The focus of this paper is the analysis of the epistemological and practical role played by pathe/affections in Epicurus’ philosophy. Epicurus firstly considered the affections not as emotional/passional conditions, but as firm criteria of truth and more specifically as the third criterion of the canonic. In this article the critical reactions against the Epicurean position about the function of the affections will be investigated too. Finally, two parts of this paper are devoted to the Cyrenaic tripartition of pathe and to (...) the probable doctrinal relationship between Epicurus’ pathe and Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics Book 2. (shrink)
"Questo volume esamina la dottrina epicurea dei minimi che rappresenta un nodo cruciale della filosofia di Epicuro e un autentico punto di svolta rispetto all'atomismo di Leucippo e Democrito. Il libro è organizzato in tre capitoli dedicati rispettivamente: all'analisi filologica e teorica delle fonti primarie, alla ricostruzione del contesto storico-filosofico a cui la dottrina dei minimi verosimilmente fa riferimento, e, infine, all'approfondimento dello sviluppo della teoria dei minimi in ambito prevalentemente geometrico all'interno della scuola di Epicuro. L'esame critico delle fonti (...) antiche, anche attraverso l'attenta analisi della letteratura secondaria, conferma il ruolo decisivo giocato dai minimi nella scienza della natura epicurea. Si tratta della prima monografia interamente consacrata allo studio di questa significativa dottrina in tutta la sua ampiezza storica e teorica."--Provided by publisher. (shrink)
The present contribution focuses on two testimonia regarding Timasagoras, who is generally regarded as an Epicurean dissident: Cicero, acad. II 25, 80 and Aet. IV 13, 6, p. 403, 22 Diels. The two passages are remarkably different and the evidence from Cicero is far more complex. The context of the passage suggests that Cicero considers Timasagoras as an “orthodox'' Epicurean. In order to shed light on Timasagoras’ philosophical stance, it is necessary to examine briefly the notion of “Epicurean dissidence”. Timasagoras’ (...) position within the Epicurean tradition emerges as intrinsically ambiguous and problematic. (shrink)
According to a testimony of Sextus Empiricus's Against the Physicists, Epicurus began to study philosophy because his grammar teacher, dealing with the birth of Chaos in Hesiod's Theogony, was not able to explain what the cause and origin of Chaos were. If this evidence is reliable, the question of disorder was extremely significant for Epicurean philosophy. Usually, ancient pagan and Christian critics of materialistic philosophies accused Democritus and Epicurus of denying the power of providence. To Dante, Democritus is the philosopher (...) who 'l mondo a caso pone in the sense that, according to the Atomist, the world derives from chance.Eva Marie Noller's book—specifically devoted... (shrink)
This short paper is a critical note of the recent volume on the pseudo-Platonic dialogue Axiochus edited by A. Beghini. This scholar assumes the possibility of attributing the dialogue to Philo of Larissa or his circle. This hypothesis, although well argued in the book, faces some exegetical difficulties concerning the content of the dialogue and the hardly reconstructible philosophy of Philo himself. In this note I will critically discuss the conclusions reached by Beghini in his prestigious book starting from the (...) sceptical vein which would be present in the pseudo-Platonic work, whose dating likely presupposes the Epicurean conception of death. (shrink)
The present short note focuses on Cicero’s De finibus IV 18, 51, a passage which preserves a testimony on Xenocrates, neglected by the editors of the fragments of Academy’s second scholarch.
