(page 26) - Chapter II
So-called Greek Philosophy Was Alien To The Greeks And Their Conditions Of Life

Page 26

allies, and after Brasdias and Cleon had been killed in battle (422 B.C.), Athens authorized Nicias to sue for peace. (Sandford's Mediterranean World C. 13, P. 220-221).

It is obvious from a study of the causes and effects of the Peloponnesian wars that

(a) The Greek states were envious of each other and

(b) The desire for power and expansion led to constant aggression and warfare among themselves.

(c) The condition of constant warfare between the city states was unfavourable for the production of philosophers.

Before passing on to consider my next proposition I would like to say that it is an accepted truth that the development of philosophical thought requires an environment which is free from disturbance and worries. The period commonly assigned to Greek philosophy (i.e. Thales to Aristotle) was exactly the opposite to one of peace and tranquility, and therefore it could not be expected to produce philosophy. The obstacles against the origin and development of Greek philosophy, were not only the frequency of civil wars; and the constant defense against Persian aggression; but also the threat of extermination from the Athenian government, its worst enemy.

D. PHILOSOPHY REQUIRES A SUITABLE ENVIRONMENT.

I must now add the following quotation which depicts this period. "For although the natural ills that beset mankind are many, we ourselves have added to them by wars and civil strife against one another, so that some have been unjustly put to death in their own cities, others driven into exile with their wives and children, and many have been compelled, for the sake of their daily bread, to die fighting against their own people, for the sake of the enemy". (Isocrates)

(Botsford & Robinson's Hellenic Hist., c. XIII. Couch's Hist. of Greece, c. XXII. Bury's Hist. of Greece, c. X. The Tutorial Hist. of Greece by W. J. Woodhouse, c. 27, 28 and 29).

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