Richard Sorabji presents a brilliant exploration of the history of our understanding of the self, which has remained elusive and mysterious throughout the spectacular development of human knowledge of the outside world. He ranges from ancient to contemporary thought, Western and Eastern, to reveal and assess the insights of a variety of thinkers.

I. EXISTENCE OF SELF AND PHILOSOPHICAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE IDEA; II. PERSONAL IDENTITY OVER TIME; III. PLATONISM: IMPERSONAL SELVES, BUNDLES, AND DIFFERENTIATION; IV. IDENTITY AND PERSONA IN ETHICS; V. SELF-AWARENESS; VI. OWNERLESS STREAMS OF CONSCIOUSNESS REJECTED; VII. MORTALITY AND LOSS OF SELF

`Review from previous edition [a] remarkably versatile and enthusiastic exploration of ancient thinking about selfhood... There has never been a book remotely like this one in its profusion of ancient references on ideas about human identity and selfhood and the sheer quantity of information it provides, all admirably furnished with up-to-date bibliography and footnotes... [a] historical tour de force. ' Anthony A. Long, Times Literary Supplement `a fascinating excursion into a crucial area of philosophy. The richness of the historical tradition that Sorabji presents so deftly shows how impotant these questions about the Self are. ' The Philosophers' Magazine `Sorabji's book has the immense virtue of allowing us to discover a vast corpus of texts dealing with the problem of self. The learned and thoughtful review of philosophical perspectives has a remarkably wide range that you will not find anywhere else. Undoubtedly, this work will turn out to be an indispensable reference for any readers wishing to broaden their minds beyond contemporary Western philosophy. ' Jean-Louis Hudry, The Philosophical Quarterly

Tour de force from one of Britain's most eminent intellectuals An exploration of a perennial mystery Covers more than 2,500 years Introduces the insights of classical, Christian, and Buddhist thought Presents a compelling view of the self as essential to our understanding of our existence

Richard Sorabji is Fellow and Emeritus Professor of Ancient Philosophy at King's College London and Fellow of Wolfson College, Oxford. Besides co-editing The Ethics of War: Shared Problems in Different Traditions, and editing seventy volumes so far of The Ancient Commentators on Aristotle, he is the author of Aristotle on Memory; Necessity, Cause and Blame; Time, Creation and the Continuum; Matter, Space and Motion; Animal Minds and Human Morals; and Emotion and Peace of Mind.

Tour de force from one of Britain's most eminent intellectuals An exploration of a perennial mystery Covers more than 2,500 years Introduces the insights of classical, Christian, and Buddhist thought Presents a compelling view of the self as essential to our understanding of our existence