The Quest for the Good Life

Ancient Philosophers on Happiness

Nonfiction, Religion & Spirituality, Philosophy, Ancient, Ethics & Moral Philosophy
Cover of the book The Quest for the Good Life by , OUP Oxford
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: ISBN: 9780191064029
Publisher: OUP Oxford Publication: October 8, 2015
Imprint: OUP Oxford Language: English
Author:
ISBN: 9780191064029
Publisher: OUP Oxford
Publication: October 8, 2015
Imprint: OUP Oxford
Language: English

How should I live? How can I be happy? What is happiness, really? These are perennial questions, which in recent times have become the object of diverse kinds of academic research. Ancient philosophers placed happiness at the centre of their thought, and we can trace the topic through nearly a millennium. While the centrality of the notion of happiness in ancient ethics is well known, this book is unique in that it focuses directly on this notion, as it appears in the ancient texts. Fourteen papers by an international team of scholars map the various approaches and conceptions found from the Pre-Socratics through Plato, Aristotle, Hellenistic Philosophy, to the Neo-Platonists and Augustine in late antiquity. While not promising a formula that can guarantee a greater share in happiness to the reader, the book addresses questions raised by ancient thinkers that are still of deep concern to many people today: Do I have to be a morally good person in order to be happy? Are there purely external criteria for happiness such as success according to received social norms or is happiness merely a matter of an internal state of the person? How is happiness related to the stages of life and generally to time? In this book the reader will find an informed discussion of these and many other questions relating to happiness.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

How should I live? How can I be happy? What is happiness, really? These are perennial questions, which in recent times have become the object of diverse kinds of academic research. Ancient philosophers placed happiness at the centre of their thought, and we can trace the topic through nearly a millennium. While the centrality of the notion of happiness in ancient ethics is well known, this book is unique in that it focuses directly on this notion, as it appears in the ancient texts. Fourteen papers by an international team of scholars map the various approaches and conceptions found from the Pre-Socratics through Plato, Aristotle, Hellenistic Philosophy, to the Neo-Platonists and Augustine in late antiquity. While not promising a formula that can guarantee a greater share in happiness to the reader, the book addresses questions raised by ancient thinkers that are still of deep concern to many people today: Do I have to be a morally good person in order to be happy? Are there purely external criteria for happiness such as success according to received social norms or is happiness merely a matter of an internal state of the person? How is happiness related to the stages of life and generally to time? In this book the reader will find an informed discussion of these and many other questions relating to happiness.

More books from OUP Oxford

Cover of the book Common: The Development of Literary Culture in Sixteenth-Century England by
Cover of the book Anti-Externalism by
Cover of the book Music therapy in mental health for illness management and recovery by
Cover of the book Drugs in Psychiatry by
Cover of the book The Littlehampton Libels by
Cover of the book Blackstone's Policing for the Special Constable by
Cover of the book Oxford Guide to CBT for People with Cancer by
Cover of the book Protection of Civilians by
Cover of the book Private Regulation and the Internal Market by
Cover of the book The Oxford Handbook of British Poetry, 1660-1800 by
Cover of the book Green Equilibrium by
Cover of the book A Journal of the Plague Year by
Cover of the book Naturalism, interpretation, and mental disorder by
Cover of the book Psychiatry in Practice by
Cover of the book Emergencies in Critical Care by
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy