thoughts of the real Socrates (Gigon). (v) Aristode's evidence is valuable

Transcription

1 NOTES x. Nicomachean Ethics, excerpts from Book IV, chap. 3 z. See L. Pearson, Popular Ethics in Ancient Greece, pp. I99-zoz. 3 For a description of Greek city life, see A. Zimmern, The Greek Commonwealth (Oxford, I 9 3 I). 4 Greek religion is a very complicated subject. See, for instance, W. K. C. Guthrie, The Greek.r and their God.r (London, I95o); M. P. Nilsson, Greek Piety (Oxford, I948), and H. J. Rose, Ancient Greek Religion (London, I948). 5. For a long list of similar differences, see the Dissoi Logoi. 6. See Lovejoy and Boas, Primitivism and Related Idea.r in Antiquity, chap. III. 7 It is on this point that many who try to reconstruct the arguments of the sophists go wrong. 8. There is a considerable literature on the Thrasymachus problem: for a summary, see Cross and Woozley, Plato's Republic, chap. ii. It is important to remember that there are two different questions : (i) What was Thrasymachus' own line of argument, if any? and (ii) What is the point of Thrasymachus' argument as presented by Plato in the Republic? 9 Some scholars deny that he was a real person, but if so he is unique in Plato's earlier dialogues. 10. See G. Calogero, 'Gorgias and the Socratic Principle, Nemo Sua Sponte Peccat', ].H.S., lxxvii (1957), and A. W. H. Adkins, Merit and Responsibility (Oxford, I96o), pp. IZ5-7 II. See G. Vlastos, 'Ethics and Physics in Democritus', Phil. Rev., liv (I945), and lv (I946). W. K. C. Guthrie, in A History of Greek Philosophy, vol. ii, pp , expresses doubt about the genuineness of the ethical fragments of Democritus. IZ. Produced in 423. The version we have, however, is a revised version of about 418 which seems to show greater hostility to Socrates. I 3. There is a vast literature on the Socratic problem. Views include: (i) Plato's conscious aim was to give a faithful portrait of Socrates, and he largely succeeded in doing so (A. E. Taylor, J. Burnet). (ii) Aristophanes, interpreted correctly, is also a good witness (A. E. Taylor). (iii) Plato tried to give a faithful picture of Socrates, but was too powerful a thinker himself to do so. Xenophon, being unhampered by genius, is to be trusted (von Arnim, Gomperz). (iv) The convention of the Socratic dialogue was such that it was used as a vehicle for their own views by thinkers of all kinds, and bore no relation to the actual

2 thoughts of the real Socrates (Gigon). (v) Aristode's evidence is valuable (Ross). For a detailed survey, see V. de Magal.haes-Vilhena, Le Probleme de Socrate (Paris, 195 z). 14. For a discussion of the historical background of the Delphic response, see H. W. Parke and D. E. W. Wormell, The Delphic Oracle (Oxford, 1956), val. i, pp This would be an example of Greek sophrosyne, though not of English temperance. 16. For details see A. E. Taylor, Socrates, pp. 97-1oz. 17. There has been much discussion as to how seriously Socrates' hedonism should be taken. His attitude in the Gorgias is quite different, and many have argued that in the Protagoras he is only assuming for the moment that popular views are true. But I am inclined to think it went a litde deeper than that. For a close study, see J. P. Sullivan, 'The Hedonism in Plato's Protagoras', Phronesis, vi (1961). 18. The classic paper on Socrates and the soul is J. Burnet, 'The Socratic Doctrine of the Soul', Proc. Brit. Academy ( ). 19. For Plato's own account of this, and other episodes, see his Seventh Letter. See also G. C. Field, Plato and his Contemporaries, chap. ii. zo. The genuineness of these has been doubted, but it is probable that at least the most important ones are authentic. zi. There is a useful account in W. D. Ross, Plato's Theory of Ideas (Oxford, 195 1), chap. i. Since that was written the position of the Timaeus has been questioned by G. E. L. Owen, 'The Place of the Timaeus in Plato's Dialogues', Class. Quart., N.S. iii (1953), but the general picture is unaltered. zz. Scholars are much divided over whether Plato argued from soul to state or state to soul. I favour the latter view. z 3. There has been much argument about whether Plato regards them as parts or as aspects of the soul, but clearly his usage is metaphorical, so the question does not arise. z4. See D. A. Rees, 'Bipartition of the Soul in the Early Academy', ].H.S., lxxvii (1957). z5. See D. Sachs, 'A Fallacy in Plato's Republic', Phil. Rev., lxxii (1963), and R. Demos, 'A Fallacy in Plato's Republic?', Phil. Rev., lxxiii (1964) z6. Hackforth, Plato's Examination of Pleasure, p. 4, thinks it possible that this view had not yet been formulated and that it is not referred to in the Philebus. z7. Hackforth (ibid.) suggests that it was written between 360 and 354, when Plato was thoroughly disillusioned with politics after the Sicilian episode. 71

3 z 8. Interpretations differ. See Hackforth, pp , for another view. 29. See a series of articles by J. Gosling and A. Kenny in Phronesis, iv-vi ( ), and D. Gallop, 'True and False Pleasures', Phil. Quart., x (196o). A defence of Plato's usage in modern terminology is in I. Thalberg, 'False Pleasures', J. Philos., lix (196z). 30. For interesting comments on eros and philia, see A. H. Armstrong and R. A. Markus, Christian Faith and Greek Philosophy (London, 1960), pp. 8I-93 3 I. See D. J. Allan, 'Magna Moralia and Nicomachean Ethics', ].H.S., lxxvii (I957). 32. Some views are: (i) Eudemian much earlier Qaeger), (ii) Eudemian slightly earlier (Gauthier and Jolif), (iii) Eudemian later than Nicomachean (D. J. Allan). H Much of interest on this point can be extracted from G. E. L. Owen, 'Logic and Metaphysics in Some Earlier Works of Aristotle' in Aristotle and Plato in the Mid-Fourth Century (Goteborg, I96o), ed. During and Owen. 34 P. Glassen, 'A Fallacy in Aristotle's Argument about the Good', Phil. Quart., vii (1957), suggests that Aristotle is confused between the good of a man and the goodness of a man, but A. MacC. Armstrong, 'Aristotle's Conception of Human Good', Phil. Quart., viii (1958), replies convincingly. For Aristotle's method see R. Bambrough, 'Aristotle on Justice: a Paradigm of Philosophy' in New Essays on Plato and Aristotle, ed. R. Bambrough (London, 1965). 35 Nic. Ethics, IIOia, (Book I, chap. Io). 36. The great-souled man is taken very seriously by Dorothea Krook, Three Traditions of Moral Thought (Cambridge, I959), chap. iii. 37 There is a full study in J. J. Walsh, Aristotle's Conception of Moral Weakness. 38. See R. Bambrough, 'Socratic Paradox', Phil. Quart., x (196o), for a discussion of the issues between Socrates and Aristotle. 39 For a clear account of the difficulties of the passage, see Mary Warnock's review of Gauthier and Jolif's Commentary in Phil. Quart., xi (I96I), pp. 37o-z. For a wider survey of the Practical Syllogism see D. J. Allan, 'The Practical Syllogism' in Autour d'aristote, Receuil d' Etudes. offer/ a Monseigneur A. Mansion (Lou vain, I 9 55). See also R. Robinson, 'L'Acrasie, Selon Aristote', Rev. Philosophique, cxlv (I955), and G. E. M. Anscombe, Intention (Oxford, I957), pp. 57 ff. 40. For the development of the notion of phronesis from Plato to Aristotle, see W. Jaeger, Aristotle, trans. Robinsonz, pp. 8I-84. 4I. An earlier stage in Aristotle's ethical thought is to be found in his fragmentary earlier works, particularly the Protrepticus. Unfortunately space prevents us from studying it here.

4 42. For an example, see C. 0. Brink, 'Theophrastus and Zeno on Nature in Moral Theory', PhroneJis, i (1956). 43 For a lively description of the background, see A. J. Festugiere, Epictlf'lls and his Gods, chap. i. 44 For a recent defence of the view that Aristippus the elder was indeed the founder of the Cyrenaics, and not his grandson of the same name, seep. Merlan, St11dies in Epicllf'll.f and Aristotle (Weisbaden, 196o), pp. H The evidence for the Cyrenaics has been studied by Erich Mannebach (Aristippi et Cyrenaicomm Fragmenta, pp. 106 ff.), who concludes that the elder Aristippus founded the school, the younger Aristippus, also known as Metrodidactus, built it up, and Anniceris restored it after a lapse. The elder Aristippus believed that as long as they were conscious, men were feeling either pleasure or pain, but the younger accepted that there was a neutral state. When Epicurus claimed that in this state lay man's greatest felicity, Anniceris replied that it was a state like sleep or death. Pleasure depended on activity. The younger Aristippus had taught that one should seek a life of happiness composed of many pleasures and few pains, but the Cynics criticised this on the ground that all lives contained more pain than pleasure, and so the goal was an impossible one. Hegesias therefore took the line that the goal should be to avoid pain and trouble, and Anniceris that one should pursue only the pleasure of the moment. 46. Antisthenes was widely claimed to be the founder of the Cynics, but this seems unlikely. See G. C. Field, Plato and His ContemporarieJ, pp. 16o See D. R. Dudley, A History of Cynicism. 48. For Epicurus's life, see A. J. Festugiere, Epic~~r11s and his Gods, chap. ii, and N. W. De Witt, Epicllf'll.f and his Philosophy. 49 The swerve probably had two functions, to allow free will, and to arrange for an original collision of the atoms. For if all were falling in the same direction at the same speed, they could never collide, as the system required them to do. 50. SeeP. M. Huby, 'The First Discovery of the Freewill Problem', forthcoming in Philosophy, I. SeeP. Merlan, St11dies in Epic~~r11s and Aristotle, pp For Epicurean friendship, see A. J. Festugiere, Epiet~ms and his God.r, chap. iii. H For a brave attempt to grasp Stoicism, see J. Christensen, An Essay on the Unity of Stoic Philosophy (Copenhagen, 196z). 54 For the ethical views of the heretical Stoic, Posidonius, see L. Edelstein, 'The Philosophical System of Posidonius', Amer. ]. Philo/., lvii (1936), pp $

5 BIBLIOGRAPHY GENERAL (i) TEXTS Vogel, C. J. de. Greek Philosophy, A Collection of Texts, 3 vols. (Leiden, I95o-9). THE SOPHISTS Translations of the fragments are to be found in K. Freeman, Ancilla to the Pre-Socratic Philosophers (Oxford, I948), a translation of the texts in Fragmente der Vorsokratiker, II. i, ed, Diels-Kranz (Berlin, I96I). PLATO There are many English translations, from the five-volume set of Jowett to the modern paperbacks. We may mention the Republic, trans. H. D. P. Lee, the Pro/agoras and Meno, trans. W. K. C. Guthrie, and the Gorgias, trans. W. Hamilton, Cornford's translation of the Republic (Oxford, I94I), and R. Hackforth's Plato's Examination of Pleasure (Cambridge, I945), a translation of the Philebus. The Philebus (London, I956) and the Laws (London, I934) have been translated by A. E. Taylor. Socratic Discourses (London, I954), ed. A. D. Lindsay, includes several dialogues of Plato and the Socratic works of Xenophon. The Loeb Classical Library contains the texts of Plato's dialogues in several volumes, with English translations facing. ARISTOTLE The Nicomachean Ethics has been translated many times. There is a paperback by J. A. K. Thompson, and others by J. Warrington and W. D. Ross. The Loeb Classical Library contains the 74

6 text and translation of the Nicomachean Ethics, the Eudemian Ethics, and the Magna Moralia. OTHERS The Stoic and Epicurean Philosophers, ed. W. J. Oates (New York, 1957), contains translations of Epicurus, Epictetus, Lucretius, and Marcus Aurelius. Epicuru.r, the Extant Remains, by C. Bailey (Oxford, 192.6), has the text and translation of all the remains of Epicurus. See also Aristippi et Cyrenaicorum Fragmenta, ed. E. Mannebach (LeidenfKoln, 1961), and Stoicorum Veterum Fragmenta, ed. H. von Arnim (Leipzig, ) (ii) OTHER WoRKS GENERAL AND BACKGROUND Adkins, A. W. H. Merit and Responsibility, A Study in Greek Values (Oxford, 196o). Dodds, E. R. The Greeks and the I"ational (Berkeley, 195 1). Ferguson, J. Moral Values in the Ancient World (London, 195 8). Greene, W. C. Moira (Harvard, 1948). Pearson, L. Popular Ethics in Ancient Greece (Stanford, 1962.). SOPHISTS Lovejoy, A. 0., and Boas, G. Primitivism and Related Ideas in Antiquity (Baltimore, I ). SOCRATES Taylor, A. E. Socrates (London, 1932.). PLATO Crombie, I. M. An Examination of Plato's Doctrines, vol. i, Plato on Man and Society (London, 1962.). Cross, R. C., and Woozley, A. D. Plato's Republic: A Philosophical Commentary (London, I964). Gould, J. The Development of Plato's Ethics (Cambridge, 195 5). Grube, G. M.A. Plato's Thought (London, 1935, I958). 75

7 Hall, R. W. Plato and the Individual (The Hague, 1963). Murphy, N. R. The Interpretation of Plato's Republic(Oxford, 1951). Shorey, P. What Plato Said (Chicago, 1933). Taylor, A. E. Plato, The Man and His Work (London, 1952). See also G. C. Field below. ARISTOTLE Allan, D.]. The Philosophy of Aristotle (Oxford, 1952). Aubenque, P. La Prudence chez Aristote (Paris, 1963). Gauthier, R. A. La Morale d'aristote (Paris, 1958). Jaeger, W. Aristotle, trans. R. Robinson (Oxford, 1948). Ross, W. D. Aristotle (London, 1923). Taylor, A. E. Aristotle (London, 19II-15). Walsh, J. ]. Aristotle's Conception of Moral Weakness (New York, 1963) OTHERS Bevan, E. Stoics and Sceptics (Oxford, 1913). De Witt, N. W. Epicurus and His Philosophy (Minneapolis, 1954). Dudley, D. R. A History of Cynicism (London, 1937). Festugiere, A. ]. Epicurus and his Gods (Oxford, 195 5). Field, G. C. Plato and his Contemporaries (London, 1948). Hicks, R. D. Stoic and Epicurean (London, 1910).