
Ancient Relativity
Plato, Aristotle, Stoics, and Sceptics
Matthew Duncombe(Author)
Oxford University Press
Published on 20. February 2020
Book
Hardback
306 pages
978-0-19-884618-5 (ISBN)
Description
Ideas about relativity underlie much ancient Greek philosophy, from Protagorean relativism, to Plato's theory of Forms, Aristotle's category scheme, and relational logic. In Ancient Relativity Matthew Duncombe explores how ancient philosophers, particularly Plato, Aristotle, the Stoics, and Sextus Empiricus, understood the phenomenon and how their theories of relativity affected, and were affected by, their broader philosophical outlooks. He argues that ancient philosophers shared a close-knit family of views referred to as 'constitutive relativity', whereby a relative is not simply linked by a relation but is constituted by it. Plato exploits this view in some key arguments concerning the Forms and the partition of the soul. Aristotle adopts the constitutive view in his discussions of relativity in Categories 7 and the Topics and retains it in Metaphysics Delta 15. Duncombe goes on to examine the role relativity plays in Stoic philosophy, especially Stoic physics and metaphysics, and the way Sextus Empiricus thinks about relativity, which does not appeal to the nature of relatives but rather to how we conceive of things as correlative.
Reviews / Votes
This book is a rare kind of achievement in ancient scholarship, dealing as it does with a subject that is understudied and yet, as Duncombe convincingly shows, indispensable for properly understanding ancient philosophical thought on many key topics. Given the range of problems on which the book makes new progress, it will be a rewarding read for just about anyone working on Greek philosophy. * Ian J. Campbell, Humboldt-Universitaet zu Berlin, Journal of the History of Philosophy *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Oxford
United Kingdom
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 240 mm
Width: 161 mm
Thickness: 21 mm
Weight
625 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-19-884618-5 (9780198846185)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
02/2020
1st Edition
OUP eBook
€55.49
Available for download
Person
Matthew Duncombe is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Nottingham. He held a British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowship at Durham University and was a post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Groningen. He studied philosophy and Classics at the University of Cambridge. His research interests focus on ancient Greek philosophy, particularly logic, metaphysics, epistemology, and ethics.
Author
Assistant Professor of PhilosophyAssistant Professor of Philosophy, University of Nottingham
Content
1: Introduction
2: Constitutive Relativity in Plato
3: Relativity and Separation in the Theory of Forms
4: Relativity and Partition in Republic 4
5: Relativity in Categories 7, Topics, and Sophistical Refutations
6: Aristotle on the Distinction Between Substances and Relatives
7: Relativity in Aristotle's Metaphysics 5.15
8: Relativity and Independence in Aristotle's On Ideas
9: Stoic Relativity
10: Relativity in Stoic Physics, Metaphysics, and Ethics
11: Relativity Against Dogmatism in Sextus Empiricus
12: Conclusion
2: Constitutive Relativity in Plato
3: Relativity and Separation in the Theory of Forms
4: Relativity and Partition in Republic 4
5: Relativity in Categories 7, Topics, and Sophistical Refutations
6: Aristotle on the Distinction Between Substances and Relatives
7: Relativity in Aristotle's Metaphysics 5.15
8: Relativity and Independence in Aristotle's On Ideas
9: Stoic Relativity
10: Relativity in Stoic Physics, Metaphysics, and Ethics
11: Relativity Against Dogmatism in Sextus Empiricus
12: Conclusion