COMPARING LUCRETIUS AND PLATO

Comparing Lucretius and Plato

Comparing Lucretius and Plato

An example of odd reasoning: in Plato's Timaeus section 44 (P 111) regarding 'diseases of the body' he says: “The origin of diseases should be obvious. The body is composed of four elements-earth, fire, air, and water; and disorders and diseases are caused by an unnatural excess or deficiency of any of them,…” I'm not sure how any of this is 'obvious' by any means. This could only be obvious to one situated in that particular historical and cultural context. How would one go about experimentally verifying such suppositions?

Lucretius, who doesn't ...