Lucretius III - by Thomas Nail (Paperback)

About the Book

A guidebook to living in a world that's destined to die, through a new reading of Lucretius' De Rerum Natura

Book Synopsis

For Lucretius, history means something surprisingly different than we ordinarily think. Instead of thinking of history in terms of time, he thought of it in terms of motion. This book unpacks the implications of this unique kinetic philosophy of history. In the final volume of his trilogy on Lucretius, Thomas Nail argues that in books five and six of De Rerum Natura, Lucretius described a world born to die - long before humans theorised about thermodynamics or began to see the catastrophic consequences of man-made climate change. What does it mean to live in such a world; a world that is increasinly obviously our world? Nail shows us how De Rerum Natura provides a guidebook for us to answer this question.

From the Back Cover

Offers a new theory of history through an original reading of Lucretius' De Rerum Natura For Lucretius, history means something surprisingly different than we ordinarily think. Instead of thinking of history in terms of time, he thought of it in terms of motion. This book unpacks the implications of this unique kinetic philosophy of history. In the final volume of his trilogy on De Rerum Natura, Thomas Nail argues that in books five and six, Lucretius described a world born to die. What does it mean to live in such a world? De Rerum Natura provides a guidebook to answering this question. Thomas Nail is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Denver. He is the author of Lucretius I: An Ontology of Motion and Lucretius II: An Ethics of Motion.

Review Quotes

In an age of pandemics and climate change, Nail offers a Lucretian path to a less destructive and more beautiful world. For a decade, Nail has walked step-by-step with Lucretius. With this concluding volume of the Trilogy, we are invited to follow that ancient philosopher of movement through our history and into our precarious future.-- "Ryan J. Johnson, Elon University"

In writing a history of matter and of nature, Thomas Nail argues, we are only now catching up with Lucretius' insights. This concluding volume of Nail's impassioned and compelling trilogy continues to pose fresh challenges, philosophical, literary, and historical, to received interpretations of Lucretius.--Duncan F. Kennedy, University of Bristol

Presenting numerous challenges to traditional perspectives on the Lucretian contribution to literature and philosophy, this volume will both encourage readers to reengage with the poem and stimulate vigorous debate as to its contemporary significance.--J. S. Louzonis "CHOICE"

About the Author

Thomas Nail is Distinguished Scholar and Professor of Philosophy at the University of Denver. He is the award-winning author of eight prestigious University Press books which cover a wide range of topics including migration, borders, technology, digital media, history, science, economics, contemporary politics and climate change. His current research focuses on the influence of mobility on society and the arts in the 21st century. His work has been translated into ten major languages and cited across more than 20 academic disciplines. His published books are Marx in Motion: A New Materialist Marxism (Oxford University Press, 2020), Lucretius II: An Ethics of Motion (Edinburgh University Press, 2020), Theory of the Image (Oxford University Press, 2019), Being and Motion (Oxford University Press, 2018), Lucretius I: An Ontology of Motion (Edinburgh University Press, 2018), Theory of the Border (Oxford University Press, 2016), The Figure of the Migrant (Stanford University Press, 2015) and Returning to Revolution: Deleuze, Guattari, and Zapatismo (Edinburgh University Press, 2012). He also writes for Aeon: Ideas and Culture, The Huffington Post, Quartz, Pacific Standard: The Science of Society, History News Network and Monthly Review.