Girisha Tetsugaku Shi (A History of Greek Philosophy)

When thinking of ancient Greek philosophers, Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, are likely to be the only names that come to mind. However, ancient Greek philosophy began in the Ionian region in the 6th century BC, reached its peak in Athens during the classical period, and then passed through the Hellenistic world and the Roman Empire until the first half of the 6th century, when Christianity became dominant. Hence, it was prevalent for over 1100 years.
 
A History of Greek Philosophy, which comprehensively discusses the first half of ancient philosophy, introduces 33 philosophers in 32 chapters, while mentioning more than 300 ancient philosophers active in that era, who passed down their words and deeds to posterity. Given how broad and diverse ancient Greek philosophy was, we can see that representatives such as Socrates are only a small part of it. On the other hand, Plato, Xenophon, and Aristotle are the only Greek philosophers up to the 4th century BC whose works remained in near totality; while some works of a few others were handed down, everything else is merely reconstructed from fragmentary quotations and later testimonies. Deciphering them thus requires special skills and knowledge.
 
Ancient Greek philosophy, which has been introduced to Japan since the mid-nineteenth century, became a model for current philosophical activities. While individual philosophers have been the subject of specialized research, due to its wide range and extensive recent research, it is extremely difficult for a single author to write an entire history of Greek philosophy. Perhaps for this reason, the number of standard books on the topic at home and abroad is limited. Among them, this book was written for the general reader, while introducing updated research results.
 
A key feature of this book is its focus on the “lives” of philosophers. Previously, the history of Greek philosophy treated multiple philosophers as a group or a school, with the individuality and uniqueness of each philosopher being neglected. In contrast, this book first introduces the life and writings of each philosopher, discusses their ideas, and finally explains their reception history. Having the 33 philosophers discussed in this way develops a truly diverse and rich analysis, and the overall picture that emerges is much larger than in earlier texts.
 
Another interesting feature is the book’s examination of “sources,” that is, the methodology of reading ancient literature. For example, what kind of material are “fragments” of early Greek philosophers? How were they handed down over 2,000 years? Furthermore, how were they edited into a “fragment collection”? Understanding this basic methodology will enable an understanding of the essence of their thoughts, as well as the tradition that transmitted ancient philosophy to us.
 
This narrative revives the rich thoughts of ancient thinkers within modern philosophy and society, with the hope that readers sense the great influence ancient Greek philosophy has on us.

 

(Written by NOTOMI Noburu, Professor, Graduate School of Humanities and Sociology / 2021)