"Essential reading for all students of ancient philosophy -- and a special provocation to anyone tempted to write as if 'Classical' thought is exhausted by Plato and his school." -- Geore Boys-Stones, Professor of Ancient Philosophy, Durham University "Compulsive reading for anyone who hopes to grasp the wide range of philosophical opinions that vied for attention in the two golden centuries that followed the death of Socrates." -- Denis O'Brien, former Directeur de recherche, Centre Nationale de Recherche Scientifique, Paris "An important contribution to the continuing rehabilitation of Hellenistic philosophy." -- C. J. Rowe, Emeritus Professor of Greek, Durham University The Cyrenaic school of philosophy (named after its founder Aristippus' native city of Cyrene in North Africa) flourished in the fifth and fourth centuries BCE. This book begins by introducing the main figures of the Cyrenaic school beginning with Aristippus and setting them in their historical context. Once the reader is familiar with those figures and with the genealogy of the school, the book offers an overview of ancient and modern interpretations of the Cyrenaics, providing readers with alternative accounts of the doctrines they endorsed and of the role they played in the context of ancient thought. Finally, the book offers a reconstruction of Cyrenaic philosophy and shows how the ethical side of their speculation connected with the epistemology and ontology they endorsed and that, as a result, the Cyrenaics were able to offer a quite sophisticated philosophy. Indeed, Zilioli demonstrates that they represented, in ancient philosophy, an important and original metaphysical position and alternative to the kind of realism endorsed by Plato and Aristotle.

First published in 2000. This is Volume VII of ten in the International Library of Philosophy in a series on Ancient Philosophy. Written around 1953, this book looks at Plato and his ideas on art based on his 'Dialogues'.

First Published in 2000. This is Volume VI of ten in the International Library of Philosophy in a series on Ancient Philosophy. Written around 1956, this book looks at Plato and his works on the biological, social, physical and intellectual background as well as his ethics, aesthetics and philosophy of religion and education, in comparison to his predecessors.

First published in 2000. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

1937. The commentary in this text is designed to guide the reader through a long and intricate argument and to explain what must remain obscure in the most faithful translation; for the Timaeus covers an immense field at the cost of compressing the thought into the smallest space. Only with some such aid can students of theology and philosophy have access to a document that has deeply influenced mediaeval and modern speculation. Contents: The Timaeus; The Discourse of Timaeus; What Comes About of Necessity; The Cooperation of Reason and Necessity.

First published in 2000. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

'Courage is knowing what not to fear' Plato 'One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors' Without the work of Plato, western thought is, quite literally, unthinkable. No single influence has been greater, in every age and in every philosophic field. Even those thinkers who have rejected Plato's views have found themselves working to an agenda he set. Yet between the neo-platonist interpretations and the anti-platonist reactions, the stuff of 'Platonism' proper has often been obscured. The philosopher himself has not necessarily helped in the matter: at times disconcertingly difficult, at other disarmingly simple, Plato can be an elusive thinker, his meanings hard to pin down. His dialogues are complex and often ironically constructed and do not simply expand his views - which in any case changed and developed over a long life. In this lucid and exciting introductory guide, Bernard Williams takes his reader back to first principles, re-reading the key texts to reveal what the philosopher actually said. The result is a rediscovered Plato: often unexpected, always fascinating and rewarding.

The Metaphysics of Good and Evil is the first, full-length contemporary defence, from the perspective of analytic philosophy, of the Scholastic theory of good and evil - the theory of Aristotle, Augustine, Aquinas, and most medieval and Thomistic philosophers. Goodness is analysed as obedience to nature. Evil is analysed as the privation of goodness. Goodness, surprisingly, is found in the non-living world, but in the living world it takes on a special character. The book analyses various kinds of goodness, showing how they fit into the Scholastic theory. The privation theory of evil is given its most comprehensive contemporary defence, including an account of truthmakers for truths of privation and an analysis of how causation by privation should be understood. In the end, all evil is deviance - a departure from the goodness prescribed by a thing's essential nature. Key Features: Offers a comprehensive defence of a venerable metaphysical theory, conducted using the concepts and methods of analytic philosophy. Revives a much neglected approach to the question of good and evil in their most general nature. Shows how Aristotelian-Thomistic theory has more than historical relevance to a fundamental philosophical issue, but can be applied in a way that is both defensible and yet accessible to the modern philosopher. Provides what, for the Scholastic philosopher, is arguably the only solid metaphysical foundation for a separate treatment of the origins of morality.

The Epicurean school of philosophy was one of the dominant philosophies of the Hellenistic period. Founded by Epicurus of Samos (century 341-270 BCE), it was characterized by an empiricist epistemology and a hedonistic ethics. This new introduction to Epicurus offers readers clear exposition of the central tenets of Epicurus' philosophy, with particular stress placed on those features that have enduring philosophical interest and where parallels can be drawn with debates in contemporary analytic philosophy. Part 1 of the book examines the fundamentals of Epicurus' metaphysics, including atoms and the void, emergent and sensible properties, cosmology, mechanistic biology, the nature and functioning of the mind, death, and freedom of action. Part 2 explores Epicurus' epistemology, including his arguments against scepticism and his ideas on sensations, preconceptions and feelings. The final part deals with Epicurus' ethics, exploring his arguments for hedonism, his distinctive conceptions of types of pleasure and desire, his belief in virtue, his notions of justice, friendship and his theology. O'Keefe provides extended exegesis of the arguments supporting Epicurus' positions, indicating their strengths and weaknesses, while showing the connections between the various parts of his philosophy and how Epicureanism hangs together as a whole.

Much has been written about the interpretation of Plato in the last thirty years. Once interpreted as a revolutionary of the left, and a prophet of Socialism, he has lately been interpreted as a revolutionary of the Right and a forerunner of Fascism. In this book Plato appears as himself - a revolutionary indeed, and even an authoritarian, but a revolutionary of the pure idea of the Good, and an authoritarian of the pure reason, unattached either to the Right or the Left.

This book gives a general survey of political thought from Homer to the beginning of the Christian era. To the evidence of the philosophers is added that of Herodotus, Euripides, Thucydides, Polybius and others whose writings illustrate the course of Greek political thinking in the Classical and Hellenistic periods. This re-issues the second, updated edition of 1967.

Heraclides of Pontus hailed from the shores of the Black Sea. He studied with Aristotle in Plato's Academy, and became a respected member of that school. During Plato's third trip to Sicily, Heraclides served as head of the Academy and was almost elected its head on the death of Speusippus.

Heraclides' interests were diverse. He wrote on the movements of the planets and the basic matter of the universe. He adopted a materialistic theory of soul, which he considered immortal and subject to reincarnation. He discussed pleasure, and like Aristotle, he commented on the Homeric poems. In addition, he concerned himself with religion, music and medical issues. None of Heraclides' works have survived intact, but in antiquity his dialogues were much admired and often pillaged for sententiae and the like.

The contributions presented here comment on Heraclides' life and thought. They include "La Tradizione Papirologica di Eraclide Pontico" by Tiziano Dorandi, "Heraclides' Intellectual Context" by Jorgen Mejer, and "Heraclides of Pontus and the Philosophical Dialogue" by Matthew Fox. There is also discussion of Heraclides' understanding of pleasure and of the human soul: "Heraclides on Pleasure" by Eckart Schutrumpf and "Heraclides on the Soul and Its Ancient Readers" by Inna Kupreeva. In addition, there are essays that address Heraclides' physics and astronomical theories: "Unjointed Masses: A Note on Heraclides Physical Theory" by Robert W. Sharples; "Heliocentrism in or out of Heraclides" by Paul T. Keyser, "The Reception of Heraclides' Theory of the Rotation of the Earth from Posidonius to Simplicius: Texts, Contexts and Continuities" by Robert B. Todd and Alan C. Bowen, and "Heraclides of Pontus on the Motions of Venus and Mercury" by Alan C. Bowen and Robert B. Todd. Finally, there are essays that view Heraclides from the stand point of ancient medicine, literary criticism and musical theory: "Heraclides on Diseases and on the Woman Who Did Not Breathe" by Philip van der Eijk, "Heraclides of Pontus on Homer" by Malcolm Heath, and "Heraclides and Musical History" by Andrew Barker. This volume is a companion to RUSCH, volume 14, which contains a new edition of the sources for Heraclides' life and thought.

- integrates relevant philosophy in a way that makes it understandable and palatable to psychoanalytic readers - there isn't much direct competition to this book; it's an original contribution

How to Think Like a Roman Emperor takes readers on a transformative journey along with Marcus, following his progress from a young noble at the court of Hadrian - taken under the wing of some of the finest philosophers of his day - through to his reign as emperor of Rome at the height of its power. Robertson shows how Marcus used philosophical doctrines and therapeutic practices to build emotional resilience and endure tremendous adversity, and guides readers through applying the same methods to their own lives. Combining remarkable stories from Marcus's life with insights from modern psychology and the enduring wisdom of his philosophy, How to Think Like a Roman Emperor puts a human face on Stoicism and offers a timeless and essential guide to handling the ethical and psychological challenges we face today.

A collection of meditations in the Stoic tradition. Meditations on Self-Discipline and Failure provides access to the ruminations, practices, and applications of ancient Stoic philosophy as deployed by a contemporary professional philosopher with twenty five years of experience teaching, researching, and publishing articles in academic journals. Each meditation is presented in the second person, encouraging the reader to examine their struggles and failures in the pursuit of self-improvement and enlightenment.

This volume examines the discussion of the Chaldean Oracles in the work of Proclus, as well as offering a translation and commentary of Proclus' Treatise On Chaldean Philosophy. Spanu assesses whether Proclus' exegesis of the Chaldean Oracles can be used by modern research to better clarify the content of Chaldean doctrine or must instead be abandoned because it represents a substantial misinterpretation of originary Chaldean teachings. The volume is augmented by Proclus' Greek text, with English translation and commentary. Proclus and the Chaldean Oracles will be of interest to researchers working on Neoplatonism, Proclus and theurgy in the ancient world.

PYTHAGORAS (fl. 500 B.C.E.), the first man to call himself a philosopher, was both a brilliant mathematician and spiritual teacher. This anthology is the largest collection of Pythagorean writings ever to appear in the English language. It contains the four ancient biographies of Pythagoras and over twenty-five Pythagorean and Neopythagorean writings from the classical and Hellenistic periods. The Pythagorean ethical and political tractates are especially interesting, for they are based on the premise that the universal principles of Harmony, Proportion, and Justice govern the physical cosmos, and these writings show how individuals and societies alike attain their peak of excellence when informed by these same principles. Indexed, illustrated, with appendices and an extensive bibliography, this work also contains an introductory essay by David Fideler.

From Socrates and Plato onwards, the Sophists were often targeted by the authoritative philosophical tradition as being mere charlatans and poor teachers. This book, translated and significantly updated from its most recent Italian version (2nd edition, 2013), challenges these criticisms by offering an overall interpretation of their thought, and by assessing the specific contributions of thinkers like Protagoras, Gorgias and Antiphon. A new vision of the Sophists emerges: they are protagonists and agents of fundamental change in the history of ancient philosophy, who questioned the grounds of morality and politics, as well as the nature of knowledge and language. By shifting the focus from the cosmos to man, the Sophists inaugurate an alternative form of philosophy, whose importance is only now becoming clear.

Contents:
Chapter 1: Aristotle's Metaphysics Chapter 2: Metaphysics as the science of the Ultimate explanations of all things Chapter 3: Metaphysics as the science of being Qua being, Primary being and Non-Primary being Chapter 4: The Principle of Non-contradiction Chapter 5: The search for primary being Chaper 6: The first cause of change, God Chapter 7: The criticism of Plato's theory of forms

Specifically focusing on the relationship between the Eudemian and the Nicomachean Ethics, this collection of essays studies major themes from Aristotle's ethics. This volume builds on a recent revival of interest in Aristotle's Eudemian Ethics, which offers an invaluable complement to the Nicomachean Ethics in the study of the development of Aristotle's ethical ideas. It brings together a series of new studies by leading scholars covering the main points of inquiry raised by the relationship between the two works, exploring their continuities and divergences. At the same time, it showcases a variety of approaches to and perspectives on the main questions posed by Aristotle's ethical thought. Investigating the Relationship Between Aristotle's Eudemian and Nicomachean Ethics is offered as a contribution to long-standing debates over Aristotle's ethical thinking, as well as an inspiration for new approaches, which take both of his surviving ethical treatises seriously. The volume will be of interest to students and scholars of ancient philosophy and ethics, particularly Aristotle's two ethics.

Offers the latest research on this topic.

As an essential companion to Plato's Apology and Crito this book provides valuable historical and cultural context for our understanding of the trial of Socrates. The complexity and significance of the trial is illuminated through discussion of such important elements as the nature of Athenian democracy, the polis ideal, Greek shame culture, Athenian religion, civil disobedience, and Socrates' rejection of politics.
Colaiaco's approach is unique because he does justice both to Socrates and to Athens by demonstrating their individual strengths and weaknesses - and ultimately, their tragic incompatibility. Another highlight is that he provides a comprehensive picture of this conflict - essentially Socrates' radical challenge to traditional Athenian values - within the necessary historical and cultural context so that readers are better able to grasp the complexity and significance inherent to this trial.