Dicaearchus

Dikaiarchos (Greek Δικαιαρχος; German Dikäarch; * ca 375/350 BC in Messene; † 285 BC) was a Greek Peripatetic philosopher, cartographer, geographer, mathematician and writer. He was named because of its origins in Roman times also " Dicaearchus Messenius " and in the West in recent times ( by mistake ) " Messenius ".

Life

Dikaiarchos comes from the Sicilian Messene (now Messina). Later he went to Athens, where he became a pupil of Aristotle and Theophrastus on Lyceum. Of his writings only a few fragments have obtained from which can be deduced that he emulated in his choice of topics Aristotle. He then asked himself the teachings of the school with great independence from.

He dealt with the construction of hyperbolas and parabolas.

In physics interested Dicaearchus especially psychology, divination and geography. With the Aristotle still retained remnants of the Platonic dualism he admitted on completely. He denied the existence of a separable soul from the body: this is not an independent being, but there is nothing but the one and uniform body so formed that he by virtue of its natural composition lives and feels. Against the Mantic he turned the aptly objection, it is better for people not to know the future and argued against the immortality of the soul. In ethics he faced questions about the conduct of life, in which he gave the preference to the theoretical consideration to practical life and in politics he limited himself to Sparta. In his essay Tripolitikos he praised its system of government as democratic and aristocratic elements of successful fusion. Dikaiarchs writings were read publicly in Sparta for the edification of youth.

In the field of physical geography it is considered the most important predecessor of Eratosthenes. In cartography, he was among the first to use geographical coordinates. He resolved measurements of heights of mountains and declared that even the highest elevations much are too small to affect the shape of the earth.

In his works, philosophy of language and rhetoric are missing. Therefore Dicaearchus was received mainly as a geographer, cultural historian and political writer. He wrote, among other things, the first cultural history of Greece, " Bios Hellados ".

Works

The following works are preserved only in fragments and partially reconstructed from quotations in works by other writers:

• Tripolitikos
• Life in Greece
• Description of Greece

They are found in Wehrli (1967 )