Caterina Pello

University of Geneva

Caterina Pello is an Ambizione Research Fellow in Philosophy at the University of Geneva and an Honorary Fellow in Greek at UCL. Previously, she was a Bye Fellow in Philosophy at Downing College and St John's College Cambridge, an Associate Lecturer at the University of St Andrews and UCL, and a Fellow of the Harvard Centre of Hellenic Studies. She has co-edited Ancient women philosophers: recovered ideas and new perspectives (CUP, 2023) and published articles on the Pythagorean women, Presocratic biology and women in the history of philosophy in Apeiron, Rhizomata, Philosophia and elsewhere.

Abstract

The Cosmos as Embryo: Epistemological Strategies and Embryological Imagery in Philolaus’ Cosmology.

This paper focuses on the use of embryological analogies in early Greek cosmology. Specifically, my case study are the embryological and cosmological theories of the fifth-century Pythagorean Philolaus of Croton. A central challenge for ancient philosophers studying the origins of the cosmos and the emergence of life was the inability to observe cosmogonic as well as reproductive processes directly. To overcome this limitation and effectively communicate their theories to their audiences, early Greek philosophers employed various epistemological strategies, most notably the use of analogies. Specifically, they drew comparisons between the birth of the cosmos and the birth of animals, invoking phenomena such as the origins of seed, the formation and structure of the egg, and the first breath of an animal. In what follows, I argue that analogies are not mere rhetorical devices, but rather they are integral to the development of philosophical arguments.

Anaximander is said to have argued that the cosmos began as undifferentiated stuff, from which constituents like the hot and the cold separated, forming a membrane around the world – an image reminiscent of the formation of a bark around a tree. He maintained that, in their initial state, humans too were surrounded by bark-like shells. Similarly, Philolaus may be the source of the Pythagorean belief that the cosmos emerges when the unlimited “breathes in” the limit, a process compared to an embryo inhaling cold air after being warmed in the womb. My aim is as follows: I will reconstruct Philolaus’ embryology, situating it within the broader context of fifth-century theories of animal generation. This will allow us to develop the analogy between embryonic development and cosmic formation, assess the degree to which the two processes can be said to correspond, and consider what aspects of Philolaus’ cosmology and embryology can be inferred from the analogy. I shall also argue that, in Philolaus, embryology precedes and shapes cosmology. I conclude examining the epistemological tenets that underly this argumentative strategy.