Creationism and its critics in antiquity / David Sedley.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Sedley, D. N.

Series:

Sather classical lectures ; 66.

Joan Palevsky imprint in classical literature

Sather classical lectures ; 66

The Joan Palevsky imprint in classical literature

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Intelligent design (Teleology).

Philosophy, Ancient.

Physical Description:

xvii, 269 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Berkeley : University of California Press, [2007]

Summary:

"David Sedley's treatment of ancient views on intelligent design will transform our current thinking."--Thomas Johansen, author of Plato's Natural Philosophy: A Study of the Timaeus-Critias"Creationism and its Critics in Antiquity has the qualities of a classic. Powerfully organised round an enthralling theme, it is singularly rich in execution. The author's unsurpassed command of his material is matched by the clarity, originality, and imaginative detail of his arguments. The book is as accessible as it is authoritative. It speaks to everyone interested in Greek philosophy, and very many of its readers will go back to it again and again."--Sarah Broadie, author of Aristotle and Beyond: Essays on Metaphysics and Ethics

Contents:

I Anaxagoras

1 The Presocratic agenda 1

2 Anaxagoras's cosmology 8

3 The power of nous 11

4 Sun and moon 13

5 Worlds and seeds 14

6 Nous as creator 20

7 Scientific creationism 25

Appendix Anaxagoras's theory of matter 26

II Empedocles

1 The cosmic cycle 31

2 The double zoogony 33

3 Creationist discourse 52

4 Design and accident 60

Appendix 1 The double zoogony revisited 62

Appendix 2 The chronology of the cycle 67

Appendix 3 Where in the cycle are we? 70

Appendix 4 A Lucretian testimony for Empedocles' zoogony 72

III Socrates

1 Diogenes of Apollonia 75

2 Socrates in Xenophon 78

3 Socrates in Plato's Phaedo 86

4 A historical synthesis 89

IV Plato

1 The Phaedo myth 93

2 Introducing the Timaeus 95

3 An act of creation? 98

4 Divine craftsmanship 107

5 Is the world perfect? 113

6 The origin of species 127

V The Atomists

1 Democritus 133

2 The Epicurean critique of creationism 139

3 The Epicurean alternative to creationism 150

4 Epicurean infinity 155

VI Aristotle

1 God as paradigm 167

2 The craft analogy 173

3 Necessity 181

4 Fortuitous outcomes 186

5 Cosmic teleology 194

6 Aristotle's Platonism 203

VII The Stoics

1 Stoicism 205

2 A window on Stoic theology 210

3 Appropriating Socrates 212

4 Appropriating Plato 225

5 Whose benefit? 231

Epilogue: A Galenic Perspective 239.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 245-255) and indexes.

ISBN:

0520253647

9780520253643

OCLC:

138340473