Vice in ancient philosophy : Plato and Aristotle on moral ignorance and corruption of character / Karen Margrethe Nielsen.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Nielsen, Karen Margrethe, author.

Series:

Cambridge elements. Elements in ancient philosophy, 2631-4118.

Cambridge elements. Elements in ancient philosophy, 2631-4118

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Plato.

Aristotle.

Vice.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (64 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2023.

Summary:

Ancient philosophers offer intriguing accounts of vice - virtue's bad twin. This Element considers injustice and lawlessness in Plato and Aristotle. Starting with Socrates' paradoxical claim that 'tyrants and orators do just about nothing they want to do' (Gorgias 466d-e), it examines discussions of moral ignorance and corruption of character in Plato's Republic and Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics. Aristotle's account of vice is indebted to Plato's. But his claims have confounded critics. Why is the vicious agent full of regrets when he acts in accordance with his wish? To what extent is vice a form of moral ignorance? Why will the unjust man never get what he wants? These and other questions yield new insights into ancient Greek ethics and moral psychology, as well as surprising perspectives on contemporary debates.

Contents:

Cover

Title page

Copyright page

Vice in Ancient Philosophy

Contents

1 Desire and Great Power in the Gorgias

1.1 Wanting the Good

1.2 The Case of Archelaus: Does Injustice Pay?

1.3 Virtue, Vice and Function

1.4 "Might Makes Right": Callicles' Challenge

1.5 Sōphrosunē: Imposing Order in the Soul

2 The Tyrant's Vice in the Republic

2.1 Why be Just? Socrates on the Paradoxes of Tyranny

2.2 Human Nature Examined

2.3 Pleonexia: Greed or the Desire to Outdo Others?

2.4 The Genealogy of Vice

2.5 Lawlessness and the Will to Power

2.6 "Naturall Equalitie": A Charm?

2.7 The Tyrant's Regrets

3 Vice and Moral Ignorance in the Nicomachean Ethics

3.1 Justice and the Common Good

3.2 Injustice, Strife and Enmity

3.3 Virtue, Vice and Function

3.4 Aristotle on Moral Ignorance

3.5 Are the Vicious Conflicted?

3.6 Regret and Rationalisation

3.7 Aristotle's Debt to Plato

3.8 Vices of Thought

References

Acknowledgements.

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 22 Dec 2023).

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN:

9781108607957

1108607950

9781108604611

1108604617

9781108581738

1108581730

OCLC:

1481791688