Moral Psychology in History: From the Ancient to Early Modern Period

This book provides a comprehensive study of major issues of moral psychology throughout history, from ancient to early modern philosophy. The volume focuses primarily on the Western history of philosophy but also deals with Jewish and Islamic heritage. The Introduction chapter lays out the historical background in broad strokes, giving the reader the “lay of the land” when it comes to the terms of analysis and their overall development within the Western tradition of moral psychology. The book continues by studying and analyzing moral anthropology, moral agency and motivation, virtues and social and political commitments, taking a thematic approach in a specific time-period and focus on the most unique and/or fruitful discussions about a particular historically situated discussion when it comes to thinking about questions and/or ‘problems’ in the field of moral psychology. Aimed at both a layman and academic audience, this book is of great interest to a broad readership. Preface Contents Contributors Chapter 1: Introduction 1.1 From Scientia de Anima to the Modern Science of (Moral) Psychology 1.2 Contents in Brief References Secondary Sources Part I: Moral Anthropology Chapter 2: Animal Psychology and Human Nature: A Historical Perspective References Primary Sources Secondary Sources Chapter 3: A Historical Anthropology of Affectivity in the Medieval Latin West 3.1 The Foundation of a Latin Christian Anthropology 3.2 The Affective Anthropology of the Christian Inward Man 3.3 The Rediscovered Medical Lore and the Affective Anthropology of the Christian Outer Man 3.4 Towards a Religion of Sentimentum 3.5 Conclusion References Primary Sources Secondary Sources Chapter 4: The Matter of Character: The Case of Pre-modern Physiognomy 4.1 Nature and Materiality 4.2 Observation 4.3 Conclusion References Primary Sources Secondary Sources Part II: Moral Agency and Motivation Chapter 5: First Movements, Emotions and Free Choice 5.1 First Movements in Ancient and Early Medieval Theology 5.2 First Movements and the Freedom of the Will in Aquinas 5.3 Duns Scotus and William Ockham 5.4 Early Modern Theories 5.5 Conclusion References Primary Sources Secondary Sources Chapter 6: The Inner Struggle from Augustine to Shakespeare 6.1 Paul and Augustine 6.2 The Pseudo-Clementine Recognitions 6.3 Bernard of Clairvaux 6.4 John Buridan 6.5 Petrarch 6.6 Marsilio Ficino 6.7 Martin Luther and Lambert Daneau 6.8 Edmund Spenser 6.9 William Shakespeare References Primary Sources Secondary Sources Chapter 7: Casuistry, Probabilism and the Demandingness of Morality 7.1 Moral Psychology and Scholastic Theories of Conscience 7.2 Demandingness in Scholastic Practical Ethics 7.3 Demandingness and Moral Satisficing 7.4 Probablism, Prudence, and Epistemic Satisficing 7.5 Limiting the Burdens of Information Search 7.6 Conclusion References Primary Sources Secondary Sources Chapter 8: Visions of Human Sociability in Early Modern Moral and Political Thought 8.1 Natural Sociability 8.2 Hobbes and Natural Unsociability 8.3 Self-Interest and Sociability After Hobbes: Pufendorf’s Theory of Sociability 8.4 Eighteenth-Century Theories of Sociability References Primary Sources Secondary Sources Part III: Virtues, Happiness, and Moral Education Chapter 9: Virtues, Vices, and Small Morals: Theophrastus’ Characters 9.1 Virtues Versus Small Morals 9.2 Behaviour as a Sign of Characters 9.3 Ethical Judgments 9.4 The Contents of the Characters 9.5 Common Features of the Sketches 9.6 Harmful Traits 9.7 Annoying Traits 9.8 Foolish Traits 9.9 Why the Sketches Are Funny 9.10 What We Learn from the Sketches References Primary Sources Secondary Sources Chapter 10: Psychology of Happiness in Ancient Greek and Roman Ethics 10.1 Introductory Remarks: Happiness as a Goal 10.2 Happiness and Soul 10.3 Happiness and Morality 10.4 Happiness, Pleasure and Tranquillity 10.5 Happiness, Theory and God References Primary Sources Secondary Sources Chapter 11: Happiness in Classical Arabic Philosophy 11.1 Arabic Concept of Happiness 11.2 Al-Fārābī 11.3 Avicenna References Primary Sources Secondary Sources Chapter 12: Women, Education, and Moral Psychology, 1400–1800 References Primary Sources Secondary Sources Part IV: Dimensions of Moral Psychology Chapter 13: Common Good and Individual Good 13.1 Introduction 13.2 Identity and Inclusion 13.3 Challenges to Identity 13.4 Moral Motivation and Reasons for Action 13.5 Conclusion References Primary Sources Secondary Sources Chapter 14: Religious Tolerance in Islamic Theology: Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī on Freedom of Religious Belief 14.1 Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī as a Theologian and Qurʾānic Commentator 14.2 The Question of Coercion to Religion (Q 2:256) 14.3 The Process of Religious Conversion (Q 4:94) 14.4 Is the Religious Decision Made by Man or God (Q 10:99)? 14.5 Religious Decision as a Matter Between God and the Human Individual References Primary Sources Secondary Sources Chapter 15: Nobility and the Pre-modern Moral Psychology: A Question of Framework 15.1 The Question of Recognition 15.2 The Theological Frame 15.3 The Dignity of Testimony 15.4 The Testimony of Christ as Noblest Deed 15.5 Nobility and Singularity 15.6 Nobility as a Framork of the Premodern Conceptualisations References Primary Sources Secondary Sources Chapter 16: Friendship in Medieval and Early Modern Literature and Thought 16.1 Cicero 16.2 Boethius: Late Antiquity 16.3 Love and Friendship in Medieval Literature 16.4 Marie de France 16.5 The Fable Tradition 16.6 The Continuation of the Fable Tradition: A Late Medieval Swiss-German Perspective by Ulrich Boner 16.7 The Ideal of Friendship in the Monastic Context: Aelred of Rievaulx 16.8 Friendship in Courtly Romances and Short Narratives 16.9 Friendship in Heroic Poetry 16.9.1 Waltharius 16.9.2 Nibelungenlied (c. 1200) 16.10 Conclusion References Primary Sources Secondary Sources Chapter 17: Compassion and Pity 17.1 Compassion and Pity in Historical Sources and Contemporary Discussion 17.2 Antique Ideas of Compassion and Christian Novelties 17.3 Compassion and Pity in the Middle Ages 17.4 Early Modern Views on Compassion: Hobbes and Smith 17.5 Conclusion: Sensitivity to Social Hierarchy or Distress of an Individual References Primary Sources Secondary Sources Index