Therapy of Desire - Theory and Practice in Hellenistic Ethics

The Epicureans, Skeptics, and Stoics practiced philosophy not as a detached intellectual discipline but as a worldly art of grappling with issues of daily and urgent human significance. In this classic work, Martha Nussbaum maintains that these Hellenistic schools have been unjustly neglected in recent philosophic accounts of what the classical "tradition" has to offer. By examining texts of philosophers such as Epicurus, Lucretius, and Seneca, she recovers a valuable source for current moral and political thought and encourages us to reconsider philosophical argument as a technique through which to improve lives. Written for general readers and specialists, The Therapy of Desire addresses compelling issues ranging from the psychology of human passion through rhetoric to the role of philosophy in public and private life.

About the author

Martha C. Nussbaum is the Ernst Freund Distinguished Service Professor of Law and Ethics at the Law School and in the Philosophy Department at the University of Chicago. She is the author of many books, including Not for Profit: Why Democracy Needs the Humanities (Princeton).

Summary

The Epicureans, Skeptics, and Stoics practiced philosophy not as a detached intellectual discipline but as a worldly art of grappling with issues of daily and urgent human significance. In this classic work, Martha Nussbaum maintains that these Hellenistic schools have been unjustly neglected in recent philosophic accounts of what the classical "tr

Additional text

"[T]his is a wonderful book, of interest to scholars of ancient philosophy, but also to those interested in medical philosophy and philosophy of mind. It would also be of great interest to those interested in the conception of philosophy as therapy that has grown from studies on Wittgenstein. I can heartily recommend it."---Michael Gillan Peckitt, Metapsychology Online Reviews

Product details

• Authors: Martha Nussbaum, Martha C. Nussbaum
• Assisted by: Martha C. Nussbaum (Introduction), Vladimir Nabokov (Translation)
• Publisher: Princeton University Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 20.06.2018
• EAN: 9780691181028
• ISBN: 978-0-691-18102-8
• No. of pages: 584
• Dimensions: 140 mm x 215 mm x 40 mm
• Series: Princeton Classics; Martin Classical Lectures; Princeton Classics
• Subjects: Guides > Health; Non-fiction book > Philosophy, religion > Philosophy: antiquity to present day; PHILOSOPHY / Ethics & Moral Philosophy, Ancient Greece, PHILOSOPHY / History & Surveys / Ancient & Classical, Ethics & moral philosophy, Ethics and moral philosophy, Ancient Greek and Roman philosophy, Western philosophy: Ancient, to c 500