Epicureanism and Scientific Debates. Antiquity and Late Reception: Language, Medicine, 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.

Contributors: Julie Giovacchini (CNRS, Paris), Francesca Masi (Universit?Ca' Foscari Venezia), Dino De Sanctis (Universit?degli Studi della Tuscia), Chiara Rover (Universit酹 Hamburg/MCAS), Enrico Piergiacomi (Universit酹 Zich), David Leith (University of Exeter), Vincenzo Damiani (Universit酹 Ulm), David Konstan (New York University), Voula Tsouna (UC Santa Barbara), Jgen Hammerstaedt (Universit酹 zu K闤n), Craig Martin (Universit?Ca' Foscari Venezia), Frederik Bakker (Radboud Universiteit)