![]() ![]() He is said by Heraclides (in his Epitome of Sotion) as well as by others, to have been brought up at Samos after the Athenians had sent colonists there and to have come to Athens at the age of eighteen, at the time when Xenocrates was head of the Academy and Aristotle was in Chalcis. 79–80 quote dicta of Aristippus illustrating this attitude.Lives of Eminent Philosophers, Book X Diogenes Laertius Home/Ancient Texts | Beliefs | Relationships | History | Resources | Epicurean Philosophy Listĭiogenes Laertius (3 rd Century A.D.) is the primary source for the surviving complete letters of Epicurus and for biographical and other pertinent information about him:Įpicurus, son of Neocles and Chaerestrate, was an Athenian of the Gargettus ward and the Philaidae clan, as Metrodorus says in his book On Noble Birth. It seems impossible to demonstrate that Diogenes was a confirmed adherent of any school to the exclusion of all others. Diogenes’ apparent impartiality is as likely to come from philosophic indifference as from Sceptic principles. Neither of these conditions holds beyond doubt, however. 761) to prove Diogenes a Sceptic, would only do so if ( a) we were certain that Apollonides himself was a Sceptic, and ( b) the phrase ὁ παρ᾿ ἡμῶν had to mean “member of our school.” ![]() 109), which has sometimes been taken (as by Schwartz in RE, col. He has in common with the Sceptics an openness to and impartiality towards the views of all schools, which he describes with more or less equal care-or indifference, The phrase ᾿Απολλωνίδης ὁ Nικαεὺs ὁ παρ᾿ ἡμῶν (ix. A number of scholars have regarded him as an Epicurean because of the length and value of his account of Epicurus (Book X) but its high quality as a source comes from the fact that Diogenes, for whatever reason, quoted very extensively from Epicurus’ own writings. ![]() His account of Plato, one of his longest (Book III), clearly shows how superficial and unreliable he was, b even when writing for a Platonist. a His approach is biographical and literary, not truly philosophic, so that “Philosophers’ Lives” is a more fitting short title for the book than some others. For works referred to by author’s name only, see the Selected Bibliography.ĭiogenes obviously was well educated but his treatment of philosophy is such that we cannot make out what school he belonged to, nor even whether he ever studied philosophy seriously and on a level above that of general education, of which he clearly considered philosophy a most important part. L., L’età in cui visse,” Rivista di storia antica, 12 (1908), pp. The extant poems are so wretched as fully to justify von Gutschmid’s d thanks to Apollo and the Muses for allowing the collection as a whole to vanish. 39) that he had published a separate collection of his verses called Πάμμετρος (“Poems in All Metres”) in at least two books, for he cites the first book. ![]() In addition to his history of philosophy, Diogenes quotes 49 of his own epigrams on 43 different philosophers, and implies (i. On the basis of these somewhat tenuous arguments Delatte c dated Diogenes ca. Nor-a more striking omission-to Neo-Platonism, although at least part of his work was intended for a woman who was an ardent Platonist (iii. The latest philosophers whom he mentions appear to be Theodosius the Sceptic, Sextus Empiricus and Saturninus, all of the third century a.d. He has been variously dated in every century a.d. His date, for example, can be estimated only by what he included or left out. Wilamowitz a that Laertius was a learned nickname of a type familiar in post-classical times, invented to distinguish this Diogenes from the many others, and based upon the Homeric formula διογενὲς Λαερτιάδη used in addressing Odysseus.Īll that we know of his life is what can be deduced from his own book. ![]()
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