Zeno of Sidon

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Zeno of Sidon bigraphy, stories - Ancient Greek philosopher

Zeno of Sidon : biography

Zeno of Sidon (c. 150-c. 75 BCTiziano Dorandi, Chapter 2: Chronology, in Algra et al. (1999) The Cambridge History of Hellenistic Philosophy, page 52. Cambridge.) was an Epicurean philosopher from the Phoenician city of Sidon. His writings do not survive, but there are some epitomes of his lectures preserved among the writings of his pupil Philodemus.

Life

He was a contemporary of Cicero, who heard him when at Athens.Cicero, de Natura Deorum, i. 21.Cicero, Tusculan Disputations, iii. 17.

He was sometimes termed the "leading Epicurean" (). Cicero states that Zeno was contemptuous of other philosophers, and even called Socrates "the Attic Buffoon (scurram Atticum)."Cicero, de Natura Deorum, i. 93. He was a disciple of Apollodorus,Diogenes Laërtius, x. 26 and Cicero and Diogenes Laërtius both describe him as an accurate and polished thinker.Diogenes Laërtius, vii. 35

Notes

Category:2nd-century BC births Category:1st-century BC deaths Category:1st-century BC philosophers Category:Epicurean philosophers Category:Lebanese people Category:Roman-era philosophers in Athens

Philosophy

Zeno held that happiness is not merely dependent upon present enjoyment and prosperity, but also on a reasonable expectation of their continuance and appreciation.

Zeno’s writings have not survived, but among the charred papyrus remains at the Villa of the Papyri at Herculaneum, there is an Epitome of Conduct and Character from the Lectures of Zeno written by his pupil Philodemus. It contains the essays On Frank CriticismPHerc. 1471 and On Anger.PHerc. 182

Zeno also studied the philosophy of mathematics based on the derivation of all knowledge from experience. He criticized Euclid, seeking to show that deductions from the fundamental principles () of geometry cannot, on their own, be proved: