Ancient philosophy of the self

Description

Pauliina Remes and Juha Sihvola In the course of history, philosophers have given an impressive variety of answers to the question, “What is self?” Some of them have even argued that there is no such thing at all. This volume explores the various ways in which selfhood was approached and conceptualised in antiquity. How did the ancients understand what it is that I am, fundamentally, as an acting and affected subject, interpreting the world around me, being distinct from others like and unlike me? The authors hi- light the attempts in ancient philosophical sources to grasp the evasive character of the specifically human presence in the world. They also describe how the ancient philosophers understood human agents as capable of causing changes and being affected in and by the world. Attention will be paid to the various ways in which the ancients conceived of human beings as subjects of reasoning and action, as well as responsible individuals in the moral sphere and in their relations to other people. The themes of persistence, identity, self-examination and self-improvement recur in many of these essays. The articles of the collection combine systematic and historical approaches to ancient sources that range from Socrates to Plotinus and Augustine. Front Matter....Pages i-xix Graeco-Roman Varieties of Self....Pages 13-34 The Ancient Self: Issues and Approaches....Pages 35-56 Assumptions of Normativity: Two Ancient Approaches to Agency....Pages 57-74 Socratic Authority....Pages 77-107 Protean Socrates: Mythical Figures in the Euthydemus ....Pages 109-123 Aristotle on the Individuality of Self....Pages 125-137 What Kind of Self Can a Greek Sceptic Have?....Pages 139-154 Inwardness and Infinity of Selfhood: From Plotinus to Augustine....Pages 155-176 Philosophy of the Self in the Apostle Paul....Pages 179-194 Two Kinds of Subjectivity in Augustine’s Confessions : Memory and Identity, and the Integrated Self....Pages 195-203 The Self as Enemy, the Self as Divine: A Crossroads in the Development of Islamic Anthropology....Pages 205-224 Locating the Self Within the Soul – Thirteenth-Century Discussions....Pages 225-241 Back Matter....Pages 243-272