PHL 337: Ethics

This is not a book to leave the reader standing in the outer court of introduction and background information, but leads directly into Plato's argument. It looks at Plato as a thinker grappling with philosophical problems in a variety of ways, rather than a philosopher with a fully worked-out system. It includes a brief account of Plato's life and the various interpretations that have been drawn from the sparse remains of information. It stresses the importance of the founding of the Academy and the conception of philosophy as a subject. Julia Annas discusses Plato's style of writing: his use of the dialogue form, his use of what we today call fiction, and his philosophical transformation of myths.

Constance Meinwald shows how Plato has shaped the landscape of Western philosophy. She provides much-needed historical context, and helps readers grapple with Plato's distinctive use of highly crafted literary masterpieces for philosophical purposes. Meinwald examines some of Plato's most famous discussions of human questions, concerning the capacities and immortality of our psyche, human excellence and the good life, and Plato's controversial ideas about culture, society, and political organization. She shows how Plato makes a sketch of his theory of Forms foundational in this work, and she offers illuminating readings of texts concerned with the development of the theory and its relationship to Greek science and mathematics.

Plato stands as the fount of our philosophical tradition, being the first Western thinker to produce a body of writing that touches upon a wide range of topics still discussed by philosophers today. In a sense he invented philosophy as a distinct subject, for although many of these topics were discussed by his intellectual predecessors and contemporaries, he was the first to bring them together by giving them a unitary treatment. This volume contains fourteen essays discussing Plato's views about knowledge, reality, mathematics, politics, ethics, love, poetry, and religion.

Julia Annas here offers a fundamental reexamination of Plato's ethical thought by investigating the Middle Platonist perspective, which emerged at the end of Plato's own school, the Academy. She highlights the differences between ancient and modern assumptions about Plato's ethics and stresses the need to be more critical about our own.

This Companion comprises original contributions from leading Platonic scholars and reflects the different ways in which they are dealing with Plato's legacy. Contributions are devoted to topics, ranging from perception and knowledge to politics and cosmology. It also includes overviews of Plato's life, works and philosophical method

The Blackwell Companion to Aristotle provides in-depth studies of the main themes of Aristotle's thought, from art to zoology. The most comprehensive single volume survey of the life and work of Aristotle Comprised of 40 newly commissioned essays from leading experts Coves the full range of Aristotle's work, from his 'theoretical' inquiries into metaphysics, physics, psychology, and biology, to the practical and productive "sciences" such as ethics, politics, rhetoric, and art

Aristotle has the task in his ethics of demonstrating how men become good and why happiness can, and should, be our goal. The success of Aristotle's endeavour may be measured by the impact of his ethics on Western moral philosophy for centuries. By converting ethics from a theoretical to a practical science, and by introducing psychology into his study of behaviour, Aristotle both widens the field of moral philosophy and makes it more accessible to anyone who seeks an understanding of human nature.

This handbook reflects the international character of Aristotelian studies, drawing contributors from the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany, France, Switzerland, Italy, Canada, and Japan. The book covers the main areas of Aristotelian philosophy and intellectual enquiry: ethics, metaphysics, politics, logic, language, psychology, rhetoric, poetics, theology, physical and biological investigation, and philosophical method.

Argues that the central cognitive component of ethical virtue for Aristotle is awareness of the value of particulars.

The ethics of Aristotle (384-322 B.C.), and virtue ethics in general, have seen a resurgence of interest over the past few decades. No longer do utilitarianism and Kantian ethics on their own dominate the moral landscape. In addition, Aristotelian themes fill out that landscape, with such issues as the importance of friendship and emotions in a good life, the role of moral perception in wise choice, the nature of happiness and its constitution, moral education and habituation, finding a stable home in contemporary moral debate. The essays in this volume represent the best of that debate.

Until the thirteenth century, when he may have had a competitor in Thomas Aquinas, Augustine of Hippo was the most important philosopher of the medieval period. Many of his views, including his theory of the just war, his account of time and eternity, his understanding of the will, his attempted resolution of the problem of evil, and his approach to the relation of faith and reason, have continued to be influential up to the present time.

This lucid survey takes readers on a thought-provoking tour through the life and work of Augustine. Explores new insights into one of antiquity's most important philosophers Topics Include: skepticism, language acquisition, mind-body dualism, philosophical dream problems, time and creation, faith and reason, foreknowledge and free will, and Augustine's standing as a 'Socratic philosopher'.

This is the most comprehensive single volume reference work on the thought of Jacques Derrida. Leading scholars present a summary of his most important accomplishments across a broad range of subjects, and offer new assessments of these achievements. Topics include metaphysics and epistemology; ethics, religion, and politics; and art and literature.

Jacques Derrida: Live Theory is a new introduction to the work of this most influential of contemporary philosophers. It covers Derrida's corpus in its entirety - from his earliest work in phenomenology and the philosophy of language, to his last work in ethics, politics, and religion. It investigates Derrida's contribution to, and impact upon such disciplines as philosophy, literary theory, cultural studies, aesthetics and theology. Throughout, the key concepts that underpin Derrida's thought are thoroughly examined; in particular, the notion of 'the Other' or 'alterity' is identified as embodying a fundamental continuity from Derrida's earliest to his last work.

Jacques Derrida (born 1930) is undoubtedly the single most influential figure in current Anglo-American literary theory. Yet many scholars and students, not to mention general readers, would be hard put to give an account of Derrida's own writings. In this admirably clear and intelligent introduction, Christopher Norris demonstrates that Derrida's texts should be understood as belonging more to philosophy than to literature. Norris explains the significance of Derrida's writing on texts in the Western philosophical tradition, from Plato to Kant, liegel, and tiusserl, placing him squarely within that tradition.

For Foucault, philosophy was a way of questioning the allegedly necessary truths that underpin the practices and institutions of modern society. The essays in this volume provide a comprehensive overview of Foucault's major themes and texts, from his early work on madness through his history of sexuality. Special attention is also paid to thinkers and movements, from Kant through current feminist theory, that are particularly important for understanding his work and its impact.

pt. 1. The Courses. Candidacy Presentation: College de France, 1969. The Will to Knowledge. Penal Theories and Institutions. The Punitive Society. Psychiatric Power. The Abnormals. Society Must Be Defended. Security, Territory, and Population. The Birth of Biopolitics. On the Government of the Living. Subjectivity and Truth. The Hermeneutic of the Subject -- pt. 2. Ethics. Polemics, Politics, and Problematizations. An Interview by Stephen Riggins. Friendship as a Way of Life. Sexual Choice, Sexual Act. The Social Triumph of the Sexual Will. Sex, Power, and the Politics of Identity. Sexuality and Solitude. The Battle for Chastity. Preface to The History of Sexuality,

A discussion of Foucault's situation in the contemporary context exploring his role as an iconic thinker, with clear explanations as to why his work is so difficult to come to grips with, and also importantly, why it is of interest to so many people. The location of Foucault's work within its own historical, social and political setting. Brief summaries in chronological order of all of Foucault's major works, including the more recently published volumes of lectures. The organization of Foucault's work around five interrelated assumptions which underpin his world view: namely order, history, truth, power and ethics. Ideas for which he is well-known, such as archaeology, genealogy, discourse, discipline, and governmentality are discussed within the framework of these.