ON ANCIENT PHILOSOPHY offers a fresh look at the ancient Greek philosophers, helping the reader find the connections between their philosophies and our own. Intended for both classroom use and a general audience, this book provides an overview of ancient Greek history and culture, extensive chapters on the Pre-Socratics, Plato and Aristotle, and individual chapters on the Sophists, Socrates, and Philosophy after Aristotle. Greek philosophy is dynamic, provocative, and erotic-full of the restlessness of inquiry from the epigrams of Heraclitus and the paradoxes of Zeno to the dialogues of Plato and Aristotle's search for an adequate starting point. This book captures the movement of each thinker's response to his problems, the exchange between various thinkers, and the relation of their thinking and our own. The basic works and ideas of each philosopher are fully explained as well as various suggestions for interpretation. THE WADSWORTH PHILOSOPHICAL TOPICS SERIES (under the general editorship of Robert Talisse, Vanderbilt University) presents readers with concise, timely, and insightful introductions to a variety of traditional and contemporary philosophical subjects. With this series, students of philosophy will be able to discover the richness of philosophical inquiry across a wide array of concepts, including hallmark philosophical themes and themes typically underrepresented in mainstream philosophy publishing. Written by a distinguished list of scholars who have garnered particular recognition for their excellence in teaching, this series presents the vast sweep of today's philosophical exploration in highly accessible and affordable volumes. These books will prove valuable to philosophy teachers and their students as well as to other readers who share a general interest in philosophy.