Ancient Ethics – Meyer

They also take a great interest in human affairs, and visit disaster upon the wicked or the overweening – as well as those who have failed to honour them properly or have incurred their dislike for some other reason (see DL 10.81). Lucretius describes the sort of fear such views engender: Whose mind does not contract in panic fear of gods? Whose knees don’t shake and knock together When the earth shudders at a lightning blast And thunder’s rumble rolls along the sky?

Don’t peoples tremble, haughty monarchs cower Supposing that the hour of doom has come For some base action, for some arrogant word? (Lucretius 5.1218–25 /LS 23A6; translated by Humphries) It is not easy to predict what will satisfy these gods, who according to tradition can sometimes be angered at persons through no fault of their own. To believe in such gods is to consider oneself a relatively small and powerless being in a world where large, powerful and capricious beings demand service and visit calamity upon those with whom they are dis- pleased or against whom they are otherwise motivated to do ill.

It is a per- spective of extreme vulnerability. Such a set of beliefs about the gods is the source of great fears (Lucr. 6.68–79 /LS 23D; cf. LS 23I; KD 10–13; DL 10.81), but it is quite false, according to Epicurus. While he insists that there are in fact gods (Men. 123) and that it is pious to worship them,24 the gods ‘are not such as the many believe them to be’.

Indeed, he goes so far as to claim that the popular conception of the gods is impious (Men. 123). We can see what Epicurus thinks is wrong with the popular stories about the gods by focusing on what he calls our ‘preconception’ (prolêpsis) of the gods.25 This is something like an innate idea or conception of the gods – shared by all human beings, according to Epicurus. While different peoples tell different stories about the gods, the universal conception of the gods on which all agree is that the gods are ‘blessed’ (makarios; a super- lative of ‘eudaimon’) and immortal or imperishable (aphthartos) (KD 1, Men.

123, ND 1.45). This core conception of divinity which, according to Epicurus, is our prolêpsis, is due neither to human customs, laws, or institutions, and is therefore a deliverance of nature, to be trusted as true in the same way as the other deliverances of nature – such as those that tell us that pleasure is to be pursued and pain avoided. If we keep this core conception of divinity in mind, we can evaluate the other sorts of claims that are attributed to the gods, rejecting as false all those that are incon- sistent with the core conception.

As Epicurus writes to Menoeceus: ‘do not attribute to god anything foreign to his indestructibility or repugnant to his blessedness’ (Men.

To understand ethical theory we need to understand its origins, just as knowledge of ancient philosophy cannot be complete without an understand- ing of the ethical tradition which formed such a crucial part of it. Ancient Ethics is a clear and thorough introduction to the birth of ethics in ancient Greece and Rome for anyone starting out in ethics. Here, Susan Sauvé Meyer details a history of ethical thought, from its beginnings in the writings of Plato and Aristotle through its development in the Hellenistic period by Epicureans and Stoics, with lucid and accessible explanations of their theories.

Throughout, she critically assesses the arguments on which their thoughts were based, incorporating the responses of their contemporary critics as well as modern-day assessments to show the reader how to think and critique philosophically. This book will be ideal for anyone beginning an introductory course in ancient ethics or moral theory, anyone interested in learning more about the history of ethical philosophy, or simply those who wish to learn “how to live well”.

Susan Suavé Meyer is Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Pennsylvania. She specialises in Ancient Greek and Roman philosophy, and has published widely on the natural and ethical philosophy of the period, including Aristotle and Moral Responsibility (1993). ii iii ANCIENT ETHICS A critical introduction Susan Sauvé Meyer iv First published 2008 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 270 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10016 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2008 Susan Sauvé Meyer All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Meyer, Susan Sauvé. Ancient ethics : a critical introduction / Susan Sauve Meyer. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Ethics, Ancient. I. Title. BJ161.M49 2007 170.938—dc22 2007023583 ISBN10 0-415-94026-5 (hbk) ISBN10 0-415-94027-3 (pbk) ISBN10 0-203-64389-5 (ebk) ISBN13 978-0-415-94026-9 (hbk) ISBN13 978-0-415-94027-6 (pbk) ISBN13 978-0-203-64389-1 (ebk) ISBN 0-203-64389-5 Master e-book ISBN This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2007. “To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.”

This is a short excerpt from the opening of “” by Unknown, quoted for review and introduction purposes. All rights belong to the copyright holders.

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