Work

Dangerous Liaisons: Plutarch’s Appropriation of the Stoic Biological Model for Divine Causation

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: This paper examines a challenging passage in Plutarch’s Platonic Questions II against the background of contemporaneous debates about divine causation, arguing that it offers a brilliant solution to the question of how god can simultaneously be transcendent to the cosmos and act as an effective demiurgic cause. I contend that Plutarch’s strategy relies on appropriating the Stoic biological model to explain divine causation.

Source: Phronesis

DOI: 10.1163/15685284-bja10107

Author: Arianna Piazzalunga

Institution: KU Leuven

Language: English

Topic: Classical Philosophy and Thought

Subfield: Philosophy

Field: Arts and Humanities

Domain: Social Sciences

Open Access status: green

Funders: Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek, Ministero dell'Istruzione e del Merito

Awards: G6059216441, G908887581