Hellenistic Philosophy Introductory

(Marvins-Underground-K-12) #1

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is irony combined with a kind of mockery. They say that friendship only
exists among the wise, since it is only among them that there is concord
about the [practical] matters of life; and concord is a knowledge of
common goods. For it is impossible for there to be genuine friendship
(as opposed to falsely named friendship) without trust and reliability;
but since the base are untrustworthy and unreliable and have hostile
opinions there is no friendship among them, although there are certain
other kinds of association and bonding which are held together from the
outside by necessity and opinions. And they say that cherishing and
welcoming and love belong to the virtuous alone.
And only the wise man is a king and regal, but none of the base is.
For regal rule is not subject to review and is supreme and is superior to
all [other forms of rule].
And they say that the virtuous man is the best doctor of himself; for
he is a careful observer of his own nature and is knowledgeable about
the factors which contribute to health.
The sensible man cannot get drunk; for drunkenness includes an
element of[moral] error, for there is babbling over drink; but the virtuous
man makes a [moral] mistake in no situation, which is why he does
everything in accordance with virtue and right reason which depends on it.
There are three principal ways of life [for a wise man], the regal, the
political and third, the life devoted to knowledge. Similarly, there are
three principal ways to make money: by kingship, in which one is either
a king oneself or commands the resources of a monarch; second, by
political life, for, in accordance with the principal reason, he will partici-
pate in political life; for indeed he will also marry and have children,


these things follow on the of the rational and social and
philanthropic animal. So he will make money both from politics and
from his friends, [at least] those who are in elevated positions. On the
topic of being a sophist^53 and doing well financially from sophistry, the
members of this school disagreed over the meaning. For they agreed that
[the wise man] would make money from his students and sometimes
receive fees from those who wanted to learn; but there arose among
them a debate about the meaning; some said that this very practice was
sophistry, [i.e.,] sharing the doctrines of philosophy in return for a fee;
others surmised that there was something base about the term 'sophistry',
as though it meant setting up a retail market in arguments, and so they
said that one not ought to make money from the education of whoever
came along [to study], that this manner of making money was beneath
the dignity of philosophy.

  1. A professional intellectual.

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