tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4134533972010981122.post5951699038989101405..comments2024-03-28T17:46:07.937+00:00Comments on The Edithorial: Enlisting Lucian in the Aristotle vs. Neo-Stoic DebateEdith Hallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02518971064140009711noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4134533972010981122.post-51977368172594649132018-07-08T09:41:45.135+01:002018-07-08T09:41:45.135+01:00Dear James, I think you are quite right to say the...Dear James, I think you are quite right to say the tone of the passage is ambiguous, but you have to agree that the Peripatetic School gets off much better than any pf the others, and FAR FAR better than the Stoics.Edith Hallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02518971064140009711noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4134533972010981122.post-57205620477798530802018-07-06T15:11:44.766+01:002018-07-06T15:11:44.766+01:00Dear Edith
I have some doubts about neo-Stoicism ...Dear Edith<br /><br />I have some doubts about neo-Stoicism too (here's my review of Irvine's book: http://booksandjournals.brillonline.com/content/journals/10.1163/20512996-90000148)<br /><br />But are you sure this bit of Lucian is promoting Peripatetic philosophy? There is surely something absurd about the promised bits of understanding on offer: that asses don't build boats; what the soul of an oyster is like; how long is the life of a gnat... (It's not far from the nonsense Socrates is made to be investigating in the Clouds and I think you're stretching it when you describe these as 'wondergul books on the natural world... and what distinguishes man from other animals'. At least, that is a very charitable reading of what's there. Perhaps we need to be just as charitable to the other philosophers on sale.)<br /><br />Also, whether or not the buyer in the dialogue is taken in seems irrelevant to whether Lucian is promoting Peripatetic learning. The other bits of the ethical Peripatetic outlook mentioned are pretty common-sensical or so basic as to be deeply unimpressive (three kinds of goods, the stuff about being 'metrios, epieikes' etc. is not very informative even if it sounds sensible enough. And the exclamation 'tes akribologias!' isn't necessarily unvarnished praise (see e.g. Arist.EN 1122b8).<br /><br />So, while I am pretty sure I don't want to be a Stoic, I am also not sure that Lucian is a very helpful ally if you want to promote the Peripatetic alternative.<br /><br />JamesJames Warrenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02262258553733864003noreply@blogger.com