Happiness And Greek Ethical Thought (Thoemmes Continuum Studies in Ancient Philosophy)

272 Pages·2004·3.89 MB·English

by  Mark Holowchak

Happiness and Greek
Ethical Thought
M. ANDREW HOLOWCHAK
Continuum
Happiness and Greek
Ethical Thought
ContinuumStudiesinAncientPhilosophy
Happiness and Greek
Ethical Thought
M. ANDREW HOLOWCHAK
KutztownUniversity
Pennsylvania
Continuum
TheTowerBuilding,11YorkRoad,LondonSE17NX
15East26thStreet,NewYork,NY10010
&M.AndrewHolowchak,2004
Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthispublicationmaybereproducedortransmittedin
anyformorbyanymeans,electronicormechanical,includingphotocopying,recording,
oranyinformationstorageorretrievalsystem,withoutpriorpermissioninwritingfrom
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BritishLibraryCataloguing-in-PublicationData
AcataloguerecordforthisbookisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary.
ISBN:HB:0–8264–7472–1
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PrintedandboundinGreatBritainbyMPGBooksLtd,Bodmin,Cornwall
Dedication
This book is dedicated principally to the ol’ gang at the
EMU library ^ Marsha, Bob, Stuart, Jesse, Keith, and
Mike ^ whohaveadoptedmeasoneoftheirownandwho
continuetohonormewiththe¢nestgiftan‘itinerant’philos-
opher(oranyone!)canreceive ^ friendship.
In addition, I would like to acknowledge four other
singularpeople ^ Angela,Paul,Ru,and‘Whitey’ ^ whose
uncompromising friendship and love over the years has
beenandcontinuestobeanillimitablesourceofhappiness.
Contents
Preface ix
Acknowledgements xiv
ListofFigures xv
ListofAbbreviations xvi
Map xviii
Introduction xix
PartI FourViewsofHappiness 1
1 HappinessandBeauty:PlatonicEroticismin
Symposium 3
Meetingthesymposiasts 6
The¢rstfoureulogies 7
SophistryversusSocraticdialectic 11
Socrates’initiation 14
Alcibiades’eulogyofSocrates 18
Relevancefortoday 22
Contents vii
2 HappinessasaMeanState:Aristotle’s
NicomacheanEthics 29
BreakdownofAristotelianscience 31
Theaimofhumanactions 36
Excellenceofcharacter 37
Excellenceofthought 42
IsAristotle’sethicsrelativistic? 44
Education 46
Culpability 49
Relevancefortoday 55
3 HappinessandPleasure:EpicureanHedonism 64
OverviewofEpicureanhedonism 66
TheEpicureancosmos 67
Reasonandhumanagency 72
Pleasure 75
Justice 80
Friendship 86
Wisdom 88
Relevancefortoday 89
4 HappinessandDoubt:GreekSkepticism 99
Briefhistoricalsketch 101
Sextusonskepticismanddogmatism 103
SkepticismanddogmatisminGreekmedicine 116
SextusonSkepiticismandmedicine 121
Relevancefortoday 122
PartII ThreeLevelsofIntegration 133
5 HappinessandSelf-Integration 135
Platonicjustice 137
Aristotleonthepleasureofbeingalone 139
ThetrialofSocrates 141
viii Contents
TheconquestsofAlexander 147
Diogenesthedog 152
Relevancefortoday 154
6 Happinessand‘Political’Integration 165
Peopleandpoleis 166
Platoonpersonsandpoleis 168
Socrates’loveofAthens 170
FriendshipinClassicalGreece 175
Relevancefortoday 179
7 HappinessandCosmicIntegration 187
Plato’scraftedcosmos 188
Aristotle’sproper-placecosmos 191
Stoiccosmologyandethics 195
Epictetus’Handbook 200
Relevancefortoday 204
Postscript 213
AppendixA:ImportantNames 216
AppendixB:ImportantTerms 220
FurtherReading 231
Index 240
Preface
The Puzzle of Happiness
HAPPINESS HAS PERHAPS BEEN the focal point of and most
seductive issue in philosophical discussions on ethics.
Whilemany,suchasAristotleandJohnStuartMill,takeit
tobetheendofallhumanactivity,almostallphilosophers
acknowledge that it is a valuable, if not essential, compo-
nentofagoodlife.
On philosophical analysis, happiness proves as elusive
as it is alluring. First, though most recognize its impor-
tance,philosophersdisagreegreatlyaboutjustwhatmakes
peoplehappy.AmongtheearlyGreeks,Socrates,Platotells
us,believesthathappinessisvirtue,whichheequateswith
knowledge. Aristotle de¢nes it as virtuous activity, which
has both a social and asocial dimension. Plato in Repub-
licseesitasaformofjustice.TheEpicureanandCyrenaic