On Nature
This work developed Epicurean physics on a scale only glimpsed in the letters. Surviving papyri allow study of discussions about perception, the formation of opinions, and human action. Book XXV is especially important for modern debates about responsibility.
Understanding the text
The carbonized Herculaneum rolls require decipherment, reconstruction, and comparison of editions. Book numbers, papyrus numbers, and fragment numbers identify different objects and cannot be used interchangeably.
Treatise in thirty-seven books; papyrus fragments survive chiefly from Herculaneum.
Key points
- 01
An argumentative physics
The remains reveal technical inquiry attentive to objections. They correct an image of the philosophy as a handful of recommendations about pleasure.
- 02
Development and responsibility
Passages from Book XXV consider the relationship between initial constitution, personal development, and actions for which we can answer. Gaps forbid an unqualified reconstruction of a complete system.
- 03
A material text
The sequence of fragments sometimes depends on hypotheses about the rolls. Editorial restoration must remain distinct from actually legible letters.
Explore the ideas in depth
Reading a damaged scroll
The fragments come in part from carbonized papyri at Herculaneum. An edition distinguishes legible material, gaps and proposed restorations; a scroll’s sequence may remain disputed. A book number, a papyrus shelfmark and a fragment number therefore do not automatically identify the same object.
Responsibility and reconstruction
Passages from Book XXV connect initial constitution, development and responsibility. Their interest does not permit a complete theory to be reconstructed uncritically from damaged lines. Readers must distinguish surviving words, translation and modern interpretive hypotheses.
How to read it
Use an edition specifying papyri, columns, and restorations; this page does not claim a complete inventory of papyrological fragments.
Editions & sources
- Consult the reference 1plato.stanford.edunew tab
- Consult the reference 2perseus.tufts.edunew tab
- Consult the reference 3papyri.infonew tab
Summaries and key points are original editorial interpretations. They accompany reading the work and do not replace an edition of the text. Editorial method ↗