The man in the high garden: An epicurean virtual history
Following the lead of heterogeneous and invariably brilliant thinkers as Thucydides, Arnold J. Toynbee, Winston Churchill, Carl Sagan, Philip K. Dick, and Niall Ferguson, I consider a virtual history - or an alternative Everettian branch of the universal wavefunction - in which the ancient materiali...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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University of Belgrade - Faculty of Philosophy - Institute for Philosophy
2024-01-01
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| Series: | Belgrade Philosophical Annual |
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| Online Access: | https://scindeks-clanci.ceon.rs/data/pdf/0353-3891/2024/0353-38912402043Q.pdf |
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| author | Ćirković Milan |
| author_facet | Ćirković Milan |
| author_sort | Ćirković Milan |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Following the lead of heterogeneous and invariably brilliant thinkers as Thucydides, Arnold J. Toynbee, Winston Churchill, Carl Sagan, Philip K. Dick, and Niall Ferguson, I consider a virtual history - or an alternative Everettian branch of the universal wavefunction - in which the ancient materialism and atomism of Epicurus (and heliocentrism of Aristarchus, for good measure) have prevailed over the (Neo) Platonist-Aristotelian religious-military complex. Such a historical swerve (pun fully intended) would have removed the unhealthy obsession with mind-body dualism and dialectics, which crippled much of the European thought throughout the last millennium. It is at least open to serious questioning whether quasireligious totalitarian ideologies could have arisen and brought about so much death, suffering and pain in this virtual history as they did in our actual history. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-13f15d01b9264df7bba222454fbf24e6 |
| institution | Matheson Library |
| issn | 0353-3891 2956-0357 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-01-01 |
| publisher | University of Belgrade - Faculty of Philosophy - Institute for Philosophy |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Belgrade Philosophical Annual |
| spelling | doaj-art-13f15d01b9264df7bba222454fbf24e62025-07-07T08:33:48ZengUniversity of Belgrade - Faculty of Philosophy - Institute for PhilosophyBelgrade Philosophical Annual0353-38912956-03572024-01-01372435410.5937/BPA2402043C0353-38912402043QThe man in the high garden: An epicurean virtual historyĆirković Milan0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6634-1321Astronomical Observatory of Belgrade, Belgrade, SerbiaFollowing the lead of heterogeneous and invariably brilliant thinkers as Thucydides, Arnold J. Toynbee, Winston Churchill, Carl Sagan, Philip K. Dick, and Niall Ferguson, I consider a virtual history - or an alternative Everettian branch of the universal wavefunction - in which the ancient materialism and atomism of Epicurus (and heliocentrism of Aristarchus, for good measure) have prevailed over the (Neo) Platonist-Aristotelian religious-military complex. Such a historical swerve (pun fully intended) would have removed the unhealthy obsession with mind-body dualism and dialectics, which crippled much of the European thought throughout the last millennium. It is at least open to serious questioning whether quasireligious totalitarian ideologies could have arisen and brought about so much death, suffering and pain in this virtual history as they did in our actual history.https://scindeks-clanci.ceon.rs/data/pdf/0353-3891/2024/0353-38912402043Q.pdfatomismnaturalismindeterminismvirtual historyhistorical contingencyfutures studies |
| spellingShingle | Ćirković Milan The man in the high garden: An epicurean virtual history Belgrade Philosophical Annual atomism naturalism indeterminism virtual history historical contingency futures studies |
| title | The man in the high garden: An epicurean virtual history |
| title_full | The man in the high garden: An epicurean virtual history |
| title_fullStr | The man in the high garden: An epicurean virtual history |
| title_full_unstemmed | The man in the high garden: An epicurean virtual history |
| title_short | The man in the high garden: An epicurean virtual history |
| title_sort | man in the high garden an epicurean virtual history |
| topic | atomism naturalism indeterminism virtual history historical contingency futures studies |
| url | https://scindeks-clanci.ceon.rs/data/pdf/0353-3891/2024/0353-38912402043Q.pdf |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT cirkovicmilan themaninthehighgardenanepicureanvirtualhistory AT cirkovicmilan maninthehighgardenanepicureanvirtualhistory |