Austin Wins New Public History of Philosophy Prize

The Journal of the History of Philosophy has established a new, biannual prize for a book that brings the history of philosophy to a broader public audience.

The inaugural winner of the prize is Emily Austin, professor of philosophy at Wake Forest University, for her book, Living for Pleasure: An Epicurean Guide to Life (Oxford University Press, 2022).

Here’s the publisher’s description of the book:

Pleasure feels amazing! Anxiety, however, does not. The Ancient Greek Philosopher Epicurus rolled these two strikingly intuitive claims into a simple formula for happiness and well-being—pursue pleasure without causing yourself anxiety. But wait, is that even possible? Can humans achieve lasting pleasure without suffering anxiety about failure and loss? Epicurus thinks we can, at least once we learn to pursue pleasure thoughtfully.

In Living for Pleasure, philosopher Emily Austin offers a lively, jargon-free tour of Epicurean strategies for diminishing anxiety, achieving satisfaction, and relishing joys. Epicurean science was famously far ahead of its time, and Austin shows that so was its ethics and psychology. Epicureanism can help us make and keep good friends, prepare for suffering, combat imposter syndrome, build trust, recognize personal limitations, value truth, cultivate healthy attitudes towards money and success, manage political anxiety, develop gratitude, savor food, and face death.

The prize is judged by a committee of the Journal of the History of Philosophy‘s board members, and, as with its other book prize, is open to nominations from publishers. The prize is $5000.

(via Steven Nadler)