Social justice and the legitimacy of slavery : the role of philosophical asceticism from ancient Judaism to late antiquity / Ilaria L.E. Ramelli.

Author
Ramelli, Ilaria, 1973- [Browse]
Format
Book
Language
English
Εdition
First edition.
Published/​Created
  • Oxford ; New York, NY : Oxford University Press, 2016.
  • ©2016
Description
xvi, 293 pages ; 24 cm

Availability

Copies in the Library

Location Call Number Status Location Service Notes
Firestone Library - Stacks HT910 .R36 2016 Browse related items Request

    Details

    Subject(s)
    Series
    Oxford early Christian studies [More in this series]
    Summary note
    "Were slavery and social injustice leading to dire poverty in antiquity and late antiquity only regarded as normal, "natural" (Aristotle), or at best something morally "indifferent" (the Stoics), or, in the Christian milieu, a sad but inevitable consequence of the Fall, or even an expression of God's unquestionable will? Social Justice and the Legitimacy of Slavery shows that there were also definitive condemnations of slavery and social injustice as iniquitous and even impious, and that these came especially from ascetics, both in Judaism and in Christianity, and occasionally also in Greco-Roman ("pagan") philosophy. Ilaria L.E. Ramelli argues that this depends on a link not only between asceticism and renunciation, but also between asceticism and justice, at least in ancient and late antique philosophical asceticism. Ramelli provides a careful investigation through all of Ancient Philosophy (not only Aristotle and the Stoics, but also the Sophists, Socrates, Plato, the Neoplatonists, and much more), Ancient to Rabbinic Judaism, Hellenistic Jewish ascetic groups such as the Essenes and the Therapeutae, all of the New Testament, with special focus on Paul and Jesus, and Greek, Latin, and Syriac Patristic, from Clement and Origen to the Cappadocians, from John Chrysostom to Theodoret to Byzantine monastics, from Ambrose to Augustine, from Bardaisan to Aphrahat, without neglecting the Christianized Sentences of Sextus. In particular, Ramelli considers Gregory of Nyssa and the interrelation between theory and practice in all of these ancient and patristic philosophers, as well as to the parallels that emerge in their arguments against slavery and against social injustice."-- publisher's website.
    Bibliographic references
    Includes bibliographical references (pages 255-288) and index.
    Contents
    • Introduction: the question at stake, methodological guidelines, and contribution to research
    • The background of Greek philosophy and ancient Judaism: asceticism, slavery, and socio-economic injustice
    • The New Testament, Jesus and the enigma of Paul: scriptural background for patristic positions
    • Patristic thinkers' positions toward slavery, social justice, and asceticism
    • Patristic contrasts: Augustine and Theodoret, Basil and John Chrysostom
    • Gregory Nyssen: theological arguments against the institution of slavery
    • Gregory Nyssen's family and origen: rejection of slavery and social injustice
    • Nazianzen and other late antique ascetics: asceticism and renunciation of wealth and slave ownership.
    Other title(s)
    Role of philosophical asceticism from ancient Judaism to late antiquity
    ISBN
    • 9780198777274 ((hardcover))
    • 0198777272 ((hardcover))
    LCCN
    2016939596
    OCLC
    965737163
    Statement on language in description
    Princeton University Library aims to describe library materials in a manner that is respectful to the individuals and communities who create, use, and are represented in the collections we manage. Read more...
    Other views
    Staff view

    Supplementary Information