Ancient Philosophy and its Cosmocentric Orientation

Hellenistic and Roman Period

The philosophy of the concluding cycle of ancient thought was distinctly oriented towards the defense of the individual amid the gradual disintegration of the classical ancient polis. Late ancient philosophy emerged as individualistic, colored by subjectivity.

Hellenistic philosophy is characterized by three primary schools: Epicureanism, Stoicism, and Skepticism. Preceding these schools was the philosophy of the Cynics, founded by Socrates' disciple Antisthenes (circa 445-360 BCE) and Diogenes (circa 412-323 BCE). Although contemporaneous with the philosophers of the Athenian school, their issues and the very spirit of their philosophizing no longer belonged to the classical era. The Cynics redefined the purpose of philosophy, asserting that it should not engage in detached contemplation of eternal truths but rather guide individuals toward a life of virtue. They preached simplicity and complete renunciation of pleasures, believing that nature itself delineated the minimum requirements for human existence. One representative of this school, Crates, advised his students to "manage with little... for this brings us closer to the gods; what is contrary only distances us. And for you, who occupy a middle place between the gods and senseless beasts, it will be possible to aspire to a higher nature rather than a lower." Following Diogenes' counsel, Crates relinquished all his lands for grazing and cast all his money into the sea, adopting a Cynic lifestyle.

The spirit of Cynicism is expressed in absolute, unbounded freedom: freedom from bodily needs, reduced to a minimum, freedom from human vices, from vanity, pride, and greed, and freedom from the conventions of accepted norms of behavior. The Cynics advocated for a simplification of life; by rejecting the values of contemporary society, they nonetheless maintained a sense of their own dignity. According to legend, when Diogenes was asked by Alexander the Great what he could do to be of service, he replied, "Step aside and do not block my sunlight." Struck by this response, Alexander remarked, "If I were not Alexander, I would wish to be Diogenes." Diogenes became renowned for his provocative, ascetic behavior and witty intellect, with his persona surrounded by legends (for instance, how he sought a man in broad daylight with a lantern, etc.). Although the ethics of the Cynics bore an individualistic and subjective character, they were rooted in the strength of spirit and remarkable capacity for independent existence. The Cynics raised several important issues: concerning genuine and illusory freedom, both internal and external, about moral autonomy and responsibility toward society, and the moral ideal of the impoverished.

Epicureanism likewise exhibited an individualistic character. Epicurus (342-271 BCE) established his philosophical school in his garden in Athens, which became known as the "Garden of Epicurus." At the gates of this school, it was inscribed: "Traveler, here you will find joy; here, the highest good—pleasure." Later, in the Roman Empire, Lucretius Carus (circa 99-55 BCE) became a follower of Epicurus.

Epicurus authored numerous works, including "Letter to Menoeceus," "On Nature," "On Fate," "On Love," "On the Ultimate End," "Principal Doctrines," and others. The essence of Epicurus's teaching lies in the ethics of conduct as a means of achieving happiness. He understood philosophy as a practical doctrine that ensures a happy, carefree life free from human suffering: "Empty are the words of that philosopher who does not alleviate any suffering of mankind. Just as medicine is of no use if it does not expel the diseases of the body, so too is philosophy of no benefit if it does not dispel the ailments of the soul." He also remarked in his letter to Menoeceus: "Let no one in youth delay the study of philosophy, nor tire of it in old age. For no one can be either too immature or too mature for the health of the soul. And whoever claims that the time for philosophy has not yet come or has already passed is akin to one who asserts that the time for happiness has not yet arrived or is no longer extant. Thus, philosophy is necessary for both the elder and the youth: the former, to renew himself with benefits in the twilight of life, rejoicing in the past; the latter, so that, being young, he resembles an elderly person in his fearlessness toward the future."

When discussing happiness and pleasure, Epicurus refers to the individual rather than society. From his perspective, social union is not the ultimate goal but merely a means to achieve individual well-being. Epicurus stated that for one to attain happiness, one must know the laws of nature. The ethics of Epicurus is based on an atomistic natural philosophy and materialistic sensualism. Continuing the atomistic tradition of Leucippus and Democritus, he considered only the existence of individual atoms to be real, viewing all things and the cosmos as secondary, representing various combinations of atoms. The soul, too, is composed of atoms.

Epicurus presents an original proposition that significantly adjusts Democritus' atomic theory: the movement of atoms, while subject to necessity, is also influenced by their intrinsic properties—weight and certain other characteristics—allowing for the possibility of spontaneous deviation of atoms from their trajectory. This notion of the atom's capacity for self-motion provides an ontological foundation for individual freedom from social necessity.

Epicurean ethics is hedonistic (from the Greek hedone—pleasure), attributing significance to pleasure as the goal of life. However, the Epicureans did not refer to mere sensual gratification or crude animal pleasure. Epicurus emphasized that "when we say that pleasure is the ultimate goal, we certainly do not mean the pleasures of sensuality or debauchery, as those think who do not know, do not share, or poorly understand our teaching; no, we mean the freedom from bodily suffering and the tumult of the soul." Epicurus refers to a true spiritual equilibrium, wherein an individual maintains freedom from all passions—both from excessive joy and from excessive sorrow. Happiness is a state of spiritual stability (ataraxia), which can be cultivated only by the sage, capable of overcoming the fear of gods and the fear of death.

The practical assistance of philosophy in overcoming the fear of death is a crucial task. According to Epicurus, the soul dies together with the body because it, like the body, is composed of atoms. There is no need to fear death, for while we exist, death is not; and when it comes, we no longer exist. Thus, death is absent both for the living and for the dead. Similarly, one need not fear the gods, who dwell in the space between worlds and revel in bliss, for they do not interfere in the course of natural phenomena and human affairs, as this would disrupt their carefree existence.

Epicurus’ observations regarding human needs and desires are also original. There are three types of desires: natural and necessary for life; natural but not essential for life; and those that are neither necessary for life nor natural. The sage yearns only for the first category of desires and refrains from the others. The result of such moderation is the attainment of complete serenity or tranquility, which constitutes the happiness of the philosopher. Epicurus is attributed with the maxim "live unnoticed," meaning within a close circle of friends, avoiding participation in loud public life.

Stoicism also held great authority during the Hellenistic period, founded by Zeno of Citium (336-265 BCE). The name of the school "Stoa," meaning portico, derives from the name of the place where he taught his doctrine—the so-called "Painted Porch" in Athens. Other notable representatives of Greek Stoicism include Panaetius of Rhodes (circa 185-110 BCE) and Posidonius (circa 135-51/50 BCE). Stoicism found brilliant continuity in the Roman era.

The Stoics conceived philosophy as a doctrine and practice leading to a prosperous and virtuous life. Their philosophy is divided into three parts: logic, physics, and ethics, which cannot be separated from one another. Ethics is founded on a particular worldview, logic establishes the foundations of thought as well as the understanding of reality, and the latter justifies ethical behavior. Everything in the world occurs in accordance with necessity, subordinate to the Logos. The ultimate goal of humanity, akin to that of the Epicureans, is the attainment of a happy life.

The principal component of Stoic teaching is ethics. The Stoics saw virtues as exercises of the mind and vice as actions guided by irrational passions. Vice is a passion that disregards reason. A person unable to be guided by reason is not free. According to the Stoics, the path to happiness lies through apatheia (from the Greek a- meaning negation, and "pathos" meaning passion), which denotes the eradication of intense feelings and affections. Here, one can observe the proximity of the Stoic concept of "apatheia" to the Epicurean notion of "ataraxia" or tranquility of spirit. However, Stoic teaching introduces a fundamentally new element: it incorporates the concept of fate, or destiny—the dependency of human life on the necessary course of events. A person cannot alter their fate, yet they can control their attitude towards it. Fate guides those who are in agreement with it, while it drags along those who resist.

Since humanity is a part of society and a fragment of the cosmos, the human drive for self-preservation can elevate itself to concern for the state and the greater whole. Thus, according to the Stoics, the true sage places the welfare of the state above personal benefit and may even sacrifice their life for it. Through the strength of their will, the sage achieves independence from passions and desires, not fearing even death. From the Stoics arises the understanding of philosophy as the science of dying. The absolute rationalism of Stoicism, along with the rigor of its moral principles, proved highly appealing to Roman statehood. It is no coincidence that among all philosophical schools, Stoicism gained the widest dissemination within the Roman Empire.

The contradictory views of various schools on the most critical issues of life led to disillusionment with the possibilities of knowledge and to skepticism (the term derives from the Greek skeptikos, meaning one who critiques or weighs). The teaching of the skeptics was a radical doubt regarding the veracity of knowledge. Its principal representatives included, in Greece, Pyrrho (360-270 BCE), Timon (320-230 BCE), Aenesidemus of Knossos (1st century BCE), and Sextus Empiricus (circa 200-250 CE); and in Rome, Agrippa (1st-2nd century CE).

The founder of skepticism, Pyrrho (360-270 BCE), asserted that the only appropriate way for a philosopher to relate to things could only consist in refraining from any categorical judgments. The skeptical philosopher should not ascribe any true or absolutely certain significance to anything. The justification for this position rests on the abstention from categorical judgments, as no judgment can be recognized as true without being associated with what are termed "tropes." Tropes, or "turns" of thought, represent arguments directed against all judgments concerning reality based on immediate impressions. Aenesidemus formulated the first ten "tropes":

• Due to the diversity of beings, their differing origins, and their bodily structures, identical things evoke disparate images in them.
• The bodily and moral differences that undoubtedly exist among people require, in this case, abstaining from judgments about the nature of things themselves. The same food, consumed by different people, exerts varying influences on them.
• Even within the same individual, differences in the structure of sensory organs exist. Personal impressions arising from different senses convey different truths about the same things. Thus, a painting evokes a sense of depth and relief to the eye, while to touch, it appears flat and smooth.
• The same objects are perceived differently depending on age, motion or stillness, hatred or love, hunger or satiety, courage or cowardice.
• Judgments depend on the position of the object being perceived, as well as distance and location. Thus, the same oar appears bent when viewed in the water, but straight when seen on land.
• Judgments depend on "contaminants": the objects about which judgments are made are never perceived in isolation but always in conjunction with something else, making it impossible to judge what the object is in its "pure form."
• Judgments depend on the relationship of size and the composition of the objects to be defined. For instance, grains of sand, viewed separately, seem solid, while when gathered into a large pile, they create an impression of softness, and so forth.
• All phenomena are relative. Each thing exists in relation to something else and therefore seems more to be such than by nature is as it presents itself to us.
• Judgments depend on how common or rare the examined phenomenon is. The same thing is recognized as valuable or worthless not based on its actual nature but depending on its prevalence. For instance, the sun, by its nature, ought to astonish us far more than, say, a comet. Here it is noteworthy that this ancient argument resonates with the reasoning of the marginalist school in economic science, which posits that the value of goods for a person depends on the quantity of those goods at their disposal, diminishing as the quantity increases and needs are met.
• Judgments depend on customs, laws, especially beliefs and dogmatic superstitions.

The epistemological issues posed in the tropes retain their significance for contemporary thought, creating "intellectual tension" in epistemological research.

During the period of Roman philosophy, the main trends in the development of ancient philosophical thought reached logical conclusions. Indeed, ancient Roman philosophy did not produce fundamentally new concepts; it either developed the ideas of Greek philosophy or sought to create eclectic philosophical systems through the synthesis of the "best" ideas from various philosophical schools and directions. Stoicism gained the widest acceptance in the Roman Empire. It found its second homeland in Rome. The Romans—warriors and conquerors—were almost Stoics by birth, making the philosophy of "heroic pessimism," as Stoicism is sometimes characterized, resonate deeply with their worldview.

The most prominent representatives of Roman Stoicism were Seneca (circa 4 BCE - 65 CE), Epictetus (circa 50-138 CE), and Marcus Aurelius (121-180 CE).

Seneca was a prominent public figure and the tutor of the future emperor Nero. Later, accused of conspiracy, he was compelled to end his life through suicide. Among Seneca's most significant works are Letters to Lucilius, On Providence, On the Firmness of the Wise Man, On Anger, On the Happy Life, On Leisure, On Virtue, and others. With the exception of On the Nature of Things, all his works are devoted to ethical issues.

According to Seneca, everything in the world is subject to the power of strict necessity. God is the inner governing force of nature, ruling over reason (logos). The soul is immortal, while the body serves as the chains of the soul. He identifies two fundamental principles for a worthy life: the principle of harmony with nature and the principle of submission to fate. The action of fate is inevitable and relentless. Thus, one should not succumb to despair, for it is impossible to change one’s destiny. He stated, "Fate attracts those who desire, and drags those who do not." A dignified attitude toward anything, according to him, is one of calmness, composure, and the preservation of inner autonomy. The meaning of life, for Seneca, lies in achieving absolute peace of mind. One of the essential prerequisites for this is overcoming the fear of death.

Epictetus was initially a slave, but after gaining his freedom, he devoted himself entirely to philosophy. He left no works of his own; his thoughts were recorded by his pupil Arrian of Nicomedia in the treatises Discourses of Epictetus and Enchiridion of Epictetus. Epictetus advocated the view that philosophy is not merely a pursuit of knowledge but should find application in practical life. A person should not desire what is beyond their capacity. Epictetus remarked, "If you wish for your children, your wife, and your friends to live forever, then you are either mad or you wish for things that are not in your control to be in your control, and for what belongs to others to be yours." Since changing the objective world and society is beyond human power, it follows that one should not strive for such changes. The central motif of his philosophy is reconciliation with the given reality. Epictetus believed that the true essence of man is reason. Through it, humans participate in the overall order of the world. Therefore, one should care not for welfare, convenience, or bodily pleasures, but solely for the soul. Freedom and independence, which he valued greatly, are limited only to spiritual freedom—the freedom of reconciliation with reality.

Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, the Roman emperor, ruled during a time when crisis phenomena in the empire intensified. In his Meditations, he proclaimed that "the only thing under the control of man is his thoughts." "Look within yourself! There lies the source of goodness, which can spring forth endlessly if you dig deep into it constantly." He understood the world as eternally flowing and changeable. The primary aim of human aspirations should be to achieve virtue, that is, to submit to the "rational laws of nature in harmony with human essence."

Stoic teaching, particularly the emphasis on the necessity to "submit oneself" to the universal reason (logos—God) and the preaching of humility, significantly influenced the formation of early Christianity.

The most vibrant and profound teaching of late antiquity is Neoplatonism. Its representatives include Plotinus (205-270), Porphyry (c. 234-305), Iamblichus (c. 245-330), and Proclus (412-485). Neoplatonism became the expression of the deepest characteristics of its era: its universalism and catastrophism. The catastrophism of the final centuries of the Roman Empire prompted persistent attempts to withdraw from all earthly matters, a tendency that was characteristic not only of the philosophical doctrine of Neoplatonism but also of the rising force of Christianity.

Plotinus was a follower of Plato's philosophy, but he enriched Platonism with new ideas. His teaching distinguishes between the reality of the intelligible world and the illusory world of visibility—the sensible being. "Back to the beloved community!" exclaimed Plotinus, referring to the heavens, the eternal divine being. For Plotinus, the highest degree of being, his substance, is not the ideas, as in Plato, but the divine One, which can only be defined as a self-sufficient principle devoid of any attributes. The fullness of being of the One leads to creation (emanation), whereby the One is not diminished; it remains the One possessing the entirety of being. God in Neoplatonism is something ineffable, about which no knowledge is possible. The first product of the One is the world Mind, in some interpretations referred to as Spirit. Spirit emanates into the world Soul, which animates all existence, making the world internally interconnected. Through the Soul, everything that exists strives to return to the higher—the One—because there lies its original homeland, its roots. Humanity represents an embodiment of the universe, as its essence comprises body, soul, and mind; the latter provides direction for human striving towards the One, towards the good. The movement of the human soul towards God consists of purification, liberation from the flesh, and merging with God in mystical ecstasy. Behind the visible chaos, ruin, evil, and cruelty, Plotinus perceived a beautiful world of divine creation.

The most significant philosophical ideas of Plotinus include: a value-oriented approach to being based on its hierarchical division; the acknowledgment of a higher being as a creative principle; the idea of creation of the lower by the higher being, interpreted as its emanation. These ideas, closest to Christian theology, were destined to have a long life. The philosophy of Plotinus represents both the culmination of ancient philosophy and the beginning of Christian theology.

The views of the main philosophical schools of the late period of ancient philosophy can be illustrated through the following comparative Table 5.

Table 5.

Core Teachings	Foundations of the Universe and Their Significance for Humanity	Implications for Humanity from This Understanding of the Universe	Life Tasks of Humanity
Epicureanism	Death does not exist, for the foundation of the world lies in immortal atoms	One should rid oneself of life's fears	Achieve ataraxia—serenity of the soul
Skepticism	Each thing is no more than another	One should refrain from any judgments about things	Maintain a state of autarky—self-rule
Stoicism	The world is permeated by divine spirit, and in it, fate reigns as an inexorable law	One should not resist fate: those who desire are lured by fate, while those who do not are dragged along	One must maintain the courage of spirit, for the spirit is autonomous with respect to the circumstances of life
Neoplatonism	The world is a sequential "emanation" of the divine One	One should strive to approach God	One must follow the path of spiritual self-perfection

Stoic teaching, especially the emphasis on the necessity to "submit oneself" to the universal reason (logos—God) and the preaching of humility, significantly influenced the formation of early Christianity.