The Emergence of Subjectivity in the Ancient and Medieval World

Jon Stewart is Research Fellow in the Institute of Philosophy at the Slovak Academy of Sciences. He is the founder and general editor of the series Kierkegaard Research: Sources, Reception and Resources, Texts from Golden Age Denmark, and Danish Golden Age Studies, as well as the co-editor of the Kierkegaard Studies Yearbook and Kierkegaard Studies Monograph Series. He is the author of Hegel's Interpretation of the Religions of the World: The Logic of the Gods (OUP, 2018), Søren Kierkegaard: Subjectivity, Irony, and the Crisis of Modernity (OUP, 2015), and Kierkegaard's Relations to Hegel Reconsidered (CUP, 2003).

• 0: Introduction: The Humanities Questions of Identity and DifferenceI. Defining the HumanitiesI.A. Content: The Subject Matter of the HumanitiesI.B. Form: The Methodology of the HumanitiesII. The Human Mind and Its ObjectificationIII. The Contribution of the Present StudyIII.A. A Philosophical Approach to Western CivilizationIII.B. The Notion of Subjectivity1: The Epic of GilgameshI. The Initial Description of Gilgamesh and UrukII. Enkidu and the Story of the FallIII. The Battle with HumbabaIV. The Death of Enkidu and the Nature of the GodsV. Gilgamesh's JourneyVI. The FloodVII. Immortality LostVIII. The Mesopotamians' Pessimistic World-ViewIX. Nature, Civilization, and Human Agency2: The Hebrew Bible: Genesis and the Book of JobI. The Creation: The Conception of GodII. The Creation: The Conception of Human BeingsIII. The FallIV. The FloodV. The Tower of BabelVI. The Problem of Justice in JobVII. The Pessimistic World-View in JobVIII. The Legal Metaphor in JobIX. The Incongruities in the WorkX. The Protest against the GodsXI. The Limited Conception of Individuality3: Homer's OdysseyI. The Story and Structure of the OdysseyII. Odysseus and KalypsoIII. The Lotus-EatersIV. The CyclopsV. CirceVI. The UnderworldVII. The SirensVIII. The Warrior EthicIX. The Greek View of Human Nature4: Herodotus' HistoriesI. Scholarly History versus MythologyII. The Story of GygesIII. Solon and CroesusIV. The Relativity of ValuesV. The Story of Polycrates and NemesisVI. The Debate about the Best Form of GovernmentVII. Xerxes' Plans to Invade GreeceVIII. Xerxes at the HellespontIX. Justice as a Matter of Balance5: Sophocles' Oedipus the KingI. The Search for KnowledgeII. Self-Knowledge and the Riddle of the SphinxIII. Natural Law versus RelativismIV. Human Agency and CulpabilityV. The Inevitability of FateVI. Greek EthicsVII. Judging the Human ConditionVIII. The Unquestioned Value of Science and KnowledgeIX. Fate and the Good Life6: Thucydides' History of the Peloponnesian War I. Thucydides' Goal and MethodII. Pericles' Funeral OrationIII. The Plague in AthensIV. The Political Repercussions for PericlesV. The Revolt in CorcyraVI. The Melian DialogueVII. Human Nature and Ethics7: Plato's Gorgias and ApologyI. The Gorgias: Callicles' ArgumentII. Socrates' Refutation of the Arguments of CalliclesIII. A Mythological View of Judgment and Life after DeathIV. Socrates' Divine MissionV. Socrates, the Gods, and the DaimonVI. Socrates' Defense of PhilosophyVII. Socrates as the Gadfly of AthensVIII. Socrates on the Nature of Death and a New Conception of the SelfIX. The New Role of Subjectivity8: Aristotle's PoliticsI. Introduction to the PoliticsII. The Nature of Human Beings and the StateIII. The Institution of SlaveryIV. The Other Relations of the HouseholdV. Political Science and the Forms of GovernmentVI. Democracy and OligarchyVII. The Best Form of GovernmentVIII. The Limitations of EmpiricismIX. Aristotle's Refutation of the Split between Nature and Law9: Virgil's AeneidI. The Fall of TroyII. DidoIII. The Struggle of Duty and InclinationIV. Tartarus and the Question of Divine JusticeV. ElysiumVI. Anchises' Anticipation of Roman HistoryVII. The Shield of AeneasVIII. The Discovery of Inwardness10: Seneca's Moral LettersI. Introduction to Seneca's Moral LettersII. Living According to NatureIII. The Retreat to the Inward SphereIV. The Cultivation of the Inward VirtuesV. Stoic Indifference and Self-SufficiencyVI. The Stoic Conception of God and Human BeingsVII. Seneca's Conception of EqualityVIII. Providence and Divine JusticeIX. Seneca's Modern Relevance11: The New Testament: MatthewI. Introduction to the Gospel of MatthewII. Criticism of the Greco-Roman Warrior EthicIII. The Inversion of ValuesIV. The Development of InwardnessV. Christianity and JudaismVI. Jesus' Miracles: The Relation to NatureVII. The Notion of OffenseVIII. The Messiah and the Kingdom of HeavenIX. Nietzsche's Criticism of Christian Ethics12: Augustine's City of GodI. Augustine and VirgilII. The Fall of Rome and the GodsIII. Augustine's Philosophy of HistoryIV. A New Conception of Ethics and the Expansion of SinfulnessV. A New Conception of the Origin of EvilVI. Augustine's TheodicyVII. The Prohibition of SuicideVIII. Augustine's Critical Evaluation of Roman DecadenceIX. The Struggle for Meaning13: Dante's InfernoI. Dante's Hell and the Underworlds of Homer and VirgilII. The Beginning of the WorkIII. Divine JusticeIV. Divine PunishmentV. The Changed Role of PityVI. The Virtuous PagansVII. The Changed Role of the BodyVIII. A New Role for OdysseusIX. Understanding the Role of Humans in the Universe14: The Dialectic of the Ancient and Modern Principles: Homer and the InternetI. Content and Form in the Notion of SubjectivityII. AlienationIII. The Modern Struggle to Establish Self-IdentityIV. Narcissism and Overcoming the Limitations of Time and SpaceV. The Creation of Illusory Identities and the Erosion of the OtherVI. The Rise of Relativism and the Disappearance of TruthVII. The Perceived Threat and the Creation of the Opposite PrincipleVIII. The Need for a BalanceEndmatterBibliography for Further ReadingIndex

The book contains great richness, and it instilled in me the desire to read or reread all of the works he discussed. In that sense, it fulfills its pedagogical aim. But if one were to teach this book, one would both have to teach with it and to teach against it. That might, however, be a most interesting enterprise.