Abstract

Prolepsis as understood and articulated by Epicurus has not been properly understood. The expositions of prolepsis by commentators fall short of what Epicurus envisages for it. These expositions misrepresent the nature and operation of prolepsis as employed by Epicurus. ;According to Epicurus, without prolepsis, knowledge cannot be possible for prolepsis is a disposition of the mind produced by objects of a particular kind or class through which impressions from any member of that class may be subsequently anticipated. Furthermore, without this proleptic disposition, the mind would not have access to any "antecedent" information which is a prerequisite for interpreting any object that presents itself. ;In order to understand the nature and operation of prolepsis which is a prerequisite for exploring the possibility of adopting prolepsis as the foundation of Epicurus' theory of knowledge, we must base our interpretation of prolepsis upon what the extant works of Epicurus have to say and upon information gleaned from other pertinent sources, mainly those of doxographers, provided these sources corroborate the position of Epicurus in his extant works. ;But of particular interest in the understanding of the nature and operation of prolepsis is Epicurus' Letter To Herodotus #50 and the account of prolepsis by Diogenes Laertius . ;From the Letter To Herodotus, no mention is made of the activity of logos in the formation of prolepsis. Prolepsis is therefore alogos. And the account of prolepsis by Diogenes Laertius reveals the absence of logos in its operation . The non-admittance of logos in the formation and operation of prolepsis removes the possibility of error in the content of prolepsis and establishes it as a criterion of truth for Epicurus. As a mental disposition produced from images of a class of objects by which the mind can anticipate subsequent images of that class, prolepsis is self evident . ;As a criterion of truth and as self evident, prolepsis qualifies as the foundation for Epicurus' theory of cognition