Socrates

"The highest wisdom - to distinguish between good and evil" (С). The modern world would be much more primitive, without Socrates. Socrates is a source of intellectual reflection (from Lat. - Reflexio).

If he had ben less condescending then he wouldn't have been the famous socrates but instead would've been just your typical philosopher. The way he acted when he was on trial is what I regard as the highlight of his career because it's when he let it all out and gave the ,ost insight into the world and the soul.

Thank you so much, CV!

I wouldn't say he was a genius, but he was quite good. I think that Socrates is the biggest enigma in history of philosophy, because we don't have anything from him really, what we have are impressions of others, and Plato using his name to sell his own ideas.

Sorry if I appear so Hunter. I had no intention of appearing so. I thought I was only giving a new comer some good advice.

Regards,

Thanks for the recommendation! I will attempt to read it.

Did you read every post in this thread before posting?

If not, you might well do so.

Regards,

My dear MS Beth Taylor, it is good that you think well of Socrates, but just what do you think of Saccas?

He was reportedly the teacher of the great Neo-Platonist! It is not strange that there reportedly existed 1. Plato, then 2. Plotinus, and then 3. Plethon? And one of the above was taught by another famous person with the name Socrates, and another by Saccas!

Please read the earlier posts for more information.

And, in case you do not do the slightest to find out what I am speaking of, then you might well read this site;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ammonius_Saccas

Regards,

Edited by opuslola - 10-Jul-2011 at 20:07

Originally posted by opuslola I cannot cast a vote, because he may well be but a figment of the imagination?

For those of you who hold a very tight grip on our currently held chronology, as well as the placement of Plato, and his so called "neo-Platonists", then I will refer you to this site, and its very mind opening first few paragraphs,;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neoplatonism

Thus the above sites says or asserts;

"Neoplatonism (also called Neo-Platonism) is the modern term for a school of religious and mystical philosophy that took shape in the 3rd century AD, based on the teachings of Plato and earlier Platonists, with its earliest contributor believed to be Plotinus, and his teacher Ammonius Saccas. Neoplatonists would have considered themselves simply Platonists, and the modern distinction is due to the perception that their philosophy contained sufficiently unique interpretations of Plato to make it substantially different from what Plato wrote and believed. [1] Neoplatonism attempted to reconcile the nascent Christian doctrine with the classical philosophies of Greek and Roman society.

The Neoplatonism of Plotinus and Porphyry has been referred to as in fact being orthodox Platonic philosophy by scholars like John D. Turner. This distinction provides a contrast with later movements of Neoplatonism, such as those of Iamblichus and Proclus, which embraced magical practices or theurgy as part of the soul's development in the process of the soul's return to the Source. Possibly Plotinus was motivated to clarify some of the traditions in the teachings of Plato that had been misrepresented before Iamblichus (see Neoplatonism and Gnosticism).

Neoplatonism took definitive shape with the philosopher Plotinus, who claimed to have received his teachings from Ammonius Saccas, a philosopher in Alexandria.[2] Plotinus was also influenced by Alexander of Aphrodisias and Numenius of Apamea. Plotinus's student Porphyry assembled his teachings into the six sets of nine tractates, or Enneads. Subsequent Neoplatonic philosophers included Iamblichus, Hypatia of Alexandria, Hierocles of Alexandria, Proclus (by far the most influential of later Neoplatonists), Damascius (last head of Neoplatonist School at Athens), Olympiodorus the Younger, and Simplicius of Cilicia.

Thinkers from the Neoplatonic school cross-pollinated with the thinkers of other intellectual schools. For instance, certain strands of Neoplatonism influenced Christian thinkers (such as Augustine, Boethius, John Scotus Eriugena, and Bonaventure),[3] while Christian thought influenced (and sometimes converted) Neoplatonic philosophers (such as Dionysius the Areopagite).[4][5] In the Middle Ages Neoplatonistic arguments were taken seriously in the thought of medieval Islamic and Jewish thinkers such as al-Farabi and Moses Maimonides,[6] and experienced a revival in the Renaissance with the acquisition and translation of Greek and Arabic Neoplatonic texts."

In reality all you have to consider, with a somwhat open mind, is the first sentence above, where we can read;

"Neoplatonism (also called Neo-Platonism) is the modern term for a school of religious and mystical philosophy that took shape in the 3rd century AD, based on the teachings of Plato and earlier Platonists, with its earliest contributor believed to be Plotinus, and his teacher Ammonius Saccas."

So, from the above we see one strange statement, which is that Plotinus, was reportedly a student of one Ammonius Saccas!"

Perhaps someone can give us a realistic meaning to the first name above which is today spelled as "Ammonius?", or perhaps even provide a meaning for the word "Ammon?" But, the even stranger part is the similarity of the last name "Saccas", as it might well be compared to the name of the teacher of "Plato", who we are told was "Socrates!"

Could "Saccas" be but another variation of "Socrates?"

Could it be but a co-incidence that the two "teachers" held such similar names? Well maybe, but is it also merely a co-incidence that the "student" also has such similar names? That is "Plotinus" versus "Plato?", or even later in time or rather modern chronology, the last "neo-platonist's", who was called or named "Pletho?"

Just whom was the teacher of "Pletho?"

For a lot more information, I would suggest you look for my postings aout the above subject in the "Alternative History" section, or here;

http://www.allempires.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=28856

Regards,






Edited by opuslola - 02-May-2011 at 14:04