Dialogue with Trypho 3.4 · Sophia Scriptura

Summary: Justin defines philosophy as knowledge of being and truth.

Greek text · Archambault 1:16

Ἦ οὖν φιλοσοφία εὐδαιμονίαν ποιεῖ; ἔφη ὑποτυχὼν ἐκεῖνος. Καὶ μάλιστα, ἔφην ἐγώ, καὶ μόνη. Τί γάρ ἐστι φιλοσοφία, φησί, καὶ τίς ἡ εὐδαιμονία αὐτῆς, εἰ μή τι κωλύει φράζειν, φράσον. Φιλοσοφία μέν, ἦν δʼ ἐγώ, ἐπιστήμη ἐστὶ τοῦ ὄντος καὶ τοῦ ἀληθοῦς ἐπίγνωσις, εὐδαιμονία δὲ ταύτης τῆς ἐπιστήμης καὶ τῆς σοφίας γέρας.

English · Claude translation

“Does philosophy, then, produce happiness?” he answered. “Certainly,” I said, “and it alone.” “What is philosophy,” he said, “and what is the happiness it gives? Tell me, if nothing prevents you.” “Philosophy,” I said, “is knowledge of what is and understanding of the truth, and happiness is the reward of this knowledge and wisdom.”

About this passage

Source

Archambault 1:16 · Georges Archambault, ed., Justin: Dialogue avec Tryphon, 2 vols., Textes et documents pour l'étude historique du christianisme 8, 11 (Paris: Picard, 1909) · Greek text: G. Archambault, Justin: Dialogue avec Tryphon (Paris, 1909), digitized by the Perseus Digital Library and published by the First Thousand Years of Greek project (Open Greek and Latin), CC BY-SA 4.0

Translation

Claude translation (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 · Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Archambault (1909); made independently of existing English translations.

Cite this passage

Justin, Dial. 3.4 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/justin-dialogue/3/4/).

Plain text

Justin, Dial. 3.4 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/justin-dialogue/3/4/).