The Morality of Happiness

by Annas, Julia

• ISBN13: 9780195079999
• ISBN10: 019507999X
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1993-08-19
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

Ancient ethical theories, based on the notions of virtue and happiness, have struck many as an attractive alternative to modern theories. But we cannot find out whether this is true until we understand ancient ethics--and to do this we need to examine the basic structure of ancient ethical theory, not just the details of one or two theories. In this book, Annas brings together the results of a wide-ranging study of ancient ethical philosophy and presents it in a way that is easily accessible to anyone with an interest in ancient or modern ethics. She examines the fundamental notions of happiness and virtue, the role of nature in ethical justification and the relation between concern for self and concern for others. Her careful examination of the ancient debates and arguments shows that many widespread assumptions about ancient ethics are quite mistaken. Ancient ethical theories are not egoistic, and do not depend for their acceptance on metaphysical theories of a teleological kind. Most centrally, they are recognizably theories of morality, and the ancient disputes about the place of virtue in happiness can be seen as akin to modern disputes about the demands of morality.

Author Biography

Julia Annas is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Arizona.

Table of Contents

Preface and Acknowledgments	p. v
Introduction	p. 3
The Basic Ideas	p. 25
Making Sense of My Life as a Whole	p. 27
The Virtues	p. 47
Justification and the Appeal to Nature	p. 133
Nature and Naturalism	p. 135
Aristole: Nature and Mere Nature	p. 142
The Stoics: Human Nature and the Point of View of the Universe	p. 159
Antiochus: the Intuitive View	p. 180
The Epicureans: Rethinking What is Natural	p. 188
The Sceptics: Accepting What is Natural	p. 201
Uses of Nature	p. 214
The Good Life and the Good Lives of Others	p. 221
The Good of Others	p. 223
Finding Room for Other-Concern	p. 227
Self-Concern and the Sources and Limits of Other-Concern	p. 249
Justice	p. 291
Self-Interest and Morality	p. 322
Revising Your Priorities	p. 327
Happiness, Success and What Matters	p. 329
Epicurus: Virtue, Pleasure and Time	p. 334
The Sceptics: Untroubledness Without Belief	p. 351
Aristotle: an Unstable View	p. 364
Theophrastus and the Stoics: Forcing the Issue	p. 385
Aristotelian Responses	p. 412
Happiness and the Demands of Virtue	p. 426
Conclusion	p. 437
Morality, Ancient and Modern	p. 439
Cast of Characters	p. 457
Primary Sources	p. 465
Secondary Sources	p. 469
Index Locorum	p. 484
General Index	p. 494
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