Peripatetic Philosophy in Context: Knowledge, Time, and Soul from Theophrastus to Cratippus (Beitrage zur Altertumskunde 403)

This book deals with some Peripatetic philosophers of the Hellenistic age (such as Theophrastus of Eresus, Eudemus of Rhodes, Strato of Lampsacus, Clearchus of Soli, and Cratippus of Pergamum) who were direct and indirect pupils of Aristotle. The main focus of the book is Aristotle's school in the Hellenistic period, a subject not particularly explored by the scholars. Three main issues are addressed in the chapters of the book: the problem of knowledge, the question of time, and the doctrine of the soul. More specifically the topics addressed are: the problem of sense-perception and the method of multiple explanations in the field of meteorology in Aristotle, Theophrastus and Epicurus, the epistemology of Strato (by comparison with Speusippus' one), the notion of time in Eudemus and Strato, the conception of sleep in Clearchus, the doctrine of divination in Cratippus. Finally, the Appendix examines the probable influence of the physics of Strato on the medicine of Asclepiades of Bithynia. These themes are investigated by comparing the positions of the Peripatetics with Aristotle's philosophy, but above all (and this is one of the novelties of the book) by contextualising the doctrines of the Peripatetics within the broader framework of Hellenistic philosophies (Old Academy, Epicureanism, and Stoicism). Acknowledgments 7 Contents 9 Introduction: Some Remarks on the Historical Meaning of the Hellenistic Peripatos 11 Part I: Knowledge 37 1 Sense-Perception and Multiple Explanations: Aristotle, Theophrastus, and Epicurus 37 2 The Scientificity of Sense-Perception in Speusippus, Diogenes of Babylon, and Strato of Lampsacus 77 Part II: Time 115 3 Eudemus of Rhodes on Aristotle’s Physics: The Case of Time 115 4 Strato of Lampsacus on Aristotle’s Notion of Time 143 Part III: Soul 161 5 The Peripatetic Conception of Sleep: Clearchus of Soli and Strato of Lampsacus 161 6 The Psychology of Cratippus of Pergamum 191 7 Appendix: Asclepiades of Bithynia’s Medical Physics and Its Relationship with Epicurus and Strato of Lampsacus 209 Index Locorum 232 Index of Ancient Authors 246 Index of Modern Authors 249 This book deals with some Aristotelian philosophers of the Hellenistic Age, ranging from Theophrastus of Eresus to Cratippus of Pergamum. The problem of knowledge, the question of time, and the doctrine of the soul are investigated by comparing these Peripatetics' views with Aristotle's philosophy, and above all by setting their doctrines within the broader framework of post-Aristotelian and Hellenistic philosophies (the Old Academy, Epicureanism, and Stoicism). The volumes published in the series Beiträge zur Altertumskunde comprise monographs, collective volumes, editions, translations and commentaries on various topics from the fields of Greek and Latin Philology, Ancient History, Archeology, Ancient Philosophy as well as Classical Reception Studies. The series thus offers indispensable research tools for a wide range of disciplines related to Ancient Studies.