Description
Book SynopsisEpicureanism is not only a defence of pleasure: it is also a philosophy of science and knowledge. This edited collection explores new pathways for the study of Epicurean scientific thought, a hitherto still understudied domain, and engages systematically and critically with existing theories. It shows that the philosophy of Epicurus and his heirs, from antiquity to the classical age, founded a rigorous and coherent conception of knowledge. This first part of a two-volume set examines more specifically the contribution of Epicureanism in the fields of language, medicine, and meteorology (i.e., celestial, geological and atmospheric phenomena). Offering a renewed image of Epicureanism, the book includes studies on the nature of human language and on the linguistic aspects of scientific discourse; on the relationship between Epicureanism and ancient medicine, from Hippocrates to Galen; on meteorological phenomena and the method of explaining them; and on the reception of Epicurus's legacy in Gassendi. Contributors: Julie Giovacchini (CNRS, Paris), Francesca Masi (Universita Ca' Foscari Venezia), Dino De Sanctis (Universita degli Studi della Tuscia), Chiara Rover (Universitat Hamburg/MCAS), Enrico Piergiacomi (Universitat Zurich), David Leith (University of Exeter), Vincenzo Damiani (Universitat Ulm), David Konstan (New York University), Voula Tsouna (UC Santa Barbara), Jurgen Hammerstaedt (Universitat zu Koeln), Craig Martin (Universita Ca' Foscari Venezia), Frederik Bakker (Radboud Universiteit)
Trade ReviewIn
its systematic and careful use of the ancient and Early Modern texts this
‘Epucureanism and Scientific Debates’ shed new light upon familiar and less
familiar topics. In my opinion, this volume has the potential to become the
absolute work of reference for the various subjects that it covers.Wim Nijs, KU
Leuven
Table of ContentsIntroduction
Francesca Masi, Pierre-Marie Morel and Francesco Verde
Thinking or Speaking: The Paradoxes of the Epicurean Theory of Language
Julie Giovacchini
Language Theory, Scientific Terminology, and Linguistic Controversies in Epicurus’ On Nature
Francesca Masi
Epicurus and His Meteorological Lexicon in the Letter to Pythocles: Some Remarks
Dino De Sanctis
The Fragments of Epicurus’ Letters: Scientific Debates and New Perspectives
Margherita Erbì
Lucretius’ Epistemological Language
Chiara Rover
Medicine and Responsibility: Hippocratic and Democritean Influences on Epicurus’ Περὶ φύσεως Book XXV?
Enrico Piergiacomi
Medicine and Atomism: Asclepiades of Bithynia and Epicurean Science
David Leith
Patterns of Reception of Epicureanism in Galen’s Writings
Vincenzo Damiani Gravity and the Shape and Location of the Earth
David Konstan
The Method of Multiple Explanations Revisited
Voula Tsouna
The Explanation of Meteorological Phenomena in the Philosophical Inscription of Diogenes of Oinoanda
Jürgen Hammerstaedt
Gassendi’s Interpretation of Epicurus’ Method of Multiple Explanations: Between Scepticism and Probabilism
Frederik Bakker
Observation, Probabilism, and Humanist Methods of History in Pierre Gassendi’s Meteorology
Craig Martin
About the contributors
Index of Ancient Names
Index of Modern Names
