The Philosopher

Hypatia

The face

The background

Nationality:
Egyptian
Schools:
Neoplatonism
Branchs:
Mathematics, Astronomy, Philosophy
Period:
Ancient philosophy

The synopsis

Hypatia was a prominent Neoplatonist philosopher, astronomer, and mathematician who lived in Alexandria, Egypt, during the late Roman Empire. She was the daughter of Theon of Alexandria, a mathematician and astronomer. Hypatia was a highly respected teacher, attracting students from diverse backgrounds, including Christians. She lectured on the works of Plato and Aristotle and was known for her intellect and eloquence. Hypatia is credited with commentaries on Diophantus's Arithmetica and Apollonius of Perga's Conic Sections, although her original writings are lost. She also constructed scientific instruments like astrolabes and hydrometers. In 415 AD, Hypatia was brutally murdered by a Christian mob, an event that shocked the Roman Empire and contributed to her legacy as a martyr for philosophy. Her death has been interpreted in various ways throughout history, symbolizing the conflict between reason and religious fanaticism, and she has become an icon for intellectual freedom and women's rights.

The works

The quotes

Reserve your right to think, for even to think wrongly is better than not to think at all.
Hypatia
All formal dogmatic religions are fallacious and must never be accepted by self-respecting persons as final.
Hypatia
Fables should be taught as fables, myths as myths, and miracles as poetic fantasies. To teach superstitions as truths is a most terrible thing. The child mind accepts and believes them, and only through great pain and perhaps tragedy can he be in after years relieved of them.
Hypatia
Life is an unfoldment, and the further we travel the more truth we can comprehend. To understand the things that are at our door is the best preparation for understanding those that lie beyond.
Hypatia
In fact men will fight for a superstition quite as quickly as for a living truth - often more so, since a superstition is so intangible you cannot get at it to refute it, but truth is a point of view, and so is changeable.
Hypatia