Lucretius II: An Ethics of Motion

A pathbreaking new reading of Lucretius' materialist ethicsHuman suffering, the fear of death, war, poverty, ecological destruction and social inequality: almost 2,000 ago Lucretius proposed an ethics of motion as simple and stunning solution to these ethical problems. Thomas Nail argues that Lucretius was the first to locate the core of all these ethical ills in our obsession with stasis, our fear of movement and our hatred of matter. Instead of trying to transcend nature with our minds, escape it with our immortal souls and dominate it with our technologies, Lucretius was perhaps the first in the Western tradition to forcefully argue for a completely materialist, immanent and naturalistic ethics based on moving well with and as nature. If we want to survive and live well on this planet, Lucretius taught us, our best chance is not to struggle against nature but to embrace it and facilitate its movement.Lucretius II is the second installment in Thomas Nail's transformative reading of Lucretius' didactic poem De Rerum Natura, which can be read individually or as a trilogy. Lucretius I covered books 1 and 2 of De Rerum Natura and looked at Lucretius' ontology; this volume covers books 3 and 4 and Lucretius' ethics. The third and final volume will cover books 5 and 6.
Human suffering, the fear of death, war, poverty, ecological destruction and social inequality: Thomas Nail shows that Lucretius proposed an ethics of motion as simple and stunning solution to these ethical problems in his first-century BC didactic poem De Rerum Natura.
An ancient ethics for modern lifeDevelops an original ethics of motion for the 21st century from Lucretius' didactic poem De Rerum NaturaArgues uniquely that Lucretius had a distinct ethical theory from EpicurusPuts Lucretius in conversation with contemporary physics and new materialismLucretius II launch offerFind out where it all started: we're offering a free ebook of Lucretius I when you buy a copy of Lucretius II. Just add a copy of Lucretius II (paperback, hardback or ebook) and a Lucretius I ebook to your basket, and enter the code Lucretius2 when you check out.Visit the webpage for Lucretius IHuman suffering, the fear of death, war, poverty, ecological destruction and social inequality: almost 2,000 ago Lucretius proposed an ethics of motion as simple and stunning solution to these ethical problems. Thomas Nail argues that Lucretius was the first to locate the core of all these ethical ills in our obsession with stasis, our fear of movement and our hatred of matter. Instead of trying to transcend nature with our minds, escape it with our immortal souls and dominate it with our technologies, Lucretius was perhaps the first in the Western tradition to forcefully argue for a completely materialist, immanent and naturalistic ethics based on moving well with and as nature. If we want to survive and live well on this planet, Lucretius taught us, our best chance is not to struggle against nature but to embrace it and facilitate its movement.Lucretius II is the second installment in Thomas Nail's transformative reading of Lucretius' didactic poem De Rerum Natura, which can be read individually or as a trilogy. Lucretius I covered books 1 and 2 of De Rerum Natura and looked at Lucretius' ontology; this volume covers books 3 and 4 and Lucretius' ethics. The third and final volume will cover books 5 and 6. Human suffering, the fear of death, war, poverty, ecological destruction and social inequality: almost 2,000 ago Lucretius proposed an ethics of motion as simple and stunning solution to these ethical problems. Thomas Nail argues that Lucretius was the first to locate the core of all these ethical ills in our obsession with stasis, our fear of movement and our hatred of matter. Instead of trying to transcend nature with our minds, escape it with our immortal souls and dominate it with our technologies, Lucretius was perhaps the first in the Western tradition to forcefully argue for a completely materialist, immanent and naturalistic ethics based on moving well with and as nature. If we want to survive and live well on this planet, Lucretius taught us, our best chance is not to struggle against nature but to embrace it and facilitate its movement.