The Reconstruction of Aristotle's Protrepticus (Monte Johnson on the Ancient Philosophy Podcast) platosfishtrap.substack.com/p/the-recons...
The Reconstruction of Aristotle's Protrepticus (Monte Johnson, the Ancient Philosophy Podcast)
Around 99% of ancient Greek literature is lost.
platosfishtrap.substack.com
June 8, 2026 at 10:56 PM
The Reconstruction of Aristotle's Protrepticus (Monte Johnson on the Ancient Philosophy Podcast) platosfishtrap.substack.com/p/the-recons...
“Accordingly, it appears that power itself, the real power, is preserved by laws and justice,”
Protrepticus 6.2
Protrepticus 6.2
April 30, 2025 at 12:23 PM
“Accordingly, it appears that power itself, the real power, is preserved by laws and justice,”
Protrepticus 6.2
Protrepticus 6.2
Last week, UC Merced Philosophy hosted Monte Johnson (UC San Diego) for a fascinating talk on his work recovering a lost dialogue by Aristotle on the value of philosophy
youtu.be/2egHBMUKHMQ
#philsky #academicsky
youtu.be/2egHBMUKHMQ
#philsky #academicsky
Monte Johnson: "A Reconstruction of Aristotle’s Lost Work the Protrepticus as a Dialogue"
YouTube video by UC Merced Philosophy
youtu.be
February 25, 2025 at 1:14 AM
Last week, UC Merced Philosophy hosted Monte Johnson (UC San Diego) for a fascinating talk on his work recovering a lost dialogue by Aristotle on the value of philosophy
youtu.be/2egHBMUKHMQ
#philsky #academicsky
youtu.be/2egHBMUKHMQ
#philsky #academicsky
By his own blood and by his word he has assembled an army which sheds no blood, in order to give them the kingdom of heaven. The trumpet of Christ is his gospel.
—Clement of Alexandria, Protrepticus XI.116
—Clement of Alexandria, Protrepticus XI.116
May 25, 2026 at 6:04 AM
By his own blood and by his word he has assembled an army which sheds no blood, in order to give them the kingdom of heaven. The trumpet of Christ is his gospel.
—Clement of Alexandria, Protrepticus XI.116
—Clement of Alexandria, Protrepticus XI.116
But even in the ancient past there was still pressure to justify knowledge for its own sake.
![Barnes, Aristotle, Collected Works, 2408
(lamblichus, Protrepticus 52.16-54.5 Pistelli):
[B 42] To seek from all knowledge a result other than itself and to demand that it must be useful is the act of one completely ignorant of the distance that from the start separates good things from necessary things; for they differ completely. For the things that are loved for the sake of something else and without which life is impossible must be called necessities and joint-causes; but those that are loved for themselves, even if nothing else follows from them, must be called goods in the strict sense; for this is not desirable for the sake of that, and that for the sake of something else, and so ad infinitum-there is a stop somewhere. It is really ridiculous, then, to demand from everything some benefit besides the thing itself, and to ask What is the gain to us'? and 'What is the use'? For in truth, as we maintain, such a man is in no way like one who knows the noble and the good or who distinguishes causes from joint-causes. [B 43] One would see the absolute truth of what we are saying if someone as it were carried us in thought to the Isles of the Blest. For there there would be need of nothing and no profit from anything; and there remain only thought and contemplation, which even now we describe as the free life. If this is true, would not any of us be rightly ashamed if when the chance was given us to settle in the Isles of the Blest, he were by his own fault unable to do so? The reward](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:viaqflyzmf35wmsyb75kp7cn/bafkreigian6ouvt64apqxwswaxa435yfcoygyqfqifeufu5osuvwcgrpvi)
January 28, 2026 at 2:36 AM
But even in the ancient past there was still pressure to justify knowledge for its own sake.
I’m translating Socrates’s Protrepticus in Plato’s Euthydemus. He distinguishes something I hadn’t noticed before: using things well (eg, expert builder) and acting well (eg, expert musician). Plato anticipates Aristotle again.
May 19, 2025 at 6:56 AM
I’m translating Socrates’s Protrepticus in Plato’s Euthydemus. He distinguishes something I hadn’t noticed before: using things well (eg, expert builder) and acting well (eg, expert musician). Plato anticipates Aristotle again.
What's after this?
Probably some Clement of Alexandria (Paedegogus, Protrepticus). Will dig into those in a bit.
Probably some Clement of Alexandria (Paedegogus, Protrepticus). Will dig into those in a bit.
Ok, here it is (paperback, kindle, audio). amzn.to/44Jghjn
July 13, 2025 at 8:24 PM
What's after this?
Probably some Clement of Alexandria (Paedegogus, Protrepticus). Will dig into those in a bit.
Probably some Clement of Alexandria (Paedegogus, Protrepticus). Will dig into those in a bit.
Check out our translations of some writings of Clement of Alexandria — Protrepticus, Paedagogus, and the Stromata. Kindle, audio, and paperback.
appianwaypress.com/series/writi...
appianwaypress.com/series/writi...
Writings of Clement of Alexandria - Book Series
Writings of Clement of Alexandria - 3 books in this series. Classic Greek Christian works translated to modern English.
appianwaypress.com
November 21, 2025 at 3:07 AM
Check out our translations of some writings of Clement of Alexandria — Protrepticus, Paedagogus, and the Stromata. Kindle, audio, and paperback.
appianwaypress.com/series/writi...
appianwaypress.com/series/writi...
That's essentially the argument Aristotle made in his Protrepticus: the only way to conclude philosophy is useless is to rationally inquire into its foundations, and thus to do philosophy.
December 24, 2025 at 11:11 PM
That's essentially the argument Aristotle made in his Protrepticus: the only way to conclude philosophy is useless is to rationally inquire into its foundations, and thus to do philosophy.
Howdy, y'all. We recently published new (AI-assisted) translations of Clement of Alexandria's Stromata, Protrepticus, and Paedagogus. These are translations from the Greek found in Patrologia Graeca vols 8 and 9.
ePubs of these three works are now available for download: github.com/AppianWayPre...
ePubs of these three works are now available for download: github.com/AppianWayPre...
GitHub - AppianWayPress/ClementAlexandria: Diglot and epub translations of works of Clement of Alexandria. Everything available under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International Licens...
Diglot and epub translations of works of Clement of Alexandria. Everything available under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. - AppianWayPress/ClementAlexandria
github.com
August 12, 2025 at 1:24 AM
Howdy, y'all. We recently published new (AI-assisted) translations of Clement of Alexandria's Stromata, Protrepticus, and Paedagogus. These are translations from the Greek found in Patrologia Graeca vols 8 and 9.
ePubs of these three works are now available for download: github.com/AppianWayPre...
ePubs of these three works are now available for download: github.com/AppianWayPre...
We've recently published diglots (PDF) for Clement of Alexandria's works (Paedagogus, Protrepticus, and Stromata) to our github repo. There are ePubs too (translation only) for those who want them.
Links direct from the readme in the repo root: github.com/AppianWayPre...
Links direct from the readme in the repo root: github.com/AppianWayPre...
GitHub - AppianWayPress/ClementAlexandria: Diglot and epub translations of works of Clement of Alexandria. Everything available under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International Licens...
Diglot and epub translations of works of Clement of Alexandria. Everything available under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. - AppianWayPress/ClementAlexandria
github.com
September 7, 2025 at 10:57 PM
We've recently published diglots (PDF) for Clement of Alexandria's works (Paedagogus, Protrepticus, and Stromata) to our github repo. There are ePubs too (translation only) for those who want them.
Links direct from the readme in the repo root: github.com/AppianWayPre...
Links direct from the readme in the repo root: github.com/AppianWayPre...
We've recently published new AI-assisted translations of some of Clement of Alexandria's most well-known writings: the Stromata, the Protrepticus, and the Paedagogus.
Check 'em out. Paperback, Kindle, or Audiobook. #EarlyChristianity
appianwaypress.com/series/writi...
Check 'em out. Paperback, Kindle, or Audiobook. #EarlyChristianity
appianwaypress.com/series/writi...
Writings of Clement of Alexandria - Book Series
Writings of Clement of Alexandria - 3 books in this series. Classic Greek Christian works translated to modern English.
appianwaypress.com
October 17, 2025 at 5:25 AM
We've recently published new AI-assisted translations of some of Clement of Alexandria's most well-known writings: the Stromata, the Protrepticus, and the Paedagogus.
Check 'em out. Paperback, Kindle, or Audiobook. #EarlyChristianity
appianwaypress.com/series/writi...
Check 'em out. Paperback, Kindle, or Audiobook. #EarlyChristianity
appianwaypress.com/series/writi...
By his own blood and by his word he has assembled an army which sheds no blood, in order to give them the kingdom of heaven. The trumpet of Christ is his gospel.
—Clement of Alexandria, Protrepticus XI.116
—Clement of Alexandria, Protrepticus XI.116
May 25, 2026 at 4:00 PM
By his own blood and by his word he has assembled an army which sheds no blood, in order to give them the kingdom of heaven. The trumpet of Christ is his gospel.
—Clement of Alexandria, Protrepticus XI.116
—Clement of Alexandria, Protrepticus XI.116
protreptic - n / a book, writing, or speech intended to exhort or instruct; an exhortation, an instruction / [origin] from Latin protrepticus (exhortation), from Greek title of works by Aristotle and Epicurus (hortatory, instructive); from protrepo (to urge on) // adj / instructive, didactic
March 25, 2026 at 12:30 PM
protreptic - n / a book, writing, or speech intended to exhort or instruct; an exhortation, an instruction / [origin] from Latin protrepticus (exhortation), from Greek title of works by Aristotle and Epicurus (hortatory, instructive); from protrepo (to urge on) // adj / instructive, didactic
New Publication!
'Why does Clement Call Callimachus “the Cretan”? Engaging the Audience in Protrepticus 2.37' by our @leverhulmetrust.bsky.social ECR Fellow Dr.
@edcreedy.bsky.social is now out as an advanced online publication in Vigiliae Christianae. Link below.
'Why does Clement Call Callimachus “the Cretan”? Engaging the Audience in Protrepticus 2.37' by our @leverhulmetrust.bsky.social ECR Fellow Dr.
@edcreedy.bsky.social is now out as an advanced online publication in Vigiliae Christianae. Link below.
September 4, 2025 at 11:22 AM
New Publication!
'Why does Clement Call Callimachus “the Cretan”? Engaging the Audience in Protrepticus 2.37' by our @leverhulmetrust.bsky.social ECR Fellow Dr.
@edcreedy.bsky.social is now out as an advanced online publication in Vigiliae Christianae. Link below.
'Why does Clement Call Callimachus “the Cretan”? Engaging the Audience in Protrepticus 2.37' by our @leverhulmetrust.bsky.social ECR Fellow Dr.
@edcreedy.bsky.social is now out as an advanced online publication in Vigiliae Christianae. Link below.
INDICATIONS OF DIALOGUE IN ARISTOTLE’S PROTREPTICUS | The Classical Quarterly | Cambridge Core
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
INDICATIONS OF DIALOGUE IN ARISTOTLE’S PROTREPTICUS | The Classical Quarterly | Cambridge Core
INDICATIONS OF DIALOGUE IN ARISTOTLE’S PROTREPTICUS
www.cambridge.org
October 31, 2025 at 5:20 PM
INDICATIONS OF DIALOGUE IN ARISTOTLE’S PROTREPTICUS | The Classical Quarterly | Cambridge Core
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
