Introduction

Abstract

My primary concern in this study is to explore and defend the place of affectivity, including the passions and the higher emotions known as affections of the will, in the philosophy of mind and ethics of the Greek tradition. I will be concerned in particular with the thought of Plato, Aristotle, Augustine, and especially Thomas Aquinas. My aim overall is to throw light on the fundamental importance of affectivity, and indeed to argue for its necessity as a dimension of understanding. As is well known, the Greek tradition in these matters is commonly charged with an extreme intellectualism in which reason is upheld to the exclusion of feeling or affection.