Abstract

VEGA CASTRO, Diego Enrique. The Radicality of Ancient Contemplation in Epicureanism and Philo of Alexandria. A Religious and a Non-religious Perspective. Rev. filos.open insight [online]. 2021, vol.12, n.26, pp.8-40.  Epub June 20, 2022. ISSN 2395-8936.  https://doi.org/10.23924/oi.v12i26.469.

This paper consists in an interpretative analysis of the role of contemplation in two of the most radical ancient conceptions of philosophy. Since one of the ultimate purposes of this article is to demonstrate that the ancient radical account of theoría does not suppose a religious framework —as is repeatedly stated by modern scholars and even, by some of the most important contemporary philosophers—. Then, we will reflect on an «atheistic» and a «religious» perspective of philosophy and contemplation, it is to say, Lucretius’ disdain for «human things» and Philo of Alexandria’s «religious» and apolitical community of therapists. Our interpretation will be mainly guided by some of Leo Strauss’s commentaries to Lucretius and some of his remarks on Natural Right —i.e., the difference between the theological and the philosophical approach to Natural Right—. This study must be considered within the scope of what Strauss referred to as classical political philosophy, i.e., the tension between the concerns of the city and the concerns of the philosopher. We intend therefore that the link between Philo and Epicureanism may restate the profound meaning of philosophy and its respective unharmonious relationship with politics.

Keywords : Classical political philosophy; contemplation; Lucretius; Philo of Alexandria; religion.

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