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Affective lexica between Hellenistic philosophy and Christian theology
Zecher, Jonathan
Zecher, Jonathan
Author
Abstract
Doxographies and school texts used lists to distil philosophical reflection on emotional experience, to provide a pleasant variety in speech-craft, and to craft a language for articulating the varieties of pain. These lists have largely been ignored by scholars of ancient emotion and philosophy alike, but were widely utilized among ancient students and readers. They follow a taxonomic structure, with the Stoic generic passions (pain, pleasure, fear, and desire) further divided into species. Pain (λύπη/dolor) comprehends up to twenty-five species, each with its own definition. The species-terms come from medicine, epic and theatrical poetry, as well as more mundane contexts, while the definitions offered comprise descriptions of either the sensation of pain or its social circumstances. These lists were taken up by Christian authors and modified in accordance with theological commitments and new emotional norms. Together, it will be argued, terms and definitions craft a language for pain as well as scripts for its performance, rooted in a shared intellectual and social culture. This language was put to use in scientific, philosophical, forensic, and narrative contexts as authors sought out language to express their experience or to arouse it in their audience.
Keywords
doxography, pain, emotion, Stoicism, ancient medicine, philosophy
Date
2023
Type
Book chapter
Journal
Book
Pain narratives in Greco-Roman writings : Studies in the representation of physical and mental suffering
Volume
Issue
Page Range
273-298
Article Number
ACU Department
Institute for Religion and Critical Inquiry
Faculty of Theology and Philosophy
Faculty of Theology and Philosophy
Collections
Relation URI
Event URL
Open Access Status
License
All rights reserved
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Controlled
Notes
Copyright 2023 by Jacqueline R. Clarke, Daniel King and Han Baltussen. Published by Koninklijke Brill nv,
Leiden, The Netherlands.