Anonymus Iamblichi, On Excellence (Peri Aretēs)

Abstract

“Anonymus Iamblichi, On Excellence (Peri Aretēs): A Lost Defense of Democracy” presents a comprehensive analysis and complete translation of the fragments of a lost treatise from the late fifth-century BCE, preserved in Iamblichus’ palimpsestic Exhortation to Philosophy. Its author is unknown; hence scholars refer to the work as “Anonymus Iamblichi.” And while Iamblichus included it because he thought its author was a Pythagorean, dialectical attributes and specific claims within the treatise point to someone conversant with Ionian philosophers, especially Democritus. Anonymus Iamblichi is a rara avis: it presents a unique view on excellence (aretē) and its parts; advances a defense of law and justice by appealing to both value and instrumental reasoning; provides an early reflection on social emotions, the weaknesses of the human condition, and the nature of true power; presents the first substantial “Superman” thought experiment; and develops the earliest extant and most philosophically sustained defense of democracy.