Includes bibliographical references and index.

Preface and Acknowledgments -- Abbreviations -- 1 Introduction: A New Way of Living -- 1 From Socratic Protreptic to Philosophical Protreptic -- 2 Philosophical Protreptic as a Form of Deliberation -- 3 Reading Philosophical Protreptic -- 2 Entering the Dialogue: Socrates and the Socratic Authors -- 1 Aeschines of Sphettos -- 2 Plato -- 3 Xenophon -- 4 Conclusions -- 3 Philosophy as Theoretical Observation: Aristotle's Protreptic -- 1 The Reconstruction of Aristotle's Protreptic -- 2 The Content of Aristotle's Protreptic -- 3 Aristotle's Dialogue with Plato -- 4 Aristotle and Isocrates -- 5 Aristotle and His Audiences -- 6 Conclusions -- 4 Philosophy as Therapy: Hellenistic Authors -- 1 Expanding the Audience -- 2 Epicurus: Happiness for Everyone -- 3 Early and Middle Stoic Authors -- 4 The New Academy: Philo of Larissa -- 5 Middle Platonism: Eudorus of Alexandria -- 6 Conclusions -- 5 Philosophy and Politics: Roman Paideia -- 1 Greek Philosophy in Rome -- 2 Lucretius: A View from Above -- 3 Cicero: Platonic Politics -- 4 Seneca: A Fellow Convalescent -- 5 Conclusions -- 6 Socrates in Rome: Greek Authors of the Empire -- 1 Being a Philosopher in the Period of the Second Sophistic -- 2 Musonius Rufus: Lucius's Socrates -- 3 Epictetus: Arrian's Socrates -- 4 Dio of Prusa: Socrates in Exile -- 5 Lucian of Samosata: Protreptic under a Comic and Satirical Mask -- 6 Excursus: Exhortations to Medicine and to Christianity -- 7 Conclusions -- 7 The Unity of Philosophy Reclaimed: Neoplatonism -- 1 Neoplatonic Tendencies -- 2 Iamblichus: A Protreptic Anthology -- 3 Themistius: Philosophy and Rhetoric Reconciled -- 4 Boethius: A Protreptic to Himself -- 5 Conclusions -- Conclusions -- 1 Typical Arguments -- 2 The Protreptic Worldview and The Philosophy of Education -- 3 Rhetorical Strategies -- 4 Rhetorical Goals -- 5 Philosophical Protreptic and Other Types of Philosophical Literature -- Epilogue -- Appendix: Examples of Philosophical Protreptic -- Editions, Commentaries, and Translations -- Secondary Bibliography -- Indices.

Authors of Greek and Roman philosophical protreptics imitate a kind of exhortation initially associated with Socrates, creating a thread of typically protreptic intertextuality that classifies protreptic as a genre of philosophical literature. Tracing this intertextuality from the Socratic authors to Boethius, the book shows how Greek and Roman protreptics define philosophy as a revisionary form of education, articulate the ultimate goals of this education, and associate their authors and audiences with philosophy as a new discursive practice and a new way of living. These texts constitute the first chapter in the history of educational revision and thus offer thoughts that continue to inform every debate on educational goals.

Description based on print version record.