Take up the thread again. The fifth century BCE has ended. Athens
Has lost the Peloponnesian War. The golden age of classical
Greece is over. But Greek civilization does not end in four-oh-four
BCE. It continues through the fourth century BCE with a different
Character. Less politically dominant, certainly—the city-states
Are weaker, the cultural energy is more diffuse. But in some
Ways more philosophically rigorous, more systematically organized,
More intellectually mature. And the fourth century would produce
The two philosophers whose influence would eclipse even that of
Their Athenian predecessors: Plato and Aristotle. And it would
Produce Alexander the Great, who would take Greek civilization
Itself, via conquest, across three continents.
Begin with Plato
In his mature phase. The Gaiad introduced him in the previous
Chapter as Socrates's student and the founder of the Academy.
His early dialogues preserve, or appear to preserve, Socrates's
Method and characteristic concerns: questioning people about
Ethical terms (justice, courage, piety), exposing their confident
Ignorance, leaving the conversation without arriving at firm
Definitions. These "elenctic" dialogues—Euthyphro, Laches,
Charmides, parts of Gorgias—are small masterpieces of
Philosophical drama. Then come the middle dialogues, in which
Plato begins to develop his own philosophical positions. Republic,
Phaedo, Symposium, Phaedrus. These are the works most commonly
Associated with "Platonism." They present the theory of the
Forms—the claim that behind every particular instance of a
Quality (this beautiful statue, this just action, this triangular
Shape) lies an ideal Form (Beauty itself, Justice itself, the
Triangle itself) that exists more truly and eternally than any
Material instantiation. The Forms are apprehended by reason
Rather than sense. They constitute ultimate reality. And the
Philosopher's task is to ascend from the world of particulars to
The contemplation of the Forms—a process metaphorically depicted
In the Allegory of the Cave, perhaps the most famous passage
In Plato's corpus. Most people, Plato writes, are like prisoners
Chained in a cave, watching shadows on the wall and believing
Them to be reality. The philosopher is the one who escapes the
Cave, climbs up into the sunlight, sees things as they really
Are, and then—painfully—returns to the cave to try to educate
The other prisoners about the truth. The philosopher's task is
To drag others out of illusion into knowledge, despite their
Resistance. This allegory has obvious autobiographical resonance:
Plato's teacher Socrates was executed for attempting just such
An educational mission. It also has political implications.
Plato's Republic argues that ideal political societies would
Be ruled by philosopher-kings—by those who had made the
Ascending journey to the Forms and therefore knew what was truly
Good, just, and beautiful. Democracy, Plato argued, produces only
The rule of opinion and self-interest; it elevates demagogues
Rather than wise rulers. The ideal city would have a strict
Social hierarchy: philosophers at the top, warrior-guardians
Below them, and ordinary producers (farmers, craftsmen, traders)
At the base, each performing the function for which they were
Best suited. This is a profoundly anti-democratic political
Philosophy, and it is worth noting that Plato wrote it after
His teacher had been executed by an Athenian democratic jury.
Plato's political vision should be read in light of that trauma.
He did not trust democratic judgment. He wanted the wise to rule.
His vision has influenced authoritarian and elitist political
Traditions across the centuries—sometimes for better (elite
Expertise in technocratic government) and sometimes for worse
(The various "philosopher kings" of political history tend, in
Practice, to be tyrants). The late dialogues—Parmenides, Sophist,
Statesman, Philebus, Laws, Timaeus—show Plato revising
And complicating his earlier positions. In Parmenides, he
Subjects his own theory of the Forms to searching self-criticism.
In Laws, his last great work, he abandons the philosopher-king
Ideal and describes a more practical constitutional framework
With extensive legal codification. In Timaeus, he offers a
Cosmological speculation about the structure of the universe—
A text that would prove enormously influential on later
Neoplatonism, Christian theology, and even early modern science.
Plato's work is vast, varied, and endlessly generative. It would
Be the single most-read philosophical corpus in human history
Until the late modern period. And the Academy he founded in
Athens continued to operate, in various forms, for nearly nine
Centuries—until the Christian emperor Justinian closed it in
Five-twenty-nine CE. It was the longest-lived institution of
Higher learning in antiquity, and its closure symbolically marked
The end of classical Greek philosophy's institutional continuity.
Into
The Academy as a young student came a remarkable Macedonian:
Aristotle (three-eighty-four to three-twenty-two BCE), born in
Stagira in northern Greece, son of the court physician to the
Macedonian royal family. He studied with Plato for twenty years,
Until Plato's death. He was passed over for leadership of the
Academy and left Athens. He spent several years traveling and
Studying—on the island of Lesbos, where he conducted pioneering
Biological research; at the court of Assos, where he worked
With other philosophers. Then, around three-forty-three BCE, he
Was summoned back to Macedon to tutor the young Alexander,
Heir to the Macedonian throne. For several years Aristotle
Served as the prince's teacher—one of the most extraordinary
Pedagogical relationships in history, though we have only
Fragmentary evidence of what Aristotle actually taught Alexander
Or how it influenced him. After Alexander's accession, Aristotle
Returned to Athens and founded his own school, the Lyceum (also
Called the Peripatetic school, from the covered walkway where
Teaching took place). He spent the next twelve years at the Lyceum,
Producing and teaching from an enormous body of philosophical
And scientific work. Upon Alexander's death in three-twenty-three
BCE, anti-Macedonian sentiment in Athens turned against
Aristotle (who was seen as too close to the Macedonian court).
He fled to Chalcis, where he died the following year.
Aristotle's
Surviving works—mostly in the form of lecture notes rather than
Polished treatises—cover nearly the entire range of ancient
Knowledge. Logic (the Organon—Categories, On Interpretation,
Prior Analytics, Posterior Analytics, Topics, Sophistical Refutations).
Natural philosophy (the Physics, On the Heavens, Meteorology,
On Generation and Corruption). Biology (the History of Animals,
Parts of Animals, Movement of Animals, Generation of Animals).
Psychology (the De Anima and the Parva Naturalia). Metaphysics
(The work that gave us the very term "metaphysics"—literally
"After the physics," because it was placed after the physical
Works in the ancient edition). Ethics (the Nicomachean Ethics and
The Eudemian Ethics). Politics. Rhetoric. Poetics. Each of these
Works would be foundational for its respective discipline.
Aristotle's influence on the development of Western thought is,
Along with Plato's and Augustine's, one of the three or four
Most important. His logic would remain essentially unchanged for
Two thousand years, until Frege and Russell in the late
Nineteenth and early twentieth centuries CE developed modern
Formal logic. His biology would remain the foundation of natural
History until Darwin. His ethical theory—virtue ethics grounded
In the concept of the telos or end of human life, flourishing
(eudaimonia) as the realization of human potential—would
Structure moral philosophy until the early modern period, and
Would be revived in the late twentieth century by philosophers
Like Alasdair MacIntyre and Martha Nussbaum as an alternative
To Kantian and utilitarian approaches. His Poetics would define
The terms of literary theory through the Renaissance—the concepts
Of mimesis, catharsis, unity of action, tragic hero, the three
Unities—are all Aristotelian. And his Metaphysics would be the
Primary template for ontological inquiry in both the Christian
And Islamic philosophical traditions. Medieval Muslim philosophers
Like al-Farabi and Averroes produced extensive commentaries on
Aristotle. Medieval Christian theologians like Thomas Aquinas
Constructed their entire theological systems as syntheses of
Aristotle with Christian revelation. Dante placed Aristotle at
The head of the philosophers in Limbo, "the master of those
Who know." For seven hundred years, across multiple civilizations,
Aristotle was the Philosopher. His dominance was so complete
That the beginning of the modern period was partly defined as
The overthrow of Aristotelian authority—Galileo, Descartes,
Bacon all had to break with Aristotle to establish their new
Science and philosophy. Breaking with him took effort because
His systematic coverage was so complete. He had provided
Answers—plausible answers—to so many questions that moving beyond
Him required developing entirely new frameworks. The effort to
Do so is substantially the effort that produced modern thought.
And even now, in philosophical ethics, in biology, in logic,
In literary theory, Aristotle's work continues to be read and
Engaged with. He is not a closed book. He is a living interlocutor.
And alongside Plato and Aristotle, the fourth century produced
Other major philosophical schools. Cynicism, founded by Antisthenes
And made famous by Diogenes of Sinope, taught radical simplicity,
Self-sufficiency, and contempt for social conventions. Diogenes,
Who lived in a large barrel in the marketplace of Athens and
Made a career of shocking social propriety, was the archetype of
The philosophical provocateur. When Alexander the Great reportedly
Visited him and asked if there was anything he could do for the
Great philosopher, Diogenes supposedly replied, "Yes, stand a
Little out of my sunlight." The story is almost certainly apocryphal,
But it captures the Cynic ethos: the world's greatest conqueror
Has no power over the philosopher who has chosen to need nothing.
Cynic philosophy would evolve into Stoicism, which we will
Meet in a later chapter. Skepticism, founded by Pyrrho of Elis
(Who, by tradition, traveled with Alexander's expedition to India
And was influenced by Indian philosophy he encountered there),
Taught the suspension of judgment on all claims to knowledge.
The Pyrrhonist argued that for every proposition one might
Believe, equally persuasive arguments could be offered on either
Side, and therefore the wise course was to withhold assent and
Live in tranquil indifference. This radical epistemological
Position would influence Hellenistic philosophy and later
Intellectual traditions. Epicureanism, founded by Epicurus
(Three-forty-one to two-seventy BCE, working at the very edge of
Our fourth-century frame), taught that pleasure—understood as
Freedom from physical pain and mental disturbance (ataraxia)—
Was the highest good. Epicurus's philosophy was a materialistic,
Atomistic view of nature derived from Democritus, combined with
An ethical program aimed at serene happiness through simple
Living, friendship, and the avoidance of needless fears (especially
Fear of the gods and fear of death). Epicureanism would flourish
For centuries and be given classical expression by the Roman
Poet Lucretius in the first century BCE. The school survived
Until late antiquity before being suppressed by Christianity.
These are only the most prominent schools. The philosophical
Diversity of fourth-century Greece was astonishing. It was a
Landscape of competing intellectual traditions, each with its
Own masters, its own texts, its own disciples, its own practices.
And it would continue to be so for centuries. The Hellenistic
And Roman philosophical traditions all emerged from this fourth-
Century matrix.
And now, Alexander. We will devote a full
Chapter to him shortly. Here we note only that his career
Belongs, in certain senses, to the end of classical Greece. He
Was born in Macedon—a kingdom on the northern periphery of the
Greek world, whose rulers claimed Greek descent but who were
Considered half-barbarian by the southern poleis. His father
Philip II had transformed Macedon from a peripheral kingdom
Into the dominant power of the Greek world, defeating a
Coalition of southern Greek cities at the Battle of Chaeronea
In three-thirty-eight BCE. With this victory, the independence
Of the Greek city-states effectively ended. They remained
Nominally sovereign but were forced into the League of Corinth
Under Macedonian hegemony. When Philip was assassinated in
Three-thirty-six BCE, the twenty-year-old Alexander inherited
The throne and the League. He suppressed early rebellions, then
Turned his attention to the Persian Empire. The campaign Philip
Had planned to launch against Persia became Alexander's campaign.
And from three-thirty-four to three-twenty-three BCE, Alexander
Would conquer an empire larger than anything before. But that is
For the next chapter. Here we note the philosophical-political
Context: classical Greece as a civilization of independent
City-states ended with Philip's victory and Alexander's
Inheritance. What followed was the Hellenistic world—Greek
Culture as an imperial phenomenon, spreading across three
Continents through Alexander's conquests, but no longer the
Distinctive city-state civilization that had produced Sophocles
And Socrates. The Hellenistic age would be extraordinarily
Productive in its own way—scientific advance, literary innovation,
Religious syncretism, philosophical elaboration—but it would be
A different kind of civilization. Larger, more cosmopolitan,
More bureaucratic, less politically intense. The specific conditions
That had produced classical culture—small free cities, direct
Democratic politics, intense civic competition—were gone, and they
Would not return.
So the Gaiad closes this three-part
Treatment of classical Greece. We began with the rise from the
Dark Age, the early philosophers, the Persian Wars. We continued
With the golden age of fifth-century Athens, Pericles, the
Tragedians, Socrates. We end here with the fourth-century
Maturation—Plato, Aristotle, the philosophical schools, the
End of city-state independence under Macedonian hegemony. Three
Hundred years from the first tentative philosophical speculations
Of Thales in the sixth century BCE to Aristotle's death in
Three-twenty-two BCE. Three hundred years in which a small region
Of the Mediterranean produced more foundational cultural
Achievements than any other comparable area in any other comparable
Period. Democracy, philosophy, drama, history, classical
Architecture, classical sculpture, the foundations of mathematics
And natural science—all of these, or their decisive Western
Articulations, came out of this three-century Greek efflorescence.
It is difficult to explain why. Many have tried. The usual
Answers—political freedom, competitive pluralism, leisure class
Supported by slave labor, favorable geography, contact with older
Civilizations—are all partial explanations but none is fully
Satisfying. The Greek achievement remains, in the last analysis,
Somewhat mysterious. It was the happy conjunction of many factors
In a particular place and time, and it produced results that
Continue to shape our civilization twenty-five hundred years later.
And
The Gaiad honors this achievement without idealizing it. Classical
Greece was also a slaveholding society, a misogynistic society,
A society that exploited its imperial subjects, a society whose
Achievements were limited to a small elite of free adult males.
Every student who stood at the feet of Plato or Aristotle was
Supported by slave labor. Every citizen who voted in the Athenian
Assembly did so while women, foreigners, and slaves were excluded.
These facts must be acknowledged. They do not erase the
Achievements, but they do qualify them. Classical Greek democracy
Was real democracy—for those who counted. Classical Greek reason
Was real reason—developed within a society that depended on forms
Of domination invisible to it. The subsequent history of Western
Civilization has been, in part, the project of extending the
Greek ideals to groups the Greeks themselves excluded—of
Universalizing the logic of democracy and reason to all humans.
That project continues. And in that project, we are still working
With the Greek inheritance. We are still debating the same
Foundational questions: what is justice? What is the best regime?
What is the nature of the good life? What can we know? How should
We live? These questions were articulated in classical Greece
With a clarity they had never before possessed. They have remained
Central to Western intellectual life ever since.
Classical
Greece, part three. Plato and the Academy. Aristotle and the
Lyceum. Cynics, Skeptics, Epicureans. The end of city-state
Independence at Chaeronea. The Macedonian hegemony. The
Transition to the Hellenistic world. The closing of the classical
Age.
The Greek achievement: foundational, flawed, immortal.
Stand.