Showing results by publisher "----RM Alexander" in Greek & Roman

Along with Stoicism and Epicureanism, Skepticism is one of the three major schools of ancient Greek philosophy that claim to offer a way of living as well as thinking. How to Keep an Open Mind provides an unmatched introduction to skepticism by presenting a fresh, modern translation of key passages from the writings of Sextus Empiricus, the only Greek skeptic whose works have survived.

For nearly 2,500 years, students, politicians, political thinkers, and military leaders have read the eloquent and shrewd speeches in Thucydides' History of the Peloponnesian War for profound insights into military conflict, diplomacy, and the behavior of people and countries in times of crisis. How to Think about War presents the most influential and compelling of these speeches in an elegant new translation by classicist Johanna Hanink, accompanied by an enlightening introduction.

“Meditations” by Marcus Aurelius is a timeless collection of philosophical reflections written by the Roman Emperor during moments of solitude and self-examination. Rooted in Stoic philosophy, the work explores themes such as self-discipline, mortality, resilience, and the pursuit of virtue amidst the burdens of leadership. This edition features the classic English translation by Meric Casaubon, whose 17th-century prose preserves the gravity, elegance, and moral clarity of the original text.

Socrates is an enigmatic figure, known chiefly through the accounts of others like Plato and Aristophanes. He was one of the most brilliant intellects ever, and devised what would later be called the Socratic method, which is a way of leading one's interlocutor to see his errors and contradictions through clever questioning before leading him to the truth. In ancient Athens, Socrates was widely known as a "gadfly", that is, an annoying insect buzzing at people's ears, because he kept questioning prejudices and contradictions; he was eventually tried and executed for "corrupting the minds of the youth".

The "Republic" poses questions that endure: What is justice? What form of community fosters the best possible life for human beings? What is the nature and destiny of the soul? What form of education provides the best leaders for a good republic? What are the various forms of poetry and the other arts, which ones should be fostered, and which ones should be discouraged? How does knowing differ from believing? Several characters in the dialogue present a variety of tempting answers to those questions. Cephalus, Polemarchus, Thrasymachus, and Glaucon all offer definitions of justice.

Thomas Taylor was the first to translate the complete works of Plato into English and as such, a prominent Neoplatonist of his day. He wrote prolifically and his huge body of work has been influential on generations of writers and thinkers that followed him. Here he presents us with a concise summary of Platonic philosophy in the form of a creed. It is not intended to be heard as dogma, so much as it is a guide for students and thinkers alike.

The Nicomachean Ethics is one of Aristotle’s most widely read and influential works. Ideas central to ethics—that happiness is the end of human endeavor, that moral virtue is formed through action and habituation, and that good action requires prudence—found their most powerful proponent in the person medieval scholars simply called “the Philosopher.”

A leading thinker of the Stoic school of philosophy, Epictetus (A.D. 55-135) was a renowned teacher whose students transcribed and compiled his teachings; this collection presents the work of Arrian, a Greek philosopher and historian who was a disciple of Epictetus. In these two brief but highly influential works, Epictetus demonstrates that philosophy is more than a theoretical discipline; it is a way of life based on logic, reason, and self-reflection.

Towards the end of his life and his career as one of the leading politicians and orators in Rome, Marcus Tullius Cicero (106 BCE-43 BCE) was exiled to his country house. It was a time of political turmoil in the capital of the empire, caused by the power-grab of Julius Caesar. In the quiet of the countryside, Cicero began to write on philosophy. In On the Ends of Good and Evil, he set out to consider three major traditions of Greek philosophy - Epicureanism, Stoicism and a branch of Platonism.

The Trial and Death of Socrates presents the trial and subsequent execution of Socrates in 399 BCE. Socrates was tried on the basis of two ambiguous charges: corrupting the youth and impiety. “Euthyphro”, one of Plato's early dialogues, takes place during the weeks leading up to Socrates' trial. “Apology” is Plato's version of the speech given by Socrates as he defends himself against the charges of being a man "who corrupted the young, refused to worship the gods, and created new deities".

Découvrez Pensées pour moi-même de Marc Aurèle, un trésor éternel de la sagesse antique ! Dans une époque marquée par l'incertitude et les défis, nous cherchons souvent un sens de la stabilité et de la confiance en nous et en notre futur. En écoutant Pensées pour moi-même, vous découvrirez des clés précieuses pour aborder la vie avec sérénité et lucidité. Les leçons de Marc Aurèle sont plus que de simples enseignements ; elles sont des outils pratiques qui vous aideront à naviguer dans le monde moderne avec une force et une tranquillité renouvelées.

Philosophy is one of the world’s oldest intellectual disciplines. In the West, the philosophical tradition reaches back 2,700 years to the ancient Greeks who pioneered philosophy and inspired major philosophical thinkers of ancient Rome. The ancient Greek and Roman philosophers thought deeply about virtually every aspect of human life, from the origins of the cosmos, the nature of divinity, and the physics and biology of the natural world to the nature of government, politics, law, and ethics, including thought on pleasure in living, happiness, and the ideal human life.

What do you do when your life has fallen apart? Fifteen hundred years ago, a Roman nobleman named Boethius asked this question as he was sitting in a prison cell waiting to die, accused—probably unjustly—of treason. Boethius had been a rich and powerful man with all a person could want in life, but now he had lost everything. Shaken, he wondered how such terrible misfortune could have happened to him and why life was so unfair.

Musonius Rufus (c. AD 30–100) was one of the four great Roman Stoic philosophers, the other three being Seneca, Marcus Aurelius, and Musonius’ pupil Epictetus. During his life, Musonius’ Stoicism was put to the test, most notably during an exile to Gyaros, a barren island in the Aegean Sea.

This lively and accessible introduction to Plato focuses on the philosophy and argument of his writings, drawing the listener into Plato's way of doing philosophy, and the general themes of his thinking. It looks at Plato as a thinker grappling with philosophical problems in a variety of ways, rather than a philosopher with a fully worked-out system. It includes a brief account of Plato's life and the various interpretations that have been drawn from the sparse remains of information.

Marcus Cicero, Rome's greatest statesman and orator, was elected to the Roman Republic's highest office at a time when his beloved country was threatened by power-hungry politicians, dire economic troubles, foreign turmoil, and political parties that refused to work together. Sound familiar? Cicero's letters, speeches, and other writings are filled with timeless wisdom and practical insight about how to solve these and other problems of leadership and politics. How to Run a Country collects the best of these writings to provide an entertaining, common-sense guide for modern leaders and citizens

This volume offers an accessible investigation of the Naassene discourse embedded in the anonymous Refutation of All Heresies (completed about 222 CE), in order to understand the theology and ritual life of the Naassene Christian movement in the late second and early third centuries CE. The work provides basic data on the date, genre, and provenance of the Naassene discourse as summarized by the author of the Refutation (or Refutator).

The Outward Path refers to the central insight that our true desire as human beings is not really for "happiness," a fleeting mood. What we really want is a rich and worthwhile life, which we can only achieve by pursuing an outward path of engagement with other people.

The influence of Aristotle, the prince of philosophers, on the intellectual history of the West is second to none. In this book, Jonathan Barnes examines Aristotle's scientific researches, his discoveries in logic and his metaphysical theories, his work in psychology and in ethics and politics, and his ideas about art and poetry, placing his teachings in their historical context.

In this translation of the Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle’s foundational work on ethics, happiness, and virtue is brought to life in fresh, accessible language designed for 21st-century listeners. Whether you’re a student of philosophy or simply seeking deeper meaning in your everyday decisions, this audiobook delivers powerful insights that resonate across generations.