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Encyclopedia of Renaissance Philosophy pp 1–3Cite as

Diogenes Laertius

Born: Unknown, Likely Early Third Century CE, Greek-Speaking Mediterranean

Died: Unknown, Likely Late Third Century CE, Greek-Speaking Mediterranean

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Abstract

Known for his compendium Lives of Eminent Philosophers (Βίοι καὶ γνῶμαι τῶν ἐν φιλοσοφίᾳ εὐδοκιμησάντων), which contains short biographies of 82 classical philosophers. The compendium is extremely unreliable, but provides many otherwise-unknown biographical details, titles of lost works, and more than a thousand excerpts and references to more than 250 authors, including three long letters of Epicurus, which are the only works by Epicurus surviving from antiquity.

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References

Primary Sources

  • Diogenes, Laertius. 1570. Diogenous Laertiou Peri bion, dogmaton kai apophthegmaton ton en philosophia eudokimesanton. Geneva: Stephanus.

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  • Diogenes, Laertius. 1583. Isaaci Hortiboni notae, ad Diogenis Laertii libros de vitis, dictis & decretis principum philosophorum. Morges, Switzerland: Ioannis le Preux.

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  • Diogenes, Laertius. 1593. Diogenous Laertiou peri bion, dogmaton kai apophthegmaton ton philosophia eudokimesanton, bibliai. ed. Isaac and Meric Casaubon. Geneva: Stephanus.

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  • Diogenes, Laertius. 1664. Laertiou Diogenous Peri bion dogmaton kai apophthegmaton ton en philosophia eudokimesanton biblia 10. ed. Gilles Ménage. London: Impensis Octaviani Pulleyn ..., Typis Tho. Ratcliffe.

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Secondary Literature

  • Hankins, J., and A. Palmer. 2008. The recovery of ancient philosophy in the renaissance: A brief guide. Florence: Olschki.

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  • Hicks, R.D. 1972. “Introduction” in Diogenes Laertius. Lives of eminent philosophers. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

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  • Le Page, J.L. 2012. The revival of antique philosophy in the renaissance. New York: Palgrave.

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  • Santinello, G. 2013. Models of the history of philosophy: From its origins in the renaissance to the ‘Historia Philosophica.’ Dordrecht: Springer.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of History, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA

    Ada Palmer

Authors
  1. Ada Palmer
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Correspondence to Ada Palmer .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. of Philosophy a. Cultural Heritage, Università Ca’ Foscari Venezia Dept. of Philosophy a. Cultural Heritage, Venezia, Italy

    Marco Sgarbi

Section Editor information

  1. Department of Literary Studies, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium

    Teodoro Katinis

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Palmer, A. (2018). Diogenes Laertius. In: Sgarbi, M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Renaissance Philosophy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-02848-4_578-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-02848-4_578-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-02848-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-02848-4

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Religion and PhilosophyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Humanities

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