Description
Book SynopsisPlutarch of Chaeronea is one of the most influential and fascinating authors of antiquity. His Parallel Lives and Moralia are storehouses of challenging questions, valuable insights and interesting observations. Moreover, they contain a wealth of quotations from and references to earlier writers and traditions, and thus provide one of the richest gateways to the ancient world. This book introduces the reader to Plutarch's life and to the different facets of his variegated thinking and writing, such as his tremendous erudition, his Platonism and (moral) philosophy, his interpretation of history and his view of God. Above all, Plutarch stands out as a particularly clever and subtle thinker, driven by a spirit of painstaking enquiry (zetesis) that shows authentic and impressive intellectual honesty and sincere love of the truth. In this respect, as in many others, he remains an inspiring model even for us today.
Table of ContentsAcknowledgements; 1. Plutarch's life; 2. Looking for the truth: Plutarch as an open-minded Platonist; 3. Learning in abundance: the ramifications of Plutarch's erudition; 4. The complicated path to virtue: Plutarch's ethical thinking; 5. History as matter for philosophy: the Parallel Lives; 6. A close encounter with the Parallel Lives: two case studies; 7. Reason as a mystagogue: Plutarch's view of God; List of Plutarch's works; Bibliography.
