Philosophy in the Roman Empire: Ethics, Politics and Society

Michael Trapp draws on a broad range of sources for this study of Imperial period philosophical thought. The distinctive doctrines of the many individual philosophical schools are outlined, as well as the choices they presented to the potential philosophical convert. Trapp also addresses the elitist status of philosophy itself and the ways in which it may have posed a threat to other values. Cover Half Title Title Page Copyright Page Contents List of Abbreviations Preface 1 ‘Ethics’, ‘Philosophy’ and Philosophia The history and internal geography of philosophia The point and balance of philosophia: Imperial-period perceptions The ‘dominance’ of ethics Authority and division Philosophia in the community Who qualifies? 2 Perfection and Progress Perfection: ideal states of the person Lives and progress Conclusion 3 The Passions Background Emotion and its control in the Imperial period Conclusion: continuity and change 4 Self, Person and Individual The soul and the real person Programmes of self-discovery? The self in therapeutic advice The Self and the Will? Afterword 5 Self and Others The Stoics Peripatetics, Platonists, Epicureans and Cynics Special issues Conclusion 6 Politics 1: Constitutions and the Ruler The political background to Imperial-period theorizing Constitutions 7 Politics 2: Good Communities Dio on the Black Sea Harmony and order Collective moral character Sanctions: law, punishment and instruction Constituents of the community 8 Politics 3: Philosophia in Politics and the Community Entertainment, leisure and responsibility Philosophoi in formal politics Conclusion 9 Philosophia and the Mainstream Politics A more general lack of alignment? The paradox of an educational setting An uncertain status? Conclusion Appendix: Bio-bibliographies Bibliography Index of Works and Passages General Index