A set of constellation tables, presented in a modern format by constellation name and Bayer designation (together with Flamsteed and Hipparcos numbers). This is constructed using the techniques outlined in Chapter 12. Each of the approximately 570 stars that are mentioned in the CPAE is catalogued, together with both its Hipparchan and modern coordinates (equatorial and ecliptical), which are retrodicted to the epoch of 139/138 BCE. Full references to the CPAE are given.

Book 1 of the CPAE. Introduction. Aratus and Eudoxus compared. The northern constellations. The constellations of the tropics and the equator. Aratus and Attalus compared. The axial tilt of the Earth. The northern constellations 1. The northern constellations 2. The northern constellations 3. Aspects of the zodiac. The southern constellations. The circles of the sky. The constellations of the tropics and the equator. The constellations of the ‘arctic circle’. Analysis by colures.

An overview of Hipparchus’ only surviving book, the Commentary on the Phenomena of Aratus and Eudoxus (CPAE), is presented. A brief description of previous editions up to and including that of Karl Manitius (1894) is given. Themes discussed are the work’s cultural and historical setting, and possible motivations for its creation. Also described are its structure and its underlying mathematical basis, together with some aspects of its translation from the Greek text of Manitius into English.

Although from earliest times Greek astronomy had indigenous aspects, such as lunisolar calendars, descriptions of many of the northern constellations, and a variety of geometrical models of the cosmos, it was later increasingly influenced by astronomical practice in the Near East, especially that of Babylon. This influence, whose precise mechanisms of transmission are not well understood, included the development of the zodiac and the importation of its constellations, as well as certain astrological ideas. Within this general context, there were specific influences on Hipparchus. Possibly these included the sexagesimal representation of numbers and refinements to angular measures to include degrees and minutes of arc. More certain is the use he made of the long record of astronomical data that had been compiled by the Babylonians over several centuries.

Book 2 of the CPAE. Risings and settings. The division of the Zodiac. Analysis by the twelve zodiacal signs 1. The Crab (Cancer). The Lion (Leo). The Virgin (Virgo). The Claws (Libra). The Scorpion (Scorpio). The Archer (Sagittarius). Analysis by the twelve zodiacal Signs 2. The Horned Goat (Capricorn). The Water-Pourer (Aquarius). The Fishes (Pisces). The Ram (Aries). The Bull (Taurus). The Twins (Gemini). Risings and settings for latitude 36°. The risings of the northern constellations. The settings of the northern constellations.

Although only one book by Hipparchus is extant, the Commentary on the Phenomena of Aratus and Eudoxus (CPAE), it is known from ancient sources that he wrote several others, a few fragments of which survive in quotations from later writers. A reconstructed list of his works is provided, together with a description of their possible contents and scope. In addition, a partial chronological ordering is provided, based on internal and external evidence. Following on from this, a summary discussion of Hipparchus’ achievements is given, covering his work on precession and the length of the year. Also briefly discussed here are his contributions to mathematics and astronomy, which are elaborated in Chapters 5 and 6.

Within the context of Greek astronomy, a part of which saw the subject as being an application of mathematics, Hipparchus seems to have been the first to apply specific techniques to find exact solutions to certain problems. Moreover, like the non-mathematical astronomy exemplified in the poetry of Aratus and in some books by Eudoxus, he was genuinely interested in describing the cosmos as it was observed, and in presenting the details more accurately than had been done hitherto. He developed an effective solar theory and a reasonably good lunar theory which would have enabled him to predict both lunar and solar eclipses. Only in planetary theory was he unable to make much headway owing to the lack of historical data upon which he could draw.

John Locke’s influential account of personal identity emphasizes the importance of consciousness.  This had led many commentators to argue that Lockean selves just are consciousnesses.  Charles Taylor has mounted persuasive critiques of this “punctual” Lockean self; such a conception of the self is too thin and stands divorced from our values and moral agency.  This chapter shifts the focus from Locke’s views on personal identity to his views on personhood in an effort to show that Locke is sensitive to the kinds of worries raised by Taylor.  Lockean persons are more than consciousness.  In particular, the chapter focuses on Locke’s exploration and analysis of the complex faculty psychology undergirding consciousness and on the ways in which persons can be embodied.  This allows for a richer conception of the self.  It then argues that this richer conception better aligns with Locke’s own views about the value and importance of the self and with what he says regarding our moral agency and our duty of self-improvement.  Finally, the chapter shows that understanding Locke’s examination of human cognition as contributing to an analysis of the self allows us to resituate him with respect to some of his predecessors in seventeenth-century England.

This chapter traces notions of the self in the plays of early modern Spain. Drawing on a vast corpus of unpublished plays with the technique of “distant reading”, it examines the relation between self and free will in a period of increasing authoritarian control by both church and state. These plays demonstrate a deep preoccupation with maintaining a sense of personal freedom and choice despite the pressure of external constraints: Kallendorf proposes that the self is conceived as a “fortress” within which some sense of personal autonomy can be retained. This is very different from the more free-form relational concepts of the self that we have seen developed in the volume up to this point: the self remains grounded in the body and operative in society, but society places the body under heavy restraint.

This chapter considers how self-harm, suicide, and views of the afterlife reveal the radical shift between Greco-Roman tradition and Christianity with regard to the self. Classical Greek language uses the same auto- compound words to indicate self-willed action, suicide and kin-murder. From Homer through to Roman ideals of masculinity, significant action is generally understood with regard to the possibility of lasting fame, not with regard to a punishment or reward in an afterlife. In contrast to this picture, Christianity insists that each action is evaluated after death and contributes either to punishment or reward in an afterlife: life is a preparation for the afterlife. In particular, and in contrast to the earlier tradition, suicide becomes now a morally reprehensible act. For the faithful, however, martyrs become a model of willing death, which must be kept separate from suicide in evaluation. Ascetics enact a bodily self-harm to perfect their own holiness: physical self-harm becomes a positive gesture of self-fulfilment, dependent on the promise of a life after death. The Western model of the self is deeply influenced by this Christian modelling – and yet neither self-harm nor death play any role in Charles Taylor’s discussions of the history of the self

This chapter introduces the reader to the understanding of the human person articulated by Gregory Palamas (1296–1357) during the late Byzantine Hesychast controversy. The notion of the self elaborated and defended by Palamas is notable for its stress not only on the practice of inner prayer and stillness (“hesychia”) as crucial for the true cultivation of the self, but likewise for its robust defence of the embodiment of the self. Before discussing Palamas’ approach in detail, some background on the question of the relationship of body and soul in Greek patristic thought is offered, with special reference to Maximus the Confessor. This sets the scene for Palamas’ argumentation regarding the body as constitutive of the self together with the soul. Several ways in which Palamas both adopts and challenges classical views of the human self are presented. For instance, while the human soul might be detachable from the body, the human self, or person, is not. In some sense, moreover, every activity of the human self can be understood as a “common activity” of soul and body. The interweaving of body and soul in Palamas’ thought ultimately challenges a straightforward hylomorphic conception of the human being, notwithstanding certain commonalities.

This chapter explores ideas about the origins of the self. It focuses specifically on the various accounts of the origins of the self to be found in the works of Augustine, who is Charles Taylor’s second historical reference point (after Plato) as he builds his account of the sources of the modern self. However, the chapter diverges markedly from Taylor’s emphasis on radical reflexivity, the self discovered through introspection. It studies two aspects of the self for Augustine: first, the self’s formation in what Taylor himself calls “webs of interlocution”; second, and more innovatively, the chapter explores the scattered traces of Augustine’s thoughts on the pre-natal self, and on the mystery of the moment at which soul combines with body to become a human person. Augustine ponders this mystery but never makes a declarative statement on the topic, and the chapter suggests that we should listen to the Augustinian nescio (“I don’t know”) and its resultant embrace of indeterminacy, instead of the Cartesian cogito, as we think about the nature of the self.

Taking the biblical parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11–32) and the “penitential Psalms” as sites for late antique and early medieval investigations of the effect of sin on the self, this chapter proposes that exegetes saw the self as malleable and permeable.  Commentaries and sermons framed the self as sinful but salvageable.  Changing views of agency, responsibility, and remedies produced shifts in representations of communal interests and penitential interpretations of well-known scriptural texts.  Protections against the penetrations and deformations of sin were erected in liturgical rituals and communal prayer.  The universal stain of sin fostered a porous relation between the individual and the community, each bound to the other in a metaphysical, corporate entity encasing all selves.  Christian views of individual autonomy created as well a spatial expanse of the individual interior in which the soul could wander, even become lost.  Emerging from that grim void to salvation was to grasp a lifeline of the penitential words of others, sung in concert, in an activation of universal memory, to transform the self into a citizen of the heavenly Jerusalem.