Hypatia of Alexandria
Jul 23, 2023Hypatia of Alexandria, late antiquity public figure and scholar, made significant contributions to mathematics, philosophy, and astronomy.
Ancient Renaissance Woman
21 July 2023
In her time—the 4th century CE—Hypatia was one of the most famous philosophers in Alexandria, and indeed in the ancient world. She studied and taught mathematics, astronomy, and philosophy; under her leadership, the Alexandrian School was highly prestigious, right up there with the Academy of Athens. Students came from far and wide, and from a variety of faith traditions: some were Christians, some Jews, and some Pagans like Hypatia herself.
Hypatia was a Neo-Platonist. Drawing on Plotinus and others, Hypatia taught her students about a purely intellectual divine force at the heart of the universe, termed “the One”; by living lives of contemplation, Hypatia believed, we could bring ourselves closer to this origin of all our souls.
This version of Neo-Platonism wasn’t particularly offensive to early Christians; in fact, most of her students were Christians, and one of them, Synesius, even wrote a series of hymns that seemed to bring together Neo-Platonism and Christianity. Synesius described the divine as having three different aspects—one heavenly, one angelic, and one earthly—just like the Christian trinity.
It's true that there was a rival branch of Neo-Platonism which emphasized rituals, including animal sacrifice, and for obvious reasons, Christians drew the line at sacrificing an animal to pagan gods. But Hypatia’s version of Neo-Platonism was less about rituals and more about cultivating virtues, the kind that allow you to transcend the physical and experience the One.
This background makes her death, at the hands of extremist Christians, all the more tragic. Cyril, the bishop of Alexandria, who wanted to take down the Roman governor Orestes. Since Hypatia was a friend and advisor to Orestes, and was powerful, Cyril decided to spread vicious rumors about her; these rumors eventually got her killed.
Hypatia’s legacy lives on, however. She was a powerful intellectual figure; she had a unified philosophical system; she ran one of the most prestigious schools in the ancient world; and she accomplished all that as a woman in a male-dominated field. She’s remained an inspiration to female philosophers throughout the ages. (There’s a journal named after her—and even a recent movie based on her life!)
Hypatia wasn’t entirely alone, of course, in the ancient world: there were other prominent female philosophers at this point in history, including Pandrosion of Alexandria, Sosipatra of Pergamon, and Asclepigenia of Athens. But these philosophers have never been given the same attention as their male counterparts. In spite of the movie, Hypatia is still not a household name like Plato or Aristotle—which is exactly why we’re doing this series on Wise Women. We’ll be celebrating sixteen unsung heroines of philosophy, from Hypatia in the 4th century to Judith Jarvis-Thompson in the 20th and 21st. Their philosophy has sometimes been overlooked and often under-rated—but not around here!
Comments (16)
Natalie Jones
Sunday, August 13, 2023 -- 9:55 PM
It is refreshing to discoverIt is refreshing to discover that there are female philosophers, particularly from the period of Hypatia. It is tragic that she was put to death.
Tim Smith
Monday, August 14, 2023 -- 5:36 AM
There is more than I thoughtThere is more than I thought in extent material on Hypatia, as related in the show. This was helpful and enlightening. I feel differently than I did even last year. I don't know if that is age or learning, or both. Juana Inés de la Cruz was a revelation. This is appreciation, if not wisdom. An auspicious start to what is shaping up to be an essential series in shaping my views on gender and philosophy. I don't think Hypatia's martyrdom is due to her gender, which is a more profound thought for later times.
Daniel
Friday, August 18, 2023 -- 2:06 PM
Because philosophical importBecause philosophical import can with some justification be co-joined with characteristic imperviousness which resists recognitive encountering of any non-imposed distinctions between hapless surface-withdrawal and reckless subcutaneous unstimulated distance-sense assumptions, your use of the term "essential" as modifying a self-referential view-shape productivity expressed in linear form as a "series" becomes singularly problematic. Is the essence of the series mathematical?
Tim Smith
Tuesday, August 22, 2023 -- 9:35 AM
Daniel,Daniel,
What is essential? Hmm...all I know is what is apparently essential. I'm not even sure I know that. But if I do, math is essential to my view. What is math? It all rabbit-holes too soon to say much else.
Oppression is a hard yoke to shed. That I know.
Tim
Daniel
Friday, August 25, 2023 -- 5:10 PM
So oppression is a nonSo oppression is a non-essential yoke knowable only in the difficulty of its shedability? Isn't that a tautology? If a yoke can be easily de-yoked, it would provide no service to an oppressor. Galileo, for example, attempted to de-yoke natural philosophy from the geocentric model to which Hypatia subscribed, purportedly in her commentary on book III of Ptolemy's Almagest, which he was forced under torture to recant. The observation that the sun rotated around the earth, or, as Heraclitus seemed to think, that daily suns moved from one side of the unmoved earth to the other (Fragment 6, Diels-Kranz), was understood as essential for the reliability of perception in the study of natural phenomena. Similar to someone who believes that one can learn about the historical Socrates by reading Plato, the naive intuition is preserved on the basis of investment in the inference.
My question concerned how the series you reference, in the post of 8/14/23 above, is essential to the view-formation which you anticipate. Now an essence is something with regards to which something else wouldn't exist if it's lacking. And that can be of at least two kinds: assumed or perceived. Flatulence by one occupant in a crowded elevator is an example of the former. All understand what is essential as the necessary cause of the phenomenon, but the details of its production are not disclosed. An example of the latter on the other hand is the temperature-range beyond which survival of some animal species would be precluded. Here the production of the phenomenon is understood as what is essential for survival and is observable and can be potentially manipulated.
So how's your series essential? We know that it's a view-shaper, and an ambiguity arises regarding whether the reference is to the quality of being a series, the quantity of units in the series, or special characteristics of one or more of its parts. Doubtless you'd agree that the answer to this question does not lack exportable import.
Tim Smith
Monday, August 28, 2023 -- 7:37 PM
Daniel,Daniel,
Your recent post is a rich tapestry of philosophical concepts and historical references. However, it seems to diverge from the central points of my original discussion about the transformative power of learning, particularly in gender and philosophy.
In summary, while your post is intellectually rigorous, it doesn't directly engage with the original topic. If the aim is to critique, a more focused approach would likely be more productive.
Best,
Tim
Daniel
Wednesday, August 30, 2023 -- 4:26 PM
The aim is inquiry, notThe aim is inquiry, not critique. You have spoken of a view-shaping series which begins with an auspice and is expected to be essential (8/14/23 above). The question can thus be restated by asking: Within which set of essences is the expected one contained? As a serial view-shaper (SVS), no point on the series can do without it, even if it need not be present at the auspicious beginning, on account of the fact that the initial point in a series does not become part of it until others are added. To approach the issue with a narrower focus, then, one might ask about the relation between one particular SVS and a generic concept of self-identity. Of the latter, contents of one plausible example could be described as spontaneous and unconditioned association of post-mastication ingestion with pre-disposal sub-colonic excretion. Digestion, which in a way could be said to be the original form of transformation, holds the two ends of the series, of which it is constituted, together by an essential connection which is instantiated by the individual biological system to which digestive action can be attributed. Because neither can do without the other, their connection is essential, which brings the inquiry to its second formulation:
Is the connection between your self-identity and the anticipated completion of the series the essence of which you speak? How does a view-shaping series wind up as an expected essence which is not yet known to exist but which the first one needs to be what it is? The clue you've offered involving "gender and philosophy" permits a follow-up question which could be the key to the first: Does a not-yet essence asserted by a claim of identity over time indicate a post-binary existential coherentism?
Tim Smith
Saturday, September 2, 2023 -- 8:05 AM
Daniel,Daniel,
Your inquiry certainly takes the term "essential" through rigorous exploration, linking it with serial view-shapers, self-identity, and biological processes like digestion. The depth of your analysis is commendable, and we might be delving into a level of complexity that distracts from the more immediate and experiential aspects of my original statement or, more importantly, Hypatia and women in Philosophy.
To put it simply, when I referred to the series as "essential," I meant that it has been significantly impactful on my thinking about gender and philosophy—two topics I feel are crucial for understanding not just academic debates but also broader societal issues. The series has become part of the 'essence' of my ongoing personal development in these areas, which, in my view, makes it essential.
Your question about a "post-binary existential coherentism" is intriguing, but I don't believe my original statement necessitates such a specific framework. My comment about "gender and philosophy" was meant to indicate the subject matter the series addresses, which has been eye-opening.
So, to restate, the essence of which I speak is not an abstract yet-to-be-determined concept but rather an experienced, transformative influence on my views, particularly concerning gender and philosophy.
Best,
Tim
Just poking the bear here a bit. I hope your summer is going well. You are not sleeping through it, as I apparently am.
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