Lives, doctrines and sentences of the famous philosophers

Lives, doctrines and sentences of the famous philosophers (title sometimes shortened in Lives of the philosophers ) is a work of Diogène Laërce and one of the only traces of many old Greek philosophers.

General characters of work

Several titles of work are found:

  • Λαερτίου διογένους βίων καὶ γνωμῶν τῶν ἐν φιλοσοφία εὐδοκιμησάντων καὶ τῶν ἑκάστη αἱρέσει ἀρεσάντων τῶν εἰς δέκα τὸ πρῶτον (manuscript of Florence: De Diogène Laërce, lives and thoughts of those which in philosophy were illustrated, and collection of the doctrines of each school in ten books - book first )
  • Λαερτίου διογένους βίοι καὶ γνῶμαι τῶν ἐν φιλοσοφία εὐδοκιμησάντων καὶ τῶν ἑκάστη αἱρέσει ἀρεσκόντων (manuscript of Paris)

The work, writing on a dubious date (as soon as possible at the beginning of IIIe century of our era, perhaps well later) is a compilation of the lives of philosophers, classified by school, while starting sometimes with the founder. Certain parts of work are perhaps not Diogène, and were undoubtedly added there tardily. With books III (47) and X (29) Diogène seems to address itself to a woman to which it would have dedicated its work.

Work raises at the same time like the successions (filiation of the philosophers), of the schools (classification of the schools, and exposed doctrines) and lives . The plan of each life is overall identical. Diogene starts by recalling the life of it, with an abundance of various anecdotes, which recall in particular the relations that it would have had with the other philosophers. The doctrines are recalled rapidly, sometimes with some inconsistencies. A list of works follows, the circumstances of death, and an epigram composed by Diogène Laërce.

The collection is composed of ten books. The first seven books follow an “Ionian” tradition starting from Thalès and Anaximandre. Book VII stops with the catalog of works of Chrysippe and it misses the notes of several philosophers Stoïcien S. the two following are all about of the Greek philosophers of the Italic peninsula (except Héraclite).

The last, devoted to Épicure, is unusual. It is one of most admiring (its end is qualified by Diogène of crowning) and it contains in addition to the summaries of long Letters which are one of our best document on the old epicureanism, the Lettre in Hérodote , Lettre in Pythoclès and Lettre in Ménécée . This chapter justifies the assumption that Diogène Laërce was itself an epicurean or that it at least had sympathies to this school.

Plan of work

Proémion (Introduction)

In the introduction, Diogène treats origin of philosophy, announces the plan of its work by classifying the philosophical schools. One can represent the plan wanted by Diogène by the following table (the purpose of this table is not exhaustive, it does not give all the philosophers about which the author speaks, but is to show the overall structure of work):

Deliver I the wise Seven

Deliver II Around Socrate

Deliver III Plato

Deliver the IV Académie

  • Speusippe
  • Xénocrate
  • Polémon of Athens
  • Cratès (academician)
  • Crantor
  • Arcésilas
  • Bion
  • Lacydès
  • Carnéade
  • Clitomaque

Deliver V Péripatéticiens

Deliver the VI Cynique S

Deliver the VII Stoïcien S

Miss (according to the contents of the Parisinus graecus 1759):

  • Zénon de Tarse
  • Diogène
  • Apollodore
  • Boéthos
  • Mnésarchidès
  • Mnasagoras
  • Nestor
  • Basilide
  • Dardanos
  • Antipatros
  • Héraclidès
  • Sosigénès
  • Panétios
  • Hécaton
  • Posidonios
  • Athénadore
  • another Athénadore
  • Antipatros
  • Arius
  • Cornutus

Deliver VIII Pythagoriciens

Deliver IX Isolés and skeptics

Deliver X Épicure

Sources of Diogène Laërce

  • See article List of the sources of Diogène Laërce.

See too

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