George Hilding Rudebusch

This volume presents essays on Ancient ethics from Homer to Plotinus with a focus on the significance of Ancient ethical thinking for contemporary ethics. Adapting Kant’s words, we might describe philosophers today as holding that meta-ethics without normative ethics is empty; normative ethics without meta-ethics is blind. One fascinating feature of Ancient ethics is its close connection between content and method, between normative ethics and meta-ethics. In connecting ethical, epistemological, and cosmological issues, Ancient ethical theories strive for an integrated understanding of normativity. The project of this volume is to capture some of the colours of the bright spectrum of ancient ethics. The goal of bundling them together is, ultimately, to shed better light on the issues of contemporary ethics. Topics: Classical Chinese Ethics, Indian Ethics, Homeric Ethics, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Hellenistic philosophy, Plotinus, Ancient and Modern Moral Psychology, Hybrid Theories of Normativity, The Unity of the Virtues, The Art of Life and Morality (Lebenskunst und Moral). Contributors: J. Annas, M. Anagnostopoulos, R. Aprressyan, Th. C. Brickhouse / N. D. Smith, J. Bussanich, C. Collobert, S. Delcomminette, W. Detel, D. Frede, L. Gerson, Ch. Halbig, J. Hardy, O. Höffe, B. Inwood, M.-Th. Liske, L. Pfister, M. McPherran, J. Piering, G. Rudebusch, D. Russell, G. Santas, Ch. Shields, M. Sim, C. C. Taylor.

_Socrates_ presents a compelling case for some life-changing conclusions that follow from a close reading of Socrates' arguments. Offers a highly original study of Socrates and his thought, accessible to contemporary readers Argues that through studying Socrates we can learn practical wisdom to apply to our lives Lovingly crafted with humour, thought-experiments and literary references (from the _Iliad_ to _Harry Potter_), and with close reading sof key Socratic arguments Aids readers with diagrams to make clear complex arguments.

In this study, George Rudebusch addresses whether Socrates was a hedonist-whether he believed pleasure to be the good. In attempting to locate Socrates' position on hedonism, Rudebusch examines the passages in Plato's early dialogues that are the most disputed on the topic. He maintains that Socrates identifies pleasant activity with virtuous activity, describing Socrates' hedonism as one of activity, not sensation. This analysis allows for Socrates to find both virtue and pleasure to be the good, thus solving the textual puzzle and showing the power of Socratic argument in leading human beings toward the good.

Written in the fourth century BCE, Philebus is likely one of Plato’s last Socratic dialogues. It is also famously difficult to read and understand. A multilayered inquiry into the nature of life, Philebus has drawn renewed interest from scholars in recent years. Yet, until now, the only English-language commentary available has been a work published in 1897. This much-needed new commentary, designed especially for philosophers and advanced students of ancient Greek, draws on up-to-date scholarship to expand our understanding of Plato’s complex work. In his in-depth introduction, George Rudebusch places the Philebus in historical, philosophical, and linguistic context. As he explains, the dialogue deals with the question of whether a good life consists of pleasure or knowing. Yet its exploration of this question is riddled with ambiguity. With the goal of facilitating comprehension, particularly for students of philosophy, Rudebusch divides his commentary into twenty discrete subarguments. Within this framework, he elucidates the significance—and possible interpretations—of each passage and dissects their philological details. In particular, he analyzes how Plato uses inference indicators (that is, the Greek words for “therefore” and “because”) to establish the structure of the arguments, markers difficult to present in translation. A detailed and thorough commentary, this volume is both easy to navigate and conducive to new interpretations of one of Plato’s most intriguing dialogues.

This chapter contains sections titled: Introduction Should We Look for a Unified Theory of Pleasure? The Phenomenon of Sensate Pleasure and the Restoration Theory How Aristotle Refutes the Restoration Theory Two Objections to Aristotle's Refutation Actualizing Potentials and Acts of Power Levels of Completeness of Act Reply to First Objection: False Pleasure Reply to Second Objection Unforced Acts of Power Are Complete Human Acts Beauty in Act Impeded and Unimpeded Complete Human Acts Counterfeit Pleasure Complete Acts Relative to the Agent's Nature Absolutely Complete Acts Pleasure as Flow Divine Act Conclusion Notes Bibliography.