Natural quaestiones: a reassessment of the status of Physics in Seneca's Philosophy

• Grant number: 21/01776-9
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Start date: June 01, 2021
• End date: May 31, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Interdisciplinary Subjects
• Principal Investigator: Alexandre Pinheiro Hasegawa
• Grantee: Willamy Fernandes Gonçalves
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas (FFLCH). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Starting from two correlated textual difficulties in two late works by Sêneca (Epistulae Morales 65, 15 and Naturales Quaestiones I, praef., 5) and the observation of the contrast between the great importance explicitly attributed by Sêneca to his work dedicated to the study of nature and the little importance that has been attributed to the work by the classicists until the present, the research intends to understand the treatment of Physics within Senecan Stoicism. For this purpose, it is intended to contrast Seneca's approach simultaneously against the background of the Stoic tradition and against the background of the study of nature in Greek-Latin antiquity. Within the scope of Seneca's work, observing the chronology, intentions and addresses of his different works will also help us to understand the relationships between Seneca's different statements about the study of nature and ultimate good throughout his philosophical career. It is believed that careful observation of the philosopher's own statements can lead us to a reevaluation of the status of Physics within his philosophical program, with a direct consequence for the doctrine of summum bonum or Ĭ»¿Â, indicating a possible specificity of Senecan stoicism. (AU)