Fallibility and Fallibilism in Ancient Philosophy and Literature

Published by De Gruyter 2024

Fallibility and Fallibilism in Ancient Philosophy and Literature

Edited by: Therese Fuhrer and Janja Soldo

Volume 45 in the series Philosophie der Antike

https://doi.org/10.1515/9783111316802

Overview
Contents

About this book

Mankind’s constant struggle with physical as well as mental weaknesses is omnipresent in ancient literature: misconduct, wrongdoing, failure and experiences of contingency are anthropological phenomena. Ancient ethics, epistemology, and natural philosophy have developed different theoretical approaches and guidelines on how to act and how to overcome all kinds of problems. Christian theology, on the other hand, has explained moral failure as a symptom of original sin, comparing decline and destruction to a burden from which mankind is relieved only at the end. The contributions explore how ancient philosophical texts, both pagan and Christian, explain, conceptualize and integrate the myriad manifestations of human fallibility into the different philosophical schools. The focus is on anthropological, ontological and theological concepts that analyse and reflect human fallibility, as well as on the textual and linguistic representation of the phenomenon in ancient literature. Several contributions in the volume explore literary texts that discuss or illustrate the philosophical dimension of fallibility, such as satire’s or tragedy’s (often exaggerated) depiction of human weakness.

Author / Editor information

Therese Fuhrer, LMU Munich, Germany; Janja Soldo, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	I
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	V
Introduction Janja Soldo and Therese Fuhrer Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
Aetiologies of Failure. Ancient Justification Narratives of Human Fallibility Therese Fuhrer Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	7
The Stoics on how vice and error make life worth living Ada Bronowski Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	37
Navigating Cognitive Success (and Failure): Cicero, Lucullus 66 Tobias Reinhardt Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	67
Epicureans dealing with the unthinkability of death Jula Wildberger Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	89
Letters from an invalid philosopher: the fallibility of mind and body in Seneca’s Epistulae morales Catharine Edwards Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	127
Vom Gelingen und Scheitern eines Philosophie-Kurses: Senecas Luciliusbriefe als Distance Learning Wolfgang Kofler Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	147
The Stoic Sage and the Tragic Monster in Seneca William Fitzgerald Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	163
Die Funktionalisierung der Fallibilität des Naso exul poeta et patiens in Ov. Pont. 3,1 Christoph Mayr Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	181
A workaholic on holiday: Marcus Aurelius’ fallibility in Fronto, De Feriis Alsiensibus 3 Janja Soldo Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	199
Ethische und ästhetische Konsequenzen scheiternder Erkenntnis in Lukians Hermotimus Peter von Möllendorff Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	219
Plotinus on Fallibility and Infallibility Christoph Horn Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	235
Fragility in the Encounter with the Divine: from Plato to Gregory of Nyssa and Augustine Georgiana Huian Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	257
Origenes über menschliches Fehlverhalten Alfons Fürst Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	285
Fallibilität im Prozess der Textüberlieferung: Der Typus des ‚schläfrigen Schreibers‘ von Hieronymus bis Housman Andreas Ammann Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	319
Notes on Contributors Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	339
Index locorum Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	343
Index nominum et rerum Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	351

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: De Gruyter
Audience: Scholars and students in Ancient Philosophy, Classical Studies, Early Christian Literature
Pages
- Front matter: 10
- Main content: 358
Keywords: Anthropology; Human Failure; Epistemology; Ethics

eBook

Published: December 18, 2023
ISBN: 9783111316802

Hardcover

Published: December 18, 2023
ISBN: 9783111314358