Project Details
Projekt
Diogenes Laertius, Vita et sententiae Epicuri, interprete Ambrosio Camaldulensi.Edition and commentary
Applicant
Dr. Christian Kaiser
Subject Area
History of Philosophy
Term
from 2013 to 2015
Project identifier
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 239225754
Book 10 of Diogenes Laertius: Lives of the Philosophers is one of the most important sources for the reconstruction of the life and the teaching of the Hellenistic philosopher and school founder Epicurus. The Latin translation of this text, which was achieved in 1433 by the Camaldolese monk Ambrogio Traversari and thereafter widely disseminated, marked for about four hundred years the standard for the reception of Epicurus. The aim of the present project is the edition of this key text for the comprehension of Epicureanism (and Anti-Epicureanism) in the Renaissance and the Early Modern. A philosophically-based, accompanying commentary should point out difficulties in interpretation as well as parallels to contemporary works and dependencies on historical sources. The introduction to the edition should display in detail the picture of Epicurus and Epicureanism in the Mediaeval and Early Modern Latin tradition and reconstruct the special discourse which was initiated by its challenge in the Renaissance. The project should bring out the well-elaborated access to a unique text, which besides Lucretius poem represented for centuries the most authentic voice of Epicurean philosophy.
DFG Programme
Research Fellowships
International Connection
United Kingdom
