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ARISTOTLE
str. Vatatzi 55, 114 73 Athens, Greece Τel. : 210 6431108 e-mail: ekdoseis.ocelotos@gmail.com www. ocelotos. gr
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ON MEMORY AND RECOLLECTION
GEORGE CHARALAMPIDIS
ISBN 978-960-564-092-7
ON MEMORY AND RECOLLECTION
Nowadays Memory and Recollection are two meanings absolutely confused. In Ancient Greece though they were of great importance since the word Memory concerned the common function of the brain and is associated with present life, while Recollection concerns the remembering of forgotten events that are embedded in the “eternal memory” of our soul. Unfortunately this function of recollection with the important meaning that Aristotle gave to it, has been completely ignored. But according to the great philosopher’s revelations, restarting and restoring recollections should be the main goal in each person’s life who desires to achieve spiritual development. The method taught for this purpose is called “Aristotelian Meditation” and the result produced is called “spiritualization of the soul” or “Technosis of the mind”.
Parva Naturalia “Little Physical Treatises”
GEORGE CHARALAMPIDIS
George Charalampidis was born in Thessaloniki Greece in 1969. He studied Greek Civilization, at the Faculty of Humanitarian Studies of the Greek Open University and is a member of the Aristotelian Club of Athens. From a very young age he showed an active interest and love for the teachings of ancient Greek Philosopher’ s by attending many specialized courses and having as a goal to harmonize his life with the Greek ideals and achievement of “ΕΥ ΖΗΝ” (good living). In his personal life, he is engaged in research and primary translation of Aristotle’s ancient texts. He has published three books, while he writes articles in relevant journals and gives lectures and seminars, presenting the results of long personal research. e-mail: georgiocharalampidis@ gmail.com
EDITIONS
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ON MEMORY AND RECOLLECTION
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Translation by Lydia Rodakis
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Title On memory and recollection Author George Charalampidis Publisher’s sieries Philosophy Editing Lydia Rodakis Book design Myrtilo, graphic arts Copyright© 2013 George Charalampidis First Publication Athens, December 2011 (in Greek) Second Publication Athens, August 2013 (in English) ISBN 978-960-564-092-7
This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage or retrieval systems may take place without the written permission of the author.
Vatatzi 55 str., 114 73 Athens Τel. : 210 6431108 e-mail: ekdoseis.ocelotos@gmail.com www. ocelotos. gr
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INTRODUCTION OF THE ENGLISH EDITION This book is part of an original and ambitious effort that started in 2010 with an aim to examine thoroughly Aristotle’s ancient texts. The need of this very difficult effort came from my personal findings that the very few translation attempts that preceded, failed to decode and attribute in a proper perspective the scientific concepts and noble ideas lurking in the ancient texts. The reader will find that on behalf of a fuller and deeper analysis we divided the ancient Greek text in very small sentences to make it as understandable as possible. Below each sentence there is a translation in English. I should also say that the English version you are holding in your hands is only just a part of the complete book of the Greek version, since the relevant comments, explanations and multiple conclusions that have emerged haven’t been included. The reason is that these conclusions are based
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primarily on knowledge, the operation and manner of perception of the Greek language, something that is extremely difficult to be translated in English or any other foreign language. Nevertheless, this new perspective presented in the revised translation is able to make us think if the level of knowledge, that we believe we have about ancient Greece, and for the real content of ancient Greek texts is enough. Enjoy your reading!
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Translator’s comment First of all, I would like to express my deepest appreciation to George Charalampidis for his enlightened teachings and for the opportunity he gave me to translate in English, Aristotle’s work “On Memory and Recollection” in a completely different perspective than it has been perceived up to now. All of Aristotle’s work has had a big influence worldwide and offered an enormous contribution to human evolution. Especially in this particular work some readers might be skeptical that by trying to understand Aristotle’s thought, is above their ability, but once they try to approach this text carefully with an open mind, they will realize what great metamorphosis this knowledge can bring to their lives. Consciously understanding what Aristotle means by the terms memory and recollection, we can achieve inner development and understanding of ourselves, through the ancient notion of
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Apollo: “ Man Know thyself; then thou shalt know the universe and God�. This realization is very crucial, especially in these times of continuous changes that we are forced to face on a personal, social and economical level. I hope that readers will be able to get the bigger picture of this ancient Greek knowledge, that can lead them to further spiritual expansion and transformation, activating a new perspective in their life as it did in mine. Lydia Rodakis
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Περὶ μνήμης καὶ τοῦ μνημονεύειν λεκτέον τί ἐστι We must make a reference to all we know on the issue of proper memory function, as well as the way we can acquire it.
καὶ διὰ τίν’ αἰτίαν γίγνεται καὶ τίνι τῶν τῆς ψυχῆς μορίων συμβαίνει τοῦτο τὸ πάθος καὶ τὸ ἀναμιμνήσκεσθαι. Also, the reason why it is important to obtain a proper function of our memory and in which part of the soul both the impact of memory and recollection are activated.
οὐ γὰρ οἱ αὐτοί εἰσι μνημονικοὶ καὶ ἀναμνηστικοί, For memory is not the same as recollection.
ἀλλ’ ὡς ἐπὶ τὸ πολὺ μνημονικώτεροι μὲν οἱ βραδεῖς, ἀναμνηστικώτεροι δὲ οἱ ταχεῖς καὶ εὐμαθεῖς. And what most often occurs is the fact that slow people (people that mainly use their logic, and have developed their intellectual intelligence) are good in memorizing while the quick-witted
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(people that are mainly influenced by their emotions, and have developed their emotional intelligence) are better at recollecting.
πρῶτον μὲν οὖν σκεπτέον ποῖά ἐστι τὰ μνημονευτά. First of all we have to thoroughly examine the objects of memory and the reason why we want to remember.
πολλάκις γὰρ ἐξαπατᾷ τοῦτο. Because the process of the function of recollection could be mostly deceitful.
οὔτε γὰρ τὸ μέλλον ἐνδέχεται μνημονεύειν, Respectively, whatever is relevant to the future has no connection to the operation of the memory,
ἀλλ’ ἔστι δοξαστὸν καὶ ἐλπιστόν but is something that refers only to our expectations and special capacities.
(εἴη δ’ ἂν καὶ ἐπιστήμη τις ἐλπιστική, καθάπερ τινές φασι τὴν μαντικήν),
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(one could also consider that there is actually a science that deals with our expectations, the one they so call divination)
οὔτε τοῦ παρόντος, ἀλλ’ αἴσθησις. The way divination works is not of the present to say, but we will make a reference to it so as to satisfy our curiosity.
ταύτῃ γὰρ οὔτε τὸ μέλλον οὔτε τὸ γενόμενον γνωρίζομεν, ἀλλὰ τὸ παρὸν μόνον. By recollection we do not gain knowledge of what will follow in the immediate future but the knowledge that affects our present.
ἡ δὲ μνήμη τοῦ γενομένου. On the contrary by the process of memory we acquire the knowledge of what will follow in the future.
τὸ δὲ παρὸν ὅτε πάρεστιν, οἷον τοδὶ τὸ λευκὸν ὅτε ὁρᾷ, We perceive the present as something that happens now, by sense- perception, e.g. a given white object at the moment we see it.
ON MEMORY AND RECOLLECTION
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143 × 180 SPINE: 5 FLAPS: 60
ARISTOTLE
str. Vatatzi 55, 114 73 Athens, Greece Τel. : 210 6431108 e-mail: ekdoseis.ocelotos@gmail.com www. ocelotos. gr
0_covee_aristotelis_english.indd 1
ON MEMORY AND RECOLLECTION
GEORGE CHARALAMPIDIS
ISBN 978-960-564-092-7
ON MEMORY AND RECOLLECTION
Nowadays Memory and Recollection are two meanings absolutely confused. In Ancient Greece though they were of great importance since the word Memory concerned the common function of the brain and is associated with present life, while Recollection concerns the remembering of forgotten events that are embedded in the “eternal memory” of our soul. Unfortunately this function of recollection with the important meaning that Aristotle gave to it, has been completely ignored. But according to the great philosopher’s revelations, restarting and restoring recollections should be the main goal in each person’s life who desires to achieve spiritual development. The method taught for this purpose is called “Aristotelian Meditation” and the result produced is called “spiritualization of the soul” or “Technosis of the mind”.
Parva Naturalia “Little Physical Treatises”
GEORGE CHARALAMPIDIS
George Charalampidis was born in Thessaloniki Greece in 1969. He studied Greek Civilization, at the Faculty of Humanitarian Studies of the Greek Open University and is a member of the Aristotelian Club of Athens. From a very young age he showed an active interest and love for the teachings of ancient Greek Philosopher’ s by attending many specialized courses and having as a goal to harmonize his life with the Greek ideals and achievement of “ΕΥ ΖΗΝ” (good living). In his personal life, he is engaged in research and primary translation of Aristotle’s ancient texts. He has published three books, while he writes articles in relevant journals and gives lectures and seminars, presenting the results of long personal research. e-mail: georgiocharalampidis@ gmail.com
EDITIONS
o celotos 10/8/2013 1:42:19 AM