Firsts
Thought of a difficult but I hope interesting history of philosophy question. Who is the first philosopher in history for whom we have:
(a) A surviving example of their handwriting
(b) A visual likeness we know to be accurate (e.g. death mask or portrait they sat for)
(c) A voice recording
(d) A photograph
(e) Moving image/video
(d) Schopenhauer (1859) Do
(d) Schopenhauer (1859)
Do you take a summer break Peter? Podcast-wise, that is.
In reply to (d) Schopenhauer (1859) Do by Yannick Kilberger
Yes, I do take a break - in
Yes, I do take a break - in August, though the first Sunday in August there will be a podcast. I'll announce this at the end of the last episode before the break and also here on the Blog, and on facebook and Twitter.
Actually I found an earlier
Actually I found an earlier one of Schopenhauer, 1845 (see the Nietzche article on wikipedia)
For (a), there are some MSS
For (a), there are some MSS written by Aquinas himself!
In reply to For (a), there are some MSS by Justin Vlasits
Right, and I believe that his
Right, and I believe that his handwriting is legendary for its illegibility. But he's not the earliest; someone has mentioned Eriugena, I think on facebook where I also posted this question.
In reply to Right, and I believe that his by Peter Adamson
Eriugena? Wow. There are
Eriugena? Wow. There are later philosophers for whom no original writing survives.Never expected any that early.
In reply to Right, and I believe that his by Peter Adamson
Thinking about it, portraits
Thinking about it, portraits go back
a long way too. There's Epicurus and given surviving copies he is represented head to toe http://www.digitalsculpture.org/epicurus/index02.html
In reply to Thinking about it, portraits by cathyby
Right, there are certainly
Right, there are certainly plenty of ancient portraits, but that is why I specified a portrait where we have good reason to expect accuracy. (This was a goal of ancient portraiture at least sometimes, as in the anecdote about Plotinus' students wanting to have a portrait of him painted.)
Is this a linguistic trap and
Is this a linguistic trap and you really meant one philosopher for whom all five statements are true? Do I get nearer the stuffed giraffe prize?
In reply to Is this a linguistic trap and by Yannick Kilberger
That would be great, wouldn't
That would be great, wouldn't it? But I think it is almost certainly a different answer for all the questions.
In reply to That would be great, wouldn't by Peter Adamson
What can I say? Life
What can I say? Life stubbornly persists in not conforming to wishes...
And let's look forward
And let's look forward to:
(f) A hologram
In reply to And let's look forward by Albert_Thurgood
Nice idea! Maybe I could be
Nice idea! Maybe I could be the first, and stake a small claim to immortality. I've always wanted to appear 3 dimensional; as a podcaster I usually manage only zero dimensions.
In reply to Nice idea! Maybe I could be by Peter Adamson
As podcaster, you must be
As podcaster, you must be acutely aware of the dimension of time. But you are far from one-dimensional!
I was thinking Bertrand
I was thinking Bertrand Russell for the voice recording but I don't know.
In reply to I was thinking Bertrand by Ken
The 1948 Reith Lecture as
The 1948 Reith Lecture as given by Bertrand Russell is still around (and easily accessible on the BBC site). According to this http://www.history.ac.uk/reviews/review/1079 little survives pre 1950 from the BBC.
Do we count Dante as a
Do we count Dante as a philosopher? (Wiki does). Do we consider facial reconstruction a reliable way to get a likeness?http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305440308002070
There is Voltaire's nude
There is Voltaire's nude statue :
http://www.louvre.fr/oeuvre-notices/voltaire-nu
made while he was still alive, it may not be the oldest but should be accurate. The head at least comes from a mould of a live Voltaire!
Argh! There's also that
Argh! There's also that Seneca bust, seems authentic from what I gathered, though to what extent...
Erasmus (1523) by Hans
Erasmus (1523) by Hans Holbein the Younger. Erasmus sat for this portrait and Hans Holbein was known for his likenesses. http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erasmus
Well, Voltaire is then almost
Well, Voltaire is then almost certainly the answer to a question I didn't ask: who is the first philosopher to be depicted accurately in the nude?
John Dewey in 1940 is here
John Dewey in 1940 is here http://deweycenter.siu.edu/audio_video/dewey.au
Not a lengthy recording. He says: "Creation, not acquisition, is the measure of a nation's rank; it is the only road to an enduring place in the admiring memory of mankind."
Jeremy Bentham's Auto-Icon is
Jeremy Bentham's Auto-Icon is far from the earliest visual likeness of a philosopher we have, but it has to be in the discussion about accuracy!
Add new comment
- Add new comment
- 18235 views
Blog Archive
- March 2024 (1)
- February 2024 (2)
- December 2023 (2)
- November 2023 (2)
- October 2023 (3)
- September 2023 (3)
- August 2023 (1)
- July 2023 (1)
- June 2023 (2)
- May 2023 (3)
- April 2023 (3)
- March 2023 (6)
- February 2023 (2)
- January 2023 (5)
- November 2022 (3)
- October 2022 (1)
- September 2022 (1)
- August 2022 (1)
- July 2022 (6)
- May 2022 (3)
- April 2022 (2)
- March 2022 (3)
- January 2022 (3)
- December 2021 (1)
- November 2021 (3)
- October 2021 (1)
- September 2021 (3)
- August 2021 (4)
- July 2021 (2)
- June 2021 (3)
- May 2021 (2)
- April 2021 (4)
- March 2021 (4)
- February 2021 (1)
- January 2021 (2)
- December 2020 (3)
Setting some boundaries since
Setting some boundaries since I doubt these are actual firsts:
Photo: John Stuart Mill (see wiki, undated, maybe 1860s?)
Portrait and handwriting: Francis Bacon (1561-1626)
Voice recording: if you are generous in your definition of a philosopher, Yeats made a voice recording of his poems in 1934.
It's a start at least!