Necessity Cause Blame CB - Hardcover

Sorabji, Richard

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0801411629 ISBN 13: 9780801411625

Publisher: Cornell University Press, 1980

Synopsis

A discussion of Aristotle's thought on determinism and culpability, "Necessity, Cause and Blame" also reveals Richard Sorabji's own philosophical commitments. He makes the original argument here that Aristotle separates the notions of necessity and cause, rejecting both the idea that all events are necessarily determined as well as the idea that a non-necessitated event must also be non-caused. In support of this argument, Sorabji engages in a wideranging discussion of explanation, time, free will, essence, and purpose in nature. He also provides historical perspective, arguing that these problems remain intimately bound up with modern controversies.

About this title

Review:

"Necessity, Cause and Blame would be counted by all as one of Sorabji's finest. The book is essential for philosophers - both specialists on the Greeks and modern thinkers about free will - and also compelling for non-specialists." - Martha Nussbaum "Original and important.... It is especially detailed on Stoic arguments about necessity... and on the social and legal background to Aristotle's thought." - Choice "It is difficult to convey the extraordinary richness of this book.... A Greekless philosopher could read it with pleasure.... At the same time, its learning and scholarship are enormous." - G. E. M. Anscombe, Times Literary Supplement"

About the Author:

Richard Sorabji is emeritus professor of philosophy at King's College, London, and fellow of Wolfson College, Oxford. He is the author of Time, Creation and the Continuum; Matter, Space, and Motion; Animal Minds and Human Morals; Emotion and Peace of Mind, and Self: Ancient and Modern Insights, the last forthcoming from the University of Chicago Press. He is also general editor of seventy volumes to date of The Ancient Commentators on Aristotle, and coeditor of The Ethics of War: Shared Problems in Different Traditions.

About this edition

• Publisher: Cornell University Press
• Publication date: 1980
• ISBN 10: 0801411629
• ISBN 13: 9780801411625
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 326