Description
Book SynopsisA reinterpretation of ancient philosophy that recovers the long Greek and Roman tradition of philosophy as a complete way of life - and not simply an intellectual discipline. It traces how, for many ancient thinkers, philosophy was not just to be studied or even used to solve particular practical problems.
Trade ReviewHonorable Mention for the 2012 Award for Best Professional/Scholarly Book in Philosophy, Association of American Publishers "[E]legant... Mr. Cooper's book proves to be an antidote to the rosy nostalgia that poisons stories about what philosophy was and what it has become... Unlike in the natural sciences, the central questions in philosophy are pretty much the same as they ever were: What should I believe in? How should I live? Mr. Cooper's book lucidly presents six appealing answers to those questions."--Brendan Boyle, Wall Street Journal "In this insightful and well-written survey, Cooper presents the ancient Greek and Roman philosophical tradition as one that is unified around philosophy as a way of life... Cooper offers an excellent survey that deserves a wide readership."--Choice "Cooper's book is comprehensive, accessible, and well-written, and his claim that we could follow the ancients in allowing philosophy to steer our lives in order to understand what they were up to makes his book a provocative and worthwhile read."--Angela Schwenkler, American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly "Cooper's attempt to write a book for a wide readership is successful. Readers interested in the subject of ancient philosophy as a way of life will find the book provocative, and those who seek a sophisticated introduction to ancient moral theory will learn a great deal from it."--Christopher Edelman, Journal of the History of Philosophy "Pursuits of Wisdom is aimed at a 'wide readership' rather than at 'co-specialists'. Doubtless it deserves a wide readership, and as I am writing here as a 'co-specialist' I would say that it deserves reading by us too. Of course we might miss comments about the scholarly literature, but readers should be assured that Cooper is highly reliable... What does 'living a philosophical life' involve? This book is a good place to go for several competing answers."--Antony Preus, Polis "Pursuits of Wisdom is an original, clearly written, and brilliantly argued reinterpretation of six ways of life offered by ancient Greek philosophers: Socrates/Plato, Aristotle, Stoicism, Epicureanism, Skepticism, and the Platonism of Plotinus. Cooper writes vividly, with an unfaltering clarity of purpose, and he manages to balance accessibility and rigor. The book is the culmination of years of rigorous study in ancient philosophy and an invitation for a wide audience to engage seriously with these ancient ways of life. I think this invitation is worth accepting."--Antonis Coumoundouros, Philosophy in Review "Pursuits of Wisdom is a well-written, thoroughly argued book. It undoubtedly makes an important contribution to contemporary understandings of ancient philosophy. It might even contribute to broadening the audience of those who see the relevance and seriousness of philosophy for their lives."--Ben Mulvey, Metapsychology Online Reviews "[T]he book as a whole offers a comprehensive overview of ancient ethics that is sensitive to historical context and that tries to comprehend ancient philosophy on its own terms. Many readers will learn a lot from it."--John Sellars, Mind
Table of ContentsPreface ix Chapter 1 Introduction: On Philosophy as a Way of Life 1 1.Philosophy Ancient, Modern, and Contemporary 1 Chapter 2. What It Means to Live a Philosophy 17 2The Socratic Way of Life 24 1.Ancient Philosophy as Intellectual Pursuit vs. as Way of Life 24 2.Socrates in Plato's Apology 32 3.Socratic Dialectic, Socratic Knowledge, and Human Wisdom 42 4.Socratic Philosophy as a Way of Life 48 5.Socrates and the Subsequent Tradition 60 Chapter 3 Aristotle: Philosophy as Two Ways of Life 70 1.Introduction 70 2.Practical vs. Theoretical Knowledge 74 3.The Highest Good, Happiness, and Virtue 79 4.Two Happy Lives, Two Happinesses: The Contemplative and the Practically Active Lives 91 5.Theoretical vs. Practical Virtue as Highest Good 96 6.The Practical Virtues: General Account 99 7.The Specific Practical Virtues 105 8.Practical Knowledge and Ethical "Theory" 117 9.Political Community and the Highest Good 123 10.Conclusion: Philosophy as Two Ways of Life 137 Chapter 4 Stoicism as a Way of Life 144 1.Introduction: The Three Hellenistic Philosophies 144 2.Stoicism: Tradition and Texts 147 3.Stoic Eudaimonism 150 4.Stoic Moral Psychology and the Human Virtues 158 5.Virtue: Agreement with the World-Mind's Plans 166 6.What Is Good vs. What Is Merely of Some Value 184 7.Consequences of the Stoic Theory of Value 190 8.Stoic vs. Aristotelian Conceptions of Emotions or Passions 203 9.The Stoic Way of Life 214 Chapter 5 The Epicurean and Skeptic Ways of Life 226 1.Introduction 226 2.Epicurus's Theory of the Human Good: "Kinetic" and "Katastematic" Pleasure 229 3.The Epicurean Way of Life: Virtue, Irreligion, Friendship 246 4.The Epicurean Life: Concluding Summary 271 5.Ancient Skepticism: Living without Believing Anything 276 6.The Pyrrhonian Skepticism of Sextus Empiricus 282 7.The Skeptic Way of Life 291 Chapter 6 Platonism as a Way of Life 305 1.Introduction: Pythagoras, Plato, and Ancient Greek Wisdom 305 2.Plotinus's Platonist Metaphysics 317 3.Plotinus's Theory of the Human Person 326 4.Three Levels of Human Virtues: "Civic", "Purifying," and "Intellectual" 341 5.Virtue and Happiness 363 6.Philosophy: The Sole Way Up to Life Itself 381 7.Epilogue: The Demise of Pagan Philosophy, and of Philosophy as a Way of Life 383 Further Readings 389 Endnotes 401 Bibliography 425 Index 431
