New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-11-06
NEW PUBLICATIONS.
GREEK PHILOSOPHY.

SELECT DIALOGUES OF PLATo.Socrates, Lnlms
Life; A Day with Socrates. Four Voihmes'
Charles Scribner's Sons
"a Study of Greek Philosophy" is dedicated to the
Kant of Denver and is the outcome of the eno1s
Of q circle Of women in St Louis and the hourshng
capital OF the Rocky Mountain region to penetrate the
mazes OF Greek thought by means OF commch'aies'
histories and translations. The author was aiso
disciple OF the Concord School OF Philosophy ou' .o
conversational method which she pracsed among per
Western friends has saved her from the empty pro-
undity of phrase that brought deserved rdcue upon
some of the Concord enthusiasts. But words Ike scn-
suous and superseasuous have strong attracuoh io'
her. and stumbling over these again ana again. o"e
feels the air of NeoPiatonsm long before ne reao"'
the proper realm OF Greek philosophc dreamaho'
The book is an eminently readable one IL pre-
SCENTS the modern views of Greek philosophy IN we'll
ordered scheme with little Of that jostng ana con.
fusion which really attended the -develop"'eh' VI
Hellenic thought We sec the ancient thinkers AZ
their hest so 10 speak, with all their knotucst anu
most dlsagreeabe problems tucked out OF Sight, anu
all those features which 1T well INTO inc seher"i
picture brought into due prominence. III ID !" ia'
statement in brief of the system OF Hegel wieo 'no
ANTIQUITIES are minmized in order to present mar
,non,ous historical scheme Hegels dction made new
Sn3oulties which the ancients never dreamed OIL put
Aha. can hardly be said OF the book In hand. The
central thought Of the present author is that the sue
cessiye discoveries of the various SCHOOLS gre" oho
ont of the other Just as II there we're no possibility
OF the Greeks having been Influenced at any stage OF
their development BY the Barbarian nations mus
Plato is described as the first Greek philosopher who
studied the doctrines Of his predecessors and con-
sciously united in higher principle the truth OF their
contradictory statements" This is true as far as II
GOES but it is a very meagre statement OF the TACT
that Plato was far than Creek that MS genius
transcended Hellenic limitations and put into form the
thoughts that had slumbered long in the nina OF
race Of which the Greeks were only part. Inc
myths which he recurs to often are not essentially
and exclusively Greek and he them manifesty
because the thought he has is greater than he could
embody in plain words. He srove unconsciousiy 10
Give universal rather than tribal expression to uni
versal truth.
This principle does very well until what may be
called the encyclopaedia period OF Greek learning Is
reached There IL fails. OF Neo Platonism the
author says Sin Its theory Of the transcendance OF
deity and graded transition from the infinite to the
finite Neo.Platonism resembles Oriental philosophy,
but tho foreign material from whatever source o.
taned Is so blended and transformed as to constitute
an integral part of its own SYSTEM III the state'
fnent were reversed, it would be nearer the truth.
Greek thought was transformed that 1t became part
Of an Oriental system From the ume OF uhe
earlier peripatetics the Greek men OF learning
particularly the philosophers, had given attention
with evcrncreasng zeal to the religious philosophy OF
the Chadaeans and in the last period OF antique study
that to which the NeoPlatonists belonged Chaldaean
science or what passed SUCH rose to such influence
that it even became the object Of adverse laws jam
blichus wrote series OF twcnty-eght books on Chal
Aacan theology and Proclus composed a work on the
Chaldaean Oraclcs.n Like the literary classes among
all the races subugsted by the Greeks under Alexander
and his successors, the Chaldaeans submitted grad
ually to Hellenic influence The great majority TOOK
TO writing in Greek but there still remained those WHO
preserved their inherited literature down to the
,sp{pt ha( .nnSt
OF the early Christian centuries. in fact this curious
mysticism lad become in Neo Platonc times an Inter
national affair. that Bardesancs. or whoever spoke
In his name. could OF the Egyptian and Chadaean
hooks "the doctrine of the two countries IS the same
There was natural sympathy among the mysucs OF
all civilized nations. While the Egyptians ara ire
hsiatdcs chung to an 1ncomprehensiblc learning,
because they believed their ancestors understood and
practised it, the late Greeks strove to renew. not
platonism merely but the vagaries attributed to
Orpleus and, Pythagoras. The fictitious Journeys
Of the ancient Greek sages which the infatuated wor
shippers Of old manners looked upon as true, IN the
face of the facts and in spite of the general opinion OF
the age. inspired them with desire TO perform the
came travels aud Investigations From the last cen
bury before Christ onward TO the day when Greek
nhosopy ceased to exist even in name. the works of
Its votaries are crowded with Oriental names ana
ideas The pretended collection OF Chadaean "Ora-
cess undoubtedly exerted powerful influence over the
mind OF Porphyry, whose reading was vast ana whose
tendency in spite of his extraordinary gift for making
the most incredible speculaons read like pain matter
OF fact was ever towards deeper and deeper profund
files OF mysticism Otherwise there would have been
no meaning in the sarcastic fling OF Augustine: fou
learned that not from Plato but from your Chadaean
masters" The main object of Porphyry and that OF
the instruction in the socaled oracles was apparently
the same-theurgic magical compulslon of the Deity
With the aim of gathering all human thought AMI
experience into system, Porphyry also devoted study
% Egyptian theosophy as Plutarch did for the
eclectic school Of thinkers. But like his master. Plot
mus, Porplyry approached Egyptian tradition with
sceptical aDtpathy, raising doubts In the famous Let
ter to Anebo" that plainly antagonstic to Egyp-
tan pretensions Yet after him Nco Platonism planted
itself OH Egyptian magic. For example, in the work
on the Egyptian mysteries attributed TO Jamblchus.
which II not genuine Is at least characteristic OF the
circle to which he belonged an Egyptian priest,
Abammon in the guise Of tutor to Ancbo was created
almost in the manner Of the modern occult fiction TO
to reply to the questions OF Porphyry. With such
an imaginary parsonage 10 utter what not even the
most creduous person would have venturcd to say on
the credit Of his senses, 1t possible To fill
human being with many separate souls seemed
convenient and to people the universe from the centre
to It's outermost rim with spiritual exlstences As q
matter Of fact, Abammon acted with moderation He
only gave two souls apiece, and acknowledged in
effect that this number was than the average man
knew what TO do with. When these ideas were assim-
Hated by the Greeks there came the natural result
which has followed every ebullidon Of mysticism down
TO the present day-a congeries Of miracles, such as
would have stirred the bile of the mdmannered David
Hume. Heraiskos. disciple of Proclus. was said to
have been born Ike the Egyptian God Horus with his
finger his lip. and when he died, the figures in the
"Osns robes in which his corpse was wrapped,
cleaned with brilliant supernatural light. The
world TO Neo- Piaonisr however, an immortal
work Of fiction, the Asinus Aureus" Of Apueius with
the beautiful episode of Cupid and Psyche.
The difculty Of an agreement on the vexed ques-
ton OF the Sophss is shown In the contrast between
the views brought TO focus in the above -mendoned
study and those equally modern views illustrated IN
the preface TO the Gorgiss among the Select Ola
losues of Plato But at all events this class Of