Socratic Moral Psychology

Erscheinungsjahr 2011
ISBN: 978-0-521-19843-1
Verlag: Cambridge University Press

Buch, Englisch, 288 Seiten, Format (B × H): 157 mm x 235 mm, Gewicht: 618 g

Socrates' moral psychology is widely thought to be 'intellectualist' in the sense that, for Socrates, every ethical failure to do what is best is exclusively the result of some cognitive failure to apprehend what is best. Until fairly recently, the view that, for Socrates, emotions and desires have no role to play in causing such failure went unchallenged. This book argues against the orthodox view of Socratic intellectualism and offers in its place a comprehensive alternative account that explains why Socrates believed that emotions, desires and appetites can influence human motivation and lead to error. Thomas C. Brickhouse and Nicholas D. Smith defend the study of Socrates' philosophy and offer a new interpretation of Socratic moral psychology. Their novel account of Socrates' conception of virtue and how it is acquired shows that Socratic moral psychology is considerably more sophisticated than scholars have supposed.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Brickhouse, Thomas C.

Smith, Nicholas D.

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Philosophie Ethik, Moralphilosophie
• Geisteswissenschaften Philosophie Geschichte der Westlichen Philosophie Antike Philosophie

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Introduction; Acknowledgements; 1. Apology of Socratic studies; 2. Motivational intellectualism; 3. The 'prudential paradox'; 4. Wrongdoing and damage to the soul; 5. Educating the appetites and passions; 6. Virtue intellectualism; 7. Socrates and his intellectual heirs: Plato, Aristotle, and the Stoics; Appendix: Is Plato's Gorgias consistent with the other early or Socratic dialogues?; Bibliography of works cited; Index of passages; General index.

Über Autor(innen)

Brickhouse, Thomas C.
Thomas C. Brickhouse is John Franklin East Professor of Humanities, Department of Philosophy, Lynchburg College, Virginia. He is the co-author (with Nicholas D. Smith) of The Philosophy of Socrates (2000) and the co-editor (with Nicholas D. Smith) of The Trial and Execution of Socrates (2002).

Smith, Nicholas D.
Nicholas D. Smith is James F. Miller Professor of Humanities, Department of Philosophy, Lewis and Clark College, Portland. He is the co-author (with Thomas C. Brickhouse) of Plato and the Trial of Socrates (2004) and the author of papers on Plato, Aristotle, and contemporary epistemology.