Folia Theologica 19. (2008)
Perendy László: Judging Philosophers - Theophilus of Antioch on Hellenic inconsistency
FOLIA THEOLOGICA 19 (2008) 185 PERENDY, László JUDGING PHILOSOPHERS Theophilus of Antioch on Hellenic inconsistency Significant passages of the Ad Autolycum, the only surviving work of Theophilus, deal with various questions of philosophical interest. Several philosophers are mentioned by name: Pythagoras, Empedocles, Protagoras, Socrates, Plato, Diogenes, Epicurus, Chrysippus, and Clitomachus. There are other authors, as well, who are named in connection with philosophical problems: Critias and Euhemerus. We can find also passages where certain philosophical views are introduced without giving the names of the philosophers themselves. First I will be quoting the passages where Theophilus names individual philosophers or refers to various schools of philosophy. I will proceed in a chronological order, starting from the pre-Socratics. As we shall see, Theophilus offers us as a kind of short history of Greek philosophy. After the - sometimes lengthy - quotations originating from various schools and individual philosophers, I will briefly summarize the most important characteristics of the various schools and philosophers, mostly on the basis of a recent handbook. Then I will analyse my quotations from the Ad Autolycum, keeping in view the opinions of some modern authors. In the second part of my contribution I will treat the problems which - in Theophilus' mind - particularly illustrate the inconsistent behaviour of the Hellenes. For the sake of convenience, some quotations are repeated, because they can be linked to more than one philosopher or topic. A Concise History of Hellenic Philosophy About philosophers in general "Qote àoùpcpcûvôç ècmv q yvcopq xcruà xoùç cptAoaôcpouç Kai auYYpacpeîç.
