Epicureanism and Scientific Debates. Antiquity and Late Reception

New perspectives on Epicureanism in the
fields of language, medicine, and meteorology

Epicureanism 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.

This publication is GPRC-labeled (Guaranteed Peer-Reviewed Content).

Introduction
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

Francesca Masi

Francesca Masi is associate professor of the history of ancient philosophy at the University Ca’ Foscari of Venice. Her main research areas are ontology, physics, psychology and ethics in Classical and Hellenistic Philosophy. She is the author of several studies on Epicurus and Epicureanism.

Pierre-Marie Morel

Pierre-Marie Morel is professor of ancient philosophy at the University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne. He has translated Epicurus and Diogenes of Oenonanda into French. He is also the author of several books and studies on ancient philosophy.

Francesco Verde

Francesco Verde is associate professor of the history of ancient philosophy at Sapienza University of Rome. His main research areas are Epicureanism, Aristotelianism of the Hellenistic age, and Academic Scepticism.