Lucretius and Modernity
Epicurean Encounters Across Time and Disciplines
- English
- PDF
- Available on iOS & Android
Lucretius and Modernity
Epicurean Encounters Across Time and Disciplines
About This Book
Lucretius's long shadow falls across the disciplines of literary history and criticism, philosophy, religious studies, classics, political philosophy, and the history of science. The best recent example is Stephen Greenblatt's popular account of the Roman poet's De Rerum Natura (On the Nature of Things) rediscovery by Poggio Bracciolini, and of its reception in early modernity, winner of both a Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award. Despite the poem's newfound influence and visibility, very little cross-disciplinary conversation has taken place. This edited collection brings together essays by distinguished scholars to examine the relationship between Lucretius and modernity. Key questions weave this book's ideas and arguments together: What is the relation between literary form and philosophical argument? How does the text of De rerum natura allow itself to be used, at different historical moments and to different ends? What counts as reason for Lucretius? Together, these essays present a nuanced, skeptical, passionate, historically sensitive, and complicated account of what is at stake when we claim Lucretius for modernity.
Frequently asked questions
Information
Table of contents
- Cover
- Half-Title
- Title
- Copyright
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Part I What Is Modern about Lucretius?
- Part II What Is Lucretian about Modernity?
- Part III Lucretian Figures of Modernity: Freedom, Cause, Truth
- Part IV Following Lucretius
- Bibliography
- Notes on Contributors
- Index