In his Exhortation to Philosophy (Protrepticus), the Neoplatonic philosopher Iamblichus famously preserves material culled from lost works of ancient philosophy, including dialogues of Aristotle. He also preserves a work entitled On Wisdom and ascribed to the Pythagorean philosopher Archytas of Tarentum, who was a friend and challenger of Plato. The text On Wisdom is a later Hellenistic production, probably written in the 1st century BCE, but it presents an important piece in the puzzle of reconstructing Pythagoreanism for the Hellenistic (...) and Post-Hellenistic periods. On Wisdom provides ps-Archytas' views on the nature, pursuit, and purposes of philosophy, as well as the division of the parts of knowledge. This article presents the first complete modern translation into English and analysis of this work, whilst also explaining the precise ways in which its first critic, Iamblichus, appropriates its content to Neoplatonic theories. (shrink)

This article aims to explain the reception and reassessment of Aristotle’s philosophy of time during the first century BCE by Pseudo-Archytas, a thinker who exercised great influence over and laid the groundwork for Neopythagorean and Neoplatonist philosophies of nature. The article scrutinizes Pseudo-Archytas’ theory by examining his solution to the paradox of time’s existence. Through a comparative analysis of Aristotle’s and Pseudo-Archytas’ discourse, it seeks to demonstrate that their theories, despite apparent similarities (associated with (...) their overall approach to the subject matter, the terms utilized in discourse, etc.), exhibit different philosophical underpinnings and are in many ways antithetical. (shrink)

This article aims to shed light on certain aspects of Iamblichus’ theory of time that have not been sufficiently examined to date in the scholarly literature. As of today, there are a mere handful of scholarly works tackling Iamblichus’ solutions to the paradoxes of time in particular, and his contribution to the developments of the Neoplatonic theory of the subject more generally. This article attempts to redress the lack of literature on this topic by examining Iamblichus’ response to Aristotle’s and (...) Pseudo-Archytas’ theories of time. It begins with a brief survey of the philosophical developments that led to and were formative for Iamblichus’ philosophical explorations of the area in question. Then it moves on to provide a detailed account of Iamblichus’ own unique and puzzling theory of time. The author applies the method of comparative analysis, scrutinizing Iamblichus’ solution to the paradoxes of time against the backdrop of Aristotle’s and Pseudo-Archytas’ theories. The author identifies firm scholarly grounds for doing so from within the tradition of Iamblichus studies initiated by the ground-breaking research of Shmuel Sambursky and Salomon Pines and continued, inter alia, in the subtly nuanced analysis of Richard Sorabji and John Dillon. The author concludes that Iamblichus successfully resolved the paradoxes of time and that his conception lent itself to a more effective highlighting of the ordering function of time. (shrink)

This paper critically examines the use of the name 'Pseudo-Archytas' to refer to two aspects of the reception of Archytas of Tarentum in antiquity: the 'author-inflection' and the 'authority-inflection'. In order to make progress on our understanding of authority and authorship within the Pythagorean tradition, it attempts to reconstruct Porphyry's views on the importance of Archytas as guarantor of Pythagorean authenticity in the former's lost work On the History of the Philosophers by considering a fragment preserved (...) in Arabic by Ibn Abī Uṣaybi‘a. The article finally argues that a range of problems attend our use of the term 'pseudo-Archytas', which is not fit for purpose when considering the evidence regarding authorship and authority in the Pythagorean tradition. It recommends a more critical approach to the notion of authenticity within the Pythagorean tradition and suggests a new term, 'Archytism', as a more useful point of reference. (shrink)

Intent upon harmonizing doctrines of their predecessors, some Neoplatonic commentators are faced with a problem of resolving doctrinal discrepancies so as to restore the συµφωνία in the history of philosophy. This article considers a particular example of this attempt ats harmonization: how Simplicius reconciles Aristotle's Categories with the Neopythagorean doctrine of the Pseudo-Archytas. The chronological inversion introduced by the counterfeiter produces remarkable effects on the late Platonic doctrine about general terms, to the extent that a commentator such as (...) Simplicius works to reduce the dissonance between Archytas' and Aristotle's words. This paper has three aims: to restore the general grid that Simplicius uses for reading and commenting on Archytas through Aristotle; to identify the exegetical strategies aimed at a doctrinal reconciliation; to consider a specific case, provided by the doctrine of weight, which engenders a new physical theory by Simplicius. (shrink)

Archytas of Tarentum, a contemporary and associate of Plato, was a famous Pythagorean, mathematician, and statesman of Tarentum. Although his works are lost and most of the fragments attributed to him were composed in later eras, they nevertheless contain valuable information about his thought. In particular, the fragments of On Law and Justice are likely based on a work by the early Peripatetic biographer Aristoxenus of Tarentum. The fragments touch on key themes of early Greek ethics, including: written and (...) unwritten laws; freedom and self-sufficiency; moderation of the emotions and cultivation of virtues; equality and the competence of the majority to participate in government; criticism of “rule by an individual”; a theory of the ideal “mixed constitution”; distributive and corrective justice and punishment, and of the rule of law. The fragments also contain one of the only positive accounts of democracy in ancient Greek philosophy. (shrink)

Pseudo-Archytas.--Iamblichus.--Proclus.--Damascius.--Simplicius.--Plutarch.--Tatian.

The paper offers a running commentary on ps-Archytas’ On Intellect and Sense Perception (composed ca. 80 BCE), with the aim to provide a clear description of Hellenistic/post-Hellenistic Pythagorean epistemology. Through an analysis of the process of knowledge and of the faculties that this involves, ps-Archytas presents an original epistemological theory which, although grounded in Aristotelian and Platonic theories, results in a peculiar Pythagorean criteriology that accounts for the acquisition and production of knowledge, as well as for the specific (...) competences of each cognitive faculty. (shrink)

One of the most famous and most important commentaries of the Neoplatonist Simplicius treats the Physics of Aristotle. Several times, having commented the text within the Aristotelian frame, Simplicius treats the same subject again but now under a Neoplatonist perspective. These texts are called corollaries and one of them is about time. Discussing other Neoplatonist views about time (esp. Pseudo-Archytas, Plotinus, Damascius, Jamblichus), he tries to clarify the nature of our physical time arising from and differentiating (diakrisis) a (...) ”first“ unmoving time. What Simplicius calls ”first time“ is the very first difference in being, identical with the fact that the soul (psyche) contains the structure of the totality of things in itself before they exist materially (vorweg-bei-anderem-Sein der Seele), which makes possible the original synthesis of becoming. Following this line, our physical time brings unity to the ever changing nature. (shrink)

En 1965, H. Thesleff offrait le premier recueil des textes pseudopythagoriciens parvenus (The Pythagorean texts of the Hellenistic period, Abo Akademi, Abo). Certains d’entre eux ont depuis fait l’objet d’études spécifiques : le traité Sur la nature du monde et de l’âme du Pseudo-Timée de Locres par M. Baltes (Leiden, 1972), le traité Sur les catégories du Pseudo-Archytas par T. A. Szlezák (Berlin / New York, 1972) et les traités éthiques attribués à Archytas, Métopos, Théagès et (...) Euriphamos p... (shrink)

This article aims to shed light on the reception of Aristotle’s theory of the continuum in late antique thought. It starts with a brief introduction to Aristotle’s theory and then moves on to analyze its reassessment in the philosophy of Pseudo-Archytas, a thinker whose significance for the development of Neopythagorean thought was unprecedented but whose theoretical heritage, as far as the theory of the continuum is concerned, has not yet been fully scrutinized. The main thesis of this article (...) is that Pseudo-Archytas’s appropriation and creative reworking of Aristotle presents us with a fullfledged theory of the temporal continuum which at its core is a mathematical continuum. As such, this continuum is antithetical to that of Aristotle, as its key point is to substantiate the possibility of a continuum made of indivisibles (or, to use more up-to-date language, of infinitesimals) as a new philosophical orthodoxy. (shrink)

This volume presents the first Italian translation with commentary of the Doric Pseudo-Pythagorean texts, which are ascribed to Archytas and Brontinus and deal with metaphysical, logical, and epistemological questions. These texts probably date from the 1st century BCE and are the product of a re-emerging dogmatic interpretation of Plato's dialogues.

In _Aristotle’s Empiricism_, Jean De Groot argues that an important part of Aristotle’s natural philosophy has remained largely unexplored and shows that much of Aristotle’s analysis of natural movement is influenced by the logic and concepts of mathematical mechanics that emerged from late Pythagorean thought. De Groot draws upon the pseudo-Aristotelian_ Physical Problems_ XVI to reconstruct the context of mechanics in Aristotle’s time and to trace the development of kinematic thinking from Archytas to the Aristotelian _Mechanics_. She shows (...) the influence of kinematic thinking on Aristotle’s concept of power or potentiality, which she sees as having a physicalistic meaning originating in the problem of movement. De Groot identifies the source of early mechanical knowledge in kinesthetic awareness of mechanical advantage, showing the relation of Aristotle’s empiricism to more ancient experience. The book sheds light on the classical Greek understanding of imitation and device, as it questions both the claim that Aristotle’s natural philosophy codifies opinions held by convention and the view that the cogency of his scientific ideas depends on metaphysics. (shrink)

Ancient Greek music was purely or predominantly melodic; and in such music subtleties of intonation count for much. If our sources of information about the intervals used in Greek music are not always easy to interpret, they are at any rate fairly voluminous. On the one hand we have Aristoxenus, by whom musical intervals were regarded spatially and combined and subdivided by the processes of addition and subtraction; for him the octave consisted of six tones, and the tone was exactly (...) divisible into fractions such as the half and quarter, so that the fourth was equal to two tones and a half, the fifth to three tones and a half, and so on. On the other hand we have preserved for us in Ptolemy's Harmonics the computations of a number of mathematicians, who realized correctly that intervals could only be expressed as ratios , that the octave was less than the sum of six whole tones and that this tone could not be divided into equal parts. These authorities are Archytas, the Pythagorean of the early fourth century, Eratosthenes , Didymus and Ptolemy himself . To these we must add the scale of Plato's Timaeus and, closely related to it, the computations of the pseudo-Philolaus and of Boethius himself . Aristoxenus is less easy to understand than the mathematicians because of the unscientific nature of his postulates. His importance, however, is very great, not only from his comparatively early date but because he claims to champion the direct musical consciousness against the scientific approach of some of his predecessors and contemporaries. (shrink)

Archytas of Tarentum is one of the three most important philosophers in the Pythagorean tradition, a prominent mathematician, who gave the first solution to the famous problem of doubling the cube, an important music theorist, and the leader of a powerful Greek city-state. He is famous for sending a trireme to rescue Plato from the clutches of the tyrant of Syracuse, Dionysius II, in 361 BC. This 2005 study was the first extensive enquiry into Archytas' work in any (...) language. It contains original texts, English translations and a commentary for all the fragments of his writings and for all testimonia concerning his life and work. In addition there are introductory essays on Archytas' life and writings, his philosophy, and the question of authenticity. Carl A. Huffman presents an interpretation of Archytas' significance both for the Pythagorean tradition and also for fourth-century Greek thought, including the philosophies of Plato and Aristotle. (shrink)

Patrick L. Miller - Archytas of Tarentum: Pythagorean, Philosopher, and Mathematician-King - Journal of the History of Philosophy 46:1 Journal of the History of Philosophy 46.1 165-166 Muse Search Journals This Journal Contents Reviewed by Patrick Lee Miller Duquesne University Carl Huffman, Archytas of Tarentum: Pythagorean, Philosopher, and Mathematician-King. Cambridge-New York: Cambridge University Press, 2005. Pp. xv + 665. Cloth, $180.00. Archytas of Tarentum has in some ages been considered a major philosopher. He was one of the (...) three most important early Pythagoreans—along with Philolaus and Pythagoras himself—and so his reputation has risen and fallen with the popularity of this movement. When Pythagoreanism captivated some Romans at the end of the Republic, they championed him as a native talent; much later, some medieval Europeans inflated him into one of the great wise men of the ancient world. But Pythagoreanism has ebbed in recent centuries, and Archytas is now known only to specialists in ancient philosophy, and even then only by acquaintance from a few passages of Plato and.. (shrink)

Pseudo-Dionysius’ first principle is hyperousios. By definition, that concept is not theistic. In his oeuvre, however, Pseudo-Dionysius promotes Trinitarianism. A majority of Pseudo-Dionysius’ interpreters have maintained that these concepts are compatible. This article makes a case for the incoherence of that position.

A pseudotree is a partially ordered set for which is a linear ordering for each . Define , the pseudo treealgebra over T, as the subalgebra of the power set of T generated by where . It is shown that every pseudo treealgebra is embeddable into an interval algebra; thus it is a retractive Boolean algebra. Moreover, superatomicity of is described using conditions on.

In Lucian's highly competitive and exhibitionist world, hyper-Atticism, the use of recondite, archaic words for the sake of impression, has become a sort of plague. In this article, I discuss how Lexiphanes focuses precisely on the literal and metaphorical associations of hyper-Atticism as a disease, by paying particular attention on the medical verdict - articulated in the text by Lucian's authorial double, Lycinus - that the dialogue's eponymous character suffers from melancholia. Rather than constitute a passing reference to the colloquial (...) vocabulary of insanity, melancholia, I argue, helps Lucian forcefully assimilate the accumulation of pretentious words to the raving of the insane, a non-sensical blabbering that is void of meaning. At the same time, Lucian aims also to expose the presence of melancholy in the cultural and medical idiom of his time as a disease that typically affects 'great spirits', people of exceptional intelligence. By calling Lexiphanes 'melancholic', Lucian scolds Lexiphanes' pretentiousness both as a hyper-Atticist and, no less importantly, as a pseudo-intellectual who is shaping his public image, temperamentally and physiognomically, as a genius whose atrabilious constitution entitles him to act and speak in strange ways. (shrink)

In Archytas of Tarentum, Carl Huffman reconstructs Archytas’ theory of definition by linking definitions to the mathematical study of ratios and proportions. This paper considers whether and how Archytas used definitions and whether he possessed a theory of definition. Our evidence does not support the claim that Archytas has a theory of definition, and his approach to the science of harmonics suggests that he relied on analogies and proportions in the practice of inquiry. We understand sounds (...) and other entities by placing them in a network of relations governed by mathematical proportions. Although he does not seem to have formulated definitions of sound, Archytas pursued inquiry into motion and rest by formulating definitions in such a way that they fit into a larger network of causal explanations. (shrink)

Les nombreux débats conflictuels entourant l’application du principe de grève de masse au sein du Parti social-démocrate allemand témoignent de la lente agonie des idéaux marxistes au sein de ce parti de masse. La fragile victoire des idéaux prônés par la faction radicale du Parti contre ceux des réformistes, entre 1900 et 1906, connaît un retour de balancier sans appel après la première révolution russe. De 1906 à 1910, la logique légalo-parlementaire allait progressivement devenir la seule voie légitime aux yeux (...) des dirigeants du Parti. Ce changement de tactique et de stratégie visant à conquérir le pouvoir, sera grandement contesté par plusieurs militants influents du Parti. Le conflit intellectuel entre Rosa Luxemburg et Karl Kautsky, qui éclata publiquement en 1910 alors que les mouvements contestataires en Allemagne étaient très forts, nous permet de comprendre, par l’analyse du discours de ces penseurs marxistes, les raisons qui conduisirent le SPD à ne pas appliquer la grève de masse. Ceci, alors qu’une motion favorable à ce principe avait été votée en 1905 lors du Congrès d’Iéna. Du point de vue pseudo-sérendipien qui était le sien, Luxemburg croyait fermement que la temporalité était favorable à l’application de la grève de masse. L’interprétation temporelle et électoraliste de Kautsky l’amènera plutôt à critiquer les effets pseudo-sérendipiens, non contrôlés par le SPD, entourant ce type d’action politique. (shrink)

One of the few studies to date which considers in a comprehensive way the relation between these remarkable thinkers. By concrete example and continual reference it illustrates both the pervasive influence of Pseudo-Dionysius and the profound originality of Aquinas.

Este artículo se concentra en la discusión crítica que Pseudo Justino dirigió hacia ciertos principios básicos de la filosofía de la naturaleza de Aristóteles. Pseudo Justino dirige su crítica a la doctrina aristotélica de la eternidad del movimiento, del tiempo y del mundo. También argumenta contra Aristóteles para mostrar la no-eternidad del éter, implicando una unificación de los reinos terrestre y celestial.

This article examines Pseudo-Aristotle’s Risālat al-Tuffāḥa or Kitāb al-Tuffāḥa (Lat. Liber de Pomo, Eng. The Book of the Apple) in terms of its history, possible authorship, and manuscripts, presents an overview of its contents and includes a critical edition of its complete Arabic version, which has never been critically edited before. The edition is based on the manuscript closest to the original Arabic version of the treatise, and a comparison with a second complete manuscript was made. The present article (...) argues that Risālat al-Tuffāḥa was first compiled in Arabic within al-Kindī’s circle, then appropriated by Bāṭinī-Ismāʿīlī and Hermetic traditions, and circulated in the literature of gnomologia and the books of ṭabaqāt. However, it was not an acceptable treatise according to Mashshāʾī philosophers due to their emphasis on scientificity and awareness of its pseudepigraphy. Moreover, the Hebrew-Latin tradition’s interest in the treatise is notable, as it was part of their broader effort to appropriate all of Aristotle’s works, thereby facilitating the acceptance of philosophy in Jewish and Christian societies. Consequently, Pseudo-Aristotle’s Risālat al-Tuffāḥa is a religious-philosophical work that facilitated the reconciliation of philosophy and religion and was circulated in the Islamic, Jewish, and Christian worlds for this very reason. (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:American Journal of Philology 128.1 (2007) 133-137MuseSearchJournalsThis JournalContents[Access article in PDF]Reviewed byLiba Taub University of Cambridge [email protected] A. Huffman. Archytas of Tarentum: Pythagorean, Philosopher, and Mathematician King. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005. xvi + 665 pp. Cloth, $175.Diogenes Laertius described Archytas of Tarentum as "the one who rescued Plato by means of a letter, when he was about to be killed by Dionysius," adding that "he was (...) also admired among the multitude for every virtue" (Lives of the Philosophers 8.79, trans. Huffman, 256). Archytas is known to historians of ancient philosophy for his connection to Plato, although the precise nature of the relationship is, as Huffman explains, not entirely clear. Archytas' work on mathematics and harmonics and his thought experiment regarding the limits of the universe have attracted the attention of scholars particularly interested in history and philosophy of science. But prior to this volume, there has been no book-length study of Archytas of Tarentum (as Huffman notes, O. F. Gruppe's Über die Fragmente des Archytas und der ältern Pythagoreer [Berlin, 1840] was not concerned with understanding Archytas' thought but with arguing that no authentic fragments survive). Huffman's work will serve as the definitive study of Archytas.Overall, Huffman presents a very carefully considered account of Archytas' life, his work, and his influence. The study is meticulous in its detail, and Huffman writes engagingly and with humor. Furthermore, the merit of the volume is not confined to its usefulness for understanding Archytas and the history of Pythagorean thought. The subtitle of the volume—Pythagorean, Philosopher, and Mathematician King—only hints at the wealth of topics dealt with in the book. Through his detailed commentary, Huffman has produced a study that will be valuable for historians of philosophy, science, mathematics, and music who are more generally interested in problems such as the geometrical duplication of the cube and the division of the tetrachords in harmonics. Huffman's commentary engages closely and critically with the literature, providing an up-to-date review of relevant scholarship as well as fresh interpretations of some of the material. His thorough treatment of numerous issues and problems will be a valued resource for readers and encourage further discussion and study.Huffman's study of Archytas is divided into three parts: the first consists of several introductory essays concerned with "Life, writings, and reception," "The philosophy of Archytas," and "The authenticity question." The second part is devoted to the genuine fragments, and the third to the genuine testimonia; both of these provide the texts, translations, and very detailed and enormously useful commentary. One appendix deals with spurious writings and testimonia; another focuses on Archytas' name.As Huffman explains, the texts usually regarded as spurious far outnumber those that are thought to be genuine: only about one-hundred lines of text attributed to Archytas and printed in Diels-Kranz (Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker (6th ed. [Dublin and Zürich, 1952], henceforth DK) are usually regarded as genuine, while over twelve-hundred lines of almost certainly spurious texts are [End Page 133] collected in H. Thesleff, The Pythagorean Texts of the Hellenistic Period (Åbo, 1965). Huffman, who clearly describes his criteria of judgment (97–100, and in the relevant portions of the commentary), accepts basically the same canon of four fragments as DK, although, as he explains, for somewhat different reasons, and he supplements the testimonia with some overlooked by DK. Tackling the problems posed by the "hodgepodge" of Attic, Doric, Lesbian, and Epic forms preserved in the manuscripts, Huffman has adopted the general approach of DK, only printing the Doric forms when they are found in manuscripts or strongly suggested by manuscript readings (xiv).Archytas was renowned in antiquity for a number of reasons. He was credited, controversially, with having intervened on Plato's behalf in order to rescue him from Dionysius II of Syracuse. He was also elected stratēgos numerous (arguably seven) times in Tarentum. And he was credited with having offered solutions to problems in geometry and harmonics, as... (shrink)

This paper explores the influence of the fifth-century Christian Neoplatonist Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite (Denys) on the twentieth-century philosopher of science Paul Feyerabend. I argue that the later Feyerabend took from Denys a metaphysical claim—the ‘doctrine of ineffability’—intended to support epistemic pluralism. The paper has five parts. Part one introduces Denys and Feyerabend’s common epistemological concern to deny the possibility of human knowledge of ultimate reality. Part two examines Denys’ arguments for the ‘ineffability’ of God as presented in On the (...) Divine Names . Part three then explores how Feyerabend imported Denys’ account of divine ineffability into his own metaphysics to provide a novel argument for epistemic pluralism. Part four explains the significance of an appreciation of Dionyius’ influence for our understanding of Feyerabend. I conclude that Denys was a significant and neglected influence upon the later Feyerabend. (shrink)

We develop and test a model of pseudo-transformational leadership. Pseudo-transformational leadership is manifested by a particular combination of transformational leadership behaviors, and is differentiated from both transformational leadership and laissez-faire -leadership. Survey data from senior managers show differential outcomes of transformational, pseudo-transformational, and laissez-faire leadership. Possible extensions of the theoretical model and directions for future research are offered.

This paper presents a short analysis of the so-called ‘conservative turn’ in contemporary Russia. This ‘turn’ is examined in the context of the previous development of Russian conservatism, particularly its degradation into imitational bureaucratic conservatism in the second half of the nineteenth century. I argue that this ‘new conservatism’ in contemporary Russian politics reflects this degradation and is, in fact, a pseudo-conservatism which has no conservative core but rather an ad hoc (tactical, pseudo-historical, anti-intellectual) character. I also argue (...) that we need to revise our understanding of contemporary autocracies in light of this phenomenon, which is deeply connected to the worldwide crisis of conservatism. (shrink)

Pseudo‐mechanistic explanations in psychology and cognitive neuroscienceThis paper focuses on the level of systems/cognitive neuroscience. It argues that the great majority of explanations in psychology and cognitive neuroscience is “pseudo‐mechanistic.” On the basis of various case studies, Hommel argues that cognitive neuroscience should move beyond what he calls an “Aristotelian phase” to become a mature “Galilean” science seeking to discover actual mechanisms of cognitive phenomena.

Pseudo-patient studies are studies in which a medical sociologist or anthropologist masquerades as a patient. Medical treatment is sought without revealing that the 'patient' is really a covert research worker. When access has thus been gained to a medical setting--typically a hospital ward--social interaction between medical staff and patients is then observed over a period of days or weeks. Important studies have been carried out in this way of psychiatric treatment and of the care of the terminally-ill. Is the (...) use of the method justified? What ethical problems does its use raise? How do the undoubted advantages of the approach compare with the clear drawbacks and objections which can be made to its use? (shrink)

Pseudo-appeals to conscience stress that the dictates of conscience are always either morally obligatory or at least not morally wrong. These appeals are untenable. They result in an indefensible moral relativism. They should be abandoned.