Search results for "Epicureanism"
showing 10 items of 12 documents
Seneca on the Nature of Things: Moral Concerns and Theories of Matter in Natural Questions 6
2017
It is generally recognized that Lucretius' treatment of earthquakes and pestilences (6.535-607; 1090-1286) exerted great influence on Book 6 of Seneca's Natural Questions. But while a large consensus exists that both authors tend to emphasize the moral value of scientific knowledge, further research is needed with respect to Seneca's “technical” re-use of Epicurean physics and meteorology. In the present paper, I shall address this issue in three stages. First, I will analyze the structure and intellectual goals of Seneca's “doxographic” review of seismological theories (6.5-20). Far from being a doxographic account sensu proprio, such a careful review constructs the inspiring image of an i…
Filodemo, Cicerone, Nepote: a proposito del contesto storico-culturale di Oec. Col. XXII.9-48
2018
Until recently, Philodemus’ treatise On Household Management (Περὶ οἰκονομίας, PHerc. 1424) has been mainly used as a source for the reconstruction of early Epicurean economic thought (especially of Metrodorus’ writing Περὶ πλούτου). Over the past few years, however, scholars have called attention to Philodemus’ creative (yet philosophically orthodox) readaptation of Epicurean ethical and social theories to the needs of contemporary Roman society. Following this scholarly line, the present paper reassesses a passage from On Household Management (col. XXII.9–48) which has so far been interpreted as an unoriginal repetition of Metrodorus’ arguments, and situates it in the cultural context of …
Physiologizing (In)fertility in the Roman World: Lucretius on Sacrifice, Nature, and Generation
2016
The present paper reassesses the intellectual background of Lucretius’ treatment of infertility in 4.1233-1241, pointing out the author’s ability to combine genuine Epicurean doctrine and Roman cultural patterns. Lucretius’ denigration of religious mentality and his efforts to offer an entirely rational explanation of (in)fertility are interpreted in light of both internal evidence in the De Rerum Natura (e.g. 1.1-20; 248-264; 2.581- 660) and differents kinds of external evidence - including the so-called Laudatio Turiae, Rome’s fertility cults, and underused Epicurean sources such as PHerc 908/1390. Indeed, while systematically delegitimizing the traditional connection between supernatural…
A View from the Garden: Contemplative Isolation and Constructive Sociability in Lucretius and in the Epicurean Tradition
2021
It is often assumed that Epicurean philosophy and its foremost Roman prophet, T. Lucretius Carus, adopted a deeply hostile attitude towards both politics and religion. Individualistic (or even solipsistic) interpretations of Epicureanism – as well as of the Epicurean catechism of De Rerum Natura – have long co-existed with, and provided support to, the claim that the Epicureans attached little value to religious experiences. In the present paper, I shall argue that, in this and many other respects, the modern reception of Epicureanism – with its brave aspirations after the liberation of science from social and religious restraints – has had undue influence on our understanding of De Rerum N…
Seneca on the Mother Cow: Poetic Models and Natural Philosophy in the Consolation to Marcia
2020
Seneca’s Consolation to Marcia embraces the orthodox Stoic view that, when unduly protracted, grief reflects a logical misunderstanding of the natural world, human life, and the limits of the self. Seneca is aware that persuading Marcia to leave her false beliefs is the only way to reawaken her interest in communal life, family reciprocity, and constructive memory. He conceives his consolatory writing as an intellectually engaging didactic work tailored to the needs and disposition of his addressee. The main purpose of the present paper is to show that in this and several other respects the Consolation to Marcia makes a conscious move towards the different but evidently related genre of did…
Malebranche: el placer dinámico y ordenado
2021
La crítica señala a Pierre Nicole como el pensador que hizo la transición entre aquellos primeros moralistas de mediados del siglo xvii que condenaban el mundo terrenal, y adoptaban una actitud negativa del ser humano, y los moralistas de la primera mitad del siglo xviii, cuya visión moderna y mundana concebía al hombre bajo una perspectiva positiva. Este estudio pretende ubicar a Nicolas Malebranche como el otro pensador, quizá más en la sombra, quizá con un modo no tan explícito, que protagoniza dicha transición. Bajo el reinado de Luis XIV, el filósofo parisino, influenciado notablemente por San Agustín y Descartes, establece una psicología dinámica que le aleja del estático epicureísmo …
Scrittore epicureo anonimo, Opera incerta (PHerc. 1390/908). Edizione, introduzione e commentario, tavole
2019
Il singolare scritto adespoto e anepigrafo trasmesso da PHerc. 1390/908 e convenzionalmente definito ‘Sulla procreazione’ o ‘Sulla generazione’ rappresenta per il suo soggetto un unicum nella collezione ercolanese – dove, com’è noto, non trovano posto opere di natura medica o paramedica – e insieme alla sezione conclusiva del IV libro del De rerum natura di Lucrezio, l’unica trattazione epicurea di una certa estensione sul tema. Di esso, tradizionalmente assegnato a Epicuro e ora attribuito al filosofo epicureo Demetrio Lacone (II secolo a.C.), si propone in questa sede la prima edizione critica complessiva munita di introduzione e commento. The peculiar anonymous text handed down by PHerc.…
Granting Epicurean Wisdom at Rome: Exchange and Reciprocity in Lucretius' Didactic (DRN 1.921-950)
2018
In the first book of De Rerum Natura, Lucretius describes his didactic undertaking as a metaphorical process of gift exchange (1.50-53): the obscure and salvific precepts of Epicurean philosophy, skilfully arranged in hexameters, are said to be 'gifts' (dona) that the poet has prepared with loyal zeal (studio fideli). Such a suggestive depiction of Lucretius' relationship to the work's dedicatee, Gaius Memmius, seems to reflect a relevant functional pattern of De Rerum Natura as a coherent system of communication strategies, variously readapting social models and cultural traditions. The present paper employs the interpretative approach of gift theories – the thought-provoking theories elab…
Vox Naturae: The Myth of Animal Nature in the Latin Roman Republic
2016
The paper examines the representation of animals as embodiment of nature in the culture of the late Roman republic. By discussing a selection of passages from Sallust, Cicero and Lucretius in conjunction with other Greek and Latin sources, the paper shows that the typically Western myth of 'animal nature' - the cultural belief that animal mirror a perennial state of nature, as opposed to human society - played a very important role in the ethical debate of the first century BC and took in this period a form which was bound to influence the centuries to come.
Epicureanism
2019
A brief sketch of the reception of Epicureanism in early modern natural philosophy and metaphysics (15th-18th centuries)