Overview

Illustrating the centrality of skill within ancient ethics, including Socrates’ search for expertise in virtue, the Republic’s ‘craft of justice’, Aristotle’s delineation of the politike techne, the Stoics’ ‘art of life’ and ancient Chinese ethics, this collection shows how skill has been an ethical touchstone from the beginning of philosophical thought. Divided into six sections – on Plato, Aristotle, the Stoics, Mencius and Xunzi, the Mohists and Zhuangzi, and comparative perspectives – world-leading philosophers explore the significance of skill according to traditional figures, as well as lesser-known philosophers such as Carneades and Antipater, and texts such as the Zhuangzi. In doing so, the seventeen contributors illustrate how skill, expertise and ‘know how’ are essential to and foundational within ancient ethical thought. As the first collection to foreground skill as central to ancient Greek, Roman and Chinese ethics, this is an essential resource for anyone interested in the value of cross-cultural philosophy today.

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9781350267411

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Reviews

A collection of groundbreaking chapters which, by setting side by side analyses of major Greek, Roman and Chinese philosophers, shows us the great potential of skill as a model of ethical understanding. --Thomas Kjeller Johansen, Professor of Philosophy, University of Oslo, Norway A model for volumes on comparative philosophy, Skill in Ancient Ethics combines authoritative chapters on individual philosophical works from Greece, Rome and China with comparative perspectives that pull at common threads across those cultures. A skillful approach to an important issue in classical philosophy. --Mark Csikszentmihalyi, Eliaser Professor of International Studies and Director of the Group in the Study of Religion, University of California, Berkeley, USA

Author Information

Tom Angier is Senior Lecturer in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Cape Town, South Africa. Lisa Raphals is Professor in the Department of Comparative Literature and Languages at the University of California Riverside, USA.

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