The Fragility of Goodness: Luck and Ethics in Greek Tragedy and Philosophy

ISBN-13: 9780521791267 / Angielski / Twarda / 2001 / 592 str.

Martha C. Nussbaum

Opis

This book is a study of ancient views about "moral luck." It examines the fundamental ethical problem that many of the valued constituents of a well-lived life are vulnerable to factors outside a person's control, and asks how this affects our appraisal of persons and their lives. The Greeks made a profound contribution to these questions, yet neither the problems nor the Greek views of them have received the attention they deserve. This updated edition contains a new preface.

Recenzje

"Over fifteen years since its first appearance, this work is still of interest to literary critics, philosophers and intellectual historians alike." Patrick O'Sullivan, University of Cantebury, Christchurch, NZ

Spis treści

Preface; 1. Luck and ethics; Part I. Tragedy: Fragility and Ambition: 2. Aeschylus and practical conflict; 3. Sophocles' Antigone: conflict, vision, and simplification; Part II. Plato: Goodness without Fragility: 4. The Protagoras: a science of practical reasoning; Interlude 1. Plato's anti-tragic theater; 5. The Republic: true value and the standpoint of perfection; 6. The speech of Alcibiades: a reading of the Symposium; 7. 'This story isn't true': madness, reason, and recantation in the Phaedrus; Part III. Aristotle: The Fragility of the Good Human Life: Introduction; 8. Saving Aristotle's appearances; 9. Rational animals and the explanation of action; 10. Non-scientific deliberation; 11. The vulnerability of the Good Human Life: activity and disaster; 12. The vulnerability of the Good Human Life: relational goods; Appendix to Part III; Interlude 2. Luck and the tragic emotions; Epilogue. Tragedy; 13. The betrayal of convention: a reading of Euripedes' Hecuba.