Hellenistic Ethics in Nietzsche and Foucault

Philosophical interest in the ethical ideal of self-cultivation has increased in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries as philosophers have sought alternatives to deontological and utilitarian theories. This interest has been most evident in the widespread revival of virtue ethics, although contemporary virtue ethicists tend to focus on Aristotle's account of character formation. Philosophers in the modern European tradition, however, have been influenced by other views on self-cultivation from the Hellenistic period. Nietzsche’s account of self-cultivation, for instance, is closer to Epicurus’s than Aristotle’s, while Foucault draws extensively on Stoicism and Cynicism for his account. The insights of these thinkers suggest that we may deepen and expand our understanding of self-cultivation by reassessing the merits of the Hellenistic tradition.

Confirmed Speakers

Prof. Keith Ansell-Pearson (Warwick) 
Prof. Daniel Conway (Texas A&M)
Dr Edward Harcourt (Oxford)
Prof. Beatrice Han-Pile (Essex) 
Dr John Sellars (Birkbeck) 
Dr David Webb (Staffordshire)  

Contact: [email protected]  

A full programme for the conference will be available on the research project website soon. 

The registration fee is £10–25 with reduced fees for students. Registration closes at 12:00 on the 24th of September. Please visit the conference website for further information and to register: www.warwick.ac.uk/selfcultivation

For information about how to get to the University of Warwick and places to stay, please look at: http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/philosophy/news/conferences/selfcultivation/event_details_warwick/accommodation/

The conference is generously supported by the Monash-Warwick Research Alliance.