The aim of the text is to show Thales not as an early primitive thinker but as an inventor of the new discourse that later will be called philosophical. Nevertheless Thales remained at the same time mythological sage faithful to Greek religion. The subtle and complicated relation between logos and mythos is showed as a background of the one-many problem so crucial for the European thought.

The above text is an attempt to reconstruct Plotinian conception of dialectics (presented in a treatise "On dialectics") based on these parts of "Enneads" which includes Plotinian conception of thinking. Dialectics, according to Plotinus, is not philosopher's instrument as logic is, it is not a method of solving philosophical problems. It is a way which enables soul to return to the One. The return consists of two stages with two corresponding kinds of dialectics; reason dialectics enables soul to know itself (...) through self-thinking and to get to the Intellect whereas dialectics of the Intellect is an exploration of Nous by which getting to the One is possible. Generally dialectics is redeeming thinking raising the soul up to the One, which realizes itself on the level of every lower hypostasis as self-thinking. Dialectics is an embodiment of the Return (epistrofe) – cosmic principle opposite to Outgoing (proodos) – directing everything, what was generated by the One, back to its origin. (shrink)

Aretology is discussed here in the necessary context of the whole Plotinian philosophy. Aretology is presented in two parts: first one concerning lower virtues, and the second one concerning higher virtues. The center of Plotinian aretology is different in case of either kind of virtues. Virtues generating that,,resemblance” are presented as necessary conditions of getting back to the One.

This book, Thales and the beginnings of European reflection, is more than a field guide to all major testimonies about Thales. It does not merely contain a summary and critique of the available literature on the subject, but also lays down a new, holistic interpretation of Thales from a perspective that brings to light several important, but previously overlooked issues."--Page [4] of cover.

The purpose of that text is to show the place of the reflection on tragedy within the Schopenhauerian system. The conception of tragedy is based on two key terms of Schopenhauerian philosophy: will and objectification. Explication of these terms and their role in the definition of tragedy leads to the correct understanding of tragedy as the manifestation of the inner contradiction of the will. The main problem of tragedy is freedom. According to Schopenhauer, since Greek thinkers didn't know the concept (...) of transcendental freedom, they were unable to create perfect tragedy, which could emerge in German romanticism after Kant. (shrink)