Virtues for the People

Plutarch, like many philosophers of antiquity, believed in something like Plato's journey back down into the cave of shadows to benefit unenlightened people. This collection of 15 essays focus on this "popular philosophy" of his and the dual audiences he addressed --common and elite. Divided into four sections, the first explores what kind of practical virtues (including his diet-ethics) Plutarch advocated and how they were relevant to his popular philosophy. They take a turn in the second section to more theoretical concerns about ethics, happiness and fortune. Coming back to pragmatic concerns in the third section, essays hone in on Plutarch's systematic moral psychagogy in the Moralia and Parallel Lives. The last section returns to the theme of popular philosophy and the encounter with everyday experiences in Plutarch, including animals. The contributors represent an international scholarship and, and in addition to the Greek quotes in every essay, some of the later essays are in Spanish, French and German. A collection of abstracts in the back gives summaries in English though. There is an index of references within Plutarch, but not a general one. Annotation c2012 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)