Major Texts

When one thinks of ‘major texts’, worthy of a course to themselves, perhaps the most obvious candidates are Plato’s Republic and Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics. While these two works certainly do merit detailed study, they are by no means the only ancient philosophical works to deserve close attention in the classroom. Consider, for instance, the following:

• Cicero. A number of Cicero’s philosophical dialogues offer excellent introductions to the philosophical debates current in the Hellenistic period. Although there exist useful anthologies of texts for Hellenistic philosophy, these have certain drawbacks when used as textbooks. Perhaps the most obvious of these is the somewhat disjointed portrait that students receive from reading a large number of short extracts from a wide variety of ancient authors. By contrast, many of Cicero’s philosophical works offer a unified dialogue centred around a single philosophical topic. This literary unity and philosophical focus make these texts easier for students to work with, compared to an anthology of short quotations taken from a wide range of otherwise unknown authors. Of these philosophical works I suggest that four stand out as texts worthy of detailed study: Academics, On Ends, On the Nature of the Gods, and Tusculan Disputations (all produced within a single year, 45 BC). Each of these texts offers a thematic dialogue between characters from different philosophical schools who argue for opposing positions and raise objections to each other’s claims. A course built around any one of these texts will, of course, need to introduce the relevant protagonists (Stoics, Epicureans, Academic Sceptics, Antiochus) and so will also function as a general introduction to Hellenistic philosophy. However, that introduction will remain orientated by the philosophical topics central in the chosen dialogue.
• Sextus Empiricus. The Outlines of Pyrrhonism is a philosophical text of some importance and Sextus’ works formed a vital influence on early modern philosophy. Book One of the Outlines introduces the sceptical method, placing it within the context of Pyrrhonism’s primarily ethical orientation. Books Two and Three consider the opinions of the ‘dogmatists’ in the three domains of logic, physics, and ethics. The Stoics are Sextus’ principal targets here, but other dogmatists also figure in the discussion. A course centred around the Outlines would need to introduce not only the origins of scepticism (Academic and Pyrrhonic) but also the dogmatists to whom Sextus is opposed. Thus a course centred around the Outlines would also form an introduction to Hellenistic philosophy in general. An excellent annotated translation by Annas and Barnes exists (under the title Outlines of Scepticism) and this has recently been reprinted in the series ‘Cambridge Texts in the History of Philosophy’.
• Plotinus. The surviving works of Plotinus probably constitute the most important body of Greek philosophical texts to survive beyond those of Plato and Aristotle. Moreover, these texts come in the form of relatively brief essays or ‘tractates’, each with its own philosophical theme. As such they may well be ideal texts to use in the classroom. In general, there are two approaches one might use: teach the philosophy of Plotinus via selections of Enneads, or select particular Enneads for use within a thematically orientated course.

Link: Review of Plotinus editions

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