About
Daryn Lehoux is Professor of Classics and Professor of Philosophy at Queen’s University. He has published widely on the history and philosophy of the sciences in their historical contexts, asking questions about how facts become constituted, accepted, doubted, rejected, and forgotten.
Books
What Did the Romans Know?
An Inquiry into Science and Worldmaking
How do facts come to constitute the world we live in? What happens when facts change? How do new facts gain a foothold? Above all, how can we talk about knowledge of the natural world if facts are so often impermanent?
“Elegant . . . . a significant contribution to the philosophy of science.” — Times Literary Supplement
“Important, brilliant, and truly admirable” — Science
“Brilliantly rethinks both the Roman and our own approaches to the cosmos . . . . First Rate” — Times Higher Education
Creatures Born of Mud and Slime
The Wonder and Complexity of Spontaneous Generation
Once upon a time, animals were thought to come into existence from rotting, non-living matter. How did such a theory take hold, and how and why did it survive for such a very long time? Why was the evidence for spontaneous generation so difficult to disprove?
“A historical tour de force.” — Nuncius
“Clarity and graceful prose make this book a pleasure to delve into.” — Hopos
Astronomy, Weather, and Calendars in the Ancient World
Illuminates and examines a set of long-lived cultural practices that stand at the intersection of astronomy, calendar-making, and weather-forecasting.
“A significant and timely contribution.” — Isis
“This book will deservedly become the fundamental source for its subject.” — Metascience
“Essential for anyone working on ancient astronomy, calendrics or related areas.” — Journal for the History of Astronomy
Lucretius: Poetry, Philosophy, Science
Co-edited with A. D. Morrison and Alison Sharrock
“Magisterial.” — Choice
“Quite simply, this is an excellent collection.” — Phoenix
Projects
Michael Pacher, The Devil Presenting St. Augustine with the Book of Vices
Epistemic Corruption
“Corruption” is an old term and a widely used metaphor. Bodies, fruits and meats are corrupted when they begin to rot, decompose, or otherwise spoil. More generally, what is thought pure is corrupted when mixed with something foul or lesser, as when air is made foul by pestilence or smoke, or noble lineages are supposedly lessened by poor marriages. Ends are perverted, as when a public official is corrupted for a purpose, to serve some interests rather than others. Or perhaps purities may simply become less so, degenerating from within.
With Sergio Sismondo and a number of other collaborators, I am working on a project on “epistemic corruption,” the corruption of knowledge practices and their crises of legitimacy.