Epicureans on kingship

McConnell, Sean (2010) Epicureans on kingship. The Cambridge Classical Journal, 56. pp. 178-198. ISSN 1750-2705

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Abstract

Diogenes Laertius lists in his catalogue of Epicurus' works (10.28) a treatise On Kingship, which is unfortunately no longer extant. Owing to the Epicureans' antipathy to politics, such a work might be viewed with surprise and presumed to be virulently negative in outlook. Indeed, Plutarch reports that the Epicureans wrote on kingship only to ward people away from living in the company of kings (Adv. Col. 1127a) and that they maintained that to be king oneself was a terrible mistake (Adv. Col. 1125c-d). However, the scattered evidence that remains suggests the Epicurean views on kingship were both nuanced and sophisticated. In this paper I seek to reconstruct a viable account of the Epicurean position on kingship.

Item Type:	Article
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Arts and Humanities > School of Philosophy (former - to 2014)
UEA Research Groups:	Faculty of Arts and Humanities > Research Groups > Ancient Philosophy (former - to 2017)
Depositing User:	Davide Rizza
Date Deposited:	21 Feb 2012 15:00
Last Modified:	21 Jul 2023 09:21
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/37161
DOI:	10.1017/S1750270500000312

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