Reason and Emotion

This text brings together 23 essays on ancient moral philosophy. It gives a systematic account of many issues and texts in ancient moral psychology and ethical theory. It provides an illuminating way of reflecting on the fields as they developed from Socrates, through Aristotle and beyond.

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This text brings together 23 essays on ancient moral philosophy. It gives a systematic account of many issues and texts in ancient moral psychology and ethical theory, providing an illuminating way of reflecting on the fields as they developed from Socrates and Plato through Aristotle to Epicurus and the Stoic philosophers Chrysippus and Posidonius, and beyond. For the ancient philosphrers morality was "good character" and what that entailed: good judgement, sensitivity, openness, reflectiveness and a secure and correct sense of who one was and how one stood in relation to others and the surrounding world. Ethical theory was about the best way to "be" rather than any principles for what to do in particular circumstances or in relation to recurrent temptations. Moral philosophy was the study of the psychological conditions required for good character - the sorts of desires, the attitudes to self and others, the states of mind and feeling, the kinds of knowledge and insight.
Together these papers illustrate how, by studying the arguments of the Greek philosphers in their diverse theories about the best human life and its psychological underpinnings, people can expand their moral unde