evidence

bull De-ldquomythologizationrdquo

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Miletus

E A R LY P H I L O S O P H Y A N C I E N T M I L E T U S

M I L E T U S

bull Wealthy city-state in Asia Minor

bull Key city for trading and shipping between Near East amp Greece

bull Ionian Greek culture

bull Freedom of thought

bull Open political debate

bull Wealth (for some) providing leisure

bull Thales and his successors Anaximander Anaximenes

bull ldquoPhilosophicalrdquo investigation

bull Later Presocratics Heraclitus ParmenidesldquoORIENTALIZINGrdquo POTTERY

The Milesian school strikes a new note unheard before It has a fresh sense of the meaning of truth ndash a feeling for the sort of thing it is reasonable to suppose The hypothesis it characteristically deals in is concerned with the nature of the one primary stuff the Milesians seem to make a great conscious effort to get at something which really does exist They strike us as throwing off the vast symbolic visions of mythology and waking clear-headed to see and touch real things If we have a rational temperament we feel at once a refreshment Here at last is a statement about the world which is meant and offered as true ndash a logos [explanation] not a mythos [story]

ndash F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952 ed) 42

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The questions which excited them were of this kind Can this apparently confused and disordered world be reduced to simpler principles so that our reason can grasp what it is and how it works What is it made of How does change take place They abandoned mythological and substituted intellectual solutions [It] was no longer satisfying to say that storms were roused by the wrath of Poseidon or death caused by the arrows of Apollo or Artemis A world ruled by anthropomorphic gods human in their passions was a world ruled by caprice Philosophy and science start with the bold confession of faith that not caprice but an inherent orderliness underlies the phenomena and the explanation of nature is to be sought within nature itself ndashWKC Guthrie History of Greek Philosophy (Cambridge 1969) 1 44-45

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

Thales of Miletus

bull Lived late 7th-6th centurybull Born to a Phoenician aristocratic

family ndash so leisurebull Traveled to Egypt and Babylon (by

tradition)bull Legendary wisdombull ldquoFounder of Western philosophyrdquo

bull First to seek an ldquooriginal causerdquo (archecirc)

bull to explain how unseen facts caused visible results without appeal to mythology

bull To provide generalizable proofs or laws

Thales of Miletus

AstronomyMathematicsWater as the archecircAll things are full of gods

bull Traditionally Thalesrsquo star student

bull 25 years old during Thalesrsquo eclipse (585 BCE)

bull Lived c 610-540 BCE

bull ldquoFirst to draw the inhabited world on a tabletrdquo (first mapmaker)

bull Unambiguously our first ldquophilosopherrdquo by standards of demythologization originality generality and observation

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

ldquoAnaximander has expurgated the supernatural with a boldness and completeness to which many of his successors failed to attain The primary order is still said to be lsquoaccording to what is ordainedrsquo it is still a moral order in which Justice prevails but the will of the personal God has disappeared and its place is partly taken by a natural cause the eternal motionrdquo

- F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952) 41 Anaximander relief 1st century AD

Rome Museo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Key contributions

bull Physics the archecircbull Cosmologybull ldquoEvolutionrdquobull Astronomy and Cartography

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Anaximander said that the APEIRON [indefinite unlimited] was the ARCHE and the element of things that are and he was the first to introduce this name for the ARCHE He says that the ARCHE is neither water nor any other of the things called elements but some other nature called APEIRON out of which come to be all the heavens and the worlds in them (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2413-18)

The things that are perish into the things out of which they come to be according to necessity for ldquothey pay penalty and retribution to one another according to their injustice in accordance with the ordering of timerdquo as he says in rather poetical language (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2418-21)

Anaximander of Miletus

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The ARCHE

bull One and unlimitedbull But not undefined Itrsquos AIR

Anaximenes of Miletus

bull Not opposites but a continuum FIRE AIR larr WIND larr CLOUD larr WATER larr EARTH larr STONEbull ldquoLooseningrdquo and ldquotighteningrdquo explain hot and cold

H E R A C L I T U S B 1 0 1 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 3 7 )

I searched out myself

Listening not to me but to the logos it is wise to agree that all things are one

H E R A C L I T U S B 5 0 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 1 1 )

E X A M P L E S

THE ROAD TO PHILOSOP HY

The Hero of Lyric Poets of the Polis (6th century)

bull According to the lyric poets of the polis culture such as Pindar Simonides Tyrtaeus and Sappho (7th-6th century BCE)

bull Pursues collective good of the polis based on strong ties of interdependent responsibility amp cooperation in a just world governed by the gods

Individual Freedom The ldquoSophistsrdquo (5th century)

bull Sources in thinkers like Protagoras and Gorgias (5th century BCE predominantly working in Athens) constructed as a category by Platorsquos later writings

bull Pursues individual advantage based on their personal beliefs and wits using persuasion and power skepticism of traditional values

Vulnerability The Hero of Tragedy (5th century)

bull Iconic examples include Sophoclesrsquo Oedipus and Aeschylusrsquo Agamemnon and Orestes

bull Pursuit of individual amp collective good in a world of apparently conflicting divine values sometimes hampered by their own lack of self-knowledge

I N T E R D E P E N D E N C Y I N T R O D U C E S V U L N E R A B I L I T Y W H I C H M AY B E

C E L E B R AT E D O R R E S I S T E D

The Hero of Epic Homer and Hesiod (8th century)

bull Found in the epic Iliad and Odyssey attributed to Homer (c 8th century BCE) examples include the powerful Achilles and thoughtful persuasive Odysseus

bull Pursues individual honour (timē) in a just world governed by the gods

CH

IGI V

AS

E C

70

0 B

CE

The Hero of Reason The ldquoPresocratics (6th-5th cent)

bull Founding figures including Thales Anaximander Anaximenes Pythagoras Heraclitus Parmenides Seeking to understand the basic original causes (aitiai) of the world through reason

I S T H E W O R L D G E N U I N E LY

I N T E L L I G I B L E T O R E A S O N

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Born in Athens to a stonemason named Sophroniscus in 469 BCE

bull ldquoSocratic problemrdquo Socrates wrote nothing we know about him through Plato Xenophon and Aristophanes whose accounts vary

bull Conversed with anyone ldquorich or poor citizen or foreignerrdquo (Apology 23C)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Non-conformity reliance on individual values and wits (contrast with the earlier poets and rhapsodes)

bull Claims of ignorance interest in shared truth and not only persuasion and resistance of ldquoselfish morality (contrast with the sophists)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Methods based on question and answer (the elenchus) requiring unity or consistency (a) of onersquos beliefs and (b) of onersquos beliefs and actions

bull Behaviour peculiar enough to warrant its own verb (sōkratein) (Arist Birds 1282) before generalized philosophia

bull Brought to trial in 399 BCE by two Athenians Meletus and Anytus charged with ldquoimpiety and corrupting the youngrdquo

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

S O C R AT E S C R I T O 4 6 A

I am the kind of person who listens to nothing within me but the logos that on reflection seems

best to me

L O G O S R E A S O N VA L U E C O N S C I E N C E M E A N I N G

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousness A sense of such significances that what is great is fragile and that what is necessary may be destructive which is present in the literature of the fifth century and earlier has disappeared [later] from the ethics of the philosophers and perhaps altogether from their minds Greek philosophy in its sustained pursuit of rational self-sufficiency does turn its back on kinds of human experience and human necessity of which Greek literature itself offers the purest if not the richest expression

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y A N D P H I L O S O P H Y

The continuity between Greek tragedy and Greek philosophy on these questions is however far greater than Williams has allowed On the one hand inside tragedy itself we find arresting portrayals of the human ambition to rational self-sufficiency we come to understand the ways in which problems of exposure motivate this ambition On the other Platos philosophical search for a self- sufficient good life is motivated by a keen sense of these same problems Far from having forgotten about what tragedy describes he sees the problems of exposure so clearly that only a radical solution seems adequate to their depth Nor is he naiumlve about the costs of this solution

N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y P R A C T I C A L C O N F L I C T

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identical which is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A)

Socrates ldquoencourages Euthyphro [a pious Greek] to revise tradition by considering as binding only those requirements concerning which there is divine unanimity he expresses further his own doubt as to whether gods really do disagreerdquo (Nussbaum 30)

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identicalwhich is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A Nussbaum 25)

T R A G E D Y V U L N E R A B I L I T Y A N D R E A S O NC 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E AT H E N S

Aeschylus Agamemnon (458 BCE) and Euripides Iphigeneia at Aulis (405 BCE) The Sacrifice of Iphigeneia by Francesco Fontebasso bull 1749 oil on canvas

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousnesshellip what is great is fragile andhellip what is necessary may be destructivehellip

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

In such cases we see a wrong action committed without any direct physical compulsion and in full knowledge of its nature by a person whose ethical character or commitments would otherwise dispose him to reject the acthellip circumstanceshellip prevent the adequate fulfillment of two valid ethical claims

N U S S B A U M 2 5

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

[Aeschylus in Agamemnon] shows us not so much a solution to the problem of practical conflict as the richness and depth of the problem itself (This achievement is closely connected with his poetic resources which put the scene vividly before us show us debate about it and evoke in us responses important to its assessment)

The best the agent can do is to have his suffering the natural expression of his goodness of character and not to stifle these responses out of misguided optimism The best we (the Chorus) can do for him is to respect the gravity of his predicament to respect the responses that express his goodness and to think about his case as showing a possibility for human life in general

N U S S B A U M 4 9 - 5 0

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

bull In a world that allows such dilemmas are there truly gods with a coherent vision for the world

bull Can individual reason and ingenuity suffice for a good life

T H E S O P H I S T SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Hesiod Works amp Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale Piteously she transfixed by his crooked claws was lamenting When the imperious hawk addressed her in arrogant parlance Why little lady such shrieks One stronger than you now has got you Where you are going Ill take you myself though you are a songstress For as I please Ill make you my dinner or give you your freedom Witless is one who attempts to strive against those who are stronger When he is stripped of the prize its injury added to insult Thus said the fast-flying hawk that bird with the generous wing-spanPay more attention to justice and curb high-handedness [brother] Violence ill suits men who are lowly not even the noble Man can lightly endure it it weighs on a person whos fallen Into affliction Its better to take your way on the other Road which conduces to right For outrage (hubris) surrenders to

justice (dikē)hellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Thucydides History 584-116 The Melian Dialogue ATHENIANS [Y]ou know as well as we do that when these matters are discussed by practical people the standard of justice depends on the equality of power to compel and that in fact the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they musthellip Our opinion of the gods and our knowledge of men lead us to conclude that it is a general and necessary law of nature to rule whatever one can This is not a law that we made ourselves nor were we the first to act upon it when it was made We found it already in existence and we shall leave it to exist for ever among those who come after us

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos

advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Republic I 343A-D Thrasymachusrsquo complaint Tell me Socrates do you still have a wet nursehellip Because shersquos letting you run around with a snotty nose and doesnrsquot wipe it when she needs tohellip You think that shepherds and cowherds seek the good of their sheep and cattle and fatten them and take care of them looking to something other than their masterrsquos good and their own Moreover you believe that rulershellip think of something besides their own advantage You are so far from understandinghellip that you donrsquot realize that justice is really the good of another the advantage of the stronger and the ruler and harmful to the one who obeys and serves Injustice is the opposite it rules the truly simple and just and those it rules do what is to the advantage of the other and stronger and they make the one they serve happy but themselves not at all You must look at it as follows my most simple Socrates A just man always gets less than an unjust onehellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Gorgias 482C-484C Callicles on nature and convention [Y]oursquore in fact bringing the discussion around to the sort of crowd-pleasing vulgarities that are admirable only by law [nomos also translatable ldquoconventionrdquo or ldquocustomrdquo] and not by nature And these nature and law are for the most part opposed to each otherhellip I believe that the people who institute our laws are the weak and the many So they institute laws and assign praise and blame with themselves and their own advantage in mind As a way of frightening the more powerfulhellip out of getting a greater share than they they say that getting more than onersquos share is ldquoshamefulrdquo and ldquounjusthelliprdquo But surely if a man whose nature is equal to it arises he will shake off tear apart and escape all this he will trample underfoot our documents our tricks and charms and all our laws that violate nature He the slave will rise up and be revealed as our master and here the justice of nature will shine forth

The New Teachers of Athens

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

P R E - S O C R AT I C ldquo P H I L O S O P H E R S 6 T H - 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

P R E - S O C R AT I C P H I L O S O P H E R S

bull Though not usually calling themselves ldquophilosophersrdquo they seemed to have contributed inspiration for Socratesrsquo method of free inquiry applying logos

bull Scholars adopt different views of what constitutes their innovation and ldquophilosophicalrdquo method (see readings)

bull Basing views on argument and evidence

bull De-ldquomythologizationrdquo

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Miletus

E A R LY P H I L O S O P H Y A N C I E N T M I L E T U S

M I L E T U S

bull Wealthy city-state in Asia Minor

bull Key city for trading and shipping between Near East amp Greece

bull Ionian Greek culture

bull Freedom of thought

bull Open political debate

bull Wealth (for some) providing leisure

bull Thales and his successors Anaximander Anaximenes

bull ldquoPhilosophicalrdquo investigation

bull Later Presocratics Heraclitus ParmenidesldquoORIENTALIZINGrdquo POTTERY

The Milesian school strikes a new note unheard before It has a fresh sense of the meaning of truth ndash a feeling for the sort of thing it is reasonable to suppose The hypothesis it characteristically deals in is concerned with the nature of the one primary stuff the Milesians seem to make a great conscious effort to get at something which really does exist They strike us as throwing off the vast symbolic visions of mythology and waking clear-headed to see and touch real things If we have a rational temperament we feel at once a refreshment Here at last is a statement about the world which is meant and offered as true ndash a logos [explanation] not a mythos [story]

ndash F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952 ed) 42

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The questions which excited them were of this kind Can this apparently confused and disordered world be reduced to simpler principles so that our reason can grasp what it is and how it works What is it made of How does change take place They abandoned mythological and substituted intellectual solutions [It] was no longer satisfying to say that storms were roused by the wrath of Poseidon or death caused by the arrows of Apollo or Artemis A world ruled by anthropomorphic gods human in their passions was a world ruled by caprice Philosophy and science start with the bold confession of faith that not caprice but an inherent orderliness underlies the phenomena and the explanation of nature is to be sought within nature itself ndashWKC Guthrie History of Greek Philosophy (Cambridge 1969) 1 44-45

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

Thales of Miletus

bull Lived late 7th-6th centurybull Born to a Phoenician aristocratic

family ndash so leisurebull Traveled to Egypt and Babylon (by

tradition)bull Legendary wisdombull ldquoFounder of Western philosophyrdquo

bull First to seek an ldquooriginal causerdquo (archecirc)

bull to explain how unseen facts caused visible results without appeal to mythology

bull To provide generalizable proofs or laws

Thales of Miletus

AstronomyMathematicsWater as the archecircAll things are full of gods

bull Traditionally Thalesrsquo star student

bull 25 years old during Thalesrsquo eclipse (585 BCE)

bull Lived c 610-540 BCE

bull ldquoFirst to draw the inhabited world on a tabletrdquo (first mapmaker)

bull Unambiguously our first ldquophilosopherrdquo by standards of demythologization originality generality and observation

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

ldquoAnaximander has expurgated the supernatural with a boldness and completeness to which many of his successors failed to attain The primary order is still said to be lsquoaccording to what is ordainedrsquo it is still a moral order in which Justice prevails but the will of the personal God has disappeared and its place is partly taken by a natural cause the eternal motionrdquo

- F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952) 41 Anaximander relief 1st century AD

Rome Museo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Key contributions

bull Physics the archecircbull Cosmologybull ldquoEvolutionrdquobull Astronomy and Cartography

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Anaximander said that the APEIRON [indefinite unlimited] was the ARCHE and the element of things that are and he was the first to introduce this name for the ARCHE He says that the ARCHE is neither water nor any other of the things called elements but some other nature called APEIRON out of which come to be all the heavens and the worlds in them (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2413-18)

The things that are perish into the things out of which they come to be according to necessity for ldquothey pay penalty and retribution to one another according to their injustice in accordance with the ordering of timerdquo as he says in rather poetical language (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2418-21)

Anaximander of Miletus

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The ARCHE

bull One and unlimitedbull But not undefined Itrsquos AIR

Anaximenes of Miletus

bull Not opposites but a continuum FIRE AIR larr WIND larr CLOUD larr WATER larr EARTH larr STONEbull ldquoLooseningrdquo and ldquotighteningrdquo explain hot and cold

H E R A C L I T U S B 1 0 1 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 3 7 )

I searched out myself

Listening not to me but to the logos it is wise to agree that all things are one

H E R A C L I T U S B 5 0 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 1 1 )

E X A M P L E S

THE ROAD TO PHILOSOP HY

The Hero of Lyric Poets of the Polis (6th century)

bull According to the lyric poets of the polis culture such as Pindar Simonides Tyrtaeus and Sappho (7th-6th century BCE)

bull Pursues collective good of the polis based on strong ties of interdependent responsibility amp cooperation in a just world governed by the gods

Individual Freedom The ldquoSophistsrdquo (5th century)

bull Sources in thinkers like Protagoras and Gorgias (5th century BCE predominantly working in Athens) constructed as a category by Platorsquos later writings

bull Pursues individual advantage based on their personal beliefs and wits using persuasion and power skepticism of traditional values

Vulnerability The Hero of Tragedy (5th century)

bull Iconic examples include Sophoclesrsquo Oedipus and Aeschylusrsquo Agamemnon and Orestes

bull Pursuit of individual amp collective good in a world of apparently conflicting divine values sometimes hampered by their own lack of self-knowledge

I N T E R D E P E N D E N C Y I N T R O D U C E S V U L N E R A B I L I T Y W H I C H M AY B E

C E L E B R AT E D O R R E S I S T E D

The Hero of Epic Homer and Hesiod (8th century)

bull Found in the epic Iliad and Odyssey attributed to Homer (c 8th century BCE) examples include the powerful Achilles and thoughtful persuasive Odysseus

bull Pursues individual honour (timē) in a just world governed by the gods

CH

IGI V

AS

E C

70

0 B

CE

The Hero of Reason The ldquoPresocratics (6th-5th cent)

bull Founding figures including Thales Anaximander Anaximenes Pythagoras Heraclitus Parmenides Seeking to understand the basic original causes (aitiai) of the world through reason

I S T H E W O R L D G E N U I N E LY

I N T E L L I G I B L E T O R E A S O N

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Born in Athens to a stonemason named Sophroniscus in 469 BCE

bull ldquoSocratic problemrdquo Socrates wrote nothing we know about him through Plato Xenophon and Aristophanes whose accounts vary

bull Conversed with anyone ldquorich or poor citizen or foreignerrdquo (Apology 23C)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Non-conformity reliance on individual values and wits (contrast with the earlier poets and rhapsodes)

bull Claims of ignorance interest in shared truth and not only persuasion and resistance of ldquoselfish morality (contrast with the sophists)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Methods based on question and answer (the elenchus) requiring unity or consistency (a) of onersquos beliefs and (b) of onersquos beliefs and actions

bull Behaviour peculiar enough to warrant its own verb (sōkratein) (Arist Birds 1282) before generalized philosophia

bull Brought to trial in 399 BCE by two Athenians Meletus and Anytus charged with ldquoimpiety and corrupting the youngrdquo

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

S O C R AT E S C R I T O 4 6 A

I am the kind of person who listens to nothing within me but the logos that on reflection seems

best to me

L O G O S R E A S O N VA L U E C O N S C I E N C E M E A N I N G

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousness A sense of such significances that what is great is fragile and that what is necessary may be destructive which is present in the literature of the fifth century and earlier has disappeared [later] from the ethics of the philosophers and perhaps altogether from their minds Greek philosophy in its sustained pursuit of rational self-sufficiency does turn its back on kinds of human experience and human necessity of which Greek literature itself offers the purest if not the richest expression

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y A N D P H I L O S O P H Y

The continuity between Greek tragedy and Greek philosophy on these questions is however far greater than Williams has allowed On the one hand inside tragedy itself we find arresting portrayals of the human ambition to rational self-sufficiency we come to understand the ways in which problems of exposure motivate this ambition On the other Platos philosophical search for a self- sufficient good life is motivated by a keen sense of these same problems Far from having forgotten about what tragedy describes he sees the problems of exposure so clearly that only a radical solution seems adequate to their depth Nor is he naiumlve about the costs of this solution

N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y P R A C T I C A L C O N F L I C T

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identical which is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A)

Socrates ldquoencourages Euthyphro [a pious Greek] to revise tradition by considering as binding only those requirements concerning which there is divine unanimity he expresses further his own doubt as to whether gods really do disagreerdquo (Nussbaum 30)

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identicalwhich is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A Nussbaum 25)

Aeschylus Agamemnon (458 BCE) and Euripides Iphigeneia at Aulis (405 BCE) The Sacrifice of Iphigeneia by Francesco Fontebasso bull 1749 oil on canvas

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousnesshellip what is great is fragile andhellip what is necessary may be destructivehellip

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

In such cases we see a wrong action committed without any direct physical compulsion and in full knowledge of its nature by a person whose ethical character or commitments would otherwise dispose him to reject the acthellip circumstanceshellip prevent the adequate fulfillment of two valid ethical claims

N U S S B A U M 2 5

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

[Aeschylus in Agamemnon] shows us not so much a solution to the problem of practical conflict as the richness and depth of the problem itself (This achievement is closely connected with his poetic resources which put the scene vividly before us show us debate about it and evoke in us responses important to its assessment)

The best the agent can do is to have his suffering the natural expression of his goodness of character and not to stifle these responses out of misguided optimism The best we (the Chorus) can do for him is to respect the gravity of his predicament to respect the responses that express his goodness and to think about his case as showing a possibility for human life in general

N U S S B A U M 4 9 - 5 0

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

bull In a world that allows such dilemmas are there truly gods with a coherent vision for the world

bull Can individual reason and ingenuity suffice for a good life

T H E S O P H I S T SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Hesiod Works amp Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale Piteously she transfixed by his crooked claws was lamenting When the imperious hawk addressed her in arrogant parlance Why little lady such shrieks One stronger than you now has got you Where you are going Ill take you myself though you are a songstress For as I please Ill make you my dinner or give you your freedom Witless is one who attempts to strive against those who are stronger When he is stripped of the prize its injury added to insult Thus said the fast-flying hawk that bird with the generous wing-spanPay more attention to justice and curb high-handedness [brother] Violence ill suits men who are lowly not even the noble Man can lightly endure it it weighs on a person whos fallen Into affliction Its better to take your way on the other Road which conduces to right For outrage (hubris) surrenders to

justice (dikē)hellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Thucydides History 584-116 The Melian Dialogue ATHENIANS [Y]ou know as well as we do that when these matters are discussed by practical people the standard of justice depends on the equality of power to compel and that in fact the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they musthellip Our opinion of the gods and our knowledge of men lead us to conclude that it is a general and necessary law of nature to rule whatever one can This is not a law that we made ourselves nor were we the first to act upon it when it was made We found it already in existence and we shall leave it to exist for ever among those who come after us

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos

advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Republic I 343A-D Thrasymachusrsquo complaint Tell me Socrates do you still have a wet nursehellip Because shersquos letting you run around with a snotty nose and doesnrsquot wipe it when she needs tohellip You think that shepherds and cowherds seek the good of their sheep and cattle and fatten them and take care of them looking to something other than their masterrsquos good and their own Moreover you believe that rulershellip think of something besides their own advantage You are so far from understandinghellip that you donrsquot realize that justice is really the good of another the advantage of the stronger and the ruler and harmful to the one who obeys and serves Injustice is the opposite it rules the truly simple and just and those it rules do what is to the advantage of the other and stronger and they make the one they serve happy but themselves not at all You must look at it as follows my most simple Socrates A just man always gets less than an unjust onehellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Gorgias 482C-484C Callicles on nature and convention [Y]oursquore in fact bringing the discussion around to the sort of crowd-pleasing vulgarities that are admirable only by law [nomos also translatable ldquoconventionrdquo or ldquocustomrdquo] and not by nature And these nature and law are for the most part opposed to each otherhellip I believe that the people who institute our laws are the weak and the many So they institute laws and assign praise and blame with themselves and their own advantage in mind As a way of frightening the more powerfulhellip out of getting a greater share than they they say that getting more than onersquos share is ldquoshamefulrdquo and ldquounjusthelliprdquo But surely if a man whose nature is equal to it arises he will shake off tear apart and escape all this he will trample underfoot our documents our tricks and charms and all our laws that violate nature He the slave will rise up and be revealed as our master and here the justice of nature will shine forth

The New Teachers of Athens

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

P R E - S O C R AT I C ldquo P H I L O S O P H E R S 6 T H - 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

P R E - S O C R AT I C P H I L O S O P H E R S

bull Though not usually calling themselves ldquophilosophersrdquo they seemed to have contributed inspiration for Socratesrsquo method of free inquiry applying logos

bull Scholars adopt different views of what constitutes their innovation and ldquophilosophicalrdquo method (see readings)

bull Basing views on argument and evidence

bull De-ldquomythologizationrdquo

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Miletus

E A R LY P H I L O S O P H Y A N C I E N T M I L E T U S

M I L E T U S

bull Wealthy city-state in Asia Minor

bull Key city for trading and shipping between Near East amp Greece

bull Ionian Greek culture

bull Freedom of thought

bull Open political debate

bull Wealth (for some) providing leisure

bull Thales and his successors Anaximander Anaximenes

bull ldquoPhilosophicalrdquo investigation

bull Later Presocratics Heraclitus ParmenidesldquoORIENTALIZINGrdquo POTTERY

The Milesian school strikes a new note unheard before It has a fresh sense of the meaning of truth ndash a feeling for the sort of thing it is reasonable to suppose The hypothesis it characteristically deals in is concerned with the nature of the one primary stuff the Milesians seem to make a great conscious effort to get at something which really does exist They strike us as throwing off the vast symbolic visions of mythology and waking clear-headed to see and touch real things If we have a rational temperament we feel at once a refreshment Here at last is a statement about the world which is meant and offered as true ndash a logos [explanation] not a mythos [story]

ndash F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952 ed) 42

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The questions which excited them were of this kind Can this apparently confused and disordered world be reduced to simpler principles so that our reason can grasp what it is and how it works What is it made of How does change take place They abandoned mythological and substituted intellectual solutions [It] was no longer satisfying to say that storms were roused by the wrath of Poseidon or death caused by the arrows of Apollo or Artemis A world ruled by anthropomorphic gods human in their passions was a world ruled by caprice Philosophy and science start with the bold confession of faith that not caprice but an inherent orderliness underlies the phenomena and the explanation of nature is to be sought within nature itself ndashWKC Guthrie History of Greek Philosophy (Cambridge 1969) 1 44-45

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

Thales of Miletus

bull Lived late 7th-6th centurybull Born to a Phoenician aristocratic

family ndash so leisurebull Traveled to Egypt and Babylon (by

tradition)bull Legendary wisdombull ldquoFounder of Western philosophyrdquo

bull First to seek an ldquooriginal causerdquo (archecirc)

bull to explain how unseen facts caused visible results without appeal to mythology

bull To provide generalizable proofs or laws

Thales of Miletus

AstronomyMathematicsWater as the archecircAll things are full of gods

bull Traditionally Thalesrsquo star student

bull 25 years old during Thalesrsquo eclipse (585 BCE)

bull Lived c 610-540 BCE

bull ldquoFirst to draw the inhabited world on a tabletrdquo (first mapmaker)

bull Unambiguously our first ldquophilosopherrdquo by standards of demythologization originality generality and observation

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

ldquoAnaximander has expurgated the supernatural with a boldness and completeness to which many of his successors failed to attain The primary order is still said to be lsquoaccording to what is ordainedrsquo it is still a moral order in which Justice prevails but the will of the personal God has disappeared and its place is partly taken by a natural cause the eternal motionrdquo

- F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952) 41 Anaximander relief 1st century AD

Rome Museo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Key contributions

bull Physics the archecircbull Cosmologybull ldquoEvolutionrdquobull Astronomy and Cartography

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Anaximander said that the APEIRON [indefinite unlimited] was the ARCHE and the element of things that are and he was the first to introduce this name for the ARCHE He says that the ARCHE is neither water nor any other of the things called elements but some other nature called APEIRON out of which come to be all the heavens and the worlds in them (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2413-18)

The things that are perish into the things out of which they come to be according to necessity for ldquothey pay penalty and retribution to one another according to their injustice in accordance with the ordering of timerdquo as he says in rather poetical language (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2418-21)

Anaximander of Miletus

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The ARCHE

bull One and unlimitedbull But not undefined Itrsquos AIR

Anaximenes of Miletus

bull Not opposites but a continuum FIRE AIR larr WIND larr CLOUD larr WATER larr EARTH larr STONEbull ldquoLooseningrdquo and ldquotighteningrdquo explain hot and cold

H E R A C L I T U S B 1 0 1 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 3 7 )

I searched out myself

Listening not to me but to the logos it is wise to agree that all things are one

H E R A C L I T U S B 5 0 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 1 1 )

E X A M P L E S

THE ROAD TO PHILOSOP HY

The Hero of Lyric Poets of the Polis (6th century)

bull According to the lyric poets of the polis culture such as Pindar Simonides Tyrtaeus and Sappho (7th-6th century BCE)

bull Pursues collective good of the polis based on strong ties of interdependent responsibility amp cooperation in a just world governed by the gods

Individual Freedom The ldquoSophistsrdquo (5th century)

bull Sources in thinkers like Protagoras and Gorgias (5th century BCE predominantly working in Athens) constructed as a category by Platorsquos later writings

bull Pursues individual advantage based on their personal beliefs and wits using persuasion and power skepticism of traditional values

Vulnerability The Hero of Tragedy (5th century)

bull Iconic examples include Sophoclesrsquo Oedipus and Aeschylusrsquo Agamemnon and Orestes

bull Pursuit of individual amp collective good in a world of apparently conflicting divine values sometimes hampered by their own lack of self-knowledge

I N T E R D E P E N D E N C Y I N T R O D U C E S V U L N E R A B I L I T Y W H I C H M AY B E

C E L E B R AT E D O R R E S I S T E D

The Hero of Epic Homer and Hesiod (8th century)

bull Found in the epic Iliad and Odyssey attributed to Homer (c 8th century BCE) examples include the powerful Achilles and thoughtful persuasive Odysseus

bull Pursues individual honour (timē) in a just world governed by the gods

CH

IGI V

AS

E C

70

0 B

CE

The Hero of Reason The ldquoPresocratics (6th-5th cent)

bull Founding figures including Thales Anaximander Anaximenes Pythagoras Heraclitus Parmenides Seeking to understand the basic original causes (aitiai) of the world through reason

I S T H E W O R L D G E N U I N E LY

I N T E L L I G I B L E T O R E A S O N

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Born in Athens to a stonemason named Sophroniscus in 469 BCE

bull ldquoSocratic problemrdquo Socrates wrote nothing we know about him through Plato Xenophon and Aristophanes whose accounts vary

bull Conversed with anyone ldquorich or poor citizen or foreignerrdquo (Apology 23C)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Non-conformity reliance on individual values and wits (contrast with the earlier poets and rhapsodes)

bull Claims of ignorance interest in shared truth and not only persuasion and resistance of ldquoselfish morality (contrast with the sophists)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Methods based on question and answer (the elenchus) requiring unity or consistency (a) of onersquos beliefs and (b) of onersquos beliefs and actions

bull Behaviour peculiar enough to warrant its own verb (sōkratein) (Arist Birds 1282) before generalized philosophia

bull Brought to trial in 399 BCE by two Athenians Meletus and Anytus charged with ldquoimpiety and corrupting the youngrdquo

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

S O C R AT E S C R I T O 4 6 A

I am the kind of person who listens to nothing within me but the logos that on reflection seems

best to me

L O G O S R E A S O N VA L U E C O N S C I E N C E M E A N I N G

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousness A sense of such significances that what is great is fragile and that what is necessary may be destructive which is present in the literature of the fifth century and earlier has disappeared [later] from the ethics of the philosophers and perhaps altogether from their minds Greek philosophy in its sustained pursuit of rational self-sufficiency does turn its back on kinds of human experience and human necessity of which Greek literature itself offers the purest if not the richest expression

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y A N D P H I L O S O P H Y

The continuity between Greek tragedy and Greek philosophy on these questions is however far greater than Williams has allowed On the one hand inside tragedy itself we find arresting portrayals of the human ambition to rational self-sufficiency we come to understand the ways in which problems of exposure motivate this ambition On the other Platos philosophical search for a self- sufficient good life is motivated by a keen sense of these same problems Far from having forgotten about what tragedy describes he sees the problems of exposure so clearly that only a radical solution seems adequate to their depth Nor is he naiumlve about the costs of this solution

N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y P R A C T I C A L C O N F L I C T

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identical which is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A)

Socrates ldquoencourages Euthyphro [a pious Greek] to revise tradition by considering as binding only those requirements concerning which there is divine unanimity he expresses further his own doubt as to whether gods really do disagreerdquo (Nussbaum 30)

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identicalwhich is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A Nussbaum 25)

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousnesshellip what is great is fragile andhellip what is necessary may be destructivehellip

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

In such cases we see a wrong action committed without any direct physical compulsion and in full knowledge of its nature by a person whose ethical character or commitments would otherwise dispose him to reject the acthellip circumstanceshellip prevent the adequate fulfillment of two valid ethical claims

N U S S B A U M 2 5

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

[Aeschylus in Agamemnon] shows us not so much a solution to the problem of practical conflict as the richness and depth of the problem itself (This achievement is closely connected with his poetic resources which put the scene vividly before us show us debate about it and evoke in us responses important to its assessment)

The best the agent can do is to have his suffering the natural expression of his goodness of character and not to stifle these responses out of misguided optimism The best we (the Chorus) can do for him is to respect the gravity of his predicament to respect the responses that express his goodness and to think about his case as showing a possibility for human life in general

N U S S B A U M 4 9 - 5 0

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

bull In a world that allows such dilemmas are there truly gods with a coherent vision for the world

bull Can individual reason and ingenuity suffice for a good life

T H E S O P H I S T SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Hesiod Works amp Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale Piteously she transfixed by his crooked claws was lamenting When the imperious hawk addressed her in arrogant parlance Why little lady such shrieks One stronger than you now has got you Where you are going Ill take you myself though you are a songstress For as I please Ill make you my dinner or give you your freedom Witless is one who attempts to strive against those who are stronger When he is stripped of the prize its injury added to insult Thus said the fast-flying hawk that bird with the generous wing-spanPay more attention to justice and curb high-handedness [brother] Violence ill suits men who are lowly not even the noble Man can lightly endure it it weighs on a person whos fallen Into affliction Its better to take your way on the other Road which conduces to right For outrage (hubris) surrenders to

justice (dikē)hellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Thucydides History 584-116 The Melian Dialogue ATHENIANS [Y]ou know as well as we do that when these matters are discussed by practical people the standard of justice depends on the equality of power to compel and that in fact the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they musthellip Our opinion of the gods and our knowledge of men lead us to conclude that it is a general and necessary law of nature to rule whatever one can This is not a law that we made ourselves nor were we the first to act upon it when it was made We found it already in existence and we shall leave it to exist for ever among those who come after us

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos

advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Republic I 343A-D Thrasymachusrsquo complaint Tell me Socrates do you still have a wet nursehellip Because shersquos letting you run around with a snotty nose and doesnrsquot wipe it when she needs tohellip You think that shepherds and cowherds seek the good of their sheep and cattle and fatten them and take care of them looking to something other than their masterrsquos good and their own Moreover you believe that rulershellip think of something besides their own advantage You are so far from understandinghellip that you donrsquot realize that justice is really the good of another the advantage of the stronger and the ruler and harmful to the one who obeys and serves Injustice is the opposite it rules the truly simple and just and those it rules do what is to the advantage of the other and stronger and they make the one they serve happy but themselves not at all You must look at it as follows my most simple Socrates A just man always gets less than an unjust onehellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Gorgias 482C-484C Callicles on nature and convention [Y]oursquore in fact bringing the discussion around to the sort of crowd-pleasing vulgarities that are admirable only by law [nomos also translatable ldquoconventionrdquo or ldquocustomrdquo] and not by nature And these nature and law are for the most part opposed to each otherhellip I believe that the people who institute our laws are the weak and the many So they institute laws and assign praise and blame with themselves and their own advantage in mind As a way of frightening the more powerfulhellip out of getting a greater share than they they say that getting more than onersquos share is ldquoshamefulrdquo and ldquounjusthelliprdquo But surely if a man whose nature is equal to it arises he will shake off tear apart and escape all this he will trample underfoot our documents our tricks and charms and all our laws that violate nature He the slave will rise up and be revealed as our master and here the justice of nature will shine forth

The New Teachers of Athens

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

P R E - S O C R AT I C ldquo P H I L O S O P H E R S 6 T H - 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

P R E - S O C R AT I C P H I L O S O P H E R S

bull Though not usually calling themselves ldquophilosophersrdquo they seemed to have contributed inspiration for Socratesrsquo method of free inquiry applying logos

bull Scholars adopt different views of what constitutes their innovation and ldquophilosophicalrdquo method (see readings)

bull Basing views on argument and evidence

bull De-ldquomythologizationrdquo

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Miletus

E A R LY P H I L O S O P H Y A N C I E N T M I L E T U S

M I L E T U S

bull Wealthy city-state in Asia Minor

bull Key city for trading and shipping between Near East amp Greece

bull Ionian Greek culture

bull Freedom of thought

bull Open political debate

bull Wealth (for some) providing leisure

bull Thales and his successors Anaximander Anaximenes

bull ldquoPhilosophicalrdquo investigation

bull Later Presocratics Heraclitus ParmenidesldquoORIENTALIZINGrdquo POTTERY

The Milesian school strikes a new note unheard before It has a fresh sense of the meaning of truth ndash a feeling for the sort of thing it is reasonable to suppose The hypothesis it characteristically deals in is concerned with the nature of the one primary stuff the Milesians seem to make a great conscious effort to get at something which really does exist They strike us as throwing off the vast symbolic visions of mythology and waking clear-headed to see and touch real things If we have a rational temperament we feel at once a refreshment Here at last is a statement about the world which is meant and offered as true ndash a logos [explanation] not a mythos [story]

ndash F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952 ed) 42

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The questions which excited them were of this kind Can this apparently confused and disordered world be reduced to simpler principles so that our reason can grasp what it is and how it works What is it made of How does change take place They abandoned mythological and substituted intellectual solutions [It] was no longer satisfying to say that storms were roused by the wrath of Poseidon or death caused by the arrows of Apollo or Artemis A world ruled by anthropomorphic gods human in their passions was a world ruled by caprice Philosophy and science start with the bold confession of faith that not caprice but an inherent orderliness underlies the phenomena and the explanation of nature is to be sought within nature itself ndashWKC Guthrie History of Greek Philosophy (Cambridge 1969) 1 44-45

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

Thales of Miletus

bull Lived late 7th-6th centurybull Born to a Phoenician aristocratic

family ndash so leisurebull Traveled to Egypt and Babylon (by

tradition)bull Legendary wisdombull ldquoFounder of Western philosophyrdquo

bull First to seek an ldquooriginal causerdquo (archecirc)

bull to explain how unseen facts caused visible results without appeal to mythology

bull To provide generalizable proofs or laws

Thales of Miletus

AstronomyMathematicsWater as the archecircAll things are full of gods

bull Traditionally Thalesrsquo star student

bull 25 years old during Thalesrsquo eclipse (585 BCE)

bull Lived c 610-540 BCE

bull ldquoFirst to draw the inhabited world on a tabletrdquo (first mapmaker)

bull Unambiguously our first ldquophilosopherrdquo by standards of demythologization originality generality and observation

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

ldquoAnaximander has expurgated the supernatural with a boldness and completeness to which many of his successors failed to attain The primary order is still said to be lsquoaccording to what is ordainedrsquo it is still a moral order in which Justice prevails but the will of the personal God has disappeared and its place is partly taken by a natural cause the eternal motionrdquo

- F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952) 41 Anaximander relief 1st century AD

Rome Museo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Key contributions

bull Physics the archecircbull Cosmologybull ldquoEvolutionrdquobull Astronomy and Cartography

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Anaximander said that the APEIRON [indefinite unlimited] was the ARCHE and the element of things that are and he was the first to introduce this name for the ARCHE He says that the ARCHE is neither water nor any other of the things called elements but some other nature called APEIRON out of which come to be all the heavens and the worlds in them (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2413-18)

The things that are perish into the things out of which they come to be according to necessity for ldquothey pay penalty and retribution to one another according to their injustice in accordance with the ordering of timerdquo as he says in rather poetical language (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2418-21)

Anaximander of Miletus

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The ARCHE

bull One and unlimitedbull But not undefined Itrsquos AIR

Anaximenes of Miletus

bull Not opposites but a continuum FIRE AIR larr WIND larr CLOUD larr WATER larr EARTH larr STONEbull ldquoLooseningrdquo and ldquotighteningrdquo explain hot and cold

H E R A C L I T U S B 1 0 1 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 3 7 )

I searched out myself

Listening not to me but to the logos it is wise to agree that all things are one

H E R A C L I T U S B 5 0 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 1 1 )

E X A M P L E S

THE ROAD TO PHILOSOP HY

The Hero of Lyric Poets of the Polis (6th century)

bull According to the lyric poets of the polis culture such as Pindar Simonides Tyrtaeus and Sappho (7th-6th century BCE)

bull Pursues collective good of the polis based on strong ties of interdependent responsibility amp cooperation in a just world governed by the gods

Individual Freedom The ldquoSophistsrdquo (5th century)

bull Sources in thinkers like Protagoras and Gorgias (5th century BCE predominantly working in Athens) constructed as a category by Platorsquos later writings

bull Pursues individual advantage based on their personal beliefs and wits using persuasion and power skepticism of traditional values

Vulnerability The Hero of Tragedy (5th century)

bull Iconic examples include Sophoclesrsquo Oedipus and Aeschylusrsquo Agamemnon and Orestes

bull Pursuit of individual amp collective good in a world of apparently conflicting divine values sometimes hampered by their own lack of self-knowledge

I N T E R D E P E N D E N C Y I N T R O D U C E S V U L N E R A B I L I T Y W H I C H M AY B E

C E L E B R AT E D O R R E S I S T E D

The Hero of Epic Homer and Hesiod (8th century)

bull Found in the epic Iliad and Odyssey attributed to Homer (c 8th century BCE) examples include the powerful Achilles and thoughtful persuasive Odysseus

bull Pursues individual honour (timē) in a just world governed by the gods

CH

IGI V

AS

E C

70

0 B

CE

The Hero of Reason The ldquoPresocratics (6th-5th cent)

bull Founding figures including Thales Anaximander Anaximenes Pythagoras Heraclitus Parmenides Seeking to understand the basic original causes (aitiai) of the world through reason

I S T H E W O R L D G E N U I N E LY

I N T E L L I G I B L E T O R E A S O N

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Born in Athens to a stonemason named Sophroniscus in 469 BCE

bull ldquoSocratic problemrdquo Socrates wrote nothing we know about him through Plato Xenophon and Aristophanes whose accounts vary

bull Conversed with anyone ldquorich or poor citizen or foreignerrdquo (Apology 23C)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Non-conformity reliance on individual values and wits (contrast with the earlier poets and rhapsodes)

bull Claims of ignorance interest in shared truth and not only persuasion and resistance of ldquoselfish morality (contrast with the sophists)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Methods based on question and answer (the elenchus) requiring unity or consistency (a) of onersquos beliefs and (b) of onersquos beliefs and actions

bull Behaviour peculiar enough to warrant its own verb (sōkratein) (Arist Birds 1282) before generalized philosophia

bull Brought to trial in 399 BCE by two Athenians Meletus and Anytus charged with ldquoimpiety and corrupting the youngrdquo

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

S O C R AT E S C R I T O 4 6 A

I am the kind of person who listens to nothing within me but the logos that on reflection seems

best to me

L O G O S R E A S O N VA L U E C O N S C I E N C E M E A N I N G

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousness A sense of such significances that what is great is fragile and that what is necessary may be destructive which is present in the literature of the fifth century and earlier has disappeared [later] from the ethics of the philosophers and perhaps altogether from their minds Greek philosophy in its sustained pursuit of rational self-sufficiency does turn its back on kinds of human experience and human necessity of which Greek literature itself offers the purest if not the richest expression

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y A N D P H I L O S O P H Y

The continuity between Greek tragedy and Greek philosophy on these questions is however far greater than Williams has allowed On the one hand inside tragedy itself we find arresting portrayals of the human ambition to rational self-sufficiency we come to understand the ways in which problems of exposure motivate this ambition On the other Platos philosophical search for a self- sufficient good life is motivated by a keen sense of these same problems Far from having forgotten about what tragedy describes he sees the problems of exposure so clearly that only a radical solution seems adequate to their depth Nor is he naiumlve about the costs of this solution

N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y P R A C T I C A L C O N F L I C T

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identical which is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A)

Socrates ldquoencourages Euthyphro [a pious Greek] to revise tradition by considering as binding only those requirements concerning which there is divine unanimity he expresses further his own doubt as to whether gods really do disagreerdquo (Nussbaum 30)

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identicalwhich is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A Nussbaum 25)

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

[Aeschylus in Agamemnon] shows us not so much a solution to the problem of practical conflict as the richness and depth of the problem itself (This achievement is closely connected with his poetic resources which put the scene vividly before us show us debate about it and evoke in us responses important to its assessment)

The best the agent can do is to have his suffering the natural expression of his goodness of character and not to stifle these responses out of misguided optimism The best we (the Chorus) can do for him is to respect the gravity of his predicament to respect the responses that express his goodness and to think about his case as showing a possibility for human life in general

N U S S B A U M 4 9 - 5 0

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

bull In a world that allows such dilemmas are there truly gods with a coherent vision for the world

bull Can individual reason and ingenuity suffice for a good life

T H E S O P H I S T SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Hesiod Works amp Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale Piteously she transfixed by his crooked claws was lamenting When the imperious hawk addressed her in arrogant parlance Why little lady such shrieks One stronger than you now has got you Where you are going Ill take you myself though you are a songstress For as I please Ill make you my dinner or give you your freedom Witless is one who attempts to strive against those who are stronger When he is stripped of the prize its injury added to insult Thus said the fast-flying hawk that bird with the generous wing-spanPay more attention to justice and curb high-handedness [brother] Violence ill suits men who are lowly not even the noble Man can lightly endure it it weighs on a person whos fallen Into affliction Its better to take your way on the other Road which conduces to right For outrage (hubris) surrenders to

justice (dikē)hellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Thucydides History 584-116 The Melian Dialogue ATHENIANS [Y]ou know as well as we do that when these matters are discussed by practical people the standard of justice depends on the equality of power to compel and that in fact the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they musthellip Our opinion of the gods and our knowledge of men lead us to conclude that it is a general and necessary law of nature to rule whatever one can This is not a law that we made ourselves nor were we the first to act upon it when it was made We found it already in existence and we shall leave it to exist for ever among those who come after us

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos

advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Republic I 343A-D Thrasymachusrsquo complaint Tell me Socrates do you still have a wet nursehellip Because shersquos letting you run around with a snotty nose and doesnrsquot wipe it when she needs tohellip You think that shepherds and cowherds seek the good of their sheep and cattle and fatten them and take care of them looking to something other than their masterrsquos good and their own Moreover you believe that rulershellip think of something besides their own advantage You are so far from understandinghellip that you donrsquot realize that justice is really the good of another the advantage of the stronger and the ruler and harmful to the one who obeys and serves Injustice is the opposite it rules the truly simple and just and those it rules do what is to the advantage of the other and stronger and they make the one they serve happy but themselves not at all You must look at it as follows my most simple Socrates A just man always gets less than an unjust onehellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Gorgias 482C-484C Callicles on nature and convention [Y]oursquore in fact bringing the discussion around to the sort of crowd-pleasing vulgarities that are admirable only by law [nomos also translatable ldquoconventionrdquo or ldquocustomrdquo] and not by nature And these nature and law are for the most part opposed to each otherhellip I believe that the people who institute our laws are the weak and the many So they institute laws and assign praise and blame with themselves and their own advantage in mind As a way of frightening the more powerfulhellip out of getting a greater share than they they say that getting more than onersquos share is ldquoshamefulrdquo and ldquounjusthelliprdquo But surely if a man whose nature is equal to it arises he will shake off tear apart and escape all this he will trample underfoot our documents our tricks and charms and all our laws that violate nature He the slave will rise up and be revealed as our master and here the justice of nature will shine forth

The New Teachers of Athens

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

P R E - S O C R AT I C ldquo P H I L O S O P H E R S 6 T H - 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

P R E - S O C R AT I C P H I L O S O P H E R S

bull Though not usually calling themselves ldquophilosophersrdquo they seemed to have contributed inspiration for Socratesrsquo method of free inquiry applying logos

bull Scholars adopt different views of what constitutes their innovation and ldquophilosophicalrdquo method (see readings)

bull Basing views on argument and evidence

bull De-ldquomythologizationrdquo

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Miletus

E A R LY P H I L O S O P H Y A N C I E N T M I L E T U S

M I L E T U S

bull Wealthy city-state in Asia Minor

bull Key city for trading and shipping between Near East amp Greece

bull Ionian Greek culture

bull Freedom of thought

bull Open political debate

bull Wealth (for some) providing leisure

bull Thales and his successors Anaximander Anaximenes

bull ldquoPhilosophicalrdquo investigation

bull Later Presocratics Heraclitus ParmenidesldquoORIENTALIZINGrdquo POTTERY

The Milesian school strikes a new note unheard before It has a fresh sense of the meaning of truth ndash a feeling for the sort of thing it is reasonable to suppose The hypothesis it characteristically deals in is concerned with the nature of the one primary stuff the Milesians seem to make a great conscious effort to get at something which really does exist They strike us as throwing off the vast symbolic visions of mythology and waking clear-headed to see and touch real things If we have a rational temperament we feel at once a refreshment Here at last is a statement about the world which is meant and offered as true ndash a logos [explanation] not a mythos [story]

ndash F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952 ed) 42

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The questions which excited them were of this kind Can this apparently confused and disordered world be reduced to simpler principles so that our reason can grasp what it is and how it works What is it made of How does change take place They abandoned mythological and substituted intellectual solutions [It] was no longer satisfying to say that storms were roused by the wrath of Poseidon or death caused by the arrows of Apollo or Artemis A world ruled by anthropomorphic gods human in their passions was a world ruled by caprice Philosophy and science start with the bold confession of faith that not caprice but an inherent orderliness underlies the phenomena and the explanation of nature is to be sought within nature itself ndashWKC Guthrie History of Greek Philosophy (Cambridge 1969) 1 44-45

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

Thales of Miletus

bull Lived late 7th-6th centurybull Born to a Phoenician aristocratic

family ndash so leisurebull Traveled to Egypt and Babylon (by

tradition)bull Legendary wisdombull ldquoFounder of Western philosophyrdquo

bull First to seek an ldquooriginal causerdquo (archecirc)

bull to explain how unseen facts caused visible results without appeal to mythology

bull To provide generalizable proofs or laws

Thales of Miletus

AstronomyMathematicsWater as the archecircAll things are full of gods

bull Traditionally Thalesrsquo star student

bull 25 years old during Thalesrsquo eclipse (585 BCE)

bull Lived c 610-540 BCE

bull ldquoFirst to draw the inhabited world on a tabletrdquo (first mapmaker)

bull Unambiguously our first ldquophilosopherrdquo by standards of demythologization originality generality and observation

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

ldquoAnaximander has expurgated the supernatural with a boldness and completeness to which many of his successors failed to attain The primary order is still said to be lsquoaccording to what is ordainedrsquo it is still a moral order in which Justice prevails but the will of the personal God has disappeared and its place is partly taken by a natural cause the eternal motionrdquo

- F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952) 41 Anaximander relief 1st century AD

Rome Museo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Key contributions

bull Physics the archecircbull Cosmologybull ldquoEvolutionrdquobull Astronomy and Cartography

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Anaximander said that the APEIRON [indefinite unlimited] was the ARCHE and the element of things that are and he was the first to introduce this name for the ARCHE He says that the ARCHE is neither water nor any other of the things called elements but some other nature called APEIRON out of which come to be all the heavens and the worlds in them (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2413-18)

The things that are perish into the things out of which they come to be according to necessity for ldquothey pay penalty and retribution to one another according to their injustice in accordance with the ordering of timerdquo as he says in rather poetical language (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2418-21)

Anaximander of Miletus

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The ARCHE

bull One and unlimitedbull But not undefined Itrsquos AIR

Anaximenes of Miletus

bull Not opposites but a continuum FIRE AIR larr WIND larr CLOUD larr WATER larr EARTH larr STONEbull ldquoLooseningrdquo and ldquotighteningrdquo explain hot and cold

H E R A C L I T U S B 1 0 1 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 3 7 )

I searched out myself

Listening not to me but to the logos it is wise to agree that all things are one

H E R A C L I T U S B 5 0 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 1 1 )

E X A M P L E S

THE ROAD TO PHILOSOP HY

The Hero of Lyric Poets of the Polis (6th century)

bull According to the lyric poets of the polis culture such as Pindar Simonides Tyrtaeus and Sappho (7th-6th century BCE)

bull Pursues collective good of the polis based on strong ties of interdependent responsibility amp cooperation in a just world governed by the gods

Individual Freedom The ldquoSophistsrdquo (5th century)

bull Sources in thinkers like Protagoras and Gorgias (5th century BCE predominantly working in Athens) constructed as a category by Platorsquos later writings

bull Pursues individual advantage based on their personal beliefs and wits using persuasion and power skepticism of traditional values

Vulnerability The Hero of Tragedy (5th century)

bull Iconic examples include Sophoclesrsquo Oedipus and Aeschylusrsquo Agamemnon and Orestes

bull Pursuit of individual amp collective good in a world of apparently conflicting divine values sometimes hampered by their own lack of self-knowledge

I N T E R D E P E N D E N C Y I N T R O D U C E S V U L N E R A B I L I T Y W H I C H M AY B E

C E L E B R AT E D O R R E S I S T E D

The Hero of Epic Homer and Hesiod (8th century)

bull Found in the epic Iliad and Odyssey attributed to Homer (c 8th century BCE) examples include the powerful Achilles and thoughtful persuasive Odysseus

bull Pursues individual honour (timē) in a just world governed by the gods

CH

IGI V

AS

E C

70

0 B

CE

The Hero of Reason The ldquoPresocratics (6th-5th cent)

bull Founding figures including Thales Anaximander Anaximenes Pythagoras Heraclitus Parmenides Seeking to understand the basic original causes (aitiai) of the world through reason

I S T H E W O R L D G E N U I N E LY

I N T E L L I G I B L E T O R E A S O N

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Born in Athens to a stonemason named Sophroniscus in 469 BCE

bull ldquoSocratic problemrdquo Socrates wrote nothing we know about him through Plato Xenophon and Aristophanes whose accounts vary

bull Conversed with anyone ldquorich or poor citizen or foreignerrdquo (Apology 23C)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Non-conformity reliance on individual values and wits (contrast with the earlier poets and rhapsodes)

bull Claims of ignorance interest in shared truth and not only persuasion and resistance of ldquoselfish morality (contrast with the sophists)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Methods based on question and answer (the elenchus) requiring unity or consistency (a) of onersquos beliefs and (b) of onersquos beliefs and actions

bull Behaviour peculiar enough to warrant its own verb (sōkratein) (Arist Birds 1282) before generalized philosophia

bull Brought to trial in 399 BCE by two Athenians Meletus and Anytus charged with ldquoimpiety and corrupting the youngrdquo

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

S O C R AT E S C R I T O 4 6 A

I am the kind of person who listens to nothing within me but the logos that on reflection seems

best to me

L O G O S R E A S O N VA L U E C O N S C I E N C E M E A N I N G

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousness A sense of such significances that what is great is fragile and that what is necessary may be destructive which is present in the literature of the fifth century and earlier has disappeared [later] from the ethics of the philosophers and perhaps altogether from their minds Greek philosophy in its sustained pursuit of rational self-sufficiency does turn its back on kinds of human experience and human necessity of which Greek literature itself offers the purest if not the richest expression

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y A N D P H I L O S O P H Y

The continuity between Greek tragedy and Greek philosophy on these questions is however far greater than Williams has allowed On the one hand inside tragedy itself we find arresting portrayals of the human ambition to rational self-sufficiency we come to understand the ways in which problems of exposure motivate this ambition On the other Platos philosophical search for a self- sufficient good life is motivated by a keen sense of these same problems Far from having forgotten about what tragedy describes he sees the problems of exposure so clearly that only a radical solution seems adequate to their depth Nor is he naiumlve about the costs of this solution

N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y P R A C T I C A L C O N F L I C T

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identical which is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A)

Socrates ldquoencourages Euthyphro [a pious Greek] to revise tradition by considering as binding only those requirements concerning which there is divine unanimity he expresses further his own doubt as to whether gods really do disagreerdquo (Nussbaum 30)

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identicalwhich is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A Nussbaum 25)

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N

bull In a world that allows such dilemmas are there truly gods with a coherent vision for the world

bull Can individual reason and ingenuity suffice for a good life

T H E S O P H I S T SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Hesiod Works amp Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale Piteously she transfixed by his crooked claws was lamenting When the imperious hawk addressed her in arrogant parlance Why little lady such shrieks One stronger than you now has got you Where you are going Ill take you myself though you are a songstress For as I please Ill make you my dinner or give you your freedom Witless is one who attempts to strive against those who are stronger When he is stripped of the prize its injury added to insult Thus said the fast-flying hawk that bird with the generous wing-spanPay more attention to justice and curb high-handedness [brother] Violence ill suits men who are lowly not even the noble Man can lightly endure it it weighs on a person whos fallen Into affliction Its better to take your way on the other Road which conduces to right For outrage (hubris) surrenders to

justice (dikē)hellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Thucydides History 584-116 The Melian Dialogue ATHENIANS [Y]ou know as well as we do that when these matters are discussed by practical people the standard of justice depends on the equality of power to compel and that in fact the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they musthellip Our opinion of the gods and our knowledge of men lead us to conclude that it is a general and necessary law of nature to rule whatever one can This is not a law that we made ourselves nor were we the first to act upon it when it was made We found it already in existence and we shall leave it to exist for ever among those who come after us

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos

advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Republic I 343A-D Thrasymachusrsquo complaint Tell me Socrates do you still have a wet nursehellip Because shersquos letting you run around with a snotty nose and doesnrsquot wipe it when she needs tohellip You think that shepherds and cowherds seek the good of their sheep and cattle and fatten them and take care of them looking to something other than their masterrsquos good and their own Moreover you believe that rulershellip think of something besides their own advantage You are so far from understandinghellip that you donrsquot realize that justice is really the good of another the advantage of the stronger and the ruler and harmful to the one who obeys and serves Injustice is the opposite it rules the truly simple and just and those it rules do what is to the advantage of the other and stronger and they make the one they serve happy but themselves not at all You must look at it as follows my most simple Socrates A just man always gets less than an unjust onehellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Gorgias 482C-484C Callicles on nature and convention [Y]oursquore in fact bringing the discussion around to the sort of crowd-pleasing vulgarities that are admirable only by law [nomos also translatable ldquoconventionrdquo or ldquocustomrdquo] and not by nature And these nature and law are for the most part opposed to each otherhellip I believe that the people who institute our laws are the weak and the many So they institute laws and assign praise and blame with themselves and their own advantage in mind As a way of frightening the more powerfulhellip out of getting a greater share than they they say that getting more than onersquos share is ldquoshamefulrdquo and ldquounjusthelliprdquo But surely if a man whose nature is equal to it arises he will shake off tear apart and escape all this he will trample underfoot our documents our tricks and charms and all our laws that violate nature He the slave will rise up and be revealed as our master and here the justice of nature will shine forth

The New Teachers of Athens

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

P R E - S O C R AT I C ldquo P H I L O S O P H E R S 6 T H - 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

P R E - S O C R AT I C P H I L O S O P H E R S

bull Though not usually calling themselves ldquophilosophersrdquo they seemed to have contributed inspiration for Socratesrsquo method of free inquiry applying logos

bull Scholars adopt different views of what constitutes their innovation and ldquophilosophicalrdquo method (see readings)

bull Basing views on argument and evidence

bull De-ldquomythologizationrdquo

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Miletus

E A R LY P H I L O S O P H Y A N C I E N T M I L E T U S

M I L E T U S

bull Wealthy city-state in Asia Minor

bull Key city for trading and shipping between Near East amp Greece

bull Ionian Greek culture

bull Freedom of thought

bull Open political debate

bull Wealth (for some) providing leisure

bull Thales and his successors Anaximander Anaximenes

bull ldquoPhilosophicalrdquo investigation

bull Later Presocratics Heraclitus ParmenidesldquoORIENTALIZINGrdquo POTTERY

The Milesian school strikes a new note unheard before It has a fresh sense of the meaning of truth ndash a feeling for the sort of thing it is reasonable to suppose The hypothesis it characteristically deals in is concerned with the nature of the one primary stuff the Milesians seem to make a great conscious effort to get at something which really does exist They strike us as throwing off the vast symbolic visions of mythology and waking clear-headed to see and touch real things If we have a rational temperament we feel at once a refreshment Here at last is a statement about the world which is meant and offered as true ndash a logos [explanation] not a mythos [story]

ndash F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952 ed) 42

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The questions which excited them were of this kind Can this apparently confused and disordered world be reduced to simpler principles so that our reason can grasp what it is and how it works What is it made of How does change take place They abandoned mythological and substituted intellectual solutions [It] was no longer satisfying to say that storms were roused by the wrath of Poseidon or death caused by the arrows of Apollo or Artemis A world ruled by anthropomorphic gods human in their passions was a world ruled by caprice Philosophy and science start with the bold confession of faith that not caprice but an inherent orderliness underlies the phenomena and the explanation of nature is to be sought within nature itself ndashWKC Guthrie History of Greek Philosophy (Cambridge 1969) 1 44-45

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

Thales of Miletus

bull Lived late 7th-6th centurybull Born to a Phoenician aristocratic

family ndash so leisurebull Traveled to Egypt and Babylon (by

tradition)bull Legendary wisdombull ldquoFounder of Western philosophyrdquo

bull First to seek an ldquooriginal causerdquo (archecirc)

bull to explain how unseen facts caused visible results without appeal to mythology

bull To provide generalizable proofs or laws

Thales of Miletus

AstronomyMathematicsWater as the archecircAll things are full of gods

bull Traditionally Thalesrsquo star student

bull 25 years old during Thalesrsquo eclipse (585 BCE)

bull Lived c 610-540 BCE

bull ldquoFirst to draw the inhabited world on a tabletrdquo (first mapmaker)

bull Unambiguously our first ldquophilosopherrdquo by standards of demythologization originality generality and observation

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

ldquoAnaximander has expurgated the supernatural with a boldness and completeness to which many of his successors failed to attain The primary order is still said to be lsquoaccording to what is ordainedrsquo it is still a moral order in which Justice prevails but the will of the personal God has disappeared and its place is partly taken by a natural cause the eternal motionrdquo

- F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952) 41 Anaximander relief 1st century AD

Rome Museo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Key contributions

bull Physics the archecircbull Cosmologybull ldquoEvolutionrdquobull Astronomy and Cartography

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Anaximander said that the APEIRON [indefinite unlimited] was the ARCHE and the element of things that are and he was the first to introduce this name for the ARCHE He says that the ARCHE is neither water nor any other of the things called elements but some other nature called APEIRON out of which come to be all the heavens and the worlds in them (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2413-18)

The things that are perish into the things out of which they come to be according to necessity for ldquothey pay penalty and retribution to one another according to their injustice in accordance with the ordering of timerdquo as he says in rather poetical language (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2418-21)

Anaximander of Miletus

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The ARCHE

bull One and unlimitedbull But not undefined Itrsquos AIR

Anaximenes of Miletus

bull Not opposites but a continuum FIRE AIR larr WIND larr CLOUD larr WATER larr EARTH larr STONEbull ldquoLooseningrdquo and ldquotighteningrdquo explain hot and cold

H E R A C L I T U S B 1 0 1 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 3 7 )

I searched out myself

Listening not to me but to the logos it is wise to agree that all things are one

H E R A C L I T U S B 5 0 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 1 1 )

E X A M P L E S

THE ROAD TO PHILOSOP HY

The Hero of Lyric Poets of the Polis (6th century)

bull According to the lyric poets of the polis culture such as Pindar Simonides Tyrtaeus and Sappho (7th-6th century BCE)

bull Pursues collective good of the polis based on strong ties of interdependent responsibility amp cooperation in a just world governed by the gods

Individual Freedom The ldquoSophistsrdquo (5th century)

bull Sources in thinkers like Protagoras and Gorgias (5th century BCE predominantly working in Athens) constructed as a category by Platorsquos later writings

bull Pursues individual advantage based on their personal beliefs and wits using persuasion and power skepticism of traditional values

Vulnerability The Hero of Tragedy (5th century)

bull Iconic examples include Sophoclesrsquo Oedipus and Aeschylusrsquo Agamemnon and Orestes

bull Pursuit of individual amp collective good in a world of apparently conflicting divine values sometimes hampered by their own lack of self-knowledge

I N T E R D E P E N D E N C Y I N T R O D U C E S V U L N E R A B I L I T Y W H I C H M AY B E

C E L E B R AT E D O R R E S I S T E D

The Hero of Epic Homer and Hesiod (8th century)

bull Found in the epic Iliad and Odyssey attributed to Homer (c 8th century BCE) examples include the powerful Achilles and thoughtful persuasive Odysseus

bull Pursues individual honour (timē) in a just world governed by the gods

CH

IGI V

AS

E C

70

0 B

CE

The Hero of Reason The ldquoPresocratics (6th-5th cent)

bull Founding figures including Thales Anaximander Anaximenes Pythagoras Heraclitus Parmenides Seeking to understand the basic original causes (aitiai) of the world through reason

I S T H E W O R L D G E N U I N E LY

I N T E L L I G I B L E T O R E A S O N

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Born in Athens to a stonemason named Sophroniscus in 469 BCE

bull ldquoSocratic problemrdquo Socrates wrote nothing we know about him through Plato Xenophon and Aristophanes whose accounts vary

bull Conversed with anyone ldquorich or poor citizen or foreignerrdquo (Apology 23C)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Non-conformity reliance on individual values and wits (contrast with the earlier poets and rhapsodes)

bull Claims of ignorance interest in shared truth and not only persuasion and resistance of ldquoselfish morality (contrast with the sophists)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Methods based on question and answer (the elenchus) requiring unity or consistency (a) of onersquos beliefs and (b) of onersquos beliefs and actions

bull Behaviour peculiar enough to warrant its own verb (sōkratein) (Arist Birds 1282) before generalized philosophia

bull Brought to trial in 399 BCE by two Athenians Meletus and Anytus charged with ldquoimpiety and corrupting the youngrdquo

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

S O C R AT E S C R I T O 4 6 A

I am the kind of person who listens to nothing within me but the logos that on reflection seems

best to me

L O G O S R E A S O N VA L U E C O N S C I E N C E M E A N I N G

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousness A sense of such significances that what is great is fragile and that what is necessary may be destructive which is present in the literature of the fifth century and earlier has disappeared [later] from the ethics of the philosophers and perhaps altogether from their minds Greek philosophy in its sustained pursuit of rational self-sufficiency does turn its back on kinds of human experience and human necessity of which Greek literature itself offers the purest if not the richest expression

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y A N D P H I L O S O P H Y

The continuity between Greek tragedy and Greek philosophy on these questions is however far greater than Williams has allowed On the one hand inside tragedy itself we find arresting portrayals of the human ambition to rational self-sufficiency we come to understand the ways in which problems of exposure motivate this ambition On the other Platos philosophical search for a self- sufficient good life is motivated by a keen sense of these same problems Far from having forgotten about what tragedy describes he sees the problems of exposure so clearly that only a radical solution seems adequate to their depth Nor is he naiumlve about the costs of this solution

N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y P R A C T I C A L C O N F L I C T

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identical which is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A)

Socrates ldquoencourages Euthyphro [a pious Greek] to revise tradition by considering as binding only those requirements concerning which there is divine unanimity he expresses further his own doubt as to whether gods really do disagreerdquo (Nussbaum 30)

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identicalwhich is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A Nussbaum 25)

T H E S O P H I S T SC 5 T H - 4 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Hesiod Works amp Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale Piteously she transfixed by his crooked claws was lamenting When the imperious hawk addressed her in arrogant parlance Why little lady such shrieks One stronger than you now has got you Where you are going Ill take you myself though you are a songstress For as I please Ill make you my dinner or give you your freedom Witless is one who attempts to strive against those who are stronger When he is stripped of the prize its injury added to insult Thus said the fast-flying hawk that bird with the generous wing-spanPay more attention to justice and curb high-handedness [brother] Violence ill suits men who are lowly not even the noble Man can lightly endure it it weighs on a person whos fallen Into affliction Its better to take your way on the other Road which conduces to right For outrage (hubris) surrenders to

justice (dikē)hellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Thucydides History 584-116 The Melian Dialogue ATHENIANS [Y]ou know as well as we do that when these matters are discussed by practical people the standard of justice depends on the equality of power to compel and that in fact the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they musthellip Our opinion of the gods and our knowledge of men lead us to conclude that it is a general and necessary law of nature to rule whatever one can This is not a law that we made ourselves nor were we the first to act upon it when it was made We found it already in existence and we shall leave it to exist for ever among those who come after us

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos

advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Republic I 343A-D Thrasymachusrsquo complaint Tell me Socrates do you still have a wet nursehellip Because shersquos letting you run around with a snotty nose and doesnrsquot wipe it when she needs tohellip You think that shepherds and cowherds seek the good of their sheep and cattle and fatten them and take care of them looking to something other than their masterrsquos good and their own Moreover you believe that rulershellip think of something besides their own advantage You are so far from understandinghellip that you donrsquot realize that justice is really the good of another the advantage of the stronger and the ruler and harmful to the one who obeys and serves Injustice is the opposite it rules the truly simple and just and those it rules do what is to the advantage of the other and stronger and they make the one they serve happy but themselves not at all You must look at it as follows my most simple Socrates A just man always gets less than an unjust onehellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Gorgias 482C-484C Callicles on nature and convention [Y]oursquore in fact bringing the discussion around to the sort of crowd-pleasing vulgarities that are admirable only by law [nomos also translatable ldquoconventionrdquo or ldquocustomrdquo] and not by nature And these nature and law are for the most part opposed to each otherhellip I believe that the people who institute our laws are the weak and the many So they institute laws and assign praise and blame with themselves and their own advantage in mind As a way of frightening the more powerfulhellip out of getting a greater share than they they say that getting more than onersquos share is ldquoshamefulrdquo and ldquounjusthelliprdquo But surely if a man whose nature is equal to it arises he will shake off tear apart and escape all this he will trample underfoot our documents our tricks and charms and all our laws that violate nature He the slave will rise up and be revealed as our master and here the justice of nature will shine forth

The New Teachers of Athens

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

P R E - S O C R AT I C ldquo P H I L O S O P H E R S 6 T H - 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

P R E - S O C R AT I C P H I L O S O P H E R S

bull Though not usually calling themselves ldquophilosophersrdquo they seemed to have contributed inspiration for Socratesrsquo method of free inquiry applying logos

bull Scholars adopt different views of what constitutes their innovation and ldquophilosophicalrdquo method (see readings)

bull Basing views on argument and evidence

bull De-ldquomythologizationrdquo

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Miletus

E A R LY P H I L O S O P H Y A N C I E N T M I L E T U S

M I L E T U S

bull Wealthy city-state in Asia Minor

bull Key city for trading and shipping between Near East amp Greece

bull Ionian Greek culture

bull Freedom of thought

bull Open political debate

bull Wealth (for some) providing leisure

bull Thales and his successors Anaximander Anaximenes

bull ldquoPhilosophicalrdquo investigation

bull Later Presocratics Heraclitus ParmenidesldquoORIENTALIZINGrdquo POTTERY

The Milesian school strikes a new note unheard before It has a fresh sense of the meaning of truth ndash a feeling for the sort of thing it is reasonable to suppose The hypothesis it characteristically deals in is concerned with the nature of the one primary stuff the Milesians seem to make a great conscious effort to get at something which really does exist They strike us as throwing off the vast symbolic visions of mythology and waking clear-headed to see and touch real things If we have a rational temperament we feel at once a refreshment Here at last is a statement about the world which is meant and offered as true ndash a logos [explanation] not a mythos [story]

ndash F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952 ed) 42

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The questions which excited them were of this kind Can this apparently confused and disordered world be reduced to simpler principles so that our reason can grasp what it is and how it works What is it made of How does change take place They abandoned mythological and substituted intellectual solutions [It] was no longer satisfying to say that storms were roused by the wrath of Poseidon or death caused by the arrows of Apollo or Artemis A world ruled by anthropomorphic gods human in their passions was a world ruled by caprice Philosophy and science start with the bold confession of faith that not caprice but an inherent orderliness underlies the phenomena and the explanation of nature is to be sought within nature itself ndashWKC Guthrie History of Greek Philosophy (Cambridge 1969) 1 44-45

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

Thales of Miletus

bull Lived late 7th-6th centurybull Born to a Phoenician aristocratic

family ndash so leisurebull Traveled to Egypt and Babylon (by

tradition)bull Legendary wisdombull ldquoFounder of Western philosophyrdquo

bull First to seek an ldquooriginal causerdquo (archecirc)

bull to explain how unseen facts caused visible results without appeal to mythology

bull To provide generalizable proofs or laws

Thales of Miletus

AstronomyMathematicsWater as the archecircAll things are full of gods

bull Traditionally Thalesrsquo star student

bull 25 years old during Thalesrsquo eclipse (585 BCE)

bull Lived c 610-540 BCE

bull ldquoFirst to draw the inhabited world on a tabletrdquo (first mapmaker)

bull Unambiguously our first ldquophilosopherrdquo by standards of demythologization originality generality and observation

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

ldquoAnaximander has expurgated the supernatural with a boldness and completeness to which many of his successors failed to attain The primary order is still said to be lsquoaccording to what is ordainedrsquo it is still a moral order in which Justice prevails but the will of the personal God has disappeared and its place is partly taken by a natural cause the eternal motionrdquo

- F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952) 41 Anaximander relief 1st century AD

Rome Museo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Key contributions

bull Physics the archecircbull Cosmologybull ldquoEvolutionrdquobull Astronomy and Cartography

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Anaximander said that the APEIRON [indefinite unlimited] was the ARCHE and the element of things that are and he was the first to introduce this name for the ARCHE He says that the ARCHE is neither water nor any other of the things called elements but some other nature called APEIRON out of which come to be all the heavens and the worlds in them (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2413-18)

The things that are perish into the things out of which they come to be according to necessity for ldquothey pay penalty and retribution to one another according to their injustice in accordance with the ordering of timerdquo as he says in rather poetical language (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2418-21)

Anaximander of Miletus

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The ARCHE

bull One and unlimitedbull But not undefined Itrsquos AIR

Anaximenes of Miletus

bull Not opposites but a continuum FIRE AIR larr WIND larr CLOUD larr WATER larr EARTH larr STONEbull ldquoLooseningrdquo and ldquotighteningrdquo explain hot and cold

H E R A C L I T U S B 1 0 1 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 3 7 )

I searched out myself

Listening not to me but to the logos it is wise to agree that all things are one

H E R A C L I T U S B 5 0 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 1 1 )

E X A M P L E S

THE ROAD TO PHILOSOP HY

The Hero of Lyric Poets of the Polis (6th century)

bull According to the lyric poets of the polis culture such as Pindar Simonides Tyrtaeus and Sappho (7th-6th century BCE)

bull Pursues collective good of the polis based on strong ties of interdependent responsibility amp cooperation in a just world governed by the gods

Individual Freedom The ldquoSophistsrdquo (5th century)

bull Sources in thinkers like Protagoras and Gorgias (5th century BCE predominantly working in Athens) constructed as a category by Platorsquos later writings

bull Pursues individual advantage based on their personal beliefs and wits using persuasion and power skepticism of traditional values

Vulnerability The Hero of Tragedy (5th century)

bull Iconic examples include Sophoclesrsquo Oedipus and Aeschylusrsquo Agamemnon and Orestes

bull Pursuit of individual amp collective good in a world of apparently conflicting divine values sometimes hampered by their own lack of self-knowledge

I N T E R D E P E N D E N C Y I N T R O D U C E S V U L N E R A B I L I T Y W H I C H M AY B E

C E L E B R AT E D O R R E S I S T E D

The Hero of Epic Homer and Hesiod (8th century)

bull Found in the epic Iliad and Odyssey attributed to Homer (c 8th century BCE) examples include the powerful Achilles and thoughtful persuasive Odysseus

bull Pursues individual honour (timē) in a just world governed by the gods

CH

IGI V

AS

E C

70

0 B

CE

The Hero of Reason The ldquoPresocratics (6th-5th cent)

bull Founding figures including Thales Anaximander Anaximenes Pythagoras Heraclitus Parmenides Seeking to understand the basic original causes (aitiai) of the world through reason

I S T H E W O R L D G E N U I N E LY

I N T E L L I G I B L E T O R E A S O N

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Born in Athens to a stonemason named Sophroniscus in 469 BCE

bull ldquoSocratic problemrdquo Socrates wrote nothing we know about him through Plato Xenophon and Aristophanes whose accounts vary

bull Conversed with anyone ldquorich or poor citizen or foreignerrdquo (Apology 23C)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Non-conformity reliance on individual values and wits (contrast with the earlier poets and rhapsodes)

bull Claims of ignorance interest in shared truth and not only persuasion and resistance of ldquoselfish morality (contrast with the sophists)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Methods based on question and answer (the elenchus) requiring unity or consistency (a) of onersquos beliefs and (b) of onersquos beliefs and actions

bull Behaviour peculiar enough to warrant its own verb (sōkratein) (Arist Birds 1282) before generalized philosophia

bull Brought to trial in 399 BCE by two Athenians Meletus and Anytus charged with ldquoimpiety and corrupting the youngrdquo

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

S O C R AT E S C R I T O 4 6 A

I am the kind of person who listens to nothing within me but the logos that on reflection seems

best to me

L O G O S R E A S O N VA L U E C O N S C I E N C E M E A N I N G

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousness A sense of such significances that what is great is fragile and that what is necessary may be destructive which is present in the literature of the fifth century and earlier has disappeared [later] from the ethics of the philosophers and perhaps altogether from their minds Greek philosophy in its sustained pursuit of rational self-sufficiency does turn its back on kinds of human experience and human necessity of which Greek literature itself offers the purest if not the richest expression

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y A N D P H I L O S O P H Y

The continuity between Greek tragedy and Greek philosophy on these questions is however far greater than Williams has allowed On the one hand inside tragedy itself we find arresting portrayals of the human ambition to rational self-sufficiency we come to understand the ways in which problems of exposure motivate this ambition On the other Platos philosophical search for a self- sufficient good life is motivated by a keen sense of these same problems Far from having forgotten about what tragedy describes he sees the problems of exposure so clearly that only a radical solution seems adequate to their depth Nor is he naiumlve about the costs of this solution

N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y P R A C T I C A L C O N F L I C T

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identical which is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A)

Socrates ldquoencourages Euthyphro [a pious Greek] to revise tradition by considering as binding only those requirements concerning which there is divine unanimity he expresses further his own doubt as to whether gods really do disagreerdquo (Nussbaum 30)

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identicalwhich is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A Nussbaum 25)

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Hesiod Works amp Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale Piteously she transfixed by his crooked claws was lamenting When the imperious hawk addressed her in arrogant parlance Why little lady such shrieks One stronger than you now has got you Where you are going Ill take you myself though you are a songstress For as I please Ill make you my dinner or give you your freedom Witless is one who attempts to strive against those who are stronger When he is stripped of the prize its injury added to insult Thus said the fast-flying hawk that bird with the generous wing-spanPay more attention to justice and curb high-handedness [brother] Violence ill suits men who are lowly not even the noble Man can lightly endure it it weighs on a person whos fallen Into affliction Its better to take your way on the other Road which conduces to right For outrage (hubris) surrenders to

justice (dikē)hellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Thucydides History 584-116 The Melian Dialogue ATHENIANS [Y]ou know as well as we do that when these matters are discussed by practical people the standard of justice depends on the equality of power to compel and that in fact the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they musthellip Our opinion of the gods and our knowledge of men lead us to conclude that it is a general and necessary law of nature to rule whatever one can This is not a law that we made ourselves nor were we the first to act upon it when it was made We found it already in existence and we shall leave it to exist for ever among those who come after us

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos

advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Republic I 343A-D Thrasymachusrsquo complaint Tell me Socrates do you still have a wet nursehellip Because shersquos letting you run around with a snotty nose and doesnrsquot wipe it when she needs tohellip You think that shepherds and cowherds seek the good of their sheep and cattle and fatten them and take care of them looking to something other than their masterrsquos good and their own Moreover you believe that rulershellip think of something besides their own advantage You are so far from understandinghellip that you donrsquot realize that justice is really the good of another the advantage of the stronger and the ruler and harmful to the one who obeys and serves Injustice is the opposite it rules the truly simple and just and those it rules do what is to the advantage of the other and stronger and they make the one they serve happy but themselves not at all You must look at it as follows my most simple Socrates A just man always gets less than an unjust onehellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Gorgias 482C-484C Callicles on nature and convention [Y]oursquore in fact bringing the discussion around to the sort of crowd-pleasing vulgarities that are admirable only by law [nomos also translatable ldquoconventionrdquo or ldquocustomrdquo] and not by nature And these nature and law are for the most part opposed to each otherhellip I believe that the people who institute our laws are the weak and the many So they institute laws and assign praise and blame with themselves and their own advantage in mind As a way of frightening the more powerfulhellip out of getting a greater share than they they say that getting more than onersquos share is ldquoshamefulrdquo and ldquounjusthelliprdquo But surely if a man whose nature is equal to it arises he will shake off tear apart and escape all this he will trample underfoot our documents our tricks and charms and all our laws that violate nature He the slave will rise up and be revealed as our master and here the justice of nature will shine forth

The New Teachers of Athens

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

P R E - S O C R AT I C ldquo P H I L O S O P H E R S 6 T H - 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

P R E - S O C R AT I C P H I L O S O P H E R S

bull Though not usually calling themselves ldquophilosophersrdquo they seemed to have contributed inspiration for Socratesrsquo method of free inquiry applying logos

bull Scholars adopt different views of what constitutes their innovation and ldquophilosophicalrdquo method (see readings)

bull Basing views on argument and evidence

bull De-ldquomythologizationrdquo

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Miletus

E A R LY P H I L O S O P H Y A N C I E N T M I L E T U S

M I L E T U S

bull Wealthy city-state in Asia Minor

bull Key city for trading and shipping between Near East amp Greece

bull Ionian Greek culture

bull Freedom of thought

bull Open political debate

bull Wealth (for some) providing leisure

bull Thales and his successors Anaximander Anaximenes

bull ldquoPhilosophicalrdquo investigation

bull Later Presocratics Heraclitus ParmenidesldquoORIENTALIZINGrdquo POTTERY

The Milesian school strikes a new note unheard before It has a fresh sense of the meaning of truth ndash a feeling for the sort of thing it is reasonable to suppose The hypothesis it characteristically deals in is concerned with the nature of the one primary stuff the Milesians seem to make a great conscious effort to get at something which really does exist They strike us as throwing off the vast symbolic visions of mythology and waking clear-headed to see and touch real things If we have a rational temperament we feel at once a refreshment Here at last is a statement about the world which is meant and offered as true ndash a logos [explanation] not a mythos [story]

ndash F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952 ed) 42

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The questions which excited them were of this kind Can this apparently confused and disordered world be reduced to simpler principles so that our reason can grasp what it is and how it works What is it made of How does change take place They abandoned mythological and substituted intellectual solutions [It] was no longer satisfying to say that storms were roused by the wrath of Poseidon or death caused by the arrows of Apollo or Artemis A world ruled by anthropomorphic gods human in their passions was a world ruled by caprice Philosophy and science start with the bold confession of faith that not caprice but an inherent orderliness underlies the phenomena and the explanation of nature is to be sought within nature itself ndashWKC Guthrie History of Greek Philosophy (Cambridge 1969) 1 44-45

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

Thales of Miletus

bull Lived late 7th-6th centurybull Born to a Phoenician aristocratic

family ndash so leisurebull Traveled to Egypt and Babylon (by

tradition)bull Legendary wisdombull ldquoFounder of Western philosophyrdquo

bull First to seek an ldquooriginal causerdquo (archecirc)

bull to explain how unseen facts caused visible results without appeal to mythology

bull To provide generalizable proofs or laws

Thales of Miletus

AstronomyMathematicsWater as the archecircAll things are full of gods

bull Traditionally Thalesrsquo star student

bull 25 years old during Thalesrsquo eclipse (585 BCE)

bull Lived c 610-540 BCE

bull ldquoFirst to draw the inhabited world on a tabletrdquo (first mapmaker)

bull Unambiguously our first ldquophilosopherrdquo by standards of demythologization originality generality and observation

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

ldquoAnaximander has expurgated the supernatural with a boldness and completeness to which many of his successors failed to attain The primary order is still said to be lsquoaccording to what is ordainedrsquo it is still a moral order in which Justice prevails but the will of the personal God has disappeared and its place is partly taken by a natural cause the eternal motionrdquo

- F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952) 41 Anaximander relief 1st century AD

Rome Museo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Key contributions

bull Physics the archecircbull Cosmologybull ldquoEvolutionrdquobull Astronomy and Cartography

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Anaximander said that the APEIRON [indefinite unlimited] was the ARCHE and the element of things that are and he was the first to introduce this name for the ARCHE He says that the ARCHE is neither water nor any other of the things called elements but some other nature called APEIRON out of which come to be all the heavens and the worlds in them (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2413-18)

The things that are perish into the things out of which they come to be according to necessity for ldquothey pay penalty and retribution to one another according to their injustice in accordance with the ordering of timerdquo as he says in rather poetical language (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2418-21)

Anaximander of Miletus

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The ARCHE

bull One and unlimitedbull But not undefined Itrsquos AIR

Anaximenes of Miletus

bull Not opposites but a continuum FIRE AIR larr WIND larr CLOUD larr WATER larr EARTH larr STONEbull ldquoLooseningrdquo and ldquotighteningrdquo explain hot and cold

H E R A C L I T U S B 1 0 1 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 3 7 )

I searched out myself

Listening not to me but to the logos it is wise to agree that all things are one

H E R A C L I T U S B 5 0 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 1 1 )

E X A M P L E S

THE ROAD TO PHILOSOP HY

The Hero of Lyric Poets of the Polis (6th century)

bull According to the lyric poets of the polis culture such as Pindar Simonides Tyrtaeus and Sappho (7th-6th century BCE)

bull Pursues collective good of the polis based on strong ties of interdependent responsibility amp cooperation in a just world governed by the gods

Individual Freedom The ldquoSophistsrdquo (5th century)

bull Sources in thinkers like Protagoras and Gorgias (5th century BCE predominantly working in Athens) constructed as a category by Platorsquos later writings

bull Pursues individual advantage based on their personal beliefs and wits using persuasion and power skepticism of traditional values

Vulnerability The Hero of Tragedy (5th century)

bull Iconic examples include Sophoclesrsquo Oedipus and Aeschylusrsquo Agamemnon and Orestes

bull Pursuit of individual amp collective good in a world of apparently conflicting divine values sometimes hampered by their own lack of self-knowledge

I N T E R D E P E N D E N C Y I N T R O D U C E S V U L N E R A B I L I T Y W H I C H M AY B E

C E L E B R AT E D O R R E S I S T E D

The Hero of Epic Homer and Hesiod (8th century)

bull Found in the epic Iliad and Odyssey attributed to Homer (c 8th century BCE) examples include the powerful Achilles and thoughtful persuasive Odysseus

bull Pursues individual honour (timē) in a just world governed by the gods

CH

IGI V

AS

E C

70

0 B

CE

The Hero of Reason The ldquoPresocratics (6th-5th cent)

bull Founding figures including Thales Anaximander Anaximenes Pythagoras Heraclitus Parmenides Seeking to understand the basic original causes (aitiai) of the world through reason

I S T H E W O R L D G E N U I N E LY

I N T E L L I G I B L E T O R E A S O N

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Born in Athens to a stonemason named Sophroniscus in 469 BCE

bull ldquoSocratic problemrdquo Socrates wrote nothing we know about him through Plato Xenophon and Aristophanes whose accounts vary

bull Conversed with anyone ldquorich or poor citizen or foreignerrdquo (Apology 23C)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Non-conformity reliance on individual values and wits (contrast with the earlier poets and rhapsodes)

bull Claims of ignorance interest in shared truth and not only persuasion and resistance of ldquoselfish morality (contrast with the sophists)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Methods based on question and answer (the elenchus) requiring unity or consistency (a) of onersquos beliefs and (b) of onersquos beliefs and actions

bull Behaviour peculiar enough to warrant its own verb (sōkratein) (Arist Birds 1282) before generalized philosophia

bull Brought to trial in 399 BCE by two Athenians Meletus and Anytus charged with ldquoimpiety and corrupting the youngrdquo

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

S O C R AT E S C R I T O 4 6 A

I am the kind of person who listens to nothing within me but the logos that on reflection seems

best to me

L O G O S R E A S O N VA L U E C O N S C I E N C E M E A N I N G

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousness A sense of such significances that what is great is fragile and that what is necessary may be destructive which is present in the literature of the fifth century and earlier has disappeared [later] from the ethics of the philosophers and perhaps altogether from their minds Greek philosophy in its sustained pursuit of rational self-sufficiency does turn its back on kinds of human experience and human necessity of which Greek literature itself offers the purest if not the richest expression

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y A N D P H I L O S O P H Y

The continuity between Greek tragedy and Greek philosophy on these questions is however far greater than Williams has allowed On the one hand inside tragedy itself we find arresting portrayals of the human ambition to rational self-sufficiency we come to understand the ways in which problems of exposure motivate this ambition On the other Platos philosophical search for a self- sufficient good life is motivated by a keen sense of these same problems Far from having forgotten about what tragedy describes he sees the problems of exposure so clearly that only a radical solution seems adequate to their depth Nor is he naiumlve about the costs of this solution

N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y P R A C T I C A L C O N F L I C T

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identical which is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A)

Socrates ldquoencourages Euthyphro [a pious Greek] to revise tradition by considering as binding only those requirements concerning which there is divine unanimity he expresses further his own doubt as to whether gods really do disagreerdquo (Nussbaum 30)

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identicalwhich is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A Nussbaum 25)

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Hesiod Works amp Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale Piteously she transfixed by his crooked claws was lamenting When the imperious hawk addressed her in arrogant parlance Why little lady such shrieks One stronger than you now has got you Where you are going Ill take you myself though you are a songstress For as I please Ill make you my dinner or give you your freedom Witless is one who attempts to strive against those who are stronger When he is stripped of the prize its injury added to insult Thus said the fast-flying hawk that bird with the generous wing-spanPay more attention to justice and curb high-handedness [brother] Violence ill suits men who are lowly not even the noble Man can lightly endure it it weighs on a person whos fallen Into affliction Its better to take your way on the other Road which conduces to right For outrage (hubris) surrenders to

justice (dikē)hellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Thucydides History 584-116 The Melian Dialogue ATHENIANS [Y]ou know as well as we do that when these matters are discussed by practical people the standard of justice depends on the equality of power to compel and that in fact the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they musthellip Our opinion of the gods and our knowledge of men lead us to conclude that it is a general and necessary law of nature to rule whatever one can This is not a law that we made ourselves nor were we the first to act upon it when it was made We found it already in existence and we shall leave it to exist for ever among those who come after us

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos

advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Republic I 343A-D Thrasymachusrsquo complaint Tell me Socrates do you still have a wet nursehellip Because shersquos letting you run around with a snotty nose and doesnrsquot wipe it when she needs tohellip You think that shepherds and cowherds seek the good of their sheep and cattle and fatten them and take care of them looking to something other than their masterrsquos good and their own Moreover you believe that rulershellip think of something besides their own advantage You are so far from understandinghellip that you donrsquot realize that justice is really the good of another the advantage of the stronger and the ruler and harmful to the one who obeys and serves Injustice is the opposite it rules the truly simple and just and those it rules do what is to the advantage of the other and stronger and they make the one they serve happy but themselves not at all You must look at it as follows my most simple Socrates A just man always gets less than an unjust onehellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Gorgias 482C-484C Callicles on nature and convention [Y]oursquore in fact bringing the discussion around to the sort of crowd-pleasing vulgarities that are admirable only by law [nomos also translatable ldquoconventionrdquo or ldquocustomrdquo] and not by nature And these nature and law are for the most part opposed to each otherhellip I believe that the people who institute our laws are the weak and the many So they institute laws and assign praise and blame with themselves and their own advantage in mind As a way of frightening the more powerfulhellip out of getting a greater share than they they say that getting more than onersquos share is ldquoshamefulrdquo and ldquounjusthelliprdquo But surely if a man whose nature is equal to it arises he will shake off tear apart and escape all this he will trample underfoot our documents our tricks and charms and all our laws that violate nature He the slave will rise up and be revealed as our master and here the justice of nature will shine forth

The New Teachers of Athens

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

P R E - S O C R AT I C ldquo P H I L O S O P H E R S 6 T H - 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

P R E - S O C R AT I C P H I L O S O P H E R S

bull Though not usually calling themselves ldquophilosophersrdquo they seemed to have contributed inspiration for Socratesrsquo method of free inquiry applying logos

bull Scholars adopt different views of what constitutes their innovation and ldquophilosophicalrdquo method (see readings)

bull Basing views on argument and evidence

bull De-ldquomythologizationrdquo

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Miletus

E A R LY P H I L O S O P H Y A N C I E N T M I L E T U S

M I L E T U S

bull Wealthy city-state in Asia Minor

bull Key city for trading and shipping between Near East amp Greece

bull Ionian Greek culture

bull Freedom of thought

bull Open political debate

bull Wealth (for some) providing leisure

bull Thales and his successors Anaximander Anaximenes

bull ldquoPhilosophicalrdquo investigation

bull Later Presocratics Heraclitus ParmenidesldquoORIENTALIZINGrdquo POTTERY

The Milesian school strikes a new note unheard before It has a fresh sense of the meaning of truth ndash a feeling for the sort of thing it is reasonable to suppose The hypothesis it characteristically deals in is concerned with the nature of the one primary stuff the Milesians seem to make a great conscious effort to get at something which really does exist They strike us as throwing off the vast symbolic visions of mythology and waking clear-headed to see and touch real things If we have a rational temperament we feel at once a refreshment Here at last is a statement about the world which is meant and offered as true ndash a logos [explanation] not a mythos [story]

ndash F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952 ed) 42

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The questions which excited them were of this kind Can this apparently confused and disordered world be reduced to simpler principles so that our reason can grasp what it is and how it works What is it made of How does change take place They abandoned mythological and substituted intellectual solutions [It] was no longer satisfying to say that storms were roused by the wrath of Poseidon or death caused by the arrows of Apollo or Artemis A world ruled by anthropomorphic gods human in their passions was a world ruled by caprice Philosophy and science start with the bold confession of faith that not caprice but an inherent orderliness underlies the phenomena and the explanation of nature is to be sought within nature itself ndashWKC Guthrie History of Greek Philosophy (Cambridge 1969) 1 44-45

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

Thales of Miletus

bull Lived late 7th-6th centurybull Born to a Phoenician aristocratic

family ndash so leisurebull Traveled to Egypt and Babylon (by

tradition)bull Legendary wisdombull ldquoFounder of Western philosophyrdquo

bull First to seek an ldquooriginal causerdquo (archecirc)

bull to explain how unseen facts caused visible results without appeal to mythology

bull To provide generalizable proofs or laws

Thales of Miletus

AstronomyMathematicsWater as the archecircAll things are full of gods

bull Traditionally Thalesrsquo star student

bull 25 years old during Thalesrsquo eclipse (585 BCE)

bull Lived c 610-540 BCE

bull ldquoFirst to draw the inhabited world on a tabletrdquo (first mapmaker)

bull Unambiguously our first ldquophilosopherrdquo by standards of demythologization originality generality and observation

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

ldquoAnaximander has expurgated the supernatural with a boldness and completeness to which many of his successors failed to attain The primary order is still said to be lsquoaccording to what is ordainedrsquo it is still a moral order in which Justice prevails but the will of the personal God has disappeared and its place is partly taken by a natural cause the eternal motionrdquo

- F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952) 41 Anaximander relief 1st century AD

Rome Museo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Key contributions

bull Physics the archecircbull Cosmologybull ldquoEvolutionrdquobull Astronomy and Cartography

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Anaximander said that the APEIRON [indefinite unlimited] was the ARCHE and the element of things that are and he was the first to introduce this name for the ARCHE He says that the ARCHE is neither water nor any other of the things called elements but some other nature called APEIRON out of which come to be all the heavens and the worlds in them (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2413-18)

The things that are perish into the things out of which they come to be according to necessity for ldquothey pay penalty and retribution to one another according to their injustice in accordance with the ordering of timerdquo as he says in rather poetical language (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2418-21)

Anaximander of Miletus

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The ARCHE

bull One and unlimitedbull But not undefined Itrsquos AIR

Anaximenes of Miletus

bull Not opposites but a continuum FIRE AIR larr WIND larr CLOUD larr WATER larr EARTH larr STONEbull ldquoLooseningrdquo and ldquotighteningrdquo explain hot and cold

H E R A C L I T U S B 1 0 1 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 3 7 )

I searched out myself

Listening not to me but to the logos it is wise to agree that all things are one

H E R A C L I T U S B 5 0 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 1 1 )

E X A M P L E S

THE ROAD TO PHILOSOP HY

The Hero of Lyric Poets of the Polis (6th century)

bull According to the lyric poets of the polis culture such as Pindar Simonides Tyrtaeus and Sappho (7th-6th century BCE)

bull Pursues collective good of the polis based on strong ties of interdependent responsibility amp cooperation in a just world governed by the gods

Individual Freedom The ldquoSophistsrdquo (5th century)

bull Sources in thinkers like Protagoras and Gorgias (5th century BCE predominantly working in Athens) constructed as a category by Platorsquos later writings

bull Pursues individual advantage based on their personal beliefs and wits using persuasion and power skepticism of traditional values

Vulnerability The Hero of Tragedy (5th century)

bull Iconic examples include Sophoclesrsquo Oedipus and Aeschylusrsquo Agamemnon and Orestes

bull Pursuit of individual amp collective good in a world of apparently conflicting divine values sometimes hampered by their own lack of self-knowledge

I N T E R D E P E N D E N C Y I N T R O D U C E S V U L N E R A B I L I T Y W H I C H M AY B E

C E L E B R AT E D O R R E S I S T E D

The Hero of Epic Homer and Hesiod (8th century)

bull Found in the epic Iliad and Odyssey attributed to Homer (c 8th century BCE) examples include the powerful Achilles and thoughtful persuasive Odysseus

bull Pursues individual honour (timē) in a just world governed by the gods

CH

IGI V

AS

E C

70

0 B

CE

The Hero of Reason The ldquoPresocratics (6th-5th cent)

bull Founding figures including Thales Anaximander Anaximenes Pythagoras Heraclitus Parmenides Seeking to understand the basic original causes (aitiai) of the world through reason

I S T H E W O R L D G E N U I N E LY

I N T E L L I G I B L E T O R E A S O N

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Born in Athens to a stonemason named Sophroniscus in 469 BCE

bull ldquoSocratic problemrdquo Socrates wrote nothing we know about him through Plato Xenophon and Aristophanes whose accounts vary

bull Conversed with anyone ldquorich or poor citizen or foreignerrdquo (Apology 23C)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Non-conformity reliance on individual values and wits (contrast with the earlier poets and rhapsodes)

bull Claims of ignorance interest in shared truth and not only persuasion and resistance of ldquoselfish morality (contrast with the sophists)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Methods based on question and answer (the elenchus) requiring unity or consistency (a) of onersquos beliefs and (b) of onersquos beliefs and actions

bull Behaviour peculiar enough to warrant its own verb (sōkratein) (Arist Birds 1282) before generalized philosophia

bull Brought to trial in 399 BCE by two Athenians Meletus and Anytus charged with ldquoimpiety and corrupting the youngrdquo

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

S O C R AT E S C R I T O 4 6 A

I am the kind of person who listens to nothing within me but the logos that on reflection seems

best to me

L O G O S R E A S O N VA L U E C O N S C I E N C E M E A N I N G

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousness A sense of such significances that what is great is fragile and that what is necessary may be destructive which is present in the literature of the fifth century and earlier has disappeared [later] from the ethics of the philosophers and perhaps altogether from their minds Greek philosophy in its sustained pursuit of rational self-sufficiency does turn its back on kinds of human experience and human necessity of which Greek literature itself offers the purest if not the richest expression

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y A N D P H I L O S O P H Y

The continuity between Greek tragedy and Greek philosophy on these questions is however far greater than Williams has allowed On the one hand inside tragedy itself we find arresting portrayals of the human ambition to rational self-sufficiency we come to understand the ways in which problems of exposure motivate this ambition On the other Platos philosophical search for a self- sufficient good life is motivated by a keen sense of these same problems Far from having forgotten about what tragedy describes he sees the problems of exposure so clearly that only a radical solution seems adequate to their depth Nor is he naiumlve about the costs of this solution

N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y P R A C T I C A L C O N F L I C T

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identical which is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A)

Socrates ldquoencourages Euthyphro [a pious Greek] to revise tradition by considering as binding only those requirements concerning which there is divine unanimity he expresses further his own doubt as to whether gods really do disagreerdquo (Nussbaum 30)

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identicalwhich is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A Nussbaum 25)

Hesiod Works amp Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale Piteously she transfixed by his crooked claws was lamenting When the imperious hawk addressed her in arrogant parlance Why little lady such shrieks One stronger than you now has got you Where you are going Ill take you myself though you are a songstress For as I please Ill make you my dinner or give you your freedom Witless is one who attempts to strive against those who are stronger When he is stripped of the prize its injury added to insult Thus said the fast-flying hawk that bird with the generous wing-spanPay more attention to justice and curb high-handedness [brother] Violence ill suits men who are lowly not even the noble Man can lightly endure it it weighs on a person whos fallen Into affliction Its better to take your way on the other Road which conduces to right For outrage (hubris) surrenders to

justice (dikē)hellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Thucydides History 584-116 The Melian Dialogue ATHENIANS [Y]ou know as well as we do that when these matters are discussed by practical people the standard of justice depends on the equality of power to compel and that in fact the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they musthellip Our opinion of the gods and our knowledge of men lead us to conclude that it is a general and necessary law of nature to rule whatever one can This is not a law that we made ourselves nor were we the first to act upon it when it was made We found it already in existence and we shall leave it to exist for ever among those who come after us

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos

advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Republic I 343A-D Thrasymachusrsquo complaint Tell me Socrates do you still have a wet nursehellip Because shersquos letting you run around with a snotty nose and doesnrsquot wipe it when she needs tohellip You think that shepherds and cowherds seek the good of their sheep and cattle and fatten them and take care of them looking to something other than their masterrsquos good and their own Moreover you believe that rulershellip think of something besides their own advantage You are so far from understandinghellip that you donrsquot realize that justice is really the good of another the advantage of the stronger and the ruler and harmful to the one who obeys and serves Injustice is the opposite it rules the truly simple and just and those it rules do what is to the advantage of the other and stronger and they make the one they serve happy but themselves not at all You must look at it as follows my most simple Socrates A just man always gets less than an unjust onehellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Gorgias 482C-484C Callicles on nature and convention [Y]oursquore in fact bringing the discussion around to the sort of crowd-pleasing vulgarities that are admirable only by law [nomos also translatable ldquoconventionrdquo or ldquocustomrdquo] and not by nature And these nature and law are for the most part opposed to each otherhellip I believe that the people who institute our laws are the weak and the many So they institute laws and assign praise and blame with themselves and their own advantage in mind As a way of frightening the more powerfulhellip out of getting a greater share than they they say that getting more than onersquos share is ldquoshamefulrdquo and ldquounjusthelliprdquo But surely if a man whose nature is equal to it arises he will shake off tear apart and escape all this he will trample underfoot our documents our tricks and charms and all our laws that violate nature He the slave will rise up and be revealed as our master and here the justice of nature will shine forth

The New Teachers of Athens

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

P R E - S O C R AT I C ldquo P H I L O S O P H E R S 6 T H - 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

P R E - S O C R AT I C P H I L O S O P H E R S

bull Though not usually calling themselves ldquophilosophersrdquo they seemed to have contributed inspiration for Socratesrsquo method of free inquiry applying logos

bull Scholars adopt different views of what constitutes their innovation and ldquophilosophicalrdquo method (see readings)

bull Basing views on argument and evidence

bull De-ldquomythologizationrdquo

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Miletus

E A R LY P H I L O S O P H Y A N C I E N T M I L E T U S

M I L E T U S

bull Wealthy city-state in Asia Minor

bull Key city for trading and shipping between Near East amp Greece

bull Ionian Greek culture

bull Freedom of thought

bull Open political debate

bull Wealth (for some) providing leisure

bull Thales and his successors Anaximander Anaximenes

bull ldquoPhilosophicalrdquo investigation

bull Later Presocratics Heraclitus ParmenidesldquoORIENTALIZINGrdquo POTTERY

The Milesian school strikes a new note unheard before It has a fresh sense of the meaning of truth ndash a feeling for the sort of thing it is reasonable to suppose The hypothesis it characteristically deals in is concerned with the nature of the one primary stuff the Milesians seem to make a great conscious effort to get at something which really does exist They strike us as throwing off the vast symbolic visions of mythology and waking clear-headed to see and touch real things If we have a rational temperament we feel at once a refreshment Here at last is a statement about the world which is meant and offered as true ndash a logos [explanation] not a mythos [story]

ndash F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952 ed) 42

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The questions which excited them were of this kind Can this apparently confused and disordered world be reduced to simpler principles so that our reason can grasp what it is and how it works What is it made of How does change take place They abandoned mythological and substituted intellectual solutions [It] was no longer satisfying to say that storms were roused by the wrath of Poseidon or death caused by the arrows of Apollo or Artemis A world ruled by anthropomorphic gods human in their passions was a world ruled by caprice Philosophy and science start with the bold confession of faith that not caprice but an inherent orderliness underlies the phenomena and the explanation of nature is to be sought within nature itself ndashWKC Guthrie History of Greek Philosophy (Cambridge 1969) 1 44-45

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

Thales of Miletus

bull Lived late 7th-6th centurybull Born to a Phoenician aristocratic

family ndash so leisurebull Traveled to Egypt and Babylon (by

tradition)bull Legendary wisdombull ldquoFounder of Western philosophyrdquo

bull First to seek an ldquooriginal causerdquo (archecirc)

bull to explain how unseen facts caused visible results without appeal to mythology

bull To provide generalizable proofs or laws

Thales of Miletus

AstronomyMathematicsWater as the archecircAll things are full of gods

bull Traditionally Thalesrsquo star student

bull 25 years old during Thalesrsquo eclipse (585 BCE)

bull Lived c 610-540 BCE

bull ldquoFirst to draw the inhabited world on a tabletrdquo (first mapmaker)

bull Unambiguously our first ldquophilosopherrdquo by standards of demythologization originality generality and observation

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

ldquoAnaximander has expurgated the supernatural with a boldness and completeness to which many of his successors failed to attain The primary order is still said to be lsquoaccording to what is ordainedrsquo it is still a moral order in which Justice prevails but the will of the personal God has disappeared and its place is partly taken by a natural cause the eternal motionrdquo

- F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952) 41 Anaximander relief 1st century AD

Rome Museo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Key contributions

bull Physics the archecircbull Cosmologybull ldquoEvolutionrdquobull Astronomy and Cartography

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Anaximander said that the APEIRON [indefinite unlimited] was the ARCHE and the element of things that are and he was the first to introduce this name for the ARCHE He says that the ARCHE is neither water nor any other of the things called elements but some other nature called APEIRON out of which come to be all the heavens and the worlds in them (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2413-18)

The things that are perish into the things out of which they come to be according to necessity for ldquothey pay penalty and retribution to one another according to their injustice in accordance with the ordering of timerdquo as he says in rather poetical language (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2418-21)

Anaximander of Miletus

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The ARCHE

bull One and unlimitedbull But not undefined Itrsquos AIR

Anaximenes of Miletus

bull Not opposites but a continuum FIRE AIR larr WIND larr CLOUD larr WATER larr EARTH larr STONEbull ldquoLooseningrdquo and ldquotighteningrdquo explain hot and cold

H E R A C L I T U S B 1 0 1 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 3 7 )

I searched out myself

Listening not to me but to the logos it is wise to agree that all things are one

H E R A C L I T U S B 5 0 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 1 1 )

E X A M P L E S

THE ROAD TO PHILOSOP HY

The Hero of Lyric Poets of the Polis (6th century)

bull According to the lyric poets of the polis culture such as Pindar Simonides Tyrtaeus and Sappho (7th-6th century BCE)

bull Pursues collective good of the polis based on strong ties of interdependent responsibility amp cooperation in a just world governed by the gods

Individual Freedom The ldquoSophistsrdquo (5th century)

bull Sources in thinkers like Protagoras and Gorgias (5th century BCE predominantly working in Athens) constructed as a category by Platorsquos later writings

bull Pursues individual advantage based on their personal beliefs and wits using persuasion and power skepticism of traditional values

Vulnerability The Hero of Tragedy (5th century)

bull Iconic examples include Sophoclesrsquo Oedipus and Aeschylusrsquo Agamemnon and Orestes

bull Pursuit of individual amp collective good in a world of apparently conflicting divine values sometimes hampered by their own lack of self-knowledge

I N T E R D E P E N D E N C Y I N T R O D U C E S V U L N E R A B I L I T Y W H I C H M AY B E

C E L E B R AT E D O R R E S I S T E D

The Hero of Epic Homer and Hesiod (8th century)

bull Found in the epic Iliad and Odyssey attributed to Homer (c 8th century BCE) examples include the powerful Achilles and thoughtful persuasive Odysseus

bull Pursues individual honour (timē) in a just world governed by the gods

CH

IGI V

AS

E C

70

0 B

CE

The Hero of Reason The ldquoPresocratics (6th-5th cent)

bull Founding figures including Thales Anaximander Anaximenes Pythagoras Heraclitus Parmenides Seeking to understand the basic original causes (aitiai) of the world through reason

I S T H E W O R L D G E N U I N E LY

I N T E L L I G I B L E T O R E A S O N

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Born in Athens to a stonemason named Sophroniscus in 469 BCE

bull ldquoSocratic problemrdquo Socrates wrote nothing we know about him through Plato Xenophon and Aristophanes whose accounts vary

bull Conversed with anyone ldquorich or poor citizen or foreignerrdquo (Apology 23C)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Non-conformity reliance on individual values and wits (contrast with the earlier poets and rhapsodes)

bull Claims of ignorance interest in shared truth and not only persuasion and resistance of ldquoselfish morality (contrast with the sophists)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Methods based on question and answer (the elenchus) requiring unity or consistency (a) of onersquos beliefs and (b) of onersquos beliefs and actions

bull Behaviour peculiar enough to warrant its own verb (sōkratein) (Arist Birds 1282) before generalized philosophia

bull Brought to trial in 399 BCE by two Athenians Meletus and Anytus charged with ldquoimpiety and corrupting the youngrdquo

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

S O C R AT E S C R I T O 4 6 A

I am the kind of person who listens to nothing within me but the logos that on reflection seems

best to me

L O G O S R E A S O N VA L U E C O N S C I E N C E M E A N I N G

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousness A sense of such significances that what is great is fragile and that what is necessary may be destructive which is present in the literature of the fifth century and earlier has disappeared [later] from the ethics of the philosophers and perhaps altogether from their minds Greek philosophy in its sustained pursuit of rational self-sufficiency does turn its back on kinds of human experience and human necessity of which Greek literature itself offers the purest if not the richest expression

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y A N D P H I L O S O P H Y

The continuity between Greek tragedy and Greek philosophy on these questions is however far greater than Williams has allowed On the one hand inside tragedy itself we find arresting portrayals of the human ambition to rational self-sufficiency we come to understand the ways in which problems of exposure motivate this ambition On the other Platos philosophical search for a self- sufficient good life is motivated by a keen sense of these same problems Far from having forgotten about what tragedy describes he sees the problems of exposure so clearly that only a radical solution seems adequate to their depth Nor is he naiumlve about the costs of this solution

N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y P R A C T I C A L C O N F L I C T

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identical which is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A)

Socrates ldquoencourages Euthyphro [a pious Greek] to revise tradition by considering as binding only those requirements concerning which there is divine unanimity he expresses further his own doubt as to whether gods really do disagreerdquo (Nussbaum 30)

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identicalwhich is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A Nussbaum 25)

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Thucydides History 584-116 The Melian Dialogue ATHENIANS [Y]ou know as well as we do that when these matters are discussed by practical people the standard of justice depends on the equality of power to compel and that in fact the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they musthellip Our opinion of the gods and our knowledge of men lead us to conclude that it is a general and necessary law of nature to rule whatever one can This is not a law that we made ourselves nor were we the first to act upon it when it was made We found it already in existence and we shall leave it to exist for ever among those who come after us

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos

advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Republic I 343A-D Thrasymachusrsquo complaint Tell me Socrates do you still have a wet nursehellip Because shersquos letting you run around with a snotty nose and doesnrsquot wipe it when she needs tohellip You think that shepherds and cowherds seek the good of their sheep and cattle and fatten them and take care of them looking to something other than their masterrsquos good and their own Moreover you believe that rulershellip think of something besides their own advantage You are so far from understandinghellip that you donrsquot realize that justice is really the good of another the advantage of the stronger and the ruler and harmful to the one who obeys and serves Injustice is the opposite it rules the truly simple and just and those it rules do what is to the advantage of the other and stronger and they make the one they serve happy but themselves not at all You must look at it as follows my most simple Socrates A just man always gets less than an unjust onehellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Gorgias 482C-484C Callicles on nature and convention [Y]oursquore in fact bringing the discussion around to the sort of crowd-pleasing vulgarities that are admirable only by law [nomos also translatable ldquoconventionrdquo or ldquocustomrdquo] and not by nature And these nature and law are for the most part opposed to each otherhellip I believe that the people who institute our laws are the weak and the many So they institute laws and assign praise and blame with themselves and their own advantage in mind As a way of frightening the more powerfulhellip out of getting a greater share than they they say that getting more than onersquos share is ldquoshamefulrdquo and ldquounjusthelliprdquo But surely if a man whose nature is equal to it arises he will shake off tear apart and escape all this he will trample underfoot our documents our tricks and charms and all our laws that violate nature He the slave will rise up and be revealed as our master and here the justice of nature will shine forth

The New Teachers of Athens

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

P R E - S O C R AT I C ldquo P H I L O S O P H E R S 6 T H - 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

P R E - S O C R AT I C P H I L O S O P H E R S

bull Though not usually calling themselves ldquophilosophersrdquo they seemed to have contributed inspiration for Socratesrsquo method of free inquiry applying logos

bull Scholars adopt different views of what constitutes their innovation and ldquophilosophicalrdquo method (see readings)

bull Basing views on argument and evidence

bull De-ldquomythologizationrdquo

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Miletus

E A R LY P H I L O S O P H Y A N C I E N T M I L E T U S

M I L E T U S

bull Wealthy city-state in Asia Minor

bull Key city for trading and shipping between Near East amp Greece

bull Ionian Greek culture

bull Freedom of thought

bull Open political debate

bull Wealth (for some) providing leisure

bull Thales and his successors Anaximander Anaximenes

bull ldquoPhilosophicalrdquo investigation

bull Later Presocratics Heraclitus ParmenidesldquoORIENTALIZINGrdquo POTTERY

The Milesian school strikes a new note unheard before It has a fresh sense of the meaning of truth ndash a feeling for the sort of thing it is reasonable to suppose The hypothesis it characteristically deals in is concerned with the nature of the one primary stuff the Milesians seem to make a great conscious effort to get at something which really does exist They strike us as throwing off the vast symbolic visions of mythology and waking clear-headed to see and touch real things If we have a rational temperament we feel at once a refreshment Here at last is a statement about the world which is meant and offered as true ndash a logos [explanation] not a mythos [story]

ndash F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952 ed) 42

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The questions which excited them were of this kind Can this apparently confused and disordered world be reduced to simpler principles so that our reason can grasp what it is and how it works What is it made of How does change take place They abandoned mythological and substituted intellectual solutions [It] was no longer satisfying to say that storms were roused by the wrath of Poseidon or death caused by the arrows of Apollo or Artemis A world ruled by anthropomorphic gods human in their passions was a world ruled by caprice Philosophy and science start with the bold confession of faith that not caprice but an inherent orderliness underlies the phenomena and the explanation of nature is to be sought within nature itself ndashWKC Guthrie History of Greek Philosophy (Cambridge 1969) 1 44-45

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

Thales of Miletus

bull Lived late 7th-6th centurybull Born to a Phoenician aristocratic

family ndash so leisurebull Traveled to Egypt and Babylon (by

tradition)bull Legendary wisdombull ldquoFounder of Western philosophyrdquo

bull First to seek an ldquooriginal causerdquo (archecirc)

bull to explain how unseen facts caused visible results without appeal to mythology

bull To provide generalizable proofs or laws

Thales of Miletus

AstronomyMathematicsWater as the archecircAll things are full of gods

bull Traditionally Thalesrsquo star student

bull 25 years old during Thalesrsquo eclipse (585 BCE)

bull Lived c 610-540 BCE

bull ldquoFirst to draw the inhabited world on a tabletrdquo (first mapmaker)

bull Unambiguously our first ldquophilosopherrdquo by standards of demythologization originality generality and observation

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

ldquoAnaximander has expurgated the supernatural with a boldness and completeness to which many of his successors failed to attain The primary order is still said to be lsquoaccording to what is ordainedrsquo it is still a moral order in which Justice prevails but the will of the personal God has disappeared and its place is partly taken by a natural cause the eternal motionrdquo

- F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952) 41 Anaximander relief 1st century AD

Rome Museo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Key contributions

bull Physics the archecircbull Cosmologybull ldquoEvolutionrdquobull Astronomy and Cartography

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Anaximander said that the APEIRON [indefinite unlimited] was the ARCHE and the element of things that are and he was the first to introduce this name for the ARCHE He says that the ARCHE is neither water nor any other of the things called elements but some other nature called APEIRON out of which come to be all the heavens and the worlds in them (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2413-18)

The things that are perish into the things out of which they come to be according to necessity for ldquothey pay penalty and retribution to one another according to their injustice in accordance with the ordering of timerdquo as he says in rather poetical language (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2418-21)

Anaximander of Miletus

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The ARCHE

bull One and unlimitedbull But not undefined Itrsquos AIR

Anaximenes of Miletus

bull Not opposites but a continuum FIRE AIR larr WIND larr CLOUD larr WATER larr EARTH larr STONEbull ldquoLooseningrdquo and ldquotighteningrdquo explain hot and cold

H E R A C L I T U S B 1 0 1 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 3 7 )

I searched out myself

Listening not to me but to the logos it is wise to agree that all things are one

H E R A C L I T U S B 5 0 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 1 1 )

E X A M P L E S

THE ROAD TO PHILOSOP HY

The Hero of Lyric Poets of the Polis (6th century)

bull According to the lyric poets of the polis culture such as Pindar Simonides Tyrtaeus and Sappho (7th-6th century BCE)

bull Pursues collective good of the polis based on strong ties of interdependent responsibility amp cooperation in a just world governed by the gods

Individual Freedom The ldquoSophistsrdquo (5th century)

bull Sources in thinkers like Protagoras and Gorgias (5th century BCE predominantly working in Athens) constructed as a category by Platorsquos later writings

bull Pursues individual advantage based on their personal beliefs and wits using persuasion and power skepticism of traditional values

Vulnerability The Hero of Tragedy (5th century)

bull Iconic examples include Sophoclesrsquo Oedipus and Aeschylusrsquo Agamemnon and Orestes

bull Pursuit of individual amp collective good in a world of apparently conflicting divine values sometimes hampered by their own lack of self-knowledge

I N T E R D E P E N D E N C Y I N T R O D U C E S V U L N E R A B I L I T Y W H I C H M AY B E

C E L E B R AT E D O R R E S I S T E D

The Hero of Epic Homer and Hesiod (8th century)

bull Found in the epic Iliad and Odyssey attributed to Homer (c 8th century BCE) examples include the powerful Achilles and thoughtful persuasive Odysseus

bull Pursues individual honour (timē) in a just world governed by the gods

CH

IGI V

AS

E C

70

0 B

CE

The Hero of Reason The ldquoPresocratics (6th-5th cent)

bull Founding figures including Thales Anaximander Anaximenes Pythagoras Heraclitus Parmenides Seeking to understand the basic original causes (aitiai) of the world through reason

I S T H E W O R L D G E N U I N E LY

I N T E L L I G I B L E T O R E A S O N

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Born in Athens to a stonemason named Sophroniscus in 469 BCE

bull ldquoSocratic problemrdquo Socrates wrote nothing we know about him through Plato Xenophon and Aristophanes whose accounts vary

bull Conversed with anyone ldquorich or poor citizen or foreignerrdquo (Apology 23C)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Non-conformity reliance on individual values and wits (contrast with the earlier poets and rhapsodes)

bull Claims of ignorance interest in shared truth and not only persuasion and resistance of ldquoselfish morality (contrast with the sophists)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Methods based on question and answer (the elenchus) requiring unity or consistency (a) of onersquos beliefs and (b) of onersquos beliefs and actions

bull Behaviour peculiar enough to warrant its own verb (sōkratein) (Arist Birds 1282) before generalized philosophia

bull Brought to trial in 399 BCE by two Athenians Meletus and Anytus charged with ldquoimpiety and corrupting the youngrdquo

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

S O C R AT E S C R I T O 4 6 A

I am the kind of person who listens to nothing within me but the logos that on reflection seems

best to me

L O G O S R E A S O N VA L U E C O N S C I E N C E M E A N I N G

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousness A sense of such significances that what is great is fragile and that what is necessary may be destructive which is present in the literature of the fifth century and earlier has disappeared [later] from the ethics of the philosophers and perhaps altogether from their minds Greek philosophy in its sustained pursuit of rational self-sufficiency does turn its back on kinds of human experience and human necessity of which Greek literature itself offers the purest if not the richest expression

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y A N D P H I L O S O P H Y

The continuity between Greek tragedy and Greek philosophy on these questions is however far greater than Williams has allowed On the one hand inside tragedy itself we find arresting portrayals of the human ambition to rational self-sufficiency we come to understand the ways in which problems of exposure motivate this ambition On the other Platos philosophical search for a self- sufficient good life is motivated by a keen sense of these same problems Far from having forgotten about what tragedy describes he sees the problems of exposure so clearly that only a radical solution seems adequate to their depth Nor is he naiumlve about the costs of this solution

N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y P R A C T I C A L C O N F L I C T

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identical which is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A)

Socrates ldquoencourages Euthyphro [a pious Greek] to revise tradition by considering as binding only those requirements concerning which there is divine unanimity he expresses further his own doubt as to whether gods really do disagreerdquo (Nussbaum 30)

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identicalwhich is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A Nussbaum 25)

Thucydides History 584-116 The Melian Dialogue ATHENIANS [Y]ou know as well as we do that when these matters are discussed by practical people the standard of justice depends on the equality of power to compel and that in fact the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they musthellip Our opinion of the gods and our knowledge of men lead us to conclude that it is a general and necessary law of nature to rule whatever one can This is not a law that we made ourselves nor were we the first to act upon it when it was made We found it already in existence and we shall leave it to exist for ever among those who come after us

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos

advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Republic I 343A-D Thrasymachusrsquo complaint Tell me Socrates do you still have a wet nursehellip Because shersquos letting you run around with a snotty nose and doesnrsquot wipe it when she needs tohellip You think that shepherds and cowherds seek the good of their sheep and cattle and fatten them and take care of them looking to something other than their masterrsquos good and their own Moreover you believe that rulershellip think of something besides their own advantage You are so far from understandinghellip that you donrsquot realize that justice is really the good of another the advantage of the stronger and the ruler and harmful to the one who obeys and serves Injustice is the opposite it rules the truly simple and just and those it rules do what is to the advantage of the other and stronger and they make the one they serve happy but themselves not at all You must look at it as follows my most simple Socrates A just man always gets less than an unjust onehellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Gorgias 482C-484C Callicles on nature and convention [Y]oursquore in fact bringing the discussion around to the sort of crowd-pleasing vulgarities that are admirable only by law [nomos also translatable ldquoconventionrdquo or ldquocustomrdquo] and not by nature And these nature and law are for the most part opposed to each otherhellip I believe that the people who institute our laws are the weak and the many So they institute laws and assign praise and blame with themselves and their own advantage in mind As a way of frightening the more powerfulhellip out of getting a greater share than they they say that getting more than onersquos share is ldquoshamefulrdquo and ldquounjusthelliprdquo But surely if a man whose nature is equal to it arises he will shake off tear apart and escape all this he will trample underfoot our documents our tricks and charms and all our laws that violate nature He the slave will rise up and be revealed as our master and here the justice of nature will shine forth

The New Teachers of Athens

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

P R E - S O C R AT I C ldquo P H I L O S O P H E R S 6 T H - 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

P R E - S O C R AT I C P H I L O S O P H E R S

bull Though not usually calling themselves ldquophilosophersrdquo they seemed to have contributed inspiration for Socratesrsquo method of free inquiry applying logos

bull Scholars adopt different views of what constitutes their innovation and ldquophilosophicalrdquo method (see readings)

bull Basing views on argument and evidence

bull De-ldquomythologizationrdquo

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Miletus

E A R LY P H I L O S O P H Y A N C I E N T M I L E T U S

M I L E T U S

bull Wealthy city-state in Asia Minor

bull Key city for trading and shipping between Near East amp Greece

bull Ionian Greek culture

bull Freedom of thought

bull Open political debate

bull Wealth (for some) providing leisure

bull Thales and his successors Anaximander Anaximenes

bull ldquoPhilosophicalrdquo investigation

bull Later Presocratics Heraclitus ParmenidesldquoORIENTALIZINGrdquo POTTERY

The Milesian school strikes a new note unheard before It has a fresh sense of the meaning of truth ndash a feeling for the sort of thing it is reasonable to suppose The hypothesis it characteristically deals in is concerned with the nature of the one primary stuff the Milesians seem to make a great conscious effort to get at something which really does exist They strike us as throwing off the vast symbolic visions of mythology and waking clear-headed to see and touch real things If we have a rational temperament we feel at once a refreshment Here at last is a statement about the world which is meant and offered as true ndash a logos [explanation] not a mythos [story]

ndash F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952 ed) 42

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The questions which excited them were of this kind Can this apparently confused and disordered world be reduced to simpler principles so that our reason can grasp what it is and how it works What is it made of How does change take place They abandoned mythological and substituted intellectual solutions [It] was no longer satisfying to say that storms were roused by the wrath of Poseidon or death caused by the arrows of Apollo or Artemis A world ruled by anthropomorphic gods human in their passions was a world ruled by caprice Philosophy and science start with the bold confession of faith that not caprice but an inherent orderliness underlies the phenomena and the explanation of nature is to be sought within nature itself ndashWKC Guthrie History of Greek Philosophy (Cambridge 1969) 1 44-45

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

Thales of Miletus

bull Lived late 7th-6th centurybull Born to a Phoenician aristocratic

family ndash so leisurebull Traveled to Egypt and Babylon (by

tradition)bull Legendary wisdombull ldquoFounder of Western philosophyrdquo

bull First to seek an ldquooriginal causerdquo (archecirc)

bull to explain how unseen facts caused visible results without appeal to mythology

bull To provide generalizable proofs or laws

Thales of Miletus

AstronomyMathematicsWater as the archecircAll things are full of gods

bull Traditionally Thalesrsquo star student

bull 25 years old during Thalesrsquo eclipse (585 BCE)

bull Lived c 610-540 BCE

bull ldquoFirst to draw the inhabited world on a tabletrdquo (first mapmaker)

bull Unambiguously our first ldquophilosopherrdquo by standards of demythologization originality generality and observation

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

ldquoAnaximander has expurgated the supernatural with a boldness and completeness to which many of his successors failed to attain The primary order is still said to be lsquoaccording to what is ordainedrsquo it is still a moral order in which Justice prevails but the will of the personal God has disappeared and its place is partly taken by a natural cause the eternal motionrdquo

- F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952) 41 Anaximander relief 1st century AD

Rome Museo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Key contributions

bull Physics the archecircbull Cosmologybull ldquoEvolutionrdquobull Astronomy and Cartography

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Anaximander said that the APEIRON [indefinite unlimited] was the ARCHE and the element of things that are and he was the first to introduce this name for the ARCHE He says that the ARCHE is neither water nor any other of the things called elements but some other nature called APEIRON out of which come to be all the heavens and the worlds in them (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2413-18)

The things that are perish into the things out of which they come to be according to necessity for ldquothey pay penalty and retribution to one another according to their injustice in accordance with the ordering of timerdquo as he says in rather poetical language (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2418-21)

Anaximander of Miletus

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The ARCHE

bull One and unlimitedbull But not undefined Itrsquos AIR

Anaximenes of Miletus

bull Not opposites but a continuum FIRE AIR larr WIND larr CLOUD larr WATER larr EARTH larr STONEbull ldquoLooseningrdquo and ldquotighteningrdquo explain hot and cold

H E R A C L I T U S B 1 0 1 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 3 7 )

I searched out myself

Listening not to me but to the logos it is wise to agree that all things are one

H E R A C L I T U S B 5 0 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 1 1 )

E X A M P L E S

THE ROAD TO PHILOSOP HY

The Hero of Lyric Poets of the Polis (6th century)

bull According to the lyric poets of the polis culture such as Pindar Simonides Tyrtaeus and Sappho (7th-6th century BCE)

bull Pursues collective good of the polis based on strong ties of interdependent responsibility amp cooperation in a just world governed by the gods

Individual Freedom The ldquoSophistsrdquo (5th century)

bull Sources in thinkers like Protagoras and Gorgias (5th century BCE predominantly working in Athens) constructed as a category by Platorsquos later writings

bull Pursues individual advantage based on their personal beliefs and wits using persuasion and power skepticism of traditional values

Vulnerability The Hero of Tragedy (5th century)

bull Iconic examples include Sophoclesrsquo Oedipus and Aeschylusrsquo Agamemnon and Orestes

bull Pursuit of individual amp collective good in a world of apparently conflicting divine values sometimes hampered by their own lack of self-knowledge

I N T E R D E P E N D E N C Y I N T R O D U C E S V U L N E R A B I L I T Y W H I C H M AY B E

C E L E B R AT E D O R R E S I S T E D

The Hero of Epic Homer and Hesiod (8th century)

bull Found in the epic Iliad and Odyssey attributed to Homer (c 8th century BCE) examples include the powerful Achilles and thoughtful persuasive Odysseus

bull Pursues individual honour (timē) in a just world governed by the gods

CH

IGI V

AS

E C

70

0 B

CE

The Hero of Reason The ldquoPresocratics (6th-5th cent)

bull Founding figures including Thales Anaximander Anaximenes Pythagoras Heraclitus Parmenides Seeking to understand the basic original causes (aitiai) of the world through reason

I S T H E W O R L D G E N U I N E LY

I N T E L L I G I B L E T O R E A S O N

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Born in Athens to a stonemason named Sophroniscus in 469 BCE

bull ldquoSocratic problemrdquo Socrates wrote nothing we know about him through Plato Xenophon and Aristophanes whose accounts vary

bull Conversed with anyone ldquorich or poor citizen or foreignerrdquo (Apology 23C)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Non-conformity reliance on individual values and wits (contrast with the earlier poets and rhapsodes)

bull Claims of ignorance interest in shared truth and not only persuasion and resistance of ldquoselfish morality (contrast with the sophists)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Methods based on question and answer (the elenchus) requiring unity or consistency (a) of onersquos beliefs and (b) of onersquos beliefs and actions

bull Behaviour peculiar enough to warrant its own verb (sōkratein) (Arist Birds 1282) before generalized philosophia

bull Brought to trial in 399 BCE by two Athenians Meletus and Anytus charged with ldquoimpiety and corrupting the youngrdquo

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

S O C R AT E S C R I T O 4 6 A

I am the kind of person who listens to nothing within me but the logos that on reflection seems

best to me

L O G O S R E A S O N VA L U E C O N S C I E N C E M E A N I N G

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousness A sense of such significances that what is great is fragile and that what is necessary may be destructive which is present in the literature of the fifth century and earlier has disappeared [later] from the ethics of the philosophers and perhaps altogether from their minds Greek philosophy in its sustained pursuit of rational self-sufficiency does turn its back on kinds of human experience and human necessity of which Greek literature itself offers the purest if not the richest expression

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y A N D P H I L O S O P H Y

The continuity between Greek tragedy and Greek philosophy on these questions is however far greater than Williams has allowed On the one hand inside tragedy itself we find arresting portrayals of the human ambition to rational self-sufficiency we come to understand the ways in which problems of exposure motivate this ambition On the other Platos philosophical search for a self- sufficient good life is motivated by a keen sense of these same problems Far from having forgotten about what tragedy describes he sees the problems of exposure so clearly that only a radical solution seems adequate to their depth Nor is he naiumlve about the costs of this solution

N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y P R A C T I C A L C O N F L I C T

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identical which is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A)

Socrates ldquoencourages Euthyphro [a pious Greek] to revise tradition by considering as binding only those requirements concerning which there is divine unanimity he expresses further his own doubt as to whether gods really do disagreerdquo (Nussbaum 30)

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identicalwhich is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A Nussbaum 25)

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos

advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Republic I 343A-D Thrasymachusrsquo complaint Tell me Socrates do you still have a wet nursehellip Because shersquos letting you run around with a snotty nose and doesnrsquot wipe it when she needs tohellip You think that shepherds and cowherds seek the good of their sheep and cattle and fatten them and take care of them looking to something other than their masterrsquos good and their own Moreover you believe that rulershellip think of something besides their own advantage You are so far from understandinghellip that you donrsquot realize that justice is really the good of another the advantage of the stronger and the ruler and harmful to the one who obeys and serves Injustice is the opposite it rules the truly simple and just and those it rules do what is to the advantage of the other and stronger and they make the one they serve happy but themselves not at all You must look at it as follows my most simple Socrates A just man always gets less than an unjust onehellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Gorgias 482C-484C Callicles on nature and convention [Y]oursquore in fact bringing the discussion around to the sort of crowd-pleasing vulgarities that are admirable only by law [nomos also translatable ldquoconventionrdquo or ldquocustomrdquo] and not by nature And these nature and law are for the most part opposed to each otherhellip I believe that the people who institute our laws are the weak and the many So they institute laws and assign praise and blame with themselves and their own advantage in mind As a way of frightening the more powerfulhellip out of getting a greater share than they they say that getting more than onersquos share is ldquoshamefulrdquo and ldquounjusthelliprdquo But surely if a man whose nature is equal to it arises he will shake off tear apart and escape all this he will trample underfoot our documents our tricks and charms and all our laws that violate nature He the slave will rise up and be revealed as our master and here the justice of nature will shine forth

The New Teachers of Athens

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

P R E - S O C R AT I C ldquo P H I L O S O P H E R S 6 T H - 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

P R E - S O C R AT I C P H I L O S O P H E R S

bull Though not usually calling themselves ldquophilosophersrdquo they seemed to have contributed inspiration for Socratesrsquo method of free inquiry applying logos

bull Scholars adopt different views of what constitutes their innovation and ldquophilosophicalrdquo method (see readings)

bull Basing views on argument and evidence

bull De-ldquomythologizationrdquo

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Miletus

E A R LY P H I L O S O P H Y A N C I E N T M I L E T U S

M I L E T U S

bull Wealthy city-state in Asia Minor

bull Key city for trading and shipping between Near East amp Greece

bull Ionian Greek culture

bull Freedom of thought

bull Open political debate

bull Wealth (for some) providing leisure

bull Thales and his successors Anaximander Anaximenes

bull ldquoPhilosophicalrdquo investigation

bull Later Presocratics Heraclitus ParmenidesldquoORIENTALIZINGrdquo POTTERY

The Milesian school strikes a new note unheard before It has a fresh sense of the meaning of truth ndash a feeling for the sort of thing it is reasonable to suppose The hypothesis it characteristically deals in is concerned with the nature of the one primary stuff the Milesians seem to make a great conscious effort to get at something which really does exist They strike us as throwing off the vast symbolic visions of mythology and waking clear-headed to see and touch real things If we have a rational temperament we feel at once a refreshment Here at last is a statement about the world which is meant and offered as true ndash a logos [explanation] not a mythos [story]

ndash F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952 ed) 42

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The questions which excited them were of this kind Can this apparently confused and disordered world be reduced to simpler principles so that our reason can grasp what it is and how it works What is it made of How does change take place They abandoned mythological and substituted intellectual solutions [It] was no longer satisfying to say that storms were roused by the wrath of Poseidon or death caused by the arrows of Apollo or Artemis A world ruled by anthropomorphic gods human in their passions was a world ruled by caprice Philosophy and science start with the bold confession of faith that not caprice but an inherent orderliness underlies the phenomena and the explanation of nature is to be sought within nature itself ndashWKC Guthrie History of Greek Philosophy (Cambridge 1969) 1 44-45

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

Thales of Miletus

bull Lived late 7th-6th centurybull Born to a Phoenician aristocratic

family ndash so leisurebull Traveled to Egypt and Babylon (by

tradition)bull Legendary wisdombull ldquoFounder of Western philosophyrdquo

bull First to seek an ldquooriginal causerdquo (archecirc)

bull to explain how unseen facts caused visible results without appeal to mythology

bull To provide generalizable proofs or laws

Thales of Miletus

AstronomyMathematicsWater as the archecircAll things are full of gods

bull Traditionally Thalesrsquo star student

bull 25 years old during Thalesrsquo eclipse (585 BCE)

bull Lived c 610-540 BCE

bull ldquoFirst to draw the inhabited world on a tabletrdquo (first mapmaker)

bull Unambiguously our first ldquophilosopherrdquo by standards of demythologization originality generality and observation

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

ldquoAnaximander has expurgated the supernatural with a boldness and completeness to which many of his successors failed to attain The primary order is still said to be lsquoaccording to what is ordainedrsquo it is still a moral order in which Justice prevails but the will of the personal God has disappeared and its place is partly taken by a natural cause the eternal motionrdquo

- F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952) 41 Anaximander relief 1st century AD

Rome Museo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Key contributions

bull Physics the archecircbull Cosmologybull ldquoEvolutionrdquobull Astronomy and Cartography

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Anaximander said that the APEIRON [indefinite unlimited] was the ARCHE and the element of things that are and he was the first to introduce this name for the ARCHE He says that the ARCHE is neither water nor any other of the things called elements but some other nature called APEIRON out of which come to be all the heavens and the worlds in them (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2413-18)

The things that are perish into the things out of which they come to be according to necessity for ldquothey pay penalty and retribution to one another according to their injustice in accordance with the ordering of timerdquo as he says in rather poetical language (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2418-21)

Anaximander of Miletus

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The ARCHE

bull One and unlimitedbull But not undefined Itrsquos AIR

Anaximenes of Miletus

bull Not opposites but a continuum FIRE AIR larr WIND larr CLOUD larr WATER larr EARTH larr STONEbull ldquoLooseningrdquo and ldquotighteningrdquo explain hot and cold

H E R A C L I T U S B 1 0 1 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 3 7 )

I searched out myself

Listening not to me but to the logos it is wise to agree that all things are one

H E R A C L I T U S B 5 0 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 1 1 )

E X A M P L E S

THE ROAD TO PHILOSOP HY

The Hero of Lyric Poets of the Polis (6th century)

bull According to the lyric poets of the polis culture such as Pindar Simonides Tyrtaeus and Sappho (7th-6th century BCE)

bull Pursues collective good of the polis based on strong ties of interdependent responsibility amp cooperation in a just world governed by the gods

Individual Freedom The ldquoSophistsrdquo (5th century)

bull Sources in thinkers like Protagoras and Gorgias (5th century BCE predominantly working in Athens) constructed as a category by Platorsquos later writings

bull Pursues individual advantage based on their personal beliefs and wits using persuasion and power skepticism of traditional values

Vulnerability The Hero of Tragedy (5th century)

bull Iconic examples include Sophoclesrsquo Oedipus and Aeschylusrsquo Agamemnon and Orestes

bull Pursuit of individual amp collective good in a world of apparently conflicting divine values sometimes hampered by their own lack of self-knowledge

I N T E R D E P E N D E N C Y I N T R O D U C E S V U L N E R A B I L I T Y W H I C H M AY B E

C E L E B R AT E D O R R E S I S T E D

The Hero of Epic Homer and Hesiod (8th century)

bull Found in the epic Iliad and Odyssey attributed to Homer (c 8th century BCE) examples include the powerful Achilles and thoughtful persuasive Odysseus

bull Pursues individual honour (timē) in a just world governed by the gods

CH

IGI V

AS

E C

70

0 B

CE

The Hero of Reason The ldquoPresocratics (6th-5th cent)

bull Founding figures including Thales Anaximander Anaximenes Pythagoras Heraclitus Parmenides Seeking to understand the basic original causes (aitiai) of the world through reason

I S T H E W O R L D G E N U I N E LY

I N T E L L I G I B L E T O R E A S O N

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Born in Athens to a stonemason named Sophroniscus in 469 BCE

bull ldquoSocratic problemrdquo Socrates wrote nothing we know about him through Plato Xenophon and Aristophanes whose accounts vary

bull Conversed with anyone ldquorich or poor citizen or foreignerrdquo (Apology 23C)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Non-conformity reliance on individual values and wits (contrast with the earlier poets and rhapsodes)

bull Claims of ignorance interest in shared truth and not only persuasion and resistance of ldquoselfish morality (contrast with the sophists)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Methods based on question and answer (the elenchus) requiring unity or consistency (a) of onersquos beliefs and (b) of onersquos beliefs and actions

bull Behaviour peculiar enough to warrant its own verb (sōkratein) (Arist Birds 1282) before generalized philosophia

bull Brought to trial in 399 BCE by two Athenians Meletus and Anytus charged with ldquoimpiety and corrupting the youngrdquo

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

S O C R AT E S C R I T O 4 6 A

I am the kind of person who listens to nothing within me but the logos that on reflection seems

best to me

L O G O S R E A S O N VA L U E C O N S C I E N C E M E A N I N G

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousness A sense of such significances that what is great is fragile and that what is necessary may be destructive which is present in the literature of the fifth century and earlier has disappeared [later] from the ethics of the philosophers and perhaps altogether from their minds Greek philosophy in its sustained pursuit of rational self-sufficiency does turn its back on kinds of human experience and human necessity of which Greek literature itself offers the purest if not the richest expression

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y A N D P H I L O S O P H Y

The continuity between Greek tragedy and Greek philosophy on these questions is however far greater than Williams has allowed On the one hand inside tragedy itself we find arresting portrayals of the human ambition to rational self-sufficiency we come to understand the ways in which problems of exposure motivate this ambition On the other Platos philosophical search for a self- sufficient good life is motivated by a keen sense of these same problems Far from having forgotten about what tragedy describes he sees the problems of exposure so clearly that only a radical solution seems adequate to their depth Nor is he naiumlve about the costs of this solution

N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y P R A C T I C A L C O N F L I C T

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identical which is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A)

Socrates ldquoencourages Euthyphro [a pious Greek] to revise tradition by considering as binding only those requirements concerning which there is divine unanimity he expresses further his own doubt as to whether gods really do disagreerdquo (Nussbaum 30)

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identicalwhich is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A Nussbaum 25)

Plato Republic I 343A-D Thrasymachusrsquo complaint Tell me Socrates do you still have a wet nursehellip Because shersquos letting you run around with a snotty nose and doesnrsquot wipe it when she needs tohellip You think that shepherds and cowherds seek the good of their sheep and cattle and fatten them and take care of them looking to something other than their masterrsquos good and their own Moreover you believe that rulershellip think of something besides their own advantage You are so far from understandinghellip that you donrsquot realize that justice is really the good of another the advantage of the stronger and the ruler and harmful to the one who obeys and serves Injustice is the opposite it rules the truly simple and just and those it rules do what is to the advantage of the other and stronger and they make the one they serve happy but themselves not at all You must look at it as follows my most simple Socrates A just man always gets less than an unjust onehellip

The New Teachers of Athens

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Gorgias 482C-484C Callicles on nature and convention [Y]oursquore in fact bringing the discussion around to the sort of crowd-pleasing vulgarities that are admirable only by law [nomos also translatable ldquoconventionrdquo or ldquocustomrdquo] and not by nature And these nature and law are for the most part opposed to each otherhellip I believe that the people who institute our laws are the weak and the many So they institute laws and assign praise and blame with themselves and their own advantage in mind As a way of frightening the more powerfulhellip out of getting a greater share than they they say that getting more than onersquos share is ldquoshamefulrdquo and ldquounjusthelliprdquo But surely if a man whose nature is equal to it arises he will shake off tear apart and escape all this he will trample underfoot our documents our tricks and charms and all our laws that violate nature He the slave will rise up and be revealed as our master and here the justice of nature will shine forth

The New Teachers of Athens

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

P R E - S O C R AT I C ldquo P H I L O S O P H E R S 6 T H - 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

P R E - S O C R AT I C P H I L O S O P H E R S

bull Though not usually calling themselves ldquophilosophersrdquo they seemed to have contributed inspiration for Socratesrsquo method of free inquiry applying logos

bull Scholars adopt different views of what constitutes their innovation and ldquophilosophicalrdquo method (see readings)

bull Basing views on argument and evidence

bull De-ldquomythologizationrdquo

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Miletus

E A R LY P H I L O S O P H Y A N C I E N T M I L E T U S

M I L E T U S

bull Wealthy city-state in Asia Minor

bull Key city for trading and shipping between Near East amp Greece

bull Ionian Greek culture

bull Freedom of thought

bull Open political debate

bull Wealth (for some) providing leisure

bull Thales and his successors Anaximander Anaximenes

bull ldquoPhilosophicalrdquo investigation

bull Later Presocratics Heraclitus ParmenidesldquoORIENTALIZINGrdquo POTTERY

The Milesian school strikes a new note unheard before It has a fresh sense of the meaning of truth ndash a feeling for the sort of thing it is reasonable to suppose The hypothesis it characteristically deals in is concerned with the nature of the one primary stuff the Milesians seem to make a great conscious effort to get at something which really does exist They strike us as throwing off the vast symbolic visions of mythology and waking clear-headed to see and touch real things If we have a rational temperament we feel at once a refreshment Here at last is a statement about the world which is meant and offered as true ndash a logos [explanation] not a mythos [story]

ndash F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952 ed) 42

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The questions which excited them were of this kind Can this apparently confused and disordered world be reduced to simpler principles so that our reason can grasp what it is and how it works What is it made of How does change take place They abandoned mythological and substituted intellectual solutions [It] was no longer satisfying to say that storms were roused by the wrath of Poseidon or death caused by the arrows of Apollo or Artemis A world ruled by anthropomorphic gods human in their passions was a world ruled by caprice Philosophy and science start with the bold confession of faith that not caprice but an inherent orderliness underlies the phenomena and the explanation of nature is to be sought within nature itself ndashWKC Guthrie History of Greek Philosophy (Cambridge 1969) 1 44-45

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

Thales of Miletus

bull Lived late 7th-6th centurybull Born to a Phoenician aristocratic

family ndash so leisurebull Traveled to Egypt and Babylon (by

tradition)bull Legendary wisdombull ldquoFounder of Western philosophyrdquo

bull First to seek an ldquooriginal causerdquo (archecirc)

bull to explain how unseen facts caused visible results without appeal to mythology

bull To provide generalizable proofs or laws

Thales of Miletus

AstronomyMathematicsWater as the archecircAll things are full of gods

bull Traditionally Thalesrsquo star student

bull 25 years old during Thalesrsquo eclipse (585 BCE)

bull Lived c 610-540 BCE

bull ldquoFirst to draw the inhabited world on a tabletrdquo (first mapmaker)

bull Unambiguously our first ldquophilosopherrdquo by standards of demythologization originality generality and observation

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

ldquoAnaximander has expurgated the supernatural with a boldness and completeness to which many of his successors failed to attain The primary order is still said to be lsquoaccording to what is ordainedrsquo it is still a moral order in which Justice prevails but the will of the personal God has disappeared and its place is partly taken by a natural cause the eternal motionrdquo

- F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952) 41 Anaximander relief 1st century AD

Rome Museo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Key contributions

bull Physics the archecircbull Cosmologybull ldquoEvolutionrdquobull Astronomy and Cartography

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Anaximander said that the APEIRON [indefinite unlimited] was the ARCHE and the element of things that are and he was the first to introduce this name for the ARCHE He says that the ARCHE is neither water nor any other of the things called elements but some other nature called APEIRON out of which come to be all the heavens and the worlds in them (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2413-18)

The things that are perish into the things out of which they come to be according to necessity for ldquothey pay penalty and retribution to one another according to their injustice in accordance with the ordering of timerdquo as he says in rather poetical language (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2418-21)

Anaximander of Miletus

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The ARCHE

bull One and unlimitedbull But not undefined Itrsquos AIR

Anaximenes of Miletus

bull Not opposites but a continuum FIRE AIR larr WIND larr CLOUD larr WATER larr EARTH larr STONEbull ldquoLooseningrdquo and ldquotighteningrdquo explain hot and cold

H E R A C L I T U S B 1 0 1 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 3 7 )

I searched out myself

Listening not to me but to the logos it is wise to agree that all things are one

H E R A C L I T U S B 5 0 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 1 1 )

E X A M P L E S

THE ROAD TO PHILOSOP HY

The Hero of Lyric Poets of the Polis (6th century)

bull According to the lyric poets of the polis culture such as Pindar Simonides Tyrtaeus and Sappho (7th-6th century BCE)

bull Pursues collective good of the polis based on strong ties of interdependent responsibility amp cooperation in a just world governed by the gods

Individual Freedom The ldquoSophistsrdquo (5th century)

bull Sources in thinkers like Protagoras and Gorgias (5th century BCE predominantly working in Athens) constructed as a category by Platorsquos later writings

bull Pursues individual advantage based on their personal beliefs and wits using persuasion and power skepticism of traditional values

Vulnerability The Hero of Tragedy (5th century)

bull Iconic examples include Sophoclesrsquo Oedipus and Aeschylusrsquo Agamemnon and Orestes

bull Pursuit of individual amp collective good in a world of apparently conflicting divine values sometimes hampered by their own lack of self-knowledge

I N T E R D E P E N D E N C Y I N T R O D U C E S V U L N E R A B I L I T Y W H I C H M AY B E

C E L E B R AT E D O R R E S I S T E D

The Hero of Epic Homer and Hesiod (8th century)

bull Found in the epic Iliad and Odyssey attributed to Homer (c 8th century BCE) examples include the powerful Achilles and thoughtful persuasive Odysseus

bull Pursues individual honour (timē) in a just world governed by the gods

CH

IGI V

AS

E C

70

0 B

CE

The Hero of Reason The ldquoPresocratics (6th-5th cent)

bull Founding figures including Thales Anaximander Anaximenes Pythagoras Heraclitus Parmenides Seeking to understand the basic original causes (aitiai) of the world through reason

I S T H E W O R L D G E N U I N E LY

I N T E L L I G I B L E T O R E A S O N

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Born in Athens to a stonemason named Sophroniscus in 469 BCE

bull ldquoSocratic problemrdquo Socrates wrote nothing we know about him through Plato Xenophon and Aristophanes whose accounts vary

bull Conversed with anyone ldquorich or poor citizen or foreignerrdquo (Apology 23C)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Non-conformity reliance on individual values and wits (contrast with the earlier poets and rhapsodes)

bull Claims of ignorance interest in shared truth and not only persuasion and resistance of ldquoselfish morality (contrast with the sophists)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Methods based on question and answer (the elenchus) requiring unity or consistency (a) of onersquos beliefs and (b) of onersquos beliefs and actions

bull Behaviour peculiar enough to warrant its own verb (sōkratein) (Arist Birds 1282) before generalized philosophia

bull Brought to trial in 399 BCE by two Athenians Meletus and Anytus charged with ldquoimpiety and corrupting the youngrdquo

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

S O C R AT E S C R I T O 4 6 A

I am the kind of person who listens to nothing within me but the logos that on reflection seems

best to me

L O G O S R E A S O N VA L U E C O N S C I E N C E M E A N I N G

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousness A sense of such significances that what is great is fragile and that what is necessary may be destructive which is present in the literature of the fifth century and earlier has disappeared [later] from the ethics of the philosophers and perhaps altogether from their minds Greek philosophy in its sustained pursuit of rational self-sufficiency does turn its back on kinds of human experience and human necessity of which Greek literature itself offers the purest if not the richest expression

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y A N D P H I L O S O P H Y

The continuity between Greek tragedy and Greek philosophy on these questions is however far greater than Williams has allowed On the one hand inside tragedy itself we find arresting portrayals of the human ambition to rational self-sufficiency we come to understand the ways in which problems of exposure motivate this ambition On the other Platos philosophical search for a self- sufficient good life is motivated by a keen sense of these same problems Far from having forgotten about what tragedy describes he sees the problems of exposure so clearly that only a radical solution seems adequate to their depth Nor is he naiumlve about the costs of this solution

N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y P R A C T I C A L C O N F L I C T

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identical which is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A)

Socrates ldquoencourages Euthyphro [a pious Greek] to revise tradition by considering as binding only those requirements concerning which there is divine unanimity he expresses further his own doubt as to whether gods really do disagreerdquo (Nussbaum 30)

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identicalwhich is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A Nussbaum 25)

bull The ethos of the epic poets heroic justice versus hubris (AT 1) Hesiod Works and Days 205-217 The Hawk amp Nightingale

bull The ethos of Athensrsquo new teachers (sophistai) (AT 2) Thucydides Melian Dialogue strength before justice Platorsquos Thrasymachus justice just is the strongerrsquos advantage Platorsquos Callicles nature versus convention

The New Teachers of Athens

Plato Gorgias 482C-484C Callicles on nature and convention [Y]oursquore in fact bringing the discussion around to the sort of crowd-pleasing vulgarities that are admirable only by law [nomos also translatable ldquoconventionrdquo or ldquocustomrdquo] and not by nature And these nature and law are for the most part opposed to each otherhellip I believe that the people who institute our laws are the weak and the many So they institute laws and assign praise and blame with themselves and their own advantage in mind As a way of frightening the more powerfulhellip out of getting a greater share than they they say that getting more than onersquos share is ldquoshamefulrdquo and ldquounjusthelliprdquo But surely if a man whose nature is equal to it arises he will shake off tear apart and escape all this he will trample underfoot our documents our tricks and charms and all our laws that violate nature He the slave will rise up and be revealed as our master and here the justice of nature will shine forth

The New Teachers of Athens

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

P R E - S O C R AT I C ldquo P H I L O S O P H E R S 6 T H - 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

P R E - S O C R AT I C P H I L O S O P H E R S

bull Though not usually calling themselves ldquophilosophersrdquo they seemed to have contributed inspiration for Socratesrsquo method of free inquiry applying logos

bull Scholars adopt different views of what constitutes their innovation and ldquophilosophicalrdquo method (see readings)

bull Basing views on argument and evidence

bull De-ldquomythologizationrdquo

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Miletus

E A R LY P H I L O S O P H Y A N C I E N T M I L E T U S

M I L E T U S

bull Wealthy city-state in Asia Minor

bull Key city for trading and shipping between Near East amp Greece

bull Ionian Greek culture

bull Freedom of thought

bull Open political debate

bull Wealth (for some) providing leisure

bull Thales and his successors Anaximander Anaximenes

bull ldquoPhilosophicalrdquo investigation

bull Later Presocratics Heraclitus ParmenidesldquoORIENTALIZINGrdquo POTTERY

The Milesian school strikes a new note unheard before It has a fresh sense of the meaning of truth ndash a feeling for the sort of thing it is reasonable to suppose The hypothesis it characteristically deals in is concerned with the nature of the one primary stuff the Milesians seem to make a great conscious effort to get at something which really does exist They strike us as throwing off the vast symbolic visions of mythology and waking clear-headed to see and touch real things If we have a rational temperament we feel at once a refreshment Here at last is a statement about the world which is meant and offered as true ndash a logos [explanation] not a mythos [story]

ndash F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952 ed) 42

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The questions which excited them were of this kind Can this apparently confused and disordered world be reduced to simpler principles so that our reason can grasp what it is and how it works What is it made of How does change take place They abandoned mythological and substituted intellectual solutions [It] was no longer satisfying to say that storms were roused by the wrath of Poseidon or death caused by the arrows of Apollo or Artemis A world ruled by anthropomorphic gods human in their passions was a world ruled by caprice Philosophy and science start with the bold confession of faith that not caprice but an inherent orderliness underlies the phenomena and the explanation of nature is to be sought within nature itself ndashWKC Guthrie History of Greek Philosophy (Cambridge 1969) 1 44-45

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

Thales of Miletus

bull Lived late 7th-6th centurybull Born to a Phoenician aristocratic

family ndash so leisurebull Traveled to Egypt and Babylon (by

tradition)bull Legendary wisdombull ldquoFounder of Western philosophyrdquo

bull First to seek an ldquooriginal causerdquo (archecirc)

bull to explain how unseen facts caused visible results without appeal to mythology

bull To provide generalizable proofs or laws

Thales of Miletus

AstronomyMathematicsWater as the archecircAll things are full of gods

bull Traditionally Thalesrsquo star student

bull 25 years old during Thalesrsquo eclipse (585 BCE)

bull Lived c 610-540 BCE

bull ldquoFirst to draw the inhabited world on a tabletrdquo (first mapmaker)

bull Unambiguously our first ldquophilosopherrdquo by standards of demythologization originality generality and observation

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

ldquoAnaximander has expurgated the supernatural with a boldness and completeness to which many of his successors failed to attain The primary order is still said to be lsquoaccording to what is ordainedrsquo it is still a moral order in which Justice prevails but the will of the personal God has disappeared and its place is partly taken by a natural cause the eternal motionrdquo

- F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952) 41 Anaximander relief 1st century AD

Rome Museo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Key contributions

bull Physics the archecircbull Cosmologybull ldquoEvolutionrdquobull Astronomy and Cartography

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Anaximander said that the APEIRON [indefinite unlimited] was the ARCHE and the element of things that are and he was the first to introduce this name for the ARCHE He says that the ARCHE is neither water nor any other of the things called elements but some other nature called APEIRON out of which come to be all the heavens and the worlds in them (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2413-18)

The things that are perish into the things out of which they come to be according to necessity for ldquothey pay penalty and retribution to one another according to their injustice in accordance with the ordering of timerdquo as he says in rather poetical language (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2418-21)

Anaximander of Miletus

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The ARCHE

bull One and unlimitedbull But not undefined Itrsquos AIR

Anaximenes of Miletus

bull Not opposites but a continuum FIRE AIR larr WIND larr CLOUD larr WATER larr EARTH larr STONEbull ldquoLooseningrdquo and ldquotighteningrdquo explain hot and cold

H E R A C L I T U S B 1 0 1 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 3 7 )

I searched out myself

Listening not to me but to the logos it is wise to agree that all things are one

H E R A C L I T U S B 5 0 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 1 1 )

E X A M P L E S

THE ROAD TO PHILOSOP HY

The Hero of Lyric Poets of the Polis (6th century)

bull According to the lyric poets of the polis culture such as Pindar Simonides Tyrtaeus and Sappho (7th-6th century BCE)

bull Pursues collective good of the polis based on strong ties of interdependent responsibility amp cooperation in a just world governed by the gods

Individual Freedom The ldquoSophistsrdquo (5th century)

bull Sources in thinkers like Protagoras and Gorgias (5th century BCE predominantly working in Athens) constructed as a category by Platorsquos later writings

bull Pursues individual advantage based on their personal beliefs and wits using persuasion and power skepticism of traditional values

Vulnerability The Hero of Tragedy (5th century)

bull Iconic examples include Sophoclesrsquo Oedipus and Aeschylusrsquo Agamemnon and Orestes

bull Pursuit of individual amp collective good in a world of apparently conflicting divine values sometimes hampered by their own lack of self-knowledge

I N T E R D E P E N D E N C Y I N T R O D U C E S V U L N E R A B I L I T Y W H I C H M AY B E

C E L E B R AT E D O R R E S I S T E D

The Hero of Epic Homer and Hesiod (8th century)

bull Found in the epic Iliad and Odyssey attributed to Homer (c 8th century BCE) examples include the powerful Achilles and thoughtful persuasive Odysseus

bull Pursues individual honour (timē) in a just world governed by the gods

CH

IGI V

AS

E C

70

0 B

CE

The Hero of Reason The ldquoPresocratics (6th-5th cent)

bull Founding figures including Thales Anaximander Anaximenes Pythagoras Heraclitus Parmenides Seeking to understand the basic original causes (aitiai) of the world through reason

I S T H E W O R L D G E N U I N E LY

I N T E L L I G I B L E T O R E A S O N

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Born in Athens to a stonemason named Sophroniscus in 469 BCE

bull ldquoSocratic problemrdquo Socrates wrote nothing we know about him through Plato Xenophon and Aristophanes whose accounts vary

bull Conversed with anyone ldquorich or poor citizen or foreignerrdquo (Apology 23C)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Non-conformity reliance on individual values and wits (contrast with the earlier poets and rhapsodes)

bull Claims of ignorance interest in shared truth and not only persuasion and resistance of ldquoselfish morality (contrast with the sophists)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Methods based on question and answer (the elenchus) requiring unity or consistency (a) of onersquos beliefs and (b) of onersquos beliefs and actions

bull Behaviour peculiar enough to warrant its own verb (sōkratein) (Arist Birds 1282) before generalized philosophia

bull Brought to trial in 399 BCE by two Athenians Meletus and Anytus charged with ldquoimpiety and corrupting the youngrdquo

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

S O C R AT E S C R I T O 4 6 A

I am the kind of person who listens to nothing within me but the logos that on reflection seems

best to me

L O G O S R E A S O N VA L U E C O N S C I E N C E M E A N I N G

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousness A sense of such significances that what is great is fragile and that what is necessary may be destructive which is present in the literature of the fifth century and earlier has disappeared [later] from the ethics of the philosophers and perhaps altogether from their minds Greek philosophy in its sustained pursuit of rational self-sufficiency does turn its back on kinds of human experience and human necessity of which Greek literature itself offers the purest if not the richest expression

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y A N D P H I L O S O P H Y

The continuity between Greek tragedy and Greek philosophy on these questions is however far greater than Williams has allowed On the one hand inside tragedy itself we find arresting portrayals of the human ambition to rational self-sufficiency we come to understand the ways in which problems of exposure motivate this ambition On the other Platos philosophical search for a self- sufficient good life is motivated by a keen sense of these same problems Far from having forgotten about what tragedy describes he sees the problems of exposure so clearly that only a radical solution seems adequate to their depth Nor is he naiumlve about the costs of this solution

N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y P R A C T I C A L C O N F L I C T

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identical which is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A)

Socrates ldquoencourages Euthyphro [a pious Greek] to revise tradition by considering as binding only those requirements concerning which there is divine unanimity he expresses further his own doubt as to whether gods really do disagreerdquo (Nussbaum 30)

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identicalwhich is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A Nussbaum 25)

Plato Gorgias 482C-484C Callicles on nature and convention [Y]oursquore in fact bringing the discussion around to the sort of crowd-pleasing vulgarities that are admirable only by law [nomos also translatable ldquoconventionrdquo or ldquocustomrdquo] and not by nature And these nature and law are for the most part opposed to each otherhellip I believe that the people who institute our laws are the weak and the many So they institute laws and assign praise and blame with themselves and their own advantage in mind As a way of frightening the more powerfulhellip out of getting a greater share than they they say that getting more than onersquos share is ldquoshamefulrdquo and ldquounjusthelliprdquo But surely if a man whose nature is equal to it arises he will shake off tear apart and escape all this he will trample underfoot our documents our tricks and charms and all our laws that violate nature He the slave will rise up and be revealed as our master and here the justice of nature will shine forth

The New Teachers of Athens

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

P R E - S O C R AT I C ldquo P H I L O S O P H E R S 6 T H - 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

P R E - S O C R AT I C P H I L O S O P H E R S

bull Though not usually calling themselves ldquophilosophersrdquo they seemed to have contributed inspiration for Socratesrsquo method of free inquiry applying logos

bull Scholars adopt different views of what constitutes their innovation and ldquophilosophicalrdquo method (see readings)

bull Basing views on argument and evidence

bull De-ldquomythologizationrdquo

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Miletus

E A R LY P H I L O S O P H Y A N C I E N T M I L E T U S

M I L E T U S

bull Wealthy city-state in Asia Minor

bull Key city for trading and shipping between Near East amp Greece

bull Ionian Greek culture

bull Freedom of thought

bull Open political debate

bull Wealth (for some) providing leisure

bull Thales and his successors Anaximander Anaximenes

bull ldquoPhilosophicalrdquo investigation

bull Later Presocratics Heraclitus ParmenidesldquoORIENTALIZINGrdquo POTTERY

The Milesian school strikes a new note unheard before It has a fresh sense of the meaning of truth ndash a feeling for the sort of thing it is reasonable to suppose The hypothesis it characteristically deals in is concerned with the nature of the one primary stuff the Milesians seem to make a great conscious effort to get at something which really does exist They strike us as throwing off the vast symbolic visions of mythology and waking clear-headed to see and touch real things If we have a rational temperament we feel at once a refreshment Here at last is a statement about the world which is meant and offered as true ndash a logos [explanation] not a mythos [story]

ndash F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952 ed) 42

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The questions which excited them were of this kind Can this apparently confused and disordered world be reduced to simpler principles so that our reason can grasp what it is and how it works What is it made of How does change take place They abandoned mythological and substituted intellectual solutions [It] was no longer satisfying to say that storms were roused by the wrath of Poseidon or death caused by the arrows of Apollo or Artemis A world ruled by anthropomorphic gods human in their passions was a world ruled by caprice Philosophy and science start with the bold confession of faith that not caprice but an inherent orderliness underlies the phenomena and the explanation of nature is to be sought within nature itself ndashWKC Guthrie History of Greek Philosophy (Cambridge 1969) 1 44-45

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

Thales of Miletus

bull Lived late 7th-6th centurybull Born to a Phoenician aristocratic

family ndash so leisurebull Traveled to Egypt and Babylon (by

tradition)bull Legendary wisdombull ldquoFounder of Western philosophyrdquo

bull First to seek an ldquooriginal causerdquo (archecirc)

bull to explain how unseen facts caused visible results without appeal to mythology

bull To provide generalizable proofs or laws

Thales of Miletus

AstronomyMathematicsWater as the archecircAll things are full of gods

bull Traditionally Thalesrsquo star student

bull 25 years old during Thalesrsquo eclipse (585 BCE)

bull Lived c 610-540 BCE

bull ldquoFirst to draw the inhabited world on a tabletrdquo (first mapmaker)

bull Unambiguously our first ldquophilosopherrdquo by standards of demythologization originality generality and observation

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

ldquoAnaximander has expurgated the supernatural with a boldness and completeness to which many of his successors failed to attain The primary order is still said to be lsquoaccording to what is ordainedrsquo it is still a moral order in which Justice prevails but the will of the personal God has disappeared and its place is partly taken by a natural cause the eternal motionrdquo

- F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952) 41 Anaximander relief 1st century AD

Rome Museo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Key contributions

bull Physics the archecircbull Cosmologybull ldquoEvolutionrdquobull Astronomy and Cartography

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Anaximander said that the APEIRON [indefinite unlimited] was the ARCHE and the element of things that are and he was the first to introduce this name for the ARCHE He says that the ARCHE is neither water nor any other of the things called elements but some other nature called APEIRON out of which come to be all the heavens and the worlds in them (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2413-18)

The things that are perish into the things out of which they come to be according to necessity for ldquothey pay penalty and retribution to one another according to their injustice in accordance with the ordering of timerdquo as he says in rather poetical language (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2418-21)

Anaximander of Miletus

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The ARCHE

bull One and unlimitedbull But not undefined Itrsquos AIR

Anaximenes of Miletus

bull Not opposites but a continuum FIRE AIR larr WIND larr CLOUD larr WATER larr EARTH larr STONEbull ldquoLooseningrdquo and ldquotighteningrdquo explain hot and cold

H E R A C L I T U S B 1 0 1 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 3 7 )

I searched out myself

Listening not to me but to the logos it is wise to agree that all things are one

H E R A C L I T U S B 5 0 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 1 1 )

E X A M P L E S

THE ROAD TO PHILOSOP HY

The Hero of Lyric Poets of the Polis (6th century)

bull According to the lyric poets of the polis culture such as Pindar Simonides Tyrtaeus and Sappho (7th-6th century BCE)

bull Pursues collective good of the polis based on strong ties of interdependent responsibility amp cooperation in a just world governed by the gods

Individual Freedom The ldquoSophistsrdquo (5th century)

bull Sources in thinkers like Protagoras and Gorgias (5th century BCE predominantly working in Athens) constructed as a category by Platorsquos later writings

bull Pursues individual advantage based on their personal beliefs and wits using persuasion and power skepticism of traditional values

Vulnerability The Hero of Tragedy (5th century)

bull Iconic examples include Sophoclesrsquo Oedipus and Aeschylusrsquo Agamemnon and Orestes

bull Pursuit of individual amp collective good in a world of apparently conflicting divine values sometimes hampered by their own lack of self-knowledge

I N T E R D E P E N D E N C Y I N T R O D U C E S V U L N E R A B I L I T Y W H I C H M AY B E

C E L E B R AT E D O R R E S I S T E D

The Hero of Epic Homer and Hesiod (8th century)

bull Found in the epic Iliad and Odyssey attributed to Homer (c 8th century BCE) examples include the powerful Achilles and thoughtful persuasive Odysseus

bull Pursues individual honour (timē) in a just world governed by the gods

CH

IGI V

AS

E C

70

0 B

CE

The Hero of Reason The ldquoPresocratics (6th-5th cent)

bull Founding figures including Thales Anaximander Anaximenes Pythagoras Heraclitus Parmenides Seeking to understand the basic original causes (aitiai) of the world through reason

I S T H E W O R L D G E N U I N E LY

I N T E L L I G I B L E T O R E A S O N

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Born in Athens to a stonemason named Sophroniscus in 469 BCE

bull ldquoSocratic problemrdquo Socrates wrote nothing we know about him through Plato Xenophon and Aristophanes whose accounts vary

bull Conversed with anyone ldquorich or poor citizen or foreignerrdquo (Apology 23C)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Non-conformity reliance on individual values and wits (contrast with the earlier poets and rhapsodes)

bull Claims of ignorance interest in shared truth and not only persuasion and resistance of ldquoselfish morality (contrast with the sophists)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Methods based on question and answer (the elenchus) requiring unity or consistency (a) of onersquos beliefs and (b) of onersquos beliefs and actions

bull Behaviour peculiar enough to warrant its own verb (sōkratein) (Arist Birds 1282) before generalized philosophia

bull Brought to trial in 399 BCE by two Athenians Meletus and Anytus charged with ldquoimpiety and corrupting the youngrdquo

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

S O C R AT E S C R I T O 4 6 A

I am the kind of person who listens to nothing within me but the logos that on reflection seems

best to me

L O G O S R E A S O N VA L U E C O N S C I E N C E M E A N I N G

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousness A sense of such significances that what is great is fragile and that what is necessary may be destructive which is present in the literature of the fifth century and earlier has disappeared [later] from the ethics of the philosophers and perhaps altogether from their minds Greek philosophy in its sustained pursuit of rational self-sufficiency does turn its back on kinds of human experience and human necessity of which Greek literature itself offers the purest if not the richest expression

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y A N D P H I L O S O P H Y

The continuity between Greek tragedy and Greek philosophy on these questions is however far greater than Williams has allowed On the one hand inside tragedy itself we find arresting portrayals of the human ambition to rational self-sufficiency we come to understand the ways in which problems of exposure motivate this ambition On the other Platos philosophical search for a self- sufficient good life is motivated by a keen sense of these same problems Far from having forgotten about what tragedy describes he sees the problems of exposure so clearly that only a radical solution seems adequate to their depth Nor is he naiumlve about the costs of this solution

N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y P R A C T I C A L C O N F L I C T

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identical which is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A)

Socrates ldquoencourages Euthyphro [a pious Greek] to revise tradition by considering as binding only those requirements concerning which there is divine unanimity he expresses further his own doubt as to whether gods really do disagreerdquo (Nussbaum 30)

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identicalwhich is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A Nussbaum 25)

T O D AY

bull Review

bull The road to philosophy Greek heroic ideals

bull Epic Poets (8th century BCE)

bull Lyric Poets (6th century)

bull Tragedians (5th century)

bull Sophists (5th century)

bull Presocratic philosophers (6th-5th century)

P R E - S O C R AT I C ldquo P H I L O S O P H E R S 6 T H - 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

P R E - S O C R AT I C P H I L O S O P H E R S

bull Though not usually calling themselves ldquophilosophersrdquo they seemed to have contributed inspiration for Socratesrsquo method of free inquiry applying logos

bull Scholars adopt different views of what constitutes their innovation and ldquophilosophicalrdquo method (see readings)

bull Basing views on argument and evidence

bull De-ldquomythologizationrdquo

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Miletus

E A R LY P H I L O S O P H Y A N C I E N T M I L E T U S

M I L E T U S

bull Wealthy city-state in Asia Minor

bull Key city for trading and shipping between Near East amp Greece

bull Ionian Greek culture

bull Freedom of thought

bull Open political debate

bull Wealth (for some) providing leisure

bull Thales and his successors Anaximander Anaximenes

bull ldquoPhilosophicalrdquo investigation

bull Later Presocratics Heraclitus ParmenidesldquoORIENTALIZINGrdquo POTTERY

The Milesian school strikes a new note unheard before It has a fresh sense of the meaning of truth ndash a feeling for the sort of thing it is reasonable to suppose The hypothesis it characteristically deals in is concerned with the nature of the one primary stuff the Milesians seem to make a great conscious effort to get at something which really does exist They strike us as throwing off the vast symbolic visions of mythology and waking clear-headed to see and touch real things If we have a rational temperament we feel at once a refreshment Here at last is a statement about the world which is meant and offered as true ndash a logos [explanation] not a mythos [story]

ndash F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952 ed) 42

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The questions which excited them were of this kind Can this apparently confused and disordered world be reduced to simpler principles so that our reason can grasp what it is and how it works What is it made of How does change take place They abandoned mythological and substituted intellectual solutions [It] was no longer satisfying to say that storms were roused by the wrath of Poseidon or death caused by the arrows of Apollo or Artemis A world ruled by anthropomorphic gods human in their passions was a world ruled by caprice Philosophy and science start with the bold confession of faith that not caprice but an inherent orderliness underlies the phenomena and the explanation of nature is to be sought within nature itself ndashWKC Guthrie History of Greek Philosophy (Cambridge 1969) 1 44-45

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

Thales of Miletus

bull Lived late 7th-6th centurybull Born to a Phoenician aristocratic

family ndash so leisurebull Traveled to Egypt and Babylon (by

tradition)bull Legendary wisdombull ldquoFounder of Western philosophyrdquo

bull First to seek an ldquooriginal causerdquo (archecirc)

bull to explain how unseen facts caused visible results without appeal to mythology

bull To provide generalizable proofs or laws

Thales of Miletus

AstronomyMathematicsWater as the archecircAll things are full of gods

bull Traditionally Thalesrsquo star student

bull 25 years old during Thalesrsquo eclipse (585 BCE)

bull Lived c 610-540 BCE

bull ldquoFirst to draw the inhabited world on a tabletrdquo (first mapmaker)

bull Unambiguously our first ldquophilosopherrdquo by standards of demythologization originality generality and observation

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

ldquoAnaximander has expurgated the supernatural with a boldness and completeness to which many of his successors failed to attain The primary order is still said to be lsquoaccording to what is ordainedrsquo it is still a moral order in which Justice prevails but the will of the personal God has disappeared and its place is partly taken by a natural cause the eternal motionrdquo

- F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952) 41 Anaximander relief 1st century AD

Rome Museo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Key contributions

bull Physics the archecircbull Cosmologybull ldquoEvolutionrdquobull Astronomy and Cartography

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Anaximander said that the APEIRON [indefinite unlimited] was the ARCHE and the element of things that are and he was the first to introduce this name for the ARCHE He says that the ARCHE is neither water nor any other of the things called elements but some other nature called APEIRON out of which come to be all the heavens and the worlds in them (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2413-18)

The things that are perish into the things out of which they come to be according to necessity for ldquothey pay penalty and retribution to one another according to their injustice in accordance with the ordering of timerdquo as he says in rather poetical language (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2418-21)

Anaximander of Miletus

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The ARCHE

bull One and unlimitedbull But not undefined Itrsquos AIR

Anaximenes of Miletus

bull Not opposites but a continuum FIRE AIR larr WIND larr CLOUD larr WATER larr EARTH larr STONEbull ldquoLooseningrdquo and ldquotighteningrdquo explain hot and cold

H E R A C L I T U S B 1 0 1 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 3 7 )

I searched out myself

Listening not to me but to the logos it is wise to agree that all things are one

H E R A C L I T U S B 5 0 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 1 1 )

E X A M P L E S

THE ROAD TO PHILOSOP HY

The Hero of Lyric Poets of the Polis (6th century)

bull According to the lyric poets of the polis culture such as Pindar Simonides Tyrtaeus and Sappho (7th-6th century BCE)

bull Pursues collective good of the polis based on strong ties of interdependent responsibility amp cooperation in a just world governed by the gods

Individual Freedom The ldquoSophistsrdquo (5th century)

bull Sources in thinkers like Protagoras and Gorgias (5th century BCE predominantly working in Athens) constructed as a category by Platorsquos later writings

bull Pursues individual advantage based on their personal beliefs and wits using persuasion and power skepticism of traditional values

Vulnerability The Hero of Tragedy (5th century)

bull Iconic examples include Sophoclesrsquo Oedipus and Aeschylusrsquo Agamemnon and Orestes

bull Pursuit of individual amp collective good in a world of apparently conflicting divine values sometimes hampered by their own lack of self-knowledge

I N T E R D E P E N D E N C Y I N T R O D U C E S V U L N E R A B I L I T Y W H I C H M AY B E

C E L E B R AT E D O R R E S I S T E D

The Hero of Epic Homer and Hesiod (8th century)

bull Found in the epic Iliad and Odyssey attributed to Homer (c 8th century BCE) examples include the powerful Achilles and thoughtful persuasive Odysseus

bull Pursues individual honour (timē) in a just world governed by the gods

CH

IGI V

AS

E C

70

0 B

CE

The Hero of Reason The ldquoPresocratics (6th-5th cent)

bull Founding figures including Thales Anaximander Anaximenes Pythagoras Heraclitus Parmenides Seeking to understand the basic original causes (aitiai) of the world through reason

I S T H E W O R L D G E N U I N E LY

I N T E L L I G I B L E T O R E A S O N

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Born in Athens to a stonemason named Sophroniscus in 469 BCE

bull ldquoSocratic problemrdquo Socrates wrote nothing we know about him through Plato Xenophon and Aristophanes whose accounts vary

bull Conversed with anyone ldquorich or poor citizen or foreignerrdquo (Apology 23C)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Non-conformity reliance on individual values and wits (contrast with the earlier poets and rhapsodes)

bull Claims of ignorance interest in shared truth and not only persuasion and resistance of ldquoselfish morality (contrast with the sophists)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Methods based on question and answer (the elenchus) requiring unity or consistency (a) of onersquos beliefs and (b) of onersquos beliefs and actions

bull Behaviour peculiar enough to warrant its own verb (sōkratein) (Arist Birds 1282) before generalized philosophia

bull Brought to trial in 399 BCE by two Athenians Meletus and Anytus charged with ldquoimpiety and corrupting the youngrdquo

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

S O C R AT E S C R I T O 4 6 A

I am the kind of person who listens to nothing within me but the logos that on reflection seems

best to me

L O G O S R E A S O N VA L U E C O N S C I E N C E M E A N I N G

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousness A sense of such significances that what is great is fragile and that what is necessary may be destructive which is present in the literature of the fifth century and earlier has disappeared [later] from the ethics of the philosophers and perhaps altogether from their minds Greek philosophy in its sustained pursuit of rational self-sufficiency does turn its back on kinds of human experience and human necessity of which Greek literature itself offers the purest if not the richest expression

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y A N D P H I L O S O P H Y

The continuity between Greek tragedy and Greek philosophy on these questions is however far greater than Williams has allowed On the one hand inside tragedy itself we find arresting portrayals of the human ambition to rational self-sufficiency we come to understand the ways in which problems of exposure motivate this ambition On the other Platos philosophical search for a self- sufficient good life is motivated by a keen sense of these same problems Far from having forgotten about what tragedy describes he sees the problems of exposure so clearly that only a radical solution seems adequate to their depth Nor is he naiumlve about the costs of this solution

N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y P R A C T I C A L C O N F L I C T

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identical which is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A)

Socrates ldquoencourages Euthyphro [a pious Greek] to revise tradition by considering as binding only those requirements concerning which there is divine unanimity he expresses further his own doubt as to whether gods really do disagreerdquo (Nussbaum 30)

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identicalwhich is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A Nussbaum 25)

P R E - S O C R AT I C ldquo P H I L O S O P H E R S 6 T H - 5 T H C E N T U R Y B C E

P R E - S O C R AT I C P H I L O S O P H E R S

bull Though not usually calling themselves ldquophilosophersrdquo they seemed to have contributed inspiration for Socratesrsquo method of free inquiry applying logos

bull Scholars adopt different views of what constitutes their innovation and ldquophilosophicalrdquo method (see readings)

bull Basing views on argument and evidence

bull De-ldquomythologizationrdquo

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Miletus

E A R LY P H I L O S O P H Y A N C I E N T M I L E T U S

M I L E T U S

bull Wealthy city-state in Asia Minor

bull Key city for trading and shipping between Near East amp Greece

bull Ionian Greek culture

bull Freedom of thought

bull Open political debate

bull Wealth (for some) providing leisure

bull Thales and his successors Anaximander Anaximenes

bull ldquoPhilosophicalrdquo investigation

bull Later Presocratics Heraclitus ParmenidesldquoORIENTALIZINGrdquo POTTERY

The Milesian school strikes a new note unheard before It has a fresh sense of the meaning of truth ndash a feeling for the sort of thing it is reasonable to suppose The hypothesis it characteristically deals in is concerned with the nature of the one primary stuff the Milesians seem to make a great conscious effort to get at something which really does exist They strike us as throwing off the vast symbolic visions of mythology and waking clear-headed to see and touch real things If we have a rational temperament we feel at once a refreshment Here at last is a statement about the world which is meant and offered as true ndash a logos [explanation] not a mythos [story]

ndash F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952 ed) 42

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The questions which excited them were of this kind Can this apparently confused and disordered world be reduced to simpler principles so that our reason can grasp what it is and how it works What is it made of How does change take place They abandoned mythological and substituted intellectual solutions [It] was no longer satisfying to say that storms were roused by the wrath of Poseidon or death caused by the arrows of Apollo or Artemis A world ruled by anthropomorphic gods human in their passions was a world ruled by caprice Philosophy and science start with the bold confession of faith that not caprice but an inherent orderliness underlies the phenomena and the explanation of nature is to be sought within nature itself ndashWKC Guthrie History of Greek Philosophy (Cambridge 1969) 1 44-45

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

Thales of Miletus

bull Lived late 7th-6th centurybull Born to a Phoenician aristocratic

family ndash so leisurebull Traveled to Egypt and Babylon (by

tradition)bull Legendary wisdombull ldquoFounder of Western philosophyrdquo

bull First to seek an ldquooriginal causerdquo (archecirc)

bull to explain how unseen facts caused visible results without appeal to mythology

bull To provide generalizable proofs or laws

Thales of Miletus

AstronomyMathematicsWater as the archecircAll things are full of gods

bull Traditionally Thalesrsquo star student

bull 25 years old during Thalesrsquo eclipse (585 BCE)

bull Lived c 610-540 BCE

bull ldquoFirst to draw the inhabited world on a tabletrdquo (first mapmaker)

bull Unambiguously our first ldquophilosopherrdquo by standards of demythologization originality generality and observation

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

ldquoAnaximander has expurgated the supernatural with a boldness and completeness to which many of his successors failed to attain The primary order is still said to be lsquoaccording to what is ordainedrsquo it is still a moral order in which Justice prevails but the will of the personal God has disappeared and its place is partly taken by a natural cause the eternal motionrdquo

- F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952) 41 Anaximander relief 1st century AD

Rome Museo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Key contributions

bull Physics the archecircbull Cosmologybull ldquoEvolutionrdquobull Astronomy and Cartography

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Anaximander said that the APEIRON [indefinite unlimited] was the ARCHE and the element of things that are and he was the first to introduce this name for the ARCHE He says that the ARCHE is neither water nor any other of the things called elements but some other nature called APEIRON out of which come to be all the heavens and the worlds in them (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2413-18)

The things that are perish into the things out of which they come to be according to necessity for ldquothey pay penalty and retribution to one another according to their injustice in accordance with the ordering of timerdquo as he says in rather poetical language (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2418-21)

Anaximander of Miletus

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The ARCHE

bull One and unlimitedbull But not undefined Itrsquos AIR

Anaximenes of Miletus

bull Not opposites but a continuum FIRE AIR larr WIND larr CLOUD larr WATER larr EARTH larr STONEbull ldquoLooseningrdquo and ldquotighteningrdquo explain hot and cold

H E R A C L I T U S B 1 0 1 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 3 7 )

I searched out myself

Listening not to me but to the logos it is wise to agree that all things are one

H E R A C L I T U S B 5 0 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 1 1 )

E X A M P L E S

THE ROAD TO PHILOSOP HY

The Hero of Lyric Poets of the Polis (6th century)

bull According to the lyric poets of the polis culture such as Pindar Simonides Tyrtaeus and Sappho (7th-6th century BCE)

bull Pursues collective good of the polis based on strong ties of interdependent responsibility amp cooperation in a just world governed by the gods

Individual Freedom The ldquoSophistsrdquo (5th century)

bull Sources in thinkers like Protagoras and Gorgias (5th century BCE predominantly working in Athens) constructed as a category by Platorsquos later writings

bull Pursues individual advantage based on their personal beliefs and wits using persuasion and power skepticism of traditional values

Vulnerability The Hero of Tragedy (5th century)

bull Iconic examples include Sophoclesrsquo Oedipus and Aeschylusrsquo Agamemnon and Orestes

bull Pursuit of individual amp collective good in a world of apparently conflicting divine values sometimes hampered by their own lack of self-knowledge

I N T E R D E P E N D E N C Y I N T R O D U C E S V U L N E R A B I L I T Y W H I C H M AY B E

C E L E B R AT E D O R R E S I S T E D

The Hero of Epic Homer and Hesiod (8th century)

bull Found in the epic Iliad and Odyssey attributed to Homer (c 8th century BCE) examples include the powerful Achilles and thoughtful persuasive Odysseus

bull Pursues individual honour (timē) in a just world governed by the gods

CH

IGI V

AS

E C

70

0 B

CE

The Hero of Reason The ldquoPresocratics (6th-5th cent)

bull Founding figures including Thales Anaximander Anaximenes Pythagoras Heraclitus Parmenides Seeking to understand the basic original causes (aitiai) of the world through reason

I S T H E W O R L D G E N U I N E LY

I N T E L L I G I B L E T O R E A S O N

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Born in Athens to a stonemason named Sophroniscus in 469 BCE

bull ldquoSocratic problemrdquo Socrates wrote nothing we know about him through Plato Xenophon and Aristophanes whose accounts vary

bull Conversed with anyone ldquorich or poor citizen or foreignerrdquo (Apology 23C)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Non-conformity reliance on individual values and wits (contrast with the earlier poets and rhapsodes)

bull Claims of ignorance interest in shared truth and not only persuasion and resistance of ldquoselfish morality (contrast with the sophists)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Methods based on question and answer (the elenchus) requiring unity or consistency (a) of onersquos beliefs and (b) of onersquos beliefs and actions

bull Behaviour peculiar enough to warrant its own verb (sōkratein) (Arist Birds 1282) before generalized philosophia

bull Brought to trial in 399 BCE by two Athenians Meletus and Anytus charged with ldquoimpiety and corrupting the youngrdquo

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

S O C R AT E S C R I T O 4 6 A

I am the kind of person who listens to nothing within me but the logos that on reflection seems

best to me

L O G O S R E A S O N VA L U E C O N S C I E N C E M E A N I N G

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousness A sense of such significances that what is great is fragile and that what is necessary may be destructive which is present in the literature of the fifth century and earlier has disappeared [later] from the ethics of the philosophers and perhaps altogether from their minds Greek philosophy in its sustained pursuit of rational self-sufficiency does turn its back on kinds of human experience and human necessity of which Greek literature itself offers the purest if not the richest expression

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y A N D P H I L O S O P H Y

The continuity between Greek tragedy and Greek philosophy on these questions is however far greater than Williams has allowed On the one hand inside tragedy itself we find arresting portrayals of the human ambition to rational self-sufficiency we come to understand the ways in which problems of exposure motivate this ambition On the other Platos philosophical search for a self- sufficient good life is motivated by a keen sense of these same problems Far from having forgotten about what tragedy describes he sees the problems of exposure so clearly that only a radical solution seems adequate to their depth Nor is he naiumlve about the costs of this solution

N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y P R A C T I C A L C O N F L I C T

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identical which is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A)

Socrates ldquoencourages Euthyphro [a pious Greek] to revise tradition by considering as binding only those requirements concerning which there is divine unanimity he expresses further his own doubt as to whether gods really do disagreerdquo (Nussbaum 30)

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identicalwhich is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A Nussbaum 25)

P R E - S O C R AT I C P H I L O S O P H E R S

bull Though not usually calling themselves ldquophilosophersrdquo they seemed to have contributed inspiration for Socratesrsquo method of free inquiry applying logos

bull Scholars adopt different views of what constitutes their innovation and ldquophilosophicalrdquo method (see readings)

bull Basing views on argument and evidence

bull De-ldquomythologizationrdquo

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Miletus

E A R LY P H I L O S O P H Y A N C I E N T M I L E T U S

M I L E T U S

bull Wealthy city-state in Asia Minor

bull Key city for trading and shipping between Near East amp Greece

bull Ionian Greek culture

bull Freedom of thought

bull Open political debate

bull Wealth (for some) providing leisure

bull Thales and his successors Anaximander Anaximenes

bull ldquoPhilosophicalrdquo investigation

bull Later Presocratics Heraclitus ParmenidesldquoORIENTALIZINGrdquo POTTERY

The Milesian school strikes a new note unheard before It has a fresh sense of the meaning of truth ndash a feeling for the sort of thing it is reasonable to suppose The hypothesis it characteristically deals in is concerned with the nature of the one primary stuff the Milesians seem to make a great conscious effort to get at something which really does exist They strike us as throwing off the vast symbolic visions of mythology and waking clear-headed to see and touch real things If we have a rational temperament we feel at once a refreshment Here at last is a statement about the world which is meant and offered as true ndash a logos [explanation] not a mythos [story]

ndash F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952 ed) 42

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The questions which excited them were of this kind Can this apparently confused and disordered world be reduced to simpler principles so that our reason can grasp what it is and how it works What is it made of How does change take place They abandoned mythological and substituted intellectual solutions [It] was no longer satisfying to say that storms were roused by the wrath of Poseidon or death caused by the arrows of Apollo or Artemis A world ruled by anthropomorphic gods human in their passions was a world ruled by caprice Philosophy and science start with the bold confession of faith that not caprice but an inherent orderliness underlies the phenomena and the explanation of nature is to be sought within nature itself ndashWKC Guthrie History of Greek Philosophy (Cambridge 1969) 1 44-45

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

Thales of Miletus

bull Lived late 7th-6th centurybull Born to a Phoenician aristocratic

family ndash so leisurebull Traveled to Egypt and Babylon (by

tradition)bull Legendary wisdombull ldquoFounder of Western philosophyrdquo

bull First to seek an ldquooriginal causerdquo (archecirc)

bull to explain how unseen facts caused visible results without appeal to mythology

bull To provide generalizable proofs or laws

Thales of Miletus

AstronomyMathematicsWater as the archecircAll things are full of gods

bull Traditionally Thalesrsquo star student

bull 25 years old during Thalesrsquo eclipse (585 BCE)

bull Lived c 610-540 BCE

bull ldquoFirst to draw the inhabited world on a tabletrdquo (first mapmaker)

bull Unambiguously our first ldquophilosopherrdquo by standards of demythologization originality generality and observation

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

ldquoAnaximander has expurgated the supernatural with a boldness and completeness to which many of his successors failed to attain The primary order is still said to be lsquoaccording to what is ordainedrsquo it is still a moral order in which Justice prevails but the will of the personal God has disappeared and its place is partly taken by a natural cause the eternal motionrdquo

- F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952) 41 Anaximander relief 1st century AD

Rome Museo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Key contributions

bull Physics the archecircbull Cosmologybull ldquoEvolutionrdquobull Astronomy and Cartography

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Anaximander said that the APEIRON [indefinite unlimited] was the ARCHE and the element of things that are and he was the first to introduce this name for the ARCHE He says that the ARCHE is neither water nor any other of the things called elements but some other nature called APEIRON out of which come to be all the heavens and the worlds in them (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2413-18)

The things that are perish into the things out of which they come to be according to necessity for ldquothey pay penalty and retribution to one another according to their injustice in accordance with the ordering of timerdquo as he says in rather poetical language (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2418-21)

Anaximander of Miletus

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The ARCHE

bull One and unlimitedbull But not undefined Itrsquos AIR

Anaximenes of Miletus

bull Not opposites but a continuum FIRE AIR larr WIND larr CLOUD larr WATER larr EARTH larr STONEbull ldquoLooseningrdquo and ldquotighteningrdquo explain hot and cold

H E R A C L I T U S B 1 0 1 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 3 7 )

I searched out myself

Listening not to me but to the logos it is wise to agree that all things are one

H E R A C L I T U S B 5 0 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 1 1 )

E X A M P L E S

THE ROAD TO PHILOSOP HY

The Hero of Lyric Poets of the Polis (6th century)

bull According to the lyric poets of the polis culture such as Pindar Simonides Tyrtaeus and Sappho (7th-6th century BCE)

bull Pursues collective good of the polis based on strong ties of interdependent responsibility amp cooperation in a just world governed by the gods

Individual Freedom The ldquoSophistsrdquo (5th century)

bull Sources in thinkers like Protagoras and Gorgias (5th century BCE predominantly working in Athens) constructed as a category by Platorsquos later writings

bull Pursues individual advantage based on their personal beliefs and wits using persuasion and power skepticism of traditional values

Vulnerability The Hero of Tragedy (5th century)

bull Iconic examples include Sophoclesrsquo Oedipus and Aeschylusrsquo Agamemnon and Orestes

bull Pursuit of individual amp collective good in a world of apparently conflicting divine values sometimes hampered by their own lack of self-knowledge

I N T E R D E P E N D E N C Y I N T R O D U C E S V U L N E R A B I L I T Y W H I C H M AY B E

C E L E B R AT E D O R R E S I S T E D

The Hero of Epic Homer and Hesiod (8th century)

bull Found in the epic Iliad and Odyssey attributed to Homer (c 8th century BCE) examples include the powerful Achilles and thoughtful persuasive Odysseus

bull Pursues individual honour (timē) in a just world governed by the gods

CH

IGI V

AS

E C

70

0 B

CE

The Hero of Reason The ldquoPresocratics (6th-5th cent)

bull Founding figures including Thales Anaximander Anaximenes Pythagoras Heraclitus Parmenides Seeking to understand the basic original causes (aitiai) of the world through reason

I S T H E W O R L D G E N U I N E LY

I N T E L L I G I B L E T O R E A S O N

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Born in Athens to a stonemason named Sophroniscus in 469 BCE

bull ldquoSocratic problemrdquo Socrates wrote nothing we know about him through Plato Xenophon and Aristophanes whose accounts vary

bull Conversed with anyone ldquorich or poor citizen or foreignerrdquo (Apology 23C)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Non-conformity reliance on individual values and wits (contrast with the earlier poets and rhapsodes)

bull Claims of ignorance interest in shared truth and not only persuasion and resistance of ldquoselfish morality (contrast with the sophists)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Methods based on question and answer (the elenchus) requiring unity or consistency (a) of onersquos beliefs and (b) of onersquos beliefs and actions

bull Behaviour peculiar enough to warrant its own verb (sōkratein) (Arist Birds 1282) before generalized philosophia

bull Brought to trial in 399 BCE by two Athenians Meletus and Anytus charged with ldquoimpiety and corrupting the youngrdquo

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

S O C R AT E S C R I T O 4 6 A

I am the kind of person who listens to nothing within me but the logos that on reflection seems

best to me

L O G O S R E A S O N VA L U E C O N S C I E N C E M E A N I N G

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousness A sense of such significances that what is great is fragile and that what is necessary may be destructive which is present in the literature of the fifth century and earlier has disappeared [later] from the ethics of the philosophers and perhaps altogether from their minds Greek philosophy in its sustained pursuit of rational self-sufficiency does turn its back on kinds of human experience and human necessity of which Greek literature itself offers the purest if not the richest expression

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y A N D P H I L O S O P H Y

The continuity between Greek tragedy and Greek philosophy on these questions is however far greater than Williams has allowed On the one hand inside tragedy itself we find arresting portrayals of the human ambition to rational self-sufficiency we come to understand the ways in which problems of exposure motivate this ambition On the other Platos philosophical search for a self- sufficient good life is motivated by a keen sense of these same problems Far from having forgotten about what tragedy describes he sees the problems of exposure so clearly that only a radical solution seems adequate to their depth Nor is he naiumlve about the costs of this solution

N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y P R A C T I C A L C O N F L I C T

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identical which is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A)

Socrates ldquoencourages Euthyphro [a pious Greek] to revise tradition by considering as binding only those requirements concerning which there is divine unanimity he expresses further his own doubt as to whether gods really do disagreerdquo (Nussbaum 30)

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identicalwhich is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A Nussbaum 25)

Classical Greek world | c 430 BCE

Miletus

E A R LY P H I L O S O P H Y A N C I E N T M I L E T U S

M I L E T U S

bull Wealthy city-state in Asia Minor

bull Key city for trading and shipping between Near East amp Greece

bull Ionian Greek culture

bull Freedom of thought

bull Open political debate

bull Wealth (for some) providing leisure

bull Thales and his successors Anaximander Anaximenes

bull ldquoPhilosophicalrdquo investigation

bull Later Presocratics Heraclitus ParmenidesldquoORIENTALIZINGrdquo POTTERY

The Milesian school strikes a new note unheard before It has a fresh sense of the meaning of truth ndash a feeling for the sort of thing it is reasonable to suppose The hypothesis it characteristically deals in is concerned with the nature of the one primary stuff the Milesians seem to make a great conscious effort to get at something which really does exist They strike us as throwing off the vast symbolic visions of mythology and waking clear-headed to see and touch real things If we have a rational temperament we feel at once a refreshment Here at last is a statement about the world which is meant and offered as true ndash a logos [explanation] not a mythos [story]

ndash F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952 ed) 42

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The questions which excited them were of this kind Can this apparently confused and disordered world be reduced to simpler principles so that our reason can grasp what it is and how it works What is it made of How does change take place They abandoned mythological and substituted intellectual solutions [It] was no longer satisfying to say that storms were roused by the wrath of Poseidon or death caused by the arrows of Apollo or Artemis A world ruled by anthropomorphic gods human in their passions was a world ruled by caprice Philosophy and science start with the bold confession of faith that not caprice but an inherent orderliness underlies the phenomena and the explanation of nature is to be sought within nature itself ndashWKC Guthrie History of Greek Philosophy (Cambridge 1969) 1 44-45

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

Thales of Miletus

bull Lived late 7th-6th centurybull Born to a Phoenician aristocratic

family ndash so leisurebull Traveled to Egypt and Babylon (by

tradition)bull Legendary wisdombull ldquoFounder of Western philosophyrdquo

bull First to seek an ldquooriginal causerdquo (archecirc)

bull to explain how unseen facts caused visible results without appeal to mythology

bull To provide generalizable proofs or laws

Thales of Miletus

AstronomyMathematicsWater as the archecircAll things are full of gods

bull Traditionally Thalesrsquo star student

bull 25 years old during Thalesrsquo eclipse (585 BCE)

bull Lived c 610-540 BCE

bull ldquoFirst to draw the inhabited world on a tabletrdquo (first mapmaker)

bull Unambiguously our first ldquophilosopherrdquo by standards of demythologization originality generality and observation

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

ldquoAnaximander has expurgated the supernatural with a boldness and completeness to which many of his successors failed to attain The primary order is still said to be lsquoaccording to what is ordainedrsquo it is still a moral order in which Justice prevails but the will of the personal God has disappeared and its place is partly taken by a natural cause the eternal motionrdquo

- F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952) 41 Anaximander relief 1st century AD

Rome Museo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Key contributions

bull Physics the archecircbull Cosmologybull ldquoEvolutionrdquobull Astronomy and Cartography

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Anaximander said that the APEIRON [indefinite unlimited] was the ARCHE and the element of things that are and he was the first to introduce this name for the ARCHE He says that the ARCHE is neither water nor any other of the things called elements but some other nature called APEIRON out of which come to be all the heavens and the worlds in them (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2413-18)

The things that are perish into the things out of which they come to be according to necessity for ldquothey pay penalty and retribution to one another according to their injustice in accordance with the ordering of timerdquo as he says in rather poetical language (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2418-21)

Anaximander of Miletus

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The ARCHE

bull One and unlimitedbull But not undefined Itrsquos AIR

Anaximenes of Miletus

bull Not opposites but a continuum FIRE AIR larr WIND larr CLOUD larr WATER larr EARTH larr STONEbull ldquoLooseningrdquo and ldquotighteningrdquo explain hot and cold

H E R A C L I T U S B 1 0 1 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 3 7 )

I searched out myself

Listening not to me but to the logos it is wise to agree that all things are one

H E R A C L I T U S B 5 0 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 1 1 )

E X A M P L E S

THE ROAD TO PHILOSOP HY

The Hero of Lyric Poets of the Polis (6th century)

bull According to the lyric poets of the polis culture such as Pindar Simonides Tyrtaeus and Sappho (7th-6th century BCE)

bull Pursues collective good of the polis based on strong ties of interdependent responsibility amp cooperation in a just world governed by the gods

Individual Freedom The ldquoSophistsrdquo (5th century)

bull Sources in thinkers like Protagoras and Gorgias (5th century BCE predominantly working in Athens) constructed as a category by Platorsquos later writings

bull Pursues individual advantage based on their personal beliefs and wits using persuasion and power skepticism of traditional values

Vulnerability The Hero of Tragedy (5th century)

bull Iconic examples include Sophoclesrsquo Oedipus and Aeschylusrsquo Agamemnon and Orestes

bull Pursuit of individual amp collective good in a world of apparently conflicting divine values sometimes hampered by their own lack of self-knowledge

I N T E R D E P E N D E N C Y I N T R O D U C E S V U L N E R A B I L I T Y W H I C H M AY B E

C E L E B R AT E D O R R E S I S T E D

The Hero of Epic Homer and Hesiod (8th century)

bull Found in the epic Iliad and Odyssey attributed to Homer (c 8th century BCE) examples include the powerful Achilles and thoughtful persuasive Odysseus

bull Pursues individual honour (timē) in a just world governed by the gods

CH

IGI V

AS

E C

70

0 B

CE

The Hero of Reason The ldquoPresocratics (6th-5th cent)

bull Founding figures including Thales Anaximander Anaximenes Pythagoras Heraclitus Parmenides Seeking to understand the basic original causes (aitiai) of the world through reason

I S T H E W O R L D G E N U I N E LY

I N T E L L I G I B L E T O R E A S O N

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Born in Athens to a stonemason named Sophroniscus in 469 BCE

bull ldquoSocratic problemrdquo Socrates wrote nothing we know about him through Plato Xenophon and Aristophanes whose accounts vary

bull Conversed with anyone ldquorich or poor citizen or foreignerrdquo (Apology 23C)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Non-conformity reliance on individual values and wits (contrast with the earlier poets and rhapsodes)

bull Claims of ignorance interest in shared truth and not only persuasion and resistance of ldquoselfish morality (contrast with the sophists)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Methods based on question and answer (the elenchus) requiring unity or consistency (a) of onersquos beliefs and (b) of onersquos beliefs and actions

bull Behaviour peculiar enough to warrant its own verb (sōkratein) (Arist Birds 1282) before generalized philosophia

bull Brought to trial in 399 BCE by two Athenians Meletus and Anytus charged with ldquoimpiety and corrupting the youngrdquo

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

S O C R AT E S C R I T O 4 6 A

I am the kind of person who listens to nothing within me but the logos that on reflection seems

best to me

L O G O S R E A S O N VA L U E C O N S C I E N C E M E A N I N G

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousness A sense of such significances that what is great is fragile and that what is necessary may be destructive which is present in the literature of the fifth century and earlier has disappeared [later] from the ethics of the philosophers and perhaps altogether from their minds Greek philosophy in its sustained pursuit of rational self-sufficiency does turn its back on kinds of human experience and human necessity of which Greek literature itself offers the purest if not the richest expression

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y A N D P H I L O S O P H Y

The continuity between Greek tragedy and Greek philosophy on these questions is however far greater than Williams has allowed On the one hand inside tragedy itself we find arresting portrayals of the human ambition to rational self-sufficiency we come to understand the ways in which problems of exposure motivate this ambition On the other Platos philosophical search for a self- sufficient good life is motivated by a keen sense of these same problems Far from having forgotten about what tragedy describes he sees the problems of exposure so clearly that only a radical solution seems adequate to their depth Nor is he naiumlve about the costs of this solution

N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y P R A C T I C A L C O N F L I C T

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identical which is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A)

Socrates ldquoencourages Euthyphro [a pious Greek] to revise tradition by considering as binding only those requirements concerning which there is divine unanimity he expresses further his own doubt as to whether gods really do disagreerdquo (Nussbaum 30)

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identicalwhich is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A Nussbaum 25)

M I L E T U S

bull Wealthy city-state in Asia Minor

bull Key city for trading and shipping between Near East amp Greece

bull Ionian Greek culture

bull Freedom of thought

bull Open political debate

bull Wealth (for some) providing leisure

bull Thales and his successors Anaximander Anaximenes

bull ldquoPhilosophicalrdquo investigation

bull Later Presocratics Heraclitus ParmenidesldquoORIENTALIZINGrdquo POTTERY

The Milesian school strikes a new note unheard before It has a fresh sense of the meaning of truth ndash a feeling for the sort of thing it is reasonable to suppose The hypothesis it characteristically deals in is concerned with the nature of the one primary stuff the Milesians seem to make a great conscious effort to get at something which really does exist They strike us as throwing off the vast symbolic visions of mythology and waking clear-headed to see and touch real things If we have a rational temperament we feel at once a refreshment Here at last is a statement about the world which is meant and offered as true ndash a logos [explanation] not a mythos [story]

ndash F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952 ed) 42

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The questions which excited them were of this kind Can this apparently confused and disordered world be reduced to simpler principles so that our reason can grasp what it is and how it works What is it made of How does change take place They abandoned mythological and substituted intellectual solutions [It] was no longer satisfying to say that storms were roused by the wrath of Poseidon or death caused by the arrows of Apollo or Artemis A world ruled by anthropomorphic gods human in their passions was a world ruled by caprice Philosophy and science start with the bold confession of faith that not caprice but an inherent orderliness underlies the phenomena and the explanation of nature is to be sought within nature itself ndashWKC Guthrie History of Greek Philosophy (Cambridge 1969) 1 44-45

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

Thales of Miletus

bull Lived late 7th-6th centurybull Born to a Phoenician aristocratic

family ndash so leisurebull Traveled to Egypt and Babylon (by

tradition)bull Legendary wisdombull ldquoFounder of Western philosophyrdquo

bull First to seek an ldquooriginal causerdquo (archecirc)

bull to explain how unseen facts caused visible results without appeal to mythology

bull To provide generalizable proofs or laws

Thales of Miletus

AstronomyMathematicsWater as the archecircAll things are full of gods

bull Traditionally Thalesrsquo star student

bull 25 years old during Thalesrsquo eclipse (585 BCE)

bull Lived c 610-540 BCE

bull ldquoFirst to draw the inhabited world on a tabletrdquo (first mapmaker)

bull Unambiguously our first ldquophilosopherrdquo by standards of demythologization originality generality and observation

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

ldquoAnaximander has expurgated the supernatural with a boldness and completeness to which many of his successors failed to attain The primary order is still said to be lsquoaccording to what is ordainedrsquo it is still a moral order in which Justice prevails but the will of the personal God has disappeared and its place is partly taken by a natural cause the eternal motionrdquo

- F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952) 41 Anaximander relief 1st century AD

Rome Museo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Key contributions

bull Physics the archecircbull Cosmologybull ldquoEvolutionrdquobull Astronomy and Cartography

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Anaximander said that the APEIRON [indefinite unlimited] was the ARCHE and the element of things that are and he was the first to introduce this name for the ARCHE He says that the ARCHE is neither water nor any other of the things called elements but some other nature called APEIRON out of which come to be all the heavens and the worlds in them (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2413-18)

The things that are perish into the things out of which they come to be according to necessity for ldquothey pay penalty and retribution to one another according to their injustice in accordance with the ordering of timerdquo as he says in rather poetical language (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2418-21)

Anaximander of Miletus

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The ARCHE

bull One and unlimitedbull But not undefined Itrsquos AIR

Anaximenes of Miletus

bull Not opposites but a continuum FIRE AIR larr WIND larr CLOUD larr WATER larr EARTH larr STONEbull ldquoLooseningrdquo and ldquotighteningrdquo explain hot and cold

H E R A C L I T U S B 1 0 1 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 3 7 )

I searched out myself

Listening not to me but to the logos it is wise to agree that all things are one

H E R A C L I T U S B 5 0 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 1 1 )

E X A M P L E S

THE ROAD TO PHILOSOP HY

The Hero of Lyric Poets of the Polis (6th century)

bull According to the lyric poets of the polis culture such as Pindar Simonides Tyrtaeus and Sappho (7th-6th century BCE)

bull Pursues collective good of the polis based on strong ties of interdependent responsibility amp cooperation in a just world governed by the gods

Individual Freedom The ldquoSophistsrdquo (5th century)

bull Sources in thinkers like Protagoras and Gorgias (5th century BCE predominantly working in Athens) constructed as a category by Platorsquos later writings

bull Pursues individual advantage based on their personal beliefs and wits using persuasion and power skepticism of traditional values

Vulnerability The Hero of Tragedy (5th century)

bull Iconic examples include Sophoclesrsquo Oedipus and Aeschylusrsquo Agamemnon and Orestes

bull Pursuit of individual amp collective good in a world of apparently conflicting divine values sometimes hampered by their own lack of self-knowledge

I N T E R D E P E N D E N C Y I N T R O D U C E S V U L N E R A B I L I T Y W H I C H M AY B E

C E L E B R AT E D O R R E S I S T E D

The Hero of Epic Homer and Hesiod (8th century)

bull Found in the epic Iliad and Odyssey attributed to Homer (c 8th century BCE) examples include the powerful Achilles and thoughtful persuasive Odysseus

bull Pursues individual honour (timē) in a just world governed by the gods

CH

IGI V

AS

E C

70

0 B

CE

The Hero of Reason The ldquoPresocratics (6th-5th cent)

bull Founding figures including Thales Anaximander Anaximenes Pythagoras Heraclitus Parmenides Seeking to understand the basic original causes (aitiai) of the world through reason

I S T H E W O R L D G E N U I N E LY

I N T E L L I G I B L E T O R E A S O N

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Born in Athens to a stonemason named Sophroniscus in 469 BCE

bull ldquoSocratic problemrdquo Socrates wrote nothing we know about him through Plato Xenophon and Aristophanes whose accounts vary

bull Conversed with anyone ldquorich or poor citizen or foreignerrdquo (Apology 23C)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Non-conformity reliance on individual values and wits (contrast with the earlier poets and rhapsodes)

bull Claims of ignorance interest in shared truth and not only persuasion and resistance of ldquoselfish morality (contrast with the sophists)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Methods based on question and answer (the elenchus) requiring unity or consistency (a) of onersquos beliefs and (b) of onersquos beliefs and actions

bull Behaviour peculiar enough to warrant its own verb (sōkratein) (Arist Birds 1282) before generalized philosophia

bull Brought to trial in 399 BCE by two Athenians Meletus and Anytus charged with ldquoimpiety and corrupting the youngrdquo

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

S O C R AT E S C R I T O 4 6 A

I am the kind of person who listens to nothing within me but the logos that on reflection seems

best to me

L O G O S R E A S O N VA L U E C O N S C I E N C E M E A N I N G

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousness A sense of such significances that what is great is fragile and that what is necessary may be destructive which is present in the literature of the fifth century and earlier has disappeared [later] from the ethics of the philosophers and perhaps altogether from their minds Greek philosophy in its sustained pursuit of rational self-sufficiency does turn its back on kinds of human experience and human necessity of which Greek literature itself offers the purest if not the richest expression

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y A N D P H I L O S O P H Y

The continuity between Greek tragedy and Greek philosophy on these questions is however far greater than Williams has allowed On the one hand inside tragedy itself we find arresting portrayals of the human ambition to rational self-sufficiency we come to understand the ways in which problems of exposure motivate this ambition On the other Platos philosophical search for a self- sufficient good life is motivated by a keen sense of these same problems Far from having forgotten about what tragedy describes he sees the problems of exposure so clearly that only a radical solution seems adequate to their depth Nor is he naiumlve about the costs of this solution

N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y P R A C T I C A L C O N F L I C T

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identical which is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A)

Socrates ldquoencourages Euthyphro [a pious Greek] to revise tradition by considering as binding only those requirements concerning which there is divine unanimity he expresses further his own doubt as to whether gods really do disagreerdquo (Nussbaum 30)

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identicalwhich is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A Nussbaum 25)

The Milesian school strikes a new note unheard before It has a fresh sense of the meaning of truth ndash a feeling for the sort of thing it is reasonable to suppose The hypothesis it characteristically deals in is concerned with the nature of the one primary stuff the Milesians seem to make a great conscious effort to get at something which really does exist They strike us as throwing off the vast symbolic visions of mythology and waking clear-headed to see and touch real things If we have a rational temperament we feel at once a refreshment Here at last is a statement about the world which is meant and offered as true ndash a logos [explanation] not a mythos [story]

ndash F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952 ed) 42

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The questions which excited them were of this kind Can this apparently confused and disordered world be reduced to simpler principles so that our reason can grasp what it is and how it works What is it made of How does change take place They abandoned mythological and substituted intellectual solutions [It] was no longer satisfying to say that storms were roused by the wrath of Poseidon or death caused by the arrows of Apollo or Artemis A world ruled by anthropomorphic gods human in their passions was a world ruled by caprice Philosophy and science start with the bold confession of faith that not caprice but an inherent orderliness underlies the phenomena and the explanation of nature is to be sought within nature itself ndashWKC Guthrie History of Greek Philosophy (Cambridge 1969) 1 44-45

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

Thales of Miletus

bull Lived late 7th-6th centurybull Born to a Phoenician aristocratic

family ndash so leisurebull Traveled to Egypt and Babylon (by

tradition)bull Legendary wisdombull ldquoFounder of Western philosophyrdquo

bull First to seek an ldquooriginal causerdquo (archecirc)

bull to explain how unseen facts caused visible results without appeal to mythology

bull To provide generalizable proofs or laws

Thales of Miletus

AstronomyMathematicsWater as the archecircAll things are full of gods

bull Traditionally Thalesrsquo star student

bull 25 years old during Thalesrsquo eclipse (585 BCE)

bull Lived c 610-540 BCE

bull ldquoFirst to draw the inhabited world on a tabletrdquo (first mapmaker)

bull Unambiguously our first ldquophilosopherrdquo by standards of demythologization originality generality and observation

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

ldquoAnaximander has expurgated the supernatural with a boldness and completeness to which many of his successors failed to attain The primary order is still said to be lsquoaccording to what is ordainedrsquo it is still a moral order in which Justice prevails but the will of the personal God has disappeared and its place is partly taken by a natural cause the eternal motionrdquo

- F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952) 41 Anaximander relief 1st century AD

Rome Museo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Key contributions

bull Physics the archecircbull Cosmologybull ldquoEvolutionrdquobull Astronomy and Cartography

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Anaximander said that the APEIRON [indefinite unlimited] was the ARCHE and the element of things that are and he was the first to introduce this name for the ARCHE He says that the ARCHE is neither water nor any other of the things called elements but some other nature called APEIRON out of which come to be all the heavens and the worlds in them (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2413-18)

The things that are perish into the things out of which they come to be according to necessity for ldquothey pay penalty and retribution to one another according to their injustice in accordance with the ordering of timerdquo as he says in rather poetical language (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2418-21)

Anaximander of Miletus

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The ARCHE

bull One and unlimitedbull But not undefined Itrsquos AIR

Anaximenes of Miletus

bull Not opposites but a continuum FIRE AIR larr WIND larr CLOUD larr WATER larr EARTH larr STONEbull ldquoLooseningrdquo and ldquotighteningrdquo explain hot and cold

H E R A C L I T U S B 1 0 1 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 3 7 )

I searched out myself

Listening not to me but to the logos it is wise to agree that all things are one

H E R A C L I T U S B 5 0 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 1 1 )

E X A M P L E S

THE ROAD TO PHILOSOP HY

The Hero of Lyric Poets of the Polis (6th century)

bull According to the lyric poets of the polis culture such as Pindar Simonides Tyrtaeus and Sappho (7th-6th century BCE)

bull Pursues collective good of the polis based on strong ties of interdependent responsibility amp cooperation in a just world governed by the gods

Individual Freedom The ldquoSophistsrdquo (5th century)

bull Sources in thinkers like Protagoras and Gorgias (5th century BCE predominantly working in Athens) constructed as a category by Platorsquos later writings

bull Pursues individual advantage based on their personal beliefs and wits using persuasion and power skepticism of traditional values

Vulnerability The Hero of Tragedy (5th century)

bull Iconic examples include Sophoclesrsquo Oedipus and Aeschylusrsquo Agamemnon and Orestes

bull Pursuit of individual amp collective good in a world of apparently conflicting divine values sometimes hampered by their own lack of self-knowledge

I N T E R D E P E N D E N C Y I N T R O D U C E S V U L N E R A B I L I T Y W H I C H M AY B E

C E L E B R AT E D O R R E S I S T E D

The Hero of Epic Homer and Hesiod (8th century)

bull Found in the epic Iliad and Odyssey attributed to Homer (c 8th century BCE) examples include the powerful Achilles and thoughtful persuasive Odysseus

bull Pursues individual honour (timē) in a just world governed by the gods

CH

IGI V

AS

E C

70

0 B

CE

The Hero of Reason The ldquoPresocratics (6th-5th cent)

bull Founding figures including Thales Anaximander Anaximenes Pythagoras Heraclitus Parmenides Seeking to understand the basic original causes (aitiai) of the world through reason

I S T H E W O R L D G E N U I N E LY

I N T E L L I G I B L E T O R E A S O N

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Born in Athens to a stonemason named Sophroniscus in 469 BCE

bull ldquoSocratic problemrdquo Socrates wrote nothing we know about him through Plato Xenophon and Aristophanes whose accounts vary

bull Conversed with anyone ldquorich or poor citizen or foreignerrdquo (Apology 23C)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Non-conformity reliance on individual values and wits (contrast with the earlier poets and rhapsodes)

bull Claims of ignorance interest in shared truth and not only persuasion and resistance of ldquoselfish morality (contrast with the sophists)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Methods based on question and answer (the elenchus) requiring unity or consistency (a) of onersquos beliefs and (b) of onersquos beliefs and actions

bull Behaviour peculiar enough to warrant its own verb (sōkratein) (Arist Birds 1282) before generalized philosophia

bull Brought to trial in 399 BCE by two Athenians Meletus and Anytus charged with ldquoimpiety and corrupting the youngrdquo

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

S O C R AT E S C R I T O 4 6 A

I am the kind of person who listens to nothing within me but the logos that on reflection seems

best to me

L O G O S R E A S O N VA L U E C O N S C I E N C E M E A N I N G

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousness A sense of such significances that what is great is fragile and that what is necessary may be destructive which is present in the literature of the fifth century and earlier has disappeared [later] from the ethics of the philosophers and perhaps altogether from their minds Greek philosophy in its sustained pursuit of rational self-sufficiency does turn its back on kinds of human experience and human necessity of which Greek literature itself offers the purest if not the richest expression

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y A N D P H I L O S O P H Y

The continuity between Greek tragedy and Greek philosophy on these questions is however far greater than Williams has allowed On the one hand inside tragedy itself we find arresting portrayals of the human ambition to rational self-sufficiency we come to understand the ways in which problems of exposure motivate this ambition On the other Platos philosophical search for a self- sufficient good life is motivated by a keen sense of these same problems Far from having forgotten about what tragedy describes he sees the problems of exposure so clearly that only a radical solution seems adequate to their depth Nor is he naiumlve about the costs of this solution

N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y P R A C T I C A L C O N F L I C T

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identical which is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A)

Socrates ldquoencourages Euthyphro [a pious Greek] to revise tradition by considering as binding only those requirements concerning which there is divine unanimity he expresses further his own doubt as to whether gods really do disagreerdquo (Nussbaum 30)

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identicalwhich is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A Nussbaum 25)

The questions which excited them were of this kind Can this apparently confused and disordered world be reduced to simpler principles so that our reason can grasp what it is and how it works What is it made of How does change take place They abandoned mythological and substituted intellectual solutions [It] was no longer satisfying to say that storms were roused by the wrath of Poseidon or death caused by the arrows of Apollo or Artemis A world ruled by anthropomorphic gods human in their passions was a world ruled by caprice Philosophy and science start with the bold confession of faith that not caprice but an inherent orderliness underlies the phenomena and the explanation of nature is to be sought within nature itself ndashWKC Guthrie History of Greek Philosophy (Cambridge 1969) 1 44-45

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

Thales of Miletus

bull Lived late 7th-6th centurybull Born to a Phoenician aristocratic

family ndash so leisurebull Traveled to Egypt and Babylon (by

tradition)bull Legendary wisdombull ldquoFounder of Western philosophyrdquo

bull First to seek an ldquooriginal causerdquo (archecirc)

bull to explain how unseen facts caused visible results without appeal to mythology

bull To provide generalizable proofs or laws

Thales of Miletus

AstronomyMathematicsWater as the archecircAll things are full of gods

bull Traditionally Thalesrsquo star student

bull 25 years old during Thalesrsquo eclipse (585 BCE)

bull Lived c 610-540 BCE

bull ldquoFirst to draw the inhabited world on a tabletrdquo (first mapmaker)

bull Unambiguously our first ldquophilosopherrdquo by standards of demythologization originality generality and observation

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

ldquoAnaximander has expurgated the supernatural with a boldness and completeness to which many of his successors failed to attain The primary order is still said to be lsquoaccording to what is ordainedrsquo it is still a moral order in which Justice prevails but the will of the personal God has disappeared and its place is partly taken by a natural cause the eternal motionrdquo

- F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952) 41 Anaximander relief 1st century AD

Rome Museo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Key contributions

bull Physics the archecircbull Cosmologybull ldquoEvolutionrdquobull Astronomy and Cartography

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Anaximander said that the APEIRON [indefinite unlimited] was the ARCHE and the element of things that are and he was the first to introduce this name for the ARCHE He says that the ARCHE is neither water nor any other of the things called elements but some other nature called APEIRON out of which come to be all the heavens and the worlds in them (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2413-18)

The things that are perish into the things out of which they come to be according to necessity for ldquothey pay penalty and retribution to one another according to their injustice in accordance with the ordering of timerdquo as he says in rather poetical language (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2418-21)

Anaximander of Miletus

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The ARCHE

bull One and unlimitedbull But not undefined Itrsquos AIR

Anaximenes of Miletus

bull Not opposites but a continuum FIRE AIR larr WIND larr CLOUD larr WATER larr EARTH larr STONEbull ldquoLooseningrdquo and ldquotighteningrdquo explain hot and cold

H E R A C L I T U S B 1 0 1 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 3 7 )

I searched out myself

Listening not to me but to the logos it is wise to agree that all things are one

H E R A C L I T U S B 5 0 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 1 1 )

E X A M P L E S

THE ROAD TO PHILOSOP HY

The Hero of Lyric Poets of the Polis (6th century)

bull According to the lyric poets of the polis culture such as Pindar Simonides Tyrtaeus and Sappho (7th-6th century BCE)

bull Pursues collective good of the polis based on strong ties of interdependent responsibility amp cooperation in a just world governed by the gods

Individual Freedom The ldquoSophistsrdquo (5th century)

bull Sources in thinkers like Protagoras and Gorgias (5th century BCE predominantly working in Athens) constructed as a category by Platorsquos later writings

bull Pursues individual advantage based on their personal beliefs and wits using persuasion and power skepticism of traditional values

Vulnerability The Hero of Tragedy (5th century)

bull Iconic examples include Sophoclesrsquo Oedipus and Aeschylusrsquo Agamemnon and Orestes

bull Pursuit of individual amp collective good in a world of apparently conflicting divine values sometimes hampered by their own lack of self-knowledge

I N T E R D E P E N D E N C Y I N T R O D U C E S V U L N E R A B I L I T Y W H I C H M AY B E

C E L E B R AT E D O R R E S I S T E D

The Hero of Epic Homer and Hesiod (8th century)

bull Found in the epic Iliad and Odyssey attributed to Homer (c 8th century BCE) examples include the powerful Achilles and thoughtful persuasive Odysseus

bull Pursues individual honour (timē) in a just world governed by the gods

CH

IGI V

AS

E C

70

0 B

CE

The Hero of Reason The ldquoPresocratics (6th-5th cent)

bull Founding figures including Thales Anaximander Anaximenes Pythagoras Heraclitus Parmenides Seeking to understand the basic original causes (aitiai) of the world through reason

I S T H E W O R L D G E N U I N E LY

I N T E L L I G I B L E T O R E A S O N

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Born in Athens to a stonemason named Sophroniscus in 469 BCE

bull ldquoSocratic problemrdquo Socrates wrote nothing we know about him through Plato Xenophon and Aristophanes whose accounts vary

bull Conversed with anyone ldquorich or poor citizen or foreignerrdquo (Apology 23C)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Non-conformity reliance on individual values and wits (contrast with the earlier poets and rhapsodes)

bull Claims of ignorance interest in shared truth and not only persuasion and resistance of ldquoselfish morality (contrast with the sophists)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Methods based on question and answer (the elenchus) requiring unity or consistency (a) of onersquos beliefs and (b) of onersquos beliefs and actions

bull Behaviour peculiar enough to warrant its own verb (sōkratein) (Arist Birds 1282) before generalized philosophia

bull Brought to trial in 399 BCE by two Athenians Meletus and Anytus charged with ldquoimpiety and corrupting the youngrdquo

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

S O C R AT E S C R I T O 4 6 A

I am the kind of person who listens to nothing within me but the logos that on reflection seems

best to me

L O G O S R E A S O N VA L U E C O N S C I E N C E M E A N I N G

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousness A sense of such significances that what is great is fragile and that what is necessary may be destructive which is present in the literature of the fifth century and earlier has disappeared [later] from the ethics of the philosophers and perhaps altogether from their minds Greek philosophy in its sustained pursuit of rational self-sufficiency does turn its back on kinds of human experience and human necessity of which Greek literature itself offers the purest if not the richest expression

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y A N D P H I L O S O P H Y

The continuity between Greek tragedy and Greek philosophy on these questions is however far greater than Williams has allowed On the one hand inside tragedy itself we find arresting portrayals of the human ambition to rational self-sufficiency we come to understand the ways in which problems of exposure motivate this ambition On the other Platos philosophical search for a self- sufficient good life is motivated by a keen sense of these same problems Far from having forgotten about what tragedy describes he sees the problems of exposure so clearly that only a radical solution seems adequate to their depth Nor is he naiumlve about the costs of this solution

N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y P R A C T I C A L C O N F L I C T

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identical which is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A)

Socrates ldquoencourages Euthyphro [a pious Greek] to revise tradition by considering as binding only those requirements concerning which there is divine unanimity he expresses further his own doubt as to whether gods really do disagreerdquo (Nussbaum 30)

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identicalwhich is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A Nussbaum 25)

Thales of Miletus

bull Lived late 7th-6th centurybull Born to a Phoenician aristocratic

family ndash so leisurebull Traveled to Egypt and Babylon (by

tradition)bull Legendary wisdombull ldquoFounder of Western philosophyrdquo

bull First to seek an ldquooriginal causerdquo (archecirc)

bull to explain how unseen facts caused visible results without appeal to mythology

bull To provide generalizable proofs or laws

Thales of Miletus

AstronomyMathematicsWater as the archecircAll things are full of gods

bull Traditionally Thalesrsquo star student

bull 25 years old during Thalesrsquo eclipse (585 BCE)

bull Lived c 610-540 BCE

bull ldquoFirst to draw the inhabited world on a tabletrdquo (first mapmaker)

bull Unambiguously our first ldquophilosopherrdquo by standards of demythologization originality generality and observation

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

ldquoAnaximander has expurgated the supernatural with a boldness and completeness to which many of his successors failed to attain The primary order is still said to be lsquoaccording to what is ordainedrsquo it is still a moral order in which Justice prevails but the will of the personal God has disappeared and its place is partly taken by a natural cause the eternal motionrdquo

- F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952) 41 Anaximander relief 1st century AD

Rome Museo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Key contributions

bull Physics the archecircbull Cosmologybull ldquoEvolutionrdquobull Astronomy and Cartography

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Anaximander said that the APEIRON [indefinite unlimited] was the ARCHE and the element of things that are and he was the first to introduce this name for the ARCHE He says that the ARCHE is neither water nor any other of the things called elements but some other nature called APEIRON out of which come to be all the heavens and the worlds in them (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2413-18)

The things that are perish into the things out of which they come to be according to necessity for ldquothey pay penalty and retribution to one another according to their injustice in accordance with the ordering of timerdquo as he says in rather poetical language (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2418-21)

Anaximander of Miletus

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The ARCHE

bull One and unlimitedbull But not undefined Itrsquos AIR

Anaximenes of Miletus

bull Not opposites but a continuum FIRE AIR larr WIND larr CLOUD larr WATER larr EARTH larr STONEbull ldquoLooseningrdquo and ldquotighteningrdquo explain hot and cold

H E R A C L I T U S B 1 0 1 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 3 7 )

I searched out myself

Listening not to me but to the logos it is wise to agree that all things are one

H E R A C L I T U S B 5 0 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 1 1 )

E X A M P L E S

THE ROAD TO PHILOSOP HY

The Hero of Lyric Poets of the Polis (6th century)

bull According to the lyric poets of the polis culture such as Pindar Simonides Tyrtaeus and Sappho (7th-6th century BCE)

bull Pursues collective good of the polis based on strong ties of interdependent responsibility amp cooperation in a just world governed by the gods

Individual Freedom The ldquoSophistsrdquo (5th century)

bull Sources in thinkers like Protagoras and Gorgias (5th century BCE predominantly working in Athens) constructed as a category by Platorsquos later writings

bull Pursues individual advantage based on their personal beliefs and wits using persuasion and power skepticism of traditional values

Vulnerability The Hero of Tragedy (5th century)

bull Iconic examples include Sophoclesrsquo Oedipus and Aeschylusrsquo Agamemnon and Orestes

bull Pursuit of individual amp collective good in a world of apparently conflicting divine values sometimes hampered by their own lack of self-knowledge

I N T E R D E P E N D E N C Y I N T R O D U C E S V U L N E R A B I L I T Y W H I C H M AY B E

C E L E B R AT E D O R R E S I S T E D

The Hero of Epic Homer and Hesiod (8th century)

bull Found in the epic Iliad and Odyssey attributed to Homer (c 8th century BCE) examples include the powerful Achilles and thoughtful persuasive Odysseus

bull Pursues individual honour (timē) in a just world governed by the gods

CH

IGI V

AS

E C

70

0 B

CE

The Hero of Reason The ldquoPresocratics (6th-5th cent)

bull Founding figures including Thales Anaximander Anaximenes Pythagoras Heraclitus Parmenides Seeking to understand the basic original causes (aitiai) of the world through reason

I S T H E W O R L D G E N U I N E LY

I N T E L L I G I B L E T O R E A S O N

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Born in Athens to a stonemason named Sophroniscus in 469 BCE

bull ldquoSocratic problemrdquo Socrates wrote nothing we know about him through Plato Xenophon and Aristophanes whose accounts vary

bull Conversed with anyone ldquorich or poor citizen or foreignerrdquo (Apology 23C)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Non-conformity reliance on individual values and wits (contrast with the earlier poets and rhapsodes)

bull Claims of ignorance interest in shared truth and not only persuasion and resistance of ldquoselfish morality (contrast with the sophists)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Methods based on question and answer (the elenchus) requiring unity or consistency (a) of onersquos beliefs and (b) of onersquos beliefs and actions

bull Behaviour peculiar enough to warrant its own verb (sōkratein) (Arist Birds 1282) before generalized philosophia

bull Brought to trial in 399 BCE by two Athenians Meletus and Anytus charged with ldquoimpiety and corrupting the youngrdquo

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

S O C R AT E S C R I T O 4 6 A

I am the kind of person who listens to nothing within me but the logos that on reflection seems

best to me

L O G O S R E A S O N VA L U E C O N S C I E N C E M E A N I N G

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousness A sense of such significances that what is great is fragile and that what is necessary may be destructive which is present in the literature of the fifth century and earlier has disappeared [later] from the ethics of the philosophers and perhaps altogether from their minds Greek philosophy in its sustained pursuit of rational self-sufficiency does turn its back on kinds of human experience and human necessity of which Greek literature itself offers the purest if not the richest expression

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y A N D P H I L O S O P H Y

The continuity between Greek tragedy and Greek philosophy on these questions is however far greater than Williams has allowed On the one hand inside tragedy itself we find arresting portrayals of the human ambition to rational self-sufficiency we come to understand the ways in which problems of exposure motivate this ambition On the other Platos philosophical search for a self- sufficient good life is motivated by a keen sense of these same problems Far from having forgotten about what tragedy describes he sees the problems of exposure so clearly that only a radical solution seems adequate to their depth Nor is he naiumlve about the costs of this solution

N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y P R A C T I C A L C O N F L I C T

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identical which is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A)

Socrates ldquoencourages Euthyphro [a pious Greek] to revise tradition by considering as binding only those requirements concerning which there is divine unanimity he expresses further his own doubt as to whether gods really do disagreerdquo (Nussbaum 30)

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identicalwhich is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A Nussbaum 25)

Thales of Miletus

AstronomyMathematicsWater as the archecircAll things are full of gods

bull Traditionally Thalesrsquo star student

bull 25 years old during Thalesrsquo eclipse (585 BCE)

bull Lived c 610-540 BCE

bull ldquoFirst to draw the inhabited world on a tabletrdquo (first mapmaker)

bull Unambiguously our first ldquophilosopherrdquo by standards of demythologization originality generality and observation

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

ldquoAnaximander has expurgated the supernatural with a boldness and completeness to which many of his successors failed to attain The primary order is still said to be lsquoaccording to what is ordainedrsquo it is still a moral order in which Justice prevails but the will of the personal God has disappeared and its place is partly taken by a natural cause the eternal motionrdquo

- F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952) 41 Anaximander relief 1st century AD

Rome Museo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Key contributions

bull Physics the archecircbull Cosmologybull ldquoEvolutionrdquobull Astronomy and Cartography

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Anaximander said that the APEIRON [indefinite unlimited] was the ARCHE and the element of things that are and he was the first to introduce this name for the ARCHE He says that the ARCHE is neither water nor any other of the things called elements but some other nature called APEIRON out of which come to be all the heavens and the worlds in them (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2413-18)

The things that are perish into the things out of which they come to be according to necessity for ldquothey pay penalty and retribution to one another according to their injustice in accordance with the ordering of timerdquo as he says in rather poetical language (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2418-21)

Anaximander of Miletus

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The ARCHE

bull One and unlimitedbull But not undefined Itrsquos AIR

Anaximenes of Miletus

bull Not opposites but a continuum FIRE AIR larr WIND larr CLOUD larr WATER larr EARTH larr STONEbull ldquoLooseningrdquo and ldquotighteningrdquo explain hot and cold

H E R A C L I T U S B 1 0 1 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 3 7 )

I searched out myself

Listening not to me but to the logos it is wise to agree that all things are one

H E R A C L I T U S B 5 0 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 1 1 )

E X A M P L E S

THE ROAD TO PHILOSOP HY

The Hero of Lyric Poets of the Polis (6th century)

bull According to the lyric poets of the polis culture such as Pindar Simonides Tyrtaeus and Sappho (7th-6th century BCE)

bull Pursues collective good of the polis based on strong ties of interdependent responsibility amp cooperation in a just world governed by the gods

Individual Freedom The ldquoSophistsrdquo (5th century)

bull Sources in thinkers like Protagoras and Gorgias (5th century BCE predominantly working in Athens) constructed as a category by Platorsquos later writings

bull Pursues individual advantage based on their personal beliefs and wits using persuasion and power skepticism of traditional values

Vulnerability The Hero of Tragedy (5th century)

bull Iconic examples include Sophoclesrsquo Oedipus and Aeschylusrsquo Agamemnon and Orestes

bull Pursuit of individual amp collective good in a world of apparently conflicting divine values sometimes hampered by their own lack of self-knowledge

I N T E R D E P E N D E N C Y I N T R O D U C E S V U L N E R A B I L I T Y W H I C H M AY B E

C E L E B R AT E D O R R E S I S T E D

The Hero of Epic Homer and Hesiod (8th century)

bull Found in the epic Iliad and Odyssey attributed to Homer (c 8th century BCE) examples include the powerful Achilles and thoughtful persuasive Odysseus

bull Pursues individual honour (timē) in a just world governed by the gods

CH

IGI V

AS

E C

70

0 B

CE

The Hero of Reason The ldquoPresocratics (6th-5th cent)

bull Founding figures including Thales Anaximander Anaximenes Pythagoras Heraclitus Parmenides Seeking to understand the basic original causes (aitiai) of the world through reason

I S T H E W O R L D G E N U I N E LY

I N T E L L I G I B L E T O R E A S O N

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Born in Athens to a stonemason named Sophroniscus in 469 BCE

bull ldquoSocratic problemrdquo Socrates wrote nothing we know about him through Plato Xenophon and Aristophanes whose accounts vary

bull Conversed with anyone ldquorich or poor citizen or foreignerrdquo (Apology 23C)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Non-conformity reliance on individual values and wits (contrast with the earlier poets and rhapsodes)

bull Claims of ignorance interest in shared truth and not only persuasion and resistance of ldquoselfish morality (contrast with the sophists)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Methods based on question and answer (the elenchus) requiring unity or consistency (a) of onersquos beliefs and (b) of onersquos beliefs and actions

bull Behaviour peculiar enough to warrant its own verb (sōkratein) (Arist Birds 1282) before generalized philosophia

bull Brought to trial in 399 BCE by two Athenians Meletus and Anytus charged with ldquoimpiety and corrupting the youngrdquo

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

S O C R AT E S C R I T O 4 6 A

I am the kind of person who listens to nothing within me but the logos that on reflection seems

best to me

L O G O S R E A S O N VA L U E C O N S C I E N C E M E A N I N G

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousness A sense of such significances that what is great is fragile and that what is necessary may be destructive which is present in the literature of the fifth century and earlier has disappeared [later] from the ethics of the philosophers and perhaps altogether from their minds Greek philosophy in its sustained pursuit of rational self-sufficiency does turn its back on kinds of human experience and human necessity of which Greek literature itself offers the purest if not the richest expression

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y A N D P H I L O S O P H Y

The continuity between Greek tragedy and Greek philosophy on these questions is however far greater than Williams has allowed On the one hand inside tragedy itself we find arresting portrayals of the human ambition to rational self-sufficiency we come to understand the ways in which problems of exposure motivate this ambition On the other Platos philosophical search for a self- sufficient good life is motivated by a keen sense of these same problems Far from having forgotten about what tragedy describes he sees the problems of exposure so clearly that only a radical solution seems adequate to their depth Nor is he naiumlve about the costs of this solution

N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y P R A C T I C A L C O N F L I C T

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identical which is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A)

Socrates ldquoencourages Euthyphro [a pious Greek] to revise tradition by considering as binding only those requirements concerning which there is divine unanimity he expresses further his own doubt as to whether gods really do disagreerdquo (Nussbaum 30)

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identicalwhich is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A Nussbaum 25)

bull Traditionally Thalesrsquo star student

bull 25 years old during Thalesrsquo eclipse (585 BCE)

bull Lived c 610-540 BCE

bull ldquoFirst to draw the inhabited world on a tabletrdquo (first mapmaker)

bull Unambiguously our first ldquophilosopherrdquo by standards of demythologization originality generality and observation

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

ldquoAnaximander has expurgated the supernatural with a boldness and completeness to which many of his successors failed to attain The primary order is still said to be lsquoaccording to what is ordainedrsquo it is still a moral order in which Justice prevails but the will of the personal God has disappeared and its place is partly taken by a natural cause the eternal motionrdquo

- F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952) 41 Anaximander relief 1st century AD

Rome Museo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Key contributions

bull Physics the archecircbull Cosmologybull ldquoEvolutionrdquobull Astronomy and Cartography

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Anaximander said that the APEIRON [indefinite unlimited] was the ARCHE and the element of things that are and he was the first to introduce this name for the ARCHE He says that the ARCHE is neither water nor any other of the things called elements but some other nature called APEIRON out of which come to be all the heavens and the worlds in them (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2413-18)

The things that are perish into the things out of which they come to be according to necessity for ldquothey pay penalty and retribution to one another according to their injustice in accordance with the ordering of timerdquo as he says in rather poetical language (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2418-21)

Anaximander of Miletus

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The ARCHE

bull One and unlimitedbull But not undefined Itrsquos AIR

Anaximenes of Miletus

bull Not opposites but a continuum FIRE AIR larr WIND larr CLOUD larr WATER larr EARTH larr STONEbull ldquoLooseningrdquo and ldquotighteningrdquo explain hot and cold

H E R A C L I T U S B 1 0 1 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 3 7 )

I searched out myself

Listening not to me but to the logos it is wise to agree that all things are one

H E R A C L I T U S B 5 0 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 1 1 )

E X A M P L E S

THE ROAD TO PHILOSOP HY

The Hero of Lyric Poets of the Polis (6th century)

bull According to the lyric poets of the polis culture such as Pindar Simonides Tyrtaeus and Sappho (7th-6th century BCE)

bull Pursues collective good of the polis based on strong ties of interdependent responsibility amp cooperation in a just world governed by the gods

Individual Freedom The ldquoSophistsrdquo (5th century)

bull Sources in thinkers like Protagoras and Gorgias (5th century BCE predominantly working in Athens) constructed as a category by Platorsquos later writings

bull Pursues individual advantage based on their personal beliefs and wits using persuasion and power skepticism of traditional values

Vulnerability The Hero of Tragedy (5th century)

bull Iconic examples include Sophoclesrsquo Oedipus and Aeschylusrsquo Agamemnon and Orestes

bull Pursuit of individual amp collective good in a world of apparently conflicting divine values sometimes hampered by their own lack of self-knowledge

I N T E R D E P E N D E N C Y I N T R O D U C E S V U L N E R A B I L I T Y W H I C H M AY B E

C E L E B R AT E D O R R E S I S T E D

The Hero of Epic Homer and Hesiod (8th century)

bull Found in the epic Iliad and Odyssey attributed to Homer (c 8th century BCE) examples include the powerful Achilles and thoughtful persuasive Odysseus

bull Pursues individual honour (timē) in a just world governed by the gods

CH

IGI V

AS

E C

70

0 B

CE

The Hero of Reason The ldquoPresocratics (6th-5th cent)

bull Founding figures including Thales Anaximander Anaximenes Pythagoras Heraclitus Parmenides Seeking to understand the basic original causes (aitiai) of the world through reason

I S T H E W O R L D G E N U I N E LY

I N T E L L I G I B L E T O R E A S O N

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Born in Athens to a stonemason named Sophroniscus in 469 BCE

bull ldquoSocratic problemrdquo Socrates wrote nothing we know about him through Plato Xenophon and Aristophanes whose accounts vary

bull Conversed with anyone ldquorich or poor citizen or foreignerrdquo (Apology 23C)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Non-conformity reliance on individual values and wits (contrast with the earlier poets and rhapsodes)

bull Claims of ignorance interest in shared truth and not only persuasion and resistance of ldquoselfish morality (contrast with the sophists)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Methods based on question and answer (the elenchus) requiring unity or consistency (a) of onersquos beliefs and (b) of onersquos beliefs and actions

bull Behaviour peculiar enough to warrant its own verb (sōkratein) (Arist Birds 1282) before generalized philosophia

bull Brought to trial in 399 BCE by two Athenians Meletus and Anytus charged with ldquoimpiety and corrupting the youngrdquo

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

S O C R AT E S C R I T O 4 6 A

I am the kind of person who listens to nothing within me but the logos that on reflection seems

best to me

L O G O S R E A S O N VA L U E C O N S C I E N C E M E A N I N G

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousness A sense of such significances that what is great is fragile and that what is necessary may be destructive which is present in the literature of the fifth century and earlier has disappeared [later] from the ethics of the philosophers and perhaps altogether from their minds Greek philosophy in its sustained pursuit of rational self-sufficiency does turn its back on kinds of human experience and human necessity of which Greek literature itself offers the purest if not the richest expression

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y A N D P H I L O S O P H Y

The continuity between Greek tragedy and Greek philosophy on these questions is however far greater than Williams has allowed On the one hand inside tragedy itself we find arresting portrayals of the human ambition to rational self-sufficiency we come to understand the ways in which problems of exposure motivate this ambition On the other Platos philosophical search for a self- sufficient good life is motivated by a keen sense of these same problems Far from having forgotten about what tragedy describes he sees the problems of exposure so clearly that only a radical solution seems adequate to their depth Nor is he naiumlve about the costs of this solution

N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y P R A C T I C A L C O N F L I C T

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identical which is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A)

Socrates ldquoencourages Euthyphro [a pious Greek] to revise tradition by considering as binding only those requirements concerning which there is divine unanimity he expresses further his own doubt as to whether gods really do disagreerdquo (Nussbaum 30)

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identicalwhich is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A Nussbaum 25)

ldquoAnaximander has expurgated the supernatural with a boldness and completeness to which many of his successors failed to attain The primary order is still said to be lsquoaccording to what is ordainedrsquo it is still a moral order in which Justice prevails but the will of the personal God has disappeared and its place is partly taken by a natural cause the eternal motionrdquo

- F M Cornford From Religion to Philosophy (NY 1952) 41 Anaximander relief 1st century AD

Rome Museo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Key contributions

bull Physics the archecircbull Cosmologybull ldquoEvolutionrdquobull Astronomy and Cartography

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Anaximander said that the APEIRON [indefinite unlimited] was the ARCHE and the element of things that are and he was the first to introduce this name for the ARCHE He says that the ARCHE is neither water nor any other of the things called elements but some other nature called APEIRON out of which come to be all the heavens and the worlds in them (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2413-18)

The things that are perish into the things out of which they come to be according to necessity for ldquothey pay penalty and retribution to one another according to their injustice in accordance with the ordering of timerdquo as he says in rather poetical language (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2418-21)

Anaximander of Miletus

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The ARCHE

bull One and unlimitedbull But not undefined Itrsquos AIR

Anaximenes of Miletus

bull Not opposites but a continuum FIRE AIR larr WIND larr CLOUD larr WATER larr EARTH larr STONEbull ldquoLooseningrdquo and ldquotighteningrdquo explain hot and cold

H E R A C L I T U S B 1 0 1 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 3 7 )

I searched out myself

Listening not to me but to the logos it is wise to agree that all things are one

H E R A C L I T U S B 5 0 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 1 1 )

E X A M P L E S

THE ROAD TO PHILOSOP HY

The Hero of Lyric Poets of the Polis (6th century)

bull According to the lyric poets of the polis culture such as Pindar Simonides Tyrtaeus and Sappho (7th-6th century BCE)

bull Pursues collective good of the polis based on strong ties of interdependent responsibility amp cooperation in a just world governed by the gods

Individual Freedom The ldquoSophistsrdquo (5th century)

bull Sources in thinkers like Protagoras and Gorgias (5th century BCE predominantly working in Athens) constructed as a category by Platorsquos later writings

bull Pursues individual advantage based on their personal beliefs and wits using persuasion and power skepticism of traditional values

Vulnerability The Hero of Tragedy (5th century)

bull Iconic examples include Sophoclesrsquo Oedipus and Aeschylusrsquo Agamemnon and Orestes

bull Pursuit of individual amp collective good in a world of apparently conflicting divine values sometimes hampered by their own lack of self-knowledge

I N T E R D E P E N D E N C Y I N T R O D U C E S V U L N E R A B I L I T Y W H I C H M AY B E

C E L E B R AT E D O R R E S I S T E D

The Hero of Epic Homer and Hesiod (8th century)

bull Found in the epic Iliad and Odyssey attributed to Homer (c 8th century BCE) examples include the powerful Achilles and thoughtful persuasive Odysseus

bull Pursues individual honour (timē) in a just world governed by the gods

CH

IGI V

AS

E C

70

0 B

CE

The Hero of Reason The ldquoPresocratics (6th-5th cent)

bull Founding figures including Thales Anaximander Anaximenes Pythagoras Heraclitus Parmenides Seeking to understand the basic original causes (aitiai) of the world through reason

I S T H E W O R L D G E N U I N E LY

I N T E L L I G I B L E T O R E A S O N

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Born in Athens to a stonemason named Sophroniscus in 469 BCE

bull ldquoSocratic problemrdquo Socrates wrote nothing we know about him through Plato Xenophon and Aristophanes whose accounts vary

bull Conversed with anyone ldquorich or poor citizen or foreignerrdquo (Apology 23C)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Non-conformity reliance on individual values and wits (contrast with the earlier poets and rhapsodes)

bull Claims of ignorance interest in shared truth and not only persuasion and resistance of ldquoselfish morality (contrast with the sophists)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Methods based on question and answer (the elenchus) requiring unity or consistency (a) of onersquos beliefs and (b) of onersquos beliefs and actions

bull Behaviour peculiar enough to warrant its own verb (sōkratein) (Arist Birds 1282) before generalized philosophia

bull Brought to trial in 399 BCE by two Athenians Meletus and Anytus charged with ldquoimpiety and corrupting the youngrdquo

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

S O C R AT E S C R I T O 4 6 A

I am the kind of person who listens to nothing within me but the logos that on reflection seems

best to me

L O G O S R E A S O N VA L U E C O N S C I E N C E M E A N I N G

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousness A sense of such significances that what is great is fragile and that what is necessary may be destructive which is present in the literature of the fifth century and earlier has disappeared [later] from the ethics of the philosophers and perhaps altogether from their minds Greek philosophy in its sustained pursuit of rational self-sufficiency does turn its back on kinds of human experience and human necessity of which Greek literature itself offers the purest if not the richest expression

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y A N D P H I L O S O P H Y

The continuity between Greek tragedy and Greek philosophy on these questions is however far greater than Williams has allowed On the one hand inside tragedy itself we find arresting portrayals of the human ambition to rational self-sufficiency we come to understand the ways in which problems of exposure motivate this ambition On the other Platos philosophical search for a self- sufficient good life is motivated by a keen sense of these same problems Far from having forgotten about what tragedy describes he sees the problems of exposure so clearly that only a radical solution seems adequate to their depth Nor is he naiumlve about the costs of this solution

N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y P R A C T I C A L C O N F L I C T

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identical which is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A)

Socrates ldquoencourages Euthyphro [a pious Greek] to revise tradition by considering as binding only those requirements concerning which there is divine unanimity he expresses further his own doubt as to whether gods really do disagreerdquo (Nussbaum 30)

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identicalwhich is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A Nussbaum 25)

Key contributions

bull Physics the archecircbull Cosmologybull ldquoEvolutionrdquobull Astronomy and Cartography

Anaximander relief 1st century ADRome Mueseo Nazionale 506

Anaximander of Miletus

Anaximander said that the APEIRON [indefinite unlimited] was the ARCHE and the element of things that are and he was the first to introduce this name for the ARCHE He says that the ARCHE is neither water nor any other of the things called elements but some other nature called APEIRON out of which come to be all the heavens and the worlds in them (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2413-18)

The things that are perish into the things out of which they come to be according to necessity for ldquothey pay penalty and retribution to one another according to their injustice in accordance with the ordering of timerdquo as he says in rather poetical language (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2418-21)

Anaximander of Miletus

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The ARCHE

bull One and unlimitedbull But not undefined Itrsquos AIR

Anaximenes of Miletus

bull Not opposites but a continuum FIRE AIR larr WIND larr CLOUD larr WATER larr EARTH larr STONEbull ldquoLooseningrdquo and ldquotighteningrdquo explain hot and cold

H E R A C L I T U S B 1 0 1 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 3 7 )

I searched out myself

Listening not to me but to the logos it is wise to agree that all things are one

H E R A C L I T U S B 5 0 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 1 1 )

E X A M P L E S

THE ROAD TO PHILOSOP HY

The Hero of Lyric Poets of the Polis (6th century)

bull According to the lyric poets of the polis culture such as Pindar Simonides Tyrtaeus and Sappho (7th-6th century BCE)

bull Pursues collective good of the polis based on strong ties of interdependent responsibility amp cooperation in a just world governed by the gods

Individual Freedom The ldquoSophistsrdquo (5th century)

bull Sources in thinkers like Protagoras and Gorgias (5th century BCE predominantly working in Athens) constructed as a category by Platorsquos later writings

bull Pursues individual advantage based on their personal beliefs and wits using persuasion and power skepticism of traditional values

Vulnerability The Hero of Tragedy (5th century)

bull Iconic examples include Sophoclesrsquo Oedipus and Aeschylusrsquo Agamemnon and Orestes

bull Pursuit of individual amp collective good in a world of apparently conflicting divine values sometimes hampered by their own lack of self-knowledge

I N T E R D E P E N D E N C Y I N T R O D U C E S V U L N E R A B I L I T Y W H I C H M AY B E

C E L E B R AT E D O R R E S I S T E D

The Hero of Epic Homer and Hesiod (8th century)

bull Found in the epic Iliad and Odyssey attributed to Homer (c 8th century BCE) examples include the powerful Achilles and thoughtful persuasive Odysseus

bull Pursues individual honour (timē) in a just world governed by the gods

CH

IGI V

AS

E C

70

0 B

CE

The Hero of Reason The ldquoPresocratics (6th-5th cent)

bull Founding figures including Thales Anaximander Anaximenes Pythagoras Heraclitus Parmenides Seeking to understand the basic original causes (aitiai) of the world through reason

I S T H E W O R L D G E N U I N E LY

I N T E L L I G I B L E T O R E A S O N

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Born in Athens to a stonemason named Sophroniscus in 469 BCE

bull ldquoSocratic problemrdquo Socrates wrote nothing we know about him through Plato Xenophon and Aristophanes whose accounts vary

bull Conversed with anyone ldquorich or poor citizen or foreignerrdquo (Apology 23C)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Non-conformity reliance on individual values and wits (contrast with the earlier poets and rhapsodes)

bull Claims of ignorance interest in shared truth and not only persuasion and resistance of ldquoselfish morality (contrast with the sophists)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Methods based on question and answer (the elenchus) requiring unity or consistency (a) of onersquos beliefs and (b) of onersquos beliefs and actions

bull Behaviour peculiar enough to warrant its own verb (sōkratein) (Arist Birds 1282) before generalized philosophia

bull Brought to trial in 399 BCE by two Athenians Meletus and Anytus charged with ldquoimpiety and corrupting the youngrdquo

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

S O C R AT E S C R I T O 4 6 A

I am the kind of person who listens to nothing within me but the logos that on reflection seems

best to me

L O G O S R E A S O N VA L U E C O N S C I E N C E M E A N I N G

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousness A sense of such significances that what is great is fragile and that what is necessary may be destructive which is present in the literature of the fifth century and earlier has disappeared [later] from the ethics of the philosophers and perhaps altogether from their minds Greek philosophy in its sustained pursuit of rational self-sufficiency does turn its back on kinds of human experience and human necessity of which Greek literature itself offers the purest if not the richest expression

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y A N D P H I L O S O P H Y

The continuity between Greek tragedy and Greek philosophy on these questions is however far greater than Williams has allowed On the one hand inside tragedy itself we find arresting portrayals of the human ambition to rational self-sufficiency we come to understand the ways in which problems of exposure motivate this ambition On the other Platos philosophical search for a self- sufficient good life is motivated by a keen sense of these same problems Far from having forgotten about what tragedy describes he sees the problems of exposure so clearly that only a radical solution seems adequate to their depth Nor is he naiumlve about the costs of this solution

N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y P R A C T I C A L C O N F L I C T

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identical which is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A)

Socrates ldquoencourages Euthyphro [a pious Greek] to revise tradition by considering as binding only those requirements concerning which there is divine unanimity he expresses further his own doubt as to whether gods really do disagreerdquo (Nussbaum 30)

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identicalwhich is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A Nussbaum 25)

Anaximander said that the APEIRON [indefinite unlimited] was the ARCHE and the element of things that are and he was the first to introduce this name for the ARCHE He says that the ARCHE is neither water nor any other of the things called elements but some other nature called APEIRON out of which come to be all the heavens and the worlds in them (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2413-18)

The things that are perish into the things out of which they come to be according to necessity for ldquothey pay penalty and retribution to one another according to their injustice in accordance with the ordering of timerdquo as he says in rather poetical language (From Simplicius On Aristotlersquos Physics 2418-21)

Anaximander of Miletus

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The ARCHE

bull One and unlimitedbull But not undefined Itrsquos AIR

Anaximenes of Miletus

bull Not opposites but a continuum FIRE AIR larr WIND larr CLOUD larr WATER larr EARTH larr STONEbull ldquoLooseningrdquo and ldquotighteningrdquo explain hot and cold

H E R A C L I T U S B 1 0 1 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 3 7 )

I searched out myself

Listening not to me but to the logos it is wise to agree that all things are one

H E R A C L I T U S B 5 0 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 1 1 )

E X A M P L E S

THE ROAD TO PHILOSOP HY

The Hero of Lyric Poets of the Polis (6th century)

bull According to the lyric poets of the polis culture such as Pindar Simonides Tyrtaeus and Sappho (7th-6th century BCE)

bull Pursues collective good of the polis based on strong ties of interdependent responsibility amp cooperation in a just world governed by the gods

Individual Freedom The ldquoSophistsrdquo (5th century)

bull Sources in thinkers like Protagoras and Gorgias (5th century BCE predominantly working in Athens) constructed as a category by Platorsquos later writings

bull Pursues individual advantage based on their personal beliefs and wits using persuasion and power skepticism of traditional values

Vulnerability The Hero of Tragedy (5th century)

bull Iconic examples include Sophoclesrsquo Oedipus and Aeschylusrsquo Agamemnon and Orestes

bull Pursuit of individual amp collective good in a world of apparently conflicting divine values sometimes hampered by their own lack of self-knowledge

I N T E R D E P E N D E N C Y I N T R O D U C E S V U L N E R A B I L I T Y W H I C H M AY B E

C E L E B R AT E D O R R E S I S T E D

The Hero of Epic Homer and Hesiod (8th century)

bull Found in the epic Iliad and Odyssey attributed to Homer (c 8th century BCE) examples include the powerful Achilles and thoughtful persuasive Odysseus

bull Pursues individual honour (timē) in a just world governed by the gods

CH

IGI V

AS

E C

70

0 B

CE

The Hero of Reason The ldquoPresocratics (6th-5th cent)

bull Founding figures including Thales Anaximander Anaximenes Pythagoras Heraclitus Parmenides Seeking to understand the basic original causes (aitiai) of the world through reason

I S T H E W O R L D G E N U I N E LY

I N T E L L I G I B L E T O R E A S O N

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Born in Athens to a stonemason named Sophroniscus in 469 BCE

bull ldquoSocratic problemrdquo Socrates wrote nothing we know about him through Plato Xenophon and Aristophanes whose accounts vary

bull Conversed with anyone ldquorich or poor citizen or foreignerrdquo (Apology 23C)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Non-conformity reliance on individual values and wits (contrast with the earlier poets and rhapsodes)

bull Claims of ignorance interest in shared truth and not only persuasion and resistance of ldquoselfish morality (contrast with the sophists)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Methods based on question and answer (the elenchus) requiring unity or consistency (a) of onersquos beliefs and (b) of onersquos beliefs and actions

bull Behaviour peculiar enough to warrant its own verb (sōkratein) (Arist Birds 1282) before generalized philosophia

bull Brought to trial in 399 BCE by two Athenians Meletus and Anytus charged with ldquoimpiety and corrupting the youngrdquo

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

S O C R AT E S C R I T O 4 6 A

I am the kind of person who listens to nothing within me but the logos that on reflection seems

best to me

L O G O S R E A S O N VA L U E C O N S C I E N C E M E A N I N G

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousness A sense of such significances that what is great is fragile and that what is necessary may be destructive which is present in the literature of the fifth century and earlier has disappeared [later] from the ethics of the philosophers and perhaps altogether from their minds Greek philosophy in its sustained pursuit of rational self-sufficiency does turn its back on kinds of human experience and human necessity of which Greek literature itself offers the purest if not the richest expression

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y A N D P H I L O S O P H Y

The continuity between Greek tragedy and Greek philosophy on these questions is however far greater than Williams has allowed On the one hand inside tragedy itself we find arresting portrayals of the human ambition to rational self-sufficiency we come to understand the ways in which problems of exposure motivate this ambition On the other Platos philosophical search for a self- sufficient good life is motivated by a keen sense of these same problems Far from having forgotten about what tragedy describes he sees the problems of exposure so clearly that only a radical solution seems adequate to their depth Nor is he naiumlve about the costs of this solution

N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y P R A C T I C A L C O N F L I C T

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identical which is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A)

Socrates ldquoencourages Euthyphro [a pious Greek] to revise tradition by considering as binding only those requirements concerning which there is divine unanimity he expresses further his own doubt as to whether gods really do disagreerdquo (Nussbaum 30)

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identicalwhich is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A Nussbaum 25)

Miletus Birdseye by AndrewArmbrustercom

The ARCHE

bull One and unlimitedbull But not undefined Itrsquos AIR

Anaximenes of Miletus

bull Not opposites but a continuum FIRE AIR larr WIND larr CLOUD larr WATER larr EARTH larr STONEbull ldquoLooseningrdquo and ldquotighteningrdquo explain hot and cold

H E R A C L I T U S B 1 0 1 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 3 7 )

I searched out myself

Listening not to me but to the logos it is wise to agree that all things are one

H E R A C L I T U S B 5 0 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 1 1 )

E X A M P L E S

THE ROAD TO PHILOSOP HY

The Hero of Lyric Poets of the Polis (6th century)

bull According to the lyric poets of the polis culture such as Pindar Simonides Tyrtaeus and Sappho (7th-6th century BCE)

bull Pursues collective good of the polis based on strong ties of interdependent responsibility amp cooperation in a just world governed by the gods

Individual Freedom The ldquoSophistsrdquo (5th century)

bull Sources in thinkers like Protagoras and Gorgias (5th century BCE predominantly working in Athens) constructed as a category by Platorsquos later writings

bull Pursues individual advantage based on their personal beliefs and wits using persuasion and power skepticism of traditional values

Vulnerability The Hero of Tragedy (5th century)

bull Iconic examples include Sophoclesrsquo Oedipus and Aeschylusrsquo Agamemnon and Orestes

bull Pursuit of individual amp collective good in a world of apparently conflicting divine values sometimes hampered by their own lack of self-knowledge

I N T E R D E P E N D E N C Y I N T R O D U C E S V U L N E R A B I L I T Y W H I C H M AY B E

C E L E B R AT E D O R R E S I S T E D

The Hero of Epic Homer and Hesiod (8th century)

bull Found in the epic Iliad and Odyssey attributed to Homer (c 8th century BCE) examples include the powerful Achilles and thoughtful persuasive Odysseus

bull Pursues individual honour (timē) in a just world governed by the gods

CH

IGI V

AS

E C

70

0 B

CE

The Hero of Reason The ldquoPresocratics (6th-5th cent)

bull Founding figures including Thales Anaximander Anaximenes Pythagoras Heraclitus Parmenides Seeking to understand the basic original causes (aitiai) of the world through reason

I S T H E W O R L D G E N U I N E LY

I N T E L L I G I B L E T O R E A S O N

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Born in Athens to a stonemason named Sophroniscus in 469 BCE

bull ldquoSocratic problemrdquo Socrates wrote nothing we know about him through Plato Xenophon and Aristophanes whose accounts vary

bull Conversed with anyone ldquorich or poor citizen or foreignerrdquo (Apology 23C)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Non-conformity reliance on individual values and wits (contrast with the earlier poets and rhapsodes)

bull Claims of ignorance interest in shared truth and not only persuasion and resistance of ldquoselfish morality (contrast with the sophists)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Methods based on question and answer (the elenchus) requiring unity or consistency (a) of onersquos beliefs and (b) of onersquos beliefs and actions

bull Behaviour peculiar enough to warrant its own verb (sōkratein) (Arist Birds 1282) before generalized philosophia

bull Brought to trial in 399 BCE by two Athenians Meletus and Anytus charged with ldquoimpiety and corrupting the youngrdquo

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

S O C R AT E S C R I T O 4 6 A

I am the kind of person who listens to nothing within me but the logos that on reflection seems

best to me

L O G O S R E A S O N VA L U E C O N S C I E N C E M E A N I N G

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousness A sense of such significances that what is great is fragile and that what is necessary may be destructive which is present in the literature of the fifth century and earlier has disappeared [later] from the ethics of the philosophers and perhaps altogether from their minds Greek philosophy in its sustained pursuit of rational self-sufficiency does turn its back on kinds of human experience and human necessity of which Greek literature itself offers the purest if not the richest expression

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y A N D P H I L O S O P H Y

The continuity between Greek tragedy and Greek philosophy on these questions is however far greater than Williams has allowed On the one hand inside tragedy itself we find arresting portrayals of the human ambition to rational self-sufficiency we come to understand the ways in which problems of exposure motivate this ambition On the other Platos philosophical search for a self- sufficient good life is motivated by a keen sense of these same problems Far from having forgotten about what tragedy describes he sees the problems of exposure so clearly that only a radical solution seems adequate to their depth Nor is he naiumlve about the costs of this solution

N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y P R A C T I C A L C O N F L I C T

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identical which is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A)

Socrates ldquoencourages Euthyphro [a pious Greek] to revise tradition by considering as binding only those requirements concerning which there is divine unanimity he expresses further his own doubt as to whether gods really do disagreerdquo (Nussbaum 30)

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identicalwhich is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A Nussbaum 25)

H E R A C L I T U S B 1 0 1 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 3 7 )

I searched out myself

Listening not to me but to the logos it is wise to agree that all things are one

H E R A C L I T U S B 5 0 ( P R E S O C R AT I C S R E A D E R 5 1 1 )

E X A M P L E S

THE ROAD TO PHILOSOP HY

The Hero of Lyric Poets of the Polis (6th century)

bull According to the lyric poets of the polis culture such as Pindar Simonides Tyrtaeus and Sappho (7th-6th century BCE)

bull Pursues collective good of the polis based on strong ties of interdependent responsibility amp cooperation in a just world governed by the gods

Individual Freedom The ldquoSophistsrdquo (5th century)

bull Sources in thinkers like Protagoras and Gorgias (5th century BCE predominantly working in Athens) constructed as a category by Platorsquos later writings

bull Pursues individual advantage based on their personal beliefs and wits using persuasion and power skepticism of traditional values

Vulnerability The Hero of Tragedy (5th century)

bull Iconic examples include Sophoclesrsquo Oedipus and Aeschylusrsquo Agamemnon and Orestes

bull Pursuit of individual amp collective good in a world of apparently conflicting divine values sometimes hampered by their own lack of self-knowledge

I N T E R D E P E N D E N C Y I N T R O D U C E S V U L N E R A B I L I T Y W H I C H M AY B E

C E L E B R AT E D O R R E S I S T E D

The Hero of Epic Homer and Hesiod (8th century)

bull Found in the epic Iliad and Odyssey attributed to Homer (c 8th century BCE) examples include the powerful Achilles and thoughtful persuasive Odysseus

bull Pursues individual honour (timē) in a just world governed by the gods

CH

IGI V

AS

E C

70

0 B

CE

The Hero of Reason The ldquoPresocratics (6th-5th cent)

bull Founding figures including Thales Anaximander Anaximenes Pythagoras Heraclitus Parmenides Seeking to understand the basic original causes (aitiai) of the world through reason

I S T H E W O R L D G E N U I N E LY

I N T E L L I G I B L E T O R E A S O N

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Born in Athens to a stonemason named Sophroniscus in 469 BCE

bull ldquoSocratic problemrdquo Socrates wrote nothing we know about him through Plato Xenophon and Aristophanes whose accounts vary

bull Conversed with anyone ldquorich or poor citizen or foreignerrdquo (Apology 23C)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Non-conformity reliance on individual values and wits (contrast with the earlier poets and rhapsodes)

bull Claims of ignorance interest in shared truth and not only persuasion and resistance of ldquoselfish morality (contrast with the sophists)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Methods based on question and answer (the elenchus) requiring unity or consistency (a) of onersquos beliefs and (b) of onersquos beliefs and actions

bull Behaviour peculiar enough to warrant its own verb (sōkratein) (Arist Birds 1282) before generalized philosophia

bull Brought to trial in 399 BCE by two Athenians Meletus and Anytus charged with ldquoimpiety and corrupting the youngrdquo

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

S O C R AT E S C R I T O 4 6 A

I am the kind of person who listens to nothing within me but the logos that on reflection seems

best to me

L O G O S R E A S O N VA L U E C O N S C I E N C E M E A N I N G

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousness A sense of such significances that what is great is fragile and that what is necessary may be destructive which is present in the literature of the fifth century and earlier has disappeared [later] from the ethics of the philosophers and perhaps altogether from their minds Greek philosophy in its sustained pursuit of rational self-sufficiency does turn its back on kinds of human experience and human necessity of which Greek literature itself offers the purest if not the richest expression

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y A N D P H I L O S O P H Y

The continuity between Greek tragedy and Greek philosophy on these questions is however far greater than Williams has allowed On the one hand inside tragedy itself we find arresting portrayals of the human ambition to rational self-sufficiency we come to understand the ways in which problems of exposure motivate this ambition On the other Platos philosophical search for a self- sufficient good life is motivated by a keen sense of these same problems Far from having forgotten about what tragedy describes he sees the problems of exposure so clearly that only a radical solution seems adequate to their depth Nor is he naiumlve about the costs of this solution

N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y P R A C T I C A L C O N F L I C T

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identical which is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A)

Socrates ldquoencourages Euthyphro [a pious Greek] to revise tradition by considering as binding only those requirements concerning which there is divine unanimity he expresses further his own doubt as to whether gods really do disagreerdquo (Nussbaum 30)

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identicalwhich is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A Nussbaum 25)

THE ROAD TO PHILOSOP HY

The Hero of Lyric Poets of the Polis (6th century)

bull According to the lyric poets of the polis culture such as Pindar Simonides Tyrtaeus and Sappho (7th-6th century BCE)

bull Pursues collective good of the polis based on strong ties of interdependent responsibility amp cooperation in a just world governed by the gods

Individual Freedom The ldquoSophistsrdquo (5th century)

bull Sources in thinkers like Protagoras and Gorgias (5th century BCE predominantly working in Athens) constructed as a category by Platorsquos later writings

bull Pursues individual advantage based on their personal beliefs and wits using persuasion and power skepticism of traditional values

Vulnerability The Hero of Tragedy (5th century)

bull Iconic examples include Sophoclesrsquo Oedipus and Aeschylusrsquo Agamemnon and Orestes

bull Pursuit of individual amp collective good in a world of apparently conflicting divine values sometimes hampered by their own lack of self-knowledge

I N T E R D E P E N D E N C Y I N T R O D U C E S V U L N E R A B I L I T Y W H I C H M AY B E

C E L E B R AT E D O R R E S I S T E D

The Hero of Epic Homer and Hesiod (8th century)

bull Found in the epic Iliad and Odyssey attributed to Homer (c 8th century BCE) examples include the powerful Achilles and thoughtful persuasive Odysseus

bull Pursues individual honour (timē) in a just world governed by the gods

CH

IGI V

AS

E C

70

0 B

CE

The Hero of Reason The ldquoPresocratics (6th-5th cent)

bull Founding figures including Thales Anaximander Anaximenes Pythagoras Heraclitus Parmenides Seeking to understand the basic original causes (aitiai) of the world through reason

I S T H E W O R L D G E N U I N E LY

I N T E L L I G I B L E T O R E A S O N

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Born in Athens to a stonemason named Sophroniscus in 469 BCE

bull ldquoSocratic problemrdquo Socrates wrote nothing we know about him through Plato Xenophon and Aristophanes whose accounts vary

bull Conversed with anyone ldquorich or poor citizen or foreignerrdquo (Apology 23C)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Non-conformity reliance on individual values and wits (contrast with the earlier poets and rhapsodes)

bull Claims of ignorance interest in shared truth and not only persuasion and resistance of ldquoselfish morality (contrast with the sophists)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Methods based on question and answer (the elenchus) requiring unity or consistency (a) of onersquos beliefs and (b) of onersquos beliefs and actions

bull Behaviour peculiar enough to warrant its own verb (sōkratein) (Arist Birds 1282) before generalized philosophia

bull Brought to trial in 399 BCE by two Athenians Meletus and Anytus charged with ldquoimpiety and corrupting the youngrdquo

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

S O C R AT E S C R I T O 4 6 A

I am the kind of person who listens to nothing within me but the logos that on reflection seems

best to me

L O G O S R E A S O N VA L U E C O N S C I E N C E M E A N I N G

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousness A sense of such significances that what is great is fragile and that what is necessary may be destructive which is present in the literature of the fifth century and earlier has disappeared [later] from the ethics of the philosophers and perhaps altogether from their minds Greek philosophy in its sustained pursuit of rational self-sufficiency does turn its back on kinds of human experience and human necessity of which Greek literature itself offers the purest if not the richest expression

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y A N D P H I L O S O P H Y

The continuity between Greek tragedy and Greek philosophy on these questions is however far greater than Williams has allowed On the one hand inside tragedy itself we find arresting portrayals of the human ambition to rational self-sufficiency we come to understand the ways in which problems of exposure motivate this ambition On the other Platos philosophical search for a self- sufficient good life is motivated by a keen sense of these same problems Far from having forgotten about what tragedy describes he sees the problems of exposure so clearly that only a radical solution seems adequate to their depth Nor is he naiumlve about the costs of this solution

N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y P R A C T I C A L C O N F L I C T

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identical which is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A)

Socrates ldquoencourages Euthyphro [a pious Greek] to revise tradition by considering as binding only those requirements concerning which there is divine unanimity he expresses further his own doubt as to whether gods really do disagreerdquo (Nussbaum 30)

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identicalwhich is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A Nussbaum 25)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Born in Athens to a stonemason named Sophroniscus in 469 BCE

bull ldquoSocratic problemrdquo Socrates wrote nothing we know about him through Plato Xenophon and Aristophanes whose accounts vary

bull Conversed with anyone ldquorich or poor citizen or foreignerrdquo (Apology 23C)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Non-conformity reliance on individual values and wits (contrast with the earlier poets and rhapsodes)

bull Claims of ignorance interest in shared truth and not only persuasion and resistance of ldquoselfish morality (contrast with the sophists)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Methods based on question and answer (the elenchus) requiring unity or consistency (a) of onersquos beliefs and (b) of onersquos beliefs and actions

bull Behaviour peculiar enough to warrant its own verb (sōkratein) (Arist Birds 1282) before generalized philosophia

bull Brought to trial in 399 BCE by two Athenians Meletus and Anytus charged with ldquoimpiety and corrupting the youngrdquo

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

S O C R AT E S C R I T O 4 6 A

I am the kind of person who listens to nothing within me but the logos that on reflection seems

best to me

L O G O S R E A S O N VA L U E C O N S C I E N C E M E A N I N G

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousness A sense of such significances that what is great is fragile and that what is necessary may be destructive which is present in the literature of the fifth century and earlier has disappeared [later] from the ethics of the philosophers and perhaps altogether from their minds Greek philosophy in its sustained pursuit of rational self-sufficiency does turn its back on kinds of human experience and human necessity of which Greek literature itself offers the purest if not the richest expression

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y A N D P H I L O S O P H Y

The continuity between Greek tragedy and Greek philosophy on these questions is however far greater than Williams has allowed On the one hand inside tragedy itself we find arresting portrayals of the human ambition to rational self-sufficiency we come to understand the ways in which problems of exposure motivate this ambition On the other Platos philosophical search for a self- sufficient good life is motivated by a keen sense of these same problems Far from having forgotten about what tragedy describes he sees the problems of exposure so clearly that only a radical solution seems adequate to their depth Nor is he naiumlve about the costs of this solution

N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y P R A C T I C A L C O N F L I C T

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identical which is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A)

Socrates ldquoencourages Euthyphro [a pious Greek] to revise tradition by considering as binding only those requirements concerning which there is divine unanimity he expresses further his own doubt as to whether gods really do disagreerdquo (Nussbaum 30)

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identicalwhich is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A Nussbaum 25)

bull Born in Athens to a stonemason named Sophroniscus in 469 BCE

bull ldquoSocratic problemrdquo Socrates wrote nothing we know about him through Plato Xenophon and Aristophanes whose accounts vary

bull Conversed with anyone ldquorich or poor citizen or foreignerrdquo (Apology 23C)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Non-conformity reliance on individual values and wits (contrast with the earlier poets and rhapsodes)

bull Claims of ignorance interest in shared truth and not only persuasion and resistance of ldquoselfish morality (contrast with the sophists)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Methods based on question and answer (the elenchus) requiring unity or consistency (a) of onersquos beliefs and (b) of onersquos beliefs and actions

bull Behaviour peculiar enough to warrant its own verb (sōkratein) (Arist Birds 1282) before generalized philosophia

bull Brought to trial in 399 BCE by two Athenians Meletus and Anytus charged with ldquoimpiety and corrupting the youngrdquo

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

S O C R AT E S C R I T O 4 6 A

I am the kind of person who listens to nothing within me but the logos that on reflection seems

best to me

L O G O S R E A S O N VA L U E C O N S C I E N C E M E A N I N G

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousness A sense of such significances that what is great is fragile and that what is necessary may be destructive which is present in the literature of the fifth century and earlier has disappeared [later] from the ethics of the philosophers and perhaps altogether from their minds Greek philosophy in its sustained pursuit of rational self-sufficiency does turn its back on kinds of human experience and human necessity of which Greek literature itself offers the purest if not the richest expression

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y A N D P H I L O S O P H Y

The continuity between Greek tragedy and Greek philosophy on these questions is however far greater than Williams has allowed On the one hand inside tragedy itself we find arresting portrayals of the human ambition to rational self-sufficiency we come to understand the ways in which problems of exposure motivate this ambition On the other Platos philosophical search for a self- sufficient good life is motivated by a keen sense of these same problems Far from having forgotten about what tragedy describes he sees the problems of exposure so clearly that only a radical solution seems adequate to their depth Nor is he naiumlve about the costs of this solution

N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y P R A C T I C A L C O N F L I C T

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identical which is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A)

Socrates ldquoencourages Euthyphro [a pious Greek] to revise tradition by considering as binding only those requirements concerning which there is divine unanimity he expresses further his own doubt as to whether gods really do disagreerdquo (Nussbaum 30)

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identicalwhich is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A Nussbaum 25)

bull Non-conformity reliance on individual values and wits (contrast with the earlier poets and rhapsodes)

bull Claims of ignorance interest in shared truth and not only persuasion and resistance of ldquoselfish morality (contrast with the sophists)

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

bull Methods based on question and answer (the elenchus) requiring unity or consistency (a) of onersquos beliefs and (b) of onersquos beliefs and actions

bull Behaviour peculiar enough to warrant its own verb (sōkratein) (Arist Birds 1282) before generalized philosophia

bull Brought to trial in 399 BCE by two Athenians Meletus and Anytus charged with ldquoimpiety and corrupting the youngrdquo

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

S O C R AT E S C R I T O 4 6 A

I am the kind of person who listens to nothing within me but the logos that on reflection seems

best to me

L O G O S R E A S O N VA L U E C O N S C I E N C E M E A N I N G

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousness A sense of such significances that what is great is fragile and that what is necessary may be destructive which is present in the literature of the fifth century and earlier has disappeared [later] from the ethics of the philosophers and perhaps altogether from their minds Greek philosophy in its sustained pursuit of rational self-sufficiency does turn its back on kinds of human experience and human necessity of which Greek literature itself offers the purest if not the richest expression

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y A N D P H I L O S O P H Y

The continuity between Greek tragedy and Greek philosophy on these questions is however far greater than Williams has allowed On the one hand inside tragedy itself we find arresting portrayals of the human ambition to rational self-sufficiency we come to understand the ways in which problems of exposure motivate this ambition On the other Platos philosophical search for a self- sufficient good life is motivated by a keen sense of these same problems Far from having forgotten about what tragedy describes he sees the problems of exposure so clearly that only a radical solution seems adequate to their depth Nor is he naiumlve about the costs of this solution

N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y P R A C T I C A L C O N F L I C T

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identical which is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A)

Socrates ldquoencourages Euthyphro [a pious Greek] to revise tradition by considering as binding only those requirements concerning which there is divine unanimity he expresses further his own doubt as to whether gods really do disagreerdquo (Nussbaum 30)

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identicalwhich is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A Nussbaum 25)

bull Methods based on question and answer (the elenchus) requiring unity or consistency (a) of onersquos beliefs and (b) of onersquos beliefs and actions

bull Behaviour peculiar enough to warrant its own verb (sōkratein) (Arist Birds 1282) before generalized philosophia

bull Brought to trial in 399 BCE by two Athenians Meletus and Anytus charged with ldquoimpiety and corrupting the youngrdquo

I N T R O D U C I N G S O C R AT E S

S O C R AT E S C R I T O 4 6 A

I am the kind of person who listens to nothing within me but the logos that on reflection seems

best to me

L O G O S R E A S O N VA L U E C O N S C I E N C E M E A N I N G

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousness A sense of such significances that what is great is fragile and that what is necessary may be destructive which is present in the literature of the fifth century and earlier has disappeared [later] from the ethics of the philosophers and perhaps altogether from their minds Greek philosophy in its sustained pursuit of rational self-sufficiency does turn its back on kinds of human experience and human necessity of which Greek literature itself offers the purest if not the richest expression

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y A N D P H I L O S O P H Y

The continuity between Greek tragedy and Greek philosophy on these questions is however far greater than Williams has allowed On the one hand inside tragedy itself we find arresting portrayals of the human ambition to rational self-sufficiency we come to understand the ways in which problems of exposure motivate this ambition On the other Platos philosophical search for a self- sufficient good life is motivated by a keen sense of these same problems Far from having forgotten about what tragedy describes he sees the problems of exposure so clearly that only a radical solution seems adequate to their depth Nor is he naiumlve about the costs of this solution

N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y P R A C T I C A L C O N F L I C T

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identical which is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A)

Socrates ldquoencourages Euthyphro [a pious Greek] to revise tradition by considering as binding only those requirements concerning which there is divine unanimity he expresses further his own doubt as to whether gods really do disagreerdquo (Nussbaum 30)

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identicalwhich is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A Nussbaum 25)

S O C R AT E S C R I T O 4 6 A

I am the kind of person who listens to nothing within me but the logos that on reflection seems

best to me

L O G O S R E A S O N VA L U E C O N S C I E N C E M E A N I N G

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousness A sense of such significances that what is great is fragile and that what is necessary may be destructive which is present in the literature of the fifth century and earlier has disappeared [later] from the ethics of the philosophers and perhaps altogether from their minds Greek philosophy in its sustained pursuit of rational self-sufficiency does turn its back on kinds of human experience and human necessity of which Greek literature itself offers the purest if not the richest expression

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y A N D P H I L O S O P H Y

The continuity between Greek tragedy and Greek philosophy on these questions is however far greater than Williams has allowed On the one hand inside tragedy itself we find arresting portrayals of the human ambition to rational self-sufficiency we come to understand the ways in which problems of exposure motivate this ambition On the other Platos philosophical search for a self- sufficient good life is motivated by a keen sense of these same problems Far from having forgotten about what tragedy describes he sees the problems of exposure so clearly that only a radical solution seems adequate to their depth Nor is he naiumlve about the costs of this solution

N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y P R A C T I C A L C O N F L I C T

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identical which is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A)

Socrates ldquoencourages Euthyphro [a pious Greek] to revise tradition by considering as binding only those requirements concerning which there is divine unanimity he expresses further his own doubt as to whether gods really do disagreerdquo (Nussbaum 30)

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identicalwhich is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A Nussbaum 25)

T H E L I M I T S O F R E A S O N A deeper sense of exposure to fortune is expressed elsewhere in Greek literature above all in tragedy There the repeated references to the insecurity of happiness get their force from the fact that the characters are displayed as having responsibilities or pride or obsessions or needs on a scale which lays them open to disaster in corresponding measure and that they encounter those disasters in full consciousness A sense of such significances that what is great is fragile and that what is necessary may be destructive which is present in the literature of the fifth century and earlier has disappeared [later] from the ethics of the philosophers and perhaps altogether from their minds Greek philosophy in its sustained pursuit of rational self-sufficiency does turn its back on kinds of human experience and human necessity of which Greek literature itself offers the purest if not the richest expression

B E R N A R D W I L L I A M S ldquo P H I L O S O P H Y rdquo I N F I N L E Y L E G A C Y O F G R E E C E 2 5 3 Q U O T E D I N N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y A N D P H I L O S O P H Y

The continuity between Greek tragedy and Greek philosophy on these questions is however far greater than Williams has allowed On the one hand inside tragedy itself we find arresting portrayals of the human ambition to rational self-sufficiency we come to understand the ways in which problems of exposure motivate this ambition On the other Platos philosophical search for a self- sufficient good life is motivated by a keen sense of these same problems Far from having forgotten about what tragedy describes he sees the problems of exposure so clearly that only a radical solution seems adequate to their depth Nor is he naiumlve about the costs of this solution

N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y P R A C T I C A L C O N F L I C T

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identical which is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A)

Socrates ldquoencourages Euthyphro [a pious Greek] to revise tradition by considering as binding only those requirements concerning which there is divine unanimity he expresses further his own doubt as to whether gods really do disagreerdquo (Nussbaum 30)

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identicalwhich is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A Nussbaum 25)

T R A G E D Y A N D P H I L O S O P H Y

The continuity between Greek tragedy and Greek philosophy on these questions is however far greater than Williams has allowed On the one hand inside tragedy itself we find arresting portrayals of the human ambition to rational self-sufficiency we come to understand the ways in which problems of exposure motivate this ambition On the other Platos philosophical search for a self- sufficient good life is motivated by a keen sense of these same problems Far from having forgotten about what tragedy describes he sees the problems of exposure so clearly that only a radical solution seems adequate to their depth Nor is he naiumlve about the costs of this solution

N U S S B A U M 1 8

T R A G E D Y P R A C T I C A L C O N F L I C T

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identical which is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A)

Socrates ldquoencourages Euthyphro [a pious Greek] to revise tradition by considering as binding only those requirements concerning which there is divine unanimity he expresses further his own doubt as to whether gods really do disagreerdquo (Nussbaum 30)

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identicalwhich is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A Nussbaum 25)

T R A G E D Y P R A C T I C A L C O N F L I C T

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identical which is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A)

Socrates ldquoencourages Euthyphro [a pious Greek] to revise tradition by considering as binding only those requirements concerning which there is divine unanimity he expresses further his own doubt as to whether gods really do disagreerdquo (Nussbaum 30)

Socratesrsquo challenge to such stories where obligations to the gods conflict if they were true the pious (following the gods) and impious (rejecting them) would be identicalwhich is a logical contradiction (Euthyphro 8A Nussbaum 25)