The development of philosophy in Magna Graecia

his piece investigates the historiographical category of ‘early Greek philosophy’ to help develop a critical analysis of what is meant by ‘philosophical’ development within the context of Magna Graecia. Beginning from G. Cornelli’s methodological remarks on Pythagoras and early Pythagoreanism, the notion of philosophical influence, and how this helps to define what we understand by development, is applied to Parmenides and the Eleatic tradition. Countering both overly schematic, successionist frameworks, as well as those emphasising dialectical or polemical response, I argue that the Eleatics provide excellent evidence for a notion of philosophical development that begins from their own priorities and incorporates a diversity of approaches. What they share is that the method and means of argumentation, and the fundamental laws of logical thought that ground these, take precedence over philosophical dogma or doctrinal claims.