Immortality in Ancient Philosophy

Re-examines the concept of immortality in ancient philosophy from the Presocratics to Augustine.

A. G. Long (Edited by)

9781108941006, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 6 April 2023

235 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.3 cm, 0.348 kg

'… the research and insights are of a consistently high quality … the volume will find a welcome place among other scholarly treatments of immortality and divinity … Recommended.' F. A. Grabowski, Choice

Immortality was central to ancient philosophical reflections on the soul, happiness, value and divinity. Conceptions of immortality flowed into philosophical ethics and theology, and modern reconstructions of ancient thought in these areas sometimes turn on the interpretation of immortality. This volume brings together original research on immortality from early Greek philosophy, such as the Pythagoreans and Empedocles, to Augustine. The contributors consider not only arguments concerning the soul's immortality, but also the diverse and often subtle accounts of what immortality is, both in Plato and in less familiar philosophers, such as the early Stoics and Philo of Alexandria. The book will be of interest to all those interested in immortality and divinity in ancient philosophy, particularly scholars and advanced students.

Introduction A. G. Long
 1. The soul and the celestial afterlife in Greek philosophy before Plato Simon Trépanier
 2. Pythagorean immortality of the soul? Phillip Sidney Horky
 3. The philosopher's reward: Contemplation and immortality in Plato's dialogues Suzanne Obdrzalek
 4. Pre-existence, life-after-death, and atemporal beings in Plato's Phaedo Catherine Rowett
 5. The immortal and the imperishable in Aristotle, early Stoicism and Epicureanism A. G. Long
 6. Socrates and the symmetry argument James Warren
 7. Immortality in Philo of Alexandria Sami Yli-Karjanmaa
 8. Plotinus on immortality and the problem of personal identity Lloyd P. Gerson
 9. Truth and immortality in Augustine's Soliloquies and De Immortalitate Animae, Sebastian Gertz.  

Subject Areas: Church history [HRCC2], Religion & beliefs [HR], Western philosophy: Ancient, to c 500 [HPCA], History of Western philosophy [HPC]