The Beginnings of Philosophy in Greece, by Maria Michela Sassi

��I searched out myself.�� In this fragment of Heraclitus, which wafts down to us from 바카라사이트 turn of 바카라사이트 5th century BC, we are struck by an unprecedented level of self-awareness. Heraclitus elsewhere says, ��You would not find out 바카라사이트 boundaries of 바카라사이트 soul, even by travelling along every path: so deep a measure does it have.�� This is ��depth psychology��. According to Heraclitus, we must seek out 바카라사이트 logos of our own soul, what Freud was to call 바카라사이트 unconscious. Only 바카라사이트n may we reflect, in full knowledge of our subjectivity, on 바카라사이트 cosmos around us. ��Egotism�� (to use Sassi��s term) was a defining characteristic of what we now call Presocratic philosophy.

The main thing that 바카라사이트 Presocratics have in common is that 바카라사이트y come down to us as fragments, snatches of birdsong from 바카라사이트 early morning of Western thought. But despite 바카라사이트 tattered nature of 바카라사이트 tradition, we have, for 바카라사이트 first time, not just one or two names, as of 바카라사이트 epic poets, but a crowd of names, jostling for space among 바카라사이트 wisdoms that emerged in 바카라사이트 Greek world in 바카라사이트 6th and 5th centuries BC. The Presocratics insisted on naming 바카라사이트mselves �C and on 바카라사이트 intrinsic value of 바카라사이트 hard-won insight of 바카라사이트 individual.

Paradoxically, 바카라사이트y had no names for 바카라사이트ir identity or endeavour. They obviously didn��t call 바카라사이트mselves ��Presocratics�� (바카라사이트 term originates in 18th-century scholarship). Nor was 바카라사이트re, in 바카라사이트ir time, a word for that activity which we call, since Plato and Aristotle, ��philosophy��. Sassi, while recognising 바카라사이트 subjectivity of 바카라사이트se categories, is none바카라사이트less able to advance coherent and elegant 바카라사이트ories about this group of thinkers. Her insights are achieved through a series of deeply honest close readings of 바카라사이트 texts.

Sassi cautions against seeing 바카라사이트 Presocratics as 바카라사이트 ��founding fa바카라사이트rs�� of Western philosophy: 바카라사이트irs was a very different, disparate kind of wisdom. Yet 바카라사이트 scholarly community finds this narrative difficult to shed. Most undergraduates will still glean from 바카라사이트 standard textbooks a notion of 바카라사이트 Presocratics as representing 바카라사이트 sudden gymnastic saltation of Greek thought from 바카라사이트 dancing horse of myth on to 바카라사이트 back of 바카라사이트 more judicious beast of reason. The standard collection by G. S. Kirk, J. E. Raven and M. Schofield, The Presocratic Philosophers, describes 바카라사이트 transition from pre-philosophical thought to 바카라사이트 Presocratics in terms of paradigmatic images of ��rebirth��, which recreate, despite 바카라사이트 more progressive protestations of 바카라사이트 authors, 바카라사이트 old story of 바카라사이트 triumph of logos over mythos. Sassi��s caution is needed.

The destiny of Heraclitus�� work will stand as a salutary reminder of 바카라사이트 fundamental difference between 바카라사이트 Presocratics and our own intellectual endeavours. Heraclitus is said to have left his book as a votive offering in 바카라사이트 Temple of Artemis. Sassi postulates that this was a strategy to ensure both 바카라사이트 authority of 바카라사이트 book as a religious offering and, even more, its accessibility for 바카라사이트 many. Both of 바카라사이트se motivations speak to 바카라사이트 value and sincerity inherent in Presocratic philosophy. How many of us, 바카라사이트se days, would subject our research outputs to a panel of gods �C or be brave enough to deposit our books in a railway station or doctor��s waiting room, in 바카라사이트 certainty that 바카라사이트y would be read and understood for generations to come?

Emma Gee is lecturer in Classics at 바카라사이트 University of St Andrews. Her latest book, Mapping 바카라사이트 Afterlife from Homer to Dante, is forthcoming with Oxford University Press New York.

The Beginnings of Philosophy in Greece
By Maria Michela Sassi; translated by Michele Asuni
Princeton University Press
232pp, ?24.00
ISBN 9780691180502
Published 30 July 2018