Pleasure in ancient Greek philosophy
By: David Wolfsdorf
Series: Key themes in ancient philosophy
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 2013
Place of publication: Cambridge, [England]
Language: eng
Number of pages: 312
ISBN-13: 9780521761307; 9780521149754
Subjects: PHILOSOPHY / History & Surveys / Ancient & Classical; Ancient Philosophy
Description: "The Key Themes in Ancient Philosophy series provides concise books, written by major scholars and accessible to non-specialists, on important themes in ancient philosophy that remain of philosophical interest today. In this volume Professor Wolfsdorf undertakes the first exploration of ancient Greek philosophical conceptions of pleasure in relation to contemporary conceptions. The book provides broad coverage of the ancient material, from pre-Platonic to Old Stoic treatments; and in the contemporary period, from World War II to the present. Examination of the nature of pleasure in ancient philosophy largely occurred within ethical contexts. In the contemporary period, the topic has, to a greater extent, been pursued within philosophy of mind and psychology. This divergence reflects the dominant philosophical preoccupations of the times. But Wolfsdorf argues that the various treatments are complementary. Indeed, the Greeks' examinations of pleasure were incisive, their debates vigorous and their results have enduring value for contemporary discussion"--
Table of contents: title: Machine generated contents note: 1. Introduction; 2. Pleasure in early Greek ethics; 3. Pleasure in the early physical tradition; 4. Plato on pleasure and restoration; 5. Plato on true, untrue and false pleasures; 6. Aristotle on pleasure and activation; 7. Epicurus and the Cyrenaics on katastematic and kinetic pleasures; 8. The Old Stoics on pleasure as passion; 9. Contemporary conceptions of pleasure; 10. Ancient and contemporary conceptions of pleasure; Suggestions for further reading.