Peripatetics and the Period of Early Hellenism

The article deals with the influence of the political development of Greece on the philosophy of peripatetics in the period of early Hellenism. The treatment of this issue in research literature is often underexplored and one-sided. It is believed that socio-historical changes in the era of Hellenism are most fully reflected in the philosophy of Epicurus, Stoics and Skeptics. It is noted that in the conditions of the formation of Hellenistic monarchies the dominant tendency in Greek philosophy was the alienation of the individual from society. In the course of the study, the author comes to the conclusion that the philosophy of peripatetics was influenced by two political systems that coexisted during the early Hellenic period. The first system was represented by Hellenistic monarchies. The second system was the traditional organization of city-states. As the author has established, with the formation of Hellenistic monarchies, the Lyceum saw a significant growth of interest in the monarchical state system. In their numerous writings on the tsarist government, peripatetics developed the idea of a virtuous and enlightened monarch. This idea was confirmed by the activities of certain Hellenistic rulers, such as Ptolemy I Soter, Ptolemy II Philadelphus, Seleucus I Nicator, Antigonus II Gonatas. The impact of the Greek polis that continued to exist during this period, manifested itself in peripatetic studies on the laws and government of Greek city-states. In addition, the Lyceum continued to work on projects of the ideal state. The considerable interest of peripatetics in the problem of political stability, as well as their critical attitude to the main types of state structure - democracy and oligarchy - indicates the development of the crisis of the system of city-states in the period of early Hellenism. The philosophy of peripatetics also manifested two opposite tendencies. The trend of alienation of the individual from society was evident in Theophrastus, in the form of commitment to the avoidance of marriage, family and children, as well as ideas about the wise man who finds satisfaction in his loneliness. The tendency towards political activity is particularly evident in Dicaearchus and Demetrius of Phalerum, who placed active life above the life of contemplation. The interest in political science in the Lyceum and participation of its individual representatives in public affairs lead to the conclusion that for peripatetics in the period of early Hellenism the tendency to participate in political activity prevailed over the tendency towards the alienation of the individual from society.

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