Saloni de Souza

I'm currently primarily focused on a project that deals with old age in Greek and Roman philosophy.  I am trying to work out what, if any, value old age has - for the elderly individual and for any collectives she may be part of.  Whether or not old age has any value and, if so, what it is is a difficult question to answer.  Firstly, it seems to hang in part on what old age itself is and what makes somebody elderly.  But this is far from obvious.  For example, is old age a disease or just some kind of deterioration?  Is it relative to culture, society, gender or race? Secondly, it is difficult to establish what might make old age choiceworthy or desirable for the individual or those around them.  After all, there are apparent disadvantages for both the elderly individual and the social and political groups she is part of, such as old-age-related changes that prevent her from fulfilling her desires and sacrifices that others must make in order for her to be cared for.  On the other hand, there are apparent features of old age that might make it seem valuable.  For instance, if there is such a thing as old-age wisdom, it might benefit both the elderly person who has it and those around her.  Perhaps there is a specific kind of ethical development that comes from caring for an older adult.  Yet, it is difficult to pin down exactly what old-age wisdom could be, where it comes from or how it would benefit others.  And we might think that ethical development that requires sacrifice is problematic – or that this ethical development could be obtained in other ways more easily.  

In my research, I look at a range of Greek and Roman texts, primarily by Plato, Aristotle, Cicero and Seneca, aiming to 1) Give an account of what old age is and establish criteria for being an elderly person; 2) Establish the value of old age for the individual; 3)  Establish the value of old age for others; 4) Explore the consequences for the way that we live our lives, in relation to ourselves and others.