Diogenes Laertius: Lives of Eminent Philosophers
An Edited Translation

Scholarly new translation of this preeminent ancient history of Greek philosophy, recounting the lives, thought, and writings of leading figures.

Stephen White (Edited and translated by)

9780521883351, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 3 June 2021

524 pages
23.6 x 16 x 3.4 cm, 0.88 kg

'[an] important, accessible collection … Recommended.' R. Cormier, Choice Connect

A pioneering work in the history of philosophy, the ancient text of the Lives presents engaging portraits of nearly a hundred Greek philosophers. It blends biography with bibliography and surveys of leading theories, peppered with punchy anecdotes, pithy maxims, and even snatches of poetry, much of it by the philosophers themselves. The work presents a systematic genealogy of Greek philosophy from its origins in the sixth century BCE to its flowering in Plato's Academy and the Hellenistic schools. In this fully up-to-date and accessible translation, based on the most accurate texts and the latest advances in scholarship, Stephen White provides a valuable resource for students and scholars of ancient philosophy. Highlights include extended treatment of the 'Seven Sages' (Book 1), Socrates and his Socratic followers (Book 2), Plato (Book 3), Aristotle and his school (Book 5), Diogenes the Cynic (Book 6), Stoicism (Book 7), Pythagoreans (Book 8), Pyrrhonian skepticism (Book 9), and Epicureanism (Book 10).

Acknowledgements
Introduction
Outline of the Lives
Lives of Eminent Philosophers
Book 1. Origins and sages
Book 2. Ionians, Socrates and Socratics
Book 3. Plato
Book 4. Academics
Book 5. Aristotle and Peripatetics
Book 6. Antisthenes and Cynics
Book 7. Zeno and Stoics
Book 8. Pythagoras and Pythagoreans
Book 9. Italians and others, Pyrrho and Pyrrhonians
Book 10. Epicurus and Epicureans
Appendix: conspectus of changes to the text
Glossary of philosophical terms
Bibliography
Index of biographies
Index of citations
Index of persons.

Subject Areas: Philosophy: aesthetics [HPN], Philosophy: epistemology & theory of knowledge [HPK], Western philosophy: Ancient, to c 500 [HPCA], Ancient history: to c 500 CE [HBLA]