Книга Потаённые страницы истории западной философии - Виктор Валентинович Костецкий

of physiognomy for history», physiognomy is interpreted as a method of scientific research, adjacent to induction and deduction. In the method of physiognomy, a conclusion is made based on one fact, but one that is evidence (γνομα – small detail, sign). The sign becomes evidence in the chain of deductive proof, accordingly, giving the conclusion a reliable rather than probabilistic character. F. Bacon associated the invention of physiognomy as a scientific method with Hippocrates and Aristotle. Physiognomy, based on insightful observation, on the one hand, and logical analysis, on the other hand, not only combines the empirical and theoretical levels of knowledge, but also includes the methodology of aesthetic contemplation. Terms such as «picture», «face», «spirit» have a conceptual meaning in physiognomy. Transcendental visioning in physiognomy is no different from what is called «ingenuity» in design or «imagination» in mathematics. In the history of Western science, it so happened that the logical methods of deduction and induction pushed physiognomy to the edge of scientific methodology, almost identifying it with intuition. O. Spengler’s attempts to return physiognomy to the fold of scientific methodology didn’t find a response.

Retelling in philosophy

The article draws attention to a problem of a seemingly philological nature: the retelling of a classical philosophical text in the interests of, for example, a reference book or a textbook. However, it turns out that even seasoned authors sometimes fail to cope with this task. As an example of an incorrect retelling in philosophy, Aristotle’s ethics is analyzed – as the most seemingly accessible section of his philosophy. The error in the retelling begins with the fact that the central concept of Aristotle’s ethics – the «beautiful act» – is ignored. For Aristotle, this is one concept, and not the concept of «act» with the assessment «beautiful». It is in the single concept of «beautiful act» that the concept of «honor» is implicitly contained, which Seneca, subsequently developing the intention of Aristotelian thought, will develop into the concept of «conscience». An error in the retelling of the text turns the entire retelling into an arbitrary construction, over which even a tour through quotations looks preferable. In the history of philosophy, with the loss of the commentary genre, the retelling of the author’s philosophy has taken on an unacceptably familiar character. Under the pretext of «analysis» or «interpretation», retelling in philosophy takes on an openly deceitful character.

Street aesthetics in the antique polis: the emergence of Western philosophy

The emergence of Western philosophy has a completely different character than philosophizing in the culture of the Ancient East. Analysis of such factors of antique history as colonization, the transition from bronze to iron, the collapse of the patriarchal family, favorable climate and landscape conditions, the universal talent of the Hellenic people and other significant factors ultimately do not answer the question of how Western-type philosophy arose. It is no coincidence that E. Renan preferred to talk about the «Greek miracle». According to Renan, the «Greek miracle» was due to a successful composition of various factors – which, of course, took place. But the question of the emergence of Western philosophy cannot be reduced to a successful «mutation» of culture.

The article attempts a more in-depth analysis of the «polis». At the same time, it is not the agora that comes first, but the street as «the road to your home». Polis arises not as a migration of any population, especially a patriarchal one, but as a «class migration» (of craft people). In polis life, there was not a process of decomposition of tribal relations and the patriarchal family (this process was already a thing of the past at the time of migration), but a process of restoration of the family according to the patriarchal type on the basis of private household ownership and individual entrepreneurship. In the early polis, such a phenomenon as «slavery» did not exist «out of principle», but capitalist relations of the contractual (friendly) type were original.

A socio-political problem for the early polis was the loss of the friendly character of ancient capitalism, which was the transition of discussions to the street and the appearance of the «seven wise men» on it. The question «how to live correctly» in the conditions of self-organization of a settlement initiated the very discussions with which Western philosophy began. It was implied that one can live in different ways, but not in the same way as in the despotisms of the Ancient East. The Hellenes were motivated not by a love of freedom, but by a hatred of despotism, primarily in relations between neighbors. The ideas of sympathy, synergy, symphony, which Pythagoras spoke about, were aesthetically initially hidden in the polis – a craft settlement in free territories. All «teachings about nature» were aesthetic reflections within the framework of a craft worldview and craft terminology.

The problem of Pythagoras in the history of philosophy

The problem of Pythagoras in the history of philosophy is due to the fact that there are neither texts of Pythagoras, nor written evidence of his contemporaries about any philosophy. Actually, all knowledge about the philosophy of Pythagoras developed on the basis of oral creativity in subsequent centuries. The article argues that the absence of sources does not mean the absence of the possibility of a full reconstruction of conceptual aspects in the philosophy of Pythagoras. The reconstruction method is based, firstly, on the fact that the philosophy of Pythagoras influenced many representatives of philosophy and science for many centuries. Secondly, enough characteristic signs, «evidence», have come down about the life of Pythagoras and the features of his philosophy. With knowledge of the cultural context, the philosophy of Pythagoras is not knowable, but recognizable. Even if we assume that the philosophy of Pythagoras changed over many centuries to the point of caricature, it does not follow that in caricatures the original became unrecognizable. Particularly, recognition is available through a range of concepts such as empathy, sympathy, synergy, visioning, theory, problem. The article attempts to restore the original features of