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Seventh Letter
The ''Seventh Letter of Plato'' is an epistle that tradition has ascribed to Plato. It is by far the longest of the epistles of Plato and gives an autobiographical account of his activities in Sicily as part of the intrigues between Dion and Dionysius of Syracuse for the tyranny of Syracuse. It also contains an extended philosophical interlude concerning the possibility of writing true philosophical works and the theory of forms.R. G. Bury, Prefatory note to "Epistle VII" in ''Plato IX'', Loeb Classical Library (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1929): 463–75. Assuming that the letter is authentic, it was written after Dion was assassinated by Calippus in 353 BC and before the latter was in turn overthrown a year later. Authenticity Of all the letters attributed to Plato, the ''Seventh Letter'' is widely considered the only one that might be authentic. R. Ledger defends its authenticity on the basis of computer analysis.R. Ledger, ''Re-counting Plato: A Computer ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dionysius I Of Syracuse
Dionysius I or Dionysius the Elder ( 432 – 367 BC) was a Greek tyrant of Syracuse, Sicily. He conquered several cities in Sicily and southern Italy, opposed Carthage's influence in Sicily and made Syracuse the most powerful of the Western Greek colonies. He was regarded by the ancients as the worst kind of despot: cruel, suspicious, and vindictive. Endnotes: * Diod. Sic. xiii., xiv., xv. *J. Bass, ''Dionysius I. von Syrakus'' (Vienna, 1881), with full references to authorities in footnotes Early life Dionysius began his working life as a clerk in a public office. Because of his achievements in the war against Carthage that began in 409 BC, he was elected supreme military commander in 406 BC. In the following year he seized total power and became tyrant. He was married to Aristomache, and had a daughter by her, Arete. He was married at the same time to Doris of Locris, who bore him his son, Dionysius II of Syracuse. Rise to power Dionysius seized power with the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Classical Athens
The city of Athens (, ''Athênai'' ; Modern Greek: Αθήναι, ''Athine'' ) during the classical period of ancient Greece (480–323 BC) was the major urban centre of the notable '' polis'' ( city-state) of the same name, located in Attica, Greece, leading the Delian League in the Peloponnesian War against Sparta and the Peloponnesian League. Athenian democracy was established in 508 BC under Cleisthenes following the tyranny of Isagoras. This system remained remarkably stable, and with a few brief interruptions, it remained in place for 180 years, until 322 BC (aftermath of Lamian War). The peak of Athenian hegemony was achieved in the 440s to 430s BC, known as the Age of Pericles. In the classical period, Athens was a centre for the arts, learning, and philosophy, the home of Plato's Academy and Aristotle's Lyceum, Athens was also the birthplace of Socrates, Plato, Pericles, Aristophanes, Sophocles, and many other prominent philosophers, writers, and politici ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Archytas Of Tarentum
Archytas (; ; 435/410–360/350 BC) was an Ancient Greek mathematician, music theorist, statesman, and strategist from the ancient city of Taras (Tarentum) in Southern Italy. He was a scientist and philosopher affiliated with the Pythagorean school and famous for being the reputed founder of mathematical mechanics and a friend of Plato. As a Pythagorean, Archytas believed that arithmetic (logistic), rather than geometry, provided the basis for satisfactory proofs, and developed the most famous argument for the infinity of the universe in antiquity. Life Archytas was born in Tarentum, a Greek city in the Italian Peninsula that was part of Magna Graecia, and was the son of Hestiaeus. He was presumably taught by Philolaus, and taught mathematics to Eudoxus of Cnidus and to Eudoxus' student, Menaechmus. Politically and militarily, Archytas appears to have been the dominant figure in Tarentum in his generation, somewhat comparable to Pericles in Athens a half-century earlier. The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sicilian Wars
The Sicilian Wars, or Greco-Punic Wars, were a series of conflicts fought between ancient Carthage and the List of ancient Greek cities, Greek city-states led by Syracuse, Sicily, Syracuse over control of Sicily and the western Mediterranean between 580 and 265 BC. Carthage's economic success and its dependence on seaborne trade led to the creation of a powerful navy to discourage both pirates and rival nations. They had inherited their naval strength and experience from their forebears, the Phoenicians, but had increased it because, unlike the Phoenicians, the Punics did not want to rely on a foreign nation's aid. This, coupled with its success and growing hegemony, brought Carthage into increasing conflict with the Greeks, the other major power contending for control of the central Mediterranean. The Greeks, like the Phoenicians, were expert sailors who had established thriving colonies throughout the Mediterranean. These two rivals fought their wars on the island of Sicily, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Courtier
A courtier () is a person who attends the royal court of a monarch or other royalty. The earliest historical examples of courtiers were part of the retinues of rulers. Historically the court was the centre of government as well as the official residence of the monarch, and the social and political life were often completely mixed together. Background Monarchs very often expected the more important nobles to spend much of the year in attendance on them at court. Not all courtiers were noble, as they included clergy, soldiers, clerks, secretaries, agents and middlemen with business at court. All those who held a court appointment could be called courtiers but not all courtiers held positions at court. Those personal favourites without business around the monarch, sometimes called the camarilla, were also considered courtiers. As social divisions became more rigid, a divide, barely present in Antiquity or the Middle Ages, opened between menial servants and other classes at c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Philosophy
Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational and critical inquiry that reflects on its methods and assumptions. Historically, many of the individual sciences, such as physics and psychology, formed part of philosophy. However, they are considered separate academic disciplines in the modern sense of the term. Influential traditions in the history of philosophy include Western philosophy, Western, Islamic philosophy, Arabic–Persian, Indian philosophy, Indian, and Chinese philosophy. Western philosophy originated in Ancient Greece and covers a wide area of philosophical subfields. A central topic in Arabic–Persian philosophy is the relation between reason and revelation. Indian philosophy combines the Spirituality, spiritual problem of how to reach Enlightenment in Buddhism, enlighten ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Philosopher King
The philosopher king is a hypothetical ruler in whom political skill is combined with philosophical knowledge. The concept of a city-state ruled by philosophers is first explored in Plato's ''Republic'', written around 375 BC. Plato argued that the ideal state – one which ensured the maximum possible happiness for all its citizens – could only be brought into being by a ruler possessed of absolute knowledge, obtained through philosophical study. From the Middle Ages onwards, Islamic and Jewish authors expanded on the theory, adapting it to suit their own conceptions of the perfect ruler. Several historical figures, including Marcus Aurelius and Ashoka the Great, have been described by ancient and modern writers as embodying the philosopher king ideal. In the ''Republic'' The ''Republic'' is a Socratic dialogue. In the first two books, Socrates is challenged to give a definition of justice, which he proposes to accomplish by imagining how an ideal city-state would function. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Trial Of Socrates
The Trial of Socrates (399 BCE) was held to determine the philosopher's guilt of two charges: ''asebeia'' ( impiety) against the pantheon of Athens, and corruption of the youth of the city-state; the accusers cited two impious acts by Socrates: "failing to acknowledge the gods that the city acknowledges" and "introducing new deities". The death sentence of Socrates was the legal consequence of asking politico-philosophic questions of his students, which resulted in the two accusations of moral corruption and impiety. At trial, the majority of the '' dikasts'' (male-citizen jurors chosen by lot) voted to convict him of the two charges; then, consistent with common legal practice voted to determine his punishment and agreed to a sentence of death to be executed by Socrates's drinking a poisonous beverage of hemlock. Primary-source accounts of the trial and execution of Socrates are the '' Apology of Socrates'' by Plato and the '' Apology of Socrates to the Jury'' by Xenopho ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thirty Tyrants
The Thirty Tyrants (, ''hoi triákonta týrannoi'') were an oligarchy that briefly ruled Classical Athens, Athens from 404 BC, 404 BCE to 403 BC, 403 BCE. Installed into power by the Sparta, Spartans after the Athenian surrender in the Peloponnesian War, the Thirty became known for their Tyrant, tyrannical rule, first being called "The Thirty Tyrants" by Polycrates (sophist), Polycrates. Although they maintained power for only eight months, their reign resulted in the killing of 5% of the Athenian population, the confiscation of citizens' property, and the exile of other Athenian democracy, democratic supporters. Historical background After the Athenian navy was destroyed at the battle of Aegospotami in 405 BCE, Lysander led the Spartan and Peloponnesian League naval force to Athens for the final destruction of the city. The Athenians prepared for a siege, but without a navy to defend them or import food, many Athenian citizens starved. After the Spartans began cutting them off by ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Julia Annas
Julia Elizabeth Annas (born 1946) is a British philosopher who has taught in the United States for the last quarter-century. She is Regents Professor of Philosophy Emerita at the University of Arizona. Education and career Annas graduated from Oxford University in 1968 with a B.A. and from Harvard University with an A.M. (1970) and a Ph.D. (1972). She was a Fellow and Tutor at St Hugh's College, Oxford for fifteen years before joining the faculty at the University of Arizona in 1986, where she taught until her retirement, apart from one year as a professor at Columbia University. She specializes in the study of ancient Greek philosophy, including ethics, psychology, and epistemology. She is the founder and former editor of the annual journal '' Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy''. She is married to Hume scholar David Owen, also a professor of philosophy at the University of Arizona. She was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1992 and a member ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Terence Irwin
Terence Henry Irwin Fellow of the British Academy, FBA (; born 21 April 1947), usually cited as T. H. Irwin, is a scholar and philosopher specializing in ancient Greek philosophy and the history of ethics (i.e., the history of Western moral philosophy in ancient, medieval, and modern times). He spent most of his career at Cornell University before becoming the Professor of the History of Philosophy at the University of Oxford, and Fellow of Keble College, Oxford from 2007 until 2017. Education and career Irwin was an undergraduate at Magdalen College, Oxford, where he graduated with a BA (first-class honours) in Literae Humaniores (Classics, Philosophy and Ancient History) in 1969. He then studied at Princeton University with Gregory Vlastos, and graduated with a PhD in philosophy in 1973. He was assistant professor of philosophy at Harvard University (1972–1975) and then, from 1975 until 2007, he was at Cornell University, where he served as Susan Linn Sage Professor of Philoso ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Philosophical Review
''The Philosophical Review'' is a quarterly journal of philosophy edited by the faculty of the Sage School of Philosophy at Cornell University. Since September 2006, it is published by Duke University Press. Overview The journal publishes original work in all areas of analytic philosophy, but emphasizes material that is of general interest to academic philosophers. Each issue of the journal contains approximately two to four articles along with several book reviews. The journal has been in continuous publication since 1892. Volume I contained articles by William James and John Dewey. Notable articles * * * * * * * * * * * * See also * List of philosophy journals Notes External links Official website at |
