Euhormos: Greco Roman Studies in Anchoring Innovation9 Materia Philosophiae. Material Dimensions of Ancient Philosophy

Materia Philosophiae anchors ideas of early Greek philosophers in the material world they inhabited by asking how circumstances of that world (difficulties of travel, bulky scrolls, innovations in architecture and technology, familiar household objects) shaped what became philosophy and science. Ever since Thales fell into the well, popular imagination has pictured philosophers as abstracted from everyday reality. Materia Philosophiae: The Material Dimensions of Ancient Philosophy counters that view. Philosophy in ancient Greece grew out of and remained closely connected to the material realities around it—difficulties of travel, reliance on cumbersome scrolls, learning acquired literally at the foot of a master; but also the spread of coinage, contemporaneous achievements in technology and engineering, and contact with everyday household objects. By resituating philosophers in their material contexts, Materia Philosophiae opens research avenues that have not previously been explored in a single volume.