Strato of Lampsacus c. 335 BC – c. 269 BC
Strato of Lampsacus was an ancient Greek philosopher and the third head of the Peripatetic School at the Lyceum in Athens, succeeding Theophrastus in 287 BC. Known in antiquity as Strato the Physicist, he is the most naturalistic of the major Peripatetic philosophers, holding that the cosmos can be explained without appeal to divine causation. He developed an account of nature in which weight, motion, void, and natural processes operate without external direction. He served as tutor to Ptolemy II of Egypt before assuming the directorship of the Lyceum, where he emphasised the experimental and observational dimensions of Aristotle's natural philosophy. His writings are lost; his ideas survive in fragments and reports by Cicero and others.
Key facts
- Nationality
- Greek
- Era
- Ancient
- Movements
- Peripatetic School, Ancient Greek
Selected quotes
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Attributed to Strato of Lampsacus:
“Whatever happens in nature can be explained by nature.”
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Attributed to Strato of Lampsacus:
“All bodies have weight, and weight is what determines their natural motion.”
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Attributed to Strato of Lampsacus:
“I do not need any divine power to construct the world, since nature itself suffices.”
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Attributed to Strato of Lampsacus:
“What can be known by experience need not be sought elsewhere.”