Two Notes on Lucretius

Classical Quarterly 1 (14):94-102 (1964)
  Copy   BIBTEX

Abstract

The argument as far as 205 is simply and clearly laid out by Munro, but later editors have rejected his explanation, and proposed more involved analyses. The first purpose of this paper is to support the simple interpretation and refute later complications. The only serious difficulty lies in the mention of plants in line 189. Without this line the argument would run as follows. ‘Nothing can move upwards of its own accord’. ‘Don&t be misled by the atoms of flames, for they spring into being and take their increase in an upward direction, although all weights, left to themselves, move downwards’. ‘Nor must we believe that when fire leaps up to the roofs of houses …, it does so of its own accord’. Now the two analogicalarguments: ‘For blood spurts up into the air and timbers leap out of the water, yet everybody agrees that their weights left to themselves move downwards’. Now the conclusion repeating the original proposition: ‘This is how it must be that flames too rise, forced out upwards through the air although their weights, left to themselves, move downwards’.

Links

PhilArchive



    Upload a copy of this work     Papers currently archived: 90,616

External links

Setup an account with your affiliations in order to access resources via your University's proxy server

Through your library

Similar books and articles

Lucretius 5. 979.J. H. Molyneux - 1959 - Classical Quarterly 9 (3-4):164-165.
Lucretius 5. 979.J. H. Molyneux - 1959 - Classical Quarterly 9 (3-4):164-.
Playing the Odds: A New Response to Lucretius's Symmetry Argument.Jeremy R. Simon - 2009 - European Journal of Philosophy 18 (3):414-424.
Lucretius the Epicurean : on the history of man.David J. Furley - 2007 - In Monica R. Gale (ed.), Lucretius. New York: Oxford University Press.
Lucretius. [REVIEW]Warren S. Smith - 1999 - Ancient Philosophy 19 (2):452-460.
Preparing to move and deciding not to move☆.Gilberto Gomes - 2010 - Consciousness and Cognition 19 (1):457-459.
Somnia Ficta In Lucretius And Lucilius.James J. O.′Hara - 1987 - Classical Quarterly 37 (02):517-.
Somnia Ficta In Lucretius And Lucilius.James J. O.′Hara - 1987 - Classical Quarterly 37 (2):517-519.
Pattern of sound and atomistic theory in Lucretius.P. Friedlnder - 2007 - In Monica R. Gale (ed.), Lucretius. New York: Oxford University Press.
Lucretius and epic.David West - 2007 - In Monica R. Gale (ed.), Lucretius. New York: Oxford University Press.

Analytics

Added to PP
2017-02-20

Downloads
10 (#1,025,836)

6 months
2 (#668,348)

Historical graph of downloads
How can I increase my downloads?

Citations of this work

No citations found.

Add more citations

References found in this work

No references found.

Add more references