Materia Philosophiae. Material Dimensions of Ancient Philosophy

William Wians (Emeritus Professor of Philosophy, Merrimack College) teaches at Boston College. Edited collections include Logos and Muthos: Philosophical Essays in Greek Literature; Logoi and Muthoi: Further Essays in Greek Literature; and Reading Aristotle: Argument and Exposition, with Ronald Polansky. Robert Hahn is Professor of Philosophy at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. Publications include Anaximander and the Architects; Archaeology and the Origins of Philosophy; and The Metaphysics of the Pythagorean Theorem. He was recently honored as Outstanding Researcher by his university.Contributors are: Robert Hahn, Andrei Lebedev, Andrew Gregory, Sylvia Berryman, Nathasja Roggo-van Luijn, Richard Seaford, Dirk L. Couprie, Ellen Harlizius-Klück and Giovanni Fanfani, Harold Tarrant, Gastón Javier Basile, Geoffrey Lloyd, Philip Thibodeau, Bella Vivante, William Wians.

• ContentsList of FiguresAbbreviationsNotes on ContributorsPhilosophical Argument and Material Realities An IntroductionWilliam Wians and Robert HahnPart 1 Philosophers and Technologies1 Material Modular Thinking, Substance Monism, and the Origins of Greek Philosophy Architecture, Gnomon, Coinage, and the Felting of WoolRobert Hahn2 Placing the Ionian Περι Φυσεως Ιστορια in Context The Role of Sea Trade, Colonization, Navigation and Analogies from Manufacturing Crafts (Τεχναι) in the Birth of Greek ScienceAndrei Lebedev3 Greek Ships, Seamanship and CosmologyAndrew Gregory4 The Gods and the Machine Ancient Automata and Divine CausationSylvia BerrymanPart 2 Thinking with Objects5 Using a Household Artefact as an Epistemological Tool The Clepsydra in Anaxagoras, Aristotle’s de Caelo, and EmpedoclesNathasja Roggo-van Luijn6 The Metaphysics of the Coin-ImageRichard Seaford7 Anaximenes and the MillstoneDirk L. Couprie8 Weaving the Double Square An (Im-)Material Contribution to Early Greek MathematicsEllen Harlizius-Klück and Giovanni FanfaniPart 3 Philosophical Media and Their Messages9 The Limited Relevance of Writing in Early Greek Philosophy and ScienceHarold Tarrant10 Metadiscourse The Fabric of Early Greek Philosophical ProseGaston Javier Basile11 Materiality and Philosophy The Ancient Greek and Chinese Experiences ComparedG.E.R. LloydPart 4 Philosophy and Ancient Embodiment12 Thales and the Measure of WisdomPhilip Thibodeau13 New Insights into Pythagorean Women’s Material PhilosophyBella Vivante14 Xenophanes the Sophist? Material Realities and Philosophical InnovationWilliam WiansIndex