The Historiography of Philosophy in Antiquity

Part I: From the Earliest Sources to Plato

Abstract

The intention of this article is to sketch the ancient authors' approach to historiography of philosophy (or rather, to the ancient equivalents of that discipline) and to discuss the ways in which it was practiced by them. The first part deals with the sources that have survived to the present day. The writings that had the greatest chance of survival were those that were in constant demand – especially those whose authors were the founders of the most important schools, such as Plato and Aristotle. The replacement of papyrus scrolls with a new, more durable type of medium, the codex, was also of significance. The activities of the sophists – in particular Gorgias of Leontinoi and Hippias of Elis – who were probably the first to begin collecting the views of various thinkers, are discussed next. In doing so, the motives and principles according to which the sophists arranged these works are considered. The article closes with an analysis of excerpts from Plato's writings, in which one can perhaps see traces of the use of this kind of compilations.