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Mystère et révélation : Le ciel dans la philosophie romaine de Lucrèce à Sénèque / Mystery and revelation : The sky in Roman philosophy from Lucretius to SenecaBlaise, Raphaël 07 February 2015 (has links)
Le ciel est omniprésent dans les œuvres des philosophes romains au Ier siècle avant et au Ier siècle après Jésus-Christ. Il apparaît tout à la fois chez l’épicurien Lucrèce, le néo-académicien Cicéron et les stoïciens Manilius et Sénèque. Cette thèse postule qu’il existe, au-delà des divergences entre les penseurs, un regard porté sur le ciel propre à la philosophie romaine. Le ciel, plus qu’un objet sensible, est une représentation. Les Latins sont les héritiers d’une longue tradition du regard : en levant les yeux, ils contemplent tout à la fois le ciel des astrologi grecs et chaldéens, celui des physiciens et celui des poètes. La pensée romaine confronte, de manière originale, l’ensemble de ces regards : la philosophie du ciel s’enrichit d’une dimension astronomique et d’une dimension métaphorique. Les Latins ont toutefois une position ambiguë par rapport à l’astronomie : à l’exception de Manilius, ils se méfient de cette discipline, trop en deçà de la philosophie. Ils ne peuvent pourtant se résoudre à la passer sous silence. En revanche, le regard métaphorique est intégré au projet philosophique. L’étude physique du ciel vise certes à le désacraliser, mais la fascination des auteurs pour le firmament les conduit fréquemment à en faire un lieu à part. Par sa beauté et par son mystère, il devient un symbole des aspirations humaines : il représente l’idéal de vertu et pourrait même révéler des secrets habituellement réservés au sage. Tout en se gardant de céder à la superstition, les Latins savent contempler avec émotion : leur philosophie du ciel est une philosophie de l’enthousiasme. / The sky is omnipresent in the works of Roman philosophers of the 1st Century B.C. and the 1st Century A.D. It is present in the works of the Epicurian Lucretius, those of the neoacademician Cicero, and those of the Stoics Manilius and Seneca. This dissertation argues that there exists, beyond the differences between these thinkers as individuals, a unique gaze upon the sky that is proper to Roman philosophy. The sky is more than just an observable object; it is a representation. The Latins are the inheritors of a long tradition of the gaze: by raising their eyes skyward, they are simultaneously contemplating the sky of the Greek and Chaldean astrologi, that of the physicians, and that of the poets. Roman thought brings together all of these gazes in an original way: the philosophy of the sky is informed and enriched by both an astronomical dimension and by a metaphoric dimension. Nonetheless, the Latins have an ambiguous position with respect to astronomy: with the exception of Manilius, they are wary of this discipline, which is too far philosophy’s inferior. And yet, they cannot bear not to discuss it. Indeed, the metaphoric gaze becomes an integral part of philosophy’s project. The physical study of the sky certainly intends to desacralize it, but the authors’ fascination for the firmament frequently leads them to make it out to be a place apart. By virtue of its beauty and mystery, it becomes a symbol of human aspirations: it represents the ideal of virtue and could even reveal secrets usually reserved for the sage. Although careful not to yield to superstition, the Latins know how to contemplate with emotion: their philosophy of the sky is a philosophy of enthusiasm.
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Rubens and the Stoic Baroque: Classical Stoic Ethics, Rhetoric, and Natural Philosophy in Rubens’s StyleNutting, Catherine M. 18 January 2018 (has links)
Rubens is known as a painter; he should also be defined as an art theorist. Following Robert Williams’ theory that Early Modern art became philosophical, I believe that style can connote art theoretical interests and philosophical models, and that in Rubens’s case, these included the classical Stoic. While it would be possible to trace Rubens’s commitment to Stoicism in his subject matter, I investigate it in his style, taking a Baxandalian approach to inferential criticism. I focus on Rubens’s formal choices, his varied brushwork, and his ability to create a vibrant picture plane.
My study is divided into chapters on Ethics, Logic, and Physics. In Chapter One I treat Stoic moral philosophy as an influence in the design of Rubens’s paintings, consider similarities between classical and Early Modern interest in viewer/reader response, and argue that Baroque artists could use style to avoid dogma while targeting viewers’ personal transformation. In Chapter Two I focus on Rhetoric, a section of the Stoic philosophy of Logic. Stoic Logic privileged truth: that is, it centred on investigating existing reality. As such, Stoic rhetorical theory and the classical literature influenced by it promoted a style that is complex and nuanced. I relate this to the Early Modern interest in copia, arguing that this includes Rubens’s painterly style which, apropos copia, should be better termed the Abundant Style. In Chapter Three I explore similarities between Stoic Natural Philosophy and the Early Modern artistic interest in the unified visual field. The Stoics defined the natural world as eternally moving and mixing; with force fields, energy, and elements in constant relationships of cause/effect. The Stoic concept of natural sympathy was a notion of material/energetic interrelatedness in which the world was seen as a living body, and the divine inhered in matter. I consider ways that these classical Stoic concepts of transformation, realism, and vivified matter might be discerned in Rubens’s style. / Graduate / 2023-12-14
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