Bothering the Infinite: Anaximander in the Nineteenth Century and Beyond

Jaap Mansfeld

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Chapter 3 Bothering the Infinite

Anaximander in the Nineteenth Century and Beyond

In: Studies in Early Greek Philosophy

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Jaap Mansfeld

Jaap Mansfeld
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Type:: Chapter

Pages:: 52–135

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004382060_005

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Abstract

The view, once generally accepted, that Anaximander’s fragment is about existence as a crime or as the punishment for a crime, is dependent on the defective text of the Aldine edition of 1526 of Simplicius’ Commentary on Aristotle’s Physics, which lacks the crucial word ἀλλήλοις, ‘to each other’. Perhaps surprisingly, Brandis’ discovery in 1835 of the correct manuscript reading, which should have entailed a less gruesome interpretation, for a long time failed to do so. Even Diels’ critical edition of 1882 of the Simplicius text did not advance matters, and Diels himself till the end of his life stuck to the earlier interpretation. A paradigm shift towards the view that the fragment deals with cosmic justice and an everlasting cosmic equilibrium evolved only gradually, finding its first clear expression as late as the beginning of the 20th century. This became the dominant interpretation, though its predecessor never vanished completely, and despite the fact that this cosmic equilibrium is not so easily squared with the testimonia concerned with the past and future of Anaximander’s cosmos.

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Studies in Early Greek Philosophy

A Collection of Papers and One Review

Series: Philosophia Antiqua, Volume: 151

E-Book ISBN:: 9789004382060

Publisher:: Brill

Print Publication Date:: 31 Aug 2018

Subjects
- Classical Studies
  - Ancient Philosophy
  - Classical Tradition & Reception Studies
- Philosophy
  - Ancient Philosophy

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Chapter 3 Bothering the Infinite

Anaximander in the Nineteenth Century and Beyond

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Studies in Early Greek Philosophy

A Collection of Papers and One Review

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