{"product_id":"the-birth-of-hedonism-the-cyrenaic-philosophers-and-pleasure-as-a-way-of-life-9780691176383","title":"The Birth of Hedonism: The Cyrenaic Philosophers and Pleasure as a Way of Life","description":"\u003cp\u003eAccording to Xenophon, Socrates tried to persuade his associate Aristippus to moderate his excessive indulgence in wine, women, and food, arguing that only hard work can bring happiness. Aristippus wasn't convinced. Instead, he and his followers espoused the most radical form of hedonism in ancient Western philosophy. Before the rise of the better known but comparatively ascetic Epicureans, the Cyrenaics pursued a way of life in which moments of pleasure, particularly bodily pleasure, held the highest value. In \u003ci\u003eThe Birth of Hedonism\u003c\/i\u003e, Kurt Lampe provides the most comprehensive account in any language of Cyrenaic ideas and behavior, revolutionizing the understanding of this neglected but important school of philosophy. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Birth of Hedonism\u003c\/i\u003e thoroughly and sympathetically reconstructs the doctrines and practices of the Cyrenaics, who were active between the fourth and third centuries BCE. The book examines not only Aristippus and the mainstream Cyrenaics, but also Hegesias, Anniceris, and Theodorus. Contrary to recent scholarship, the book shows that the Cyrenaics, despite giving primary value to discrete pleasurable experiences, accepted the dominant Greek philosophical belief that life-long happiness and the virtues that sustain it are the principal concerns of ethics. The book also offers the first in-depth effort to understand Theodorus's atheism and Hegesias's pessimism, both of which are extremely unusual in ancient Greek philosophy and which raise the interesting question of hedonism's relationship to pessimism and atheism. Finally, the book explores the \"new Cyrenaicism\" of the nineteenth-century writer and classicist Walter Pater, who drew out the enduring philosophical interest of Cyrenaic hedonism more than any other modern thinker.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Kurt Lampe\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Princeton University Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 05\/09\/2017\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 304\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.01lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.21h x 6.14w x 0.67d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780691176383","brand":"Princeton University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42711317184649,"sku":"9780691176383","price":32.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0636\/9240\/6921\/files\/img_128b8e08-b80a-4dce-875c-67c553f17fb8.jpg?v=1719566961","url":"https:\/\/sonsanddaughtersbooks.com\/products\/the-birth-of-hedonism-the-cyrenaic-philosophers-and-pleasure-as-a-way-of-life-9780691176383","provider":"Sons and Daughters Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}