-
213Lucretius, Symmetry arguments, and fearing deathPhronesis 46 (4): 466-491. 2001.This paper identifies two possible versions of the Epicurean 'Symmetry argument', both of which claim that post mortem non-existence is relevantly like prenatal non-existence and that therefore our attitude to the former should be the same as that towards the latter. One version addresses the fear of the state of being dead by making it equivalent to the state of not yet being born; the other addresses the prospective fear of dying by relating it to our present retrospective attitude to the time…Read more
-
185Facing death: Epicurus and his criticsClarendon Press. 2004.The ancient philosophical school of Epicureanism tried to argue that death is "nothing to us." Were they right? James Warren provides a comprehensive study and articulation of the interlocking arguments against the fear of death found not only in the writings of Epicurus himself, but also in Lucretius' poem De rerum natura and in Philodemus' work De morte. These arguments are central to the Epicurean project of providing ataraxia (freedom from anxiety) and therefore central to an understanding o…Read more
-
136Epicurus and Democritean ethics: an archaeology of ataraxiaCambridge University Press. 2002.The Epicurean philosophical system has enjoyed much recent scrutiny, but the question of its philosophical ancestry remains largely neglected. It has often been thought that Epicurus owed only his physical theory of atomism to the fifth-century BC philosopher Democritus, but this study finds that there is much in his ethical thought which can be traced to Democritus. It also finds important influences on Epicurus in Democritus' fourth-century followers such as Anaxarchus and Pyrrho, and in Epicu…Read more
-
87Socrates And The Patients: Republic IX, 583c-585aPhronesis 56 (2): 113-137. 2011.Republic IX 583c-585a presents something surprisingly unusual in ancient accounts of pleasure and pain: an argument in favour of the view that there are three relevant hedonic states: pleasure, pain, and an intermediate. The argument turns on the proposal that a person's evaluation of their current state may be misled by a comparison with a prior or subsequent state. The argument also refers to `pure' and anticipated pleasures. The brief remarks in the Republic may appear cursory or clumsy in co…Read more
-
70On defending SocratesThink 6 (17-18): 99-101. 2008.James Warren responds to Sandis's preceding article
-
66Anaxagoras on Perception, Pleasure, and PainOxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy 33 19-54. 2007.
-
59Epicureans and the Present PastPhronesis 51 (4): 362-387. 2006.This essay offers a reading of a difficult passage in the first book of Lucretius' "De Rerum Natura" in which the poet first explains the Epicurean account of time and then responds to a worry about the status of the past (1.459-82). It identifies two possible readings of the passage, one of which is compatible with the claim that the Epicureans were presentists about the past. Other evidence, particularly from Cicero "De Fato", suggests that the Epicureans maintained that all true assertions mu…Read more
-
59Stoicism and emotion (review)Journal of the History of Philosophy 46 (4). 2008.The Stoics’ account of the emotions may seem a barren and austere landscape. Fortunately, this picture is increasingly being challenged and Margaret Graver’s book is an excellent and eloquent addition to that general approach. The book has many virtues. In addition to a beautifully clear and uncluttered style, it offers a careful and balanced account of the Stoic view of the emotions which pays all due attention to the Stoics’ accounts of psychology in general , education and character developme…Read more
-
58Socratic suicideJournal of Hellenic Studies 121 91-106. 2001.When is it rational to commit suicide? More specifically, when is it rational for a Platonist to commit suicide, and more worryingly, is it ever not rational for a Platonist to commit suicide? If the Phaedo wants us to learn that the soul is immortal, and that philosophy is a preparation for a state better than incarnation, then why does it begin with a discussion defending the prohibition of suicide? In the course of that discussion, Socrates offers (but does not necessarily endorse) two argume…Read more
-
52Stoic dialectic J.-B. Gourinat: La dialectique des stoïciens . Pp. 386. Paris: Librairie philosophique J. rin, 2000. Paper, €38.11/frs. 250. isbn: 2-7116-1322- (review)The Classical Review 53 (01): 63-. 2003.
-
48The Cambridge Companion to Epicureanism (edited book)Cambridge University Press. 2009.This Companion presents both an introduction to the history of the ancient philosophical school of Epicureanism and also a critical account of the major areas of its philosophical interest. Chapters span the school's history from the early Hellenistic Garden to the Roman Empire and its later reception in the Early Modern period, introducing the reader to the Epicureans' contributions in physics, metaphysics, epistemology, psychology, ethics and politics. The international team of contributors in…Read more
-
39Sextus Empiricus and the Tripartition of TimePhronesis 48 (4). 2003.A discussion of the arguments against the existence of time based upon its tripartition into past, present, and future found in SE M 10.197-202. It uncovers Sextus' major premises and assumptions for these arguments and, in particular, criticises his argument that the past and future do not exist because the former is no longer and the latter is not yet. It also places these arguments within the larger structure of Sextus' arguments on time in SE M 10 and considers these arguments as an example …Read more
-
37O'Keefe (T.) Epicurus on Freedom. Pp. x + 175. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005. Cased, £45, US$70. ISBN: 0-521-84696-X (review)The Classical Review 56 (02): 313-. 2006.
-
34C. Horn: Antike Lebenskunst: Glück und Moral von Sokrates bis zu den Neuplatonikern. Pp. 271. Munich: C. H. Beck, 1998. Paper, DM 24. ISBN: 3-406-42071-0 (review)The Classical Review 50 (1): 334-334. 2000.
-
33
-
33Comment peut-on être dieu? La Secte d'Épicure (review)The Classical Review 57 (2): 338-339. 2007.
-
32Frede (D.), Inwood (B.) (edd.) Language and Learning: Philosophy of Language in the Hellenistic Age. Pp. xii + 353. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005. Cased, £50, US$85. ISBN: 0-521-84181-X (review)The Classical Review 56 (02): 315-. 2006.
-
31Comparing Lives in Plato, Laws 5Phronesis 58 (4): 319-346. 2013.In Laws 5, the Athenian argues in favour of virtuous over vicious lives on the basis that the former are preferable to the latter when we consider the pleasures and pains in each. This essay offers an interpretation of the argument which does not attribute to the Athenian an exclusively hedonist axiology. It argues for a new reading of the division of ‘types of life’ at 733c-d and suggests that the Athenian relies on the conclusion established earlier in the Laws that we humans take pleasure in …Read more
-
31Later epicureans M. Erler (ed.): Epikureismus in der späten republik und kaiserzeit. Akten der 2. tagung der Karl und Gertrud Abel stiftung vom. 30 september–3 oktober 1998 im würzburg . Pp. 316. Stuttgart: Franz Steiner verlag, 2000. Cased, dm 136. Isbn: 3-515-07494- (review)The Classical Review 52 (01): 55-. 2002.
-
28Pyrrho R. Bett: Pyrrho, his Antecedents and his Legacy . Pp. x + 264. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000. Cased, £35. ISBN: 0-19-825065- (review)The Classical Review 51 (02): 293-. 2001.
-
26What God didn't know (Sextus Empiricus AM IX 162-166)In Diego E. Machuca (ed.), New essays on ancient Pyrrhonism, Brill. pp. 126--41. 2011.
Areas of Specialization
Ancient Greek and Roman Philosophy |
Areas of Interest
Ancient Greek and Roman Philosophy |