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: the fear of death, love and sexuality, anger and aggression. Like medicine, philosophy to them was a rigorous science aimed both at understanding and at producing the flourishing of human life. In this engaging book, Martha Nussbaum examines texts of philosophers committed to a therapeutic paradigm--including Epicurus, Lucretius, Sextus Empiricus, Chrysippus, and Seneca--and recovers a valuable source for our moral and political thought today. This edition features a new introduction by Nussbaum, in which she revisits the themes of this now classic work.
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[E]ven while she admires the seriousness and subtlety with which these philosophers analyze the passions, [Nussbaum] allows that there is an unresolveable conflict between the detachment and the intense engagement entailed by their philosophies. The sense that these philosophers still matter, that we can wrangle with them and learn from them, is invigorating. (Richard Jenkyns New York Times Book Review )
Nussbaum adventurously straddles boundaries conventionally drawn between philosophy and its own history, between philosophy and literature, and between scholarship and the social sciences. . . . Few modern books have done as much as this one promises to do in raising the profile of Hellenistic philosophy. It is constantly gripping and absorbing, written with rare eloquence and containing long stretches of almost lyrical intensity. A literary as well as a philosophical tour de force. (David Sedley Times Literary Supplement )
By turns wise and witty, silly and Socratic, critical and compassionate, Nussbaum proves to be an extraordinarily addictive literary companion. . . . This is a book to live with. (Peter Green New Republic )
[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 )
Nussbaum adventurously straddles boundaries conventionally drawn between philosophy and its own history, between philosophy and literature, and between scholarship and the social sciences. . . . Few modern books have done as much as this one promises to do in raising the profile of Hellenistic philosophy. It is constantly gripping and absorbing, written with rare eloquence and containing long stretches of almost lyrical intensity. A literary as well as a philosophical tour de force. (David Sedley Times Literary Supplement )
By turns wise and witty, silly and Socratic, critical and compassionate, Nussbaum proves to be an extraordinarily addictive literary companion. . . . This is a book to live with. (Peter Green New Republic )
[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 )
About the Author
Martha C. Nussbaum is the Ernst Freund Distinguished Service Professor of Law and Ethics at the University of Chicago, and holds appointments in the Law School, Philosophy Department, and Divinity School. She is the author of many books, including "Hiding from Humanity: Disgust, Shame, and the Law".
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3.7 out of 5 stars
3 reviews
16 of 21 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
not too different from 1994 edition
10 Dec 2009
By Robert Nagle
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I am very much looking forward to reading this book (which I just received). I heard about this book from Nussbaum's fascinating interview on Philosopher's Zone podcast.
I wanted to point out one detail relevant to potential buyers. The 2009 edition is not too different from the earlier 1994/5 edition. In the 2009 edition Nussbaum includes a 8 page preface and a 2 page bibliography of relevant material she has written since then (most notably Upheavals of Thought).
If you are wavering between the earlier edition and the 2009 edition and if the earlier edition is significantly cheaper, I would opt for the earlier edition.
I wanted to point out one detail relevant to potential buyers. The 2009 edition is not too different from the earlier 1994/5 edition. In the 2009 edition Nussbaum includes a 8 page preface and a 2 page bibliography of relevant material she has written since then (most notably Upheavals of Thought).
If you are wavering between the earlier edition and the 2009 edition and if the earlier edition is significantly cheaper, I would opt for the earlier edition.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fantastic
26 April 2013
By Sarah Schoonhoven
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Nussbaum is a fantastic writer, but more than that a fantastic thinker. She has brilliant ideas that are excellently executed.
2 of 20 people found the following review helpful
1.0 out of 5 stars
Far to wordy
10 Feb 2012
By Cheryl V. Eskra
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
reading this is an exercise in decodeing. You have to cross reference every word that has to do with the subject matter but first you have to read her usesless comments on the subject or her statment on a topic that she then reveals will be covered in later chapters. Not helpful.
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3.7 out of 5 stars
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