Nature and the Best Life: Exploring the Natural Bases of Practical Normativity in Ancient Philosophy

The papers included in this book explore various aspects of the relations between nature and practical normativity in Antiquity, from the Presocratic period to Neoplatonism. Leaving aside the question of how much of contemporary naturalism is present in Ancient Philosophy, and whether that much is sufficient for finding traces of it in ancient naturalism, one may still ask the historical question of whether or not this is a feature that all ancient ethics share. To this effect, these pages offer a palette of readings that provide diverse analyses and diagnoses about the manner, the extent, and the success with which the appeal to nature can be identified as a strategy for founding practical normativity in Ancient Philosophy.