Epicureanism and Scientific Debates. Antiquity and Late Reception

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., br>Pierre-Marie Morel is professor of ancient philosophy at the University of Paris 1 Pantheon-Sorbonne. He has translated Epicurus and Diogenes of Oinoanda into French. He is also the author of several books and studies on ancient philosophy. Francesco Verde is associate professor of the history of ancient philosophy at Sapienza University in Rome. His main research areas are Epicureanism and Aristotelianism of the Hellenistic age.

• Introduction Francesca Masi, Pierre-Marie Morel and Francesco VerdeThinking or Speaking: The Paradoxes of the Epicurean Theory of Language Julie GiovacchiniLanguage Theory, Scientific Terminology, and Linguistic Controversies in Epicurus’ On Nature Francesca MasiEpicurus and His Meteorological Lexicon in the Letter to Pythocles: Some Remarks Dino De SanctisThe Fragments of Epicurus’ Letters: Scientific Debates and New Perspectives Margherita ErbìLucretius’ Epistemological Language Chiara RoverMedicine and Responsibility: Hippocratic and Democritean Influences on Epicurus’ Περὶ φύσεως Book XXV? Enrico PiergiacomiMedicine and Atomism: Asclepiades of Bithynia and Epicurean Science David LeithPatterns of Reception of Epicureanism in Galen’s Writings Vincenzo Damiani Gravity and the Shape and Location of the Earth David KonstanThe Method of Multiple Explanations Revisited Voula TsounaThe Explanation of Meteorological Phenomena in the Philosophical Inscription of Diogenes of Oinoanda Jürgen HammerstaedtGassendi’s Interpretation of Epicurus’ Method of Multiple Explanations: Between Scepticism and Probabilism Frederik BakkerObservation, Probabilism, and Humanist Methods of History in Pierre Gassendi’s Meteorology Craig MartinAbout the contributors Index of Ancient Names Index of Modern Names

In its systematic and careful use of the ancient and Early Modern texts this ‘Epucureanism and Scientific Debates’ shed new light upon familiar and less familiar topics. In my opinion, this volume has the potential to become the absolute work of reference for the various subjects that it covers.Wim Nijs, KU Leuven