Eyjólfur K. Emilsson – författare

How should I live? How can I be happy? What is happiness, really? These are perennial questions, which in recent times have become the object of diverse kinds of academic research. Ancient philosophers placed happiness at the centre of their thought, and we can trace the topic through nearly a millennium. While the centrality of the notion of happiness in ancient ethics is well known, this book is unique in that it focuses directly on this notion, as it appears in the ancient texts. Fourteen papers by an international team of scholars map the various approaches and conceptions found from the Pre-Socratics through Plato, Aristotle, Hellenistic Philosophy, to the Neo-Platonists and Augustine in late antiquity. While not promising a formula that can guarantee a greater share in happiness to the reader, the book addresses questions raised by ancient thinkers that are still of deep concern to many people today: Do I have to be a morally good person in order to be happy? Are there purely external criteria for happiness such as success according to received social norms or is happiness merely a matter of an internal state of the person? How is happiness related to the stages of life and generally to time? In this book the reader will find an informed discussion of these and many other questions relating to happiness.

Plotinus (AD 205–270) was the founder of Neoplatonism, whose thought has had a profound influence on medieval philosophy, and on Western philosophy more broadly. In this engaging book, Eyjólfur K. Emilsson introduces and explains the full spectrum of Plotinus’ philosophy for those coming to his work for the first time.Beginning with a chapter-length overview of Plotinus’ life and works which also assesses the Platonic, Aristotelian and Stoic traditions that influenced him, Emilsson goes on to address key topics including: Plotinus’ originalitythe status of soulsPlotinus’ languagethe notion of the One or the GoodIntellect, including Plotinus’ holismthe physical worldthe soul and the body, including emotions and the selfPlotinus’ ethicsPlotinus’ influence and legacy.Including a chronology, glossary of terms and suggestions for further reading, Plotinus is an ideal introduction to this major figure in Western philosophy, and is essential reading for students of ancient philosophy and classics.

Plotinus (AD 205–270) was the founder of Neoplatonism, whose thought has had a profound influence on medieval philosophy and on Western philosophy more broadly. In this engaging book, Eyjólfur K. Emilsson introduces and explains the full spectrum of Plotinus’ philosophy for those coming to his work for the first time.Beginning with a chapter-length overview of Plotinus’ life and works which also assesses the Platonic, Aristotelian and Stoic traditions that influenced him, Emilsson goes on to address key topics including:Plotinus’ originalitythe status of soulsPlotinus’ languagethe notion of the One or the GoodIntellect, including Plotinus’ holismthe physical worldthe soul and the body, including emotions and the selfPlotinus’ ethicsPlotinus’ influence and legacy.This second edition has been revised and updated throughout and includes a new chapter on badness, freedom, providence and responsibility. Also including a chronology, glossary of terms and suggestions for further reading, Plotinus is an ideal introduction to this major figure in Western philosophy and essential reading for students of ancient philosophy and classics.

Plotinus (AD 205–270) was the founder of Neoplatonism, whose thought has had a profound influence on medieval philosophy and on Western philosophy more broadly. In this engaging book, Eyjólfur K. Emilsson introduces and explains the full spectrum of Plotinus’ philosophy for those coming to his work for the first time.Beginning with a chapter-length overview of Plotinus’ life and works which also assesses the Platonic, Aristotelian and Stoic traditions that influenced him, Emilsson goes on to address key topics including:Plotinus’ originalitythe status of soulsPlotinus’ languagethe notion of the One or the GoodIntellect, including Plotinus’ holismthe physical worldthe soul and the body, including emotions and the selfPlotinus’ ethicsPlotinus’ influence and legacy.This second edition has been revised and updated throughout and includes a new chapter on badness, freedom, providence and responsibility. Also including a chronology, glossary of terms and suggestions for further reading, Plotinus is an ideal introduction to this major figure in Western philosophy and essential reading for students of ancient philosophy and classics.

Plotinus (AD 205-270) was the founder of Neoplatonism, whose thought has had a profound influence on medieval philosophy and on Western philosophy more broadly. In this engaging book, Eyjolfur K. Emilsson introduces and explains the full spectrum of Plotinus' philosophy for those coming to his work for the first time.Beginning with a chapter-length overview of Plotinus' life and works which also assesses the Platonic, Aristotelian and Stoic traditions that influenced him, Emilsson goes on to address key topics including: Plotinus' originality the status of souls Plotinus' language the notion of the One or the Good Intellect, including Plotinus' holism the physical world the soul and the body, including emotions and the self Plotinus' ethics Plotinus' influence and legacy. This second edition has been revised and updated throughout and includes a new chapter on badness, freedom, providence and responsibility. Also including a chronology, glossary of terms and suggestions for further reading, Plotinus is an ideal introduction to this major figure in Western philosophy and essential reading for students of ancient philosophy and classics.

Plotinus (AD 205-270) was the founder of Neoplatonism, whose thought has had a profound influence on medieval philosophy and on Western philosophy more broadly. In this engaging book, Eyjolfur K. Emilsson introduces and explains the full spectrum of Plotinus' philosophy for those coming to his work for the first time.Beginning with a chapter-length overview of Plotinus' life and works which also assesses the Platonic, Aristotelian and Stoic traditions that influenced him, Emilsson goes on to address key topics including: Plotinus' originality the status of souls Plotinus' language the notion of the One or the Good Intellect, including Plotinus' holism the physical world the soul and the body, including emotions and the self Plotinus' ethics Plotinus' influence and legacy. This second edition has been revised and updated throughout and includes a new chapter on badness, freedom, providence and responsibility. Also including a chronology, glossary of terms and suggestions for further reading, Plotinus is an ideal introduction to this major figure in Western philosophy and essential reading for students of ancient philosophy and classics.

This short, early treatise undertakes to explain the controversial thesis that all souls—this includes individual human souls and the world-soul—are in some sense just one soul. Plotinus considers a number of objections that can be raised against the thesis. For instance, if the thesis is true, it may seem to follow that that everything that holds for one soul also holds for every other soul. Plotinus seeks to explain that such objections are off the mark, which also shows that the thesis about the unity of soul is not a claim about strict identity of all souls. He then (chapter 5) considers and rejects two materialistic hypotheses about the relationship between individual souls and the world-soul. In the final chapter he presents his own solution: the individual souls and the world-soul are all the soul hypostasis. He likens the relationship between the hypostatic soul and the individual souls with that between a science and the theorems of the science: each theorem potentially contains the whole science and can in a sense be said to be it.