{"id":2464,"date":"2013-05-15T05:56:53","date_gmt":"2013-05-15T05:56:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/skepticink.com\/tippling\/?p=2464"},"modified":"2013-05-15T06:05:08","modified_gmt":"2013-05-15T06:05:08","slug":"factfile-hypatia-of-alexandria","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/skepticink.com\/tippling\/2013\/05\/15\/factfile-hypatia-of-alexandria\/","title":{"rendered":"Factfile: Hypatia of Alexandria"},"content":{"rendered":"

Due to the fact that wiki has some great starter articles, and I don’t necessarily have the time to write some of my own, but feel that there are some people who deserve greater notoriety. As a result, once in a while, I will randomly copy over an interesting wiki article<\/a> and perhaps promote discussion on these people.<\/p>\n

The first subject is someone important to our network here at SIN. Hypatia of Alexandria is our figurehead and is incorporated into our logos. She is an iconic role model for secular female intellects, and for all humanity. Here is a little more about her:<\/p>\n

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Hypatia<\/h3>\n
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As a Neoplatonist\u00a0philosopher<\/a>, she belonged to the mathematic tradition of the\u00a0Academy<\/a>\u00a0of Athens, as represented by\u00a0Eudoxus of Cnidus<\/a>;[8]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0she was of the intellectual school of the 3rd century thinker\u00a0Plotinus<\/a>, which encouraged logic and mathematical study in place of\u00a0empirical<\/a>\u00a0enquiry and strongly encouraged law in place of nature.[2]<\/a><\/sup>Hypatia<\/b>\u00a0(ca. AD 350\u2013370\u20138 March 415[1]<\/a><\/sup>) (pron.:<\/small>\u00a0\/<\/a>h<\/a>a\u026a<\/a>\u02c8<\/a>p<\/a>e\u026a<\/a>\u0283<\/a>\u0259<\/a>\/<\/a>\u00a0hy-pay<\/b>-sh\u0259<\/i><\/a>;\u00a0Ancient Greek<\/a>:\u00a0\u1f59\u03c0\u03b1\u03c4\u03af\u03b1;\u00a0Hypat\u00eda<\/i>) was a Greek\u00a0Neoplatonist<\/a>\u00a0philosopher in\u00a0Roman Egypt<\/a>\u00a0who was the first well-documented woman in\u00a0mathematics<\/a>.[2]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0As head of the Platonist school at\u00a0Alexandria<\/a>, she also taught\u00a0philosophy<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0astronomy<\/a>.[3]<\/a><\/sup>[4]<\/a><\/sup>[5]<\/a><\/sup>[6]<\/a><\/sup>[7]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

According to the only contemporary source, Hypatia was murdered by a\u00a0Christian<\/a>\u00a0mob after being accused of exacerbating a conflict between two prominent figures in Alexandria: the governor Orestes and the Bishop of Alexandria.[9]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0Kathleen Wider proposes that the murder of Hypatia marked the end of\u00a0Classical antiquity<\/a>,[10]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0and\u00a0Stephen Greenblatt<\/a>\u00a0observes that her murder “effectively marked the downfall of Alexandrian intellectual life”.[11]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0On the other hand, Maria Dzielska and Christian Wildberg note that\u00a0Hellenistic philosophy<\/a>\u00a0continued to flourish in the 5th and 6th centuries, and perhaps until the age of\u00a0Justinian<\/a>.[12]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Contents<\/h2>\n

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