THE HELLENISTIC-ROMAN
PHILOSOPHY
WHEN?: 4TH CENT BC-6TH CENT AD.
 SOCIO-POLITICAL BACKGROUND:A MAJOR
CHANGE FROM THE GREEK CITY-STATE
CULTURE TO A COSMOPOLITAN EMPIRE
MENTALITY; GREECE = PART OF THE
ROMAN EMPIRE
 MAIN CHARACTERISTICS:
COSMOPOLITANISM & INDIVIDUALISM;
ETHICAL & PRACTICAL INTERESTS;
CULTIVATION OF SPECIAL SCIENCES
 SCHOOLS: STOICISM, EPICUREANISM,
SKEPTICISM, NEO-PLATONISM

3 PHASES OF HELLENISTICROMAN PHILOSOPHY
END OF 4TH CENT-MIDLLE OF 1ST CENT
BC: FOUNDING OF STOICISM &
EPICUREANISM – EMPHASIS ON
CONDUCT & ATTAINMENT OF PERSONAL
HAPPINESS; SCEPTICISM OF PYRRHO AS
COUNTERPART  ECLECTICISM
(2) MID OF 1ST CENT BC TO MID OF 3RD CENT
AD: SCEPTICISM & ECLECTICISM
CONTINUED, RETURN TO
PHILOSOPHICAL ORTHODOXY
(1)
3 PHASES OF HELLENISTICROMAN PHILOSOPHY
(3) MID OF 3RD CENT AD – 6TH CENT AD;
IN ALEXANDRIA, NEO-PLATONISM UP
TO THE MID OF 7TH CENT AD;
COMBINATION OF VALUABLE
ELEMENTS IN THE PHILOSOPHIC
DOCTRINES OF EAST & WEST IN ONE
COMPREHENSIVE SYSTEM
STOICISM: ORIGINS

INFLUENCED BY
(1) HERACLITUS’ DOCTRINE OF
PERPETUAL FLUX GUIDED BY LOGOS,
ELITE INTELLECTUALS VS MULTITUDE;
(2) SOCRATES = MORAL HERO; (3) PLATO:
THE IMPORTANCE OF MORALITY &
ABSOLUTE VIRTUES; (4) ARISTOTLE:
GEOCENTRIC COMOLOGY; (5) THE
CYNICS/MORAL ASCETISM; (6) THE
MEGARICS: SPIRIT OF MONISM &
PREOCCUPATION WITH LOGICAL
SUBTLETIES
STOICISM IDEAL OF PHILOSOPHY

PHILOSOPHY AS A WAY OF LIFE & A
VOCATION, SURGERY OF THE SOUL
 PHILOSOPHER: DEDICATED TO THE
SEARCH FOR VIRTUE & MORAL
DISCIPLINE, MUST LEAD A SIMPLE LIFE
WITHOUG NEGLECTING APPEARANCE
LIKE THE CYNICS
 3 INTERRELATED PARTS: LOGIC (fence),
PHYSICS (soil) & ETHICS (crops)
EARLY STOA

FOUNDED BY ZENO OF CITIUM (336-264
BC)-DOGMATIST & PERFECTIONIST
 DOCTRINES: (1) MONISM-PANTHEISTIC
COSMOLOGY; THE UNIVERSE IS GUIDED
BY LOGOS WHICH GIVES FORM AND
MEANING TO THE WORLD PROCESS; (2)
ETHICS OF PERSONAL HAPPINESS BY FREE
DECISION TO LIVE IN CONFORMITY WITH
NATURE ACC TO UNIVERSAL LOGOS &
APATHETIC INDIFFERENCE TO IMPULSIVE
EMOTIONS
 (3) MAN: PRIMARILY NATURAL BORN
CITIZEN OF THE COSMOPOLIS, &
SECONDARILY MEMBER OF A POLIS
MIDDLE STOA
2ND-1ST CENT BC: PANAETIUS &
POSEIDONIUS
 PROCESS OF HUMANIZATION: SEVERE &
HARSH TEACHINGS WERE REPLACED BY
THE MORE GENTLE & SOCIAL DOCTRINES
OF PLATONICS & ARISTOTELIAN ETHICS
 MORE ECLECTIC & SUITABLE TO THE
PRACTICAL-MINDED ROMANS
 REJECTED THE IDEAL OF APATHEIA

LATER/ROMAN STOA
1ST – 2ND CENT AD
 SENECA, EPICTETUS, MARCUS AURELIUS
 BECAME MORE PRACTICAL & CLOSELY IN
TOUCH WITH THE DEMANDS OF DAILY
LIFE; NO SHARP A DIFFERENCE BTW THE
WISE MEN VS THE MULTITUDE; MORAL
VIRTUE CAN BE OBTAINED ONLY
THROUGH GRADUAL LEARNING &
INCREASING PRACTICE
 MORE STRESS WAS PLACED ON
EXTERNAL THINGS, e.g. PROPERTY

LATER/ROMAN STOA

THE CONCEPT OF NATURAL LAW
WHICH GIVES CERTAIN RIGHTS TO
ALL PEOPLE WAS ELABORATED AND
UNIVERSALIZED
 PRIMARILY CONCERNED WITH
MORALITY
EPICUREANISM

FOUNDER: EPICURUS OF SAMOS (342 ORIGINS: INFLUENCED BY (1)
DEMOCRITUS’ ATOMISM & MECHANICAL
INTERPRETATION OF THE UNIVERSE;
MATERIALIST PHYSICS (2) THE SOPHISTS’S
BELIEF IN SANSATION AS THE STANDARD
OF KNOWLEDGE & ANTI RELIGIOUS
ABSOLUTISM; (3) THE CYRENAICS:
PLEASURE = THE GOAL OF LIFE (good food,
elegant clothing, luxurious homes, abundance of
wealth); EPICUREANISM: MORE
INTELLECTUAL, SYSTEMATIZED &
COMPLICATED THEN CYRENAISCISM
EPICUREANISM

ANTI ALL FORM OF SUPERSTITION &
POPULAR RELIGION
 KNOWLEDGE IS BASED ON SENSE
PERCEPTION, NO A PRIORI KNOWLEDGE
BASED ON REASON; URGING TENTATIVE
EVALUATIONS & TENTATIVE
CONCLUSIONS; TRUE KNOLWEGE
LIBERATES, WIDENS OUR PERSPECTIVE, &
LEADS TO A GENUINE APPRECIATION OF
THE UNIVERSE.
EPICUREANISM

HEDONISTIC ETHICS: HAPPINESS BY
ATARAXIA (SERENITY OF THE SOUL), THE
ABSENCE OF PAIN & THE ABSENCE OF
FEAR OF DESTINY, FEAR OF DEATH, FEAR
OF GODS
 PLEASURE = FREEDOM FROM PAIN IN THE
BODY AND FROM TROUBLE IN THE MIND;
PERMANENT STATE OF PLEASURE IS
ACQUIRED THROUGH PRUDENCE
SKEPTICISM

A REVOLT VS THE DOGMATIC
AFFIRMATIONS OF THE STOICS &
EPICUREANS; WISDOM = EPOCHE,
SUSPENSION OF JUDGMENT
 3 STAGES: (1) PYRRHO OF ELLIS (360-270
BC), REACTION VS DOGMATISM &
DISSAGREEMENTS OF DIFF SCHOOLS; (2)
PLATONIC MIDDLE ACADEM,Y 3RD CENT
BC -1ST CENT AD; (3) 1ST CENT AD-2ND CENT
AD: A SYSTEMATIC STATE OF DOUBT
SKEPTICISM

TORN BY INNER CONTRADICTIONS &
TENSION: DOGMATICALLY SELFSATISFIED WITH A SYSTEMATIC EPOCHE;
DOUBTFUL OF DOGMATISTS, YET
DOGMATIC IN HIS DOUBT
 URGES ONE TO FOLLOW PERCEPTIONS,
SATISFY NATURAL INSTINCTS, ABIDE BY
TRADITIONS, PURSUE SCIENCE, &
CULTIVATE THE ARTS FOR THEIR UTILITY
 OFFERS BOTH NEGATIVE & POSITIVE
ASPECTS
SKEPTICISM: INFLUENCE

WEAKENING OF THE PILLARS OF THE
STOIC & EPICUREAN SCHOOLS
 THE RISE OF ECLECTICISM, IN LINE WITH
THE PRACTICAL MIND OF THE ROMANS
 WELLKNOWN ROMAN ECLECTICS: CICERO
(106-43 BC) – CONSENSUS GENTIUM;
RELIED ON PROBABILITY AS HIS GUIDE
GENERAL CONCLUSION

STOICISM, EPICUREANISM, SKEPTICISM, &
ECLECTICISM ALL SHOWS COMMON SIGN
OF DECADENCE: (1) POVERTY OF
ORIGINAL THEORETICAL THOUGHT; (2)
ONE-SIDED DEVELOPMENT OF
PHILOSOPHY AS PRACTICAL WISDOM; (3)
THE ENTHRONEMENT OF ETHICS AS THE
RULING SCIENCE WITH
PHYSICS/METAPHYSICS AS SERVANT; (4)
THOROUGHGOING MATERIALISM
 THE AUTUMN OF ANCIENT PHILOSOPHY
GENERAL CONCLUSION

SOME POSITIVE CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE
HELLENISTIC-ROMAN PHILOSOPHY: (1)
THE RISE OF THE NEW INTELLECTUAL
CENTERS BESIDE ATHENS (ANTIOCH,
RHODES, PERGAMUM, ALEXANDRIA); (2)
INCREASED SPECIALIZATION OF
LEARNING; (3) MORE INTEREST IN
PRACTICAL PHILOSOPHY; (4) THE
LIBERATING INFLUENCE OF SKEPTICISM:
ANTI-FOUNDATIONALISM & DOGMATISM