Human Nature and the Meaning of Life in Ancient Greek and Roman Philosophy

Harvard FAS

What is a human being? How ought I to live my life? These questions hold a central position in ancient Greek and Roman philosophy. Moreover, the second question was typically understood by reference to the first: given what a human being is, how ought I to live my life? Human nature was supposed to be a key reason why one ought to act in some ways rather than others, and why certain goals should be the ones to shape and structure one’s life. In this course, we study several philosophers,…