Skip to content
Home/ Measure of Greatness: Philosophers on Magnanimity
Measure of Greatness: Philosophers on Magnanimity

Measure of Greatness: Philosophers on Magnanimity

by Measure of Greatness: Philosophers on Magnanimity
No customer reviews yet ISBN 9780198840688 Oxford University Press

Magnanimity is a virtue that has led many lives. Foregrounded early on by Plato as a philosophical virtue par excellence, it became one of the crown jewels in Aristotle's account of human excellence and was accorded equally salient place by other ancient thinkers. It is one of the most distinctive elements of the ancient tradition to filter into the medieval Islamic and Christian worlds. It sparked important intellectual engagements and went on to carve deep tracks through several of the later philosophies to inherit from this tradition. Under changing names and reworked forms, it would continue to breathe in the thought of Descartes and Hume, Kant, and Nietzsche. Its many lives have been joined by important continuities, yet they have also been fragmented by discontinuities -- discontinuities reflecting larger shifts in ethical perspectives and competing answers to questions about the nature of the good life, the moral nature of human beings, and their relationship to the social and natural world they inhabit. They have also been punctuated by moments of intense controversy in which the vision of human greatness has itself been called into doubt. The aim of this volume is to provide an insight into the complex trajectory of a virtue whose glitter has at times been as dazzling as it has been divisive. By exploring the many lives it has lived, we will be in a better position to evaluate whether this is a virtue we still want to make central to our own ethical lives, and why.

About the author

Product details

BrandOxford University Press
Pub dateDec 30, 2019
ISBN-100198840683
ISBN-139780198840688
LanguageEnglish
Dimensions6.3 × 1.1 × 9.3 in
Weight1 lb
Last updated 2025-06-30 17:13
$126.49
In stock — ships in 24 hours with free tracking
Delivery by Monday, September 14, 2026
Qty
Sign in to Add to Saved list
Free delivery on orders over $35.
15-day returns. Any reason.
Secure checkout. We never store card details.

Readers who bought this also bought

More from Religious
See all
Theism and Atheism: Opposing Arguments in Philosophy
<p><em>Theism and Atheism: Opposing Arguments in Philosophy</em> is a peer-reviewed, academic volume that has two separate editors in chief, with their respective editorial boards. The atheism side is led by Graham Oppy (Australian philosopher, Monash University). The theism side is led by Joseph Koterski, S.J. (American philosopher, Fordham University) and includes Christian, Jewish, and Muslim philosophers. <p/><br>The two editorial boards worked together to identify twenty key topics in philosophical debates regarding arguments for and against the existence of God (e.g., Religious Experience, Miracles, Our Universe, Human Beings, Science, Religious Diversity, etc.). The single volume is composed of forty total chapters. The format is such that an author taking the side of theism composes a chapter on a topic, followed by an atheism author covering the same topic (e.g., Miracles: Theism followed by Miracles: Atheism).<br> <p/>The title presents complex philosophical counter perspectives in a lucid manner. It grapples with issues that have occupied philosophers for more than two millennia. These include the sufficiency/insufficiency of an empirical explanation for the existence of the universe&#x3b; the capacity/incapacity of the empirical sciences to draw conclusions about a possible infinite being&#x3b; the validity/invalidity of philosophical arguments regarding the existence of an infinite being&#x3b; various notions of infinity&#x3b; the problem of evil, and so on. </p>
$383.62
Early Christian Doctrine: Revised Edition (Revised)
Kelly, J N D
$27.73
Run to the Mountain: The Story of a Vocationthe Journal of Thomas Merton, Volume 1: 1939-1941
Merton, Thomas
$13.60
Poetry, Language, Thought
Heidegger, Martin
$13.47
Meister Eckhart: The Essential Writings
Eckhart, Meister
$18.77
Dogmatics in Outline
Barth, Karl
$21.14