Hellenistic Philosophy Reading Group
Trinity Term 2025
Oriel College, MacGregor Room (third quad)
Mondays, 2-3.30pm
Convenors: Alexander Bown, Luca Castagnoli, Marion Durand, Simon Shogry and Stefan Sienkiewicz.
Epicurus Letter to Herodotus
This term we will read Epicurus’ Letter to Herodotus, in which Epicurus offers a compendium of the fundamental aspects of his natural philosophy (including canonic, atomic theory, cosmology, psychology, theory of perception, meteorology…).
Each week a volunteer will translate a section and introduce some exegetical and philosophical questions raised by the text (but no extensive preparation will be expected of the weekly presenter!). Everyone is very welcome to attend, including those who did not join the reading group in previous terms/years.
For questions please contact Luca Castagnoli at luca.castagnoli@philosophy.ox.ac.uk
Week 1 – 35–39 Purpose of the letter; foundations of epistemology; the totality of things
Week 2 – 40–45 Void, infinity
Week 3 – 46–53 Eidōla and sensation
Week 4 – 54–59 Properties, minima
Week 5 – 60–66 Atomic motions, soul
Week 6 – 67–73 Soul (cont.), properties, time
Week 7 – 73–78 Cosmoi, language, meteorology
Week 8 – 79–83 Meteorology (cont.), how to achieve ataraxia
We will use the text printed in Dorandi’s 2013 CUP edition of for Diogenes Laertius X (35-83) – also available electronically on SOLO at https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/oxford/detail.action?docID=1139656...
English translations of the Letter to Herodotus which can be consulted include
Inwood’s and Gerson’s translation in Hellenistic Philosophy: Introductory Readings (Hackett 1998) https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/oxford/detail.action?pq-origsite=primo&docID=943864 and
White’s translation in Diogenes Laertius: Lives of Eminent Philosophers (CUP 2021) https://www-cambridge-org.ezproxy-prd.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/core/books/diogenes-laertius-lives-of-eminent-philosophers/FD9467CEDD39C0954DD0FB3567EA5D62
Hilary Term 2025
Oriel College, MacGregor Room (third quad)
Mondays, 2-3.30pm
Convenors: Alexander Bown, Luca Castagnoli, Marion Durand, Simon Shogry and Stefan Sienkiewicz.
Cicero, De Finibus I, Epicurus Letter to Menoeceus
This term we will finish reading Cicero De Finibus I and then move on to Epicurus’ Letter to Menoeceus (= Diogenes Laertius X.122-135). A provisional schedule is below. All are welcome. Please get in touch with the organisers if you would like to take the lead in translating
Week 1 – XVI 54 - XVIII 59 The fear of death and other irrational emotions; wisdom is necessary and sufficient for happiness, but not in the way the Stoics think; knowledge of physics as a means to tranquility; introductory remarks on friendship
Week 2 – XVIII 60 - XX 65 Defence of writing Latin philosophy continues; the ideal audience of the work; legal discourse vs. philosophical discourse; main question of the dialogue introduced: what is the highest human good?
Week 3 – XX 66 - XXI 72 Why is friendship good? Concluding remarks in defence of Epicurean ethics
Week 4 – Diogenes Laertius X.122-125 Philosophy must be studied by the young and the old; the nature of god; death is nothing to us
Week 5 – No meeting
Week 6 – Diogenes Laertius X.126-130 The Sage’s attitude towards death; the classification of desires; the method of selecting pleasures
Week 7 – Diogenes Laertius X.130- 135 Hedonism, correctly conceived, endorses self-sufficiency and simple living; virtue is instrumental for, and inseparable from, the pleasant life; god, fate, and chance
Week 8 – No meeting
Each week a volunteer will translate a section and introduce exegetical and philosophical questions raised by the text (but no extensive preparation will be expected of the weekly presenter!).
Michaelmas Term 2024
Oriel College, MacGregor Room (third quad)
Mondays, 2-3.30pm
Convenors: Alexander Bown, Luca Castagnoli, Marion Durand, Simon Shogry and Stefan Sienkiewicz.
Cicero, De Finibus I
In advance of the introduction of the new Mods paper on De Finibus I, we aim to read the first half or so of this text in MT 24. Here Cicero sets out the rationale for his project of doing moral philosophy in Latin and, through an interlocutor, Torquatus, presents the main lines of the Epicurean account of the highest human good.
A provisional schedule is below. All are welcome. Please get in touch with any of the organisers if you would like to take the lead in translating a chunk of text. Our goal is to finish the remainder of book I in HT 25.
Week 1 – I 1 - II 6 Prologue: Cicero’s defence of philosophising in Latin
Week 2 – III 7 - IV 12 Defence of writing Latin philosophy continues; the ideal audience of the work; legal discourse vs. philosophical discourse; main question of the dialogue introduced: what is the highest human good?
Week 3 – V 13 - VI 21 Introduction of interlocutors; Cicero’s acquaintance with contemporary Epicureans; Cicero’s criticism of Epicurean physics
Week 4 – VII 22 - VIII 28 Cicero’s (lacunose) criticism of Epicurean neglect of logic; Cicero’s criticism of psychological hedonism, using counter-examples from Torquatus’ family history; popular misconceptions of Epicurean axiology; the interlocutors object to the harshness of Cicero’s critiques; Torquatus offers to speak in defence of the Epicurean account of pleasure
Week 5 – VIII 28 - X 33 Pleasure as the highest human good; two arguments in support: a cradle argument and an argument from preconceptions; why others mistakenly reject hedonism; an Epicurean method of selecting pleasures
Week 6 – X 34 - XI 39. Torquatus’ illustrious ancestors successfully applied the Epicurean method of selection; the nature of pleasure and its two kinds; there is no intermediate state between pleasure and pain; the absence of pain is the upper limit of pleasure
Week 7 – XII 40 - XIV 46 Thought experiments which show that pleasure is the highest human good; transition to the topic of the virtues and their solely instrumental value for the highest human good; wisdom as a means to pleasure; Epicurus’ distinction among desires
Week 8 – XIV 47 - XVI 53 Temperance, courage, and justice are indispensable means to securing pleasure and tranquility
Each week a volunteer will translate a section and introduce exegetical and philosophical questions raised by the text (but no extensive preparation will be expected of the weekly presenter!).
Trinity Term 2024
Oriel College, MacGregor Room (third quad)
Tuesdays, 11am-12.30pm
Sextus Empiricus, Outlines of Pyrrhonism I
***Please note the change of day and time for Trinity Term 2024***
We will continue reading Book 1 of Sextus Empiricus’ Outlines of Pyrrhonism, including Sextus’ presentation of the ten modes of Aenesidemus, the five modes of Agrippa, the two modes, and Aenesidemus’ modes against causal explanations.
Week 1 – sects. 180-186 8 Modes against causal explanations
Week 2 – sects. 187-195 Sceptical prases 1
Week 3 – sects. 196-201 Sceptical prases 2
Week 4 – sects. 202-209 Sceptical prases 3
Week 5 – sects. 210-215 Heraclitus, Democritus, Cyrenaics
Week 6 – sects. 216-225 Protagoras, Plato, Xenophanes
Week 7 – sects. 226-235 Academics
Week 8 – sects. 236-241 Empiricists and Methodists
We will use the text printed in the LOEB (accompanied by Bury’s translation). You can access it for free at:
The translation by Bury is not especially reliable, however. For a superior translation, see Sextus Empiricus: Outlines of Scepticism, by J. Annas and J. Barnes, Cambridge 2000.
Each week a volunteer will translate a section and introduce exegetical and philosophical questions raised by the text (but no extensive preparation will be expected of the weekly presenter!).
For questions please feel free to contact Luca Castagnoli at luca.castagnoli@philosophy.ox.ac.uk
Convenors: Alexander Bown, Luca Castagnoli, Marion Durand, Simon Shogry and Stefan Sienkiewicz.
Hilary Term 2024
Oriel College, MacGregor Room (third quad)
Mondays, 2-3.30pm
Sextus Empiricus, Outlines of Pyrrhonism I
We will continue reading Book 1 of Sextus Empiricus’ Outlines of Pyrrhonism, including Sextus’ presentation of the ten modes of Aenesidemus, the five modes of Agrippa, the two modes, and Aenesidemus’ modes against causal explanations.
Week 1 – sects. 91-99 Brief recap of the modes so far + 3rd mode of Aenesidemus
Week 2 – sects. 100-117 4th mode of Aenesidemus (selections)
Week 3 – sects. 118-128 5th and 6th modes of Aenesidemus
Week 4 – sects. 129-144 7th, 8th and 9th modes of Aenesidemus (selections)
Week 5 – sects. 145-163 10th mode of Aenesidemus (selections)
Week 6 – sects. 164-174 The five modes of Agrippa, part 1
Week 7 – sects. 175-179 The five modes of Agrippa, part 2 + the two modes
Week 8 – sects. 180-186 The eight modes against causal explanations + final discussion of the modes
We will use the text printed in the LOEB (accompanied by Bury’s translation). You can access it for free at:
The translation by Bury is not especially reliable, however. For a superior translation, see Sextus Empiricus: Outlines of Scepticism, by J. Annas and J. Barnes, Cambridge 2000.
Each week a volunteer will translate a section and introduce exegetical and philosophical questions raised by the text (but no extensive preparation will be expected of the weekly presenter!).
For questions please feel free to contact Luca Castagnoli at luca.castagnoli@philosophy.ox.ac.uk
Convenors: Alexander Bown, Luca Castagnoli, Marion Durand, and Simon Shogry
Michaelmas Term 2023
Oriel College, MacGregor Room (third quad)
Mondays, 2-3.30pm
Sextus Empiricus, Outlines of Pyrrhonism I
We will read the first half of Book 1 of Sextus Empiricus’ Outlines of Pyrrhonism. Here, Sextus introduces Pyrrhonian scepticism and then begins to set out various sceptical strategies or patterns of argument, in the form of the ‘modes’.
Week 1 – sects. 1-11 Introduction to scepticism
Week 2 – sects. 12-20 The principles, commitments, and scope of scepticism
Week 3 – sects. 21-30 The criterion of scepticism; the end of scepticism
Week 4 – sects. 31-49 Introduction to the modes. Mode 1 (differences among animals), part 1 (origins; visual organs)
Week 5 – sects. 50-61 Mode 1 (differences among animals), part 2 (other sensory organs; preferences and aversions; conclusions)
Week 6 – sects. 62-78 Mode 1 (differences among animals), part 3 (bonus argument: the wonderful abilities of dogs)
Week 7 – sects. 79-89 Mode 2 (differences among humans)
Week 8 – sects. 90-99 Mode 3 (differences among the senses)
We will use the text printed in the LOEB (accompanied by Bury’s translation). You can access it for free at:
The translation by Bury is not especially reliable, however. For a superior translation, see Sextus Empiricus: Outlines of Scepticism, by J. Annas and J. Barnes, Cambridge 2000.
Each week a volunteer will translate a section and introduce exegetical and philosophical questions raised by the text (but no extensive preparation will be expected of the weekly presenter!).
For questions please feel free to contact Luca Castagnoli at luca.castagnoli@philosophy.ox.ac.uk
Convenors: Alexander Bown, Luca Castagnoli, Marion Durand, and Simon Shogry
Trinity Term 2023
Oriel College, MacGregor Room (third quad)
Mondays, 2-3.30pm
Plutarch, On Common Conceptions against the Stoics
We will continue reading Plutarch’s critical discussion of Stoic philosophy. The section of the text we will read this term focuses again on Stoic ethics.
Week 1 – sects. 16-17 Prudence (phronesis)
Week 2 No meeting
Week 3 – sects. 18-20 Evil and vice
Week 4 – sects. 21-22 Benefits for fools and sages
Week 5 – sect. 23-24 What is in accordance with nature and the good
Week 6 – sects. 25-26 The goal
Week 7 – sect. 27 The pursuit of the good
Week 8 – sects. 28-29 Love; conclusion of the discussion of ethics
We will use the text printed in the LOEB (accompanied by Cherniss’ translation), volume XIII part II of Plutarch’s Moralia. You can access it for free at:
https://www-loebclassics-com.ezproxy-prd.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/view/LCL470/1976/volume.xml
Each week a volunteer will translate a section and introduce exegetical and philosophical questions raised by the text (but no extensive preparation will be expected of the weekly presenter!).
For questions please feel free to contact Luca Castagnoli at luca.castagnoli@philosophy.ox.ac.uk
Convenors: Alexander Bown, Luca Castagnoli, Marion Durand, and Simon Shogry
Plutarch’s On Common Conceptions Against the Stoics
Cherniss, H. (1976) (ed. and trans. in English) Plutarch's Moralia, vol. XIII.2. [LOEB] Cambridge (Mass.) and London.
M. Casevitz and D. Babut (2002) (ed, trans. in French and comm.) Plutarque. Oeuvres Morales, tome XV, 2e partie. Traité 72: Sur les notions communes, contre les Stoïciens. Paris.
Plutarch and the Stoics
Karamanolis, G. (2020) ‘Plutarch’, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Summer 2020 Edition). URL = https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/sum2020/entries/plutarch/ .
Babut, D. (1969) Plutarque et le Stoicisme. Paris.
Hershbell, J. P. (1992) ‘Plutarch and Stoicism’, ANRW II.36.5: 3336–52.
Opsomer, J. (2014) ‘Plutarch and the Stoics’, in M. Beck (ed.) A Companion to Plutarch. Malden (Mass.) and Oxford: 88–103.
Hilary Term 2023
Oriel College, MacGregor Room (third quad)
Mondays, 2-3.30pm
Plutarch, On Common Conceptions against the Stoics
We will start reading Plutarch’s critical discussion of Stoic philosophy. The section of the text we will read this term focuses on Stoic ethics.
Week 1 – sects. 1-2 Introduction
Week 2 – sects. 3-6 Living in accordance with nature, indifferents and the good
Week 3 – sects. 7-8 The wise and the fool
Week 4 – sects. 9-10 The wise and the fool II
Week 5 – sect. 11 Suicide and indifferents
Week 6 – sects. 12-13 Consequences of views on suicide; the necessity of vice
Week 7 – sects. 14-15 Vice and evil
Week 7 – sects. 16-17 Prudence (phronesis)
Week 8 – sects. 18-19 Vice and evil II (+ recap)
We will use the text printed in the LOEB (accompanied by Cherniss’ translation), volume XIII part II of Plutarch’s Moralia. You can access it for free at:
https://www-loebclassics-com.ezproxy-prd.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/view/LCL470/1976/volume.xml
Each week a volunteer will translate a section and introduce exegetical and philosophical questions raised by the text (but no extensive preparation will be expected of the weekly presenter!).
For questions please feel free to contact Luca Castagnoli at luca.castagnoli@philosophy.ox.ac.uk
Convenors: Alexander Bown, Luca Castagnoli, Marion Durand, and Simon Shogry
Michaelmas Term 2022
Oriel College, MacGregor Room (third quad)
Mondays, 2-3.30pm
Cicero, De fato
Week 1: I 1 – III 6
Week 2: IV 7 – VI 12
Week 3: VII 13 – IX 20
Week 4: X 20 – XII 28 (down to quod fieri non potest)
Week 5: XII 28 – XV 33
Week 6: XV 34 – XVII 39
Week 7: XVII 40 – XIX 45
Week 8: XX 46–48 + conclusions
We will use the text of Sharples’ edition with introduction, translation and commentary. You can access it for free here.
Each week a volunteer will translate a section and introduce exegetical and philosophical questions raised by the text (but no extensive preparation will be expected of the weekly presenter!).
For questions please feel free to contact Luca Castagnoli at luca.castagnoli@philosophy.ox.ac.uk
Convenors: Alexander Bown, Luca Castagnoli, Marion Durand, and Simon Shogry
