Diogène Laërce

What Dominique Pagani says

Dominique Pagani sees Diogenes Laertius as a compiler of the opinions of the ancient philosophers, of uneven value and unreliable, yet impossible to replace12. He notes that the Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers mixes legends, such as that of the golden thigh, with valuable testimonies on Democritus, on the Presocratics and, more fleetingly, on Plato's teaching. He takes two points above all from it. First, Diogenes Laertius brings Plato into the history of theatre and of literary genres: by adding an interlocutor to tragedy, Plato is said to have created the dialogue34. Second, he attributes to him the saying that Socrates brought philosophy down from the heavens to the earth. Pagani asks that it be taken literally5 and uses it to place Socrates and Plato within the city, and not only within knowledge6. He also points out that Kant cites this chronicler of Antiquity.

1. 1Adamov (Arthur)18 Feb 2016 · 1:36
2. 2#3.5 D'Ulysse à Dédale1 Aug 2017 · 9:00
3. 310#7 L'éco-nazillonisme "post-moderne" - Le Gorgias de Platon23 Dec 2021 · 50:40
4. 4De Platon à la révolution mondiale par Dominique Pagani14 Jul 2022 · 3:09
5. 59 #16 Comment des sciences de l'histoire peuvent-elles être réelles?4 Mar 2021 · 35:47
6. 6D. Pagani / Réponse de M. Clouscard à C. Morilhat • Seconde Partie10 Sept 2019 · 1:23:43

Summary produced automatically from 13 of the passages below, to be reviewed; the numbers link to the moment in the session.