The Cosmic Republic: Notes for a Non-Peripatetic History of the Birth of Philosophy in Greece (Philosophica, Vol. 3) (Philosophica, Vol. 3)

According to Aristotle, philosophy had come into being in the VIth century with Thales, just as a mere, disinterested pursuit of truth, a curiosity for great problems (those even-tually called "metaphysical" ones) which were substantially identical with those which Aristotle himself and his school were now raising. This abstract reading is very similar to that which views Greek poets as inspired by "eternal beauty" or by "art's for art sake" and which is nowadays completely discredited and given up by scholars of the history of literature. Against this view the present text pro-poses a new reading of the "archaic" presocratic scientists: in fact, it is about those "sages" who lived on the bound-aries of the Greek-speaking world before the concentration of such people in Periclean Athens. They were closely linked to their native towns (Miletus, Ephesus, Croto, Vele, Acragas) where they held high office; here there oral teaching and the public reading of their texts were followed closely by their fellow citizens. Thus the picture of the "cosmic republic" arises: to the "cosmic monarchy" of Homer and Hesiod (the mythical world with Zeus as the king, gods as the ministers and nature as the subject) a different mythical world succeeds. Here the earth, the sea, the sky, the human body and, generally, the "existing thing", all behave like isonomic ("republican") towns or like the governing body of these towns. Philosophy will arise later, in Athens of the Vth century. Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Table of Contents Preface PART ONE: THE BIRTH OF PHILOSOPHY AS A HISTORICAL PROBLEM Chapter One ARCHAIC THOUGHT AND ITS WITNESSES The nature of Philosophy according to the ancients Mythico-paradigmatic interpretation: Plato Philosophico-scientific interpretation: Aristotle Usefulness of the two interpretations as a historical evidence Chapter Two WHY THE AGE OF ARISTOTLE COULD NOT UNDERSTAND ARCHAIC WISDOM From science for life’s sake to science for science’s sake From myth to proof From nature as a paradigm to nature as reality From oral wisdom to the diffusion of knowledge by means of books From city audience to school PART TWO: LIFE AND DEATH OF THE COSMIC MONARCHY Chapter Three THE EPIC GREEK WORLD: THE NUMEN AS A MODEL OF THE CITY The past paradigm: kings and heroes The eternal paradigm: the gods The natural paradigm and the problem of the collective in the epic The supreme paradigm: the cosmic monarchy Chapter Four THE PENINSULAR GREEK WORLD: DIVORCE BETWEEN NUMEN AND CITY The discovery of collective power The city as a paradigm for itself The displaced numen PART THREE: LIFE AND DEATH OF THE COSMIC REPUBLIC Chapter Five THE PERIPHERAL GREEK WORLD Parody of the cosmic monarchy: the tyrant and his poets The city against the tyrant: the myth from masculine to neuter Miletus like the earth Ephesus like the sky Croton like the human body Vele like the existing thing Acragas like the life of the universe Chapter Six THE ATTIC GREEK WORLD: DIVORCE BETWEEN NATURE AND LAW Attempt to reutilize the epic paradigm: the tragic myths The paradigms meet: the circle of Cimon The paradigms cancel each other out: the circle of Pericles Philosophy is born PART FOUR: THE BIRTH OF PHILOSOPHY AS A FALSIFICATION OF HISTORY Chapter Seven THE SOCRATIC WORLD AND THE POLEMIC ABOUT PHILOSOPHY Athens at war: philosophy and sophistry coexist Athens in decline: philosophy defeats sophistry Chapter Eight FROM POLEMICS TO FALSIFICATION Thales discoverer of the principle Heraclitus “flowing”, Parmenides “immobilizing” Hypothesis of an approximate chronology of the Presocratics Indices Index locorum Index nominum Index verborum Index interpretum