Plutarch’s Cosmological Ethics

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bram Demulder

Plutarch of Chaeronea (c. 45-120 CE) is the most prolific and influential moral philosopher in the Platonic tradition. This book is a fundamental reappraisal of Plutarch’s ethical thought. It shows how Plutarch based his ethics on his particular interpretation of Plato’s cosmology: our quest for the good life should start by considering the good cosmos in which we live. The practical consequences of this cosmological foundation permeate various domains of Greco-Roman life: the musician, the organiser of a drinking party, and the politician should all be guided by cosmology. After exploring these domains, this book offers in-depth interpretations of two works which can only be fully understood by paying attention to cosmological aspects: 'Dialogue on Love' and 'On Tranquillity of Mind'.

2000 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 65-83
Author(s):  
M.M.M. Mahroof

History, or more properly the writing of history, had been during thetimes of the ancient Greeks and Romans an elitist activity, meant forglorifying the class of power, position, and birth. Parts of these historieswere fabulous in nature. The Muslims (Arabs) introduced the ideaof history as factual record. During the Middle Ages, history writingslipped into what it was in the Greco-Roman times. In the 16th century,the middle class, those with accumulated capital, wrote histories. Acolonial history, too, developed, enshrining a Euroean view of historythat still continues in school curricula. The 20th century saw changes.The writing of history became an imperialist necessity. When imperialismcollapsed, the focus disappeared. History became miniaturized andatomized. The entry of television and information technology broughtinstant histories. Islamic history writing accepts history as an instrumentof Allah's will and mode of living the good life.


1998 ◽  
Vol 43 (10) ◽  
pp. 667-668
Author(s):  
Isaac Prilleltensky
Keyword(s):  

1999 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christie K. Napa ◽  
Laura A. King
Keyword(s):  

1990 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 153-155
Author(s):  
Esmee Cromie Bellalta
Keyword(s):  

2020 ◽  
Vol 97 (2) ◽  
pp. 112-123
Author(s):  
John D. Fair

Uneasily situated between counterculture images projected by James Dean in Rebel Without a Cause (1955) and the dawning of the “Age of Aquarius” a decade later, there emerged a motion picture interlude of innocence on the beaches of Southern California. It was fostered by Gidget (1959) and then thirty “surf and sex” movies that focused on young, attractive bodies and beach escapades rather than serious social causes.The films, argues Kirse May, “created an ideal teenage existence, marked by consumption, leisure, and little else.” Stephen Tropiano explains how their popularity helped shape “the archetypal image of the American teenager” and, reinforced by the surfin' sounds of Jan and Dean, the Beach Boys, and other recording groups, “turned America's attention to the Southern California coastline,” where “those who never set foot on its sandy shores were led to believe that life on the West Coast was a twenty-four-hour beach party.” This study examines a notable film of this genre to determine how musclemen were exploited to exhibit this playful spirit and how their negative reception reinforced an existing disregard toward physical culture. Muscle Beach Party illustrates how physical culture served other agendas, namely the need to address American fears of juvenile delinquency and to revive sagging box-office receipts within the guise of the “good life” of California.


2020 ◽  
Vol 74 (4) ◽  
pp. 493-513
Author(s):  
Holmer Steinfath

Time is a neglected subject in recent, especially analytically minded reflections on the good life. The article highlights the fundamental role of time and temporality for an adequate understanding of the good life. Time functions both as an external factor with which we have to reckon in our practical deliberations and as an internal structure of living our lives. It is argued that striving for a good life also means striving for being in harmony with the time of one's life. The exploration of this idea allows to link analytical with phenomenological approaches to time and good life.


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