Doxography ( el, δόξα – "an opinion", "a point of view" + – "to write", "to describe") is a term used especially for the works of classical

historians A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the stu ...

, describing the points of view of past

philosopher A philosopher is a person who practices or investigates philosophy. The term ''philosopher'' comes from the grc, φιλόσοφος, , translit=philosophos, meaning 'lover of wisdom'. The coining of the term has been attributed to the Greek th ...

s and

scientist A scientist is a person who conducts scientific research to advance knowledge in an area of the natural sciences. In classical antiquity, there was no real ancient analog of a modern scientist. Instead, philosophers engaged in the philosoph ...

s. The term was coined by the German classical scholar

Hermann Alexander Diels Hermann Alexander Diels (; 18 May 1848 – 4 June 1922) was a German classical scholar, who was influential in the area of early Greek philosophy and is known for his standard work ''Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker''. Diels helped to import the ...

Jain Doxography

Haribhadra Aacharya Haribhadra Suri was a Svetambara mendicant Jain leader, philosopher , doxographer, and author. There are multiple contradictory dates assigned to his birth. According to tradition, he lived c. 459–529 CE. However, in 1919, a Jain m ...

(8th century CE) was one of the leading proponents of ''anekāntavāda''. He was the first classical author to write a doxography, a compendium of a variety of intellectual views. This attempted to contextualise Jain thoughts within the broad framework. It interacted with the many possible intellectual orientations available to Indian thinkers around the 8th century.

Ancient Greek philosophy

A great many philosophical works have been lost; our limited knowledge of such lost works comes chiefly through the doxographical works of later philosophers, commentators, and biographers. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy lists the following works as being representative doxographies: *

Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, and academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises that led to the esta ...

- '' Academica'', '' De Finibus'', ''

De Natura Deorum ''De Natura Deorum'' (''On the Nature of the Gods'') is a philosophical dialogue by Roman Academic Skeptic philosopher Cicero written in 45 BC. It is laid out in three books that discuss the theological views of the Hellenistic philosophies of ...

'', '' De Fato'', ''

De Officiis ''De Officiis'' (''On Duties'' or ''On Obligations'') is a political and ethical treatise by the Roman orator, philosopher, and statesman Marcus Tullius Cicero written in 44 BC. The treatise is divided into three books, in which Cicero expounds h ...

'' * Aetius - ''

Vetusta Placita Aetius (; el, Ἀέτιος) was a 1st- or 2nd-century AD doxographer and Eclectic philosopher. Works None of Aetius' works survive today, but he solves a mystery about two major compilations of philosophical quotes. There are two extant books ...

'' *

Clement of Alexandria Titus Flavius Clemens, also known as Clement of Alexandria ( grc , Κλήμης ὁ Ἀλεξανδρεύς; – ), was a Christian theologian and philosopher who taught at the Catechetical School of Alexandria. Among his pupils were Origen an ...

- '' Stromateis'' *

Diogenes Laertius Diogenes Laërtius ( ; grc-gre, Διογένης Λαέρτιος, ; ) was a biographer of the Greek philosophers. Nothing is definitively known about his life, but his surviving ''Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers'' is a principal sourc ...

- ''

Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers Diogenes Laërtius ( ; grc-gre, Διογένης Λαέρτιος, ; ) was a biographer of the Greek philosophers. Nothing is definitively known about his life, but his surviving ''Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers'' is a principal sourc ...

'' *

Hippolytus of Rome Hippolytus of Rome (, ; c. 170 – c. 235 AD) was one of the most important second-third century Christian theologians, whose provenance, identity and corpus remain elusive to scholars and historians. Suggested communities include Rome, Palestin ...

- ''

Refutation of All Heresies The ''Refutation of All Heresies'' ( grc-gre, Φιλοσοφούμενα ή κατὰ πασῶν αἱρέσεων ἔλεγχος; la, Refutatio Omnium Haeresium), also called the ''Elenchus'' or ''Philosophumena'', is a compendious Christian po ...

'' Philosophers such as

Plato Plato ( ; grc-gre, wikt:Πλάτων, Πλάτων ; 428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 BC) was a Greeks, Greek philosopher born in Athens during the Classical Greece, Classical period in Ancient Greece. He founded the Platonist school of thou ...

and Aristotle also act as doxographers, as their comments on the ideas of their predecessors indirectly tell us what their predecessors' beliefs were. Plato's '' Defense of Socrates'', for example, tells us much of what we know about the natural philosophy of

Anaxagoras Anaxagoras (; grc-gre, Ἀναξαγόρας, ''Anaxagóras'', "lord of the assembly"; 500 – 428 BC) was a Pre-Socratic Greek philosopher. Born in Clazomenae at a time when Asia Minor was under the control of the Persian Empire, ...

Successions of Philosophers

''Successions of Philosophers'' were works whose purpose was to depict the philosophers of different schools in terms of a line of succession of which they were a part. From the 3rd to the 1st centuries BC there were ''Successions'' ( el, Διαδοχαί) written by

Antigonus of Carystus Antigonus of Carystus (; grc, Ἀντίγονος ὁ Καρύστιος; la, Antigonus Carystius), Greek writer on various subjects, flourished in the 3rd century BCE. After some time spent at Athens and in travelling, he was summoned to the cou ...

Sotion Sotion of Alexandria ( grc-gre, Σωτίων, ''gen''.: Σωτίωνος; fl. c. 200 – 170 BC) was a Greek doxographer and biographer, and an important source for Diogenes Laërtius. None of his works survive; they are known only indirectly ...

Heraclides Lembos Heraclides Lembus ( grc-gre, Ἡρακλείδης Λέμβος, ''Hērakleidēs Lembos'') was an Ancient Greek statesman, historian and philosophical writer. Heraclides was an Egyptian civil servant who lived during the reign of Ptolemy VI Philom ...

(an epitome of Sotion),

Sosicrates Sosicrates of Rhodes ( el, Σωσικράτης ὁ Ῥόδιος; ''floruit'' ''c.'' 180 BC) was a Greek historical writer. He was born on the island Rhodes and is noted, chiefly, for his frequent mention by Diogenes Laërtius in his ''Lives and Op ...

Alexander Polyhistor Lucius Cornelius Alexander Polyhistor ( grc, Ἀλέξανδρος ὁ Πολυΐστωρ; flourished in the first half of the 1st century BC; also called Alexander of Miletus) was a Greek scholar who was enslaved by the Romans during the Mithridat ...

Jason of Nysa Jason of Nysa ( el, Ἰάσων ὁ Νυσαεύς, ''Iason o Nysaevs''; 1st-century BC) was a Stoic philosopher, the son of Menecrates, and, on his mother's side, grandson of Posidonius, of whom he was also the disciple and successor at the Stoic ...

Antisthenes of Rhodes Antisthenes of Rhodes ( el, Ἀντισθένης ὁ Ῥόδιος) was an ancient Greek historian who lived 200 BCE. He took an active part in the political affairs of his country, and wrote a history of his own time, which, notwithstanding his ...

, and

Nicias of Nicaea Nicias ( el, Νικίας) of Nicaea, was a biographer and historian of ancient Greek philosophers. Nothing is known about his life, he may have lived in the 1st century BC or AD. He is repeatedly referred to by Athenaeus Athenaeus of Naucratis ...

. The surviving ''

'' by

Diogenes Laërtius Diogenes Laërtius ( ; grc-gre, Διογένης Λαέρτιος, ; ) was a biographer of the Greek philosophers. Nothing is definitively known about his life, but his surviving ''Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers'' is a principal sourc ...

(3rd century AD) draws upon this tradition. In addition to these, there were often histories of single schools. Such works were created by

Phanias of Eresus Phaenias of Eresus ( grc, Φαινίας ὁ Ἐρέσιος, ''Phainias''; also Phanias (Φανίας)) was a Greek philosopher from Lesbos, important as an immediate follower of and commentator on Aristotle. He came to Athens about 332 BCE, and ...

(''On the Socratics''),

Idomeneus of Lampsacus Idomeneus of Lampsacus (; el, Ἰδομενεύς Λαμψακηνός, Idomeneus Lampsakēnos; c. 325 – c. 270 BC) was a friend and disciple of Epicurus. Life Little is known about his life, except that he married Batis of Lampsacus, the s ...

(''On the Socratics''),

Sphaerus Sphaerus ( el, Σφαῖρος; c. 285 BC – c. 210 BC) of BorysthenesPlutarch, ''Cleomenes''2.2 or the Bosphorus, was a Stoic philosopher. Life Sphaerus studied first under Zeno of Citium, and afterwards under Cleanthes. He taught in Sparta, wh ...

(''On the Eretrian philosophers''), and Straticles (''On Stoics''). Among the

papyri Papyrus ( ) is a material similar to thick paper that was used in ancient times as a writing surface. It was made from the pith of the papyrus plant, ''Cyperus papyrus'', a wetland sedge. ''Papyrus'' (plural: ''papyri'') can also refer to a d ...

found at the

Villa of the Papyri The Villa of the Papyri ( it, Villa dei Papiri, also known as ''Villa dei Pisoni'' and in early excavation records as the ''Villa Suburbana'') was an ancient Roman villa in Herculaneum, in what is now Ercolano, southern Italy. It is named aft ...

Herculaneum Herculaneum (; Neapolitan and it, Ercolano) was an ancient town, located in the modern-day '' comune'' of Ercolano, Campania, Italy. Herculaneum was buried under volcanic ash and pumice in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79. Like the ...

, there are works devoted to the successions of the

Stoics Stoicism is a school of Hellenistic philosophy founded by Zeno of Citium in Athens in the early 3rd century BCE. It is a philosophy of personal virtue ethics informed by its system of logic and its views on the natural world, asserting that t ...

Academics An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, f ...

, and

Epicurean Epicureanism is a system of philosophy founded around 307 BC based upon the teachings of the ancient Greek philosopher Epicurus. Epicureanism was originally a challenge to Platonism. Later its main opponent became Stoicism. Few writings by Epi ...

s.PHerc. 1232, 1289, 176 In a later period,

Plutarch Plutarch (; grc-gre, Πλούταρχος, ''Ploútarchos''; ; – after AD 119) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for his ' ...

produced ''On the First Philosophers and their Successors'' and ''On the

Cyrenaic The Cyrenaics or Kyrenaics ( grc, Κυρηναϊκοί, Kyrēnaïkoí), were a sensual hedonist Greek school of philosophy founded in the 4th century BCE, supposedly by Aristippus of Cyrene, although many of the principles of the school are bel ...

s'', and

Galen Aelius Galenus or Claudius Galenus ( el, Κλαύδιος Γαληνός; September 129 – c. AD 216), often Anglicized as Galen () or Galen of Pergamon, was a Greek physician, surgeon and philosopher in the Roman Empire. Considered to be one of ...

wrote ''On

's Sect'' and ''On the Hedonistic Sect'' (Epicureans). There were often biographies of individual philosophers with a brief description of his successors. Of such nature were

Aristoxenus Aristoxenus of Tarentum ( el, Ἀριστόξενος ὁ Ταραντῖνος; born 375, fl. 335 BC) was a Greek Peripatetic philosopher, and a pupil of Aristotle. Most of his writings, which dealt with philosophy, ethics and music, have bee ...

's ''Life of Pythagoras'', Andronicus's ''Life of Aristotle'',

Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; grc-gre, Πτολεμαῖος, ; la, Claudius Ptolemaeus; AD) was a mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist, who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were of importanc ...

's ''Life of Aristotle'', and

Iamblichus Iamblichus (; grc-gre, Ἰάμβλιχος ; Aramaic: 𐡉𐡌𐡋𐡊𐡅 ''Yamlīḵū''; ) was a Syrian neoplatonic philosopher of Arabic origin. He determined a direction later taken by neoplatonism. Iamblichus was also the biographer of ...

's ''Life of Pythagoras''.

Islamic doxography

Islamic doxography is an aggregate of theosophical works (like '' Kitab al-Maqalat'' by Abu Mansur Al Maturidi) concerning the aberrations in Islamic sects and streams.

Persian doxography

The Persian

Dabestan-e Mazaheb The ''Dabestān-e Mazāheb'' ( fa, دبستان مذاهب) "school of religions" is a Persian language work that examines and compares Abrahamic religions, Dharmic religions and sects of the mid-17th century Southern Eurasia. The work, whose a ...

discusses numerous philosophies including several in Persia and India. Its author appears to belong to the a Persian Sipásíán tradition differs somewhat from orthodox Zoroastrianism. Its authorship is disputed. Some scholars have suggested that Kay-Khosrow Esfandiyar, the son of Azar Kayvan may have written it.

References

External links

History of philosophy Documents Philosophical literature {{Philo-stub