Inedita, t. 5: A History of Ancient Philosophy

Volume five of Kazimierz Twardowski's “Inedits” includes lectures on the history of ancient philosophy, delivered at the University of Lvov in 1896-1031. Twardowski believed that the history of philosophy can be understood as the history of clashing views on the world and life. Although such views cannot be justified scientifically, he pointed out, they play an important role in human life. Hence the importance of the history of philosophy. The text of the book has been reconstructed and edited on the basis of manuscripts and typescripts held in the Kazimierz Twardowski Archive (AKT) in Warsaw. These are the following documents (order as in the study): (1) AKT P.4,1, Supplements to the lectures "History of Philosophy in Outline," 1930/1931; (2) AKT P.11,1, Indian Philosophy. Greek Philosophy to the Atomists, 1912/1913; (3) ACT P.1.1, Review of the History of Philosophy from the Earliest Centuries to the End of the Eighteenth Century, 1896 (ancient part); (4) ACT P.2.1, History of Greek Philosophy I. Thales, Sophists, etc., 1898; (5) ACT P.2,2, History of Greek Philosophy II (in the flourishing age): Sophists, Socrates, Plato, 1899; (6) ACT P.3.2, Development of Greek Philosophy, 1924/1925; (7) ACT P.2.3, History of Greek Philosophy from Aristotle to the Fathers of the Church, 1900. The above titles were slightly changed in the book, which was dictated by linguistic considerations and the need to more accurately match some titles to the content of the lectures. Editorial interventions in the original text mainly include: developing abbreviated wording, bringing the text up to current linguistic standards, supplementing bibliographic information, omitting deletions that are irrelevant, and precise processing passages written in Greek.