This volume presents a philosophical analysis of the development of Western civilization from antiquity to the Middle Ages by tracing the various self-conceptions of different cultures as they developed historically, reflecting different views of what it is to be human and the rise of the concept of subjectivity.

0: Introduction: The Humanities Questions of Identity and Difference I. Defining the Humanities I.A. Content: The Subject Matter of the Humanities I.B. Form: The Methodology of the Humanities II. The Human Mind and Its Objectification III. The Contribution of the Present Study III.A. A Philosophical Approach to Western Civilization III.B. The Notion of Subjectivity 1: The Epic of Gilgamesh I. The Initial Description of Gilgamesh and Uruk II. Enkidu and the Story of the Fall III. The Battle with Humbaba IV. The Death of Enkidu and the Nature of the Gods V. Gilgamesh's Journey VI. The Flood VII. Immortality Lost VIII. The Mesopotamians' Pessimistic World-View IX. Nature, Civilization, and Human Agency 2: The Hebrew Bible: Genesis and the Book of Job I. The Creation: The Conception of God II. The Creation: The Conception of Human Beings III. The Fall IV. The Flood V. The Tower of Babel VI. The Problem of Justice in Job VII. The Pessimistic World-View in Job VIII. The Legal Metaphor in Job IX. The Incongruities in the Work X. The Protest against the Gods XI. The Limited Conception of Individuality 3: Homer's Odyssey I. The Story and Structure of the Odyssey II. Odysseus and Kalypso III. The Lotus-Eaters IV. The Cyclops V. Circe VI. The Underworld VII. The Sirens VIII. The Warrior Ethic IX. The Greek View of Human Nature 4: Herodotus' Histories I. Scholarly History versus Mythology II. The Story of Gyges III. Solon and Croesus IV. The Relativity of Values V. The Story of Polycrates and Nemesis VI. The Debate about the Best Form of Government VII. Xerxes' Plans to Invade Greece VIII. Xerxes at the Hellespont IX. Justice as a Matter of Balance 5: Sophocles' Oedipus the King I. The Search for Knowledge II. Self-Knowledge and the Riddle of the Sphinx III. Natural Law versus Relativism IV. Human Agency and Culpability V. The Inevitability of Fate VI. Greek Ethics VII. Judging the Human Condition VIII. The Unquestioned Value of Science and Knowledge IX. Fate and the Good Life 6: Thucydides' History of the Peloponnesian War I. Thucydides' Goal and Method II. Pericles' Funeral Oration III. The Plague in Athens IV. The Political Repercussions for Pericles V. The Revolt in Corcyra VI. The Melian Dialogue VII. Human Nature and Ethics 7: Plato's Gorgias and Apology I. The Gorgias: Callicles' Argument II. Socrates' Refutation of the Arguments of Callicles III. A Mythological View of Judgment and Life after Death IV. Socrates' Divine Mission V. Socrates, the Gods, and the Daimon VI. Socrates' Defense of Philosophy VII. Socrates as the Gadfly of Athens VIII. Socrates on the Nature of Death and a New Conception of the Self IX. The New Role of Subjectivity 8: Aristotle's Politics I. Introduction to the Politics II. The Nature of Human Beings and the State III. The Institution of Slavery IV. The Other Relations of the Household V. Political Science and the Forms of Government VI. Democracy and Oligarchy VII. The Best Form of Government VIII. The Limitations of Empiricism IX. Aristotle's Refutation of the Split between Nature and Law 9: Virgil's Aeneid I. The Fall of Troy II. Dido III. The Struggle of Duty and Inclination IV. Tartarus and the Question of Divine Justice V. Elysium VI. Anchises' Anticipation of Roman History VII. The Shield of Aeneas VIII. The Discovery of Inwardness 10: Seneca's Moral Letters I. Introduction to Seneca's Moral Letters II. Living According to Nature III. The Retreat to the Inward Sphere IV. The Cultivation of the Inward Virtues V. Stoic Indifference and Self-Sufficiency VI. The Stoic Conception of God and Human Beings VII. Seneca's Conception of Equality VIII. Providence and Divine Justice IX. Seneca's Modern Relevance 11: The New Testament: Matthew I. Introduction to the Gospel of Matthew II. Criticism of the Greco-Roman Warrior Ethic III. The Inversion of Values IV. The Development of Inwardness V. Christianity and Judaism VI. Jesus' Miracles: The Relation to Nature VII. The Notion of Offense VIII. The Messiah and the Kingdom of Heaven IX. Nietzsche's Criticism of Christian Ethics 12: Augustine's City of God I. Augustine and Virgil II. The Fall of Rome and the Gods III. Augustine's Philosophy of History IV. A New Conception of Ethics and the Expansion of Sinfulness V. A New Conception of the Origin of Evil VI. Augustine's Theodicy VII. The Prohibition of Suicide VIII. Augustine's Critical Evaluation of Roman Decadence IX. The Struggle for Meaning 13: Dante's Inferno I. Dante's Hell and the Underworlds of Homer and Virgil II. The Beginning of the Work III. Divine Justice IV. Divine Punishment V. The Changed Role of Pity VI. The Virtuous Pagans VII. The Changed Role of the Body VIII. A New Role for Odysseus IX. Understanding the Role of Humans in the Universe 14: The Dialectic of the Ancient and Modern Principles: Homer and the Internet I. Content and Form in the Notion of Subjectivity II. Alienation III. The Modern Struggle to Establish Self-Identity IV. Narcissism and Overcoming the Limitations of Time and Space V. The Creation of Illusory Identities and the Erosion of the Other VI. The Rise of Relativism and the Disappearance of Truth VII. The Perceived Threat and the Creation of the Opposite Principle VIII. The Need for a Balance Endmatter Bibliography for Further Reading Index

The book contains great richness, and it instilled in me the desire to read or reread all of the works he discussed. In that sense, it fulfills its pedagogical aim. But if one were to teach this book, one would both have to teach with it and to teach against it. That might, however, be a most interesting enterprise.

Sketches a philosophical theory of the development of subjectivity based on analysis of key texts from the Western tradition Utilizes a novel approach which will be of particular relevance for scholars and students of philosophical anthropology and philosophy of history Presents a readable overview of and valuable insights into some of the classic texts of the Western canon, including the Hebrew Bible, Homer's Odyssey, Virgil's Aeneid, and Dante's Inferno Draws connections between the ancient and medieval texts discussed and the key issues of our own time

Jon Stewart is Research Fellow in the Institute of Philosophy at the Slovak Academy of Sciences. He is the founder and general editor of the series Kierkegaard Research: Sources, Reception and Resources, Texts from Golden Age Denmark, and Danish Golden Age Studies, as well as the co-editor of the Kierkegaard Studies Yearbook and Kierkegaard Studies Monograph Series. He is the author of Hegel's Interpretation of the Religions of the World: The Logic of the Gods (OUP, 2018), Søren Kierkegaard: Subjectivity, Irony, and the Crisis of Modernity (OUP, 2015), and Kierkegaard's Relations to Hegel Reconsidered (CUP, 2003).

Sketches a philosophical theory of the development of subjectivity based on analysis of key texts from the Western tradition Utilizes a novel approach which will be of particular relevance for scholars and students of philosophical anthropology and philosophy of history Presents a readable overview of and valuable insights into some of the classic texts of the Western canon, including the Hebrew Bible, Homer's Odyssey, Virgil's Aeneid, and Dante's Inferno Draws connections between the ancient and medieval texts discussed and the key issues of our own time