Theophrastus Against the Presocratics and Plato: Peripatetic Dialectic in the De Sensibus (Philosophia Antiqua)

306 Pages·2000·16.28 MB·English

by  Han Baltussen

THEOPHRASTUS AGAINST
THE PRESOCRATICS AND PLATO
PHILOSOPHIA ANTIQUA
A SERIES OF STUDIES
ON ANCIENT PHILOSOPHY
FOUNDED BYJ.H. WASZINK| AND W.J. VERDENIUSt
EDITED BY
J. MANSFELD, D.T. RUNIA
J. C.M. VAN WINDEN
VOLUME LXXXVI
H. BALTUSSEN
THEOPHRASTUS AGAINST
THE PRESOCRATICS AND PLATO
'6 8 V
THEOPHRASTUS AGAINST
THE PRESOCRATICS AND PLATO
PERIPATETIC DIALECTIC IN THE DE SENSIBUS
BY
H. BALTUSSEN
BRILL
LEIDEN · BOSTON · KÖLN
2000
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Baltussen, H.
Theophrastus against the Presocratics and Plato : peripatetic dialectic in the
De sensibus / by H. Baltussen.
ρ cm.—(Philosophia antiqua, ISSN 0079-1687; v. 86)
Revision of the author's thesis (doctoral)—Leeds University, 1993.
Includes bibliographical references (p.) and indexes.
ISBN 9004117202 (cloth : aslk. paper)
1. Theophrastus. De sensibus. 2. Perception (Philosophy) 3. Senses and
sensation. 4. Pre-Socratic philosophers. 5. Plato. I. Tide. II. Series.
B626.T33 D433 2000
185—dc21 00-039800
CIP
Die Deutsche Bibliothek - CIP-Einheitsaufnahme
Baltussen, H.:
Theophrastus against the presocratics and Plato : peripatetic
dialectic in the de sensibus / by H. Baltussen.. Leiden ; Boston ;
Köln : Brill, 2000
(Philosophia antiqua ; Vol. 86)
ISBN 90-04-11720-2
ISSN 0079-1687
ISBN 90 04 11720 2
© Copyright 2000 by Koninklijke ΒήΙΙ NV, Leiden, The Netherlands
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For Angélique, Sanne & Thomas

Acknowledgements xi
Abbreviations — Notice to the Reader xiii
General Introduction 1
1. Preface 1
2. Reasons for a New Analysis 4
3. Aims 5
4. Excursus: Type of Investigation 6
5. General Order of Exposition 8
Chapter One. Theophrastus' De sensibus (DS) 11
1. Date and Transmission of the DS 12
2. Content and General Structure of the DS 15
2.1. Subject Matter: Part I (DS 1 -2) 16
2.2. Part II: On Sense Perception {DS 3-58) 18
2.3. Part III: On Sense Objects {DS 59-92) 22
2.4. Some Criteria of Selection 24
3. Previous Interpretations 25
4. Strategy 29
Chapter Two. Peripatetic Method: Dialectic and Doxography 31
1. Interpreting Aristotle's Topics 32
1.1. Dialectic as Training in Consistency 34
1.2. Endoxa 39
1.3. Conclusion \ Critical Endoxography 41
2. Applied Dialectic or Dealing with Doxai 42
2.1. Phys. Δ 44
2.2. The Search for Archai 45
2.3. Summary 55
3. Theophrastus on Method 56
3.1. Outline of Theophrastus'Methodology 56
3.2. Authorial Remarks Concerning Method 60
3.3. Discussions of Doxai 62
3.4. Conclusion 70
Chapter Three. Theories of Perception: Positions and
Arguments 71
1. Theophrastus and the Tradition 72
1.1. Perception as Part of Physics 74
1.2. Theophrastus on Perception 78
1.3. Doctrine: A Shorthand Guide 83
2. Tracing Theophrastus' Views in the DS 86
2.1. Technical Terms and Other Details 87
2.2. Judgmental Elements 90
3. Conclusion 93
Chapter Four. Theophrastus' De sensibus axxá Plato's Timaeus 95
1. Plato in DS 98
1.1. Plato on Aisthêsis 99
1.2. Form and Contents of Theophrastus' Excerpts 102
2. The Report (DS 83-86) 108
3. Criticisms of Plato's Theory (DS 87-92) 120
4. Theophrastus' (In)dependence in Relation to Aristotle 126
5. Conclusions 129
Appendix ( Reaction to a Recent Article [ch. 4, η.8.]) 136
Chapter Five. Theophrastus' Criticisms of the Presocratics 140
1. Theophrastus'Method in his Criticisms 140
1.1. Previous Interpretations 140
1.2. Appeal to Authority: Qualified Doxai 145
2. Aspects of Structure and Presentation 146
2.1. Remarks on Structure in DS 1 -2 147
2.2. Problems of Classification 150
2.3. Attention for Detail: Plato and Democritus 152
3. The Critical Arguments Against the Protagonists 155
3.1. The Criticisms of Empedocles 156
3.2. The Protagonist of the 'Contrast Party':
Anaxagoras 169
4. The Dossier Extended: Diogenes and Democritus 178
4.1. The Criticisms of Diogenes {DS 39-48) 178
4.2. Against Democritus (49-58) 185
5. Argumentative Principles: Some Preliminary Results 192
Chapter Six. Applied Dialectic in DS: In Search of Archai? 195
1. A Typology of Arguments 195
1.1. Recurrent Argument Forms 196
1.2. Non Standard Arguments 211
2. Dialectic and Archai 215
2.1. Arche: Its Meaning and Use in Aristotle 216
2.2. Archai in DS 222
3. Theophrastus on Basic Principles 225
3.1. Archai and Dialectic in DS 225
3.2. Two Exceptions? How to Rescue the Argument 227
3.3. Conclusion 229
4. Summary 230
Chapter Seven. Epilogue: Results and Outlook 234
1. Results: Importance of the Present Study 235
2. Outlook: Doxography and What Remains to be Done 239
Appendices 247
A. Textual Problems 247
B. A Bibliography on Theophrastus' De sensibus 250
C. (Qualified) Doxai in Theophrastus 256
D. Arche/Archai in Theophrastus 258
Bibliography 259
Indices 273
General Index 273
Index Locorum 279