Philosophical Perspectives on Eunomia

2021 ◽  
Vol 38 (3) ◽  
pp. 473-493
Author(s):  
Myrthe L. Bartels
Keyword(s):  
Human Life ◽  
Fourth Century ◽  
Ancient Greek ◽  
Athenian Democracy ◽  
Philosophical Debate ◽  
Good Government ◽  
Good Order ◽  
Prose Literature ◽  
Mixed Constitution

Abstract This contribution analyses the ancient Greek notion of eunomia in the philosophical prose literature of the fourth century BC. While the term eunomia is often translated as ‘good government’ or ‘good order’, such vague translations fail to capture the specifics of eunomia, and thus part of the philosophical debate about constitutions is lost. Closer inspection reveals that within the fourth-century constitutional debate, eunomia entails two distinct aspects: the excellence of the laws and their durability. These two aspects are predicated of various constitutions: the mixed constitution, of which Sparta and Crete are primary examples in the fourth century; the Athenian democracy as a paradigm of law-abidingness; and philosophical constitutions aiming at virtue. It is a hallmark of the last that such law codes start from marriage and childbirth and follow the course of human life.

Demokratia and Arete in Ancient Greek Political Thought

2011 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 181-215 ◽  
Author(s):  
John R. Wallach
Keyword(s):  
Political Thought ◽  
Fourth Century ◽  
Fifth Century ◽  
Ancient Greek ◽  
Athenian Democracy ◽  
Political Dimension ◽  
Greek Culture ◽  
History Of ◽  
Three Stages ◽  
The Relationship

This article interprets demokratia and arete as dynamically related terms of political thought in ancient Greek culture, from Homeric times to the end of the classical era. It does so selectively, identifying three stages in which this relationship is developed: (1) from the Homeric to archaic eras; (2) fifth-century Athenian democracy, in which demokratia and arete are posed as complementary terms; and (3) the fourth century era in which philosophers used virtue to critique democracy. Relying mostly on evidence from writers who have become benchmarks in the history of Western political thought, the argument emphasizes the inherently political dimension of arete during this period of ancient Greek culture. Noting different ways in which arete is related to political power in general and democracy in particular, it also illustrates the manner in which arete is neither philosophically pristine nor merely an instrument of practical power. The effect of the research contradicts traditional and recent readings of democracy and virtue as inherently antagonistic. The aim of the article is to identify ancient Greek contributions to understanding the potential, contingencies and dangers of the relationship between democracy (as a form of power) and virtue (as a form of ethics) — one which may benefit both democracy and virtue.

Odyssey without Nostos, or, From Globe to Planet

2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 147-156
Author(s):  
Hans-Christian von Herrmann
Keyword(s):  
21St Century ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Science And Technology ◽  
Ancient Greek ◽  
Cosmic Scale

We are witnessing a return of cosmology in 20th and 21st century thinking. It is cosmology in the ancient greek sense of the word which addressed the entirety of what surrounds and carries us. Another term for this ongoing transformation is the ›planetary‹ which isn’t simply a synonym for the ›global‹. The planetary means a kind of boundless pervasion based on science and technology and transposing planet earth and human life from a culture-historical to a cosmic scale.

scholarly journals „Stoisz prosty albo cię prostują”. Psychosomatyczne podstawy racjonalistycznych praktyk stoickich

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 166-185
Author(s):  
Tomasz Mazur
Keyword(s):  
Good Life ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Spiritual Practices ◽  
Ancient Greek ◽  
Body And Soul ◽  
Rational Control ◽  
Proper Translation ◽  
The Ideal

The essay discusses popular rationalistic interpretation of stoic spiritual practices as rational control over nonrational aspects of human life. On the course of analyzing ancient stoics texts and recommendations concerning a good life the essay proves that the word “controlling” is not really proper translation of stoic intentions. Much better picture is of reason that takes care of condition of body and soul, or of reason that follows body and soul. Stoic reason is a tool for understanding and nursing nod controlling. Thus the ideal for stoic life is not reason but harmony, which is the best way of translating ancient Greek word tonos.

Communities of Practice from a Phenomenological Stance

2012 ◽  
pp. 57-67 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giorgio De Michelis
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Knowledge Management ◽  
Information Systems ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Social Dimension ◽  
Utility Value ◽  
Philosophical Debate ◽  
Relevant Concept ◽  
The Social ◽  
Famous Book

Community (Gemeinschaft in German) has emerged as a relevant concept for understanding the social dimension of human life, at the end of nineteenth century, when in a famous book by Ferdinand Toennies (1925), it was opposed to society (Gesellschaft in German). The debate that accompanied and followed Toennies’ book at the beginning of the twentieth century opposed the irrationality of communities (where no utility value justifies membership) to the rational principle sustaining societies (that are ruled in order to balance costs and benefits of all members). More recently, the concept of community has been again at the center of philosophical debate after its deconstruction by Jean Luc Nancy: it is, therefore, interesting to situate the concept of community of practice within it. What emerges from this analysis offers to designers of ICT-based applications, such as information systems, knowledge management systems, etc., some new hints on the nature of those systems.

Conclusions

2019 ◽  
pp. 243-250
Author(s):  
Lucy C. M. M. Jackson
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Differences ◽  
Fourth Century ◽  
Current Understanding ◽  
Ancient Greek ◽  
Greek Drama ◽  
Relevant Evidence ◽  
History Of ◽  
Key Questions ◽  
The Way

As well as bringing together all the relevant evidence for the quality and activity of the chorus of drama in the fourth century, this monograph has raised certain key questions about the current understanding of the nature and development of Attic drama as a whole. First, it shows that the supposed ‘civic’ quality of the chorus of drama is, in fact, an association loaned, inappropriately, from the genre of circular, ‘dithyrambic’, choral performance. Being attentive to the cultural differences between these two genres should prompt a further re-evaluation of how to read dramatic choruses more generally. Second, the way in which key fourth-century authors such as Plato and Xenophon use the image of the chorus to discuss the concept of leadership has profoundly shaped ways of construing choreia in ancient Greek drama, and the ancient Mediterranean more generally. Armed with this knowledge, it is possible to retell the story and history of the chorus in drama.

scholarly journals Editorial Foreword

2006 ◽  
Vol 48 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-3
Keyword(s):  
Late Antiquity ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Philosophical Anthropology ◽  
Fourth Century ◽  
Book Of Nature ◽  
Field Of Vision ◽  
The World ◽  
Rhetorical Tropes ◽  
Radical Transformation ◽  
Editorial Foreword

VOICES IN THE WILDERNESS The first essay responds to our call for articles on deep histories of the present, wide-angle lenses “combining past and present as a unitary field of vision” (CSSH 2005: 233).Judith Adler shows the lineage connecting themes of current wilderness debates with fourth-century Christian ascetic movements. Such movements idealized empty spaces as the most fitting habitat for ascetics, by virtue of whose existence the world and human life was preserved, a revaluation of wilderness propagated more widely by the Christianization of Rome. The tradition of ascetic primitivism has its origins in practical forms of early philosophical anthropology and speculative psychology, and is perpetuated in tropes of wilderness as a book of nature, an educator superior to schools, a space whose purity is necessary for the survival of the world, and a wild space that humans are called upon to protect or transform. As millennial traditions of narrative continually offer themselves to our thoughts about the radical transformation of our planet, the author suggests, historians of late antiquity might find themselves “well situated to throw new light on deeply motivating rhetorical tropes of emerging bitter debates.”

Aristotle Through Lenses from Bernard Williams

2016 ◽  
Vol 78 ◽  
pp. 23-35
Author(s):  
S. Broadie
Keyword(s):  
Human Life ◽  
Bernard Williams ◽  
Ancient Greek

AbstractThis paper looks at a theme in ancient Greek ethics from perspectives developed by Bernard Williams.1 The ancient theme is the place of theoretical activity in human life, and I shall be referring to Aristotle. Williams is relevant through one strand in his scepticism about ‘morality, the peculiar institution’.2 His discussion suggests questions not merely about Aristotle but ones it would be interesting to put to Aristotle and see how he would or should respond to them.

Word & Image

2021 ◽  
pp. 50-91
Author(s):  
Michael Squire
Keyword(s):  
Visual Culture ◽  
Fourth Century ◽  
Literary Texts ◽  
Ancient Greek ◽  
Roman Art ◽  
Classical Philology ◽  
Classical Archaeology ◽  
Critical Engagement ◽  
Roman Antiquity ◽  
Written Materials

This chapter examines the relationships between visual and verbal media in Roman antiquity. More specifically, it demonstrates how the study of Roman art intersects with the study of ancient Greek and Latin texts, and vice versa. Despite the tendency to segregate areas of scholarly expertise—above all, to separate “classical archaeology” from “classical philology”—any critical engagement with Roman imagery and iconography must go hand in hand with critical readings of written materials. The chapter proceeds in three parts. First, it explores some of the ways in which Roman literary texts (both Greek and Latin) engaged with visual subjects. Second, it discusses the textuality of Roman visual culture, surveying the roles that inscriptions played on Roman buildings, statues, mosaics, paintings, and other media. Third, it demonstrates the “intermedial”—or, perhaps better, the “iconotextual”—workings of Roman texts and images, with particular reference to the fourth-century ce picture-poems of Optatian.

Exploring Intercommunity Political Activity in Fourth-Century Greece

2018 ◽  
pp. 405-432
Author(s):  
Peter Liddel
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Fourth Century ◽  
Political Activity ◽  
Ancient Greek ◽  
Greek City ◽  
Political Behaviour ◽  
City States ◽  
Cultural Structure ◽  
Inter State

It might seem reasonable to take the view that the study of ancient Greek political behaviour could plausibly focus upon exchanges that went on inside the polis: after all, the word ‘politics’ derives from the Greek politika (‘polis affairs’). However, the concerns of ancient Greek polis-communities were not merely introspective: communities (regardless of size or military clout) were obliged to face the consequences of the decisions and activity of other communities. Human representatives of city-states performed necessary interactions with outsiders: they fought as soldiers, and staked political or ideological claims as ambassadors and politicians. On their return to their home communities, these individuals proclaimed to their audiences the significance of their activity away from home. Furthermore, the overlaps in social and cultural structure of different Greek city-states, as well as the existence of shared modes of decision-making, might lead us to anticipate the value of trans-community forms of political activity. At the heart of this question, therefore, is an overall debate about the degree of ‘unity’ of Greek political institutions and behaviour, a debate explored in this chapter with particular reference to the contested transferability of the decree (psephisma) in Greek inter-state politics of the fourth century.

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