THE GREEK HUMANISTS: NATURE AND LAW pages 53-107

I. The reaction of speculation on life, 53—Moral superiority of the Greeks to the Hebrews and Romans, 54—Illustrations of humanity from the Greek poets, 55—Temporary corruption of moral sentiment and its explanation, 56—Subsequent reformation effected by philosophy, 57—The Greek worship of beauty not incompatible with a high moral standard, 58—Preference of the solid to the showy virtues shown by public opinion in Greece, 59—Opinion of Plato, 60.

II. Virtues inculcated in the aphorisms of the Seven Sages, 62—SÔphrosynÊ as a combination of moderation and self-knowledge, 62—Illustrations from Homer, 62—Transition from self-regarding to other-regarding virtue, 63—How morality acquired a religious sanction (i.) by the use of oaths, 64—(ii.) by the ascription of a divine origin to law, 65—(iii.) by the practice of consulting oracles on questions of right and wrong, 65—Difference between the Olympian and Chthonian religions, 66—The latter was closely connected with the ideas of law and of retribution after death, 67—Beneficent results due to the interaction of the two religions, 68.

III. The religious standpoint of Aeschylus, 69—Incipient dissociation of religion from morality in Sophocles, 70—Their complete separation in Euripides, 71—Contrast between the Eteocles of Aeschylus and the Eteocles of Euripides, 72—Analogous difference between Herodotus and Thucydides, 73—Evidence of moral deterioration supplied by Aristophanes and Plato, 74—Probability of an association between intellectual growth and moral decline, 75.

IV. The Sophists, 76—Prodicus and Hippias, 77—Their theory of Nature as a moral guide, 79—Illustration from Euripides, 80—Probable connexion of the Cynic school with Prodicus, 81—Antithesis between Nature and Law, 81—Opposition to slavery, 82—The versatility of Hippias connected with his advocacy of Nature, 83—The right of the stronger as a law of Nature, 84.

V. Rise of idealism and accompanying tendency to set convention above Nature, 85—Agnosticism of Protagoras, 87—In what sense he made man the measure of all things, 88—His defence of civilisation, 89—Similar views expressed by Thucydides, 90—Contrast between the naturalism of Aeschylus and the humanism of Sophocles, 91—The flexible character of Nomos favourable to education, 92—Greek youths and modern women, 93—The teaching of rhetoric, 93—It is subsequently developed into eristicism, 94.

VI. The nihilism of Gorgias, 95—His arguments really directed against the worship of Nature, 96—The power of rhetoric in ancient Athens and modern England, 97—The doctrines of Protagoras as developed by the Cyrenaic school, 99—and by the Megaric school, 100—Subsequent history of the antithesis between Nature and Law, 100.

VII. Variety of tendencies represented by the Sophists, 102—Their position in Greek society, 103—The different views taken of their profession in ancient and modern times, 104—Their place in the development of Greek philosophy, 107.

THE PLACE OF SOCRATES IN GREEK PHILOSOPHY pages 108-170

I. Universal celebrity of Socrates, 108—Our intimate knowledge of his appearance and character, 109—Conflicting views of his philosophy, 110—Untrustworthiness of the Platonic Apologia, 111—Plato’s account contradicted by Xenophon, 113—Consistency of the Apologia with the general standpoint of Plato’s Dialogues, 114—The Platonic idea of science, 115-— How Plato can help us to understand Socrates, 116.

II. Zeller’s theory of the Socratic philosophy, 117—Socrates did not offer any definition of knowledge, 119—Nor did he correct the deficiencies of Greek physical speculation, 120—His attitude towards physics resembled that of Protagoras, 121—Positive theories of morality and religion which he entertained, 123.

III. True meaning and originality of the Socratic teaching, 125—Circumstances by which the Athenian character was formed, 126—Its prosaic, rationalistic, and utilitarian tendencies, 127—Effect produced by the possession of empire, 128—The study of mind in art and philosophy, 128—How the Athenian character was represented by Socrates, 129—His sympathy with its practical and religious side, 130—His relation to the Humanists, 131—His identification of virtue with knowledge, 132—The search for a unifying principle in ethics, 133—Importance of knowledge as a factor in conduct and civilisation, 133—Fundamental identity of all the mental processes, 136.

IV. Harmony of theory and practice in the life of Socrates, 137—Mind as a principle (i.) of self-control, (ii.) of co-operation, and (iii.) of spontaneous energy, 137—Derivation and function of the cross-examining elenchus, 138—How it illustrates the negative moment of Greek thought, 139—Conversations with Glauco and Euthydemus, 139—The erotetic method as an aid to self-discipline, 141—Survival of contradictory debate in the speeches of Thucydides, 142.

V. Why Socrates insisted on the necessity of defining abstract terms, 142—Subsequent influence of his method on the development of Roman law, 144—Substitution of arrangement by resemblance and difference for arrangement by contiguity, 145—The One in the Many, and the Many in the One: conversation with Charmides, 146—Illustration of ideas by their contradictory opposites, 147—The Socratic induction, (i.) an interpretation of the unknown by the known, 148—Misapplication of this method in the theory of final causes, 149—(ii.) A process of comparison and abstraction, 150—Appropriateness of this method to the study of mental phenomena, 151—Why it is inapplicable to the physical sciences, 151—Wide range of studies included in a complete philosophy of mind, 151—The dialectical elimination of inconsistency, 152.

VI. Consistency the great principle represented by Socrates, 152—Parallelism of ethics and logic, 154—The ethical dialectic of Socrates and Homer, 154—Personal and historical verifications of the Socratic method, 155—Its influence on the development of art and literature, 156—and on the relations between men and women, 158—Meaning of the Daemonium, 160.

VII. Accusation and trial of Socrates, 161—Futility of the charges brought against him, 162—Misconceptions of modern critics, 164—His defence and condemnation, 165—Worthlessness of Grote’s apology for the Dicastery, 166—Refusal of Socrates to save himself by flight, 168—Comparison with Giordano Bruno and Spinoza, 169—The monuments raised to Socrates by Plato and Xenophon, 169.

PLATO; HIS TEACHERS AND HIS TIMES pages 171-213

I. New meaning given to systems of philosophy by the method of evolution, 171—Extravagances of which Plato’s philosophy seems to be made up, 172—The high reputation which it, nevertheless, continues to enjoy, 174—Distinction between speculative tendencies and the systematic form under which they are transmitted, 174—Genuineness of the Platonic Dialogues, 175—Their chronological order, 177—They embody the substance of Plato’s philosophical teaching, 177.

II. Wider application given to the dialectic method by Plato, 179—He goes back to the initial doubt of Socrates, 180—To what extent he shared in the religious reaction of his time, 181—He places demonstrative reasoning above divine inspiration, 182—His criticism of the Socratic ethics, 183—Exceptional character of the Crito accounted for, 184—Traces of Sophistic influence, 185—General relation of Plato to the Sophists, 186—Egoistic hedonism of the Protagoras, 188.

III. Plato as an individual: his high descent, personal beauty, and artistic endowment, 189—His style is neither poetry nor eloquence nor conversation, but the expression of spontaneous thought, 190—The Platonic Socrates, 191—Plato carries the spirit of the Athenian aristocracy into philosophy, 192—Severity with which great reformers habitually view their own age, 192—Plato’s scornful opinion of the many, 194—His loss of faith in his own order, 195—Horror of despotism inspired by his intercourse with Dionysius, 195—His dissatisfaction with the constitution of Sparta, 196—His theory of political degeneration verified by the history of the Roman republic, 196—His exclusively Hellenic and aristocratic sympathies, 197—Invectives against the corrupting influence of the multitude and of their flatterers, 198—Denunciation of the popular law-courts, 199—Character of the successful pleader, 200—Importance to which he had risen in Plato’s time, 200—The professional teacher of rhetoric, 201.

IV. Value and comprehensiveness of Plato’s philosophy, 202—Combination of Sicilian and Italiote with Attic modes of thought, 203—Transition from the Protagoras to the TheaetÊtus, 205—‘Man is the measure of all things’: opinion and sensation, 206—Extension of the dialectic method to all existence, 207—The Heracleitean system true of phenomena, 208—Heracleitus and Parmenides in the Cratylus, 209—Tendency to fix on Identity and Difference as the ultimate elements of knowledge, 210—Combination of the mathematical method with the dialectic of Socrates, 210—Doctrine of À priori cognition, 211—The idea of Sameness derived from introspection, 212—Tendency towards monism, 213.

PLATO AS A REFORMER pages 214-274

I. Recapitulation, 214—Plato’s identification of the human with the divine, 215—The Athanasian creed of philosophy, 216—Attempts to mediate between appearance and reality, 216—Meaning of Platonic love, 217—Its subsequent development in the philosophy of Aristotle, 218—And in the poetry of Dante, 219—Connexion between religious mysticism and the passion of love, 219—Successive stages of Greek thought represented in the Symposium, 220—Analysis of Plato’s dialectical method, 221—Exaggerated importance attributed to classification, 222—Plato’s influence on modern philosophy, 223.

II. Mediatoral character of Plato’s psychology, 223—Empirical knowledge as a link between demonstration and sense perception, 224—Pride as a link between reason and appetite, 224—Transition from metaphysics to ethics: knowledge and pleasure, 225—Anti-hedonistic arguments of the PhilÉbus, 226—Attempt to base ethics on the distinction between soul and body, 227—What is meant by the Idea of Good? 228—It is probably the abstract notion of Identity, 229.

III. How the practical teaching of Plato differed from that of Socrates, 229—Identification of justice with self-interest, 230—Confusion of social with individual happiness, 231—Resolution of the soul into a multitude of conflicting impulses, 232—Impossibility of arguing men into goodness, 233.

IV. Union of religion with morality, 234—Cautious handling of the popular theology, 234—The immortality of the soul, 235—The Pythagorean reformation arrested by the progress of physical philosophy, 237—Immortality denied by some of the Pythagoreans themselves, 237—Scepticism as a transition from materialism to spiritualism, 238—The arguments of Plato, 239—Pantheism the natural outcome of his system, 240.

V. Plato’s condemnation of art, 241—Exception in favour of religious hymns and edifying fiction, 241—Mathematics to be made the basis of education, 242—Application of science to the improvement of the race, 242—Inconsistency of Plato’s belief in heredity with the doctrine of metempsychosis, 243—Scheme for the reorganisation of society, 244—Practical dialectic of the Republic, 245.

VI. Hegel’s theory of the Republic, 246—Several distinct tendencies confounded under the name of subjectivity, 247—Greek philosophy not an element of political disintegration, 250—Plato borrowed more from Egypt than from Sparta, 253.

VII. The consequences of a radical revolution, 254—Plato constructed his new republic out of the elementary and subordinate forms of social union, 254—Inconsistencies into which he was led by this method, 254—The position which he assigns to women, 256—The Platonic State half school-board and half marriage-board, 258—Partial realisation of Plato’s polity in the Middle Ages, 259—Contrast between Plato and the modern Communists, 259—His real affinities are with Comte and Herbert Spencer, 261.

VIII. Reaction of Plato’s social studies on his metaphysics, 262—The ideas resolved into different aspects of the relation between soul and body, 263—Dialectic dissolution of the four fundamental contrasts between reality and appearance, 263—Mind as an intermediary between the Ideas and the external world, 265—Cosmogony of the Timaeus, 265—Philosophy and theology, 267.

IX. Plato’s hopes from a beneficent despotism, 268—The Laws, 269—Concessions to current modes of thought, 270—Religious intolerance, 271—Recapitulation of Plato’s achievements, 272—Fertility of his method, 273.

CHARACTERISTICS OF ARISTOTLE pages 275-329

I. Recent Aristotelian literature, 275—Reaction in favour of Aristotle’s philosophy, 277—and accompanying misinterpretation of its meaning, 278—Zeller’s partiality for Aristotle, 280.

II. Life of Aristotle, 280—His relation to Plato, 281-Aristotle and Hermeias; 284—Aristotle and Alexander, 285—Aristotle’s residence in Athens, flight, and death, 288—His choice of a successor, 288—Provisions of his will, 289—Personal appearance, 289—Anecdotes illustrating his character, 290—Want of self-reliance and originality, 291.

III. Prevalent misconception of the difference between Aristotle and Plato, 291—Plato a practical, Aristotle a theoretical genius, 293—Contrast offered by their views of theology, ethics, and politics, 294—Aristotle’s ideal of a State, 296—His want of political insight and prevision, 297—Worthlessness of his theories at the present day, 298.

IV. Strength and weakness of Aristotle’s Rhetoric, 299—Erroneous theory of aesthetic enjoyment put forward in his Poetics, 300—The true nature of tragic emotion, 303—Importance of female characters in tragedy, 303—Necessity of poetic injustice, 305—Theory of the Catharsis, 306—Aristotle’s rules for reasoning compiled from Plato, 307—The Organon in Ceylon, 307.

V. Aristotle’s unequalled intellectual enthusiasm, 308—Illustrations from his writings, 309—His total failure in every physical science except zoology and anatomy, 311—His repeated rejection of the just views put forward by other philosophers, 312—Complete antithesis between his theory of Nature and ours, 316.

VI. Supreme mastery shown by Aristotle in dealing with the surface of things, 318—His inability to go below the surface, 319—In what points he was inferior to his predecessors, 320—His standpoint necessarily determined by the development of Greek thought, 321—Analogous development of the Attic drama, 323.

VII. Periodical return to the Aristotelian method, 325—The systematising power of Aristotle exemplified in all his writings, 326—but chiefly in those relating to the descriptive sciences, 327—His biological generalisations, 328—How they are explained and corrected by the theory of evolution, 329.