«Народная мудрость» в диалоге Аристотеля «О философии»

Платоновские исследования. 2023. № 18(18).1. С. 89–114.

Makarova I.

In the first book of the lost dialogue On Philosophy, Aristotle raises the question of the principles of wisdom and philosophy. He finds them not only in the teachings of previous philosophers but also in the pre-philosophical anonymous oral tradition, the so-called “popular wisdom”. Aristotle considers maxims and proverbs

not as rhetorical means to give grace or persuasiveness to speech, but also as an inde- pendent object of study. Unlike Plato, who saw in gnomes and proverbs “the begin- nings of wisdom” and an ancient way of philosophizing (Prt. 342a–343c), Aristotle is inclined to consider them “remnants” (ἐγκαταλείμματα) of past knowledge lost as a re- sult of natural disasters that occurred in ancient times (Synes. Calv. 22.1). Preserved through a laconic and mnemonically convenient form, gnomes and proverbs contain wisdom that, if properly interpreted, can be reconstructed. Based on this, Aristotle makes the assumption that the process of acquiring knowledge is not continuous, but is interrupted and resumed indefinitely. Thus, the proverb is both a “trace” of the decline of the previous culture, and a seed of a new one.

Keywords: философия, Платон, philosophy, пословицы, Aristotle, Аристотель, Plato, proverbs, Семь мудрецов, гномы, gnomes, Seven Sages, gnomology, гномология