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PRACTICAL PHILOSOPHYTHE JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY FOR PHILOSOPHY IN PRACTICEwww.practical-philosophy.org.uk www.society-for-philosophy-in-practice.org |
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PRACTICAL PHILOSOPHYTHE JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY FOR PHILOSOPHY IN PRACTICEwww.practical-philosophy.org.uk www.society-for-philosophy-in-practice.org |
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In the Dark Places of Wisdom
Peter Kingsley
1999 Shaftesbury: Element
Practical Philosophy (Book Reviews) November 2000 Volume 3.3
Reviewed by: Trevor Curnow
Peter Kingsley's writings have shed a great deal of new light on ancient Pythagoreanism and its influence on the history of early western philosophy. In this book he turns his attention to Parmenides (or Parmeneides as he suggests it should be spelt, and as I will spell it hereafter). Parmeneides has long been recognised as one of the key figures in Greek philosophy. Plato wrote a dialogue about him, and Zeno devised a set of paradoxes based upon his work. He is traditionally regarded as the first great exponent of monism, the idea that, ultimately, the world is a unity rather than a multiplicity, and that, therefore, ultimately, multiplicity is illusory.
The title of an earlier book, Ancient Philosophy, Mystery and Magic (Oxford: Clarendon Press 1995) gives a major clue to the kind of approach Kingsley takes to his chosen material. His argument is that the rationalist version of the history of western philosophy is simply unsustainable when it comes to looking at some of the earliest figures in it. This is not a new claim, having been given voice at least as long ago as E. R. Dodds's classic 1951 study, The Greeks and the Irrational (Berkeley: University of California Press). Nevertheless, it is not as widely heard and understood as it should be even now. Early philosophers such as Pythagoras, Empedocles and Parmeneides are not to be thought of as prototypical Oxbridge dons, but rather as complex figures combining elements of the shaman, the lawgiver, the counsellor and the poet (amongst others) in different degrees.
It is also not often realised that when we speak of the philosophers of 'ancient Greece', we are talking not of a country but of a culture. Most of the important figures in the early history of philosophy came from areas outside modern Greece. The very earliest came from what are now western Turkey and southern Italy, and these are the two areas which feature most prominently in Kingsley's narrative. Parmeneides came from Elea (or Velia) in southern Italy, which was founded by colonists from Phocaea in western Turkey. The narrative seeks to unravel what ideas and practices the colonists brought with them which underlay and structured Parmeneides' philosophy. The picture and interpretation of his thought which emerges from this exercise is very different from the usual one. The monist is revealed as a mystic.
The story is interestingly told, and is certainly thought provoking. The book's one serious drawback is its style. It tends to be written in short sentences. Like this one. And this one. It can be irritating. Can't it?
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