Thrasymachus

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Thrasymachos of Chalcedon ( ancient Greek Θρασύμαχος Thrasýmachos ) was a Greek ancient philosopher , speaker and teacher of rhetoric . In the history of philosophy he is one of the sophists . Born in Chalcedon (in what is now Istanbul ), he worked in the last third of the 5th century BC. In Athens .

It is known above all because the philosopher Plato had it appear in one of his main works, Dialog Politeia . There, Socrates tells in detail about a conversation that he had with Thrasymachus.

Lore

No writings have come down to us from Thrasymachus. The authoritative source collection by Diels and Kranz contains 14 short reports on the life and teaching of Thrasymachus written in antiquity, as well as 8 quotations from the writings of Thrasymachus that were found by other authors.

Life

Little is known about the dates of life of Thrasymachus. He appears in the comedy Die Schmausbrüder des Aristophanes , which 427 BC. Was performed. It is therefore assumed that he must have been well known as a sophist in Athens at the time. In a speech Thrasymachus refers to a ruler who lived between 413 and 399 BC. Was in power. Plato's Politeia , in which Thrasymachus occurs, is about 413 BC. The surviving inscription on his grave states that the profession is “sophistry”. Plato points out that he asked for money for his lessons and that he traveled to various cities as part of his teaching activities.

Teaching

The lost writings of Thrasymachus are likely to have been political, but also merely joking speeches and theoretical treatises with various contents. He is said to have written a textbook on rhetoric, Cicero writes that he has dealt with natural philosophy. Hermeias of Alexandria quotes Thrasymachus' view that the gods apparently do not care about humans because they do not care about the greatest human good, justice.

In Plato's Politeia , Thrasymachus appears at the beginning of the conversation, where a conversation between him and Socrates on political-ethical issues is retold. Like all sophists, Thrasymachus comes off badly in the representation of Plato. He wants to be paid for his teaching about what is just, but appears unsympathetic but eloquent and doesn't seem to like Socrates. Thrasymachus is said to have been of the opinion that “what is just is nothing other than that which is beneficial to the stronger [or: superior].” Everything is just that benefits the stronger and mighty.

Aftermath

The position of Thrasymachus presented by Plato has been interpreted in various ways. Depending on the circumstances, Thrasymachos represented an "ethical nihilism, a commitment to the natural law of the strong, a pure legalism, the knowledge of psychological egoism or a purely descriptive sociological interest."

Thrasymachos is often mentioned in connection with Callicles , for example by Michel Foucault , who weighs the risk of hubris of reason against the ideal of Sophrosyne ( prudence ).

Source collections

literature

  • George B. Kerferd, Hellmut Flashar : Thrasymachos from Chalcedon . In: Hellmut Flashar (ed.): Outline of the history of philosophy . The philosophy of antiquity , Volume 2/1, Schwabe, Basel 1998, ISBN 3-7965-1036-1 , pp. 54–57
  • Michel Narcy: Thrasymaque de Chalcédoine. In: Richard Goulet (ed.): Dictionnaire des philosophes antiques. Volume 6, CNRS Éditions, Paris 2016, ISBN 978-2-271-08989-2 , pp. 1172–1177
  • Thomas Paulsen : Thrasymachus of Chalcedon . In: Bernhard Zimmermann (Hrsg.): Handbook of Greek literature of antiquity , Volume 1: The literature of archaic and classical times , CH Beck, Munich 2011, pp. 433-434

Web links

Remarks

  1. ↑ a b c d e George B. Kerferd, Hellmut Flashar: Thrasymachos from Chalcedon . In: Hellmut Flashar (ed.): Outline of the history of philosophy. The philosophy of antiquity , Volume 2/1, Schwabe, Basel 1998, pp. 54–57.
  2. ↑ Plato, Politeia 336a-340a.
  3. ↑ Plato, Politeia 337d.
  4. ↑ Cicero, De oratore 3,128.
  5. ↑ Hermeias of Alexandria, Commentary on Plato's Phaedrus 267c.
  6. ^ Plato, Politeia 338c.
  7. ↑ Michel Foucault: Madness and Society , 1973, p. 8f .; Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
personal data
SURNAME Thrasymachus
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Thrasymachus of Chalcedon
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Greek philosopher and rhetorician
DATE OF BIRTH 6th century BC BC or 5th century BC Chr.
PLACE OF BIRTH Chalcedon
DATE OF DEATH 5th century BC BC or 4th century BC Chr.