An examination of the development of virtue ethics in the early stages of western civilization. It deals with a range of philosophers and schools of philosophy - from Socrates and the Stoics to Plato, Aristotle, and the Epicureans, among others.
In this book, William H. F. Altman turns to Demosthenes-universally regarded as Plato's student in antiquity-and Plato's other Athenian students in order to add external and historical evidence for Plato's original curriculum.
Ignorance, Irony and Knowledge in Plato shows that Socratic ignorance-knowing that you don't know-is central to Plato's philosophy, especially in his use of dialogue and his theory of knowledge. Plato's philosophical career can be understood as a progressive deepening of his appreciation of Socratic ignorance and its rich implications.
This story of Athens' tragic defeat in its attempt to subdue Sicily during the war between Athens and Sparta, discusses the social and political context, the ideas about religion, women, foreigners, and slaves during the great intellectual blossoming of fifth century Athens, and the complex relationship between democracy and empire.
By recognizing the pervasive influence that Herodotus's career as an oral performer had on his composition of the Histories, The Audiences of Herodotus: Oral Performance and the Battle Narratives argues that the Histories' versions of the three most important battles in the Persian Wars-the battles of Thermopylae, Salamis, and Plataea-persistently ......
Defining Orthodoxy and Heresy in Christianity, 325 CE
Before Constantine rose to power as the Roman emperor, the empire followed polytheistic beliefs. Any deviation from this tradition, particularly embracing Christianity, was met with severe punishment including imprisonment, torture, and execution. Christians were especially targeted as their faith was considered a ""cult"" at the time. However, ......
Universally regarded as Plato's student in antiquity, it is the eloquent and patriotic orator Demosthenes--not the pro-Macedonian Aristotle who tutored Alexander the Great--who returned to the dangerous Cave of political life, and thus makes it possible to recover the Old Academy. In Plato and Demosthenes: Recovering the Old Academy, William H. F. ......
This book investigates Dionysius of Halicarnassus' description of Rome's 'founders' and situates Dionysius' historical work in the cultural and political contexts of Augustan Rome. Beatrice Poletti examines Dionysius' methods and engagement with his sources to illustrate the significance of his work in his contemporary intellectual milieu.
Susan Ford Wiltshire traces the evolution of the doctrine of individual rights from antiquity through the eighteenth century. The common thread through that long story is the theory of natural law. Growing out of Greek political thought, especially that of Aristotle, natural law became a major tenet of Stoic philosophy during the Hellenistic age ......
