Virtues for the People: Aspects of Plutarchan Ethics: 04 (Plutarchea Hypomnemata, 4) - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 905867858X ISBN 13: 9789058678584

Publisher: Leuven University Press, 2011

Synopsis

Plutarch of Chaeronea, Platonist, polymath, and prolific writer, was by no means an armchair philosopher. He believed in the necessity for a philosopher to affect the lives of his fellow citizens. That urge inspired many of his writings to meet what he considered people's true needs. Although these writings on practical ethics illustrate in various ways Plutarch's authorial talents and raise many challenging questions (regarding their overall structure, content, purpose, and underlying philosophical and social presuppositions), they have attracted only limited scholarly attention. Virtues for the People contains a collection of essays that deal with these questions from different perspectives and as such throw a new light upon this multifaceted domain of Plutarch's thinking and writing. Special points of interest are the concept of ‘popular philosophy' itself and its implications, its dependence on a more theoretical philosophical background, and the importance of moral progress, the therapy of wickedness, and the common experiences of everyday life.

Ebook available in Open Access.
This publication is GPRC-labeled (Guaranteed Peer-Reviewed Content).

About this title

About the Authors

Geert Roskam is Professor of Greek language and literature at KU Leuven.

Luc Van der Stockt is Professor of Greek language and literature at the KU Leuven and Honorary President of the International Plutarch Society.

From the Back Cover

Plutarch of Chaeronea, Platonist, polymath, and prolific writer, was by no means an armchair philosopher. He believed in the necessity for a philosopher to affect the lives of his fellow citizens. That urge inspired many of his writings to meet what he considered people's true needs. Although these writings on practical ethics illustrate in various ways Plutarch's authorial talents and raise many challenging questions (regarding their overall structure, content, purpose, and underlying philosophical and social presuppositions), they have attracted only limited scholarly attention. 'Virtues for the People' contains a collection of essays that deal with these questions from different perspectives and as such throw a new light upon this multifaceted domain of Plutarch's thinking and writing. Special points of interest are the concept of ¿popular philosophy' itself and its implications, its dependence on a more theoretical philosophical background, and the importance of moral progress, the therapy of wickedness, and the common experiences of everyday life.

Edition details

• Publisher: Leuven University Press
• Publication date: 2011
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 905867858X
• ISBN 13: 9789058678584
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 384
• Editor: Roskam Geert, Van Der Stockt Luc