![]() B 3 by Zeller, Burnet and their followers. A refutation of the grammatically impossible anti-idealist interpretation of fr. P.674 (7) The identity of Being and Mind in Parmenides. Peras and apeiron (a geometrical analogue of later terms form and matter) are self-subsistent incorporeal mathematical essences, out of which physical bodies are «constructed» (ἁρμόζειν, another geometrical term for «construction») by the divine mind-demiourgos. p.673 (6) Criticism of modern naturalistic interpretations of Pythagorean first principles peras and apeiron (Burkert, Huffman and others). p.663 (5) The evidence of the Orphic-Pythagorean graffiti from Olbia on the early Pythagorean substance dualism of body and soul proves its Preplatonic origin. p.661 (4) A provisional taxonomy of different types of idealism (mentalism) in ancient Greek philosophy is proposed. We point to scholastic and ancient (Platonic) roots of Descartes’ substance dualism of body and mind, as well as to the even more ancient Pythagorean roots of Plato’s doctrine of immortal soul. p.658 (3) The thesis of Myles Burnyeat and Bernard Williams (no idealism in Greek philosophy) is criticised. Creation by divine mind is a form of objective idealism (mentalism). p.653 (2) Demiourgos and creationism in Pre-Platonic philosophy. Ībstract and table of contents (1) Preliminary criticism of the presuppositions of the denial of existence of idealism in early Greek thought: pseudohistorical evolutionism, Platonocentrism that ignores the archaic features of Plato’s metaphysics and psychology, and the modern stereotype of «Presocratics» as physicalists, a product of the late 19th century (excessive) positivist reaction against Hegelianism and German idealism in the English-speaking historiography of Greek phiosophy. Finally, I discuss the connection between peri phuseôs narrations and religious practices such as hymns and sacrifices, and argue that here too Plato is a closer match with the religious tendencies of early Greek philosophers. I argue that Plato is closer to the early Greek philosophers than to Socrates, even though his teleology is more providential. I also examine Socrates teleological tendencies in Xenophon's Memorabilia, and compare them both with the early Greek philosophers and with Plato's teleological tendencies in the Timaeus. Then, after looking at the accusations against Socrates in Plato's Apology, I turn to the portrait of Socrates in Aristophanes' Clouds where he is characterized as a meteorosophistês (360) and examine in this context the culture of the period. I examine this passage in some detail and argue that there is an element of bad faith on the part of Socrates because he is ignoring the conscious or unconscious teleological tendencies in the philosophers' respective accounts, of which he must have been aware. These are, for the most part, the natural philosophers to whom Socrates refers in the famous "autobiographical" passage in the Phaedo (96a-99d) when he describes the enthusiasm for natural philosophy (peri phuseôs historia) he had when he was young (neos ôn, 96a6). I'll discuss in this context Thales, Anaximander, Anaximenes, Xenophanes, Heraclitus, Parmenides, Alcmaeon, Empedocles, and Anaxagoras. ![]() I begin by putting the Greek discovery of nature (phusis) into perspective, and then turn to the first philosophers and examine the correlation between phusis, theos, psuchê, and nous in their respective works. They have a theory of everything that seems akin to what Thomas Nagel calls "natural teleology," but without the atheism. In conjunction, what all these ontologies have in common is the conviction the seeds of human consciousness, cognition, and value were inherent in the originative principle. Nous or mind, which is also manifest in the order of nature, is the final arbiter for all. ![]() I argue that all of the early Greek philosophers expressed teleological tendencies similar to what we find in Plato's later dialogues, and they would thus have a similar cosmic religious outlook, including a shared understanding of the ultimate point of religious practices such as singing hymns and praying. In this paper, I examine the religion of the early Greek philosophers, and Socrates contribution to the debate.
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