Plutarch's science of natural problems: a study with commentary on Quaestiones naturales

556 Pages·2017·2.845 MB·English

by  Meeusen, Michiel

PLUTARCH’SSCIENCEOFNATURALPROBLEMS
ASTUDYWITHCOMMENTARYONQUAESTIONESNATURALES
PLUTARCHEA HYPOMNEMATA
EditorialBoard
JanOpsomer(KULeuven)
GeertRoskam(KULeuven)
FrancesTitchener(UtahStateUniversity,Logan)
LucVanderStockt(KULeuven)
AdvisoryBoard
F.Alesse(ILIESI-CNR,Roma)
M.Beck(UniversityofSouthCarolina,Columbia)
J.Beneker(UniversityofWisconsin,Madison)
H.G.Ingenkamp(UniversitätBonn)
A.G.Nikolaidis(UniversityofCrete,Rethymno)
Chr.Pelling(ChristChurch,Oxford)
A.PérezJiménez(UniversidaddeMálaga)
Th.Schmidt(UniversitédeFribourg)
P.A.Stadter(UniversityofNorthCarolina,ChapelHill)
PLUTARCH’S SCIENCE OF
NATURAL PROBLEMS
A STUDY WITH COMMENTARY ON
QUAESTIONES NATURALES
By
MICHIELMEEUSEN
LeuvenUniversityPress
PublishedwithsupportoftheUniversitaireStichtingvanBelgië
©2016byLeuvenUniversityPress/PressesUniversitairesdeLouvain/Universitaire
PersLeuven
Minderbroedersstraat4,B-3000Leuven(Belgium)
Allrightsreserved.Exceptinthosecasesexpresslydeterminedbylaw,nopartofthis
publicationmaybemultiplied,savedinanautomateddatafileormadepublicinanyway
whatsoeverwithouttheexpresspriorwrittenconsentofthepublishers.
ISBN9789462700840
D/2016/1869/38
NUR735-635
Coverdesign:JokeKlaassen
ἐγὼνέοςὢνθαυμαστῶςὡςἐπεθύμησαταύτηςτῆςσοφίας
ἣνδὴκαλοῦσιπερὶφύσεωςἱστορίαν·ὑπερήφανοςγάρμοι
ἐδόκειεἶναι,εἰδέναιτὰςαἰτίαςἑκάστου,διὰτίγίγνεται
ἕκαστονκαὶδιὰτίἀπόλλυταικαὶδιὰτίἔστι.
WhenIwasyoung,Iwastremendouslyeagerfor
thekindofwisdomwhichtheycallinvestigation
ofnature.Ithoughtitwasagloriousthingtoknow
the causes of everything, why each thing comes
intobeingandwhyitperishesandwhyitexists.
Pl., Phd.96a

Contents
Acknowledgements 11
Prologue
Plutarchandthehistoryofscience:thecaseofQuaestiones
naturales 15
1. Plato,Plutarchandscientificinfancy 18
2. DateandchronologyofQuaestionesnaturales:a‘life’s
work’? 24
3. ThevalueofPlutarch’snaturalproblems 30
4. Classicalphilologyandthepetrificationofscience 46
5. Statusquaestionis 51
6. Noteontranslationsandabbreviations 53
Introduction
1. Problems,problems,problems(andAristotelianprecedents) 61
1.1. QuaestionesnaturalesandtheAristoteliangenreand
traditionofnaturalproblems 61
1. PreliminaryremarksonPlutarch’s
Naturwissenschaft 61
2. Quaestionesnaturales:theworkofa Plutarchus
Aristotelicus? 67
3. ThegenreofproblemsandtheAristoteliantradition
ofnaturalproblems 75
4. InternalorganisationofPlutarch’snaturalproblems
(microstructure) 84
5. CoherentreadinginQuaestionesnaturalesand
convivales(macrostructure) 92
6. Thetitleanditsprogrammaticvalue 102
1.2. ProblemsrelatedtoPlutarch’sscientificdiscourse 110
1. TriflesunworthyofPlutarch?Someremarkson
authenticity 110
2. Therhetoricofscientificdiscourseaccordingto
Plutarch 112
3. Theproblemofstyle 117
4. Theproblemofmorality 119
8 CONTENTS
5. A‘generic’solution 127
6. Conclusionandnewquestions 129
2. ThepositionofQuaestionesnaturalesinthecorpus
Plutarcheum 131
2.1. ScientifictraitsinthecorpusPlutarcheum 131
1. Intellectualandliteraryinterestofnatural
phenomena 132
2. ClusteranalysisinQuaestionesnaturales 138
3. ScientificdigressionsintheVitae 141
4. IndirectreferencestoQuaestionesnaturales 148
2.2. AcomparativestudyofQuaestionesnaturalesand
Quaestionesconvivales 150
1. Thelevelofelocutio 151
2. Thelevelofdispositio 156
3. Thelevelofinventio 159
2.3. HypomnematictextgeneticsofQuaestionesnaturales
andQuaestionesconvivales 161
1. HistoricityandfictioninQuaestionesconvivales 162
2. Problemsandpersonalnotes 165
3. ZeteticautonomyinQuaestionesnaturales 173
2.4. OpeningupPlutarch’szeteticarchive 177
1. Theissueofpublication:problemsasfunctional
literature 177
2. Classificationandoverlap 182
3. Conclusionandnewquestions 184
3. Quaestionesnaturalesandzeteticπαιδεία 187
3.1. SitzimLeben:readershipandeducationalcontext 187
1. Naturalproblemsandphilosophicalσχολή 188
2. Plutarch’sacademy 190
3. Digestivediscussionsandproblematicpromenades 195
4. Quaestionesnaturalesasschooltext:technicalityand
complexity 204
5. Thedialoguebetweenauthorandreader:vivacityand
historicity 212
3.2. Quaestionesnaturalesasapreambletometaphysics 219
1. Naturalproblemsasameansofexercisingthemind 219
2. Naturalproblemsasameansofeasingthemind 225
3. Conclusionandnewquestions 232
4. Plutarch’sPlatonicworldview:theaetiologicaldesignof
Quaestionesnaturalesanditsscientificcontext 235
4.1. Scienceanditsfoes?Theancientscientificvalueof
CONTENTS 9
Quaestionesnaturales 235
4.1.1. Savingpopularbeliefs:thewondersandparadoxes
ofnature 235
1. Naturalproblemsandthefabricofstrangeness 237
2. Democritusandthecucumber 244
3. Plutarch’spopularbeliefs:anti-Aristotelianand
anti-Stoicdynamics 248
4.1.2. Plutarch’sdualisticcausality:rationalisingthe
divineandtheuseofmythandpoetry 258
1. Plato’sscientificrevolution 258
2. Science,religionandmythology 264
3. Scienceandpoetry 274
4.2. Constructingscientificauthority:betweencontinuity,
ingenuityandinnovation 278
4.2.1. Characteranduseofthescientifictradition 279
1. Quotationsfromscientificproseauthors 279
2. Problematisationofscientificknowledge 288
4.2.2. Scientificinnovationandperformance 291
1. Anoteonthesociologyofknowledgeand
παιδεία 291
2. ThepragmaticsofPlutarch’sscientific
ingenuityandcreativity 293
4.3. Plutarch’sscientificmethodology:aroughguideto
explainingnaturalphenomena 299
4.3.1. Materialprinciplesandnaturalprocesses 299
1. Materialprinciples 301
2. Naturalprocesses 306
4.3.2. Towardsthelimitsofnaturalscience 312
1. A‘sceptical’Plutarch:ἐμπειρία,ἐποχήand
εὐλάβεια 313
2. TruthandprobabilityinQuaestiones
naturales 321
3. Senseperceptionandtheissueofautopsyin
Quaestionesnaturales 328
4.3.3. Logical-rhetoricaldynamics 339
1. Contradiction,non-contradictionand
aetiologicalfreedom 340
2. Aetiologicalcomprehensivenessand
pluricausality 345
3. Aetiologicalsubtletyandsophistication 349
4.3.4. Uniformityandtechnicalityofthescientific
terminology 354
1. Let’stalkscience:thebirthanduseoftechnical
vocabulary 355