The word “Hellenistic” derives from Hellenism, a term that corresponds to the period that goes from Alexander the Great, the Macedonian, to the Roman domination (end of the century. IV d. Ç. at the end of the century. Id. Ç.). Alexander was largely responsible for extending Greek influence from Egypt to India.
The Hellenistic philosophy corresponds to a natural development of the intellectual movement that preceded it, and is often confronted again with pre-Socratic themes; however, above all, it is deeply marked by the Socratic spirit. The experience with other peoples also allowed him to play a certain role in the development of the notion of cosmopolitanism, that is, the idea of man as a citizen of the world.
The Hellenistic schools have in common the philosophical activity, like love and investigation of wisdom, this being a way of life. They didn't differ much in choosing the form of wisdom. They all defined wisdom as a state of perfect tranquility of the soul. In this sense, philosophy is a therapy of care, anguish and human misery, misery resulting from social conventions and obligations.
All Hellenistic schools bring a certain Socratic heritage by admitting that men are submerged in misery, anguish and evil, because they are in ignorance; the evil is not in things, but in the value judgment men ascribe to them. From this arises a demand: that men take care to radically change their value judgments and their way of thinking and being. And this is only possible through inner peace and tranquility of the soul.
But if there are similarities between the schools in their way of conceiving philosophy as a therapy of the soul, there are also significant differences. there are the dogmatic, for which therapy consists in transforming value judgments and there are skeptics and cynical, for which it is a question of suspending all judgments. Among the dogmatics, which agree that the fundamental philosophical choice must correspond to an innate tendency of man, they are divided into Epicureanism, who understands that it is the investigation of pleasure that motivates all human activity, and Platonism, Aristotelianism and the stoicism, for whom, according to the Socratic tradition, the love of Well it is the primordial instinct of the human being.
Stoicism and Epicureanism are distinguished from Platonic-Aristotelian philosophy by a conscience of the urgency of the moral decision, but they have differences and similarities in the way of conceiving the method of teaching. Platonism, Aristotelianism and Stoicism have in common the mission of forming citizens to be political leaders. This training aims to achieve an ability to use the word through numerous rhetorical and dialectical exercises, drawing on the principles of political science. For this reason, many men go to Athens, from Africa, Italy, etc., to learn how to govern. But first they must learn to govern themselves, and then learn to govern others. They exercise wisdom to assimilate intellectually and spiritually the principles of thought and life contained therein. Live dialogue and discussion between master and disciple are the indispensable means.
Stoic teaching follows both dialectic and rhetoric, while Epicurean discourses followed a resolutely deductive form, that is, they proceeded from principle to conclusion.
The stoic effort to present his philosophy in a systematic body required his disciples to were always present in the spirit, through a constant work of memory, the essential of their dogmas. The notion of system for Stoics and Epicureans is not about conceptual construction, devoid of vital intent. The system aims to bring together, in a condensed form, the fundamental dogmas that do not dispense with an argumentation rigorous, formulated in short sentences (maximum) to gain persuasive force and greater mnemotechnical effectiveness (memory). These schools have the system as a coherent set of dogmas that are closely linked to the way of life practiced.
The Stoic and Epicurean schools are considered dogmatic for following a series of formulas built into a coherent body that are essentially linked to practical life. The Platonic and Aristotelian schools are reserved for an elite that lives in leisure and has time to study, investigate and contemplate, the Stoic and Epicureans adopted the popular and missionary spirit of Socrates, addressing all men, rich or poor, male or female, free or slave. Anyone who adopts his way of life will be considered a philosopher, even if he does not develop, in writing or orally, a philosophical discourse.
Skepticism and cynicism are also a popular and missionary philosophy, somewhat exaggerated in their tendencies: the former suspends judgment about reality, doubting that any safe and stable or true knowledge is possible absolutely; the second refers to total indifference to the world and to oneself, promoting a state of inner tranquility and imperturbability. Both address all classes of society, instructing with their own lives, denouncing social conventions and proposing a return to the simplicity of life according to nature.
By João Francisco P. Cabral
Brazil School Collaborator
Graduated in Philosophy from the Federal University of Uberlândia - UFU
Master's student in Philosophy at the State University of Campinas - UNICAMP
Source: Brazil School - https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/filosofia/periodo-helenistico-1.htm
