Earliest Greek Philosophers



Earliest Greek Philosophers

Introduction

In this assignment, the accounts of human excellence will be elucidated in the history of human thought, from the ancient Greek and Roman time, through the Medieval Age and Early Modern Age, to the Modern Age and contemporary civilization. The historical approach provides a survey of the various views and concepts on human excellence, which were changing in time. By exploring these concepts, one will find out that there are some constant themes in the considerations of human excellence, despite the shifts in the historical contexts and circumstances. A historical approach will be combined with the cross-cultural approach, which implies a comparison of the accounts of human excellence in different cultures. Further, a cross-cultural approach offers a comparison of the accounts of human excellence in the Western tradition to those of China, India, the Islamic world, and Russia. Therefore, all issues related to earliest Greek philosophers will be discussed in detail.

Archaic Greece

The Greek word for excellence is arête (plural aretai), which functions as an abstract noun derived from the adjective good, and means the quality of being good. Originally, it was not only attributed to human beings, but also to inanimate things, human organs, animals, and so forth. A thing has arête if it performs its characteristic function efficiently. The aretai do not designate any single human feature, but those features making an excellent person. Thus, it was contextualized to mean competence in any field of military, political, athletic, and ordinary life. Although the word arête rarely appears in Homer's epics, he was the first Greek author to depict it. He talks of a variety of aretai: arête of gods, women, children, even animals and body parts. Nevertheless, the paradigm of excellence is a man, or more specific, a warrior. His qualities are primarily courage, strength, competitiveness, and cunningness. These excellences are manifested in the actions aimed at honors, glory, and social prestige. The moral aretai, like nobility, dignity, and being humane, are not attributed to the Greek heroes, but to Priamus and Hector, the king and the prince from the enemy side.

The pre-Socratic philosophers, whose main concern was the physical world, did not pay much attention to the question of arête in particular and moral issues in general. It is, consequently, only randomly mentioned in their works. A common characteristic could be noticed in their reflections on arête, and, that is the priority given to intellectual over physical, athletic, and, competitive excellences. The new model of arête is no longer a warrior, but a wise man. For example, Xenophanes (ca. 570-480 BCE), who takes political usefulness as a criterion for arête, thinks that the wisdom of poets can contribute to the well-being of the polis more than qualities of an athletic champion. Heraclitus (1987) also held that “highest arête” is the intellectual excellence: “sound thinking,” which manifests in our saying, “what is true and acting in accordance with the real constitution”. In Democritus' philosophy, a specific moral use of arête emerges, ...