This study examines the radical critique of wealth and moneymaking that permeates Plato's works from the early dialogues to theRepublicand theLaws. The author shows that Plato's position on wealth ...should not be ascribed to aristocratic prejudices, but instead brought into relation with one of his core philosophical beliefs: the establishment of an original conception ofaretê(virtue) that conflicts with money making.
For Aristotle, animals, by contrast to plants, possess a perceptual soul. However, there is disagreement concerning the point at which the perceptual soul is acquired, for him. On one influential ...interpretation, Aristotle thinks that the perceptual soul is acquired not during the initial formation of the embryo, but at some later stage of its development. On such interpretations of Aristotle’s view, the newly formed embryo is not yet an actual animal, but a plant-like living being or even inanimate matter. We argue, by contrast, that Aristotle views the embryo, from the very beginning, as an actual animal exercising basic nutritive and perceptual functions. We show that this interpretation is consistent with Aristotle’s views on embryogenesis in the
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The property arrangements of the Republic are often linked to Plato's biographical and historical background, especially to his alleged aristocratic prejudices against moneymaking. Contrary to this, ...I argue that they are based on one of his central philosophical theories, i.e.
on his conception of justice. According to Plato, justice involves the control of appetitive desires. Among these appetitive desires, the desire for money stands out for the following reasons given in the text: it is part of human appetite 'by nature', it is 'insatiable',
and it is connected with all of the other appetites; therefore it can be restrained by education only partially, and requires particular mechanisms of control. The Laws remain consistent with this assessment, but introduce less radical political measurements, which are in turn adopted by Aristotle
in the Politics.
Die Beiträge zur Altertumskunde enthalten Monographien, Sammelbände, Editionen, Übersetzungen und Kommentare zu Themen aus den Bereichen Klassische, Mittel- und Neulateinische Philologie, Alte ...Geschichte, Archäologie, Antike Philosophie sowie Nachwirken der Antike bis in die Neuzeit. Dadurch leistet die Reihe einen umfassenden Beitrag zur Erschließung klassischer Literatur und zur Forschung im gesamten Gebiet der Altertumswissenschaften.
