Background
Cooper, John Madison was born on November 29, 1939 in Memphis, Tennessee, United States. Son of Marion Armon and Bernardine (Sheehan) Cooper.
("Reason and Human Good in Aristotle opens up issues of in...)
"Reason and Human Good in Aristotle opens up issues of interpretation which are as alive today as when it originally appeared. After almost two decades of extraordinary influence, this succinct book remains a 'must' for any serious bibliography of Aristotle's Ethics." -- Sarah Broadie, Princeton University
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0872200221/?tag=2022091-20
( This book brings together twenty-three distinctive and ...)
This book brings together twenty-three distinctive and influential essays on ancient moral philosophy--including several published here for the first time--by the distinguished philosopher and classical scholar John Cooper. The volume gives a systematic account of many of the most important issues and texts in ancient moral psychology and ethical theory, providing a unified and illuminating way of reflecting on the fields as they developed from Socrates and Plato through Aristotle to Epicurus and the Stoic philosophers Chrysippus and Posidonius, and beyond. For the ancient philosophers, Cooper shows here, morality was "good character" and what that entailed: good judgment, sensitivity, openness, reflectiveness, and a secure and correct sense of who one was and how one stood in relation to others and the surrounding world. Ethical theory was about the best way to be rather than any principles for what to do in particular circumstances or in relation to recurrent temptations. Moral psychology was the study of the psychological conditions required for good character--the sorts of desires, the attitudes to self and others, the states of mind and feeling, the kinds of knowledge and insight. Together these papers illustrate brilliantly how, by studying the arguments of the Greek philosophers in their diverse theories about the best human life and its psychological underpinnings, we can expand our own moral understanding and imagination and enrich our own moral thought. The collection will be crucial reading for anyone interested in classical philosophy and what it can contribute to reflection on contemporary questions about ethics and human life.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0691058741/?tag=2022091-20
( Knowledge, Nature, and the Good brings together some o...)
Knowledge, Nature, and the Good brings together some of John Cooper's most important works on ancient philosophy. In thirteen chapters that represent an ideal companion to the author's influential Reason and Emotion, Cooper addresses a wide range of topics and periods--from Hippocratic medical theory and Plato's epistemology and moral philosophy, to Aristotle's physics and metaphysics, academic scepticism, and the cosmology, moral psychology, and ethical theory of the ancient Stoics. Almost half of the pieces appear here for the first time or are presented in newly expanded, extensively revised versions. Many stand at the cutting edge of research into ancient ethics and moral psychology. Other chapters, dating from as far back as 1970, are classics of philosophical scholarship on antiquity that continue to play a prominent role in current teaching and scholarship in the field. All of the chapters are distinctive for the way that, whatever the particular topic being pursued, they attempt to understand the ancient philosophers' views in philosophical terms drawn from the ancient philosophical tradition itself (rather than from contemporary philosophy). Through engaging creatively and philosophically with the ancient texts, these essays aim to make ancient philosophical perspectives freshly available to contemporary philosophers and philosophy students, in all their fascinating inventiveness, originality, and deep philosophical merit. This book will be treasured by philosophers, classicists, students of philosophy and classics, those in other disciplines with an interest in ancient philosophy, and anyone who seeks to understand philosophy in philosophical terms.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0691117241/?tag=2022091-20
Cooper, John Madison was born on November 29, 1939 in Memphis, Tennessee, United States. Son of Marion Armon and Bernardine (Sheehan) Cooper.
AB magna cum laude, Harvard University, 1961. Doctor of Philosophy, Harvard University, 1967. Bachelor of Philosophy, Corpus Christi College, Oxford, England, 1963.
Assistant professor philosophy and the classics, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1966-1971; associate professor, U. Pittsburgh, 1971-1976; professor, U. Pittsburgh, 1976-1981; chairman philosophy Department, University Pittsburgh, 1977-1981; professor, Princeton University, New Jersey, since 1981; chairman philosophy department, Princeton University, New Jersey, 1984-1992; Stuart professor, Princeton University, New Jersey, since 1998.
( This book brings together twenty-three distinctive and ...)
("Reason and Human Good in Aristotle opens up issues of in...)
( Knowledge, Nature, and the Good brings together some o...)
Fellow American Academy Arts and Sciences, Corpus Christi College (Oxford) (honorary). Member American Philosophical Association (eastern division executive committee 1984-1987, chairman committee defense professional rights 1983-1988, eastern division nominating committee 1991-1994, chairman eastern division program committee 1980, vice president 1998-1999, president 1999-2000).
Married Marcia Louise Coleman, August 21, 1965. Children: Stephanie Coleman, Katherine Alexander.