Contemporary Encounters with Ancient Metaphysics - by Abraham Jacob Greenstine & Ryan J Johnson (Paperback)

About the Book

This volume of 18 essays shows how leading philosophers address the problems of ancient metaphysics: one and the many, the potential and the actual, the material and immaterial, the divine and the world itself. Includes three original and previously unpublished translations of texts by Gilles Deleuze, Pierre Aubenque and Barbara Cassin.

Book Synopsis

In this volume of 18 essays, leading philosophers address the varied, volatile and novel encounters between contemporary and antique thought. They reconceive and redeploy the problems of ancient metaphysics: one and the many, the potential and the actual, the material and immaterial, the divine and the world itself. Alongside these essays are three original and previously unpublished translations of texts by Gilles Deleuze, Pierre Aubenque and Barbara Cassin.

From the Back Cover

'No philosophy can stand the test of time without being measured against the ancient classics of our discipline. In Greenstine and Johnson's new collection, the giants of Greece take the stage with some of our most prominent contemporary thinkers, with key appearances from figures as early as Parmenides and as late as Agamben, Malabou, Stiegler and Speculative Realism. I found myself quickly engrossed in these essays, and was sorry to reach the end of the volume.' Graham Harman, Southern California Institute of Architecture (on leave from the American University in Cairo) 'This volume is an ambitious experiment in doing the history of ancient philosophy as the practice of thought on the rich terrain of contemporary metaphysics. Bringing together an impressive international roster of rising stars and established scholars, it stakes out Greek philosophy as a vital resource for thinking beyond the parameters of the present. It should quickly become a classic.' Brooke Holmes, Princeton University Contemporary continental materialisms and realisms bring new life into the classic problems of ancient metaphysics Like the ancient inquiries into the nature of things, contemporary continental realisms and materialisms, from Deleuze to the Speculative Realists, are driven to investigate beings, without subordinating this drive to the analyses of language, consciousness, texts or the social. This pensée brute, traditionally known as metaphysics, dares to question the one and the many, the potential and the actual, the material and immaterial, the divine and the world itself. The contemporary re-emergence of these metaphysical problems is linked to a return to the texts and figures of the classical Greco-Roman world. In this volume, leading philosophers address these varied, volatile and novel encounters between the contemporary and the antique. They contribute to reconceiving and redeploying the problems of ancient metaphysics. Alongside these essays are three original and previously unpublished translations of texts by Gilles Deleuze, Pierre Aubenque and Barbara Cassin. Abraham Jacob Greenstine is a Doctoral Candidate at the Department of Philosophy at Duquesne University and the Institut für Philosophie at Universität Kassel. Ryan J. Johnson is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Elon University. Cover image: painted Greek ornaments from the temples and tombs in Greece and Sicily from The Grammar of Ornament the Grammar of Ornament, Owen Jones, 1856. Courtesy of the Art & Architecture Collection, Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs, the New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations. Cover design: [EUP logo] edinburghuniversitypress.com ISBN 978-1-4744-1209-4 Barcode

Review Quotes

No philosophy can stand the test of time without being measured against the ancient classics of our discipline. In Greenstine and Johnson's new collection, the giants of Greece take the stage with some of our most prominent contemporary thinkers, with key appearances from figures as early as Parmenides and as late as Agamben, Malabou, Stiegler, and Speculative Realism. I found myself quickly engrossed in these essays, and was sorry to reach the end of the volume.--Graham Harman, Southern California Institute of Architecture (on leave from the American University in Cairo)

This volume is an ambitious experiment in doing the history of ancient philosophy as the practice of thought on the rich terrain of contemporary metaphysics. Bringing together an impressive international roster of rising stars and established scholars, it stakes out Greek philosophy as a vital resource for thinking beyond the parameters of the present. It should quickly become a classic.--Brooke Holmes, Princeton University

About the Author

Abraham Jacob Greenstine is Adjunct Professor of Philosophy at Duquesne University.

Ryan J. Johnson is an Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Elon University in North Carolina.