Theophrastus of Eresus

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Theophrastus

Theophrastos of Eresos ( Greek Θεόφραστος Theóphrastos ; * around 371 BC to Eresos on the island of Lesbos ; † around 287 BC in Athens ), German also Theophrastus , was a Greek philosopher and naturalist. He was an important student of Aristotle and, as his successor, head of the Peripatetic School. Its botanical author's abbreviation is “ Theophr. "

Life

Theophrast was initially a member of Plato's academy before he followed Aristotle in the Peripatos founded by him. After Strabo he was originally called Tyrtamos and received the name Theophrastus from Aristotle. Theophrastus was the most important student and after Aristotle's death , after taking over the scholarchate (school leadership), had 322 up to 2000 students. Theophrastus is the author of around 200 writings on dialectical , metaphysical , moral and physical content and on logic , some of which are natural historical and philosophical and some contain fragments from larger works. His historical work on the doctrines of the pre-Socratic natural philosophers , physikon doxai , is lost. Theophrast was 85 years old and, according to a report by Diogenes Laertios , which was probably meant ironically, died of "waning zeal for work".

As an ancient boundary stone shows, Theophrast received a garden from his pupil Demetrios von Phaleron , which is now part of the National Garden in Athens. There was also a sanctuary and library in the garden.

Teaching

philosophy

Theophrastus did not so much develop his own philosophy as he took over the teleology of Aristotle critically. While Aristotle still considered the causa finalis as the first cause (prima causa) , it can be observed in Theophrastus in metaphysics that a shift towards the causa efficiens takes place in him. The main difference to the ontology of Aristotle (and that of Plato) lies in the fact that natural phenomena that are not purposeful, but nonetheless regular, e.g. B. Nipples in males, are believed to be caused by the causa efficiens . Overall, the traditional writings give the picture of a much more moderate teleology, with the writing about fatigue (peri kopon) even appearing mechanistic. Theophrast's turn to an understanding of causality that resembles the modern more than the Aristotelian one explains why the Epicureans adopted a more materialistic mentality on the one hand, and the Stoics who referred to Heraclitus rejected it on the other .

botany

Historia plantarum , 1549

Theophrastus is considered to be the first scholar who seriously dealt with tree and wood science. The historical background was an acute shortage of wood in Athens after Alexander the Great banned the export of strong wood from Macedonia . As a result, the government in Athens no longer had enough shipbuilding timber available to expand its fleet, which ultimately cost them control of the sea trade routes of the Aegean .

In his Natural History of Plants , Theophrast deals - based less on his own studies and more on reports from farmers, travelers, woodcutters and coal burners - above all questions of wood technology and the use of wood, but also local knowledge . He reports about Harpalus , who during his time as governor of Alexander the Great in Babylon tried in vain to grow Greek trees there. From this failed undertaking Theophrast concludes:

"But that every plant loves its own soil and its own air mixture, it is clear from this (...) that there are plants that either do not grow at all in different places or, if they are planted, do not grow, bear no fruit and im bad guesswork (...) but all become more beautiful and stronger when they grow on their own peculiar soil. The wild growing [trees] each have their appropriate location, as well as the tame ones. "

Theophrastus also recognized some of the basic rules of silviculture . He wrote about the effects of stand density:

“The crowded [trees] grow and spread out much more in length; therefore they are knotless, straight and slender, and the most beautiful oars are made of them. The solitary ones grow more in width and thickness; therefore they are gnarled, gnarled and on the whole firmer than those that grow crowded. "

The forest historian Walter Kremser therefore describes Theophrast not only as the founder of dendrology , but also as the very first forest scientist .

reception

In the 17th century, an anonymous author wrote Theophrastus redivivus , in which he criticized religion from an atheistic point of view, citing Theophrastus, who was his forerunner.

Charles Plumier named a genus of plants Eresia in honor of Theophrast . Carl von Linné later changes this name to Theophrasta . It belongs to the family of Theophrastaceae . In addition, the following species are named after him: Tarucus theophrastus , Abutilon theophrasti , Phoenix theophrasti , Hesperis theophrasti , Cerastium theophrasti , Fritillaria theophrasti and Tulipa theophrasti .

The lunar crater Theophrastus was named after Theophrastus in 1973.

The mineral theophrastite described by Theodor Marcopoulos and Maria Economou in 1980 (published 1981) was also named after Theophrastos.

Works

  • One of his most important writings is characters , in which he describes weaknesses and misconduct of people and assigns them to certain characters .
    • Theophrasti Characteres. Edited by Heinrich Eduard Foss. Teubner, Leipzig 1858 ( digitized version ).
    • Theophrasti Characteres. Edited by Eugen Petersen . Breitkopf & Härtel, Leipzig 1859.
    • Theophrast's characters (= Greek prose writers in new translations. Vol. 300). Translation by Carl Friedrich Schnitzer. Metzler, Stuttgart 1859.
    • Theophrast's characters. Translated and explained by Wilhelm Binder. Krais & Hoffmann, Stuttgart 1865 ( digitized ).
    • Characters. Greek and German (= Universal Library . No. 619) Translated and edited. v. Dietrich Klose. With an afterword by Peter Steinmetz . Reclam, Stuttgart 1970, ISBN 3-15-000619-8 .
    • Characters (= Insel-Bücherei . No. 971). Transferred, provided with an afterword and notes, and edited by Dietrich Ebener . Insel, Leipzig 1972.
    • Characters. Thirty character sketches (= Insel-Taschenbuch. Vol. 2662). Translated by Kurt Steinmann . Insel, Frankfurt am Main / Leipzig 2000, ISBN 3-458-34362-8 .
  • Natural history of plants. Edited by Schneider, Leipzig 1818–21, 5 vols .; German by Kurt Sprengel , Altona 1822, 2 vols.
  • A complete edition of the still extant of his writings ( theophrasti Eresii opera omnia quae supersunt ) concerned Christian Friedrich Heinrich Wimmer (Leipzig 1854-62, 3 vols., And 2nd ed. Paris 1866, 1 vol.).
  • Theophrast, De odoribus [“About the smells”]. Edited, translated into German and commented by Ulrich Eigler and Georg Wöhrle . Stuttgart 1993, ISBN 3-519-07486-9 .
  • Theophrastus, De lapidibus . [“About the stones” is one of the most influential and widely received ancient writings on stones.]
    • Theophrastus, De lapidibus . Edited, introduced, translated and commented by DE Eichholz. Oxford 1965.
    • Theophrastus, About the stones . Ancient Greek / German in revision and edition by Mag.Markus W. Benes, Vienna 2020.
  • Theophrast's metaphysics. Edited, translated and commented by Jörn Henrich . Saur, Munich and Leipzig 2000 (= contributions to antiquity. Volume 139), ISBN 3-598-77688-8 .
  • Metaphysics (= Philosophical Library. Vol. 516). Greek-German. Translated and edited with notes by Gregor Damschen , Dominic Kaegi and Enno Rudolph . With an introduction by Gregor Damschen and Enno Rudolph. Greek text based on the edition “Théophraste: Métaphysique” by André Laks and Glenn W. Most . Meiner, Hamburg 2012, ISBN 978-3-7873-2169-8 .

literature

Overview representations in manuals

Overall presentations and investigations

  • Georg Wöhrle : Theophrast of Eresos. Universal scientist in the circle of Aristotle and founder of scientific botany (= AKAN individual writings. Volume 13). Scientific publishing house Trier 2019, ISBN 978-3-86821-796-4 .
  • Georg Wöhrle : Theophrast's method in his botanical writings (= studies on ancient philosophy. Volume 13.) Grüner, Amsterdam 1985, ISBN 90-6032-257-6 .
  • Stefan Lobenhofer: Theophrast von Eresos: About seeds that can be well or less well preserved (translation and commentary) . In: Nicole C. Karafyllis (Hrsg.): Theorien der Lebendsammlung. Plants, microbes and animals as biofacts in gene banks. (= Life sciences in dialogue. Volume 25). Karl Alber, Freiburg / Munich 2018, ISBN 978-3-495-48975-8 , pp. 28–38.
  • William W. Fortenbaugh : Sources for the ethics of Theophrast (= studies of ancient philosophy. Volume 12). Grüner, Amsterdam 1984, ISBN 90-6032-218-5 .
  • Gustav Senn: The development of the biological research method in antiquity and its fundamental support by Theophrast von Eresos (= publications of the Swiss Society for the History of Medicine and Natural Sciences. 8 [a]). Sauerländer, Aarau 1933.
  • William Wall Fortenbaugh, Pamela M. Huby and Anthony A. Long (Eds.): Theophrastus of Eresus - On his life and work , New Brunswick / London 1985.
  • William Wall Fortenbaugh among others: Theophrastus of Eresus. Sources for his life, writings, thought, and influence . Brill, Leiden 1992 ff., ISBN 90-04-09440-7 (collection of sources: two volumes of source texts with English translation, plus a number of commentary volumes).
    • Volume 1: Life, writings, various reports, logic, physics, metaphysics, theology, mathematics , 1992, ISBN 90-04-09438-5 .
    • Volume 2: Psychology, human physiology, living creatures, botany, ethics, religion, politics, rhethoric and poetics, music, miscellanea , 2nd edition, 1993, ISBN 90-04-09439-3 .
    • Commentary , Volume 2: Logic , 2007, ISBN 90-04-15298-9 .
    • Commentary , Volume 9.2: Sources on Discoveries and Beginnings, Proverbs et al. (Texts 727-741) , 2014, ISBN 978-90-04-26882-1 .
  • JM van Ophuijsen, M. van Raalte (Eds.): Theophrastus - Reappraising the sources , New Brunswick / London 1998.
  • Innocentius M. Bochenski: La logique de Théophraste , Friborg 1947.
  • Edmond Barbotin: La théorie aristotélicienne de l'intellect d'après Théophraste . Louvain / Paris 1954.
  • Giancarlo Movia: Anima e intelletto - Ricerche sulla psicologia peripatetica da Teofrasto a Cratippo . Padua 1968.
  • Andreas Kamp: History of Philosophy as History of Reception - The Reaction to Aristotle's De Anima-Noetik. Early Hellenism . Amsterdam / Philadelphia 2001, pp. 58-181.
  • Giovanni Reale: Teofrasto e la sua aporetica metafisica - Saggio di ricostruzione e di interpretazione storico-filosofica con traduzione e commento della «Metafisica» . Brescia 1964.
  • Ewald Wagner , Peter Steinmetz : The Syrian excerpt from the meteorology of Theophrast (= treatises of the humanities and social sciences class of the Academy of Sciences and Literature in Mainz. Born in 1964, No. 1).

Web links

Commons : Theophrastos  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Remarks

  1. ↑ Little Pauly, Article Theophrastus
  2. ↑ Diog. Laert. 5.36f.
  3. ↑ Diog. Laert. 5.42-50.
  4. ↑ Diog. Laert. 5.40.
  5. ^ Hans Rupprecht Goette , Jürgen Hammerstaedt : The ancient Athens. A literary city guide . Beck, Munich, ISBN 3-406-51665-3 , p. 215 .
  6. ↑ Quoted from the German translation by Kurt Sprengel , 1822.
  7. ↑ Quoted from Kurt Sprengel, 1822.
  8. ^ Walter Kremser: Lower Saxony Forest History. An integrated cultural history of north-west German forestry . Rotenburger Schriften, special volume 32. Heimatbund Rotenburg / Wümme, Rotenburg (Wümme) 1990, pp. 24-27.
  9. ^ Oskar von Kirchner : The botanical writings of Theophrastus . Leipzig 1874.
  10. ^ Charles Plumier: Nova Plantarum Americanarum Genera . Leiden 1703, p. 8.
  11. ^ Carl von Linné: Critica Botanica . Leiden 1737, p. 94; Carl von Linné: Genera Plantarum . Leiden 1742, p. 66.
  12. ↑ Theodor Marcopoulos, Maria Economou: Theophrastite, Ni (OH) 2 , a new mineral from northern Greece . In: American Mineralogist . tape 66 , 1981, pp. 1020-1021 ( minsocam.org [PDF; 205 kB ; accessed on May 28, 2018]).
personal data
SURNAME Theophrastus of Eresus
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Θεόφραστος (Greek)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Greek philosopher and naturalist
DATE OF BIRTH between 374 BC BC and 369 BC Chr.
PLACE OF BIRTH Eresos on the island of Lesbos
DATE OF DEATH between 288 BC BC and 285 BC Chr.
Place of death Athens