Disguised Vices

Name: Disguised Vices
SKU: 9780199589371
Price: 4179 SEK
Availability: InStock
Author: Michael Moriarty
ISBN: 9780199589371

Theories of Virtue in Early Modern French Thought

Inbunden, Engelska, 2011

AvMichael Moriarty

4 179 kr

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The notions of virtue and vice are essential components of the Western ethical tradition. But in early modern France they were called into question, as writers, most famously La Rochefoucauld, argued that what appears as virtue is in fact disguised vice: people carry out praiseworthy deeds because they stand to gain in some way; they deserve no credit for their behaviour because they have no control over it; they are governed by feelings and motives of which they may not be aware. Disguised Vices analyses the underlying logic of these arguments, and investigates what is at stake in them. It traces the arguments back to their sources in earlier writers, showing how ancient philosophers, particularly Aristotle and Seneca, formulated the distinction between behaviour that counts as virtuous and behaviour that only seems so. It explains how St Augustine reinterpreted the distinction in the light of the difference between pagans and Christians, and how medieval and early modern theologians strove to reconcile Augustine's position with that of Aristotle. It examines the restatement of Augustine's position by his hard-line early modern followers (especially the Jansenists), and the controversy to which this gave rise. Finally, it examines La Rochefoucauld's critique of virtue and assesses the extent of its links with the Augustinian current of thought.

Produktinformation

Utgivningsdatum2011-09-08
Mått172 x 240 x 34 mm
Vikt804 g
FormatInbunden
SpråkEngelska
Antal sidor420
FörlagOUP OXFORD
ISBN9780199589371
UtmärkelserWinner of the 2012 R. H. Gapper Book Prize

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Michael Moriarty read Modern and Medieval Languages at St John's College, Cambridge. He became a Research Fellow of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge in 1982, and a College Lecturer in French and Director of Studies in Modern Languages in 1985. He was appointed to an Assistant Lectureship in the Cambridge University Department of French in 1986. In 1990, he became a University Lecturer. In 1995, he was appointed by Queen Mary, University of London, to a Chair in French Literature and Thought (renamed the Centenary Chair in 2005). He is a Fellow of the British Academy and a Chevalier dans l'Ordre des Palmes Académiques.

The range of enquiry is extensive, tracing the origins of early modern scepticism back to the ancients ... The author demonstrates an impressive range and depth of scholarship in his engagement with both primary sources and critical predecessors, in a style which is consistently lucid, readable, reflexive and thought-provoking. He shows how early modern debates on virtue, however remote in time, have a bearing on modern thought in their challenge to self-delusion and their affirmation of self-awareness and recognition. The impact of this illuminating book extends beyond its immediate audience in early modern scholarship, providing valuable critical insight into subsequent developments in the history of ideas in France and Europe