1st Edition

Greek Philosophers as Theologians The Divine Arche

By Adam Drozdek Copyright 2007
    286 Pages
    by Routledge

    266 Pages
    by Routledge

    Concepts of God presented by Greek philosophers were significantly different from the image of the divine of popular religion and indicate a fairly sophisticated theological reflection from the very inception of Greek philosophy. This book presents a comprehensive history of theological thought of Greek philosophers from the Presocratics to the early Hellenistic period. Concentrating on views concerning the attributes of God and their impact on eschatological and ethical thought, Drozdek explains that theology was of paramount importance for all Greek philosophers even in the absence of purely theological or religious language.

    Contents: Preface; The Milesians; Xenophanes and one god; Heraclitus and the logos; Parmenides and being; Pythagoreanism and the harmonia; Empedocles and the holy phren; Anaxagoras and mind; Democritus and necessity; Rationalization of religion; Socrates; Antisthenes; Megarian theology; Plato and the demiurge; Aristotle and the unmoved mover; The old Academy; The early Lyceum; Early Cynics; Epicurus and isonomia; Early Stoics and the logos; Index of ancient sources; Index of names.

    Biography

    Adam Drozdek is Associate Professor at Duquesne University, USA.