Music and Philosophy in the Roman Empire

Explores the philosophical import and use of musical notions in crucial moments and authors of the Roman Imperial period.

Francesco Pelosi (Edited by), Federico M. Petrucci (Edited by)

9781108832274, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 17 December 2020

376 pages
15 x 23 x 2.5 cm, 0.59 kg

'This is a wonderful collection of papers, which shows how significant the model of music was in late antiquity for understanding a number of philosophical issues.' George Karamanolis, Greek and Roman Musical Studies

Is music just matter of hearing and producing notes? And is it of interest just to musicians? By exploring different authors and philosophical trends of the Roman Empire, from Philo of Alexandria to Alexander of Aphrodisias, from the rebirth of Platonism with Plutarch to the last Neoplatonists, this book sheds light on different ways in which music and musical notions were made a crucial part of philosophical discourse. Far from being mere metaphors, notions such as harmony, concord and attunement became key philosophical tools in order to better grasp and conceptualise fundamental notions in philosophical debates from cosmology to ethics and from epistemology to theology. The volume is written by a distinguished international team of contributors.

Introduction Francesco Pelosi and Federico Maria Petrucci
1. Scala nature and music: two models in Philo's thought Carlos Lévy
2. Music and Plutarch's Platonic cosmos Bram Demulder
3. The harmoniser god: harmony as a cosmological model in middle Platonist theology Federico M. Petrucci
4. Alexander of Aphrodisias and musical models for ontological enquiries Laura M. Castelli
5. How to resist musical dogmatism: the aim and methods of Pyrrhonian inquiry in Sextus Empiricus' 'Against the Musicologists' (Math. VI) Máté Veres
6. Shifting epistemological perspectives in Ptolemy's 'Harmonics': from the science of sound to the study of music Andrew Barker
7. Musical imagery in Clement of Alexandria and Origen: the Greek musical world revised and accepted Francesco Pelosi
8. Plotinus on music, rhythm, and harmony Alexandra Michalewski
9. Porphyry's 'Commentary on Ptolemy's Harmonics': questions of philosophic and scientific identity Harold Tarrant
10. The music of the virtues in late ancient Platonism Dominic O'Meara
11. Harmonics as theological paradigm in Proclus Stephen Gersh
12. Calcidius on cosmic harmony Christina Hoenig
13. Harmonia in Philoponus' 'Commentary on Nicomachus' introduction to arithmetic' Giovanna R. Giardina.

Subject Areas: Western philosophy: Ancient, to c 500 [HPCA], Classical history / classical civilisation [HBLA1], Music [AV], History of art: ancient & classical art,BCE to c 500 CE [ACG]