Lucretius I

Lucretius I PDF Author: Thomas Nail
Publisher: Edinburgh University Press
ISBN: 1474434681
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 288

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Book Description
The most original and shocking interpretation of Lucretius in the last 40 yearsA new materialist, quantum and feminist interpretation of LucretiusArgues the original and provocative thesis that Lucretius was not an atomist but rather the first philosopher of motionThe most profound revision of how we read Lucretius since Michel Serres' The Birth of Physics (1977)Luretius II launch offerFind out where it all started: we're offering a free ebook of Lucretius I when you buy a copy of Lucretius II. Just add a copy of Lucretius II (paperback, hardback or ebook) and a Lucretius I ebook to your basket, and enter the code Lucretius2 when you check out.Visit the webpage for Lucretius IIThomas Nail argues convincingly and systematically that Lucretius was not an atomist, but a thinker of kinetic flux. In doing so, he completely overthrows the interpretive foundations of modern scientific materialism, whose philosophical origins lie in the atomic reading of Lucretius' immensely influential book De Rerum Natura.This means that Lucretius was not the revolutionary harbinger of modern science as Greenblatt and others have argued; he was its greatest victim. Nail re-reads De Rerum Natura to offer us a new Lucretius - a Lucretius for today."

Lucretius I

Lucretius I PDF Author: Thomas Nail
Publisher: Edinburgh University Press
ISBN: 1474434681
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 288

Get Book Here

Book Description
The most original and shocking interpretation of Lucretius in the last 40 yearsA new materialist, quantum and feminist interpretation of LucretiusArgues the original and provocative thesis that Lucretius was not an atomist but rather the first philosopher of motionThe most profound revision of how we read Lucretius since Michel Serres' The Birth of Physics (1977)Luretius II launch offerFind out where it all started: we're offering a free ebook of Lucretius I when you buy a copy of Lucretius II. Just add a copy of Lucretius II (paperback, hardback or ebook) and a Lucretius I ebook to your basket, and enter the code Lucretius2 when you check out.Visit the webpage for Lucretius IIThomas Nail argues convincingly and systematically that Lucretius was not an atomist, but a thinker of kinetic flux. In doing so, he completely overthrows the interpretive foundations of modern scientific materialism, whose philosophical origins lie in the atomic reading of Lucretius' immensely influential book De Rerum Natura.This means that Lucretius was not the revolutionary harbinger of modern science as Greenblatt and others have argued; he was its greatest victim. Nail re-reads De Rerum Natura to offer us a new Lucretius - a Lucretius for today."

On the Nature of the Universe

On the Nature of the Universe PDF Author: Lucretius
Publisher: OUP Oxford
ISBN: 019162327X
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 822

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Book Description
`Therefore this terror and darkness of the mind Not by the sun's rays, nor the bright shafts of day, Must be dispersed, as is most necessary, But by the face of nature and her laws.' Lucretius' poem On the Nature of the Universe combines a scientific and philosophical treatise with some of the greatest poetry ever written. With intense moral fervour Lucretius demonstrates to humanity that in death there is nothing to fear since the soul is mortal, and the world and everything in it is governed not by the gods, but by the mechanical laws of nature. By believing this, men can live in peace of mind and happiness. Lucretius bases his argument on the atomic theory expounded by the Greek philosopher Epicurus. His poem explores sensation, sex, cosmology, meteorology, and geology through acute observation of the beauties of the natural world and with moving sympathy for man's place in it. Sir Ronald Melville's accessible and accurate verse translation is complemented by an introduction and notes situating Lucretius' scientific theories within the thought of 1st century BCE Rome and discussing the Epicurean philosophy that was his inspiration and why the issues Lucretius' poem raisies about the scientific and poetical views of the world continue to be important. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

De Rerum Natura IV

De Rerum Natura IV PDF Author: Titus Lucretius Carus
Publisher: Liverpool University Press
ISBN: 0856683086
Category : History
Languages : la
Pages : 183

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Book Description
With a commentary giving proper critical emphasis to the techniques and intentions of Lucretius' poetry.

Lucretius on Creation and Evolution

Lucretius on Creation and Evolution PDF Author: Gordon Lindsay Campbell
Publisher: Oxford Classical Monographs
ISBN: 9780199263967
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 406

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Book Description
Lucretius' account of the origin of life, the origin of species, and human prehistory is the longest and most detailed account extant from the ancient world. It gives an anti-teleological mechanistic theory of zoogony and the origin of species that does away with the need for any divine aidor design in the process, and accordingly it has been seen as a forerunner of Darwin's theory of evolution. This commentary locates Lucretius in both the ancient and modern contexts, and treats Lucretius' ideas as very much alive rather than as historical concepts. The recent revival of creationismmakes this study particularly relevant to contemporary debate, and indeed, many of the central questions posed by creationists are those Lucretius attempts to answer.

A Commentary on Lucretius De Rerum Natura

A Commentary on Lucretius De Rerum Natura PDF Author: Don Fowler
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 9780199243587
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 550

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Book Description
'In Lucretius on Atomic Motion Don Fowler produces a commentary of Lucretius like no other. His commentary achieves the status of a meta-commentary... what makes this commentary claim our attention is the range of texts, both poetic and philosophical, ancient and modern, that Fowler brings to bear in revealing the deep background --and the later fortune - of Lucretius' poem.' -Diskin Clay, Times Literary SupplementThis is the first commentary on Lucretius' theory of atomic motion, one of the most difficult and technical parts of De rerum natura. The late Don Fowler sets new standards for Lucretian studies in his awesome command both of the ancient literary, philological, and philosophical background to this Latin Epicurean poem, and of the relevant modern scholarship.

Reading Lucretius in the Renaissance

Reading Lucretius in the Renaissance PDF Author: Ada Palmer
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674725573
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 415

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Book Description
Ada Palmer explores how Renaissance poets and philologists, not scientists, rescued Lucretius and his atomism theory. This heterodoxy circulated in the premodern world, not on the conspicuous stage of heresy trials and public debates but in the classrooms, libraries, studies, and bookshops where quiet scholars met transformative ideas.

The Language of Atoms

The Language of Atoms PDF Author: W. H. Shearin
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0190202432
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 233

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Book Description
While scholarship on Lucretius has looked to connect De rerum natura to its larger cultural and historical context, it has never turned to speech act theory in this quest. This omission is striking at least in so far as speech act theory was developed precisely as a way of locating language (including texts) within a theory of action. At its root speech act theory is about how language is part of history and acts within it, and it thus holds promise for addressing this long-standing scholarly concern. Further, as this book asserts, speech act theory is not some modern development that one may apply to De rerum natura but rather a theory native, at least in some respects, to Epicurus' school. The argument contends that a central problem in Epicurean semantics may be resolved if we allow that Epicurus (or his school) developed an understanding of performative language. It reads the fragmentary remains of Epicurus' writing on language against central texts of speech act theory such as J. L. Austin's How to Do Things with Words and Émile Benveniste's definition of the performative as a form of speaking in which the act of speech creates its own referent. The book moves on to consider the larger place of performativity within De rerum natura, and the poem's insight on the acts of promising and naming. Bridging critical theory and ancient philosophy, The Language of Atoms will engage scholars in a host of humanities disciplines, including Classics, Philosophy, and Comparative Literature.

Introduction to Lucretius

Introduction to Lucretius PDF Author: A. P. Sinker
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107621186
Category : History
Languages : la
Pages : 171

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Book Description
This book provides an overview of Lucretius' philosophical poem 'De rerum natura' intended to clarify the poem's overarching themes to a first-time reader. It also gives a brief running commentary on the individual books as well as more detailed notes on selected passages, which are reproduced in the original Latin.

Lucretius and the Language of Nature

Lucretius and the Language of Nature PDF Author: Barnaby Taylor
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 0198754906
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 236

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Book Description
Lucretius' Epicurean poem De Rerum Natura ('On the Nature of Things'), written in the middle of the first century BC, made a fundamental and lasting contribution to the language of Latin philosophy. The style of De Rerum Natura is like nothing else in extant Latin: at once archaic and modern, Romanizing and Hellenizing, intimate and sublime, it draws on multiple literary genres and linguistic registers. This book offers a study of Lucretius' linguistic innovation and creativity. Lucretius is depicted as a linguistic trailblazer, extending and augmenting the technical language of Latin in order to describe the Epicurean universe of atoms and void in all its complexity and sublimity. A detailed understanding of the Epicurean linguistic theory brings with it a greater appreciation of Lucretius' own language. Accordingly, this book features an in-depth reconstruction of certain core features of Epicurean linguistic theory. Elements of Lucretius' style discussed include his attitudes to, and use of, figurative language (especially metaphor); his explorations, both explicit and implicit, of Latin etymology; his uses of Greek; and his creative deployment of compounds and prefixed words. His practice is related throughout not only to the underlying Epicurean theory but also to contemporary Roman attitudes to style and language. The result is a new reading of one of the greatest and most difficult works to survive from the Roman world.

Approaches to Lucretius

Approaches to Lucretius PDF Author: Donncha O'Rourke
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1108386458
Category : Literary Collections
Languages : en
Pages : 339

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Book Description
Both in antiquity and ever since the Renaissance Lucretius' De Rerum Natura has been admired – and condemned – for its startling poetry, its evangelical faith in materialist causation, and its seductive advocacy of the Epicurean good life. Approaches to Lucretius assembles an international team of classicists and philosophers to take stock of a range of critical approaches to which this influential poem has given rise and which in turn have shaped its interpretation, including textual criticism, the text's strategies for engaging the reader with its author and his message, the 'atomology' that posits a correlation of the letters of the poem with the atoms of the universe, the literary and philosophical intertexts that mediate the poem, and the political and ideological questions that it raises. Thirteen essays take up a variety of positions within these traditions of interpretation, innovating within them and advancing beyond them in new directions.