Ancient Worlds, Modern Reflections

Philosophical Perspectives on Greek and Chinese Science and Culture

Bibliographic Data

ID5777934
AuthorsG E R Lloyd (0000-0003-2626-4082), Philippa Lang (Emory University, corresponding author)
Year2015
Volume3
Pages19-30
Publication date2015-12-21
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAestimatio Sources and Studies in the History of Science (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1549-4470 • E-ISSN: 1549-4489
PublisherUniversity of Toronto Libraries - UOTL (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.33137/aestimatio.v3i0.25763
OpenAlexW1602283215
LanguageEN
Citations received21
References cited1

In Ancient Worlds, Modern Reflections, G. E. R. Lloyd makes an often persuasive case for the relevance and use of comparative studies of ancient cultures in relation to two areas of contemporary concern.This concern is of two sorts-there are philosophical questions bearing on science and its history, and questions about the relevance of reconstructions of ancient thought to such modern social and political issues as higher education, human 'rights', internationalism, and democracy.At 179 pages (excluding the bibliography), this is a large project for a comparatively small volume.However, it is also a work written from a vantage point attained through a career's worth of inquiry into such problems in the context of antiquity, especially ancient Greece, and subsequently through comparative analysis of the history of science in ancient Greece and China.This has been the dominant project of the last two decades in Lloyd's research and writings, through Demystifying Mentalities [1990], Adversaries and Authorities [1996], The Ambitions of Curiosity [2002], and The Way and the Word [2002] (written with the Sinologist and historian of science Nathan Sivin).Of these, Adversaries and Authorities and The Way and the Word are the most similar to Lloyd's earlier and extremely influential works on ancient 'scientific' cultures and problems, notably Magic, Reason and Experience [1979], Science, Folklore and Ideology [1983], and The Revolutions of Wisdom [1987].These were sustained pieces of often thematic analysis, characterized by being carefully contextualized and substantiated by a broad range A paperback edition has now appeared

Aesthetics · Ancient Greek · Art · Epistemology · Literature · Sociology · Chinese history and philosophy · Classical Philosophy and Thought · Philosophy