The Ethics of Power

Starting from the assumption that happiness, life and power are terms that appear in close connection in the Greek and then Spinozian tradition, an attempt will be made to clarify what binds the thought of Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius and Spinoza. I will mainly analyze the theme of power as government over itself and acquiescientia in se ipso.I will also try to consider what remains of this ethical "attitude" in Nietzsche's philosophy, which is so avowedly anti-Stoic and anti-modern.

Rossella Fabbrichesi teaches Theoretical Philosophy and Philosophy of Practices at the University of Milan. You have carried out your research on Charles Sanders Peirce and pragmatist thought, becoming President of the C.S. Peirce Society and founding the Peirce Research Group. You are director of the philosophy magazine Nóema and participate in scientific committees and editorial series in Italy and abroad. Her interpretation of pragmatism aims to reveal its similarities with hermeneutic and genealogical perspectives. Scholar of Nietzsche, Foucault, Deleuze, her current research turns towards the analysis of the practices of thought and action which, in our tradition, structure theories. Her latest books are What do you do when you do philosophy? (Cortina), Life and power. Marcus Aurelius, Spinoza, Nietzsche (Cortina) and The first book of theoretical philosophy (Einaudi).