Articles with keyword: Aristotle

“On the meaning of being a woman and a philosopher in the Graeco-roman world.”
Konstantinos Mantas mantaskostas@gmail.com

ELECTRYONE 

2022
Volume 8, Issue 2

 | pp.

48-60

Abstract:

This paper will focus on women as philosophers in the Graeco-roman world: its time span will be extended , roughly, from the 6th c BC to the end of the 4th c AD. This rather elongated time span is due to the scarcity of the sources: Although there is a significant progress on the subject of the role of ancient Greek and Roman women in religion, economy and –even-politics, this is due to the bulk of information which can be gathered from- both - inscriptions and papyri. We cannot be so lucky on the subject of women ‘s share in intellectual life. The surviving material written by women is flimsy and fragmented: we know the names of some female poets and some fragments of their poems, but what about female philosophers? Of course, there is a list which –according to Richard Hauley –records the names of sixtythree women philosophers of antiquity. The problem with that list is: were these women genuine philosophers or they were simply ciphers or heroines of anecdotes? In other words, did those women produce philosophical work? This seems to be a moot point in the historical research: For most of them, we cannot be sure about anything else except their name and some short story, usually in connection with a male philosopher and of anecdotal character. There were some female students in various schools of philosophical thought, starting from the Pythagorean ones, through Plato’s academia to the various epicurean “gardens”. Some women, even taught, though this is a rather rare phenomenon. But the only philosophical works which survives under a woman’s Konstantinos Mantas ELECTRYONE (2022) Vol.8, Iss. 2, 48-60 http://www.electryone.gr-ISSN: 2241-4061 49 name consists of a few epistles by Pythagorean women sent to other women who sought their advice. These epistles present problems to the researcher: Some deny that they could have been written by women, thus considering them as having been written by men using female pseudonyms. This is an argument colored by sexist prejudice: if we accept that, we should deny all female authorship in antiquity. Of course, women philosophers can be connected to female mathematicians : in antiquity, a philosopher had had to be well-versed in mathematics and there are references to female mathematicians from the mythological era(Aethra, the mother of Theseus) up to late antiquity(Hypatia). Also, some women in postclassical Alexandria were alchemists and theurgoi. This is another aspect of female spirituality : it seems that it was easier for women to participate in philosophical work of a metaphysical nature(close to witchcraft). The story of Sosipatra(4th c AD), as it has been recorded by Eunapius in his Lives of the sophists is simila to fairy tales and apocryphal texts. Another important aspect of the history of women philosophers is that they were closely linked to a male philosopher: usually , as his wife or daughter(Theano, Hipparchia, , Sosipatra, Hypatia).Like most of women doctors, female philosophers seem to have profited due to this kind of nepotism which was prevalent in antiquity. So, the fact that women, even, when they taught philosophy seem to have done so in their home, needs not to surprise us. In the Hellenistic and Roman era, women could act in various civic roles , as benefactors and titular office –holders but only as members of local aristocratic dynasties and in a “privatized’ civic system of rule. Last but not least: who should we call a philosopher in antiquity? The epigraphical material shows, that most of the inscriptions engraved on tombs, honouring women as philosophers, imply that the deceased were honored as educated women- not as creators of genuine philosophical works. The same seems to apply to the empress Julia Doman, wife of the emperor Septimius Severus-she was given the honorific title of philosophos, but she did not write anything. Her contribution to philosophy is limited to the foundation of a philosophical salon and to her commission of the writing of the biography of the legendary sophist and magician Apollonius of Tyana.
About the truth: Aristotle and john philoponus
Alexantra Ntotsika Aristotle University of Thessaloniki

ELECTRYONE 

2017
Volume 5, Issue 2

 | pp.

71-79

Abstract:

The paper is about the philosophical inquiry of truth and falsehood on the Aristotle’s treatise ‘‘De anima’’ and the Philoponus’ commentary on the Aristotelian work (Commentaria in Aristotelem Graeca). Since, the philosophical game of truth and falsehood is directly related with the cognitive process the current study mainly focuses on the definition and the analysis of the intellect, which retrieves stimuli from the senses and imagination in order to operate effectively. For that reason, there is an explanation in the two distinct chapters that are concerned with the concept of the Aristotelian intellect and its interpretation from John Philoponus, in order to extract potential philosophical differentiations or similarities. The Aristotelian intellect (nous) anchors the initial data through a logical judgement and follows the diversity of the combinations of reality. During that combinatorial operation of logic that derives from the senses and imagination (phantasia), it is possible for falsehood to be inducted, in such way that the combinations will no longer meet the existing combinations of reality. The most essential element of Philoponu’ s philosophy on truth and falsehood is intertwined with the composition of a theory regarding the distinction of nous-dianoia-doxa and the distinction of simple/impartitionable (amerista) or divisible (merista) things and not of meanings. Among those, the distinction between human- divine intellect (which is identical to the truth) is preceding and that may put at risk the aristotelian work, as it could connect it with the neo-platonian theory.
Subjects:Uncategorized
The aristotle perspective of "The polis" in today’s world society
Ioannis Ch. Karydas Dr. Panteion University - Urban Planer

ELECTRYONE 

2017
Volume 5, Issue 2

 | pp.

49-62

Abstract:

This paper aims to understanding perspectives of the Aristotelian Polis in today’s society. As the modern world becomes increasingly globalized, digitalized, “virtual” etc, it is important to concentrate on the basic unit at which Aristotle’s political philosophy were intended to operate under the Polis, the city –state of the ancient Greece. Looking closer at how the Polis is referred in Aristotle’s Politics, it appears that the Polis was both a geographical particular location (Oikismos) and actively participated citizens (polites) in their community through moral and virtual political involvement (Politeia). The Polis was defined as a political ensemble of participated citizens, and one Polis differs from another by its Politeia. The Polis was by nature and Men also were by nature inclined to the Polis because they are by nature inclined to eudaimonia, to happiness. The Polis was the only human institution that can allow men to be real happy living a virtuous good life. The Polis exists for the common good life and we must rethink about the common political moral conceptions of the happiness, the freedom, the self-sufficient, real democracy. Today, the modern conception of a world nation-state or of local authorities’ institutions differs dramatically from that of the Polis. The Aristotelian Polis can be restart in a way to aim to restore the ideas of the virtual life and the ultimate happiness to our urban planning attitudes. But it would be very difficult to incorporate the Aristotelian thought in relation to the present society as the world state is concerned with the external economic evaluation of the society. So it is necessary to incorporate the Aristotelian idea of the Polis by strengthening the sense of the virtual and moral way of life and the local community identity, engaging more people to participate at a local level politic life, by making real democratic political activity personal rather than a mere matter of statistics and digital icons. Finally, Aristotle should still remain an important thinker for today urban society. The Polis can demonstrate again the importance of sharing an integrated and common democratic political relationship between men - citizens and urban society.
Subjects:Uncategorized
Psychodrama and Sociodrama: Aristotelian Catharsis Revisited
Dina Abd Elsalam Department of English Language and Literature Faculty of Arts University of Alexandria

ELECTRYONE 

2015
Volume 3, Issue 2

 | pp.

34-50

Abstract:

In the 4th century B.C, Aristotle was to highlight the healing power of drama. He argued in the Poetics that drama has a therapeutic effect on the spectators, since it exposes them to a high level of emotional pressure, so much so that when the dramatic tension is resolved, the spectators eventually attain catharsis. His formulations were basically a reaction against Plato’s vehement attack on poetry. In the 20th century, Jacob L. Moreno, an Austrian-American psychiatrist, who is widely recognized as the founder of both psychodrama and sociodrama, realized the therapeutic effect of drama on his patients and was to use it as a means of treatment. Despite the fact that Aristotle and Moreno are separated by many centuries, their theories seem to converge as both stress the remedial influence of drama and its cathartic effect. Moreno, however, argued that there were differences between psychodramatic catharsis, on the one hand, and Aristotlean catharsis on the other, as the former drew on dramatic sources from the Near East. It is the aim of this paper to highlight how Aristotle and Moreno came to formulate their respective theories concerning catharsis, discussing the similarities and differences regarding their proposed catharses, and tracing Aristotlean echoes in Moreno’s theory.
Subjects:Ancient Greek Literature, Philosophy