M. R. Wright - Böcker

One of the most important Presocratic philosophers was the Sicilian Empedocles.  He presented his work in the form of two hexameter poems, of which about 450 lines are extant, revealing a formidable range of interests, acute observation, and a firm grasp of fundamental issues in the study of man and nature.Empedocles’ theory of four elements was crucial to later developments in science and medicine.  He showed how forces of attraction and repulsion acted on the elements within a framework of cyclical time and limited space, and initiated or advanced major discoveries in astronomy, biology, and physiology.  More sophisticated concepts of divinity, personality, and mortality replaced traditional mythology, and these concepts were founded on the conviction that the individual has control over his own character and intellectual growth.The introduction discusses Empedocles’ life and interests, the content of the Physics and Katharmoi, and the relation of the two poems to each other.  A new Greek text with apparatus is followed by translation, commentary, and detailed concordance, to give a comprehensive edition of this key figure in the history of ideas.“With its careful and judicious editing of the fragments and its many fresh insights into Empedocles’ thought, this work will be indispensable to students of Presocratic philosophy.”—Alexander P.D. Mourelatos

Cicero’s De Finibus 3 gives, through the persona of Cato, an outline of Stoic ethical theory, and is the main continuous text on this subject extant from the ancient world. This edition with text and subtitles, facing translation and commentary, aims to present to the modern reader the arguments in a clear and accessible form against the background of the turmoil of political events surrounding the death of Caesar, and in a presentation that will allow those with only a little Latin to follow the original text. The Paradoxes give in a more popular form, and with many examples from Roman life and history, the contradictions resulting from a literal or unsympathetic application of strict Stoic theory to practice. Latin text with facing-page English translation, introduction and commentary.

Cicero’s De Finibus 3 gives, through the persona of Cato, an outline of Stoic ethical theory, and is the main continuous text on this subject extant from the ancient world. This edition with text and subtitles, facing translation and commentary, aims to present to the modern reader the arguments in a clear and accessible form against the background of the turmoil of political events surrounding the death of Caesar, and in a presentation that will allow those with only a little Latin to follow the original text. The Paradoxes give in a more popular form, and with many examples from Roman life and history, the contradictions resulting from a literal or unsympathetic application of strict Stoic theory to practice. Latin text with facing-page English translation, introduction and commentary.

Empedocles (c. 494-434 B.C.) achieved legendary status as a philosopher, scientist, healer, poet and orator. He made important contributions to the developments of European thought with his theory of the four elements, his detailed work on perception, respiration and cognition, and his understanding in the kinship in structure and form of the hierarchy of living creatures.Now available in paperback, this is the first full-scale edition this century of the extant fragments, which are grouped into two poems -- Physics and Katharmoi. In her Introduction, Professor Wright surveys the evidence for Empedocles’ life and writings, and gives a clear account of the main lines of thought within a framework common to the poems. The fragments are presented in their contexts in a new ordering with full critical apparatus; they are followed by a translation and commentary on each, in which the linguistic, philosophical and scientific questions relevant to the text are examined. The Indexes cover sources, passages cited and subject matter, as well as a comprehensive concordance of Empedocles’ vocabulary. This new in paperback edition has been updated with a bibliographic commentary covering the last fifteen years of Empedoclean scholarship, and is part of the Classic Latin and Greek texts series.