Epicurus in Rome

The role of Greek thought in the final days of the Roman republic is a topic that has garnered much attention in recent years. This volume of essays, commissioned specially from a distinguished international group of scholars, explores the role and influence of Greek philosophy, specifically Epicureanism, in the late republic. It focuses primarily (although not exclusively) on the works and views of Cicero, premier politician and Roman philosopher of the day, and Lucretius, foremost among the representatives and supporters of Epicureanism at the time. Throughout the volume, the impact of such disparate reception on the part of these leading authors is explored in a way that illuminates the popularity as well as the controversy attached to the followers of Epicurus in Italy, ranging from ethical and political concerns to the understanding of scientific and celestial phenomena.

Conatus, the Will to Persist: An Introduction

The papers collected in this issue address a variety of aspects of the concept of conatus ranging from the explorations of its roots in early ancient Greek thought to its application on modern theories of democratic education. The conatus is a special relation between the parts of a monad and their subparts and the subparts of the subparts to infinity, which ensures that each part and subpart is a part of this monad and not of any other. As a fundamental trait of monadic existence, the conatus is manifested in a multiplicity of facets that sustain the persistence of any real existence. It is thus obvious that there is still a vast field of such manifestations of conatus that awaits philosophical exploration, especially in the realms of Social Ontology and of the Philosophy of Nature.

The Organic Roots of Conatus in Early Greek Thought

The focus of this paper will be on the earliest Greek treatments of impulse, motivation, and self-animation – a cluster of concepts tied to the hormē-conatus concept. I hope to offer a plausible account of how the earliest recorded views on this subject in mythological, pre-Socratic, and Classical writings might have inspired later philosophical developments by establishing the foundations for an organic, wholly naturalized approach to human inquiry. Three pillars of that approach which I wish to emphasize are: practical intelligence (i.e., a continuity between knowing and doing), natural normativity (i.e., a continuity between human norms and the environment), and an ontology of philosophical dialectic (i.e., a continuity between the growth of human understanding and the growth of physis).

The Question of Being: Greece, India and China

One of the main features of the European perception of reality is that it is understood in terms of Parmenides’ wondering that “there is Being”. This concept is crucial for the Western tradition. In Western thought, the issue of Being is presented in pairs with two possible opposites: becoming and non-being. In this article, the concept of Being as it is presented in the Ancient Greek thought will be presented in comparison with similar concepts in Indian and Chinese traditions. The main aim of the paper is to outline the peculiarities and importance of each tradition.

Celsus in his World

Celsus penned the earliest known detailed attack upon Christianity. While his identity is disputed and his anti-Christian treatise, entitled the True Word, has been exclusively transmitted through the hands of the great Christian scholar Origen, he remains an intriguing figure. In this interdisciplinary volume, which brings together ancient philosophers, specialists in Greek literature, and historians of early Christianity and of ancient Judaism, Celsus is situated within the cultural, philosophical, religious and political world from which he emerged. While his work is ostensibly an attack upon Christianity, it is also the defence of a world in which Celsus passionately believed. It is the unique contribution of this volume to give voice to the many dimensions of that world in a way that will engage a variety of scholars interested in late antiquity and the histories of Christianity, Judaism and Greek thought.

The Primacy of Ownership and the Problem of Plunder in Archaic Greece

<p>The goal of this thesis is to extract from the Homeric and Hesiodic poems Archaic Greek thought on the concept of personal ownership and its interrelation with plunder. As is often the case when working with the Iliad and Odyssey, the discussion is broader in focus than is currently the norm for academic theses. In this instance a wide-ranging scope is necessary, since the purpose is to identify patterns concerning ownership and plunder in the epics. The process of extrapolating the depictions of life in the Homeric epics to the conditions and realities of Archaic Greece is achieved most effectively by ascertaining unified portrayals of concepts as opposed to minutely analyzing singular occurrences in the works...</p>