The Peripatetics by Baltussen Han;

Author:Baltussen, Han;
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2016-11-14T00:00:00+00:00

p.86

Theophrastus’ student Chamaeleon wrote a work On Pleasure (fr. 8 = Athen. 347e–f), in line with the interest Aristotle (EN 10. 4) and others had shown in the subject (DL 5. 22).16 There is in fact some uncertainty in the sources as to whether the work is by Theophrastus or Chamaeleon, but it does not matter for our purposes (they are contemporaries and identical titles often created confusion over authorship). The work discussed pleasure in literary achievement, those who pursued the ‘good life’ by way of luxurious goods and services. In a work On Drunkenness Chamaeleon elaborates on the lavish consumption of wine, which he considered a recently acquired habit because of imported large wine cups (the long quotation in fr. 10 = Athen. Deipn. 461a–d).

Subsequent Peripatetics seem to have limited themselves to individual problems and practical applications. This is at least what the evidence suggests. Titles of their works indicate engagement with questions of education and moral principles, while their involvement in politics hints at their pragmatic outlook. We should avoid over-confident statements, as the evidence is very incomplete, mostly based on the lists in Diogenes Laertius (5. 42–50; 59–61; 80–1; 86–8), details found in a range of authors, and summary accounts in Arius Didymus (ca. 50 BCE) and Stobaeus (ca. 450 CE).

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