Peripatetic Philosophy in Context (PDF)

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).

Francesco Verde, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy.