Author: WILLIAMS, G.D.,
Title: The Cosmic Viewpoint. A Study of Seneca's Natural Questions.
Description: Oxford University Press, Oxford (...), 2012. Original black hard bound with pictorial dust wrappers. Spine gilt titled. Nice copy. Appears unread. 'Seneca's Natural Questions has been dismissed as a dry meteorological work which fails to fulfil its promised integration of the physical and ethical components of Stoicism. W. addresses these criticisms and argues that Seneca has constructed a cohesive text which creates a philosophical holism tracing a progression towards understanding the cosmos, enabling the mind to find release from the restrictions of life. Expanding on studies of Seneca's artistry in the last twenty years, W. provides a comprehensive reading of the Natural Questions as he examines the fusion of the artistic and scientific which sets it apart from the conservative meteorological tradition. (...) Chapter 1 not only introduces the reader to Seneca's worldview but also reveals how W. works. He is a careful and judicious reader who examines Seneca within intellectual and cultural contexts. After this introductory chapter, W. focusses on recurring figures of aberrant behavious and the interlocutor. (...) Beginning with Chpater 3 W. devotes a chapter to each individual book of the Naturla Questions. (...) This volume is an important contribution to Senecan studies. W. has successfully provided a thoughtful and insightful reading of the Natural Questions. Translations following hte Latin passages make it accessible to those with little or no Latin. Attention to the artistic/scientific fusion raises the Natural Questions beyond a meteorological treatise. W. never evades or obscures what may be problematic. Although some of his readings may not convince, they are always well argued and provoke re-examination of the text.' (E.E. BATINSKI in The Classical Review (New Series), 2013, pp.442-444).

Keywords: 9780199731589