Natural Spectaculars: Aspects of Plutarch’s Philosophy of Nature

As a philosopher and intellectual, Plutarch was very interested in the natural world around him, not only in terms of its elementary composition and physical processes but also with respect to its providential ordering and "wonders." His natural philosophical writings teach us much about his perception of physical reality and about his well-reflected attitude to the natural spectacle. He found his greatest inspiration in the ontological and epistemological framework of Plato's Timaeus, but many other philosophers and writers were also of seminal interest to his project. Clearly, the literary value of Plutarch's natural philosophical writings should not be underrated, nor should their rhetorical goals be discarded as futile.

Recently scholars have begun to reassess the ancient scientific value of Plutarch's natural philosophical writings. Natural Spectaculars aims to give further impetus to this project by treating several aspects of Plutarch's natural philosophy that have not been explored before.

Contributors: Paola Volpe Cacciatore (Universit degli Studi di Salerno), Angelo Casanova (Universit degli Studi di Firenze), Bram Demulder (KU Leuven), Ana Ferreira (Universidade do Porto), Israel Mu oz Gallarte (Universidad de C rdoba), Luisa Lesage G rriga (Universidad de M laga), Aurelio P rez Jim nez (Universidad de M laga), Lautaro Roig Lanzillotta (Rijksuniversiteit Groningen), Delfim Ferreira Le o (Universidade de Coimbra), Michiel Meeusen (KU Leuven), Jan Opsomer (KU Leuven), Aldo Setaioli (Universit degli Studi di Perugia), Suzan Sierksma-Agteres (Rijksuniversiteit Groningen), Fabio Tanga (Universit degli Studi di Salerno)

Luc Van der Stockt is Professor of Greek language and literature at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven and Honorary President of the International Plutarch Society.