Lucretius, V. 1350–3

Lucretius, song and music: a historical approach

The Latin poet Titus Lucretius Caro (I century B.C.), speaking of the origins of music in his work De rerum natura, expresses an interesting opinion on the scientific and technological progress that man has attained over the course of time.

Contracts with Animals: Lucretius, De Rerum Natura

Modem philosophers interested in the moral status of animals frequently debate the possibility of extending justice to animals througb a theory of social contract, witb Rawl's theory usually providing the basis of discussion. Contractualism was, of course, also an interest of ancient pbilosopbers, particularly tbe Epicureans, wbo believed that "pleasure," dermed as "freedom from anxiety," was t...

The Six Books of Lucretius’ De Rerum Natura: Antecedents and Influence

Lucretius’ De rerum natura is one of the relatively few corpora of Greek and Roman literature that is structured in six books. It is distinguished as well by features that encourage readers to understand it both as a sequence of two groups of three books (1+2+3, 4+5+6) and also as three successive pairs of books (1+2, 3+4, 5+6). This paper argues that the former organizations scheme derives fro...

Reviewed Work: The Criticism of Didactic Poetry: Essays on Lucretius, Virgil, and Ovid by Alexander Dalzell

The Living in Lucretius’ De rerum natura: Animals’ ataraxia and Humans' Distress

In trying to comprehend the human role among other living beings from an antispeciesist point of view it is possible to look back to those thinkers who, far before our times, had already considered other living beings from a non-anthropocentric perspective. In this sense, a dialogue with the Ancients could be a useful way to identify a more solid ground on which to build a new relationship with...