An introduction to Hesiod's Works and Days

2006 ◽  
Vol 68 (2) ◽  
pp. 177-205
Author(s):  
Robert C. Bartlett
Keyword(s):  
Political Philosophy ◽  
Way Of Life ◽  
Present Essay ◽  
Principal Task

The present essay sketches the outline and the intention of Hesiod's Works and Days. Hesiod's principal task appears to be the identification (and praise) of the best way of life for his wayward brother Perses, but in carrying out this task, Hesiod speaks of justice and its human and divine supports in such a way as to go well beyond what would be of benefit to his brother. For in the course of his analysis of justice, or as a result of it, Hesiod praises also the life of autonomous understanding, the life that appears to be the poet's own. In crucial ways, then, Hesiod explores the chief themes of what was to become political philosophy, and for this reason, among others, he deserves the attention of all those who are also concerned with it.

The Pareto Argument for Inequality

1995 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 160-185 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. A. Cohen
Keyword(s):  
Political Philosophy ◽  
John Rawls ◽  
Present Essay ◽  
Persuasive Power

Some ways of defending inequality against the charge that it is unjust require premises that egalitarians find easy to dismiss—statements, for example, about the contrasting deserts and/or entitlements of unequally placed people. But a defense of inequality suggested by John Rawls and elaborated by Brian Barry (who themselves reject the premises that egalitarians dismiss) has often proved irresistible even to people of egalitarian outlook. The persuasive power of this defense of inequality has helped to drive authentic egalitarianism, of an old-fashioned, uncompromising kind, out of contemporary political philosophy. The present essay is part of an attempt to bring it back in.

“Representing” Mission from Below: Historians as Interpreters and Agents of Christianization

2010 ◽  
Vol 79 (2) ◽  
pp. 271-304 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Sterk
Keyword(s):  
Previous Article ◽  
Christian Faith ◽  
Way Of Life ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Present Essay ◽  
Foreign Land ◽  
In Christ ◽  
Multiple Stages ◽  
Byzantine History

Discussion of mission in east Roman or Byzantine history has typically focused on imperial ambitions, royal conversions, and a “top-down” approach to Christianization. The Christian emperor, the earthly image of the heavenly king, had been called by God to propagate the faith and civilize the barbarians. Toward this end he sent out emissaries to foreign potentates, and the conversion of the ruler was soon followed by the Christianization of his people. Such narratives largely ignore missionaries “from below,” deemed “accidental” evangelists, and focus instead on imperially sponsored or “professional missionaries.” Several recent studies have added nuance to the traditional picture by devoting increased attention to mission from below or presenting Christianization as a process comprising multiple stages that spanned several centuries. Building on my own previous article on this theme, the present essay will reexamine narratives of unofficial mission on the eastern frontiers, in particular accounts of captive women credited with converting whole kingdoms to the Christian faith. In each case a female ascetic has either been taken prisoner or has lived for some time as a captive in a foreign land just beyond east Roman borders. The woman's steadfast adherence to her pious way of life, performance of apostolic signs, and verbal testimony to faith in Christ move the ruler and his people to accept the Christian God.

scholarly journals Modernity, the Commons and Capitalism

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 367-386
Author(s):  
George Skouras
Keyword(s):  
Political Philosophy ◽  
Open Space ◽  
Intrinsic Value ◽  
Way Of Life ◽  
Philosophical Discourse ◽  
The Commons ◽  
Modern Landscape ◽  
Industrial Societies ◽  
Opening Up ◽  
Capitalist Enterprise

AbstractThe modern way of life and reflected in modern political philosophy is directed by capitalist activity of both commodities and persons. Entities that do not have commodity value are worthless to the capitalist enterprise, regardless of any intrinsic value in themselves. Modernity is capitalist modernity. Modernity has given preference for objects/commodities over persons. This paper will argue for opening-up the landscape for alternative experiences to capitalism, as an attempt to move away from the capitalist enterprise. That is, be able to provide open space for people to use other than the buying and selling of commodities---where the commodification process breaks down and opens-up spaces for alternative experiences besides the capitalist experience. In other words, this work will attempt to serve as critique of Enlightenment philosophical discourse---that is, serve as a critique of the Age of Enlightenment serving as the foundational head of modernism---a plea for the rebellion against the quantification and mathematization of reality under modernist and industrial societies. It will use the modern landscape as the first effort to break free from the capitalist enterprise.

Natural Rights as Powers to Act

2020 ◽  
pp. 102-120
Author(s):  
Susan James
Keyword(s):  
Political Philosophy ◽  
Natural Law ◽  
Natural Rights ◽  
Way Of Life ◽  
Natural Right ◽  
The Right

Spinoza grounds his political philosophy on a highly counter-intuitive conception of natural right as the right to do anything in your power. Just as big fish eat little fish by the right of nature, so humans act by natural right, regardless of what they do. In this essay I explain what leads Spinoza to hold this view and show how, in doing so, he contentiously rejects some of the most central assumptions of the natural law tradition. Finally, I consider whether Spinoza’s view can contribute anything of value to current discussions of natural right. I argue that he draws our attention to prerequisites of a cooperative way of life that contemporary theorists frequently neglect.

Theory and Practice: Alfarabi's Plato Revisited

1992 ◽  
Vol 86 (4) ◽  
pp. 966-976 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher Colmo
Keyword(s):  
Political Philosophy ◽  
Practical Knowledge ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Theoretical Knowledge ◽  
Leo Strauss ◽  
Way Of Life ◽  
The Status ◽  
Life Itself

According to Leo Strauss, knowledge of the best way of life is crucial to political philosophy. In “Farabi's Plato,” Strauss asks, assuming that the theoretical life can be known to be the best way of life, what is the status of this knowledge? Is the knowledge of the best way of life itself theoretical knowledge or practical knowledge? Without a coherent answer to this question, we cannot be certain that we know what we mean when we claim to know that philosophy is the best way of life. Strauss answers clearly the question about the status of the knowledge of the best way of life by affirming that it is practical, not theoretical, knowledge. For a variety of reasons, this answer is not persuasive in the form in which Strauss gives it.

Vico and Montesquieu: Limits of Pluralist Imagination

1999 ◽  
Vol 25 ◽  
pp. 55-78
Author(s):  
Bhikhu Parekh
Keyword(s):  
Political Philosophy ◽  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
Cultural Diversity ◽  
Cultural Pluralism ◽  
Way Of Life ◽  
Form Of Government ◽  
The World ◽  
Ways Of Life ◽  
Human Liberation

From Plato onward, western moral and political philosophy has been dominated by a monist impulse manifest in a search for the best way of life, the best form of government, the perfect society, the highest human faculty, the highest or the best religion, the single most reliable way to acquire knowledge of the world, and so on. In ethics it has taken the form of moral monism or the view that one way of life can be rationally shown to be the highest or truly human. This view has commanded the allegiance of Plato, Aristotle, Augustine, Aquinas, Locke, Mill, Marx, and others. Because monism despises neglected human faculties, virtues, and ways of life and has been a source of much violence and oppression, we cannot hope to provide a coherent theory of human liberation and freedom without developing a coherent theory of moral and cultural pluralism. Although moral monism was challenged from the very beginning by the Sophists, the skeptics, and others, a systematic critique of it was not mounted until the eighteenth century by such writers as Vico, Montesquieu, Montaigne, Herder, and others, who stressed the inevitability and even the desirability of cultural diversity.

scholarly journals Philosophy, revelation and politics: The recovery of medieval Islamic political philosophy

2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 47-55
Author(s):  
Funda Günsoy
Keyword(s):  
Political Philosophy ◽  
Modern Philosophy ◽  
Leo Strauss ◽  
Way Of Life ◽  
Philosophical Thought ◽  
Radical Enlightenment ◽  
The Right ◽  
Right Order ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Ancient Political Philosophy

In contemporary philosophical thought, Leo Strauss is associated with the rediscovery of ancient political philosophy against modern political philosophy. The rediscovery of ancient political philosophy is the rediscovery of classical rationalism or “moderate Enlightenment” against modern rationalism or “radical Enlightenment” and can be understood as recapturing the “the question of man’s right life” and “the question of the right order of society”. This article would like to show that it was his study of medieval Islamic and Jewish texts that enabled Strauss to rediscover the classical rationalism. Also, in this article we would like to argue that although the opposition between Athens and Jerusalem, Reason and Revelation embodies two irreconcilable alternatives or a way of life in his thought, this opposition should be only examined with references to claims about radical rationalism of modern philosophy. In this case, we would like to argue that there can be seen a commonality between these “opponents”, i.e., Athens and Jerusalem, Reason and Revelation in terms of both their attitudes towards morality and their approaches to the relationship between philosophy and society.

A Challenge to Political Scientists

1943 ◽  
Vol 37 (4) ◽  
pp. 692-697 ◽  
Author(s):  
William Foote Whyte
Keyword(s):  
Political Philosophy ◽  
Political Science ◽  
Armed Conflict ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Scientist ◽  
Political Ethics ◽  
Way Of Life ◽  
Political Processes ◽  
Form Of Government ◽  
American Form

When the American form of government and our democratic way of life hang in the balance of armed conflict, the political scientist feels impelled more than ever to rally to the defense of these values. He Writes volumes to defend our system and to attack the systems of our enemies. He writes political philosophy and political ethics—just plain politics is forgotten.The uninformed layman might expect from his title that the political scientist would be an expert in the analysis of political processes in his own community. He would be disappointed. The following comment made by Aristotle centuries ago applies with equal validity to the problem of political science today: “Must we not admit that the political science plainly does not stand on a similar footing to that of other sciences and faculties? I mean that while in all other cases those who impart the faculties and themselves exert them are identical (physicians and painters, for instance), matters of Statesmanship the Sophists profess to teach, but not one of them practices it, that being left to those actually engaged in it: and these might really very well be thought to do it by some singular knack and by mere practice rather than by any intellectual process; for they neither write nor speak on these matters (though it might do more to their credit than composing speeches for the courts or the assembly)….” Since the politician of today remains inarticulate when it comes to discussing his methods for publication, the responsibility of building a science of politics, if there is to be such a science, continues to rest with the political scientists.

Athenian Democracy Refosunded: Xenophon’ss Political History in the Hellenika

2009 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 316-338
Author(s):  
Bernard J. Dobski
Keyword(s):  
Political Philosophy ◽  
Political History ◽  
Way Of Life ◽  
Athenian Democracy ◽  
Traditional Authorities

This article aims to shed new light on the character of political history as written by Xenophon, by exploring the first two Books of the Hellenika, which, it is argued, implicity correct Thucydides’ judgment that the regime of the Five Thousand in Athens was the best Athenian regime during his lifetime. Thucydides and Xenophon thus appear to disagree about the best regime, a theme central to classical political philosophy. But when we consider Thucydides’ praise of this regime in light of Xenophon’s Socratic defence of traditional political authorities (especially as presented in Euryptolemus’ speech), we see that the two treatments complement each other. Xenophon’s endorsement of a regime rooted in traditional authorities protects the Socratic way of life, while Thucydides’ praise of a non-conventional regime endorses those conditions that make such a life possible.

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