Glasgow's conception of the doctrine of ethical egoism - that everyone ought to promote his own interest - is mistaken. Ethical egoism rightly understood holds no such doctrine or normative principle, and regards the promotion of one's own interest neither a "duty" nor an "ought." Everyone does in fact promote his own interests.

In One of the few thoughtful essays that have come out of the controversy about the Republic's political theory, Renford Bambrough draws attention to the basic philosophical issue underlying the controversy in the following manner.

The origin of the worship of Dionysus, however, need not concern us here. What matters is that his cult found fertile soil in post-Homeric Greece, and, spreading like an epidemic, was firmly established there no later than the seventh century. Poets, artists, philosophers, kings, and above all the mass of the people, all felt Dionysus' power and responded to his attraction in a variety of ways. Who was this strange god who exerted, in defiance of all opposition, such a great (...) influence on the life of Greece? (shrink)

The aim of this paper is to show that descriptive statements can be action-Guiding; that oughts and imperatives, If they are to be justified at all, Must be derived from statements of fact; that factual-Prudential moral reasoning is logically universalizable; and that the demand for universalizability, And thus ultimately for moral reasoning, Is itself only prudentially justifiable. These points are argued by way of an examination and criticism of hare's discussion of prescription and universalizability in moral reasoning.

With the above opening statement, a recent study on the Laws sets itself the task of considering "Plato's Cretan City" within its own geographical and historical context. This is a task well-conceived and well-executed; the study provides a wealth of information concerning Cretan, Spartan, Athenian, and in general Greek institutions, and thus enables the reader to see how Plato utilized and transformed these in constructing his state.