The Stoic philosopher Epictetus has been one of the most influential of ancient thinkers, both in antiquity itself and in modern times. Theodore Scaltsas and Andrew S. Mason present ten specially written papers which discuss Epictetus' thought on a wide range of subjects, including ethics, logic, theology, and psychology; explore his relations to his predecessors (including his two philosophical heroes, Socrates and Diogenes the Cynic, as well as the earlier Stoic tradition); and examine his influence on later thinkers. Written by some of the leading experts in the field, the essays in this volume will be a fascinating resource for students and scholars of ancient philosophy, and anyone with in an interest in the Stoic attitude to life.

A. A. Long, one of the world's leading writers on ancient philosophy, presents eighteen essays on the philosophers and schools of the Hellenistic and Roman periods--Epicureans, Stoics, and Sceptics. The discussion ranges over four centuries of innovative and challenging thought in ethics and
politics, psychology, epistemology, and cosmology.

C. C. W. Taylor presents a clear and faithful new translation of one of the most famous and influential texts in the history of Western thought, accompanied by an analytical and critical commentary focusing on philosophical issues. In Books II to IV of the Nicomachean Ethics Aristotle gives
his account of virtue of character, which is central to his ethical theory as a whole and a key topic in much modern ethical writing.

In Friendship, Italian philosopher Claudia Baracchi explores the philosophical underpinnings of friendship. Tackling the issue of friendship in the era of Facebook and online social networks requires courage and even a certain impertinence. The friendship relationship involves trust, fidelity, and availability for profound sharing. Sociologists assure us this attitude was never more improbable than in our time of dramatic anthropological reconfiguration. Research on friendship cannot therefore ignore ancient thought: with unparalleled depth, Friendship examines the broader implications of relationship, both emotional and political. Today, the grand socio-political structures of the world are trembling. The hold of valued paradigms that traditionally positioned individuals, determined their destinies, and assigned them their roles and reciprocal responsibilities is becoming uncertain. In these many global shifts, previously unforeseen possibilities for individual and collective becoming are unleashed. Perhaps friendship has to do with worlds that are not: that are not yet, and that should be desired all the more. Focusing on the works of Aristotle, Baracchi explores ancient reflections on friendship, in the belief that they have much to teach us about our relationships in the present day.

Moses Mendelssohn (1729-86) is considered the father of the Jewish Enlightenment and the last great Leibnizian in the German philosophical tradition. One of his most successful works was this dialogue on the immortality of the soul, modelled on Plato's "Phaedo". Mendelssohn sought to recast Plato's proofs of the soul's immortality by adding "such arguments as are supplied by modern philosophy". Like its ancient ancestor, Mendelssohn's dialogue includes an account of the death of Socrates - an important figure in 18th-century Europe. ""Ph don": or, "The Death of Socrates"", originally published in German in 1767 and translated by Charles Cullen in 1789, has never been rendered into modern English. Cullen's translation is thus the only recourse for present-day scholars who cannot read German. It is long out of print and difficult to find, even in the largest academic libraries. Now that the Englishspeaking philosophical world is delving ever more deeply into the history of German philosophy, this facsimile of the 1789 edition - newly introduced by Curtis Bowman - should be widely welcomed.

Eros, Song and Philosophy in Plato raises critical issues regarding conceptions of how song and philosophy in erotic contexts are treated by Plato in his attempt to rewrite, to some degree, the cultural tradition. A question that seems to be repeatedly raised throughout the Platonic dialogues is why it is precisely song that needs to be put aside before we can start doing philosophy - as a more serious and perfect kind of song. Extensive discussion of this key thematic cluster with an emphasis on the concept of beauty, which is harmoniously interwoven with eros and song, has been absent. Chara Kokkiou argues that there is a constant interplay among erotic, musical-poetic and spatial motifs and the way those are incorporated into the very essence of philosophical dialectic is indicative of the unique nature of Plato's philosophy. Her analysis centers on paiderastic and mousikos eros, which, if thoroughly purified, contribute significantly to the composition of Socrates' portrait as mousikos philosophos. The Socratic philosophical logos displays reformed erotic and song-authorized patterns, such as the power to inspire and heal. Through close reading of certain Platonic passages and detailed attention to choral and mythical patterns, such as those included in the eschatological myths of Republic and Phaedo, and to the descriptions of locus amoenus in Phaedrus and Laws, she demonstrates that Plato through his painstakingly purged philosophical model delineates the route towards

This book represents a series of incursions or philosophical forays between realms of Byzantine and Russian thought and territory long claimed by Western philosophy and theology. Beginning with thoughts inevitably rooted in the West, it seeks to penetrate as deeply as possible into Byzantine and Russian philosophical and spiritual landscapes, and to return with fresh insights. These are also incursions that move back and forth between the visible and the invisible realms, in the traditions of Plato and his successors as well as the great monastics of Eastern Christianity. Foltz argues from various perspectives that the problematic relation between transcendence and immanence finds its answer in the philosophical and theological legacy of Eastern Christian thought, which has always sought to bring together strands tenaciously held separate in the West. This book transports contemporary readers to an ancient conceptual landscape as it expertly handles both Western and Byzantine ideas with a familiarity unusual to contemporary scholars. It is essential reading for all those wishing to engage the heart of Byzantine thought and employ its lessons to address the problems which plague Western philosophy and culture.

June 18-. Squire Hawkins sat upon the pyramid of large blocks, called the "stile," in front of his house, contemplating the morning. The locality was Obedstown, East Tennessee. You would not know that Obedstown stood on the top of a mountain, for there was nothing about the landscape to indicate it-but it did: a mountain that stretched abroad over whole counties, and rose very gradually. The district was called the "Knobs of East Tennessee," and had a reputation like Nazareth, as far as turning out any good thing was concerned. The Squire's house was a double log cabin, in a state of decay; two or three gaunt hounds lay asleep about the threshold, and lifted their heads sadly whenever Mrs. Hawkins or the children stepped in and out over their bodies. Rubbish was scattered about the grassless yard; a bench stood near the door with a tin wash basin on it and a pail of water and a gourd; a cat had begun to drink from the pail, but the exertion was overtaxing her energies, and she had stopped to rest. There was an ash-hopper by the fence, and an iron pot, for soft-soap-boiling, near it.

In this illuminating study of the moral psychology of Plato and Aristotle, A. W. Price considers four related areas: eudaimonia, or living and acting well, as the ultimate end of action; virtues of character in relation to the emotions, and to one another; practical reasoning, especially from an end to ways or means; and acrasia, or action that is contrary to the agent's own judgement of what is best. The focal concept is that of eudaimonia, which both Plato and Aristotle view as an abstract goal that is valuable enough to motivate action. Virtue has a double role to play in making its achievement possible, both in proposing subordinate ends apt to the context, and in protecting the agent against temptations to discard them too easily. For both purposes, Price suggests that virtues need to form a unity-but one that can be conceived in various ways. Among the tasks of deliberation is to work out how, and whether, to pursue some putative end in context. Aristotle returns to early Plato in finding it problematic that one should consciously sacrifice acting well to some incidental attraction; Plato later finds this possible by postulating schism within the soul. Price maintains that it is their emphasis upon the centrality of action within human life that makes the reflections of these ancient philosophers perennially relevant.

Film, Philosophy, and Reality: Ancient Greece to Godard is an original contribution to film-philosophy that shows how thinking about movies can lead us into a richer appreciation and understanding of both reality and the nature of human experience. Focused on the question of the relationship between how things seem to us and how they really are, it is at once an introduction to philosophy through film and an introduction to film through philosophy. The book is divided into three parts. The first is an introduction to philosophy and film, designed for the reader with little background in one or the other subject. The second examines the philosophical importance of the distinction between appearance and reality, and shows that reflection upon this distinction is naturally provoked by the experience of watching movies. The final part takes a close and careful look at the style and techniques of Jean-Luc Godard's groundbreaking film Breathless in order to illustrate how such themes can be explored cinematically. The book addresses topics such as: Film: what it is and how to understand it The methods and concerns of philosophy The nature of cinematic appearances The history of metaphysics The relationship between cinema and life The philosophical relevance of film techniques. With a glossary of key thinkers, terms, and concepts, as well as sections on suggested films and further reading, this textbook will appeal to lecturers and students in undergraduate philosophy and film courses, and in courses focused on Philosophy of Film, Philosophy and Film, or Film-Philosophy.

An attempt, by a close reading of three Platonic dialogues, the Symposium, Lysis, and the Phaedrus, to discover the true nature of the object of Eros and especially to understand the mystery of its birth. This work is an attempt to understand the nature of the object of Eros in Plato's writings. In the first chapter certain considerations based on a passage in Plato's Symposium lead to a discovery and characterization of thenature of that object and several of its features. Then it is realized that the chief problem or mystery about the nature of the object of Eros is how it arises. The book then explores the Lysis and the Phaedrus, which both address how the object arises, in two different ways, the Socratic and the Platonic. Alfred Geier is associate professor of religious and classical studies, University of Rochester.

Aristotle (384-322BC) is the philosopher who has most influence on the development of western culture, writing on a wide variety of subjects including the natural sciences as well as the more strictly philosophical topics of logic, metaphysics and ethics. To the poet Dante, he was simply 'the master of those who know'.
The "Ethics" contains his views on what makes a good human life. While the work continues to stimulate and challenge modern philosophers, the general course of the argument is easily accessible to the non-specialist. Both as a key influence in the history of ideas and as a work containing unique insights into the human condition, this is a book that simply demands to be read.

Today, managers, politicians, educators, and healthcare providers are highly skilled technicians who navigate modern systems. However, followers seek more than know-how; they desire moral leadership. Even leaders equipped with skills must make difficult ethical choices. This book connects philosophy to leadership by examining three representative texts from the history of philosophy: Plato's Republic, Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics, and Niccolo Machiavelli's The Prince. The leadership ideas contained in each one of these philosopher's works were not only pioneering for their age but continue to be relevant today because they provide insight into the enduring questions of leadership. The book demonstrates the timeliness of the classical works by applying these philosophical approaches to historical and contemporary cases. This book is ideal for readers who are acquainted with philosophy and those who are uninitiated. The connections made between philosophy, leadership literature, and real-life leaders enable readers to appreciate how deeper reflection into the themes of leadership might merit scholarly attention and bear witness to the close union between the philosophy of leadership and the real world.

Cicero's Topica is one of the canonical texts on ancient rhetorical theory. This is the first full-scale commentary on this work, and the first critical edition of the work that is informed by a full analysis of its transmission.

Gareth Matthews suggests that we can better understand the nature of philosophical inquiry if we recognize the central role played by perplexity. The seminal representation of philosophical perplexity is in Plato's dialogues; Matthews invites us to view this as a response to something inherently problematic in the basic notions that philosophy deals with. He examines the intriguing shifts in Plato's attitude to perplexity and suggests that this development may be seen as an archetypal pattern that philosophers follow even today. So it is that one may be won over to philosophy in the first place by the example of a Socratic teacher who displays an uncanny gift at getting one perplexed about something one thought one understood perfectly well. Later, however, wanting like Plato to move beyond perplexity to produce philosophical 'results', one may be chagrined to discover that one's very best attempt to develop a philosophical theory induces its own perplexity. Then, like late Plato and like Aristotle, the philosopher may seek to 'normalize' perplexity in a way that both allows for progress and yet respects the peculiarly baffling character of philosophical questions.

The source and nature of earliest speech and civilization are puzzles which have intrigued people for many centuries. This book surveys ancient Greek views on these questions. It discusses the harmonious language of the golden age, the means by which language was first invented, and some ancient 'linguists' described by Homer and Herodotus.

In Ancient Philosophy (2012), Christopher Shields expanded on the coverage of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle in his earlier book, Classical Philosophy (2003), to include the philosophy of the Hellenistic era. In this new edition (2023), Shields reaches even further to include material on Neoplatonism and on Augustine and Proclus, capturing-from Thales of Miletus to the end of the sixth century CE-all of what might be called ancient philosophy. It traces the important connections between the periods and individuals of more than 1,200 years of philosophy's history without losing sight of the novelties and dynamics unique to each. The coverage of the Presocratics, Sophists, Plato, and Stoicism has also been expanded so as to highlight Plato's responses to the Sophistic movement in the development of his Theory of Forms. And, finally, a valuable companion volume, with Shields's focused translations of the important sources referred to in Ancient Philosophy, Second Edition, will soon be published, obviating the need for a massive anthology of discordant voices. Ancient Philosophy, Second Edition, retains its helpful structure: each philosophical position receives: (1) a brief introduction, (2) a sympathetic review of its principal motivations and primary supporting arguments, and (3) a short assessment, inviting readers to evaluate its plausibility. The result is a book that brings the ancient arguments to life, making the introduction truly contemporary. It continues to serve as both a first stop and a well-visited resource for any student of the subject. Key updates in the second edition Extends the range of coverage well into the sixth century CE by offering a new chapter on Neoplatonism and early Christian philosophy, featuring discussions of Proclus and Augustine. Explains the conflicts between Plato and the Sophists by highlighting their approaches to rhetoric as an instrument of persuasion, offering a helpful explanation of two senses of argument. Includes new coverage of Plato's argument from the Simplicity of the Soul, Argument from Affinity, and Argument against Rhetoric. Includes coverage of Aristotle's political naturalism . May be used with a soon-to-be-published companion volume of primary source material, all of it translated by Christopher Shields specifically for the reader of this Second Edition.

This Key Concepts pivot discusses the contemporary relevance of the ancient Chinese concept of Tianxia or 'All-Under-Heaven' and argues the case for a new global political philosophy. 'All-under-heaven' is a conceptualization of the world as the composition of three realms: the physical, psychological and political, which places inclusivity and harmony at the heart of a global world view above other considerations, transcending the notion of nation state. In a highly interconnected and globalized world, the idea of Tianxia can offer a new 21st century vision of international relations and world order, based on a harmonized global organization defined by the "all-inclusiveness principle." Promoting the ontology of co-existence and relational rationality hand in hand with rational risk aversion in a globalized world, this pivot makes the case that Tianxia could offer a new vision for contemporary world order, redefining the universality and legitimacy of politics.

To Live in the Spirit: Paul and the Spirit of God brings to light a fresh understanding of the Greek concept (spirit) in Paul's ethical teaching. Placing Paul and his mixed audience within the Hellenistic Jewish and Greek (philosophical) traditions of the ancient world, this book examines his new message concerning 's primary function in the acquisition of virtues and avoidance of vices. Looking in detail at the various ways in which Paul views in his seven undisputed letters, Naveros Cordova explores 's development from Paul's initial ethical reflections in his early letters to a more mature view in his later letters. Naveros Cordova argues that it is within these traditions, represented by major Hellenistic Jewish and Greco-Roman writers, that Paul construes the framework of his ethical teaching. Paul finds in the power of God's a new ethical alternative for his mixed audience to living lives pleasing to God outside the observance of the Mosaic Law. Naveros Cordova demonstrates how Paul draws upon Platonic (immaterial ) and Stoic (material ) language that would have been familiar to his hearers in the early Christian communities to create a persuasive understanding of ethical performance and to show that the moral life of the believers springs from that received from God. In his efforts to highlight 's central role in his ethics, Paul moves beyond both traditions by describing the "Christification" of not only in Stoic terms, but also in Middle Platonic categories of the first century CE.

This distinctive collection of original articles features contributions from many of the leading scholars of ancient Greek philosophy. They explore the concept of reason and the method of analysis and the central role they play in the philosophies of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. They engage with salient themes in metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, and political theory, as well as tracing links between each thinker s ideas on selected topics.

The volume contains analyses of Plato s Socrates, focusing on his views of moral psychology, the obligation to obey the law, the foundations of politics, justice and retribution, and Socratic virtue. On Plato s Republic, the discussions cover the relationship between politics and philosophy, the primacy of reason over the soul s non-rational capacities, the analogy of the city and the soul, and our responsibility for choosing how we live our own lives. The anthology also probes Plato s analysis of logos (reason or language) which underlies his philosophy including the theory of forms.A quartet of reflections explores Aristotelian themes including the connections between knowledge and belief, the nature of essence and function, and his theories of virtue and grace.

The volume concludes with an insightful intellectual memoir by David Keyt which charts the rise of analytic classical scholarship in the past century and along the way provides entertaining anecdotes involving major figures in modern academic philosophy.Blending academic authority with creative flair and demonstrating the continuing interest of ancient Greek philosophy, this book will be a valuable addition to the libraries of all those studying and researching the origins of Western philosophy.

Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy is a volume of original articles on all aspects of ancient philosophy. The articles may be of substantial length, and include critical notices of major books. OSAP is now published twice yearly, in both hardback and paperback. Aristotle and the Stoics receive particular attention in this volume.

The first monograph devoted to the theology of the Epinomis, offering an insight into its philosophical and historical context and solidfying the role of this work as a major step towards the cosmic theology of the Hellenistic period.

Blends expert insights on ancient Greek thought and modern psychoanalysis; focuses on expanding analytic theory and clinical practice; contains rich clinical material