La philosophie antique by Pierre Vesperini

Abstract

This paper is a review of Pierre Vesperini’s book: La philosophie antique. Essai d’histoire (Paris: Fayard, 2019). According to the author, Vesperini attempts to make the reader more aware and critical of our current interpretation of the ancients. He does it by showing that modernity, influenced by ancient Christianity, misinterpreted ancient philosophy, and that the latter did not slough off the “irrational,” “mystique,” or “mythique” over the centuries in favor of rationalism, but retained these elements throughout its pre-Christian history.

Keywords

• pierre vesperini
• ancient philosophy
• religion
• rationalism
• modernity
• christianity