This book, a collection of specially written essays by leading international scholars, reexamines ancient ideas of reason and rationality. The application of changing notions of rationality down the ages has led to consistent misinterpretation of standard ancient philosophical texts: the distinguished contributors here redress the balance, clarifying how the great thinkers of antiquity themselves conceived of rationality.

Contents

Introduction, Michael Frede
1. The Philosophical Economy of Plato's Psychology: Rationality and Common Concepts in the Timaeus, Dorothea Frede
2. What Kind of Cause is Aristotle's Final Cause?, David Furley
3. Reason, Moral Virtue, and Moral Value, John Cooper
4. Rule and Exception: On the Aristotelian Theory of Equity, Jacques Brunschwig
5. Aristotle's Rationalism, Michael Frede
6. Grammar on Aristotle's Terms, Jonathan Barnes
7. Perfection and Reduction in Aristotle's Prior Analytics, Gisela Striker
Epilogismos: An Appraisal, 8
9. Scepticism, Old and New, Julia Annas
10. Theories and Practices of Demonstration in Galen, G. E. R. Lloyd
11. Ammonius on Future Contingent Propositions, Mario Mignucci
12. Rationality, Richard Sorabji
Index