Why study Ancient Greek Philosophy? A Brief Reflection

Why study Ancient Greek Philosophy?  A Brief Reflection.

Studying philosophy is like listening into a very long and enduring conversation that started before your arrival.  It takes time to get up to speed, but when one does, it is the most thrilling of activities.  One has a front seat view into this philosophical grand story, and can only hope to participate in it after years of study.

The birth of philosophy is the awareness of the autonomy of human reason and of moral deliberation.  The Ancient Greek philosophers are often seen as romantics.  As pioneers are often immortalized, so, too, have been our philosophical ancestors.  However, many of them lived challenging lives and endured much hardship by those in conventional power:  Socrates died of capital punishment, Plato was kidnaped by Dionysius, Aristotle was forced out of the Academy because of Speussipus, Epictetus clawed himself out of slavery via methods of Stoicism, the Platonic Academy was closed by Emperor Justinian, and, in the Medieval tradition, Boethius was beheaded, Maimonides from Cordova exiled to Cairo, Averroes from Cordova exiled to Morocco, etc.  It is clear that philosophy at its core can be a rather dangerous activity and is not for the faint of heart, as the ancients can testify. 

Writing philosophically is not the same as conventional forms of writing.  This written philosophical foundation established the canon of codified texts in our tradition and was transmitted by the living philosopher, engaged in the oral tradition. To learn a musical instrument or to learn how to ride a bike, one has to first witness a musician at play or a cyclist in action.  Learning Ancient Greek Philosophy is to listen to the living tradition that has been deposited in the writings.  One learns to read in order to familiarize oneself with the insights captured in word; and, one learns to think by attuning oneself to a living philosopher in the act of thinking.  While the content of Ancient Greek Philosophy is important, the act of thinking provides the freedom and autonomy to the philosopher.   It is the unapologetic freedom to think for oneself that is the spirit of philosophy, understood as a verb and not a static object.

Clearly, Philosophy is not an offshoot of the later sciences, such as Psychology, Sociology, Political Science, Anthropology, etc.  It has its own methodology and its own canon of reasoning.  The ancients knew that this autonomy of thinking for oneself is the most pleasing and most enriching of activities, and, as a result, is the most dangerous and in need of muzzling by political tyrants.  Our history is fraught with this tension.  While philosophy requires much concentrated effort to master (cf. Plato’s Seventh Letter), it rewards those who genuinely pursue the good and honest life.