Customer Reviews

Reason and Emotion

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I bought this book after having my interest sparked in Plato and Aristotle last year. I found that Cooper answered most of what my professors had simply labeled controversies, with had no real definitive answer, with remarkable ease. Cooper's work is impressive, but he is not arrogant or dogmatic. I particularly enjoyed his essays on Aristotle's conception of Friendship, Aristotle's views on contemplation, and the Greeks views on suicide and euthanasia. In general, I found the book to be absolutely necessary for anyone who has even a cursory interest in the Ancient Greeks.

This collection of essays will of great value not least to students of Philosophy and Classics, but also, I imagine, to many others.

Topics dealt with include politics, justice, and human motivation, happiness, virtue, friendship, pleasure, euthanasia and suicide. These topics are, of course, of no less importance today than they were in classical antiquity. And as these themes are of perennial interest, so Cooper is always mindful to make clear how the arguments and theories of the ancients are of interest to us too. These are not essays on theories that are long forgotten for good reason. On the contrary, Cooper always manages to show how the theories of the ancient philosophers still speak to us today. They were the most rational option available to the ancients and they are still a reasonable option for us. Cooper's great learning and profound knowledge of the ancient sources never interfere with this. However, Cooper assumes basic knowledge of the theories of the ancient philosophers. Hence this book may prove difficult for the beginner.

I recommend this book to students of Ancient Philosophy and Classics and to those who seek a good solid scholarly work on ancient ethics and moral psychology.