The Invention of Duty: Stoicism as Deontology /
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"Did the ancient Greeks and Romans have a concept of moral duty? Jack Visnjic seeks to settle this long-standing controversy in The Invention of Duty: Stoicism as Deontology. The traditional view of ancient ethics is that it was built on notions of virtue and human flourishing and not on any sense of moral obligation. Visnjic argues that, millennia before Kant, the Stoics already developed a robust notion of moral duty as well as a sophisticated deontological ethics. While most writings of the Stoics perished, their concept of duty lived on and eventually came to influence the modern notion. In fact, it was Kant's encounter with Stoic ideas that seems to have spurred him to formulate a new duty-based morality"--
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004446335
9789004446328
Traditions of theology : studies in Hellenistic theology, its background and aftermath /
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The nine articles in this volume were orginally presented at the VIII. Symposium Hellenisticum in Lille in August 1998. The authors discuss a set of theological questions that were central to the doctrines of the dominant schools in the Hellenistic age, such as the existence of the gods, their nature, and their concern for humankind. While the philosophers of the Classical age had kept their distance from conventional religion, the Stoics and Epicureans saw the need to come to terms with the religious tradition both in a critical and in a supportive sense. Especially the challenge by the Sceptics forced the followers of the dogmatic schools (Stoics, Epicureans) to clarify the basis of their theological tenets. Many of the texts that are accessible to us only in a fragmentary state were still highly influential in the early Christian era, so that the reconstruction of the theological views of the Hellenistic philosophers form an important part not only of the history of philosophy, but also of Christian theology and the history of religion in general. One distinctive feature of the volume is that it mirrors the changes of perspective that took place over the many centuries in this area, thus presenting the Hellenistic contribution within the larger framework of Greek philosophical theology.
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Papers presented at the 8th Symposium Hellenisticum, Villeneuve-d'Ascq, France, 1998. :
1 online resource (xiv, 343 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references and indexes. :
9789047401063 :
0079-1687 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Round Trip to Hades in the Eastern Mediterranean Tradition, Visits to the Underworld from Antiquity to Byzantium.
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Round Trip to Hades in the Eastern Mediterranean Tradition explores how the theme of visiting the Underworld and returning alive has been treated, transmitted and transformed in the ancient Greek and Byzantine traditions. The journey was usually a descent ( katabasis ) into a dark and dull place, where forgetfulness and punishment reigned, but since 'everyone' was there, it was also a place that offered opportunities to meet people and socialize. Famous Classical round trips to Hades include those undertaken by Odysseus and Aeneas, but this pagan topic also caught the interest of Christian writers. The contributions of the present volume allow the reader to follow the passage from pagan to Christian representations of Hades-a passage that may seem surprisingly effortless.
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1 online resource. :
9789004375963
Strategies of polemics in Greek and Roman philosophy /
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Strategies of Polemics in Greek and Roman Philosophy brings together papers written by specialists in the field of ancient philosophy on the topic of polemics. Despite the central role played by polemics in ancient philosophy, the forms and mechanisms of philosophical polemics are not usually the subject of systematic scholarly attention. The present volume seeks to shed new light on familiar texts by approaching them from this neglected angle. The contributions address questions such as: What is the role of polemic in a philosophical discourse? What were the polemical strategies developed by ancient philosophers? To what extent did polemics contribute to the shaping of important philosophical doctrines or standpoint?
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1 online resource (i, 248 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004323049 :
1570-078X ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Akrasia in Greek philosophy : from Socrates to Plotinus /
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Discussions on akrasia (lack of control, or weakness of will) in Greek philosophy have been particularily vivid and intense for the past two decades. Standard stories that presented Socrates as the philosopher who simply denied the phenomenon, and Plato and Aristotle as rehabilitating it straightforwardly against Socrates, have been challenged in many different ways. Building on those challenges, this collective provides new, and in some cases opposed ways of reading well-known as well as more neglected texts. Its 13 contributions, written by experts in the field, cover the whole history of Greek ethics, from Socrates to Plotinus, through Plato, Aristotle, and the Stoics (Cleanthes, Chrysippus, Epictetus).
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references (p. [283]-290) and index. :
9789047420125 :
0079-1687 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Brill's companion to the reception of Senecan tragedy : scholarly, theatrical and literary receptions /
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In Brill's Companion to the Reception of Senecan Tragedy , Eric Dodson-Robinson incorporates essays by specialists working across disciplines and national literatures into a subtle narrative tracing the diverse scholarly, literary and theatrical receptions of Seneca's tragedies. The tragedies, influential throughout the Roman world well beyond Seneca's time, plunge into obscurity in Late Antiquity and nearly disappear during the Middle Ages. Profound consequences follow from the rediscovery of a dusty manuscript containing nine plays attributed to Seneca: it is seminal to both the renaissance of tragedy and the birth of Humanism. Canonical Western writers from Antiquity to the present have revisited, transformed, and eviscerated Senecan precedents to develop, in Dodson-Robinson's words, \'competing tragic visions of agency and the human place in the universe.\'
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004310988 :
2213-1426 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Aëtiana IV : papers of the Melbourne Colloquium on Ancient Doxography /
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The articles collected here are based for the most part on papers read at the Colloquium "The Placita of Aëtius: Foundations for the Study of Ancient Philosophy," held in Melbourne in December 2015. The Placita , a first century CE collection of systematically organised tenets in natural philosophy ranging from first principles to human physiology is incompletely extant in several later sources. Its laborious reconstruction and the identity of its author are discussed from various angles. The text of the treatise is further elucidated by a novel statistical exploration of what is extant and what is missing. Its relation to various currents in the history of Greek philosophy and its reliability are also examined in some detail.
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1 online resource (xii, 527 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004361461 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
The Derveni papyrus : unearthing ancient mysteries /
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The Derveni Papyrus: Unearthing Ancient Mysteries is devoted to this fascinating and challenging document, discovered in 1962 in a tomb in Derveni, near Thessaloniki, and dated c. 340-320 BCE. It contains a text probably written at the end of 5th c. BCE, which after some reflections on minor divinities and unusual cults, comments upon a poem attributed to Orpheus from an allegorical and philosophical perspective. This volume focuses on the restoration and conservation of the papyrus, the ideas of the anonymous author about Erinyes and daimons, the quoted Orphic poem in comparison with Hesiod's Theogony and Parmenides' poem, the exegetical approach of the commentator, his cosmogonic system, his attitude regarding mystery cults and his peculiar theology.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004384859 :
0169-9652 ;
Clement's biblical exegesis : proceedings of the Second Colloquium on Clement Of Alexandria (Olomouc, May 29-31, 2014) /
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In Clement's Biblical Exegesis scholars from six countries explore various facets of Clement of Alexandria's hermeneutical theory and his exegetical practice. Although research on Clement has tended to emphasize his use of philosophical sources, Clement was important not only as a Christian philosopher, but also as a pioneer Christian exegete. His works constitute a crucial link in the tradition of Alexandrian exegesis, but his biblical exegesis has received much less attention than that of Philo or Origen. Topics discussed include how Clement's methods of allegorical interpretation compare with those of Philo, Origen, and pagan exegetes of Homer, and his readings of particular texts such as Proverbs, the Sermon on the Mount, John 1, 1 John, and the Pauline letters.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references. :
9789004331242 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Ancient readings of Plato's Phaedo /
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Plato's Phaedo has never failed to attract the attention of philosophers and scholars. Yet the history of its reception in Antiquity has been little studied. The present volume therefore proposes to examine not only the Platonic exegetical tradition surrounding this dialogue, which culminates in the commentaries of Damascius and Olympiodorus, but also its place in the reflections of the rival Peripatetic, Stoic, and Sceptical schools. This volume thus aims to shed light on the surviving commentaries and their sources, as well as on less familiar aspects of the history of the Phaedo 's ancient reception. By doing so, it may help to clarify what ancient interpreters of Plato can and cannot offer their contemporary counterparts.
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1 online resource (viii, 364 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references (p. 311-335) and index. :
9789004289543 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
A Meaningful Life amidst a Pluralism of Cultures and Values : John Lachs's Stoic Pragmatism as a Philosophical and Cultural Project /
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There is a growing concern about living a meaningful life among those living in different contexts of cultural diversity, be it the American melting pot, the union of European nations, the multiculturally globalized, the multiformity of tribalism of various stripes, and the fashionable cyber bubbles of opinion and commentary that drive the outlooks of millions of uninformed consumers. This book argues for a wisdom that incorporates a reference for both knowledge and self-knowledge, as well as life experience and cultural traditions that have stood the test of time, all contributing to a framework in which we can navigate our lives.
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1 online resource (266 pages) : illustrations. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004680050
La raison des signes : présages, rites, destin dans les sociétés de la méditerranée ancienne /
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Comment prévoir l'inconnu et contrôler l'inattendu ? Les Anciens ont tenté de répondre à ces questions en interprétant des signes dans lesquels il reconnaissaient des messages divins. Ce recueil permet de comparer la diversité de leurs questionnements dans les sociétés polythéistes ou monothéistes de la Méditerranée antique. Il interroge premièrement la construction rituelle des signes au sein des institutions divinatoires ; deuxièmement, des phénomènes naturels spontanés, qui, apparus hors de toute institution, ont néanmoins valeur de présages ou d'avertissements ; troisièmement, l'intentionnalité manifestée à travers l'intervention divine dans l'histoire des peuples ou les vies singulières ; quatrièmement, l'épistémologie des signes dans des élaborations philosophiques ou théologiques qui éclairent la tension entre données oraculaires et contrôle ritualisé des signes, entre données révélées et argumentations raisonnées visant à neutraliser les injonctions du destin. How to foresee the unknown and master the unexpected? Ancient people tried to answer those questions by interpreting signs considered as divine messages. In this volume, the writers compare and examine this manifold questioning in the polytheistic and monotheistic societies of the ancient Mediterranean Sea. In the first place, it is shown how signs were ritually constructed within instituted practice of divination ; second, how, although some spontaneous natural phenomena appeared out of any instituted context, may nevertheless constitute omens or monition ; third, how the gods' intervention may reveal a sort of intention in the course of national history or individual life ; finally, the essays study the epistemology of signs at work in some philosophical or theological elaborations, which may enlighten the tension between oracular evidence and ritual control of signs, and between revealed facts and reasoning arguments intending to neutralize the injunctions of the divine.
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Text in French; summaries in English. :
1 online resource (xviii, 626 pages) : illustrations. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004210912 :
0927-7633 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Gregory of Nyssa : Contra Eunomium III : an English translation with commentary and supporting studies : proceedings of the 12th International Colloquium On Gregory Of Nyssa (Leuve...
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Gregory of Nyssa's Contra Eunomium , one of the major books on trinitarian theology of the 4th century, documents the exchange between Eunomius and the Cappadocian Father in the last episode of the so-called \'Arian Crisis\'. The present volume is devoted to the third and last book of Contra Eunomium . It offers a fresh English translation with a running commentary in the form of ten studies by first-rank specialists. Seventeen shorter papers enlighten various aspects of Contra Eunomium and other writings of the same author. The contributions will be of interest for scholars of historical and systematical theology, philosophy, spirituality, rhetoric and the history of the Early Church.
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1 online resource (798 pages) : illustrations, tables. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004268258 :
0920-623X ;
0920-623X :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Alexander of Aphrodisias on stoic physics : a study of the De mixtione with preliminary essays, text, translation and commentary /
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Includes indexes. :
1 online resource (xiii, 272 pages) :
"Alexander of Aphrodisias: a select bibliography": pages 261-263.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 254-260). :
9789004320499 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Fate, Providence and Free Will: Philosophy and Religion in Dialogue in the Early Imperial Age. /
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This volume, edited by René Brouwer and Emmanuele Vimercati, deals with the debate about fate, providence and free will in the early Imperial age. This debate is rekindled in the 1st century CE during emperor Augustus' rule and ends in the 3rd century CE with Plotinus and Origen, when the different positions in the debate were more or less fully developed. The book aims to show how in this period the notions of fate, providence and freedom were developed and debated, not only within and between the main philosophical schools, that is Stoicism, Aristotelianism, and Platonism, but also in the interaction with other, "religious" movements, here understood in the general sense of groups of people sharing beliefs in and worship of (a) superhuman controlling power(s), such as Gnosticism, Hermetism as well as Judaism and Christianity.
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Includes index. :
1 online resource. :
9789004436381
9789004435667
The notion of that which depends on us in Plotinus and its background /
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The book analyses Plotinus' notion of 'that which depends on us', which although central to his ethics, has never been examined in a specific study before. The book traces the sources of this notion in Aristotle and its reception in Stoicism, Middle Platonism and Early Aristotelian Commentators. It then shows how Plotinus' critical discussion of the inherent problems in previous accounts and his investigation of the notion's application to the Intellect and the One, leads to a highly original interpretation of the notion as central to his account of human agency. The book demonstrates Plotinus' serious engagement with the central issues of ancient ethics, and his original way of tackling them.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references (p. [223]-239) and index. :
9789047433279 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
The paraphrase of Shem (NH VII, 1) : introduction, translation, and commentary /
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This book presents the first comprehensive interpretation of the Paraphrase of Shem, Codex VII,1 in the Coptic Nag Hammadi Library. The lenghty introduction discusses the literary genre of the treatise, its plan and system, its situation among the Gnostic systems, its provenance and date. The translation sets out the text in paragraphs, with headings and subheadings. A short commentary follows the translation. The analysis of the system shows that the author is working from a model of the universe, whose principles have been drawn from Stoicism and Middle Platonism. While dipping into the springs of the major Sethian and Valentinian systems, the author follows his own way and offers an original system, anticipating in many respects Manichaeism.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references (p. [141]-157) and indexes. :
9789004185852 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
The Septuagint of Proverbs : Jewish and/or Hellenistic Proverbs? : concerning the Hellenistic colouring of LXX Proverbs /
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This monograph deals with an important but unexplored document of Hellenistic Judaism. The question of \'Hellenistic influence\' is addressed on the basis of an analysis of a representative number of chapters of Septuagint Proverbs (1, 2, 6, 8, 9, 24, 29, 30 and 31). Scholars have argued that this book was influenced extensively by Greek philosophy. The author follows a contextual cultural method. The Greek text is analysed on four levels: the semantic, syntactical, stylistic (which represents the translation technique of the translator), and finally the \'theological\' level. This study represents the first exhaustive analysis of the theme. The conclusion is that the impact of Stoicism on this Greek version has been overestimated in the past. Novel views are also formulated concerning the role of the law in LXX Proverbs, its historical setting and its text-critical value.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references (p. [343]-348) and indexes. :
9789004275935 :
0083-5889 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Philo of Alexandria and post-Aristotelian philosophy /
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The essays collected in this volume focus on the role played by the philosophy of the Hellenistic, or post-Aristotelian age (from the school of the successors of Aristotle, Theophrastus and other Peripatetics, Epicurus, Sceptical Academy and Stoicism, to neo-Pythagorenism and the schools of Antiochus and Eudorus) in Philo of Alexandria's works. Despite many authoritative studies on Philo's vision of Greek philosophy as an exegetical tool in allegorizing the Scripture, there is not such a comprehensive overview in Philo's treatises that takes in account both the progress achieved in the recent interpretation of Hellenistic philosophy and analysis of ancient doxographical literature.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references (p. [253]-264) and indexes. :
9789047433576 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.