The Historiography of Philosophy in Antiquity

Part II: From Aristotle to Diogenes Laertius

Abstract

In the second part of the article, we continue the discussion that started in the first part. Selected passages of Aristotle’s writings are discussed, in which the Stagirite refers to the views of earlier thinkers, classifies these opinions, distinguishes philosophers from early poets and divides philosophers into more and less insightful ones. The next portion of the article concerns the methodological rules he formulated, which advised authors to take into account the range of available opinions on the problems under study. To present the views in an orderly manner and to show the prevailing agreement or disagreement among thinkers on the issues in question, Aristotle uses the method of schematic divisions. Next, the main types of ancient literature related to the subject of our inquiry are discussed. The first of these is doxography. Among other things, the hypothesis of Hermann Diels, who coined the name, and its modern revision by Jaap Mansfeld and David T. Runia, are examined. This is followed by a discussion of works on philosophical schools (the pattern characteristic of this genre is to emphasize the differences between the doctrines of philosophical schools, but also between the views of their individual members), successions (the emphasis here is on the continuation of a given tradition or doctrine by subsequent thinkers) and biographies. The article closes with a discussion of Diogenes Laertios’ treatise, which combines the aforementioned genres.