Around Socrates was a whole host of sophists, rhetoricians, exegetes, poets, and prophets, whose wisdom is put to the test by the master; Plato parodies them more or less cruelly: there is Hippias, who boasts of teaching and practicing all … Read More
Platonic dialogue offers, mixed to varying degrees, three aspects: it is a drama, it is mostly a discussion, it sometimes contains a continuous exposition. First, a drama: sometimes the place, the time, and the circumstances are marked with precision, as … Read More
Before teaching others, he had to educate himself; we know nothing of this personal training; the Socrates of the Clouds (423) is a mature man, and he was over sixty when Plato knew him; at least, a precious document reveals … Read More
To the same Socrates, from whom the movement of ideas – the philosophy of the concept – came, history connects a group of contemporary schools called Socratic; they are all in decided hostility to this movement of ideas, although, moreover, … Read More
The century which preceded the death of Alexander (323) was the great century of Greek philosophy; it is at the same time above all the century of Athens: with Socrates and Plato, with Democritus and Aristotle, we reach a moment … Read More
The term ancient philosophy generally refers to Hellenistic philosophy, which was born in the seventh century BC, with Socrates and Plato, and their successors in the Roman Empire as well as in the Arab-Muslim world. It thus applies to a … Read More
