Justice and Generosity: Studies in Hellenistic Social and Political Philosophy: Proceedings of the Sixth Symposium Hellenisticum

Hegel’s often-echoed verdict on the apolitical character of philosophy in the Hellenistic age is challenged in this collection of essays, originally presented at the sixth meeting of the Symposium Hellenisticum. An international team of leading scholars reveals a vigorous intellectual scene of great diversity: analyses of political leadership and the Roman constitution in Aristotelian terms; Cynic repudiation of the polis - but accommodation with its rulers; Stoic and Epicurean theories of justice as the foundation of society; Cicero’s moral critique of the traditional political pursuit of glory. The volume as a whole offers a comprehensive guide to the main currents of social and political philosophy in a period of increasing interest to classicists, philosophers and cultural and intellectual historians.

• A challenging volume undermining the conventional verdict on Hellenistic philosophy as apolitical • A comprehensive guide to the main currents of social and political philosophy in the Hellenistic period • A further volume in the well-established and successful Symposium Hellenisticum series

Preface; Introduction; Part I. Political Philosophy: Development and Transformation: 1. Polybius’ applied political theory David E. Hahm; 2. The statesman and the law in the political philosophy of Cicero Jean-Louis Ferrary; 3. Aristotelian political theory in the Hellenistic period Julia Annas; 4. Oikonomia in Hellenistic political thought Carlo Natali; 5. The Cynics and politics J. L. Moles; Part II: The Ethical Framework of Politics and Society: 6. The Epicurean theory of law and justice Antonina Alberti; 7. Two Stoic approaches to justice Malcolm Schofield; 8. Cicero’s politics in De officiis A. A. Long; 9. Politics and paradox in Seneca’s De beneficiis Brad Inwood; Bibliography; General index; Index of Greek and Latin words; Index of ancient names and philosophical schools; Index of passages.