ARTICLES
Vasileios Adamidis
Nottingham Trent University, UK, Vasileios.adamidis@ntu.ac.uk
Language: English
Issue: ΣΧΟΛΗ 12.2 (2018) 336–348
Keywords: Basanos (torture), Athenian law, rhetoric, Attic orators, Aristotle, Anaximenes.
Abstract. There has been much debate in scholarship over the actual existence of torture (basanos) of innocent slaves for evidentiary purposes in the courts of classical Athens in the age of the orators. In the absence of direct evidence in the forensic speeches, scholars have pointed to a putative inconsistency between theory and practice regarding this institution. On the one hand, belief in the reliability of torture is evident in the works of the Attic orators, as well as challenges to evidentiary torture. Furthermore, rhetorical theory (in Aristotle’s Rhetoric and Anaximenes’ Rhetorica ad Alexandrum) supposedly provides guidance to orators as if recourse to basanos was a real possibility and classifies torture under the category of artless or supplementary proofs. On the other hand, not even one of such challenges has evidently been accepted and actually carried out and the sources are silent as to the actuality of evidentiary torture. This study closely examines the evidence of the primary sources and seeks to provide a solution to the aforementioned putative inconsistency. It demonstrates that it is far from certain that Aristotle and Anaximenes referred to the particular type of evidentiary basanos, since closer analysis shows that the shape of this institution is complex and much nuanced. Moreover, the presence in the courts of testimonies elicited by other than evidentiary types of torture, points to the root of the Athenian belief in the reliability of torture. Consequently, it is plausible to suggest that by the time of the Attic orators, evidentiary basanos had become obsolete and its remnant was primarily of rhetorical value.
Timothey Myakin
Novosibirsk State University, miackin.timof@yandex.ru
Language: Latin
Issue: ΣΧΟΛΗ 12.2 (2018) 349–364
Keywords: poetry of Alcaeus, erotic poetry of Sappho, mysteries of Artemis in ancient Mytilene, pre-wedding rituals in Ancient Greece.
Abstract. The article finalizes the study of the erotic pre-wedding ritual of the mysteries of Artemis in ancient Mytilene. Comparative analysis of epigraphic, literary and new archaeological data shows that the Sapphic girls during this ritual seem to have sacrificed their virginity to the goddess Artemis (cf. Sapph. Fr. 99 (a–b), Fr. 114 Campbell; SEG XX 717, 84–97; IG XII (2) 255; Ps.-Aeschin. 10 etc.). In this case, the older girls in the course of these mysteries of Artemis seem to have acted as Hermes, the phallic deity of fertility (cf. Sapph. Fr. 141, Fr. 150 Campbell; TAM III/1 35, A1). New archaeological discoveries, made in Klopedi (North Lesbos), also testify in favor of this hypothesis.
José María Zamora Calvo
Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, jm.zamora@uam.es
Language: English
Issue: ΣΧΟΛΗ 12.2 (2018) 365–379
Keywords: Amelius, Christ, Logos, Intellect, Demiurge, Neoplatonism
Abstract. The main thesis of Christians, according to which Jesus is the divine Logos, the Son of God, is unacceptably illogical for Plotinus closest disciples. The irrationality of Christian doctrine lies in having identified a unique, personal and corporal individual with the divine principle. Such a statement implies identifying God himself with something passive and irrational, which is inadmissible to Amelius and Porphyry. Amelius helps Plotinus to answer the Gnostic Christians attending the school of Plotinus. In his Praeparatio Evangelica (XI.19.1–8) Eusebius refers to Amelius’ comment to the prologue to the Gospel of John. Unlike Numenius, for whom the demiurgic intellect, compared to Zeus, is the second cause of what comes to be, for Amelius, this second cause is the logos, which is the formal cause (kath’ hon), the efficient cause (di’ hou) and the material cause (en hôi) of what comes to be. Amelius links this conception of logos – which is being, life and thought – with Heraclitus (DK 22 B1) and with the prologue to the Gospel of John. Likewise, Amelius, based on the interpretation of Timaeus (39e7–9), established a triad of the demiurgic intellects (= the three Kings of the apocryphal Second Letter). In his Neoplatonic rereading, the logos of the beginning of the fourth Gospel has a very similar function to that performed by the world soul. On the one hand, it is the supreme cause of all the things, which come to be, and, on the other hand, redirects its energy towards the superior god from which it comes.
Christos Terezis
University of Patras, Greece, terezis@upatras.gr
Lydia Petridou
Hellenic Open University, Greece, e-mail: petridou.lydia@ac.eap.gr
Language: English
Issue: ΣΧΟΛΗ 12.2 (2018) 380–392
Keywords: Proclus, Alcibiades I, knowledge, science, counsellor.
Abstract. In this study, focusing our attention on Proclus’ comments on the Platonic dialogue Alcibiades I, one of the greatest epistemological texts of the ancient Greek literature, we follow his attempt to show a philosophy of subject. More specifically, we investigate the terms in which science can be acquired by a thinking subject, which forms its broader existential identity utilizing its relation to knowledge, which subsequently can be used so as to the quality of a counsellor to be established too. Systematic learning and research are methodologically considered to be the main ways for making science, while the psychological factor and the intention of the thinking subject to turn to itself in order to gradually discover the completeness that a priori possesses are also quite important. Note that this turn towards the self reaches the highest possible point with insight.
Andrei Seregin
Institute of Philosophy RAS (Moscow), avis12@yandex.ru
Language: English
Issue: ΣΧΟΛΗ 12.2 (2018) 393–401
Keywords: ancient ethics, gratitude, justice, perfectionism, virtues.
Abstract. In this paper I discuss how to translate a rather ambiguous passage in Seneca’s “Letters to Lucilius” (81, 19), where he either I) opposes gratitude to justice for the reason that the former is the agent’s own good and the latter regards other people’s interests or, II) quite to the contrary, draws an analogy between these virtues, pointing out that both of them constitute the agent’s own good. Both these alternatives seem grammaticaly possible and can be found in modern translations of this “Letter” into main European languages. I argue in favour of II) on the ground that it agrees better with general perfectionist approach to virtues that Seneca espouses in this context.
Oleg Donskikh
Novosibirsk State University of Economics and Management (Russia), olegdonskikh@yandex.ru
Language: English
Issue: ΣΧΟΛΗ 12.2 (2018) 402–425
Keywords: mythological cosmogony, genealogical metaphor, metaphor of a craftsman, general concepts, “apeiron” (apeiron), “being” (on), “nature” (physis), “logos”, “destiny” (moira), “law” (themis, dike), Parmenides, Heraclitus, Sophists, Plato, Aristotle.
Abstract. The article analyzes a number of stages of the formation of a generic and non-specific vocabulary in the period from the 9–8th to the 5–4the centuries BCE in Ancient Greece. Cosmogonies of the period of ordering mythological representations in Egyptian, Phoenician and Greek cultures are taken as a source material. The article considers the interaction of basic metaphors that allow this ordering to be carried out-metaphors of genealogical (birth and change of generations) and metaphors of artisan-demiurge. The formation of the legislative space is investigated, yet namely this space allows to outline the first reflective steps in relation to mythological thinking. These steps are initially carried out within the limits of traditional mythological images. The most important stage of the movement towards general words in the process of the emergence of artificial concepts in the early philosophical systems – "apeiron", "on", "logos", "physis", which begin to be ordered through interaction with each other. In parallel with the personified mythological concepts the abstract concepts are gradually lining up and organizing systematically. From the beginning they allow to integrate mythological ideas and present them in the abstract form. In the next phase, a fundamental role is played by the activity of sophists, whose attention is focused on the game with the general concepts, yet the content of these concepts starts to lose the reference to the outside world. At the same time, the language is discovered as an independent system. This is the content of the third stage of reflective activity. The attempt of Socrates to escape from sophistic relativism and return the contents to the general concepts leads to the overturning of the relations of names and reality, when it turns out that the general concepts are enclosed in the soul, and they are preset the understanding of the world. Plato and Aristotle implement this setting and transform this work with concepts into a separate sphere of activity, creating dialectics and logic that underlie the methodology of reasoning and research in different spheres of intellectual activity.
Irina Protopopova (plotinus70@gmail.com), Alexei Garadja (agaradja@yandex.ru)
The Russian State University for the Humanities (Moscow)
Language: English
Issue: ΣΧΟΛΗ 12.2 (2018) 426–432
Keywords: Plato, the Republic, female doctor, physis and eidos.
Abstract. The article analyzes a passage from Plato’s Republic that has long since caused confusion and debate amongst editors and translators: οἷον ἰατρικὸν μὲν καὶ ἰατρικὴν τὴν ψυχὴν [ὄντα] τὴν αὐτὴν φύσιν ἔχειν ἐλέγομεν· ἢ οὐκ οἴει; (R. 454d1–3 Burnet). Can ἰατρικὴ τὴν ψυχὴν translate as ‘capable of healing psychically’ and refer to a female doctor, or is this passage “hopelessly corrupt” (Slings), the feminine flexion in ἰατρική only putting the reader off the track? The authors give a brief summary of the readings and emendations proposed by various editors and commentators, and offer their own interpretation of the passage guided by its philosophical context, relying on Plato’s redefinition of physis and his sustained attention to the eidos of the different and the identical, τῆς ἑτέρας and τῆς αὐτῆς φύσεως (R. 453b5–456a4). The phrase about “doctor and doctor in soul” fits into this context only if we consider these “doctors” opposites in the physical sense and correlatives socially. From this perspective, it makes sense to read ἰατρικὸν μὲν καὶ ἰατρικὴν τὴν ψυχὴν as the correlation of the different (male and female) within the identical (aptitude for healing).
Vladimir Baranov
Novosibirsk State University of Architecture, Design and Fine Art, baranovv@academ.org
Language: English
Issue: ΣΧΟΛΗ 12.2 (2018) 433–443
Keywords: Andrew of Crete, Transfiguration, Plato, Unmoved Mover, numerology, Philo of Alexandria.
Abstract. In his Homily on the Transfiguration, Andrew of Crete (ca. 660-740) employs a number of concepts, metaphors, and expressions from classical philosophy, including the dialogues of Plato, Aristotle’s concept of the unmoved mover, and symbolic arithmology of the Neopythagoreans, known to Andrew by mediation of Philo of Alexandria.
Svetlana Demina
Vladimir State University named after Alexander and Nikolay Stoletovs, Russia
Language: Russian
Issue: ΣΧΟΛΗ 12.2 (2018) 444–452
Keywords: Ancient philosophy, Epicureanism, Epicureans, Ancient Rome, Lucretius, fear.
Abstract. The article investigates Epicureans’ thoughts about fear based on the analysis of Lucretius’ poem «On the Nature of Things». He uses the terms timor, metus, terror, formido, pavor. The category of fear is important for Lucretius, because it allows him to elucidate the fundamentals of the Epicurean philosophy. With its help he displays the differences of characters, the similarity of the human race and animals on the emotional level, explains the aim of life in Epicurus’ conception, describes people’s attitude towards gods, natural phenomena, death, characterizes vices, violations of all norms, asserts the inevitability of punishments for them by people, not gods. Lucretius displays the correlation between various fears, which is based on erroneous thoughts of people about death and nature of things. He calls to fight against fears with help of the Epicurean doctrine, but thinks that the philosophy is not able to completely eradicate the demerits (predisposition to fear, anger, and indifference).
Dmitry A. Shcheglov
Saint Petersburg Branch of the S.I. Vavilov Institute for the History of Science and Technology, shcheglov@yandex.ru
Language: Russian
Issue: ΣΧΟΛΗ 12.2 (2018) 453–479
Keywords: ancient geography, ancient cartography, periploi, Claudius Ptolemy, Ptolemy’s Geography, Ptolemy’s map, Stadiasmus of the Great Sea, the circumference of the Earth, the length of the stade.
Abstract. The paper argues that the depiction of the Mediterranean coast of Africa in Ptolemy’s Geography was based on a source similar to the Stadiasmus of the Great Sea. Ptolemy’s and the Stadiasmus’ toponymy and distances between major points are mostly in good agreement. Ptolemy’s place names overlap with those of the Stadiasmus by 80%, and the total length of the coastline from Alexandria to Utica on Ptolemy’s map deviates from the Stadiasmus data by only 1% or 1.5% (in different recensions). A number of serious disagreements between Ptolemy’s map and the Stadiasmus regarding the length of particular coastal stretches can be explained by assuming that Ptolemy had to tailor the distance data derived from periploi to his other sources, especially, to the longitudes of the key reference points, such as Cape Phyces, Cyrena, Berenica, Aesporis (Eperos), Thena, and Carthage. A notable stretching and the subsequent contraction of the coast between Alexandria and Cyrenaica, as are exhibited by Ptolemy’s map relative to the Stadiasmus’ data, can be explained by assuming that several points on this coast were tied to the position of Crete, which was moved to the west being pushed by the westward shift of Rhodes. A sharp contraction of the two coastal stretches of the Great Sirte, oriented along the north-south direction, can be explained by Ptolemy’s erroneously underestimated value for the circumference of the Earth. The analysis of this contraction, as well as of the east-west stretching of the coast between Alexandria and Cyrene in angular terms relative to the modern map, makes it possible to assess the magnitude of Ptolemy’s error and to determine the length of his stade. This analysis shows that Ptolemy’s value for the circumference of the Earth must have been underestimated by approximately 20–27%, and Ptolemy’s stade must have been approximately 175–185 m length. Comparison of the Stadiasmus distance data with the modern map shows that the average length of the stade was close to 179 m or to the “common” stade of 185 m for the stretch between Alexandria and Berenice.
Inga Kurdybaylo
Saint-Petersburg State University of Telecommunications (Russia), inga.posta@mail.ru
Dmitry Kurdybaylo
Russian Christian Academy for Humanities (St. Petersburg, Russia), theoreo@yandex.ru
Language: Russian
Issue: ΣΧΟΛΗ 12.2 (2018) 480–498
Keywords: Porphyry, Letter to Anebo, Iamblichus, On mysteries, Plato, Cratylus, philosophy of language, logos, mysticism, theurgy, ancient philosophy, history of linguistics.
Abstract. Porphyry’s “Letter to Anebo” and Iamblichus’ “On mysteries” provide a comprehensive list of problems that form a borderline between their approaches to theurgy, to relations between gods and a human soul and to the soul’s ascent to the intelligible realm. Linguistic subjects comprise a noticeable part of that list of problems, because at least verbal invocations with strange or incomprehensible words and phrases were one of the most distinct attributes of theurgy. For Porphyry speech is an attribute of lower ontological levels, while gods stay in silence and do not use words. Consequently, the soul’s ascent to gods is followed by a rejection of all linguistic phenomena. For Iamblichus the highest ontological level is in the same way attributed with silence, but the ascent of soul can be performed with the help of words and sounds, even and especially if they are “senseless” or incomprehensible. Porphyry accents on rational level of language, claims the possibility of expressing any thought in any language, adheres to conventional theory of names origin in the Aristotelian sense and relates the “correctness of names” to coherence of relations between names to relations between things. Iamblichus, on the contrary, values the suprarational level of language (which may seem to be irrational), denies the possibility of translation without loss of meaning, acknowledges the Establisher of names in the Platonic sense and understands the “correctness of names” as consistency between names and the nature of things. The conclusion reveals the dependence of linguistic views of Porphyry and Iamblichus on their metaphysics and psychology.
Valeriy Surovtsev
Tomsk State University, surovtsev1964@mail.ru
Language: Russian
Issue: ΣΧΟΛΗ 12.2 (2018) 499–522
Keywords: Stoic logic, to lekton, G. Frege, Sinn, semantic theory, axiōma, Gedanke, comparative studies, ancient and contemporary logic, epistemological status.
Abstract. The article deals with the comparative analyses of the Stoic category to lekton and G. Frege’s category Sinn. This essay explicates some formal features of these categories, which demonstrate certain similarities between the Stoic and Fregean logical theories. It is demonstrated that the concept of the complete lekton (axiōma) in the Stoic doctrine has the same structure as the concept of thought (Gedanke) in Fregean semantic theory. However, the formal structural similarity between these concepts does not presupposes the doctrinal similarity of these categories from the point of view of their epistemological status.
Sergey Avanesov
Tomsk State Pedagogical University, iskiteam@yandex.ru
Language: Russian
Issue: ΣΧΟΛΗ 12.2 (2018) 523–534
Keywords: iconography, Christian literature and art, metaphoric meaning.
Abstract. In this article, I show the semantic connection between one pictorial detail of the traditional Annunciation iconography in Christianity and an apocryphal detail of the Virgin Mary biography, dating back to the antique metaphor of the body as clothing or cloth. In the Annunciation scene, the archangel Gabriel and the Mother of God are present, while the Virgin is often depicted with a spindle and a purple yarn in her hands. This detail sends the viewer to the metaphor of birth as the creation of flesh and blood, as the spinning of the body in the womb of the mother, and also symbolically means the entry of God into the corporeal world through the Virgin and the blood sacrifice offered for the salvation of the world. The described “apocryphal” detail of the Annunciation scene can be understood as a visualization of the metaphor, known in antiquity, of the body creation as spinning or weaving.
Evgenii Derzhivitskij
Saint-Petersburg State University (Russia), derzhiv@mail.ru
Vadim Perov
Saint-Petersburg State University (Russia), vadimperov@gmail.com
Language: Russian
Issue: ΣΧΟΛΗ 12.2 (2018) 535–550
Keywords: conscientiousness, pietas, trust, virtues, moral, civic virtue.
Abstract. The article is devoted to the ethical aspects of political struggle in late Roman Republic, when the genre of invective has become very widespread, becoming an ordinary part of public discussions. Gaius Sallustius Crispus, Markus Tullius Cicero and other prominent politicians in their invectives mutually insulted each other, trying to present their political opponents as absolutely immoral subjects. There were accusations not only of political insolvency, all sides of the private life of opponents were exposed. The authors of the article argue that this practice was based on a specific understanding of virtuous life in Roman society, which existed as a kind of synthesis of private and public morality. An analysis of the characteristic features of social life of this period made it possible to reveal the important role of the concept of conscientiousness (bona fidas), which can be regarded as an analogue of conscience that arose in later Christianity. It is conscientiousness that established a link between the veneration of relatives (pietas), which arose within the framework of personal family moral relations, and socially significant civil virtues. As a result, the veneration penetrated into public relations, and civic virtue turned into moral characteristics of the person. Conscientiousness was the basis both for the formation of personal trust, and for the existence of the Roman state (res publica). The authors of the article show that these factors contributed to the wide dissemination of invective, in which the statement of immoral qualities of an opponent aimed not only at discrediting him as a person, but also at destroying his reputation as a public figure, which ensured the winner in the debate the victory in the political struggle.
Vitaly Tselishchev
Novosibirsk State University, Institute of Philosophy and Law, Novosibirsk, Russia, leitval@gmail.com
Language: Russian
Issue: ΣΧΟΛΗ 12.2 (2018) 550–560
Keywords: Sextus Empiricus, isostheneia, Gödel, Second incompleteness theorem, consistency, metamathematics, intensionality.
Abstract. The article compares the Pyrrhonian skepticism with the interpretations of Gödel's Second Theorem as a skeptical challenge in modern mathematics. It is shown that the epistemological framework of Gödel's restrictive theorems fits into the skeptical reflection scheme of Sextus Empiricus.
Denis Maslov
Institute of Philosophy and Law, SB RAS, denn.maslov@gmail.com
Language: Russian
Issue: ΣΧΟΛΗ 12.2 (2018) 561–568
Keywords: ataraxia, Pyrrhonism, Sextus Empiricus, quietism, apraxia argument.
Abstract. The paper aims to explicate the notion “ataraxia” in light of its untenable, as I argue, interpretation by M. Gabriel. This philosopher presupposes ataraxia as a total quietism and draws a conclusion, undesirable for Sextus, that the skeptical program of attaining the happiness, which is defined by Sextus as soul tranquility, is inconsistent since the sceptic can never be happy in virtue of incompatibility of inactivity with the skeptical investigation. The first part of the paper conveys the role of ataraxia in Sextus’ Pyrrhonism as it is interpreted by Gabriel. In the second part, we come to define ataraxia not as a total quietism (as in Gabriel), but as a suspension of all judgments and a freedom of all distress.
Valery V. Petroff
RAS Institute of Philosophy (Moscow), campas.iph@gmail.com
Language: Russian
Issue: ΣΧΟΛΗ 12.2 (2018) 569–581
Keywords: translatio studii, translatio imperii, appropriation of knowledge, Cicero, Horace, Boethius, Alcuin, John Scottus Eriugena, Heiric of Auxerre.
Abstract. The article gives a brief overview of ancient and medieval programs that aimed to appropriate and transfer the legacy and scholarship from previous cultures. We consider the attitudes of Roman intellectuals towards the translation practices. The rendering of the authoritative works from Greek into Latin was not supposed to result in the exact communication of the contents and meaning of a foreign text by means of the Latin language and not the accurate reproduction of the original text, but the creation of a Latin equivalent that had to replace and even eliminate the original work. In this case, the “translation” was deliberately “adapted”: it incorporated translator’s commentaries and digressions of every kind; it also reflected the mentality and worldview of Roman readers. The practices of appropriating the legacy of the previous culture were formulated in terms of “capture”, “military booty” and “expropriation”. We observe in greater details the relevant arguments of Cicero, Horace, and Boethius and, with reference to the periods of cultural revival in the Middle Ages, excerpts from Alcuin, John Scottus Eriugena, and Heiric of Auxerre.
Nadezhda Volkova
RAS Institute of Philosophy (Moscow), go2nadya@gmail.com
Language: Russian
Issue: ΣΧΟΛΗ 12.2 (2018) 582–598
Key words: Plato, Plutarch, Plotinus, theodicy, evil, matter, freedom of will, sin.
Abstract. The main subject of the study is the problem of theodicy in the philosophy of Plotinus. In the texts devoted to the problem of evil and theodicy, Plotinus argued against two types of evil – the evil in itself, or the first matter, and evil as an accidental property, among which is the sin of the soul. The first and second series of arguments represent two different versions of theodicy, which have already been previously represented in Platonism – in Plato and Plutarch. However, Plotinus' arguments are of great strength, since they work within the framework of an integral monistic doctrine.
Svetlana Mesyats
RAS Institute of Philosophy (Moscow), messiats@mail.ru
Language: Russian
Issue: ΣΧΟΛΗ 12.2 (2018) 599–631
Keywords: Neoplatonism, Proclus’ metaphysical system, divine henads, Proclus’ doctrine of soul, ancient commentaries on Timaeus.
Abstract. According to Marinus of Samaria, Proclus was the author of many philosophical doctrines. In particular he was the first to assert the existence of a kind of souls (ψυχῶν γένος) that are capable of simultaneously seeing several ideas and situated between the divine Intellect which embraces all things together by a single intuition, and the souls whose thoughts pass from one idea to another. In the following we are going to answer the question, what kind of souls did Proclus discover and why did he thought it to be necessary to introduce them in his metaphysical system. To solve this problem it seems reasonable to clarify the mechanism of horizontal-vertical progression in Proclus’ philosophy, as well as to describe the general structure of the psychic level of reality embracing the so called Monad of “unparticipated” Soul and the multiplicity if its “participated” products: divine, demonic and human souls. Unlike some previous scholars, who alleged that souls discovered by Proclus were demonic or intelligent ones, I affirm that Marinus could have in mind hypercosmic participated souls, situated between the unparticipated monad of the psychic level of reality and the multiplicity of participated souls within the material cosmos. In support of this assumption I cite some relevant passages from Proclus’ Commentary on “Timaeus” and demonstrate that he named “hypercosmic” not only the unparticipated monad of Soul, but also souls of the so called “absolute” (ἀπόλυτοι) gods, which are both in touch with the sensible cosmos and above it because of animating eternal immaterial bodies consisting of supra-celestial light. In conclusion I try to establish the genuine authorship of the doctrine of hypercosmic souls and to answer the question, why did Marinus attribute it to Proclus.
Alexander Sanzhenakov
Institute of Philosophy and Law SB RAS, Novosibirsk, Russia, sanzhenakov@gmail.com
Language: Russian
Issue: ΣΧΟΛΗ 12.2 (2018) 632–642
Keywords: Justus Lipsius, Stoics, Seneca, Neostoicism, history of philosophy.
Abstract. The paper is considering Justus Lipsius’ the history of philosophy works. I distinguish the main ideas of Neostoic work “On Constancy” (1584) and show what kind of confusions Lipsius confronted when he was trying to transport some Stoic dogmas on the Christian ground. The main part of this paper pays special attention to the late works of Lipsius – the “Guide of Stoic Philosophy” and the “Physics of the Stoics” (1604), in which he reveals a deeper knowledge of Stoic dogmatics. Analyzing these writings, I show the specifics of the historical approach of Lipsius. It is shown that Lipsius did not follow Seneca’s theses all the times, but considered it possible to correct them in order to bring some of them in line with the Christian dogmatism. For this purpose, he was appealing to the Christian (e.g. St. Augustine) and proto-Christian (e.g. Plato) authors. In conclusion I try to argue that we should consider these appeals as an attempt to actualize the Stoic idea in new intellectual context, which is the task of any historian of philosophy.
Roman Svetlov
A. I. Herzen State Pedagogical University, St. Petersburg, Russia, spatha@mail.ru
Elena Alymova
St. Petersburg State University
Language: Russian
Issue: ΣΧΟΛΗ 12.2 (2018) 643–658
Keywords: Plato’s doctrine of Politics and Law, Cicero’s Philosophy of Law, Natural and Positive Law.
Abstract. It is traditionally considered that the ideas relevant to the concept of Natural Law were for the first time articulated in the polemic of Socrates/Plato against the sophistic doctrine of Conventional Law. But Plato was engaged in arguments not only with the Sophists – he also struggled against indefinite, in many respects antinomic, unreflective ideas of law expressed by average Athenians whereby Law and Power, Law and Status were confused. Plato’s appeal to the mythological narrative in the places where he discusses the theme of Natural Law makes it clear that even to his mind the concept of Universal Legislation shows its heterogeneous and problematic character. We argue that Carneades’ opposition of Natural and Positive Laws owes precisely to this problem. Cicero inherited this strategy and made it even more radical. His preaching of the idea of natural Law (in its Stoic version) becomes in his texts rhetorical topos, which was well known to the readers. Nevertheless Cicero expresses doubts about that simple scheme according to which Positive Law appears a specific representation of Natural Law and tries to trace particular causes, which motivated the concrete forms of positive Law.
Igor Berestov
Institute of Philosophy and Law SB RAS, Russia, berestoviv@yandex.ru
Andrey Tikhonov
Southern Federal University, Russia, equilibre2003@yandex.ru
Language: Russian
Issue: ΣΧΟΛΗ 12.2 (2018) 659–668
Keywords: abstract objects, epistemic operators, semantic holism, intentional identity.
Abstract. In this article we are offering a method of analysis and formalization of the Epicurean objection to the Skeptics from the Adversus mathematicos VIII, 337, 6-9. We emphasize the importance of this objection for understanding Sextus Empiricus’ response to it, continuously discussed by the historians of philosophy. The Epicureans argue that the Skeptics cannot criticize their proof, because when the Skeptics are criticizing their proof, they think something different from the original proof, so that the original proof remains untouchable by any criticism. We explain in which sense the holistic assumption used by Sextus Empiricus and some philosophers before him can be used in the Epicurean objection to the Skeptics. In the final formalization we show that Epicureans’ argument can be interpreted as logically correct and deduced from sound premises. In the course of arguing for this thesis we are using the technical means of contemporary epistemic logic.
Pavel Butakov
Institute of Philosophy and Law SB RAS, pavelbutakov@academ.org
Language: Russian
Issue: ΣΧΟΛΗ 12.2 (2018) 669–685
Keywords: Plato, knowledge, belief, Gettier, justified true belief, evidence, evidentialism.
Abstract. It is often claimed that Plato’s definition of knowledge as “true opinion with an account” is in agreement with the contemporary analysis of knowledge as “justified true belief” (JTB). Some scholars disagree with the attribution of JTB to Plato. I analyze three influential arguments against the assumption of Plato’s agreement with JTB, and refute them. Then I provide my own argument against the assumption. I argue that the contemporary interpretation of the JTB formula understands “belief” not in the sense of an “opinion,” but rather of a “degree of confidence.” Accordingly, “justification” is understood not as applying to the opinion itself, but rather to the person having a certain degree of confidence. I support this claim by showing the difference between the traditional and the contemporary understanding of “evidence,” the former referring to a property of the proposition, while the latter meaning the body of reasons, which supports the person’s confidence to a certain degree. Thus, I conclude that Plato understands knowledge as “correct opinion validated by a rational explanation,” and it has very little in common with the contemporary understanding of knowledge as “sufficiently supported subjective degree of confidence in the truth of a proposition.”
TRANSLATIONS
Eugene Afonasin
Institute of philosophy and law (Novosibirsk, Russia), afonasin@gmail.com
Language: Russian
Issue: ΣΧΟΛΗ 12.2 (2018) 686–696
Keywords: ancient biography, doxography, the seven sages, dialogues, Pythagoras, Plato, Academy, Empedocles.
Abstract. Aristotle and his followers, such as Aristoxenus and Dicaearchus, present Pythagoras, the Pythagoreans and Empedocles as figures not entirely devoid of legendary features. At the same time the Peripatetic biographers do not fail to place them in proper historical setting as intellectuals, initiated important philosophical and religious movements. According to Dicaearchus, for instance, the sages are known for their highly practical maxims and general rules of right conduct; Pythagoras developed a new lifestyle and promulgated it in his public and private teaching; Socrates introduced a new form of intellectual and moral pursuit; while Plato founded an institutional framework for philosophical studies having thus paved the way to a systematic research, conducted by the Peripatetics, etc. In a striking contract with this, in the dialogues of their contemporary Heraclides of Pontus Pythagoras, Empedocles and other ancient philosophers are predominantly literary figures and super-heroes who’s supernatural powers are clearly beyond the reach of ordinary men. At the same time, the theories these fictitious personages profess are tailored according to a recognizably Platonic draft. In this work the present writer continues his studies of ancient biographic tradition initiated in a series of articles, published in two previous issues of the journal [Schole 10 (2016) 271–282 and 11 (2017) 570–607].
Eugene Afonasin, a translation into Russian, commentaries
Institute of philosophy and law (Novosibirsk, Russia), afonasin@gmail.com
Language: Russian
Issue: ΣΧΟΛΗ 12.2 (2018) 697–704
Keywords: ancient biography, dialogues, Pythagoras, Empedocles.
Abstract. Heraclides of Pontus (c. 388–310 BCE), a Platonic philosopher, worked in various literary genres, esp. dialogue. He discussed such typical Platonic topics as the transmigration of the soul, composed philosophical lives, dialogues or treaties about politics, literature, history, geography, etc., and wrote a series of works on astronomy and the philosophy of nature. Nothing is preserved. The present publication contains a collection of the testimonies about Heraclides’ lost dialogue On diseases, or the one without breath (Apnous). The evidences are translated and numbered according to a new edition by Schütrumpf et al. 2008.
REVIEWS
Yuriy Romanenko
St. Petersburg State University, yr_romanenko@rambler.ru
Language: Russian
Issue: ΣΧΟΛΗ 12.2 (2018) 705–708
Keywords: philosophy, history, antiquity, art, iconography, image, imagination.
Abstract. A review of: Dorofeev, D.Yu., Savchuk, V.V., Svetlov, R.V. Iconography of Ancient Philosophers: the History and Anthropology of Images. St. Petersburg: Plato's Philosophical Society, 2017. – 244 pp., with ill.
Anton Didikin
Tomsk State University, Institute of Philosophy and Law (Novosibirsk, Russia), abdidikin@bk.ru
Language: Russian
Issue: ΣΧΟΛΗ 12.2 (2018) 709–713
Keywords: Plato, Platonism, Normativism, metaphysics, ethic, politics, philosophy of law.
Abstract. In a short note, the author outlines a series of Hans Kelsen’s studies dedicated to Ancient political thought, esp. his Platonic Justice. He believes that these relatively neglected minor studies of the famous philosopher of law could still be of interest to contemporary classicists and the historians of philosophy.
Boris Markov
Saint-Petersburg State University, Russia, b.markov@spbu.ru
Language: Russian
Issue: ΣΧΟΛΗ 12.2 (2018) 714–720
Keywords: Identity, individual, body, soul, communication, speech, writing, friendship, polis, ethos.
Abstract. Reflections on the book: D. Y. Dorofeev. Personality and communication. Anthropology of oral and written words in ancient culture. St. Petersburg: RHGA, 2015. – 639 p.
Anna Afonasina
Novosibirsk State University, Russia, afonasina@gmail.com
Language: Russian
Issue: ΣΧΟΛΗ 12.2 (2018) 721–734
Keywords: Plato, dialogues, the Timaeus, the Laws, the Statesman.
Abstract. Reflections on the book: O’Meara, D. Cosmology and politics in Plato’s later works. Cambridge, 2017. – 157 p.
