Philosophic Pride is the first full-scale look at the essential place of Stoicism in the foundations of modern political thought. Spanning the period from Justus Lipsius's Politics in 1589 to Jean-Jacques Rousseau's Emile in 1762, and concentrating on arguments originating from England, France, and the Netherlands, the book considers how political writers of the period engaged with the ideas of the Roman and Greek Stoics that they found in works by Cicero, Seneca, Epictetus, and Marcus Aurelius. Christopher Brooke examines key texts in their historical context, paying special attention to the history of classical scholarship and the historiography of philosophy. Brooke delves into the persisting tension between Stoicism and the tradition of Augustinian anti-Stoic criticism, which held Stoicism to be a philosophy for the proud who denied their fallen condition. Concentrating on arguments in moral psychology surrounding the foundations of human sociability and self-love, Philosophic Pride details how the engagement with Roman Stoicism shaped early modern political philosophy and offers significant new interpretations of Lipsius and Rousseau together with fresh perspectives on the political thought of Hugo Grotius and Thomas Hobbes. Philosophic Pride shows how the legacy of the Stoics played a vital role in European intellectual life in the early modern era.

Finalist for the American Bar Association's 2022 Silver Gavel Award A groundbreaking exploration of sexual violence by one of our most celebrated experts in law and philosophy. In this essential philosophical and practical reckoning, Martha C. Nussbaum, renowned for her eloquence and clarity of moral vision, shows how sexual abuse and harassment derive from using people as things to one’s own benefit—like other forms of exploitation, they are rooted in the ugly emotion of pride. She exposes three “Citadels of Pride” and the men who hoard power at the apex of each. In the judiciary, the arts, and sports, Nussbaum analyzes how pride perpetuates systemic sexual abuse, narcissism, and toxic masculinity. The courage of many has brought about some reforms, but justice is still elusive—warped sometimes by money, power, or inertia; sometimes by a collective desire for revenge. By analyzing the effects of law and public policy on our ever-evolving definitions of sexual violence, Nussbaum clarifies how gaps in U.S. law allow this violence to proliferate; why criminal laws dealing with sexual assault and Title VII, the federal law that is the basis for sexual harassment doctrine, need to be complemented by an understanding of the distorted emotions that breed abuse; and why anger and vengeance rarely achieve lasting change. Citadels of Pride offers a damning indictment of the culture of male power that insulates high-profile abusers from accountability. Yet Nussbaum offers a hopeful way forward, envisioning a future in which, as survivors mobilize to tell their stories and institutions pursue fair and nuanced reform, we might fully recognize the equal dignity of all people.

This book is the first to interpret and reflect on Augustine's seminal argument concerning humility and pride, especially in politics and philosophy, in The City of God. Mary Keys shows how contemporary readers have much to gain from engaging Augustine's lengthy argument on behalf of virtuous humility. She also demonstrates how a deeper understanding of the classical and Christian philosophical-rhetorical modes of discourse in The City of God enables readers to appreciate and evaluate Augustine's nuanced case for humility in politics, philosophy, and religion. Comprised of a series of interpretive essays and commentaries following Augustine's own order of segments and themes in The City of God, Keys' volume unpacks the author's complex text and elucidates its challenge, meaning, and importance for contemporary readers. It also illuminates a central, yet easily underestimated theme with perennial relevance in a classic work of political thought and religion.

This book explores the morality of pride, a value that has been condemned through history and is still largely unwelcome in many societies. The author explores the nature of the self and free will, and how pride links to technology and rational theology. It refers to the work of Lionel Trilling, Allan Bloom, Charles Taylor and Heidegger on authenticity; Jacob Burckhardt, Stephen Toulmin, Max Weber and Mark Lilla on modernity; Christine Korsgaard on the self; John Rawls and Ruth Benedict on morality; and the Stoics and Kant on free will.

Is it good to be proud? We sometimes happily speak of being proud of our achievements, ethnicities and identities, yet pride is also often described as the most serious of the seven deadly sins. This edited collection of original essays examines pride from a variety of perspectives in philosophy, psychology, sociology and anthropology. The volume seeks to explore such topics as the nature of pride, its connection to other human emotions, whether it is a virtue or vice (or both), and what role it might play in both our intellectual and moral lives. Containing diverse voices and viewpoints, this book aims to illuminate the various and complex dimensions of pride.

The first book to explicate and analyse Augustine's seminal argument concerning humility and pride, especially in politics and philosophy, in The City of God. Keys shows how contemporary readers have much to gain from engaging Augustine's lengthy argument on behalf of virtuous humility.