Historical Dictionary of Ancient Greek Philosophy (Historical Dictionaries of Religions, Philosophies and Movements)

370 Pages·2007·1.46 MB·English

by  Anthony Preus

HISTORICAL
DICTIONARY
ANCIENT
OF
GREEK Philosophy
ANTHONY PREUS
HISTORICALDICTIONARIES OFRELIGIONS,
PHILOSOPHIES, AND MOVEMENTS
Jon Woronoff, Series Editor
1. Buddhism, by Charles S. Prebish, 1993.
2. Mormonism, by Davis Bitton, 1994. Out of print.See no.32.
3. Ecumenical Christianity, by Ans Joachim van der Bent, 1994.
4. Terrorism, by Sean Anderson and Stephen Sloan, 1995. Out of
print.See no.41.
5. Sikhism,by W. H. McLeod, 1995. Out of print.See no.59.
6. Feminism, by Janet K. Boles and Diane Long Hoeveler, 1995. Out
of print.See no.52.
7. Olympic Movement, by Ian Buchanan and Bill Mallon, 1995. Out
of print.See no.39.
8. Methodism, by Charles Yrigoyen Jr. and Susan E. Warrick, 1996.
Out of print.See no.57.
9. Orthodox Church, by Michael Prokurat, Alexander Golitzin, and
Michael D. Peterson, 1996.
10. Organized Labor, by James C. Docherty, 1996. Out of print.See
no.50.
11. Civil Rights Movement, by Ralph E. Luker, 1997.
12. Catholicism, by William J. Collinge, 1997.
13. Hinduism, by Bruce M. Sullivan, 1997.
14. North American Environmentalism, by Edward R. Wells and Alan
M. Schwartz, 1997.
15. Welfare State, by Bent Greve, 1998. Out of print.See no.63.
16. Socialism, by James C. Docherty, 1997. Out of print.See no.73.
17. Bahá’í Faith,by Hugh C. Adamson and Philip Hainsworth, 1998.
Out of print.See no.71.
18. Taoism, by Julian F. Pas in cooperation with Man Kam Leung, 1998.
19. Judaism, by Norman Solomon, 1998. Out of print.See no.69.
20. Green Movement, by Elim Papadakis, 1998.
21. Nietzscheanism, by Carol Diethe, 1999. Out of print.See No.75.
22. Gay Liberation Movement, by Ronald J. Hunt, 1999.
23. Islamic Fundamentalist Movements in the Arab World,Iran,and
Turkey,by Ahmad S. Moussalli, 1999.
24. Reformed Churches,by Robert Benedetto, Darrell L. Guder, and
Donald K. McKim, 1999.
25. Baptists, by William H. Brackney, 1999.
26. Cooperative Movement, by Jack Shaffer, 1999.
27. Reformation and Counter-Reformation, by Hans J. Hillerbrand,
2000.
28. Shakers, by Holley Gene Duffield, 2000.
29. United States Political Parties, by Harold F. Bass Jr., 2000.
30. Heidegger’s Philosophy, by Alfred Denker, 2000.
31. Zionism,by Rafael Medoff and Chaim I. Waxman, 2000.
32. Mormonism,2nd ed., by Davis Bitton, 2000.
33. Kierkegaard’s Philosophy,by Julia Watkin, 2001.
34. Hegelian Philosophy, by John W. Burbidge, 2001.
35. Lutheranism, by Günther Gassmann in cooperation with Duane H.
Larson and Mark W. Oldenburg, 2001.
36. Holiness Movement,by William Kostlevy, 2001.
37. Islam,by Ludwig W. Adamec, 2001.
38. Shinto,by Stuart D. B. Picken, 2002.
39. Olympic Movement, 2nd ed., by Ian Buchanan and Bill Mallon,
2001. Out of print.See no.61.
40. Slavery and Abolition,by Martin A. Klein, 2002.
41. Terrorism,2nd ed.,by Sean Anderson and Stephen Sloan, 2002.
42. New Religious Movements,by George D. Chryssides, 2001.
43. Prophets in Islam and Judaism,by Scott B. Noegel and Brannon
M. Wheeler, 2002.
44. The Friends (Quakers), by Margery Post Abbott, Mary Ellen
Chijioke, Pink Dandelion, and John William Oliver Jr., 2003.
45. Lesbian Liberation Movement:Still the Rage,JoAnne Myers,
2003.
46. Descartes and Cartesian Philosophy,by Roger Ariew, Dennis
Des Chene, Douglas M. Jesseph, Tad M. Schmaltz, and Theo
Verbeek, 2003.
47. Witchcraft, by Michael D. Bailey, 2003.
48. Unitarian Universalism, by Mark W. Harris, 2004.
49. New Age Movements,by Michael York, 2004.
50. Organized Labor,2nd ed., by James C. Docherty, 2004.
51. Utopianism, by James M. Morris and Andrea L. Kross, 2004.
52. Feminism,2nd ed., by Janet K. Boles and Diane Long Hoeveler,
2004.
53. Jainism,by Kristi L. Wiley, 2004.
54. Wittgenstein’s Philosophy, by Duncan Richter, 2004.
55. Schopenhauer’s Philosophy, by David E. Cartwright, 2005.
56. Seventh-Day Adventists,by Gary Land, 2005.
57. Methodism,2nd ed.,by Charles Yrigoyen Jr. and Susan Warrick,
2005.
58. Sufism, by John Renard, 2005.
59. Sikhism,2nd ed.,by W. H. McLeod, 2005.
60. Kant and Kantianism,by Helmut Holzhey and Vilem Mudroch,
2005.
61. Olympic Movement,3rd ed., by Bill Mallon with Ian Buchanan,
2006.
62. Anglicanism,by Colin Buchanan, 2006.
63. Welfare State,2nd ed.,by Bent Greve, 2006.
64. Feminist Philosophy,by Catherine Villanueva Gardner, 2006.
65. Logic,by Harry J. Gensler, 2006.
66. Leibniz’s Philosophy,by Stuart Brown and Nicholas J. Fox, 2006.
67. Non-Aligned Movement and Third World,by Guy Arnold, 2006.
68. Salvation Army,by Major John G. Merritt, 2006.
69. Judaism,2nd ed., by Norman Solomon, 2006.
70. Epistemology,by Ralph Baergen, 2006.
71. Bahá’í Faith,by Hugh Adamson, 2006.
72. Aesthetics,by Dabney Townsend, 2006.
73. Socialism,2nd ed., by Peter Lamb and James C. Docherty, 2007.
74. Marxism,by David M. Walker and Daniel Gray, 2007.
75. Nietzscheanism,2nd ed., by Carol Diethe, 2007.
76. Medieval Philosophy and Theology,by Stephen F. Brown and
Juan Carlos Flores, 2007.
77. Shamanism,by Graham Harvey and Robert Wallis, 2007.
78. Ancient Greek Philosophy,by Anthony Preus, 2007.
79. Puritans,by Charles Pastoor and Galen K. Johnson, 2007.

Historical Dictionary
of Ancient
Greek Philosophy
Anthony Preus
Historical Dictionaries of Religions,
Philosophies, and Movements, No. 78
The Scarecrow Press, Inc.
Lanham, Maryland • Toronto • Plymouth, UK
2007
SCARECROWPRESS, INC.
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Copyright ©2007 by Anthony Preus
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any
means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise,
without the prior permission of the publisher.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Preus, Anthony.
Historical dictionary of ancient Greek philosophy / Anthony Preus.
p. cm. — (Historical dictionaries of religions, philosophies, and
movements ; no. 78)
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN-13: 978-0-8108-5487-1 (hardcover : alk. paper)
ISBN-10: 0-8108-5487-2 (hardcover : alk. paper)
1. Philosophy, Ancient–Dictionaries. I. Title.
B111.P74 2007
180.3–dc22 2006039368
(cid:2)™
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of
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for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.
Manufactured in the United States of America.
Contents
Editor’s Foreword Jon Woronoff ix
Citations and Abbreviations xi
Note on Transliterating Greek Characters to English xv
Chronology xix
Introduction 1
THE DICTIONARY 31
Glossary 283
Bibliography 307
About the Author 345
vii

Editor’s Foreword
In some ways, this volume is the cornerstone for the many others in the
subseries on philosophy, just as the Ancient Greco-Roman world pro-
vided a cornerstone not only for medieval and modern Western philos-
ophy but also Islamic philosophy and thinking elsewhere. The period of
the “ancients,” running from roughly the middle of the first millennium
BC to the middle of the first millennium AD, was amazingly fertile,
heavily influenced by Plato, Aristotle, and Socrates, as well as dozens
of other philosophers. The period saw some of the earliest valid work
on what remain major fields of philosophy, particularly epistemology,
logic, and ethics, and the trail was blazed the way in others. Obviously,
some—perhaps most—of this thought has since been revised, and many
supposed “answers” have turned out to be wrong as our interests and
emphases have shifted. But most of the questions that exercised the
minds of the “ancients” are still important for us, and knowing what
they thought is still of considerable use to us today.
This Historical Dictionary of Ancient Greek Philosophy summarizes
some of the most important aspects, describes the different and often
contesting schools of thought, and presents the questions and answers,
the approaches and concepts. It also introduces us to most of the im-
portant philosophers, not only the greats but those whose contributions
were more modest although still significant. The bulk of this informa-
tion appears in the dictionary, which is extensively cross-referenced. It
is also buttressed by a broad introduction that offers an overall frame-
work within which the details make more sense. In another way, the
chronology puts things into context so we know which thinkers
emerged when and what their legacy was. Admittedly, in this age of the
Internet, this is not the biggest nor the broadest source of information,
but it is incredibly handy, covering a vast array of topics and, above all,
providing an exceptional guide that probably will be referred to time
ix