Pleasure and the Good Life: Plato, Aristotle, and the Neoplatonists (Philosophia Antiqua) - Hardcover

Van Riel, Paul

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 9004117970 ISBN 13: 9789004117976

Publisher: Brill Academic Pub, 2000

Synopsis

This volume deals with the general theory of pleasure of Plato and his successors.
The first part describes the two paradigms between which all theories of pleasure oscillate: Plato's definition of pleasure as the repletion of a lack, and Aristotle's view that pleasure is the perfect performance of an activity. After an excursus on Epicureans and Stoics, the book concentrates on Neoplatonism, opposing the 'standard Neoplatonic view' of Plotinus and Proclus to the original viewpoint of Damascius' commentary on Plato's Philebus.
The volume sheds light on the discussion between hedonists and anti-hedonists, by concentrating on the 'crucial point' at which any philosophical analysis of the good life (hedonistic or other) ought to argue that the life of the philosopher is the most desirable, and thus truly pleasurable, life.

About this title

About the Author

Gerd van Riel, Ph.D. (1997) in Philosophy, Catholic University of Leuven (Belgium), is a Post-Doctoral Fellow of the Fund for Scientific Research - Flanders (Belgium) at the Leuven Institute of Philosophy. He has published on Plato's Philebus and its influence in ancient philosophy. His articles include Does a Perfect Activity Necessarily Yield Pleasure? in International Journal of Philosophical Studies, 7 (1999).

Review

'The book will be a valuable addition to the libraries of, especially, students of later Greek thought.'
Robin Waterfield, Bryn Mawr Classical Review, 2000.

Edition details

• Publisher: Brill Academic Pub
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 9004117970
• ISBN 13: 9789004117976
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 207