Natural Spectaculars

The value of Plutarch's perception of physical reality and his attitude towards the natural spectacle.

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 writings teach us a lot about his perception of physical reality and about his attitude to the natural spectacle. He found his greatest inspiration in the ontological and epistemological framework of Plato's Timaeus, but a wide range of other authors were also of seminal interest to his project. Clearly, the highly literary value of Plutarch's natural philosophical writings should not be underrated.

It is therefore not surprising that recently scholars have started to reassess the ancient scientific value of Plutarch's natural philosophical writings. Natural Spectaculars aims to give further impetus to this dynamic by treating several aspects of Plutarch's natural philosophy which have remained unexplored up to now.

Contributors:

Jan Opsomer (KU Leuven), Suzan Sierksma-Agteres (Rijksuniversiteit Groningen), Angelo Casanova (Università degli Studi di Firenze), Paola Volpe Cacciatore (Università degli Studi di Salerno), Aldo Setaioli (Università degli Studi di Perugia), Fabio Tanga (Università degli Studi di Salerno), Michiel Meeusen (KU Leuven), Luisa Lesage Gárriga (Universidad de Málaga), Ana Ferreira (Universidade do Porto), Israel Muñoz Gallarte (Universidad de Córdoba), Lautaro Roig Lanzillotta (Rijksuniversiteit Groningen), Bram Demulder (KU Leuven), Aurelio Pérez Jiménez (Universidad de Málaga), Delfim Ferreira Leão (Universidade de Coimbra)