Posidonius of Apamea · Philosophy

History and the Arts of Civilization

In one of philosophy’s most famous debates about technology, Posidonius argued that the arts of civilization - building, weaving, metalworking, even the plough - were the inventions of philosophers, of wise men applying reason to life. Seneca, reporting him admiringly, sharply disagreed.

What you'll be able to recall

You learned that Posidonius, in a lost work reported by Seneca’s Letter 90, held that the wise invented the arts of civilization by applying reason to human needs, tracing progress to philosophy; and that Seneca protested that these were the work of human ingenuity, not of wisdom, which has a higher office. Expl…

Leads to Seneca.

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