Divination and Human Nature: A Cognitive History of Intuition in Classical Antiquity | Agenda Bookshop Skip to content
Black Friday Sale Now On! | Buy 3 Get 1 Free on all books | Instore & Online.
Black Friday Sale Now On! | Buy 3 Get 1 Free on all books | Instore & Online.
A01=Peter Struck
A01=Peter T. Struck
Age Group_Uncategorized
Age Group_Uncategorized
Author_Peter Struck
Author_Peter T. Struck
automatic-update
Category1=Non-Fiction
Category=HBLA1
Category=HRAB
Category=HRKP3
Category=HRKP4
COP=United States
Delivery_Delivery within 10-20 working days
Language_English
PA=Available
Price_€20 to €50
PS=Active
softlaunch

Divination and Human Nature: A Cognitive History of Intuition in Classical Antiquity

English

By (author): Peter Struck Peter T. Struck

Divination and Human Nature casts a new perspective on the rich tradition of ancient divinationthe reading of divine signs in oracles, omens, and dreams. Popular attitudes during classical antiquity saw these readings as signs from the gods while modern scholars have treated such beliefs as primitive superstitions. In this book, Peter Struck reveals instead that such phenomena provoked an entirely different accounting from the ancient philosophers. These philosophers produced subtle studies into what was an odd but observable factthat humans could sometimes have uncanny insightsand their work signifies an early chapter in the cognitive history of intuition.

Examining the writings of Plato, Aristotle, the Stoics, and the Neoplatonists, Struck demonstrates that they all observed how, setting aside the charlatans and swindlers, some people had premonitions defying the typical bounds of rationality. Given the wide differences among these ancient thinkers, Struck notes that they converged on seeing this surplus insight as an artifact of human nature, projections produced under specific conditions by our physiology. For the philosophers, such unexplained insights invited a speculative search for an alternative and more naturalistic system of cognition.

Recovering a lost piece of an ancient tradition, Divination and Human Nature illustrates how philosophers of the classical era interpreted the phenomena of divination as a practice closer to intuition and instinct than magic.

See more
Current price €35.99
Original price €39.99
Save 10%
A01=Peter StruckA01=Peter T. StruckAge Group_UncategorizedAuthor_Peter StruckAuthor_Peter T. Struckautomatic-updateCategory1=Non-FictionCategory=HBLA1Category=HRABCategory=HRKP3Category=HRKP4COP=United StatesDelivery_Delivery within 10-20 working daysLanguage_EnglishPA=AvailablePrice_€20 to €50PS=Activesoftlaunch
Delivery/Collection within 10-20 working days
Product Details
  • Dimensions: 152 x 235mm
  • Publication Date: 23 Oct 2018
  • Publisher: Princeton University Press
  • Publication City/Country: United States
  • Language: English
  • ISBN13: 9780691183459

About Peter StruckPeter T. Struck

Peter T. Struck is the Evan C. Thompson Term Professor of Classical Studies at the University of Pennsylvania. He is the author of Birth of the Symbol: Ancient Readers at the Limits of Their Texts (Princeton).

Customer Reviews

Be the first to write a review
0%
(0)
0%
(0)
0%
(0)
0%
(0)
0%
(0)
We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue we'll assume that you are understand this. Learn more
Accept