The Greek Philosophers, Vol. 1 (of 2) — A Closer Reading

d, 3—Philosophy a natural product of the Greek mind, 4—Speculation at first limited to the external world, 4—Important results achieved by the early Greek thinkers, 5—Their conception of a cosmos first made science possible, 6—The alleged influence of Oriental ideas disproved, 6.

II. Thales was the first to offer a purely physical explanation of the world, 7—Why he fixed on water as the origin of all things, 8—Great advance made by Anaximander, 9—His conception of the Infinite, 9-Anaximenes mediates between the theories of his two predecessors, 10—The Pythagoreans: their love of antithesis and the importance attributed to number in their system, 11—Connexion between their ethical teaching and the general religious movement of the age, 13—Analogy with the mediaeval spirit, 13.

III. Xenophanes: his attacks on the popular religion, 14—Absence of intolerance among the Greeks, 15—Primitive character of the monotheism taught by Xenophanes, 16—Elimination of the religious element from philosophy by Parmenides, 16—His speculative innovations, 17—He discovers the indestructibility of matter, 17—but confuses matter with existence in general, 18—and more particularly with extension, 19—In what sense he can be called a materialist, 19—New arguments brought forward by Zeno in defence of the Eleatic system, 20—The analytical or mediatorial moment of Greek thought, 21—Influence of Parmenides on subsequent systems of philosophy, 22—Diametrically opposite method pursued by Heracleitus, 22—His contempt for the mass of mankind, 22—Doctrine of universal relativity, 23—Fire as the primordial element, 24—The idea of Law first introduced by Heracleitus, 25—Extremes to which his principles were afterwards carried, 25—Polarisation of Greek thought, 26.

IV. Historical order of the systems which succeeded and mediated between Parmenides and Heracleitus, 26—Empedocles: poetic and religious character of his philosophy, 27—His inferiority to previous thinkers, 28—Eclectic tendency of his system, 29—In what respects it marks an advance on that of Parmenides, 29—His alleged anticipation of the Darwinian theory, 30—The fixity of species a doctrine held by every ancient philosopher except Anaximander, 31—The theory of knowledge put forward by Empedocles: its objective and materialistic character, 32—How it suggested the Atomic theory, 33—The possibility of a vacuum denied by Parmenides and asserted by Leucippus, 34—The Atomic theory developed and applied by Democritus: encyclopaedic range of his studies, 35—His complete rejection of the supernatural, 36.

V. Anaxagoras at Athens, 36—He is accused of impiety and compelled to fly, 37—Analysis of his system, 38—Its mechanical and materialistic tendency, 39—Separation of Nous from the rest of Nature, 40—In denying the divinity of the heavenly bodies, Anaxagoras opposed himself to the universal faith of antiquity, 40—The exceptional intolerance of the Athenians and its explanation, 42—Transition from physical to dialectical and ethical philosophy, 43.

VI. Early Greek thought as manifested in literature and art, 45—The genealogical method of Hesiod and Herodotus, 47—The search for first causes in Pindar and Aeschylus, 48—Analogous tendencies of sculpture and architecture, 49—Combination of geographical with genealogical studies, 50—The evolution of order from chaos suggested by the negative or antithetical moment of Greek thought, 50—Verifiable and fruitful character of early Greek thought, 52.

THE GREEK HUMANISTS: NATURE AND LAW pages 53-107

I. The reaction of speculation on life, 53—Moral superiority of the Greeks to the Hebrews and Romans, 54—Illustrations of humanity from the Greek poets, 55—Temporary corruption of moral sentiment and its explanation, 56—Subsequent reformation effected by philosophy, 57—The Greek worship of beauty not incompatible with a high moral standard, 58—Preference of the solid to the showy virtues shown by public opinion in Greece, 59—Opinion of Plato, 60.

II. Virtues inculcated in the aphorisms of the Seven Sages, 62—Sôphrosynê as a combination of moderation and self-knowledge, 62—Illustrations from Homer, 62—Transition from self-regarding to other-regarding virtue, 63—How morality acquired a religious sanction (i.) by the use of oaths, 64—(ii.) by the ascription of a divine origin to law, 65—(iii.) by the practice of consulting oracles on questions of right and wrong, 65—Difference between the Olympian and Chthonian religions, 66—The latter was closely connected with the ideas of law and of retribution after death, 67—Beneficent results due to the interaction of the two religions, 68.

III. The religious standpoint of Aeschylus, 69—Incipient dissociation of religion from morality in Sophocles, 70—Their complete separation in Euripides, 71—Contrast between the Eteocles of Aeschylus and the Eteocles of Euripides, 72—Analogous difference between Herodotus and Thucydides, 73—Evidence of moral deterioration supplied by Aristophanes and Plato, 74—Probability of an association between intellectual growth and moral decline, 75.

IV. The Sophists, 76—Prodicus and Hippias, 77—Their theory of Nature as a moral guide, 79—Illustration from Euripides, 80—Probable connexion of the Cynic school with Prodicus, 81—Antithesis between Nature and Law, 81—Opposition to slavery, 82—The versatility of Hippias connected with his advocacy of Nature, 83—The right of the stronger as a law of Nature, 84.