PY2218/PY3218 Hellenistic Philosophy
Autumn 2025
This module will introduce some of the key figures and themes of Hellenistic philosophy via a close study of Cicero’s De Finibus. Divided into five books, Cicero’s text critically examines the ethical theories of the Epicureans and the Stoics, all written from the perspective of someone sympathetic to Academic scepticism. Cicero’s work is one of the earliest and most important accounts of Hellenistic ideas that survives.
Our core text will be Cicero, On Moral Ends, edited by J. Annas, translated by R. Woolf (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001). You should expect to buy a copy of this book.
This translation is based on the Latin text edited by L. D. Reynolds (OCT). The Latin text along with an older English translation can also be found in the Loeb Classical Library, by H. Rackham (online here).
Our topics will be:
For a background overview of the whole period see J. Sellars, Hellenistic Philosophy (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018).
Our core text will be Cicero, On Moral Ends, edited by J. Annas, translated by R. Woolf (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001). You should expect to buy a copy of this book.
This translation is based on the Latin text edited by L. D. Reynolds (OCT). The Latin text along with an older English translation can also be found in the Loeb Classical Library, by H. Rackham (online here).
Our topics will be:
- Is pleasure the highest good?
(Reading: Fin. 1.1-33; pp. 3-14) - Epicurean ethics
(Reading: Fin. 1.34-72; pp. 14-25) - Reflection on pleasure
(Reading: Fin. 2.1-55; pp. 26-45) - Pleasure versus virtue
(Reading: Fin. 2.56-119; pp. 45-64) - The foundations of Stoic ethics
(Reading: Fin. 3.1-34; pp. 65-76) - Virtue and indifferents
(Reading: Fin. 3.35-76; pp. 76-89) - Stoics versus Peripatetics
(Reading: Fin. 4.1-41; pp. 90-103) - Stoic contradictions?
(Reading: Fin. 4.42-80; pp. 103-16) - Academics and Peripatetics
(Reading: Fin. 5.1-45; pp. 117-33) - In search of a happy life
(Reading: Fin. 5.46-96; pp. 133-50)
For a background overview of the whole period see J. Sellars, Hellenistic Philosophy (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018).
