A new methodological approach for retracing the original version of an ancient text and its epistemological significance

Abstract

Here, we are going to use an analogy between philological field and biological field. This method has already been used, we only have to read “Biocomplexity at the cutting edge of physics, system biology and humanities” (Dino Buzzetti, Bononia University Press). In this paper, we put forward this idea: the use of Auto Contractive Maps in order to cluster our witness; this might help us to respond to questions about the source of some variants, especially we’ll look at the ambiguities that are in the witnesses. This method could help us to rebuild an hypothetical original text.