Hellenistic and Early Imperial Philosophy

Abstract

Before handing over the responsibility for the book notes section on Hellenistic philosophy to Christopher Gill, I would like to take the opportunity to clear away my backlog and to discuss, along with a few books that were actually sent to me recently, one or two works which I should probably have covered earlier, but which I irresponsibly kept for a later occasion. Together they make for a remarkably interesting set. I shall discuss them more or less in a backward chronological order, starting in the early Empire and ending up in the fourth century BC. Pride of place may go to Tony Long's Epictetus: A Stoic and Socratic Guide to Life.' There can be little doubt that this book will constitute a major point of reference for students of Hellenistic and early Imperial philosophy for many years to come. The number of footnotes has been kept down and bibliographical and other scholarly matters have been confined to appendixes at the end of the chapters. As a result this eminently readable survey of Epictetus as a philosopher, stylist, and educator will be accessible to nonscholars as well. More so indeed than Bonhoffer's classic 19th century monographs (Epiktet und die Stoa, and Die Ethik des Stoikers Epiktet) which this book will in many respects replace as the most authoritative and all-round treatment of Epictetus. One of the distinctive features of the book is the careful attention given to the structure and purpose of the Discourses and to Epictetus' educational strategies where, by contrast, Bonhoffer's Epiktet und die Stoa rather exclusively focused on the philosophical contents, with two (in themselves worthwhile) introductory sections on 'Das Wesen und die Bedeutung der Philosophie' and on 'Die Einteilung der Philosophie'. Also typical are L.'s focus on what he calls the 'distinctive power of Epictetus' voice' (p. 5) and the way he brings out the role of Socrates as Epictetus' favoured paradigm. When it comes to these points, there is a potential drawback one which,