Acheloios, Thales, and the Origin of Philosophy
A Response to the Neo-Marxians
By (author) Nicholas J. Molinari
Hardback (Published)
(May 2022)
ISBN: 9781803270869
6.85 x 9.72 inches
Price: $84.00
In stock
Through careful analysis of the archaeological record, close reading of ancient sources, and deep investigations into the languages of our past, this study demonstrates the importance of the influence of the cult of Acheloios on Thales, fundamentally changing our understanding of the origin of the philosophical experience in 6th century Ionia.
Acheloios, Thales, and the Origin of Philosophy: A Response to the Neo-Marxians fundamentally changes our understanding of a pivotal moment in the history of mankind – the origin of the philosophical experience in 6th century Ionia. Through a careful analysis of the archaeological record, a close reading of hundreds of ancient sources, and a deep investigation into the various languages of our past, Nicholas Molinari demonstrates the importance of the influence of the cult of Acheloios on Thales; provides a critique of the Neo-Marxian prioritization of coined money and conflation of metaphysical cosmology and philosophy; and, most importantly, reintegrates beauty and love as philosophy’s ultimate source.
Abstract;
Introduction;
Part I: Concerning the Neo-Marxian School
Chapter 1: Marx to Sohn-Rethel: Dialectical Materialist Approaches to the Origin of Philosophy;
Chapter 2: Richard Seaford’s Contribution;
Part II: Concerning Thales and Acheloios
Chapter 3: Thales’ Principle: A Provisional Assessment;
Chapter 4: The Emergence of Acheloios and Major Elements of His Cult;
Part III: Concerning the Etymological and Archaeological Evidence
Chapter 5: The Etymology of hýdōr: Pure, Sacred Water;
Chapter 6: The Physical Evidence;
Part IV: Philosophos and Philomythos
Chapter 7: Philosophy Ex Nihilo?;
Chapter 8: The Mythological Wellspring;
Part V: Concerning the Thaletan-Acheloian Tradition
Chapter 9: Thales and Acheloios;
Chapter 10: The Thaletan Tradition from Pythagoras to Empedokles;
Part VI: Purification of Body and Soul: Sophokles and Plato
Chapter 11: Sophokles’ Trachiniae: The Interplay of Gods and Souls;
Chapter 12: Acheloios as the Horizon for an Understanding of Being;
Conclusion
The Sacrifice of Acheloios: A Response to the Neo-Marxians;
Bibliography;
General Index;
Index Locorum
,
Abstract;
Introduction;
Part I: Concerning the Neo-Marxian School
Chapter 1: Marx to Sohn-Rethel: Dialectical Materialist Approaches to the Origin of Philosophy;
Chapter 2: Richard Seaford’s Contribution;
Part II: Concerning Thales and Acheloios
Chapter 3: Thales’ Principle: A Provisional Assessment;
Chapter 4: The Emergence of Acheloios and Major Elements of His Cult;
Part III: Concerning the Etymological and Archaeological Evidence
Chapter 5: The Etymology of hýdōr: Pure, Sacred Water;
Chapter 6: The Physical Evidence;
Part IV: Philosophos and Philomythos
Chapter 7: Philosophy Ex Nihilo?;
Chapter 8: The Mythological Wellspring;
Part V: Concerning the Thaletan-Acheloian Tradition
Chapter 9: Thales and Acheloios;
Chapter 10: The Thaletan Tradition from Pythagoras to Empedokles;
Part VI: Purification of Body and Soul: Sophokles and Plato
Chapter 11: Sophokles’ Trachiniae: The Interplay of Gods and Souls;
Chapter 12: Acheloios as the Horizon for an Understanding of Being;
Conclusion
The Sacrifice of Acheloios: A Response to the Neo-Marxians;
Bibliography;
General Index;
Index Locorum
Nicholas J. Molinari, PhD, is an academic librarian in Milford, Massachusetts and Adjunct Professor of Philosophy at Salve Regina University in Newport, RI. He is the author, with Dr Nicola Sisci, of ΠΟΤΑΜΙΚΟΝ: Sinews of Acheloios (Archaeopress, 2016), and general editor of KOINON: The International Journal of Classical Numismatics.
- By (author) Nicholas J. Molinari
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