Ancient Biography in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries

This chapter examines presences of ancient biography in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The popularity of biography in seventeenth-century Europe was mainly due to the numerous translations of Plutarch’s Parallel Lives. Conversely, Suetonius, whose Lives of the Caesars were extremely influential in the early modern period, was less read in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Meanwhile, Diogenes Laertius’ Lives of Eminent Philosophers contributed to the rise of literary and philosophical biography. However, the more life-writing is considered as a literary practice, the less its historical reliability is valued. If, in the seventeenth century, Lives were generally regarded as a historical genre, eighteenth-century philosophers criticized the historical interest of biography, at a time in which history began to be studied as a science more than as a pedagogical device.

Philosophers and Their Neoplatonic Lives

This chapter addresses biographies of philosophers, which, alongside those of political figures and poets, constitute one of the dominant forms of the genre in Antiquity. By the nature of their subjects, philosophical biographies almost invariably contain some doxographic element, explaining the opinions and arguments of the thinker in question. They are also frequently integrated into broader contexts, either into biographical series or into other philosophical contexts. Beyond these common traits, biographies of philosophers exhibit as much variety as other forms of ancient biography: in their structural choices; in their approach to characterizing, and to varying degrees idealizing their subjects; in their narrating voices; and indeed in their ostensible purposes. Something of the variety of these responses to the challenges of representing the philosophic life in biographical form will emerge in the chapter’s discussion, which focuses on the class of philosophical biography best represented among the surviving texts: Neoplatonic biography.

Brief aus Serbien

Two authors with a similar philosophical biography write this letter from Serbia. First the German professor is introduced to the history of Serbian philosophy. Special attention is given to the relations between German and Serbian philosophy. Subsequently, the present situation of philosophy in Serbia is described, including the toil and deprivation implied in occupying oneself with philosophy in this country. The authors demonstrate that in these circumstances, enthusiasm and personal dedication are of the essence.