Pleasure in Ancient Greek Philosophy. Key themes in ancient philosophy [book review

Abstract

<p>In <em>Pleasure in Ancient Greek Philosophy</em>, David Wolfsdorf explores the history of treatments of the concept of pleasure. The book is organized into two overarching but unequal parts, the first focusing on conceptions of pleasure in the ancient schools, the second examining the work done on these same questions in modern scholarship. Wolfsdorf’s text falls in line with work like that of Fred Feldman ( <em>Pleasure and the Good Life</em>, 1994) and Julia Annas ( <em>The Morality of Happiness</em>, 1995) in taking ancient contributions seriously both as a matter of historical interest, and as relevant to contemporary debate of the issues. This is a self-conscious methodology, which Wolfsdorf defends in his opening and concluding chapters, the latter of which argues for the philosophical relevance of the ancient discussions to current research. </p>