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Verse epitaphs are our main and very abundant source for responses to individual deaths. We can almost never know exactly whose attitudes or values they express, but we can assume that they embody attitudes and values that it was acceptable to express publicly. Many at all dates seek merely to commemorate the dead person or convey grief, but, from about 400 bce onwards, others adopt a position on the fate of the dead person, though often hedged with a cautious 'if'. Very many possibilities emerge: they range from a plain denial that anything survives death, via claims that the dead person is now (e.g.) in the aither /in the home of the blessed/on Olympos/with the heroes, to, very rarely, declarations that s/he is now actually a god. Strangely enough, support for such claims is never sought in the fact of the dead person being an initiate in a cult that promised advantage in the afterlife. In all this we see not so much individual choices as the range of options available for individuals to believe in. But we must also suspect that belief in the more optimistic options can seldom have been as firm as in a society where such options were authoritatively endorsed and alternatives not publicly countenanced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Human Nature, Hobbes argues for what I call the ‘Great Deception Thesis': “whatsoever accidents or qualities our senses make us think there be in the world, they are not there, but are seemings and apparitions only”. I argue that both the thesis and Hobbes’ arguments for it have been misunderstood. Rather than arguing for indirect realism or a primary/secondary quality distinction, Hobbes claims that no sensory experience resembles its object. I conclude by showing how Hobbes can account for the usefulness of images even in the absence of any resemblance between those images and the objects that cause them. If I am right, Hobbes presents a distinctive and intriguing theory of perception, one that emphasizes the dynamic nature of experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Amat bonus otia Daphnis (Verg. Ecl. V 61). The ideal of concordia in Eclogue V The concept of concordia plays a key role in the political debate among Virgil’s contemporaries. Virgil himself highlights the role of discordia in Ecl. I 71 and makes concordia the tenet of Eclogue IV (Ecl. IV 46-47). Celebration of peace brought by the new god Daphnis in Eclogue V is couched in terms of concordia as well, as it is pointed out both by the Homeric source of Il. XXII 262-263 on the impossible ὁμοφροσύνη among animals and by the model of Lucretius’ apotheosis of Epicurus, which is significant in that Lucretius deems Epicurus’ doctrine as the means by which sapientes might live together according to the original sense of amicitia and concordia. Moreover, people gathering around Daphnis’ cult as if they were mystery initiates emphasizes the role of community in the eclogue – not least, mystery language is exploited also in Epicurean tradition. Analogies and differences between the iuvenis deus of Eclogue I and Daphnis sharpens the gulf between the two eclogues: in the former, the community of cives is distraught because of discordia, and Tityrus is the only one to enjoy the benefits of the iuvenis deus; by contrast, the latter celebrates a close-knit community worshipping Daphnis in concordia.

This article considers the relationship between the "impious" (ἀσεβείς) of Wisdom of Solomon 1:16–2:24 and Epicurean philosophy. Though most recent commentators reject the idea that the impious are portrayed as Epicureans, they fail to consider this passage within the context of Hellenistic Epicureanism (Lucretius, Philodemus) and its discontents (e.g., Epictetus, Plutarch). The author shows that the impious' materialistic account of the human soul and its destruction at death draws heavily on Epicurean ideas and imagery and that aspects of their exhortation to hedonism recall Epicurean sexual ethics. Furthermore, though the way of life that the impious endorse does diverge significantly from Epicurean hedonism properly understood, such caricatures of Epicurean philosophy are themselves common tropes of anti-Epicurean polemic. It is concluded that the sage has chosen to present a hostile group of advocates of Epicurean philosophy as the paradigmatic adversaries of true wisdom and justice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article I offer an analysis of the moral dimension of Epicurean hedonism, based on two constitutive moments: 1) Epicurus' revaluation of pleasure, and 2) the progressive transition from foolishness to wisdom in the pleasurable life. The first moment considers the reassessment of the identification of pleasure with evil, and the opposition to virtue, in order to examine the basis of the rational and moral foundation of Epicurean hedonism. The second one analyzes the task of reshaping the disposition of the soul through exercises for the cultivation of pleasure directed towards the good. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since Epicurus is known as a philosopher who generally advocates hedonism, it is believed that he cannot have a political or social theory. Few traces of him have remained. The difficulty of researching about him increases when we want to go beyond the essence of his philosophy and discuss its tangible legal and social dimensions. Although the importance of Epicurus's philosophy is due to the fact that the study of the philosophy of this period in the post-Renaissance centuries, with the formation of utilitarian schools and subsequently public law and government theory, seems to prove this point. Epicurean philosophy, based on its approach to the philosophy of life and encouraging people to live a life away from suffering and by limiting themselves to less troublesome pleasures, also in the social field, calls people to stay away from the political field and define their own happiness, beyond the reach of the government. The Epicurean state is a small, minimal state formed under the contract of individuals not to harm them, and these institutions are made by human beings who pursue tangible goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article will investigate a certain similarity between Origen's response to Celsus' True Logos and the criticisms against Longinus' interpretation of the early pages of Plato's Timaeus made in Proclus' Commentary by a certain Origenes, usually held to be a pagan though without compelling evidence. Origen begins by assuming that 'Celsus' was an Epicurean of that name, even though it has long been obvious that 'Celsus' has adopted a Platonist point of view and that Origen's answers often rely on Plato's authority; in Proclus, Origenes regularly regards Longinus' explanations as turning Plato into a hedonist by having him aim at the reader's pleasure, and at one point Longinus even made reference to Epicurus. The paper uses recent work on the presence in Porphyry and Lucian of alternative names, whether inside philosophic schools or as a nom de plume, to argue that Origen could not be sure of his opponent's identity, but that as he wrote he came to suspect that 'Celsus' was in fact his younger contemporary Longinus, the initial teacher of Porphyry himself. Hence the allusions to his 'philological' tendencies. If this is correct, then there is additional reason to identify Origen with Origenes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the subtle nuances of Hobbes’s and Kant’s perspectives on rhetoric and materialism, contextualising them within the broader framework of political philosophy. Despite both philosophers being critics of rhetoric, their approaches exhibit notable divergences. Hobbes, who advocated for monarchy, criticized rhetoric from the perspective of a materialist anthropology influenced by Lucretius. However, he paradoxically employed rhetorical strategies in his new scientia civilis. Despite critiquing both Lucretian materialism and rhetoric, Kant incorporated certain rhetorical elements compatible with his philosophical framework, particularly in relation to Epicureanism. This study analyses their interpretations of paradiastole and the implications for the political thought. The argument is that both thinkers, in seeking a rational foundation for the political order, anchor their notions of rationality in Epicurean materialism, by reconfiguring rhetorical elements to suit their respective philosophies. The article elucidates Kant’s republican proclivities and his aspiration to maximize the citizens’ autonomy, which contrasts with Hobbes’s monarchical orientation. This research contributes to a more nuanced understanding of the early modern political thought and its relevance to the contemporary republican and democratic theory.

Epicureanism, a Greek philosophical school founded in Athens c. 307 BCE, conceives of “pleasure” (αταρξία) as the ultimate human good. This essay aims to investigate the reception of Epicureanism at Rome in the mid-1st century BCE, drawing on Cicero’s In Pisonem and Lucretius’ De Rerum Natura as case studies. Each work addresses the question of whether Epicurus could operate within the framework of Roman cultural and political values and, consequently, whether he should be appropriated into Roman thinking. Through close examination of these two texts, I argue that each author ultimately builds his own version of “Epicurus” to serve his distinctive rhetorical aims. Cicero and Lucretius therefore come together to provide examples of a broader phenomenon surrounding the issue of Hellenization at Rome, namely, that of Greek figures being rewritten and repurposed in different contexts to serve different Roman agendas, revealing the flexible nature of Greek models at Rome and of Romans’ engagement with the Greek past.

It is often assumed that Epicurean happiness can be achieved by everyone alike. This paper offers a corrective to this view. While it is true that the Epicureans abolish traditional differences among people like those between the sexes, social classes, and so on, they also maintain that there are people who are incapable of achieving happiness because they lack a certain bodily make-up or because they do not have the right ethnic or cultural origin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article traces the conceptual origins of Newton's draft scholia to Propositions IV through IX of Book III of the Principia to a manuscript booklet of observational data. By coordinating passages marked by dog-eared pages in Newton's books with his correspondence and working papers, it is possible to date these references to a time when he was still actively working on the Principia itself. This provides the basis for a new interpretation of Newton's uses of Egyptian and Graeco-Roman antiquity to counter rival histories of astronomy and philosophy influenced by Descartes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista Latinoamericana de Filosofía is the property of Centro de Investigaciones Filosoficas and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Modern stoicism is becoming increasingly popular in the world: a large number of non-fiction books are published on this topic; many videos reveal the essence of this philosophy; podcasts, articles in magazines, etc. are also dedicated to stoicism. Thus, there is a need to study Stoicism at the scientific level. The study aims to provide an in-depth examination of the history of the Stoic doctrine, in the course of which it is necessary to determine the ideological origins of the Stoic doctrine and the contribution of the Stoics to the development of philosophy. One of the study objectives is to compare the philosophy of Stoicism with other schools of thought to fully reveal the purpose of the article. Analysis, analogy, systematisation, the philosophical pluralism method, synthesis, generalisation, and comparison were used in the study. The development of the Stoic doctrine in comparison with other philosophical concepts of the ancient times was studied. As a result of the analysis of philosophical texts, it was found that Stoicism arose from Kinism and developed on a par with this doctrine. Stoic philosophers had an important influence on philosophy by creating a system of dividing the world into three parts. The Stoics are the continuators of Socrates’ philosophy, and the pedagogical ideas of Stoicism are similar to the general ideas of that time. Stoicism is closely related to Epicureanism, and the Stoics also developed their method of self-analysis. The general trends in the development of this philosophy preserve ancient traditions. Stoicism, as a philosophical trend, developed over a long period and managed to preserve its basic principles unchanged. The study has created several scientific hypotheses that can be considered further at the scientific level, in particular, the following topics: the relationship between Stoicism and Epicureanism; pedagogical ideas of the Stoics; the Stoic method of introspection require further in-depth research by scholars. Such hypotheses can be useful for various groups of people interested in the philosophy of Stoicism and its application in the modern world and life, such as academics (philosophers, researchers), psychologists, managers, and ordinary people seeking personal development and a better understanding of themselves

The present article deals with Nietzsche’s ambivalent relationship with the Hellenistic philosophers in order to find out why, despite the extraordinary influence that these schools exerted on his thought, Nietzsche opposed them so violently in his later work. We will verify that Nietzsche’s main criticisms of these schools are very similar to those he will address to Christianity, and to the very idea of therapy, as a critique of the traditional way of conceiving it, which these schools seem to inaugurate and strengthen. Nietzsche identifies the Hellenistic philosophers as the fundamental promoters of nihilism, which he diagnoses as the major disease of Western culture, for which a suitable physician and effective treatment is required. Christian therapy was not the only one and, mainly, it was not the first, for it has the Hellenistic philosophers as clear predecessors and precursors. They also did not escape Nietzsche’s critical scrutiny, who, in his reconstruction of the clinical history of Western culture, identifies them as fundamental promoters of the disease he diagnoses, particularly for having created the necessary conditions and framework for the emergence of Christian therapy, preparing the ground and sowing the seeds without which Christianity could not have emerged and, above all, triumphed. The central reference for the development of this reflection will be paragraph 120 of The Gay Science, crucial for the argumentative thread. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Anahita is the property of Department of Persian, LCWU and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This article will investigate a certain similarity between Origen’s response to Celsus’ True Logos and the criticisms against Longinus’ interpretation of the early pages of Plato’s Timaeus made in Proclus’ Commentary by a certain Origenes, usually held to be a pagan though without compelling evidence. Origen begins by assuming that ‘Celsus’ was an Epicurean of that name, even though it has long been obvious that ‘Celsus’ has adopted a Platonist point of view and that Origen’s answers often rely on Plato’s authority; in Proclus, Origenes regularly regards Longinus’ explanations as turning Plato into a hedonist by having him aim at the reader’s pleasure, and at one point Longinus even made reference to Epicurus. The paper uses recent work on the presence in Porphyry and Lucian of alternative names, whether inside philosophic schools or as a nom de plume, to argue that Origen could not be sure of his opponent’s identity, but that as he wrote he came to suspect that ‘Celsus’ was in fact his younger contemporary Longinus, the initial teacher of Porphyry himself. Hence the allusions to his ‘philological’ tendencies. If this is correct, then there is additional reason to identify Origen with Origenes.

This article presents some overlooked evidence on the reception of John Locke’s writings at Christ Church, Oxford. It is intended to supplement a new article in the History of Universities on the surprisingly positive response to Locke’s Essay Concerning Human Understanding (1689) at that bastion of late seventeenth-century high churchmanship. This evidence sheds new light on: the reception of Epicureanism at that college in the 1650s; Locke’s personal connections at Christ Church; book-holdings of Locke’s writings at the early eighteenth-century college; some unnoticed uses of Locke’s writings by members of Christ Church; the European and North American reception of one Christ Church Lockean; and, the changing trajectory of the later eighteenth-century reception of Locke at that college.

The idea that the sea is a dangerous and alien element in which one is at the mercy of higher powers, is deeply imbedded in Mediterranean culture, and has many parallels in Greek and Roman literature. From an Epicurean point of view, however, such higher powers belong to the realm of irrational beliefs which could threaten one's ἀταραξία ('peace of mind'). What counts in Epicureanism is the rational calculus of all factors in order to minimize the influence of τύχη ('chance') on one's endeavours. This article explores how the Epicureans thought about the sea and its many dangers. It tries to establish under which circumstances the sage will travel by sea and gives special attention to Diogenes of Oenoanda's letter (fr. 71 + NF 214 + fr. 72 + fr. 70) about the shipwreck of Niceratus and his friends' failure to minimize the agency of chance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Roman Stoicism is typically read as a therapeutic philosophy that is centered around the care of the self and presented in the form of a self-help manual. Closer examination reveals a less reassuring and more challenging side to the school's teachings, one that provokes ethical reflection at the limits of the self's intactness and coherence. The self is less an object of inquiry than the by-product of a complex set of experiences in the face of nature and society and across any number of flashpoints, from one's own or others' beliefs, actions, values, and relationships to the difficulty of sizing up one's place in the universe. The pressures of natural and ethical reflection put intuitive conceptions of the self at considerable risk. The Roman Stoic self proves to be vulnerable, contingent, unbounded, relational, and opaque-in short, a rich matrix of problems that point beyond the individual self and anticipate contemporary critiques of the self.

This paper presents a new edition of Speusippus' fr. 57 Tarán (= 100 Isnardi Parente), transmitted by Philodemus' On Piety. The improved text sheds new light on the early Academy's debate on cosmology and theology and on the already known doxographical accounts (especially Aëtius') on Speusippus' view of who the Deity is. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper contributes to the reassessment of the role of Lucretius' De rerum natura and Epicurean philosophy in early Christian writings by conducting a close study of Carmen 23 composed by the poet Paulinus of Nola. While previous scholarship has examined classical influences on Paulinus' poetry, especially from Vergil, no existing study has attended to Paulinus' incorporation of Epicurean elements. This paper argues that in Carmen 23 Paulinus incorporates Epicurean doctrines and Lucretius' poetic imagery to appeal to an audience familiar with Epicurean ideas. Through the creative fusion of Epicurean physics with Christian metaphysics, Paulinus conjures up a poetic world in which the natural and spiritual realms constantly interact. While using Lucretian imagery to direct his audience's gaze toward the natural world, Paulinus nevertheless reveals a higher reality in which the invisible operation of God's spirit governs and perfects the mechanism of nature. In thus stretching his poetic imagination to encompass the working of nature and spirit, Paulinus invents a new eclectic literary form and a kind of physiological miracle account that blends naturalism and mysticism. As such, Carmen 23 attests to Paulinus' literary achievement in repurposing a classic of Epicurean philosophy and Latin poetry for Christian panegyric and hagiography. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper I reevaluate the relationship between the figures of the felix and the fortunatus at the end of Georgics Book 2. Rather than representing an opposition between Epicurean natural philosophy and traditional religion, the figures are complementary, embodying the physical and ethical teachings of Epicureanism respectively. I first discuss the implications of Vergil's praise of the felix for his views on traditional religion and analyze allusions to Lucretius in his description of the fortunatus. Then I show that Vergil's treatment of the divine both has parallels to Epicurean cult practice and follows Lucretius' poetic model of divine symbolism, the divinities named at 2.494 being symbols for Epicurean ethical ideals. As a whole, my argument indicates a positive attitude towards Epicureanism in the Georgics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the discreet presence of the topos of therapeutic laughter in the Essays even though Montaigne resorts to facetiousness as an anti-therapy and a striking and salutary philosophical exercise. Montaigne not only multiplies facetious outbursts against doctors and medicine (II, 37), he also insinuates a form of cynical self-medication and develops forms of joyful prophylaxis, replacing an illusory art of healing with a playful pedagogy of knowledge, teaching us how to live and die, which he implements in the therapeutic fiction of diversion (III, 4) and in the paradoxical praise of gravel (III, 13). Do these paradoxical therapeutic games not address an issue of philosophical purging of errors of judgment, and therefore reveal subversive implications, from cynical demystification to Epicurean pharmacopoeia? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the fourth line of her first speech in Book 1, to Ilioneus and the Trojan castaways, Dido quotes the first word of the first line of Lucretius' De rerum natura , and in the fourth line of her second speech, to Aeneas, she quotes the first words of the second line of the De rerum natura. This is not a coincidence but a signal of the importance of Lucretius and Epicureanism for the characterization of Dido in the Aeneid. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article proposes a novel interpretation of a literary fragment by Numenius of Apamea that appears to praise the philosophical cohesion of the Epicurean school by likening it to a "true republic" (fr. 24 Des Places). By situating Numenius's comments within a broader tradition of anti-atomist polemics, I show that this passage can also be understood as a sarcastic parody of the Epicureans and their teachings. While Numenius's comment appears on the surface to traffic in common stereotypes about Epicurean unanimity, his use of allusive, philosophically suggestive language subverts that stereotype by evoking specific tropes of anti-Epicurean discourse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

John Dryden’s translations of Virgil’s Aeneid and Georgics engage with an early modern discourse of reproduction that encouraged maximizing production while warning against disorderly generativity. While Virgil and Dryden both had political reasons to be invested in patrilineage, their shared interest in Epicureanism, with its denial of life after death, may have driven these poets to search for an alternative form of immortality in reproduction. Dryden’s choices as a translator reveal cultural anxieties around women’s role in procreation and suggest a preference for adoption as a model for reproductive success because it allows women to be cut out of the process. Ultimately, Aeneas’ decision to identify with his deceased, adopted son rather than his living biological son in the poem’s final lines suggests a turning away from futurity and acceptance of death.

The article examines Claudian's use of Stoic and Epicurean ideas to mount a vitriolic attack against Eutropius, the eunuch consul serving under the Eastern emperor Arcadius. Employed by Stilicho, the pre-eminent military commander of the Western emperor Honorius, Claudian, in Book 1 of the In Eutropium, synthesizes Stoic and Epicurean tropes about bodily afflictions that reveal one's moral character. Claiming that Eutropius, a eunuch who had spent many years as a slave, is a monstrous proof of an offence committed against nature/God, Claudian's polemic plays on the fears of his largely Christian audience about an imminent divine punishment, which the split of the Empire between Theodosius' sons confirms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Comparisons of different religious and intellectual traditions are vulnerable to several methodological risks, not least the subtle intrusion, intentionally or unintentionally, of the analyst's own presuppositions into the assessment of the comparanda. This appears to have happened in ancient and modern analyses of the participation of Epicurean and Stoic adherents in the popular religious activities of their environments. Philosophers of both schools are accused of inconsistency by both ancients and moderns. However, analysis of both schools suggests that they themselves had worked out theoretical justifications for their participation in such rituals, which were not contrary to their own core beliefs, particularly their theologies. Whilst their conclusions may appear frustrating to some analysts, derogatory conclusions may reveal more about their own methods and presuppositions than those of the traditions that are under scrutiny. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper argues that Cicero's critique of Epicureanism in De finibus is motivated by a concern about its degrading effect on the moral sensibility of Rome's best men. In place of earlier objections to Epicureanism, which centered on its inability to explain or recommend the virtuous conduct of Roman maiores, De finibus focuses on its inability to do so properly and, more prospectively, to assist boni in the work of maintaining the dignity and respectability of Roman civic life. Responding to optimates like Cassius who claimed that Epicureanism was compatible with Roman politics because it treats virtue as being necessary for pleasure, Cicero holds that instrumentalizing virtue in this way is actually a grave corruption of it. Not only do Epicureans debase politics by reducing it to considerations of utility alone: they also introduce deeper forms of civic confusion by distorting and abusing the very idea of honorableness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Socrates of the dialogue Axiochus seems to advance incompatible arguments in his attempt to cure Axiochus of his fear of death. Is this incompatibility a foreseen and accepted consequence of the author's therapeutic strategy? This paper argues that it is rather an intended and functional inconsistency: it serves to stimulate critical thinking in order to anchor philosophical conviction more deeply in the reader's soul. The paper musters support for this reading by drawing attention to the different levels of inconsistency in the dialogue; the multiple ways in which the text thematizes inconsistency; the importance of exercising judgement in the text; and the motivating concern of superficial persuasion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article argues that Hobbes' contradictory references to God can be resolved if viewed through the lens of two prominent conceptualizations of God – the Reformist hidden God (deus absconditus) and the Epicurean idle God (deus otiosus). Contrary to scholars who argue that Hobbes' God does not exist by nature and only comes into being through his representees, I argue that in the Leviathan, God may be incomprehensible or idle, but that He exists prior to His representees. With this characterization, Hobbes manages to assert God's ultimate supremacy and challenge the authority of the Church while simultaneously reinforcing the necessity to submit to the sovereign. Establishing this point, the article places Hobbes' theological argument in the context of two prevalent conceptions of God's nature at the time of Hobbes' writing and explains their political-theological relevance in the Leviathan. The article thus contributes to the continued debate about Hobbes' view on God's role in relation to the Commonwealth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Who is Lucrezia, the mysterious woman at the center of Machiavelli's comic play Mandragola ? And why is she deemed "fit to govern a kingdom"? This article revisits these questions with attention to Mandragola 's sophisticated, and often irreverent, allusions to Roman source materials. While scholars have long recognized that Mandragola draws on Roman history and drama, its sustained engagement with Lucretian and Ovidian poetry has gone largely unnoticed. In what follows, I trace these allusions and show how Machiavelli uses them to bring into view the fertility of erotic desire. Mandragola is replete with Lucretian phrases and imagery, but a close examination of these references indicates they are made playfully, and even satirically, in the style of Ovid's Ars amatoria, a didactic elegy on the art of seduction that develops a mixed assessment of Epicurean teachings. Like Ovid, Machiavelli embraces the hedonism that motivates Epicureanism—but without accepting that happiness requires distancing ourselves from illusion. This departure allows both Ovid and Machiavelli to reassess the status of erotic desire. For Lucretius, erotic desire must be handled with extreme caution lest it entangle the mind in ruinous false beliefs and destroy the possibility of theoretical wisdom. Machiavelli, following Ovid, recommends a different course, in which happiness is achieved through the deliberate manipulation of erotic fantasy. For Machiavelli, staging erotic fantasies is an essential part of statecraft. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

More and more times, the failure of the predictions did not consist in their insufficiently developed techniques. On the contrary, the more these techniques have evolved, the more the reflection of reality and human aspirations have been blurred within the predictions. Social sciences have the responsibility to rediscover the ancient sources of human knowledge. The purpose of this article is to present a number of social environments in which Hellenistic philosophy has been employed over time providing solutions that have surpassed those offered by other areas of social science.

In his De Rerum Natura, Lucretius strives to scientifically explain several aspects of the natural world. At times, however, his explanations suggest that his philosophical principles precede scientific evidence. This paper examines the relationship between Lucretius’s science and philosophy in general, and his treatment of the human soul more specifically. Based on the Epicurean principle that the fear of death is irrational, Lucretius attempts to prove that the soul is entirely physical, and will therefore cease to exist after death, while accounting for its sentience. He must describe an atomic soul, no matter how complicating this becomes, in order to satisfy the principle that nothing comes after death. This entails describing the soul in the same manner as perceptible phenomena, and for this reason his evidence meets with several obstacles. Lucretius’s scientific explanation for the soul presents compelling evidence that he forms a scientific basis around pre-existing philosophical principles, contradicting the assumption that science predates philosophy.

Derrida's Seminar “Life Death” operates, as if in advance motivated by its aftermath and as if countersigned by this name that does not appear—the name of Epicurus—a turn towards a non-productive, non-representational materialism, deprived in some way of ontological status, even non-ontologizable, triumphant, normative, dedicated to an economy of the cause. Nietzsche, antagonistic reader of Epicurus (Letter to Meneceus: “Accustom yourself to considering that death is nothing for us”)—is his screen, his substitute. Nietzsche, whose reading serves to close-open the great loops of Derrida’s seminar. It is a question, therefore, of turning over “Life Death” in search of the traces of the encounter Nietzsche-Epicurus, definitive, although invisible and silent, although almost illegible in the text of Derrida, of the relationship “life death.”