Immortality in Ancient Philosophy

A. G. Long

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Year: 2021
• Print ISBN:
  9781108832281
• eBook ISBN:
  9781108936347
• Topic: Filosofia
• Subtopic: Filosofia antica e classica

Immortality was central to ancient philosophical reflections on the soul, happiness, value and divinity. Conceptions of immortality flowed into philosophical ethics and theology, and modern reconstructions of ancient thought in these areas sometimes turn on the interpretation of immortality. This volume brings together original research on immortality from early Greek philosophy, such as the Pythagoreans and Empedocles, to Augustine. The contributors consider not only arguments concerning the soul's immortality, but also the diverse and often subtle accounts of what immortality is, both in Plato and in less familiar philosophers, such as the early Stoics and Philo of Alexandria. The book will be of interest to all those interested in immortality and divinity in ancient philosophy, particularly scholars and advanced students.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half-title page
• Title page
• Copyright page
• Contents
• Contributors
• Introduction
• Chapter 1 The Soul and the Celestial Afterlife in Greek Philosophy before Plato
• Chapter 2 Pythagorean Immortality of the Soul?
• Chapter 3 The Philosopher’s Reward: Contemplation and Immortality in Plato’s Dialogues
• Chapter 4 Pre-Existence, Life after Death, and Atemporal Beings in Plato’s Phaedo
• Chapter 5 The Immortal and the Imperishable in Aristotle, Early Stoicism, and Epicureanism
• Chapter 6 Socrates and the Symmetry Argument
• Chapter 7 Immortality in Philo of Alexandria
• Chapter 8 Plotinus on Immortality and the Problem of Personal Identity
• Chapter 9 Truth and Immortality in Augustine’s Soliloquies and De Immortalitate Animae
• Index of Passages
• Index of Names and Subjects