Of Those Sentiments Concerning Nature with Which
Plutarch's "Of Those Sentiments Concerning Nature with Which Philosophers Were Delighted" is a comprehensive exploration of ancient philosophical thought on natural philosophy, focusing on the division of philosophy into natural, moral, and logical parts. The work examines various philosophers' views on the principles and elements of nature, the formation and structure of the world, and the nature of the soul and body. It discusses the ideas of prominent figures such as Thales, Anaximander, Anaximenes, Pythagoras, Heraclitus, Epicurus, Empedocles, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, and the Stoics, among others. Each philosopher's perspective on the origins of the universe, the nature of the divine, the composition of the soul, and the principles of life and death is analyzed. The text also delves into the nature of the elements, the causes of natural phenomena, and the philosophical interpretations of the cosmos. Plutarch presents a detailed account of the diverse and often conflicting views held by ancient thinkers, highlighting the richness and complexity of early philosophical inquiry into the natural world.
By Plutarch · First published 1898 · Genre: Philosophy, Classical Literature, Philosophical Essay · 60 chapters · 27,109 words
First lines
Introduction: It being our determination to discourse of Natural Philosophy, we judge it necessary, in the first place and chiefly, to divide the body of philosophy into its proper members, that we may know what is that which is called philosophy, and what part of it is physical, or the explanation of natural things. The Stoics affirm that wisdom is the knowledge of things human and divine; that philosophy is the exercise of that art which is expedient to this knowledge; that virtue is the sole and sovereign art which is thus expedient; and this distributes itself into three general parts,-natural, moral, and logical. By which just reason (they say) philosophy is tripartite; of which one is natural, the other moral, the third logical. The natural is when our enquiries are concerning the world and all things contained in it; the ethical is the employment of our minds in those things which concern the manners of man's life; the logical (which they also call dialectical) regulates our conversation with others in speaking. Aristotle, Theophrastus, and after them almost all the Peripatetics give the following division of philosophy. It is absolutely requisite that the complete person be contemplator of things which have a being, and the practiser of those things which are decent; and this easily appears by the following instances. If the question be proposed, whether the sun, which is so conspicuous to us, be informed with a soul or inanimate, he that makes this disquisition is the thinking man; for he proceeds no farther than to consider the nature of that thing which is proposed. Likewise, if the question be proposed, whether the world be infinite, or whether beyond the system of this world there is any real being, all these things are the objects about which the understanding of man is conversant. But if these be the questions,-what measures must be taken to compose the well ordered life of man, what are the best methods to govern and educate children, or what are the exact rules whereby sovereigns may command and establish laws,-all these queries are proposed for the sole end of action, and the man conversant therein is the moral and practical man.
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Of Those Sentiments Concerning Nature with Which Philosophers Were Delighted is listed on Textopian as an essay by Plutarch, dated 1898 CE.
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- Work type: Essay
- Author: Plutarch
- Date: 1898 CE
- Language: English
- Genres: Philosophy, Classical Literature, Philosophical Essay, Nature Writing, Historical Treatise
- Length: 27,109 words
- Structure: 133 chapters, 217 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Fairly Difficult (10th-12th Grade)
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- Work identity for Of Those Sentiments Concerning Nature with Which Philosophers Were Delighted by Plutarch
- Canonical title URL and first readable passage URL
- Genre and topic classification from the Textopian catalog
- Readability and classroom-planning context
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Genres
- Philosophy — Examines philosophical sentiments and ideas about nature, reflecting the inquiry of ancient thinkers.
- Classical Literature — Represents a work from antiquity with stylistic and thematic elements typical of classical texts.
- Philosophical Essay — Structured as an essay that delves into abstract ideas and evaluations concerning nature.
- Nature Writing — Addresses the human perception of nature through a philosophical lens.
Tags
philosophy · natural philosophy · ancient thought · classics · ethics · aesthetics · wisdom · nature · sentiment · reflection · contemplation · moral inquiry
Contents
- What is Nature?
- What is the Difference between a Principle and an Element?
- Of Principles, and what they are
- How was this World Composed in that Order and after that Manner it is?
- Whether the Universe is One
- Whence did Men Obtain the Knowledge of the Existence and Essence of a Deity?
- What is God?
- Of those that are Called Geniuses and Heroes
- Of Matter
- Of Ideas
- Of Causes
- Of Bodies
- Of those Things that are Least in Nature
- Of Figures
- Of Colors
- Of the Division of Bodies
- How Bodies are Mixed and Contemperated One with Another
- Of a Vacuum
- Of Place
- Of Space
- Of Time
- Of the Essence and Nature of Time
- Of Motion
- Of Generation and Corruption
- Of Necessity
- Of the Nature of Necessity
- Of Destiny or Fate
- Of the Nature of Fate
- Of Fortune
- Of Nature
- Of the World
- Of the Figure of the World
- Whether the World be an Animal
- Whether the World is Eternal and Incorruptible
- Whence does the World Receive its Nutriment?
- From what Element God did Begin to Raise the Fabric of the World
- In what Form and Order the World was Composed
- What is the Cause of the World's Inclination
- Of that Thing which is Beyond the World, and Whether it be a Vacuum or not
- What Parts of the World are on the Right Hand, and what Parts are on the Left
- Of Heaven, what is its Nature and Essence
- Into how Many Circles is the Heaven Distinguished; or, of the Division of Heaven
- What is the Essence of the Stars, and how they are Composed
- Of what Figure the Stars are
- Of the Order and Place of the Stars
- Of the Motion and Circulation of the Stars
- Whence do the Stars Receive their Light?
- What are those Stars which are Called the Dioscuri, the Twins, or Castor and Pollux?
- How Stars Prognosticate, and what is the Cause of Winter and Summer
- Of the Essence of the Sun
- Of the Magnitude of the Sun
- What is the Figure or Shape of the Sun
- Of the Turning and Returning of the Sun, or the Summer and Winter Solstice
- Of the Eclipses of the Sun
- Of the Essence of the Moon
- Of the Magnitude of the Moon
- Of the Figure of the Moon
- From Whence is it that the Moon Receives her Light?
- Of the Eclipse of the Moon
- Of the Phases of the Moon, or the Lunar Aspects; or how it Comes to Pass that the Moon Appears to Us Terrestrial
More by Plutarch
- Whether 'Twere Rightly Said, Live Concealed (100)
- An Abstract of a Comparison Betwixt Aristophanes and Menander (1898)
- Of Banishment, or Flying One's Country (1898)
- Of Brotherly Love (1898)
- Wherefore the Pythian Priestess Now Ceases to Deliver Her Oracles in Verse (100)
- Plutarch's Natural Questions (100)
- Plutarch's Symposiacs (120)
- Of Moral Virtue (1898)
- All works by Plutarch