Epicureanism at the Origins of Modernity

Catherine Wilson (City University of New York/University of Aberdeen)

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English

Oxford University Press
26 June 2008

Philosophy; Philosophy of religion

"This landmark study examines the role played by the rediscovery of the writings of the ancient atomists, Epicurus and Lucretius, in the articulation of the major philosophical systems of the seventeenth century, and, more broadly, their influence on the evolution of natural science and moral and political philosophy.

The target of sustained and trenchant philosophical criticism by Cicero, and of opprobrium by the Christian Fathers of the early Church, for its unflinching commitment to the absence of divine supervision and the finitude of life, the Epicurean philosophy surfaced again in the period of the Scientific Revolution, when it displaced scholastic Aristotelianism.

Both modern social contract theory and utilitarianism in ethics were grounded in its tenets. Catherine Wilson shows how the distinctive Epicurean image of the natural and social worlds took hold in philosophy, and how it is an acknowledged, and often unacknowledged presence in the writings of

Descartes, Gassendi,

Hobbes, Boyle, Locke, Leibniz, Berkeley. With chapters devoted to Epicurean physics and cosmology, the corpuscularian or ""mechanical"" philosophy, the question of the mortality of the soul, the grounds of political authority, the contested nature of the experimental philosophy, sensuality, curiosity, and the role of pleasure and utility in ethics, the author makes a persuasive case for the significance of materialism in seventeenth-century philosophy without underestimating the depth and significance of the opposition to it, and

for its continued importance in the contemporary world. Lucretius's great poem, On the Nature of Things, supplies the frame of reference for this deeply-researched inquiry into the origins of modern philosophy.."

By: Catherine Wilson (City University of New York/University of Aberdeen)
Imprint: Oxford University Press
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 241mm, Width: 164mm, Spine: 24mm
Weight: 1g
ISBN: 9780199238811
ISBN 10: 0199238812
Pages: 318
Publication Date: 26 June 2008
Audience: College/higher education , A / AS level , Further / Higher Education
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Catherine Wilson is a leading contributor to the study of the history and philosophy of science and to 17th century studies. She has held academic posts and fellowships in the USA, Great Britain, Germany, and Canada and is currently Professor of Philosophy at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York.

Reviews for Epicureanism at the Origins of Modernity

By pointing us to the Epicurean flavor of many of the ideas that pervaded seventeenth- and eighteenth-century metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, and natural and political philosophy - Catherine Wilson's work offers a great opportunity to improve our understanding of what was involved in the transformation of Scholastic doctrines into modern philosophy. * Anik Waldow, Journal of the American Academy of Religion * Wilson's book is learned, judicious, and full of subtle observations. * Eric Schiliesser, Mind 119 d * lucid and engagingly written... I find the argument entirely compelling... [this] is really a beautiful book. Epicureanism at the Origins of Modernity says true and original things in a pleasing manner. It is worth reading for anyone with even a passing interest in seventeenth-century philosophy. * Antonia LoLordo, Metascience *

Winner of Canadian Philosphical Association Book Prize (Prix du Livre de l'Association Canadienne de Philosophie) 2009.
Winner of Canadian Philosphical Association Book Prize 2009.
Winner of Winner of the Canadian Philosophical Prize 2009.