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141The Cyrenaics on Pleasure, Happiness, and Future-ConcernPhronesis 47 (4): 395-416. 2002.The Cyrenaics assert that (1) particular pleasure is the highest good, and happiness is valued not for its own sake, but only for the sake of the particular pleasures that compose it; (2) we should not forego present pleasures for the sake of obtaining greater pleasure in the future. Their anti-eudaimonism and lack of future-concern do not follow from their hedonism. So why do they assert (1) and (2)? After reviewing and criticizing the proposals put forward by Annas, Irwin and Tsouna, I offer t…Read more
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379Is Epicurean Friendship Altruistic?Apeiron 34 (4). 2001.Epicurus is strongly committed to psychological and ethical egoism and hedonism. However, these commitments do not square easily with many of the claims made by Epicureans about friendship: for instance, that the wise man will sometimes die for his friend, that the wise man will love his friend as much as himself, feel exactly the same toward his friend as toward himself, and exert himself as much for his friend's pleasure as for his own, and that every friendship is worth choosing for its own s…Read more
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243Aristotle's 'Cosmic Nose' Argument for the Uniqueness of the WorldApeiron 36 (4). 2003.David Furley's work on the cosmologies of classical antiquity is structured around what he calls "two pictures of the world." The first picture, defended by both Plato and Aristotle, portrays the universe, or all that there is (to pan), as identical with our particular ordered world-system. Thus, the adherents of this view claim that the universe is finite and unique. The second system, defended by Leucippus and Democritus, portrays an infinite universe within which our particular kosmos is only…Read more
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96The Sources and Scope of Cyrenaic ScepticismIn Ugo Zilioli (ed.), From the Socratics to the Socratic Schools: Classical Ethics, Metaphysics and Epistemology, Routledge. pp. 99-113. 2015.This paper focuses on two questions: (I) why do the Cyrenaics deny that we can gain knowledge concerning "external things," and (II) how wide-ranging is this denial? On the first question, I argue that the Cyrenaics are skeptical because of their contrast between the indubitable grasp we have of own affections, versus the inaccessibility of external things that cause these affections. Furthermore, this inaccessibility is due to our cognitive and perceptual limitations--it is an epistemological d…Read more
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7Philodemus, On Death, W. Benjamin Henry (ed., tr.) (review)Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews 201107. 2011.
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210Epicurus' Garden: Physics and EpistemologyIn Frisbee Sheffield & James Warren (eds.), The Routledge Companion to Ancient Philosophy, Routledge. pp. 455-468. 2013.Overview of Epicurean physics and epistemology, ending with a critical discussion of Cicero's report on Epicurean theology.
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172CyrenaicsIn Hugh LaFollette (ed.), The International Encyclopedia of Ethics, Blackwell. 2013.Brief overview of the ethics of the Cyrenaics.
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109The Cyrenaics vs. the Pyrrhonists on knowledge of appearancesIn Diego E. Machuca (ed.), New essays on ancient Pyrrhonism, Brill. pp. 27-40. 2011.In Outlines of Pyrrhonism, Sextus Empiricus takes pains to differentiate the skeptical way of life from other positions with which it is often confused, and in the course of this discussion he briefly explains how skepticism differs from Cyrenaicism. Surprisingly, Sextus does not mention an important apparent difference between the two. The Cyrenaics have a positive epistemic commitment--that we can apprehend our own affections. Although we cannot know whether the honey is really sweet, we can k…Read more
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168LucretiusIn Patricia O'Grady (ed.), Meet the Philosophers of Ancient Greece,, . 2005.Titus Lucretius Carus was an ardent disciple of Epicurus and the author of the De Rerum Natura, one of the greatest poems in Latin. Other than his approximate dates of birth and death, we have next to no reliable information about him. Because of his family name and his apparent familiarity with Roman upper-class mores, it is thought that Lucretius was probably a member of the aristocratic clan of the Lucretii, but this is not certain. And so any insight we wish to gain into the thought and pers…Read more
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6CyrenaicsInternet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 2001.Overview of this minor Socratic school, including their skepticism and hedonistic ethics.
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372The Stoics on Fate and FreedomIn Kevin Timpe, Meghan Griffith & Neil Levy (eds.), Routledge Companion to Free Will., Routledge. pp. 236-246. 2017.Overview of the Stoic position. Looks at the roots of their determinism in their theology, their response to the 'lazy argument' that believing that all things are fated makes action pointless, their analysis of human action and how it allows actions to be 'up to us,' their rejection of the Principle of Alternate Possibilities, their rejection of anger and other negative reactive attitudes, and their contention that submission to god's will brings true freedom.
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39Metaphysics Epsilon 2-3 and Nicomachean Ethics III 5 (1114b3-25) are often cited in favor of indeterminist interpretations of Aristotle. In Metaphysics Epsilon Aristotle denies that the coincidental has an aitia, and some (e.g., Sorabji) take this as a denial that coincidences have causes. In NE III 5 Aristotle says a person's actions and character must have their origin (archê) in the agent for him to be responsible for them. From this, some conclude that Aristotle thinks a person can be the un…Read more
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4Epicurus on freedomCambridge University Press. 2005.In this book, Tim O'Keefe reconstructs the theory of freedom of the ancient Greek philosopher Epicurus (341-271/0 BCE). Epicurus' theory has attracted much interest, but our attempts to understand it have been hampered by reading it anachronistically as the discovery of the modern problem of free will and determinism. O'Keefe argues that the sort of freedom which Epicurus wanted to preserve is significantly different from the 'free will' which philosophers debate today, and that in its emphasis …Read more
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4AnaxarchusInternet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 2006.Overview of the philosophy of this atomist, sophist, and compatriot of Pyrrho.
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162The Epicureans on happiness, wealth, and the deviant craft of property managementIn Jennifer A. Baker & Mark D. White (eds.), Economics and the Virtues: Building a New Moral Foundation, Oxford University Press. pp. 37-52. 2016.The Epicureans advocate a moderately ascetic lifestyle on instrumental grounds, as the most effective means to securing tranquility. The virtuous person will reduce his desires to what is natural and necessary in order to avoid the trouble and anxiety caused by excessive desire. So much is clear from Epicurus' general ethics. But the later Epicurean Philodemus fills in far more detail about the attitude a wise Epicurean will take toward wealth in his treatise On Property Management. This paper e…Read more
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