#greekphilosophy — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #greekphilosophy, aggregated by home.social.
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Greek philosophy, the Gospel and the new orthodoxies
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A #review of the #book “Open Socrates” by Agnes Callard:
“Is Agnes Callard Making You Uncomfortable?” [2025], The New Republic (https://newrepublic.com/article/190778/agnes-callard-philosopher-uncomfortable-questions).
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Quote of the day by Thales of Miletus: ‘Hope is the only good that is common to all men; those who…’ – Ancient Greek philosopher on hope, hardship and human resilience
When everything else seems uncertain, hope can become strangely valuable. Money can disappear, status can change and circumstances…
#France #FR #Europe #EU #Thales #conceptofhope #Greekphilosophy #hardshipandhope #hopequotes #quoteoftheday #SevenSagesofGreece #thales #ThalesofMiletus
https://www.europesays.com/france/66572/ -
Khayyam’s Philosophy Series: Nihilism in Khayyam’s Philosophy — A Pre-Modern Encounter with the Void
Khayyam works out a systematic nihilism — materialist, ontological, epistemological — eight centuries before the European tradition had a word for it. Compared with Gorgias, Hegesias, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, and Camus, his position is both the most thoroughgoing and the most paradoxical: the void is named honestly, and the wine is poured. -
Zeno of Elea: The Philosopher Who Broke Motion
The Devoted Student Born around 490 BCE in Elea (southern Italy), Zeno of Elea was the loyal defender of his teacher Parmenides. Parmenides claimed reality is one, eternal, and unchanging—that all motion and change are illusions. While others mocked this, Zeno set out to prove the opposite: that believing in "common sense" (motion and plurality) leads to logical contradictions even worse than Parmenides' claims.
The Weapon: Reductio ad Absurdum Zeno perfected reductio ad absurdum: taking an opponent's view and showing it leads to impossibility. He constructed roughly forty paradoxes; only a few survive, but they have puzzled thinkers for 2,500 years.
The Paradoxes of Plurality Zeno argued that if many things exist, they must be divisible. If you divide something endlessly, you either reach parts with zero size (making the whole size zero) or parts with finite size (making the whole infinitely large). Both are absurd. Thus, "many things" cannot exist. This anticipates modern debates about atoms and the Planck length.
The Paradoxes of Motion
The Dichotomy: To walk across a room, you must first go halfway. But before that, a quarter-way. There is no "first" step because there is always a prior midpoint. You must complete an infinite number of tasks to start moving—a logical impossibility.
Achilles and the Tortoise: The swift Achilles cannot overtake a slow tortoise with a head start. By the time Achilles reaches where the tortoise was, the tortoise has moved further. The gap shrinks infinitely but never closes.
The Arrow: At any single instant, an arrow occupies a specific spot. Since an instant has no duration, the arrow cannot move during it. If time is made of instants, and the arrow is still at every instant, when does it move?
The Stadium: Moving objects in opposite directions create contradictions about relative speed and time, hinting at issues later addressed by Einstein.
Legacy Zeno didn't just pose puzzles; he drove the development of calculus (to handle infinite series), refined logic, and forced physics to confront the nature of space and time. Even today, quantum mechanics (discrete quanta) and relativity (spacetime) grapple with the questions he raised. He taught us that reality is stranger than it appears and that "obvious" truths deserve the hardest scrutiny.
listen to the lecture: https://tube.leshley.ca/w/7gReepAhkyspTHRtj1wrWi
#ZenoOfElea #Paradoxes #AncientPhilosophy #GreekPhilosophy #Philosophy -
CW: Zeno of Kition: The Merchant Who Found Wisdom in Shipwrecks
From Cargo to Cosmos Born around 334 BC in Citium (modern-day Larnaca, Cyprus), Zeno was not born a philosopher but a merchant. Coming from a Phoenician-Greek family, his life was defined by commerce, trade routes, and the accumulation of wealth. His world was the Mediterranean, and his curriculum was profit. That changed violently when a storm shipwrecked him off the coast of Attica, destroying his entire fortune and leaving him stranded in Athens with nothing but the clothes on his back.
For most, this would be a tragedy marking the end of a life. For Zeno, it was the catalyst for a transformation. While wandering the streets of Athens in his destitution, he entered a bookshop and picked up Xenophon’s Memorabilia, a recollection of Socrates. Captivated by the life of the man who questioned everything, Zeno asked the bookseller where he could find men like that. He was directed to Crates of Thebes, a Cynic philosopher who had voluntarily renounced wealth to live in poverty. Zeno studied under Crates and other thinkers, absorbing Cynic ethics, Socratic dialectic, and Megarian logic. However, he rejected the Cynic rejection of society, seeking instead a way to live virtuously within the world.
The Birth of Stoicism Around 300 BC, Zeno began teaching at the Stoa Poikile (the Painted Porch), a public colonnade in the heart of Athens adorned with murals of military victories. Unlike the exclusive academies of Plato or Aristotle, the Stoa was open to anyone—a merchant, a slave, a politician, or a housewife. Here, Zeno democratized philosophy, teaching that wisdom was not the province of the elite but accessible to any rational being. The philosophy of "Stoicism" derives its name from this very porch.
Core Teachings: Logic, Physics, and Ethics Zeno constructed a unified philosophical system comprising three interconnected pillars, often illustrated by the metaphor of an orchard:
Logic (The Wall): The protective barrier that guards against false reasoning and fallacies. It teaches us how to distinguish truth from error.
Physics (The Trees): The study of the universe, which Zeno viewed as a rational, living organism governed by Logos (divine reason). Everything happens according to natural law.
Ethics (The Fruit): The ultimate goal of philosophy. Since the universe is rational and humans possess reason, the good life (eudaimonia) consists of living in harmony with nature and reason.
Central to his ethics was the idea that virtue is the only true good. External circumstances—wealth, health, reputation—are "indifferents." They may be preferred or dispreferred, but they do not determine a person's moral worth or happiness. True happiness is a "good flow of life," achieved through the cultivation of wisdom, courage, justice, and temperance.
Cosmopolitanism and Legacy Perhaps Zeno's most radical contribution was his vision of cosmopolitanism. In his lost work, Republic, he proposed a "world-city" (cosmopolis) where all rational beings, regardless of nationality, class, or gender, were citizens bound by shared reason and mutual respect. He argued that artificial divisions like slavery or gender roles were meaningless in the face of universal human rationality.
Zeno died around 262 BC, but his legacy endured for centuries. His school flourished for five hundred years, influencing giants like Seneca, Epictetus, and the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius. After fading during the Middle Ages, Stoicism saw a revival in the Renaissance (Neostoicism) and has experienced a massive resurgence today, forming the psychological foundation of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and modern resilience training.
Zeno’s life stands as a testament to his philosophy: he lost everything external in a shipwreck, yet he built an internal fortress of wisdom that has sheltered millions for over two millennia.
To watch the lecture: https://tube.leshley.ca/w/ktRMKapZvMoqxidbfAprLM
#ZenoOfKition #Stoicism #AncientPhilosophy #GreekPhilosophy #Philosophy -
Zeno’s Paradox: When Achilles, Greece’s Fastest Hero, Lost to a Tortoise
Triumphant Achilles dragging Hector’s body around Troy, from a panoramic fresco of the Achilleion. Credit: Franz Matsch /…
#Greece #GR #Europe #Europa #EU #Achilles #Achillesandthetortoise #AncientGreece #Evergreen #greece #Greekphilosophy #Ελλάδα #νεα
https://www.europesays.com/3044935/ -
https://www.europesays.com/3044935/ Zeno’s Paradox: When Achilles, Greece’s Fastest Hero, Lost to a Tortoise #Achilles #AchillesAndTheTortoise #AncientGreece #Evergreen #greece #GreekPhilosophy #Ελλάδα #νεα
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Zeno’s Paradox: When Achilles, Greece’s Fastest Hero, Lost to a Tortoise https://www.byteseu.com/2084345/ #achilles #AchillesAndTheTortoise #AncientGreece #Evergreen #Greece #GreekPhilosophy
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An Adventure That Narrates the Obstacles Overcome by One of the Most Successful Couples: Sophocles Odyssey
Although they are one of the most successful couples in the world today, billionaires Mark Zuckerberg and Profa M had to face many adversities to achieve their goals. This is narrated in his book “Sophocles’ Odyssey: The Love Story of Zuck and Professor M.” “The Devil and His Cartel” created a suffocating universe where control and crime are absolute. Concepts similar to George Orwell’s 1984, such as the “Chaos Police,” “Doublethink,” and “Destructive Neohumanism” (a philosophy of life designed to impoverish the soul and mind), are brilliant tools that reflect the real dangers of Stalinism and fascism. The protagonists, Zuck and Professor M, were not action heroes, but intellectuals who sometimes had doubts and flaws. This makes them profoundly human and allows the reader to connect with their despair and their great inner rebellion, supported by their most loyal allies. You can buy this book on our website.https://institutoemv.wordpress.com/2026/06/02/sophocles-odyssey-book/
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The Shape of a Life Well-Lived
Kisah filosofis ini mengajarkan bahwa hidup ideal bukan sekadar tujuan, tetapi kualitas dalam perjalanan. Ini melibatkan akar yang dalam, tindakan kebaikan, pengertian akan kekosongan, keseimbangan antara ekstrem, cinta yang membangun, makna dalam penderitaan, dan kesadaran akan momen saat ini. Teruslah hidup, seperti aliran sungai.https://legawa.com/2026/05/09/the-shape-of-a-life-well-lived/
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30 ‘lost’ verses from philosopher Empedocles finally come to light
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𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗚𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗸𝘀 𝗜𝗻𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗗𝗲𝗺𝗼𝗰𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘆 – 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗪𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝗨𝘀 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗶𝘁 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗚𝗼 𝗛𝗼𝗿𝗿𝗶𝗯𝗹𝘆 𝗪𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴
Ancient Greeks invented democracy in Athens around 507 BCE, but it came with warnings from philosophers like Plato about its dangers, and lessons for modern democratic systems.
#greekphilosophy #ancientgreece #democracy #ancienthistory
https://www.ancient-origins.net/history-ancient-traditions/greek-democracy-explained-0022413 -
When Socrates Went to Piraeus and Forgot His Uber: A Modern Guide to Greek Philosophy According… 🤯 What happens when you blend Plato’s Republic with modern influencer culture, gym bros, and ...
#justice #humor #life #philosophy #greek-philosophy
Origin | Interest | Match -
A recent spate of op-eds on AI and the death of thinking convinced me to opine. Lacking the credentials to write something scholarly, I decided to do what I do better: being silly. Here's my latest blog post, a satirical take on the issue:
https://www.allandyenshapiro.com/post/listen-to-aristotle-motherfucker
#GreekPhilosophy
#Satire
#GenerativeAI
#ChatGPT
#Aristotle
#AmWriting
#WritersOfMastodon
#AuthorsOfMastodon
#Humor -
I spent much of the day in the Garden - that is, reading Epicurus.
Image: Agostino Scilla -- The philosopher Epicurus. -- Oil on canvas -- Private collection -- Epicurus holds a card in his hands that reads "Whatever you do, do wisely and think of consequences" - 1670-1680
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Are kids that play with playdough more likely to grow up to study Aristotle?
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My Greek Philosophy professor in college was dirty, smelly and hairy, exactly what a Greek Philosopher professor should be. He was also a bad ass, smart ass critic of my papers. I liked him.
#college #philosophy #GreekPhilosophy #AncientGreekPhilosophy -
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Do you mean John Palmer's 2009 book? (He wrote the SEP article.) I think it's had a very favorable reception.
If you want something that looks at the poetry and the Greek, I'm still partial to my advisor's book: Alex Mourelatos, The Route of Parmenides. And Matt Evans' book will be great when it comes out.
#GreekPhilosophy #Parmenides #Presocratics #PresocraticPhilosophy
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I started an account at BlueSky because so many other academic #philosophers had signed up, but there is even less activity than here.
I'm especially interested in #GreekPhilosophy but also #philosophyofmind and #metaphysics.
Any others out there?
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"How To Swim Against The Stream: On Diogenes", Los Angeles Review Of Books (https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/how-to-swim-against-the-stream-on-diogenes/).
#Diogenes #Books #Philosophy #Greece #AncientGreece #History #GreekPhilosophy #Philosopher #Biography #Cynic #Cynicism
