Word and meaning in ancient Alexandria : theories of language from Philo to Plotinus

132 Pages·2008·1.03 MB·English

by  David Robertson

WORD AND MEANING IN ANCIENT ALEXANDRIA
During the late Hellenistic and early Imperial periods (B.C. 50 – A.D. 300),
important developments may be traced in the philosophy of language and its
relationship to mind. This book examines theories of language in the work of
theologians and philosophers linked to Ancient Alexandria.
The growth of Judaism and Christianity in cultural centers of the
Roman Empire, above all Alexandria, provides valuable testimony to the
philosophical vitality of this period. The study of Later Greek philosophy
should be more closely integrated with the Church Fathers, particularly in
the theologically sensitive issue of the nature of language. Robertson traces
some related attempts to reconcile immaterial, intelligible reality and the
intelligibility of language, explain the structure of language, and clarify
the nature of meaning. These shared problems are handled with greater
philosophical sophistication by Plotinus, although the comparison with Philo,
Clement, and Origen illustrates significant similarities as well as differences
between Neoplatonism and early Jewish and Christian philosophy.
This book is dedicated to Josie Robertson
Word and Meaning in
Ancient Alexandria
Theories of Language from Philo to Plotinus
DAVID ROBERTSON
© David Robertson 2008
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system
or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording
or otherwise without the prior permission of the publisher.
David Robertson has asserted his moral right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act,
1988, to be identified as the author of this work.
Published by
Ashgate Publishing Limited Ashgate Publishing Company
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Ashgate website: http://www.ashgate.com
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Robertson, David, 1967–
Word and meaning in ancient Alexandria : theories of language from Philo to Plotinus
1. Plotinus 2. Origen 3. Philo, of Alexandria 4. Language and languages – Philosophy
5. Alexandrian school
I. Title
401
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Robertson, David, 1967–
Word and meaning in ancient Alexandria : theories of language from Philo to Plotinus /
David Robertson.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-7546-0696-3 (hardcover : alk. paper)
1. Language and languages–Religious aspects–Christianity. 2. Language and languages–
Philosophy. 3. Christian literature, Early. I. Title.
BR115.L25R58 2007
401–dc22
2007028310
ISBN 978 0 7546 0696 3
Printed and bound in Great Britain by MPG Books Ltd. Bodmin, Cornwall.
Contents
Preface vii
Acknowledgements ix
List of Abbreviations xi
Introduction 1
1 Philo 9
2 Clement 29
3 Origen 45
4 Plotinus 63
Conclusion 97
Bibliography 99
Index Locorum 109
Index of Names and Subjects 112
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Preface
This book took shape like a great many human lives. It was conceived at
leisure, birthed in uncertainty, matured in confused alternations of pleasure
and pain, and completed in difficult circumstances. I can point to a chance
meeting in April 2000 with Sarah Lloyd from Ashgate, at the British Society
for the History of Philosophy Conference ‘Athens and Jerusalem’, University
of Keele. The shape of this project emerged from my five years of research
in London, although I left England with ambitions to write something far
more centered in ancient linguistics than the book in your hands. It is meant
to provide the sort of contribution in Later Hellenistic and Early Imperial
philosophy that I would have liked to read at the dissertation stage. I owe
uncountable debts to Mary Margaret McCabe, Verity Harte, Raphael Woolf,
Josef Lössl, Paul Helm, Bob Sharples, David Sedley, Martin Stone, and
John Lee, among many others, who all provided indispensable assistance
during and after my stay in London. At Felician College, David Rice and
Gerry O’Sullivan were enthusiastically supportive of this project. As noted
above, the Ashgate managers, editors, and administrators deserve the
greatest credit for their patience over several years, particularly Sarah Lloyd,
Anne Keirby, Paul Coulam, Rachel Lynch and Emily Ruskell. And I offer
warmest thanks to Richard Sorabji, my doctoral thesis supervisor at King’s
College London, who spotted me working in a thicket of books one fateful
day in the Institute of Classical Studies, cozily nestled in its old Gordon
Square lodgings. It was a divine appointment. Richard Sorabji enlisted me
in a series of research project tasks connected with the massive Ancient
Commentators Project, including serving for several years as postgraduate
assistant in preparation of the Sourcebook in the Philosophy of the Ancient
Commentators 200–600 AD (3 vols, London, 2004). After my repatriation
in America, Prof. Sorabji generously met with me in New York and Austin.
Without his advice, encouragement, references, hospitality, anecdotes, and
moral exhortation, this sort of research would be simply inconceivable. Any
shortcomings noted by the attentive reader may be charged solely to my
willful refusal to listen to his counsel. Finally, I express my gratitude to my
parents, who were unwittingly granted a perpetual work in progress for an
eldest son, and my wife and two daughters, who will greet the publication of
this monograph with a sense of wonder vastly incommensurate to its merits.
Now I must say a word about the title. I mean to pay my respects to Quine’s
viii Word and Meaning in Ancient Alexandria
tough and witty classic of analytic philosophy, Word and Object.1 It was the
first truly important work of contemporary philosophy I read, devoured (and
re-devoured) in countless railway platforms, subway trains, and chilly bus
stops in North London. Well, it was contemporary—to compare great things
with small, I am comforted by the possibility that a deeply flawed book
could sustain its interest. Finally, I would like to comment on my system
of references to ancient texts. I have adopted the most common scholarly
conventions for the references to ancient texts whenever possible, usually
including the name of the editor or editors in the reference. At times, as in the
case of passages from Clement and Origen, I have also included information
following the name of the editor or editors, which presents the pages and
lines of the cited Greek or Latin text. Thus for Clement and Origen, the page
numbers are presented towards the end of the reference, followed by the line
numbers. (In cases of multiple pages in the reference, I adopt a format of
page number, line number–page number, line number.) I trust that the reader
will interpret this scholarly notation with no difficulty.
1 W.V.O. Quine, Word and Object (Cambridge, MA, 1960).
Acknowledgements
I acknowledge the permission of University of Pennsylvania Press, for
allowing me to reproduce the copyrighted material from my published article,
‘Mind and Language in Philo’, Journal of the History of Ideas, vol. 67,
iss. 3 (July 2006) in the body of Chapter 1. Credit for translations pressed
into service from published sources is noted upon the first appearance of the
source in each chapter. Otherwise, the translated texts are my own. In no
instance have I used previously published translations from my own hand,
with the exception of the Philo texts.