Lucretius, The nature of things

[wil]

Worthy of discussion and contemplation maybe. I heard this morning discussion on this as I awoke...they said was well distributed and quite popular in Jesus time, then as Christianity took hold supposedly nearly lost, down to a few copies till a Vatican scribe found one in the basement of a German Monastary and begain copying again in the 1400s...twas said Thomas Jefferson had four copies in his collection of books...


On the Nature of Things [SIZE=+1]

By Lucretius

Written 50 B.C.E

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Book One
Lucretius begins by invoking the name of Venus as a creative force, appealing to Memmius (to whom the work is addressed), and then praising his master Epicurus. (Scholars have noted the seeming inconsistency in Lucretius' invoking Venus at the beginning of a work that disclaims the gods' involvement with human life. The solution most commonly offered is that such a invocation was standard in the literature of the time, and that by keeping to the standard Lucretius hoped to win the trust and continued attention of readers.) Lucretius states that religion teaches fear, while science teaches fact. He recounts the story of Agamemnon, who was willing to sacrifice his daughter Iphigenia for the good will of the gods. This is not piety, Lucretius says, but rather wickedness demanded by religion.

Next, Lucretius sets about describing atoms as the building blocks of every object and living thing in the world....

(read more)

the books

A study guide

 

[radarmark]

On the Nature of Things was a critical text in the developemnt of the Renaissance (esp Bracciolini's 1417 publication). For easy intro (w/o payment) see:

Lucretius (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
Lucretius[Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy]

The book link above is probably the best ranslation.

Pax et amore omnia vincunt

 

[Ahanu]

Great find. I'm reading it now.

I was curious what the critiques of religion would be in 50 B.C.E.

In addition to human sacrifice, the uncertainty of the existence of a soul was another:

"I own with reason: for, if men but knew
Some fixed end to ills, they would be strong
By some device unconquered to withstand
Religions and the menacings of seers.
But now nor skill nor instrument is theirs,
Since men must dread eternal pains in death.
For what the soul may be they do not know,
Whether 'tis born, or enter in at birth,
And whether, snatched by death, it die with us,
Or visit the shadows and the vasty caves
Of Orcus, or by some divine decree
Enter the brute herds, as our Ennius sang,
Who first from lovely Helicon brought down
A laurel wreath of bright perennial leaves,
Renowned forever among the Italian clans."

I believe once the fields of biology and physics merge in some kind of future science, this problem will be resolved. Then, once that has been achieved, we can critique ancient scientific facts and ancient religious facts.