Zeno of Sidon

Zeno of Sidon (Greek: Ζήνων ὁ Σιδώνιος; c. 150 – c. 75 BC[1]) was an Epicurean philosopher from the Phoenician city of Sidon. His writings have not survived, but there are some epitomes of his lectures preserved among the writings of his pupil Philodemus.

Zenon
Bornc. 150 BC
Sidon, Coele-Syria, Seleucid Empire
Diedc. 75 BC
prob. Athens
EraHellenistic philosophy
RegionWestern philosophy
SchoolEpicureanism
Main interests
Ethics, mathematics

Life

Zeno was born in city of Sidon as confirmed by the Lebanese philosopher Said Akl, who proved that Zeno was born on the hills east to the modern city of Saida, in a district that is called Karm El Razzine in the village of Miye ou Miye. He was a contemporary of Cicero, who heard him when at Athens.[2][3]

He was sometimes termed the "leading Epicurean." (Latin: Coryphaeus Epicureorum)[2] Cicero states that Zeno was contemptuous of other philosophers, and even called Socrates "the Attic Buffoon (scurram Atticum)."[4] He was a disciple of Apollodorus,[5] and Cicero and Diogenes Laërtius both describe him as an accurate and polished thinker.[6][2][7]

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.[6][3]

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 Criticism[8] and On Anger.[9]

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 (Greek: ἀρχαί) of geometry cannot, on their own, be proved:

[Some] admit the principles but deny that the propositions coming after the principles can be demonstrated unless they grant something that is not contained in the principles. This method of controversy was followed by Zeno of Sidon, who belonged to the school of Epicurus, and against whom Posidonius has written a whole book.[10]

Notes
  1. Dorandi 1999, p. 52.
  2. Cicero, de Natura Deorum, i. 59 .
  3. Cicero, Tusculan Disputations, iii. 17.
  4. Cicero, de Natura Deorum, i. 93.
  5. Laërtius 1925b, § 26
  6.  One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Zeno of Sidon". Encyclopædia Britannica. 28 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 972.
  7. Laërtius 1925, § 35
  8. PHerc. 1471
  9. PHerc. 182
  10. Proclus, ad I. Euclid. iii.

References
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