III HELLENISTIC AND ROMAN PHILOSOPHY

III

HELLENISTIC AND ROMAN PHILOSOPHY

From the 4th century bc to the rise of Christian philosophy in the 4th century ad, Epicureanism, Stoicism, Skepticism, and Neoplatonism were the main philosophical schools in the Western world. Interest in natural science declined steadily during this period, and these schools concerned themselves mainly with ethics and religion. This was also a period of intense intercultural contact, and Western philosophers were influenced by ideas from Buddhism in India, Zoroastrianism in Persia, and Judaism in Palestine.

A

Epicureanism

Epicurus

Greek philosopher Epicurus was a prolific author and creator of an ethical philosophy based upon the achievement of pleasure and happiness. However, he viewed pleasure as the absence of pain and removal of the fear of death. This bust of Epicurus, a Roman copy of a Greek original, is in the Palazzo Nuovo in Rome, Italy.

In 306 bc Epicurus founded a philosophical school in Athens. Because his followers met in the garden of his home they became known as philosophers of the garden. Epicurus adopted the atomistic physics of Democritus, but he allowed for an element of chance in the physical world by assuming that the atoms sometimes swerve in unpredictable ways, thus providing a physical basis for a belief in free will. The overall aim of Epicurus’s philosophy was to promote happiness by removing the fear of death. He maintained that natural science is important only if it can be applied in making practical decisions that help humans achieve the maximum amount of pleasure, which he identified with gentle motion and the absence of pain. The teachings of Epicurus are preserved mainly in the philosophical poem De Rerum Natura (On the Nature of Things) written by the Roman poet Lucretius in the 1st century bc. Lucretius contributed greatly to the popularity of Epicureanism in Rome.

B

Stoicism

Marcus Aurelius

Emperor Marcus Aurelius ruled the Roman Empire from 161 to 180. His reign was marked by epidemics and frequent wars along the empire’s frontiers. A champion of the poor, Marcus Aurelius reduced the tax burden while founding schools, hospitals, and orphanages. A Stoic, Marcus Aurelius believed that a moral life leads to tranquility and that moderation and acceptance improve the quality of one’s life.

The Stoic school, founded in Athens about 310 bc by Zeno of Citium, developed out of the earlier movement of the Cynics, who rejected social institutions and material (worldly) values. Stoicism became the most influential school of the Greco-Roman world, producing such remarkable writers and personalities as the Greek slave and philosopher Epictetus in the 1st century ad and the 2nd-century Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius, who was noted for his wisdom and nobility of character. The Stoics taught that one can achieve freedom and tranquility only by becoming insensitive to material comforts and external fortune and by dedicating oneself to a life of virtue and wisdom. They followed Heraclitus in believing the primary substance to be fire and in worshiping the Logos, which they identified with the energy, law, reason, and providence (divine guidance) found throughout nature. The Stoics argued that nature was a system designed by the divinities and believed that humans should strive to live in accordance with nature. The Stoic doctrine that each person is part of God and that all people form a universal family helped break down national, social, and racial barriers and prepare the way for the spread of Christianity. The Stoic doctrine of natural law, which makes human nature the standard for evaluating laws and social institutions, had an important influence on Roman and later Western law.

C

Skepticism

The school of Skepticism, which continued the Sophist criticisms of objective knowledge, dominated Plato’s Academy in the 3rd century bc. The Skeptics discovered, as had Zeno of Elea, that logic is a powerful critical device, capable of destroying any positive philosophical view, and they used it skillfully. Their fundamental assumption was that humanity cannot attain knowledge or wisdom concerning reality, and they therefore challenged the claims of scientists and philosophers to investigate the nature of reality. Like Socrates, the Skeptics insisted that wisdom consisted in awareness of the extent of one’s own ignorance. The Skeptics concluded that the way to happiness lies in a complete suspension of judgment. They believed that suspending judgment about the things of which one has no true knowledge creates tranquility and fulfillment. As an extreme example of this attitude, it is said that Pyrrho, one of the most noted Skeptics, refused to change direction when approaching the edge of a cliff and had to be diverted by his students to save his life.

D

Neoplatonism

During the 1st century ad the Jewish-Hellenistic philosopher Philo of Alexandria combined Greek philosophy, particularly Platonic and Pythagorean ideas, with Judaism in a comprehensive system that anticipated Neoplatonism and Jewish, Christian, and Muslim mysticism. Philo insisted that the nature of God so far transcended (surpassed) human understanding and experience as to be indescribable; he described the natural world as a series of stages of descent from God, terminating in matter as the source of evil. He advocated a religious state, or theocracy, and was one of the first to interpret the Old Testament for the Gentiles.

Neoplatonism, one of the most influential philosophical and religious schools and an important rival of Christianity, was founded in the 3rd century ad by Ammonius Saccus and his more famous disciple Plotinus. Plotinus based his ideas on the mystical and poetic writings of Plato, the Pythagoreans, and Philo. The main function of philosophy, for him, is to prepare individuals for the experience of ecstasy, in which they become one with God. God, or the One, is beyond rational understanding and is the source of all reality. The universe emanates from the One by a mysterious process of overflowing of divine energy in successive levels. The highest levels form a trinity of the One; the Logos, which contains the Platonic Forms; and the World Soul, which gives rise to human souls and natural forces. The farther things emanate from the One, according to Plotinus, the more imperfect and evil they are and the closer they approach the limit of pure matter. The highest goal of life is to purify oneself of dependence on bodily comforts and, through philosophical meditation, to prepare oneself for an ecstatic reunion with the One. Neoplatonism exerted a strong influence on medieval thought.