SHERPLES, R.W., — Stoics, Epicureans and Sceptics. An Introduction to Hellenistic Philosophy.

Routledge, London / New York, 1996. XIV,154p. Paperback. Pen and a few pencil underlinings and annotations from pp.IX-XI,12-19;82-94,146. ‘Professor Sharples has two sets of readers in mind: those who have no knowledge of the ancient world or of contemporary philosophy, and those who have some knowledge of either or both. He wants to interest both sets in Hellenistic philosophy, whether as students of the ancient world or as reflective inhabitants of the modern world. The book is organised not by schools but by topics. After a short first chapter on the aims of Hellenistic philosophy, its personalities, and the sources, we find longer chapters dealing successively with the following topics: epistemology, physical theories, the human soul and its faculties, the nature of happiness (eudaemonia) and how to achieve it, and relations with other people. Finally, there is a short Epilogue, mainly on the altered Stoicism of the Roman Empire. (…) This book fills a gap, in a reliable and lucid way.’ (J.J. DANIEL in The Classical Review (New Series), 1999, pp.127-129).