Ethics and Human Action in Early Stoicism

This book reconstructs in detail the older Stoic theory of the psychology of action, discussing it in relation to Aristotelian, Epicurean, Platonic, and some of the more influential modern theories. Important Greek terms are transliterated and explained; no knowledge of Greek is required.

Inwood, Brad

Foreign & International Law

Oxford University Press

Politics & Social Sciences

Philosophy

Stoicism is two things: a long past philosophical school of ancient Greece and Rome, and an enduring philosophical movement that still inspires people in the twenty-first century to re-think and re-organize their lives in order to achieve personal satisfaction. What is the connection between them? This Very Short Introduction provides an introductory account of Stoic philosophy, and tells the story of how ancient Stoicism survived and evolved into the movement we see today. Exploring the roots of the school in the philosophy of fourth century BCE Greece, Brad Inwood examines its basic history and doctrines and its relationship to the thought of Plato, Aristotle and his successors, and the Epicureans. Sketching the history of the school's reception in the western tradition, he argues that, despite the differences between ancient and contemporary Stoics, there is a common core of philosophical insight that unites the modern version not just to Seneca, Epictetus, and Marcus Aurelius but also to the school's original founders, Zeno, Cleanthes, and Chrysippus. Inwood concludes by considering the place of Stoicism in modern life. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Stoicism: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)

Reading Seneca: Stoic Philosophy at Rome

Brad Inwood presents a selection of his most celebrated essays on the philosophy of Seneca, the Roman Stoic thinker, statesman, and tragedian of the first century AD. Including two brand-new pieces, and a helpful introduction to orient the reader, this volume will be an essential guide for anyone seeking to understand Seneca's important and wide-ranging thought.

History

Europe

Clarendon Press

Brad Inwood presents a selection of his most influential essays on the philosophy of Seneca, the Roman Stoic thinker, statesman, and tragedian of the first century AD. Including two brand-new pieces, and a helpful introduction to orient the reader, this volume will be an essential guide for anyone seeking to understand Seneca's fertile, wide-ranging thought and its impact on subsequent generations. In each of these essays Seneca is considered as a philosopher, but with as much account as possible taken of his life, his education, his intellectual and literary background, his career, and his self-presentation as an author. Seneca emerges as a discerning and well-read Stoic, with a strong inclination to think for himself in the context of an intellectual climate teeming with influences from other schools. Seneca's intellectual engagement with Platonism, Aristotelianism, and even with Epicureanism involved a wide range of substantial philosophical interests and concerns. His philosophy was indeed shaped by the fact that he was a Roman, but he was a true philosopher shaped by his culture rather than a Roman writer trying his hand at philosophical themes. The highly rhetorical character of his writing must be accounted for when reading his works, and when one does so the underlying philosophical themes stand out more clearly. While it is hard to generalize about an overall intellectual agenda or systematic philosophical method, key themes and strategies are evident. Inwood shows how Seneca's philosophical ingenium worked itself out in a fundamentally particularistic way as he pursued those aspects of Stoicism that engaged him most forcefully over his career.

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. 'The serial Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy (OSAP) is fairly regarded as the leading venue for publication in ancient philosophy. It is where one looks to find the state-of-the-art. That the serial, which presents itself more as an anthology than as a journal, has traditionally allowed space for lengthier studies, has tended only to add to its prestige; it is as if OSAP thus declares that, since it allows as much space as the merits of the subject require, it can be more entirely devoted to the best and most serious scholarship.' Michael Pakaluk, Bryn Mawr Classical Review

Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy volume

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. 'The serial Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy (Osap) is fairly regarded as the leading venue for publication in ancient philosophy. It is where one looks to find the state-of-the-art. That the serial, which presents itself more as an anthology than as a journal, has traditionally allowed space for lengthier studies, has tended only to add to its prestige; it is as if Osap thus declares that, since it allows as much space as the merits of the subject require, it can be more entirely devoted to the best and most serious scholarship.'Michael Pakaluk, Bryn Mawr Classical Review

From the earliest times, philosophers and others have thought deeply about ethical questions. But it was Aristotle who founded ethics as a discipline with clear principles and well-defined boundaries. Ethics After Aristotle focuses on the reception of Aristotelian ethical thought in the Hellenistic and Roman worlds, underscoring the thinker's enduring influence on the philosophers who followed in his footsteps from 300 BCE to 200 CE.Beginning with Aristotle's student and collaborator Theophrastus, Brad Inwood traces the development of Aristotelian ethics up to the third-century Athenian philosopher Alexander of Aphrodisias. He shows that there was no monolithic tradition in the school, but a rich variety of moral theory. The philosophers of the Peripatetic school produced surprisingly varied theories in dialogue with other philosophical traditions, generating rich insight into human virtue and happiness. What unifies the different strands of thought--what makes them distinctively Aristotelian--is a form of ethical naturalism: that our knowledge of the good and virtuous life depends first on understanding our place in the natural world, and second on the exercise of our natural dispositions in distinctively human activities. What is now referred to as "virtue ethics," Inwood argues, is a less important part of Aristotle's legacy than the naturalistic approach Aristotle articulated and his philosophical descendants developed further.Offering a wide range of ways of thinking about ethics from an ancient perspective, Ethics After Aristotle is a penetrating study of how philosophy evolves in the wake of an unusually powerful and original thinker.

Ethics After Aristotle (Carl Newell Jackson Lectures)

Harvard University Press

The Poem of Empedocles is a completely new edition of the fragments of Empedocles, which presents the Greek text and a new verse translation on facing pages. Also included are the testimonia from Diels-Kranz (for the first time translated into English), and a very full selection of frangment contexts, much of it material which has never before been translated into any modern language. The fragments are presented in their original contexts, which makes possible a fresh reading of the full evidence for Empedocles' thought.
In this edition Brad Inwood argues for a new view of the character of Empedocles' philosophical work. In the introduction he makes a sustained case for there being only one poem originally, rather than two as has usually been thought, and explores the philosophical implications of this thesis at length. He offers new interpretations of Empedocles' metaphysics, epistemology, religious philosophy, andcosmology, and relates the work of Empedocles to Aristotle's critique.

The Poem of Empedocles: A text and translation with a commentary (Phoenix Supplementary Volumes)

Literature & Fiction

History & Criticism

University of Toronto Press, Scholarly Publishing Division

Hellenistic Philosophy: Introductory Readings

Hackett Pub Co Inc

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Books by Inwood, Brad

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Inwood, Brad. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Ethics and Human Action in Early Stoicism

Ethics and Human Action in Early Stoicism

Stoicism: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)

Reading Seneca: Stoic Philosophy at Rome

Reading Seneca: Stoic Philosophy at Rome

Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy volume

Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy volume

Ethics After Aristotle (Carl Newell Jackson Lectures)

The Poem of Empedocles: A text and translation with a commentary (Phoenix Supplementary Volumes)

Hellenistic Philosophy: Introductory Readings