Happiness And Greek Ethical Thought (Thoemmes Continuum Studies in Ancient Philosophy) PDF
Preview Happiness And Greek Ethical Thought (Thoemmes Continuum Studies in Ancient Philosophy)
Happiness and Greek Ethical Thought M. ANDREW HOLOWCHAK Continuum Happiness and Greek Ethical Thought ContinuumStudiesinAncientPhilosophy Happiness and Greek Ethical Thought M. ANDREW HOLOWCHAK KutztownUniversity Pennsylvania Continuum TheTowerBuilding,11YorkRoad,LondonSE17NX 15East26thStreet,NewYork,NY10010 &M.AndrewHolowchak,2004 Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthispublicationmaybereproducedortransmittedin anyformorbyanymeans,electronicormechanical,includingphotocopying,recording, oranyinformationstorageorretrievalsystem,withoutpriorpermissioninwritingfrom thepublishers. BritishLibraryCataloguing-in-PublicationData AcataloguerecordforthisbookisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary. ISBN:HB:0–8264–7472–1 TypesetbyAarontypeLimited,Easton,Bristol PrintedandboundinGreatBritainbyMPGBooksLtd,Bodmin,Cornwall Dedication This book is dedicated principally to the ol’ gang at the EMU library ^ Marsha, Bob, Stuart, Jesse, Keith, and Mike ^ whohaveadoptedmeasoneoftheirownandwho continuetohonormewiththe¢nestgiftan‘itinerant’philos- opher(oranyone!)canreceive ^ friendship. In addition, I would like to acknowledge four other singularpeople ^ Angela,Paul,Ru,and‘Whitey’ ^ whose uncompromising friendship and love over the years has beenandcontinuestobeanillimitablesourceofhappiness. Contents Preface ix Acknowledgements xiv ListofFigures xv ListofAbbreviations xvi Map xviii Introduction xix PartI FourViewsofHappiness 1 1 HappinessandBeauty:PlatonicEroticismin Symposium 3 Meetingthesymposiasts 6 The¢rstfoureulogies 7 SophistryversusSocraticdialectic 11 Socrates’initiation 14 Alcibiades’eulogyofSocrates 18 Relevancefortoday 22 Contents vii 2 HappinessasaMeanState:Aristotle’s NicomacheanEthics 29 BreakdownofAristotelianscience 31 Theaimofhumanactions 36 Excellenceofcharacter 37 Excellenceofthought 42 IsAristotle’sethicsrelativistic? 44 Education 46 Culpability 49 Relevancefortoday 55 3 HappinessandPleasure:EpicureanHedonism 64 OverviewofEpicureanhedonism 66 TheEpicureancosmos 67 Reasonandhumanagency 72 Pleasure 75 Justice 80 Friendship 86 Wisdom 88 Relevancefortoday 89 4 HappinessandDoubt:GreekSkepticism 99 Briefhistoricalsketch 101 Sextusonskepticismanddogmatism 103 SkepticismanddogmatisminGreekmedicine 116 SextusonSkepiticismandmedicine 121 Relevancefortoday 122 PartII ThreeLevelsofIntegration 133 5 HappinessandSelf-Integration 135 Platonicjustice 137 Aristotleonthepleasureofbeingalone 139 ThetrialofSocrates 141 viii Contents TheconquestsofAlexander 147 Diogenesthedog 152 Relevancefortoday 154 6 Happinessand‘Political’Integration 165 Peopleandpoleis 166 Platoonpersonsandpoleis 168 Socrates’loveofAthens 170 FriendshipinClassicalGreece 175 Relevancefortoday 179 7 HappinessandCosmicIntegration 187 Plato’scraftedcosmos 188 Aristotle’sproper-placecosmos 191 Stoiccosmologyandethics 195 Epictetus’Handbook 200 Relevancefortoday 204 Postscript 213 AppendixA:ImportantNames 216 AppendixB:ImportantTerms 220 FurtherReading 231 Index 240 Preface The Puzzle of Happiness HAPPINESS HAS PERHAPS BEEN the focal point of and most seductive issue in philosophical discussions on ethics. Whilemany,suchasAristotleandJohnStuartMill,takeit tobetheendofallhumanactivity,almostallphilosophers acknowledge that it is a valuable, if not essential, compo- nentofagoodlife. On philosophical analysis, happiness proves as elusive as it is alluring. First, though most recognize its impor- tance,philosophersdisagreegreatlyaboutjustwhatmakes peoplehappy.AmongtheearlyGreeks,Socrates,Platotells us,believesthathappinessisvirtue,whichheequateswith knowledge. Aristotle de¢nes it as virtuous activity, which has both a social and asocial dimension. Plato in Repub- licseesitasaformofjustice.TheEpicureanandCyrenaic
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