Plutarch's Practical Ethics

The Social Dynamics of Philosophy
Erscheinungsjahr 2010
ISBN: 978-0-19-958326-3
Verlag: OUP Oxford

Buch, Englisch, 328 Seiten, Print PDF, Format (B × H): 145 mm x 222 mm, Gewicht: 614 g

The Second Sophistic (c.AD 60-250) was a time of intense competition for honour and status. Like today, this often caused mental as well as physical stress for the elite of the Roman Empire. This book, which transcends the boundaries between literature, social history, and philosophy, studies Plutarch's practical ethics, a group of twenty-odd texts within the Moralia designed to help powerful Greeks and Romans manage their ambitions and society's expectations successfully. Lieve Van Hoof combines a systematic analysis of the general principles underlying Plutarch's practical ethics, including the author's target readership, therapeutical practices, and self-presentation, with five innovative case studies. A picture emerges of philosophy under the Roman Empire not as a set of abstract, theoretical doctrines, but as a kind of symbolic capital engendering power and prestige for author and reader alike.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Van Hoof, Lieve

Fachgebiete

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

Inhaltsverzeichnis

- Introduction

- 1: Philosophy and Society

- 2: Strategies for Promoting Philosophy

- 3: Plutarch as a Philosopher in Society

- 4: On Feeling Good

- 5: On Exile

- 6: On Talkativeness

- 7: On Curiosity

- 8: Precepts of Healthcare

- Conclusion

Über Autor(innen)

Dr Lieve Van Hoof obtained her Ph.D. in Classics from Leuven University (Belgium) in 2006. Since then, she has held a Lectureship in Greek and Latin Literature at the University of Exeter (U.K.), a Postdoctoral Research Fellowship of the Flemish Research Foundation (Belgium), and a Humboldt-Stipendium für erfahrene Wissenschaftler based in Bonn. Currently, she is a Fellow in Residence at the Lichtenberg Kolleg zu Göttingen.