Pleasure and the Good Life

Plato, Aristotle, and the Neoplatonists
Erscheinungsjahr 2000
ISBN: 978-90-04-11797-6
Verlag: Brill

Buch, Englisch, Band 85, 214 Seiten, Format (B × H): 165 mm x 242 mm, Gewicht: 567 g

Reihe: Philosophia Antiqua

This volume deals with the general theory of pleasure of Plato and his successors.
The first part describes the two paradigms between which all theories of pleasure oscillate: Plato's definition of pleasure as the repletion of a lack, and Aristotle's view that pleasure is the perfect performance of an activity. After an excursus on Epicureans and Stoics, the book concentrates on Neoplatonism, opposing the 'standard Neoplatonic view' of Plotinus and Proclus to the original viewpoint of Damascius' commentary on Plato's Philebus.
The volume sheds light on the discussion between hedonists and anti-hedonists, by concentrating on the 'crucial point' at which any philosophical analysis of the good life (hedonistic or other) ought to argue that the life of the philosopher is the most desirable, and thus truly pleasurable, life.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Riel, Paul van

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtliche Themen Kultur- und Ideengeschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Philosophie Geschichte der Westlichen Philosophie Antike Philosophie
• Geisteswissenschaften Philosophie Ethik, Moralphilosophie

Über Autor(innen)

Gerd van Riel, Ph.D. (1997) in Philosophy, Catholic University of Leuven (Belgium), is a Post-Doctoral Fellow of the Fund for Scientific Research - Flanders (Belgium) at the Leuven Institute of Philosophy. He has published on Plato's Philebus and its influence in ancient philosophy. His articles include Does a Perfect Activity Necessarily Yield Pleasure? in International Journal of Philosophical Studies, 7 (1999).