0000000000393673
AUTHOR
Jochen Althoff
showing 2 related works from this author
Presocratic discourse in poetry and prose: The case of Empedocles and Anaxagoras
2012
Abstract This paper explores the differences between poetry and prose in philosophical writing by examining two Pre-Socratic fragments, one in verse and one in prose, that express a very similar thought: Empedocles 59 B 17 Diels/Kranz and Anaxagoras 31 B 8 D./K. Although at first it might seem as though there is a simple division between Empedocles’ opaque and allusive hexameters and Anaxagoras’ sober prose, when we look in detail at the language used by the two authors, a close reading of the passages reveals a more complex picture. Both authors place rhetorical emphasis on their own role as innovator; Anaxagoras’ prose shows a careful attention to style and word choice no less than Empedo…
Aristotle, the Inventor of Natural Science
2018
The chapter surveys the contributions of Aristotle to the development of ancient Greek science. Aristotle sought the stable element and reliable truth within changes. Aristotle develops a three-fold system of scientific disciplines: practical, productive, and theoretic (including mathematics and natural philosophy). The primary natural kinds are the four elements, earth, water, air, and fire, composed of the fundamental qualities of hot/cold and wet/dry. Each has a natural place, earth in a sphere at the center of the cosmos, and the others in spherical shells around that. The eternal circular heavenly motions are due to the fifth element, “aithēr.” Aristotle’s scala naturae classifies all …