AKRASIA IN THE EARLY MODERN THOUGHT Cover Image

AKRASIA IN THE EARLY MODERN THOUGHT
AKRASIA IN THE EARLY MODERN THOUGHT

Author(s): Sebastian Mateiescu
Subject(s): Politics / Political Sciences
Published by: Editura Universităţii Vasile Goldiş
Keywords: Renaissance; akratic; incontinence

Summary/Abstract: Medea’s famous words “I see the better and approve it, but I follow the worse”1 fully illustrates men’s paradoxical way of acting known in the ancient Greek under the name of akrasia. Aristotle’s seventh book of Nicomachean Ethics put forward a subtle philosophical analysis of akrasia or the weakness of will, which became a standard reference for further discussions on this issue in antiquity. Largely interpreted as one person’s acting against his or her better judgment, akrasia continued to be a topic of interest in the Middle Ages, where started to be translated as ‘incontinentia’ (hence ‘incontinence’ as one of its English correspondents).

  • Issue Year: VI/2012
  • Issue No: 1
  • Page Range: 96-98
  • Page Count: 3
  • Language: English
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