•  19
    A New Stoicism (review) (review)
    Journal of the History of Philosophy 37 (1): 162-164. 1999.
    A review of Lawrence Becker, A New Stoicism
  •  18
    The Ethics of the Stoic Epictetus: An English Translation, and: Discourses Book 1 (review) (review)
    Journal of the History of Philosophy 37 (4): 671-673. 1999.
    In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Reviewed by:The Ethics of the Stoic Epictetus: An English Translation by Bonhöffer, Adolf Friedrich, Discourses Book I by EpictetusEric BrownBonhöffer, Adolf Friedrich. The Ethics of the Stoic Epictetus: An English Translation. Translated by William O. Stephens. Revisioning Philosophy, Vol. 2. New York: Peter Lang, 1996. Pp. xix + 335. Cloth, $56.95.Epictetus. Discourses Book I. Translated with an Introduction and Commentary by Rober…Read more
  •  18
    Topics in Stoic Philosophy, and: Determinism and Freedom in Stoic Philosophy (review) (review)
    Journal of the History of Philosophy 38 (3): 432-434. 2000.
    Review of Ierodiakonou (ed.), Topics in Stoic Philosophy, and Bobzien, Determinism and Freedom in Stoic Philosophy
  •  7
    Plutarch charges that Stoic theory is inconsistent with Stoic political engagement no matter what they decide to do, because the Stoics' endorsement of the political life is inconsistent with their cosmopolitan rejection of ordinary politics (Stoic.rep., ab init.). Drawing on evidence from Chrysippus and Seneca, I develop an argument that answers this charge, and I draw out two interesting implications of the argument. The first implication is for scholars of ancient Stoicism who like to say tha…Read more
  •  2
    Stoic Cosmopolitanism and the Political Life
    Dissertation, The University of Chicago. 1997.
    Resurgent nationalisms and disputes over educational curricula have brought to the fore an old debate between cosmopolitans and patriots. The cosmopolitans emphasize our moral obligations to all human beings, while the patriots argue that our greatest moral obligations lie closer to hand, within our political community. My dissertation concerns the roots of this debate by focusing on the first philosophers in the West to devise an ethical theory which is fully committed to the strictly cosmopoli…Read more
  •  1
    Epicurus on the Value of Friendship (Sententia Vaticana 23)
    Classical Philology 97 (1): 68-80. 2002.
    The orthodox reading of Sententia Vaticana (SV) 23 emends the sentence and attributes to Epicurus the view that every friendship is choiceworthy for its own sake. I argue that this reading should be rejected, because it singularly contradicts all our evidence about Epicurus' view, according to which only pleasure is choiceworthy for its own sake. I defend the manuscript reading, that every friendship is in itself a virtue, and I argue that anyone who rejects the manuscript reading should attribu…Read more
  •  1
    Politics and society
    In James Warren (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to Epicureanism, Cambridge University Press. 2009.
    An overview of Epicurus' thoughts about politics and society, including his attitude toward political engagement, his account of friendship, and his account of justice.
  • Book Reviews (review)
    Journal of the History of Philosophy 37 (4): 671. 1999.
  • A New Stoicism (review) (review)
    Journal of the History of Philosophy 37 (1): 162-164. 1999.
    In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Reviewed by:A New Stoicism by Lawrence C. BeckerEric BrownLawrence C. Becker. A New Stoicism. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1998. Pp. vii + 216. Cloth, $ 29.95.As the title suggests, A New Stoicism is not primarily a work in the history of philosophy but an appropriation for current purposes. Becker boldly identifies himself as a stoic (sic) and seeks to “outline a contemporary version of stoic ethics” (6). While disdaining …Read more