The Systems of the Hellenistic Age: History of an Ancient Philosophy

by Giovanni Reale, John R. Catan (Translator)

Reale’s volume supplies a synthesis previously lacking―a synthesis in the historical treatment of the great philosophies of the Hellenistic the Academy, the Peripatos, the Stoa, the Garden of Epicurus, Scepticism, and Eclecticism. Reale’s extensive and fully documented treatment of the major schools of the period is unified by his thesis that the ethics developed by these major schools were secular faiths that sprang from intuitions about the meaning of life first emotionally grasped and then systematically and rationally developed. It is for this reason that the teachings of these schools endured almost continuously for about 500 years. It is for the same reason that the founders of the schools were considered gods and were actually, in a certain sense, the saints of secular faiths and religions.

In this book, Reale traces the decline of the philosophical schools of the classical period, the post-Platonic Academy, the post-Aristotelian Peripatos, and the minor socratic schools. The destruction of the polis and the incapacity of the schools to address the concerns of the new age were the fertile grounds from which the new schools developed. The Garden of Epicurus, the Porch of Zeno, and the sceptical movement initiated by Pyrrho form the core of the volume. The volume contains a select bibliography and an index of names and Greek terms, as well as an index of citations.

Genres: Philosophy, History, Ancient History

527 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1980

About the author

Reale was born in Candia Lomellina, Pavia. He attended the Gymnasium and the Liceo classico of Casale Monferrato, and was then educated at the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore of Milan, where he graduated. He later continued his studies in Marburg an der Lahn and Munich.
After a period of teaching in high schools, he won a professorship at the University of Parma, where he taught courses in moral philosophy and the history of philosophy. He then returned to the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore of Milan, where he was professor of the history of ancient philosophy for many years, and where he also founded the Centro di Ricerche di Metafisica. In 2005 he moved to teach at the new faculty of philosophy at Vita-Salute San Raffaele University of Milan.

Reviews

[Robert Murphy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reale has an amazing analytic mind that can not not only capture the essence of a philosophy, but also critically evaluate the scholarship done on that philosophy and critically evaluate the philosophies themselves. He is also a passionate writer who can show his love for philosophy and the value that he finds in each of the philosophies discussed. So while this was a dense read, it was highly enjoyable and made me feel benefited in an even spiritual way in addition to the intellectual and academic benefits.

This volume is not a deep dive into every aspect of the hellenistic philosophies. He rather presents the main aspects of each philosophy and some of the main changes and disagreements that arose in those schools throughout the hellenistic era.

I highly recommend reading the second volume (or even the first and second volumes) of this series. It will help you understand why Reale loves Plato so much and also what he means by the "second voyage," which he constantly brings up throughout this volume.

[Jared Saltz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reale's History of Ancient Philosophy is written in four volumes. This volume covers the Hellenistic Systems (ie., after Aristotle and until the Common Era). Reale, and his translator, Catan, do an excellent job in covering the majors systems of the Hellenistic Age (Epicureans, Megarans, Cynics, Academics, Stoics) in a source-based method with erudite commentary throughout. Reale is to be commended for his attention to detail, the brevity and conciseness of his points, and the way that he continually provides the sources to make the points for him. Each "part" is focused on a single sytem, with the system them broken into chapters to discuss various periods or philosophers of each system, and chapter-breakdowns for individual data for each of these subdivisions. This approach makes it easier to follow the thought, but it does sometimes lead to repetition. This is an absolutely indispensable work for anyone wanting to understand how philosophy developed during this time period and led to other thoughts. The sources, and the number of sources, which Reale provides in translation would make this worth the price all on its own. It can function as a source book without too much difficulty. But its majesty is lessened by a few issues, some minor and some substantial. First, because this is a series, Reale will often reference you to look at a section in a different book, and does not provide any discussion for those without reference to the other volume or prior knowledge of the topic, making these frequent comments quite jarring. Another, more easily solvable issue, is the decision to use endnotes rather than footnotes, even for discussing primary sources, making one flip backwards and forwards throughout the entire reading process to check what a primary source is, let alone if he references other scholarship. Lastly, this is not really an introduction. If you are not at least cognizant of the various philosophical systems, it might be better for you to begin with a different introduction before being through to Reale's lions. However, if you can survive, this is a fantastically useful survey of all of the major systems in relatively few pages. It is firmly recommended.