The Cosmic Viewpoint

CHOICE Williams's exemplary, learned study of Natural Questions, Seneca's rarely read treatise on meteorology complements Harry Hine's translation of this work (2010).... Although the author offers a wealth of insight into Seneca's use of sources, Williams's acumen as a close reader carefully attuned to the rhetorical and literary dimensions of Natural Questions stands out. Highly recommended.

J.G. Henderson, Cambridge University
Sorting styles of reasoning, The Cosmic Viewpoint pilots through joined-up power-thinking from Rome's sharpest, pushiest, writer. Now we can read Seneca on the ecosphere: how-and-why we should try our damnedest to figure out how planet Earth works.

Harry Hine, University of St. Andrews
In this subtle and perceptive study, Gareth Williams shows how in the Natural Questions Seneca transformed the genre of meteorological writing in a highly creative way, offering a holistic Stoic vision of the cosmos, where in wrestling to understand the physical world we must also wrestle with our human nature.

Philosophy in Review Offers an extremely convincing articulation of [Naturales Quaestiones's] moral prefaces and interludes with the strictly technical sections of the book.

Gareth D. Williams is Violin Family Professor of Classics at Columbia University. His most recent book, co-edited with Katharina Volk, is Roman Reflections.

Abbreviations Introduction I. Interiority and Cosmic Consciousness in the Natural Questions II. Seneca's Moralizing Interludes III. The Cataclysm and the Nile IV. The Rhetoric of Science V. Seneca on Winds VI. Earthquakes, Consolation, and the Senecan Sublime VII. Seneca on Comets and Ancient Cometary Theory VIII. Seneca on Lightning and Divination Epilogue Bibliography Index of Passages General Index Index of Latin Words Index of Greek Words