Storia della filosofia romana

Speranza

The history of Roman philosophy began, it may be claimed, in 155 BCE with the arrival in Roma of an Athenian embassy composed of three eminent Greek intellectuals:

 

the Academic Carneades (214–129 BCE),

 

the Stoic Diogenes, and

 

the Peripatetic Critolaus.

 

Carneades astonished his Roman hosts with his feats of forensic prowess, including the skill of the Sophists to be able to represent either side of an argument with equal conviction.

 

Of particular note were the many young Romans who flocked to hear his lectures, marking a decisive moment in the embrace by the Romans of Hellenic philosophy.

Traditionally, the Romans had a deep mistrust of the Hellenes and took to philosophy only slowly and reluctantly.

 

The influx of philosophers was opposed by elements in the more traditional and conservative Roman establishment.

 

Cato the Censor, for example, made an effort in the early third century BCE to have all of the Greek philosophers banned from Roma and prohibited from ever returning.

 

The campaign against the Greeks was not supported by the majority of Romans, and philosophy became a permanent aspect of Roman life in the centuries to follow.

 

The backlash nevertheless helps to explain why the serious study and application of traditional Greek philosophy was undertaken only from the time of Cicero and Varro in the first century BCE.

 

M. T. Cicero was the first truly notable Roman philosopher and remained arguably Rome's foremost practitioner.

 

 M. T. Cicero was also the prime exemplar in the Roman world of the influence of Hellenism on the Romans and the flourishing of the so-called New Academy.

 

The Old Academy had been founded by Plato and lasted until the fourth century BCE.

 

The Middle Academy survived throughout the third and second centuries BCE.

 

 The New Academy was established around 100 BCE and survived until 529 CE, when it was closed forever by Emperor Justinian.

The New Academy was characterized by its eclecticism in the way that it utilized Platonism, elements of Aristotle, Stoicism, and other schools.

 

For Cicero, it was important to overcome the influence of Carneades and his application of skepticism.

 

The solution to skepticism, which questions the reliability of knowledge, for Cicero was the formation of a consensus gentium, the common belief of the people, which would permit moral and ethical certainty.

The Eclectic School exemplified by Cicero was only one of several philosophical schools that flourished from the middle of the first century to 225 CE, the founding date of Neoplatonism.

 

The chief schools of this period were

 

Neo-Pythagoreanism,

Stoicism,

Epicureanism, and

the Cynics.

Neo-Pythagoreanism was most represented among the Romans by Nigidius Figulus.

 

While never a formally organized school, it exercised considerable influence on the academy and on the Neoplatonists.

 

The Pythagoreans evidenced a traditional fascination with numbers, but they also developed an intense interest in magic, mysticism, and the study of the transcendence of God.

The Stoics of the Late Stoa flourished during the first centuries of the Roman Empire and claimed three significant Roman adherents:

 

Seneca (3 BCE–65 CE),

Epictetus (60–117 CE), and especially Emperor

Marcus Aurelius (121–180 CE).

 

Influenced by Heraclitus, the "Weeping Philosopher" (ca. 544–484 BCE), the Stoics placed much stress on morality.

 

The writings of Seneca demonstrate this, with their focus on the moral depravity of Rome during the reigns of Emperors Claudius and Nero.

 

Likewise, Epictetus authored a compendium on Stoic morality, the Moral Enchiridion, edited by his student, Flavius Arrianus.

 

Marcus Aurelius was also intensely concerned with Stoic morality, although his own ethical system did not prevent him from continuing the persecution and execution of Christians, in large measure because he saw Christianity as baneful for society and the state.

 

Established as a reaction to the strict moral and ethical system of the Stoics, the Epicureans placed pleasure as the essential requirement of happiness, although Epicurus (341–270 BCE) argued that he was never a selfish hedonist.

 

The Epicureans thus declared that while every pleasure was good on its own account, not every pleasure has to be pursued.

 

Equally, they believed that humans do not have to avoid every pain, even if every pain is evil.

 

Additionally, the Epicureans later developed theories pertaining both to physics and to logic and emphasized human freedom over the Stoic tendencies toward fate.

 

For these reasons, Epicureanism found a wide following among the sensualist Romans and among those who saw the importance of the innate human pursuit of happiness.

Finally, the Cynics were never organized into anything approaching a formal school, such as the Stoics and Epicureans, but they nevertheless enjoyed wide public popularity in late first century CE Rome.

 

The Cynics were founded upon the principles laid down by Diogenes of Sinope (including the attainment of happiness by meeting human needs in the easiest, most simple means possible), although many Cynics preferred giving credit to Antisthenes.

 

They achieved considerable influence in the third century BCE and then faded until a marked revival in the first century CE. Dio Cassius noted the large numbers of Cynics in Rome during the reign of Vespasian.

 

They troubled the Flavian establishment with their calls for austerity and rejection of all social conventions and were subsequently banished from the city by exasperated emperors.

 

The chief representatives of the Cynics during this period were Demetrius the Cynic, Demonax, and Oenomaus of Gadara.

 

The movement declined steadily throughout the second century CE but remained in existence until at least the sixth century.

 

Suggested Readings:

Annas, Julia. Ancient Philosophy: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000;

Clark, Stephen R. L. From Athens to Jerusalem: The Love of Wisdom and the Love of God. New York: Oxford University Press, 1984.

Copleston, Frederick. A History of Philosophy. Vols. 1–2. New York: Image Books, 1985.

Kaufmann, Walter, and Forrest E. Baird, eds. Philosophic Classics. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 1994;

Kingsley, Peter. Ancient Philosophy, Mystery, and Magic: Empedocles and Pythagorean Tradition. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1995; Walsh, Martin J. A History of Philosophy. London: G. Chapman, 1985; Wedberg, Anders. A History of Philosophy. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1982.