L'art paradoxal

This book proposes a parallel between two paradoxical extensions of ‘art’, in the ancient sense of technical knowledge when extended to life as a whole: a poetical and parodic version of it by Ovid, and a serious and profoundly philosophical one with Seneca. In both cases, the book aims to examine how the concept of art is redefined, how this singular ‘art’ is related to others and to nature, what form of knowledge it consists in, how it articulates theory and practice and develops over time.

On the one hand the Ovidian art of loving is a playful and fictive construction which systematizes the elegiac material and subverts various patterns borrowed from Roman tradition, Augustan ideology and philosophical sources, aspiring to a light and elegant lifestyle whereby love is rationalized and freed from passions. On the other hand, the Stoic art of living according to Seneca denotes an austere and exclusive conception of wisdom as perfect art or science completely in action that belongs to the Sage alone: this is the ideal model that inspires philosophy as a way of life and an everyday experience on the path of moral progress and self-improvement.