Horoi

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The beginning of the Horoi in the oldest surviving manuscript: Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale, Gr. 1807 (9th century)

Horoi ( Greek  Ὅροι Hóroi , Latin Definitions , German "Definitions") is the title of an ancient collection of definitions that wasascribed tothe philosopher Plato , but certainly did not come from him. Therefore the Horoi are also called "the pseudo-Platonic definitions". The inauthenticity was already recognized in antiquity.

content

The Horoi are a collection of 184 strung together keywords that are defined. These are philosophically relevant terms, for each of which one or more definitions are given. In the order, a principle of order is only rudimentarily recognizable: The beginning (definitions 1–20) are mainly made up of terms from natural philosophy , the following part (definitions 21–107) mainly terms from ethics - such as affects and virtues - and political philosophy , furthermore also logical-grammatical and epistemological terminology. The main part, which extends up to 107, is followed by an appendix with mixed definitions (definitions 108-184), which - as can be deduced from overlapping with the main part - was added later. The metaphysical occurs only marginally. Presumably the collection has changed over the centuries. This is supported by the fact that the number of definitions in the handwritten tradition of the text fluctuates.

Methodologically, the Horoi are related to the Platonic process of classifying terms ( Dihairesis ), which is based on progressing from the more general to the more specific, from "above" to "below". In this case, one defined by the preambles, the genera call is determined as long as by giving specific characteristics closer to the desired definition found. This consists of the specification of the lowest (most special) relevant genus and the species- forming distinguishing feature . In this sense, the definition is defined in the Horoi as “a statement made up of difference and genus”. According to the dihairetic principle, some definitions in the Horoi name the lowest genus and the species-forming difference, such as the determination of humans as a bipedal organism without wings. Here “bipedal creatures” is the lowest genus and “without wings”, the distinguishing feature of humans compared to birds, the species-forming difference. Other definitions only consist of lists of characteristics, or only trivial explanations of words are offered. Different definitions are given for some terms; for example, humans are also characterized as the only rational being.

Author and date of origin

There is a consensus in research that the collection of definitions was not created by Plato, although the individual statements are based on his teaching and some definitions can be traced back to his teaching. It is certain that the Horoi originated in the vicinity of the philosophy school founded by Plato, the Platonic Academy . The compilation of the collection probably fell into the era of the Older Academy, namely in the period after Plato's death, i.e. in the second half of the 4th or the first third of the 3rd century BC. The surviving collection presumably represents a selection from a larger inventory of definitions that was then available in the academy and also formed the basis of the now lost collection of definitions of Plato's pupil Speusippus . The hypothesis that the present collection is that of Speusippus is no longer supported today. Whether the collection received is a compilation from older collections is disputed in research.

Marsilio Ficino's translation of the Horoi ( autograph ). Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale, Suppl. Gr. 212, fol. 194r
The beginning of the Horoi in the first edition, Venice 1513

reception

The existence of the Horoi is only attested in the Roman Empire . In ancient times, Plato was occasionally named as the author, but the prevailing opinion was that the collection of definitions did not come from him. It was not included in the tetralogy of his works. In the anonymously handed down late antique "Prolegomena to the Philosophy of Plato" Speusippos is referred to as the author.

The handwritten tradition of the Greek text begins in the 9th century. In the Latin-speaking world of scholars of the Middle Ages, the Horoi were unknown, they were only rediscovered in the age of Renaissance humanism . In the 15th century, the humanist Marsilio Ficino expressed the view that the author was Speusippus. Ficino translated the Horoi into Latin. He published his translation in Venice in 1497 with Aldo Manuzio , with the attribution to Speusippos in the title. The first edition of the Greek text appeared in Venice in September 1513 by Aldo Manuzio as part of the complete edition of Plato's works published by Markos Musuros . The Latin translation made by the humanist Willibald Pirckheimer and published by his printer Friedrich Peypus in Nuremberg in 1523 is based on this edition .

In modern research, the philosophical value of the horoi is estimated to be low; Against the background of the definition efforts of Plato and Aristotle , these definitions appear to be a poor result of philosophical work. The collection of definitions is of some importance as a source for the history of ancient Platonism .

Editions and translations

  • Joseph Souilhé (ed.): Plato: Œuvres complètes , vol. 13, part 3: Dialogues apocryphes . 2nd edition, Les Belles Lettres, Paris 1962, pp. 151–173 (critical edition with French translation)
  • Franz Susemihl (translator): Definitions . In: Erich Loewenthal (Ed.): Platon: Complete Works in Three Volumes , Vol. 3, unchanged reprint of the 8th, revised edition, Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt 2004, ISBN 3-534-17918-8 , pp. 787-798 (only translation)
  • Hans Günter Zekl (translator): Pseudo-Plato: Definitions . In: Hans Günter Zekl (Ed.): Aristoteles: Organon , Volume 2, Felix Meiner, Hamburg 1998, ISBN 3-7873-1313-3 , pp. LXIV – LXXII, 233–245 (translation only)

literature

Remarks

  1. ↑ Luc Brisson : Plato: Dialogues douteux et apocryphes . In: Richard Goulet (ed.): Dictionnaire des philosophes antiques , Vol. 5, Part 1, Paris 2012, pp. 833–841, here: 839; Joseph Souilhé (ed.): Plato: Œuvres complètes , vol. 13, part 3, 2nd edition, Paris 1962, pp. 157f.
  2. ↑ Horoi 414d.
  3. ↑ Horoi 415a.
  4. ↑ Hans Krämer: The older academy . In: Hellmut Flashar (ed.): Outline of the history of philosophy. The philosophy of antiquity , Volume 3, 2nd edition, Basel 2004, pp. 1–165, here: 96; Hans Günter Zekl (Ed.): Aristoteles: Organon , Volume 2, Hamburg 1998, p. LXIX. Joseph Souilhé (ed.) Advocates late dating: Plato: Œuvres complètes , vol. 13, part 3, 2nd edition, Paris 1962, p. 157f .; see. Margherita Isnardi: Nomos e basileia nell'Accademia antica . In: La Parola del Passato 12, 1957, pp. 401–438, here: p. 429 and note 2; Heinz Gerd Ingenkamp: Investigations on the pseudoplatonic definitions , Wiesbaden 1967, pp. 106–110.
  5. ↑ Leonardo Tarán: Speusippus of Athens , Leiden 1981, p. 197.
  6. ↑ Heinz Gerd Ingenkamp supports the compilation hypothesis: Investigations on the pseudoplatonic definitions , Wiesbaden 1967, pp. 110–112. Konrad Gaiser takes the opposite position in his review of Ingenkamp's work in Gymnasium 76, 1969, pp. 543-546, here: 544f.
  7. ↑ Heinz Gerd Ingenkamp: Investigations on the pseudoplatonic definitions , Wiesbaden 1967, p. 112f.
  8. ↑ "Prolegomena to Plato's Philosophy" 26, ed. von Leendert G. Westerink: Prolégomènes à la philosophie de Platon , Paris 1990, p. 38f.
  9. ↑ Joseph Souilhé (ed.): Plato: Œuvres complètes , Vol. 13, Part 3, 2nd edition, Paris 1962, pp. 158f.
  10. ↑ On Ficino's hypothesis see Antonio Carlini: Alcune considerazioni sulla tradizione testuale degli scritti pseudoplatonici . In: Klaus Döring et al. (Ed.): Pseudoplatonica , Stuttgart 2005, pp. 25–35, here: 31f .; James Hankins: Plato in the Italian Renaissance , 3rd edition, Leiden 1994, p. 307.
  11. ↑ James Hankins: Plato in the Italian Renaissance , 3rd edition, Leiden 1994, pp. 742f.
  12. ↑ On Pirckheimer's translation, see Niklas Holzberg : Willibald Pirckheimer , Munich 1981, pp. 301–311.
  13. ↑ Hans Günter Zekl (Ed.): Aristoteles: Organon , Volume 2, Hamburg 1998, pp. LXIV, LXX – LXXII.