The Presocratics and the Supernatural: Magic, Philosophy and Science in Early GreeceThis book examines the relationship between magic, philosophy and the investigation of nature in presocratic Greece. Did the presocratic thinkers, often praised for their rejection of the supernatural, still believe in gods and the divine and the efficacy of magical practices? Did they use animism, astrology, numerology and mysticism in their explanations of the world? This book analyses the evidence in detail and argues that we need to look at each of these beliefs in context. |
Contents
| 1 | |
2
Plato and Aristotle | 23 |
3
The Milesian Philosophers | 43 |
4
The Hippocratic On the Sacred Disease | 69 |
5
The Hippocratic On Regimen | 85 |
More Natural Explanation | 101 |
7
Pythagoras and the Early Pythagoreans | 127 |
8 The Early P
ythagoreans and Numerology | 149 |
10
Leucippus and Democritus | 185 |
11
Conclusion | 199 |
Notes | 207 |
| 249 | |
| 267 | |
| 272 | |
| 275 | |
9
Empedocles | 167 |
Other editions - View all
The Presocratics and the Supernatural: Magic, Philosophy and Science in ... Andrew Gregory No preview available - 2013 |
The Presocratics and the Supernatural: Magic, Philosophy and Science in ... Andrew Gregory No preview available - 2013 |
Common terms and phrases
alchemy Anaxagoras Anaximander Anaximander’s Anaximenes ancient Archytas argue Aristotle Aristotle’s astrology body Burkert chapter context cosmic cosmogony cosmology cosmos critique Democritus Derveni papyrus Diogenes divine Dodds dreams early Pythagoreans earth eidôla Eijk elements Empedocles entirely natural entities epilepsy evidence fire fragment give gods Greek Hankinson 1998 heavens Heraclitus Hippocratic author Hippocratic corpus Homer and Hesiod Huffman human idea Iliad important interesting issue Kingsley Leucippus Leucippus and Democritus lightning Lloyd look macrocosm/microcosm macrocosm/microcosm analogy mathematical metempsychosis meteorological phenomena meteorology microcosm Milesians modern motion natural explanations natural magic naturalistic non-natural belief non-natural explanations numerology Odyssey pantheist passage Philolaus physical Plato possible prayer presocratic philosophers Pseudo-Plutarch Pythagoras relation religious Sacred Disease sense shaman significant Simplicius soul steering Stobaeus strife supernatural targeting tells tetraktys Thales Theogony theory things thought Thucydides thunder thunderbolts Timaeus tradition trans unlimited Xenophanes Zeus Zhmud