Faculty Research Fellow
George Boys-Stones (A&S Classics and Philosophy; D.Phil. 1995, University of Oxford) is Professor of Classics and Philosophy. A leading scholar of Ancient Philosophy with wide-ranging interests, George has a special interest in the philosophical movements of the post-Hellenistic period. He is the author or co-author of six books, most recently the first complete edition and translation of the Stoic L. Annaeus Cornutus (SBL Press, 2018) and a source book for ‘Middle Platonism’ (CUP, 2018). In addition, he has co-edited four collaborative volumes (2003-2013).
What I'm working on: Pleasure and Personal Identity in Greek and Roman Thought: Rethinking Ancient Eudaimonism
Are racial, sexual or gender identities parts of personal identity? Ideally not, according to the prevalent view of Greek and Roman ethical thought. But the prevalent view, I argue, is wrong. This becomes most apparent once we see how badly it handles the evidence we have for discussions of pleasure in relation to personal identity. Foregrounding these discussions raises new questions about ancient ethics – and opens up new possibilities for contemporary and interdisciplinary engagement with the philosophers of antiquity on a wider range of issues concerning embodied experience.