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This article is a good introduction to Xenophon. The major thing that's missing here is that his writings were actually very influential among ancient philosop
by fujimotos 8y ago
This article is a good introduction to Xenophon.
The major thing that's missing here is that his writings were actually very
influential among ancient philosophers, especially ones of the Stoic school.
For example, Zeno of Citium, who had found the Stoic school, decided to become
a philosopher after reading Xenophon's Memorabilia. Epictetus, a prominent
philosopher of Roman era, references Xenophon's writing as much as Plato.
I wonder since when philosophy became all about Plato.
- pasabagi 8y agoWell, he did invent the word. Snark aside, I think the reason why Plato is so influential is Christianity - basically a radicalized form of his ideas.
- solonagathon 8y agoHe did not invent the word. In the funeral oration for example Thucydides has Pericles refer to the Athenians as a philosophizing people: Philokaloumen te gar met ' euteleias kai philosophoumen aneu malakias. Plato was probably the first to use the term in a technical sense, to refer to someone who spends his life as a 'professional' philosopher.
- solonagathon 8y agoAnd of course Herodotus refers to Solon as a lover of wisdom in his Histories. Considering my user name I guess I should have led with that reference.
- pasabagi 8y agoHmm - I had no idea. I came across the distinction (philosophy/sophism) in Plato's work. I had the feeling that Sophism continued to be the normal term, without its modern pejorative sound, until the advent of christianity as the dominant ideology of the roman empire- certainly, I think the idea of philosophy as the love of (divine) wisdom is a sort of curtailment of the whole project, really only favourable to Platonists, Christians, or I guess Parimedeans- so I thought it's the kind of thing that Plato (and his school) would have put about.