Book review
Reviews the book: Christopher Shields, Aristotle. London: Routledge, 2007
Book review
Reviews the book: Explaining the Cosmos. The Ionian Tradition of Scientific Philosophy by D. Graham
Book review
Reviews the book: Plato's Cosmology and its Ethical Dimensions' by G.R.Carone
On the Physical Aspect of Heraclitus' Psychology
The paper first discusses the metaphysical framework that allows the soul's integration into the physical world. A close examination of B36, supported by the comparative evidence of some other early theories of the soul, suggests that the word psuche could function as both a mass term and a count noun for Heraclitus. There is something in the world, alongside other physical elements, that manifests mental functions. Humans, and possibly other beings, show mental functions in so far as they have a portion of that stuff. Turning to the physical characterization of the soul, the paper argues that B36 is entirely consistent with the ancient testimonies that say that psuche for Heraclitus is exhalation. But exhalations cover all states of matter from the lowest moist part of atmospheric air to the fire of celestial bodies. If so, psuche for Heraclitus is both air and fire. The fact that psuche can manifest the whole range of physical properties along the dry-wet axis guarantees that souls can show different intellectual and ethical properties as well.(edited)
The Derveni Papyrus and Early Stoicism
Recent works by Fabienne Jourdan, Luc Brisson and Francesc Casadesus emphasize the importance of the similarities between the Derveni papyrus and early Stoicism. The paper examines these parallelisms -- focusing on the method of allegorical interpretation, the cosmological roles of air, fire and pneuma and cosmic teleology -- and argues that the similarities, although non-negligible, are not such that would require us to reinterpret the Derveni papyrus against the background of Stoicism. Moreover, the relevant features of the papyrus may be explained from the internal dynamics of the Derveni author's system, and there is thus no need to modify the date of the papyrus to allow Stoic influence. %~ PHIL
Cosmological Ethics in the Timaeus and Early Stoicism
The paper argues for the relevance of Plato's Timaeus (especially 90b1-d7) for Chrysippus's theory of telos. It claims that Chrysippus could work out quite a few of his own ideas on the subject through a preliminary dialectical discussion of the Timaeus. Moreover, Chrysippus had good reasons, even from a generally anti-Platonic standpoint, to assimilate some aspects of the Platonic stance in his theory of telos. A parallel analysis also shows that despite the strong correspondences, the most significant difference between the Platonic and the Stoic positions lies in the cognitive content of the cosmological knowledge required for achieving the telos.
On Eudemus Fr. 150 (Wehrli)
Fr. 150 of Eudemus Rhodes, preserved in the De principiis of the 6th c. Neoplatonist philosopher Damascius, is our main source on early theogonical narratives. The analysis of Damascius's method shows that Eudemus' work contained probably more theogonies and certainly more generations from the individual theogonies than what we have in the fragment. A survey of the Aristotelian references to the 'theologians' proves that, pace Wehrli, Eudemus's text was not a digression in a systematic work intended to review endoxa on a particular theoretical question: it was more probably a synoptical collection of the genealogical narratives of the 'theologians.'
Le probleme des representations visuelles dans la cosmologie presocratique: pour une histoire de la modelisation
The paper discusses the early history of three-dimensional cosmological and astronomical models. It suggests that such models were not simply illustrations but also played an important part in the formation of cosmological theories. It tries to trace the early history of models starting with Cicero's testimony in De re publica I,14 and then moving backwards in time. The main stages of the discussion are Epicurus against the astronomers of Cyzicus, Eudoxus, Plato's Timaeus and Republic, the equipment in the Phrontisterion in Aristophanes' Clouds and Parmenides. Finally, it defends the testimony that Anaximander was the first to build a cosmological model.
The Sun and the Foot: Heraclitus in the Derveni Papyrus
We have finally at our disposal the first two columns of the highly awaited critical edition of the Derveni Papyrus by K Tsantsanoglou and G M Parassoglou (published in the "Studi e Testi per il corpo dei papiri filosofici greci e latini" and with some slight modifications in the "Corpus dei papiri Filosofici Grecie Latini"). This edition approves of W Burkert's proposition: the Derveni author quotes Heraclitus by name. Furthermore, this text provides the Heraclitean scholarship with a most surprising lesson: as the editors put it, "What had been known up to the present as two distinct and independent fragments (B3 and B94 DK = 57 and 52 M) appear now as one continuous fragment".