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Jed W Atkins
- Assistant Professor
- Classical Studies
- 232 Allen Building
- Campus Box 90103
- Phone: (919) 684-2695
- Fax: (919) 681-4262
- Office Hours: On Leave (2012-2013)
- Curriculum Vitae
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Overview
Areas of Interest: Greek and Roman political philosophy and ethics, Latin literature, the history of political thought, Patristics, Cicero. -
Bio
Jed Atkins, who has joined the Duke Classics faculty as an Assistant Professor, is the recent recipient of a PhD in Classics from the University of Cambridge. Reflecting a longstanding interest in political philosophy and the history of political thought, Professor Atkins’ teaching and research interests include Greek and Roman philosophy, ethical thought, and political theory. He is especially interested in Roman philosophy, and much of his recent research has focused on Cicero’s political philosophy. His book Cicero on Politics and the Limits of Reason, forthcoming from Cambridge University Press, examines the political philosophy of Cicero's Republic and Laws. In addition, several papers and articles, forthcoming or in print, address such topics as Cicero as a reader of Plato's Republic and Laws, the political philosophy of the Dream of Scipio, and Cicero's Republicanism.
Atkins has also worked on the relationship between Hellenistic and Roman philosophy and early Christianity. His article "The Officia of St. Ambrose's De officiis" explores the differences between the ethics of Cicero and St. Ambrose.
Current projects include papers on conscience in later Greek Philosophy, the eighteenth-century reception of Cicero's natural right teaching, and the role of Plato's Laws in the development of natural law theory, as well as a book-length study of Cicero's De officiis.
Atkins teaches courses at both the graduate and undergraduate level in Latin literature as well as Greek and Roman thought. Past and near-future courses include seminars on Lucretius, Sallust, Roman Political Philosophy, Cicero's philosophy, comparative political regimes, and ancient and modern conceptions of democracy.
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Specialties
- Cicero
- Greek and Roman political philosophy and ethics
- The history of political thought
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Research Summary
Cicero; Greek, Roman, and early Christian political and moral philosophy; history of political thought -
Research Description
Cicero; Greek, Roman, and early Christian political and moral philosophy; history of political thought -
Education
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- PhD in Classics,
- University of Cambridge,
- 2009
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- M.Phil in Political Thought and Intellectual History,
- University of Cambridge,
- 2005
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- BA in Government and Classics (Summa cum Laude),
- Bowdoin College,
- 2004
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Awards, Honors and Distinctions
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- Andrew W. Mellon Assistant Professor of Classical Studies,
- 2013-14
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- Elected 'Scholar" of Sidney Sussex College,
- University of Cambridge,
- 2007
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- Howard Studentship,
- Sidney Sussex College, University of Cambridge,
- 2007-2008
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- Goold Classics Prize in Latin and Greek,
- Bowdoin College,
- 2004
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- Keasbey Memorial Foundation Scholarship,
- 2004-2006
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- Phi Beta Kappa,
- Bowdoin College,
- 2004
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- Philo Sherman Bennet Prize,
- Bowdoin College,
- 2004
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- Hannibal Hamlin Emery Prize in Latin,
- Bowdoin College,
- 2003
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- James and Sarah Bowdoin Scholar,
- Bowdoin College,
- 2001-2004
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Selected Publications
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- Cicero on Politics and the Limits of Reason: The Republic and Laws.
- Cambridge University Press,
- Fall, 2013.
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- "Cicero on the Relationship between Plato’s Republic and Laws."
- Ancient Approaches to Plato's Republic.
- Ed. Anne Sheppard.
- BICS Supplement 117,
- 2013.
- 15-34.
Publication Description
There has been much scholarly debate about whether Plato's Laws indicates a substantial revision of the political philosophy found in the Republic. I argue that Cicero read the works as complementary and believed that the mixed regime of the Laws completed the political philosophy of the Republic. The Republic's discussion of political philosophy points to the regime of the Laws, and to the Roman mixed constitution of Cicero Republic.
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- "Greek and Roman Political Philosophy."
- Oxford Bibliographies in "Classics".
- Ed. Dee Clayman.
- Oxford University Press,
- Fall, 2012.
- (Li nk)
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- "L'argument du De Republica et le Songe de Scipion."
- Les etudes philosophiques
- 99
- .4
- (Winter, 2011)
- :
- 455-469.
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- "The Officia of St. Ambrose’s De officiis."
- Journal of Early Christian Studies
- 19
- .1
- (Spring, 2011)
- :
- 49-78.
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- "Cicero."
- The Encyclopedia of Political Thought.
- Ed. Michael Gibbons.
- Wiley-Blackwell,
- 2014.
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- View All Publications
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PhD Students
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Carl E. Young
- Thesis: Theology and Political Philosophy in Plato's Laws
- Web Page
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