Τετάρτη, 5 Οκτωβρίου 2022, 10:00-11:00, Αίθουσα Συνελεύσεων, Τμήμα Φιλολογίας
Περίληψη ομιλίας:Book 7 of the pseudo-Aristotelian Physical Problems is addressed to problems of “sympathy” (sumpatheia). The “problem” in this context is a puzzle that arises within the “inquiry into nature” as a collective project but also tests the boundaries of that project’s explanatory strategies. In this talk, I take up sumpatheia in the spirit of the “physical problem,” while at the same time widening the lens to take in a broad semantic range for ancient “sympathy” and thinking capaciously about the challenge that it poses to ancient Greek discourses of nature. More specifically, I will argue that sumpatheia develops in response to the problem of relationships both within and between natures, changing the conceptualization of a living unity, kinship, community, and the cosmos as a whole. I also take up sumpatheia as a site for what I call “cosmological experimentation” as different traditions of worldmaking engage with Greek “nature/Nature” in the Hellenistic and Roman periods, making sympathy a key component in a history of nature and Nature.