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Lucretius I: An Ontology of Motion
Thomas Nail argues convincingly and systematically that Lucretius was not an atomist, but a thinker of kinetic flux. In doing so, he completely overthrows the interpretive foundations of modern scientific materialism, whose philosophical origins lie in the atomic reading of Lucretius’ immensely influential book De Rerum Natura .
This means that Lucretius was not the revolutionary harbinger of modern science as Greenblatt and others have argued; he was its greatest victim. Nail re-reads De Rerum Natura to offer us a new Lucretius – a Lucretius for today.
This means that Lucretius was not the revolutionary harbinger of modern science as Greenblatt and others have argued; he was its greatest victim. Nail re-reads De Rerum Natura to offer us a new Lucretius – a Lucretius for today.
- GenresPhilosophyNonfiction
288 pages, Paperback
Published February 8, 2018
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
May 16, 2018
I'm utterly bamboozled by this extraordinary book. I honestly do not know if the author has a brilliant vision of Lucretius that everyone else has missed or he's completely bonkers. It's a fascinating journey at least for any reader interested in L -- at the time of writing this review I'm still only on Chapter 3 and frankly my brain is reeling.
Nail's approach is first not to assume anything about L's philosophical approach. So we are not to assume that L is an advocate of atomism or that he is merely following Epicurus. Quite how Nail deals with the many detailed comparisons between DRN and E's "On Nature" has yet to be answered -- David Sedley's book "Lucretius and the Transformation of Greek Wisdom" makes a very strong case for DRN being a paraphrase of "On Nature"; Nail has not (so far) tackled this issue.
Secondly, Nail gives what he calls "close readings" of Bk 1, carefully parsing words so that he gets as close to L's meaning as possible without adding the baggage of assuming L is an atomist beforehand. This really does seem like a fruitful approach. But then he does simply extraordinary things -- Chapter 1 is mind-blowingly audacious, although I still don't know if it's genius or utterly ridiculous; I don't know if I should applaud or laugh derisively when Nail takes "Alma Venus" (line 2 of the poem) to prove -- via detailed analysis of Venus' birth from water and foam and the DNA properties of crystals and shells -- that "Space, as a product of spiral motion, is thus without centre, periphery, inside, outside, top, or bottom". All this from the two words "Alma Venus"?
Chapter 1 analyses the first 22 lines of the poem and concludes that " All of being begins with elemental flows, which becomes increasingly folded and composite without the introduction of any transcendence of formalism". I confess I'm struggling to understand this and quite how L's text supports it -- that conclusion would be more persuasive if L had ever used in those lines any word or synonym for "being", "flow", "fold" or other key term that Nail is employing. Is this a very clever and insightful "close reading" or is it pure flight of fancy with nothing but the most tenuous relation to the actual text?
Honestly -- I don't know. I want to keep reading to find out more. Someone help me out here -- what do you think?
Nail's approach is first not to assume anything about L's philosophical approach. So we are not to assume that L is an advocate of atomism or that he is merely following Epicurus. Quite how Nail deals with the many detailed comparisons between DRN and E's "On Nature" has yet to be answered -- David Sedley's book "Lucretius and the Transformation of Greek Wisdom" makes a very strong case for DRN being a paraphrase of "On Nature"; Nail has not (so far) tackled this issue.
Secondly, Nail gives what he calls "close readings" of Bk 1, carefully parsing words so that he gets as close to L's meaning as possible without adding the baggage of assuming L is an atomist beforehand. This really does seem like a fruitful approach. But then he does simply extraordinary things -- Chapter 1 is mind-blowingly audacious, although I still don't know if it's genius or utterly ridiculous; I don't know if I should applaud or laugh derisively when Nail takes "Alma Venus" (line 2 of the poem) to prove -- via detailed analysis of Venus' birth from water and foam and the DNA properties of crystals and shells -- that "Space, as a product of spiral motion, is thus without centre, periphery, inside, outside, top, or bottom". All this from the two words "Alma Venus"?
Chapter 1 analyses the first 22 lines of the poem and concludes that " All of being begins with elemental flows, which becomes increasingly folded and composite without the introduction of any transcendence of formalism". I confess I'm struggling to understand this and quite how L's text supports it -- that conclusion would be more persuasive if L had ever used in those lines any word or synonym for "being", "flow", "fold" or other key term that Nail is employing. Is this a very clever and insightful "close reading" or is it pure flight of fancy with nothing but the most tenuous relation to the actual text?
Honestly -- I don't know. I want to keep reading to find out more. Someone help me out here -- what do you think?
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January 29, 2025ta książka to intelektualna przyjemność; w formie przypomina swój temat, płynie i fałduje się wokół koncepcji ruchu, wpada w szczeliny poematu Lukrecjusza i wyciąga z nich to, co atomizm pogrzebał; w rezultacie z przedsięwzięcia Naila wyłania się zupełnie inny myśliciel niż ten, do którego przyzwyczaiła nas mechanicystyczna filozofia, myśliciel epikurejski i prowokacyjny, który wyżłobił mitopoetyczną drogę ku materializmowi z duszą — nie transcendentną, nie taką, która przychodzi z zewnątrz, żeby natchnąć pozostającą w inercji materię — duszą, która wyłania się ze splotów i korporalnych uwikłań, by nigdy nie ustać w przemianach
ciekawy aspekt stanowiło też porównanie poetyckiej wizji Lukrecjusza do odkryć współczesnej fizyki splecionej z koncepcjami wypracowanymi w obrębie nowego materializmu; ruch materii nie ustaje; myśl przybiera nowe kształty; wiedza wcieka głęboko i wypływa z wielu źródeł
książka nie uniknęła pułapki powtarzalności; niektóre partie można spokojnie pominąć; te same informacje pojawiają się wcześniej i później; wynika to prawdopodobnie z przyjętej metody (którą podziwiam, ponieważ wydaje się wymagać ogromnych pokładów cierpliwości): czytania blisko tekstu, słowo po słowie; autor wdłubuje się w łacińskie zwroty, dokonuje nowej, intelektualnie świeżej translacji, ale daje się czasami porwać własnym poetyckim wizjom — choć pisze pięknie, mógłby skrócić książkę o połowę
ciekawy aspekt stanowiło też porównanie poetyckiej wizji Lukrecjusza do odkryć współczesnej fizyki splecionej z koncepcjami wypracowanymi w obrębie nowego materializmu; ruch materii nie ustaje; myśl przybiera nowe kształty; wiedza wcieka głęboko i wypływa z wielu źródeł
książka nie uniknęła pułapki powtarzalności; niektóre partie można spokojnie pominąć; te same informacje pojawiają się wcześniej i później; wynika to prawdopodobnie z przyjętej metody (którą podziwiam, ponieważ wydaje się wymagać ogromnych pokładów cierpliwości): czytania blisko tekstu, słowo po słowie; autor wdłubuje się w łacińskie zwroty, dokonuje nowej, intelektualnie świeżej translacji, ale daje się czasami porwać własnym poetyckim wizjom — choć pisze pięknie, mógłby skrócić książkę o połowę
December 10, 2018
In spite of disagreements, this book provided me with enjoyable intellectual challenges and inspired me to revisit DRN with new eyes, adding a fresh perspective on the Epicurean classic On the Nature of Things, by Lucretius. Below is my full review:
Intro: On the Subject of Definitions
Ontology of Motion vs. Epistle to Herodotus
Gravity Versus Freedom
On Relativity
Lucretius’ Venus
On Motion
Intro: On the Subject of Definitions
Ontology of Motion vs. Epistle to Herodotus
Gravity Versus Freedom
On Relativity
Lucretius’ Venus
On Motion
March 3, 2024
An impressive reinterpretation of The Nature of Things that breaks with the common atomists reading. Nail boldly attempts to provide a thorough close reading of the ancient text and advocate for its relevance by pointing to its resonance with contemporary science and quantum physics. At times, it's hard to know where Lucretius ends and quantum theory begins.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews