Aristotle and Menander on the Ethics of Understanding

In Aristotle and Menander on the Ethics of Understanding, Valeria Cinaglia offers a parallel study of Menander’s New Comedy and Aristotle’s philosophy focusing on subjects ranging from epistemology and psychology to ethics. Cinaglia does not aim to demonstrate the direct philosophical influence of Aristotle on Menander, but explores the hypothesis that there are significant analogies between the two that disclose a shared thought-world.
Cinaglia shows that Aristotle and Menander offer analogous views of the way that perceptions and emotional responses to situations are linked with the presence or absence of ethical and cognitive understanding, or the state of ethical character development: the study of these analogies contributes to a deeper understanding of both frameworks involved.

Valeria Cinaglia, Ph.D. (2011), University of Exeter, is Teaching Assistant at King’s College London. She has published various articles on Aristotle and Menander in journals and books, some of which in collaboration with scholars in the UK and USA.

"Overall, Cinaglia’s study represents a nuanced and original reading of Menander’s plays in light of Aristotelian ethics. It reveals how, despite the
standard situations of the comic plots, Menandrean plays explore in depth how people make choices, mistakes, correct themselves and try to find the truth in a challenging world. Aristotle and Menander on the Ethics of Understanding will be of use to anyone interested in Greek drama, philosophy and connections between the two." - Dana Lacourse Munteanu, Ohio State University, Journal of Hellenic Studies 136 (2016).