Epicureanism is not only a defence of pleasure: it is also a philosophy of science and knowledge. This edited collection explores new pathways for the study of Epicurean scientific thought, a hitherto still understudied domain, and engages systematically and critically with existing theories. It shows that the philosophy of Epicurus and his heirs, from antiquity to the classical age, founded a rigorous and coherent conception of knowledge. This first part of a two-volume set examines more specifically the contribution of Epicureanism in the fields of language, medicine, and meteorology (i.e., celestial, geological and atmospheric phenomena).

Offering a renewed image of Epicureanism, the book includes studies on the nature of human language and on the linguistic aspects of scientific discourse; on the relationship between Epicureanism and ancient medicine, from Hippocrates to Galen; on meteorological phenomena and the method of explaining them; and on the reception of Epicurus’s legacy in Gassendi.

Contributors: Julie Giovacchini (CNRS, Paris), Francesca Masi (Università Ca’ Foscari Venezia), Dino De Sanctis (Università degli Studi della Tuscia), Chiara Rover (Universität Hamburg/MCAS), Enrico Piergiacomi (Universität Zürich), David Leith (University of Exeter), Vincenzo Damiani (Universität Ulm), David Konstan (New York University), Voula Tsouna (UC Santa Barbara), Jürgen Hammerstaedt (Universität zu Köln), Craig Martin (Università Ca’ Foscari Venezia), Frederik Bakker (Radboud Universiteit)