scholarly journals “They declared war and made their decision to prefer might to right”: Thucydides on the use of force among states

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (21) ◽  
pp. 71
Author(s):  
Marcelo Araújo
Keyword(s):  
Historical Period ◽  
Peloponnesian War ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Ancient Greek ◽  
Major Power ◽  
Strategic Value ◽  
Original Plan ◽  
Causes Of War ◽  
History Of ◽  
Source Of Information

When we think of the contributions made by the ancient Greek, the philosophy of Socrates and Plato, the plays by Sophocles, Euripides, and Aristophanes, or the historical thinking of Herodotus and Thucydides may come to or minds. Between the fifth and fourth centuries BCE, Athens set the stage for unprecedented cultural developments in the history of humankind. However, we sometimes forget that the historical period in which these authors lived and produced their masterpieces was also a time of war and plague. Some way or other, all these authors participated in the Peloponnesian War. And the Athenians, who were a major power at the beginning of the conflict, emerged as the defeated party in the end.The main source of information we have about the Peloponnesian War is Thucydides’ work known as the Peloponnesian War. Thucydides took an active part in the war as a general on the Athenian side. But after failing to protect a city, of strategic value for the Athenians, he lost his position as a general and was forced into exile. It is in the exile, then, that Thucydides writes the Peloponnesian War, seeking to take into consideration the accounts provided by all parties involved in the conflict. The text, though, remained unfinished. And it is unclear whether the order of chapters, as displayed in most modern editions, matches Thucydides’ original plan. It is not my intention here to examine the structure of the Peloponnesian War as a whole. My goal is far more modest: I intend to focus only on a few specific passages in which Thucydides discusses the causes of war and the reasons for violent conflict among human beings.

Equality

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan Wolff
Keyword(s):  
Political Philosophy ◽  
David Hume ◽  
Conceptual Analysis ◽  
Karl Marx ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Ronald Dworkin ◽  
Ancient Greek ◽  
Economic Equality ◽  
Sexual Equality ◽  
History Of

To trace the history of the concept of equality in political philosophy is to explore the answers that have been given to the questions of what equality demands, and whether it is a desirable goal. Considerations of unjust inequality appear in numerous different spheres, such as citizenship, sexual equality, racial equality, and even equality between human beings and members of other species. Ancient Greek political philosophy, despite Aristotle's famous conceptual analysis of equality, is generally hostile towards the idea of social and economic equality. Plato's account of the best and most just form of the state in the Republic is a society of very clear social, political, and economic hierarchy. It is with Thomas Hobbes that the idea of equality is put to work. This article explores equality as an issue of distributive justice; equality in the history of political philosophy; equality in contemporary political philosophy; the views of Ronald Dworkin, Karl Marx, and David Hume; equality of welfare; equality, priority, and sufficiency; Amartya Sen's capability theory; and luck egalitarianism.

scholarly journals Thucydides and the Synchronous Pandemic

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-94
Author(s):  
Gregory T. Papanikos
Keyword(s):  
Human Nature ◽  
Personal Experience ◽  
Historical Analysis ◽  
Generation Process ◽  
Data Generation ◽  
Peloponnesian War ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
History Of ◽  
Historical Methodology ◽  
Rare Group

Thucydides survived the pestilence and gave a vivid portrayal of the Athenian Epidemic at the onset of the Peloponnesian War. He belongs to the rare group of historians who wrote history about events which had a personal experience. He was involved with the war (as an Athenian strategos) and with the epidemic (had survived an infection). His History of the Peloponnesian War is a textbook approach of how historical events and facts should be researched and described. His historical methodology is based on an orthological analysis of human behaviour. Such an approach enables the researcher to interpret existing stylized facts and personal involvements with reason and objectivity. Within this framework, this paper examines Thucydides exposition of the epidemic of 430 BCE by means of four hypotheses which underline his historical analysis of the pestilence. Then, I proceed with the verification of these hypotheses using the data generation process of the synchronous pandemic of 2020. My main conclusion is that despite technological progress made by human beings with the graceful assistance of Prometheus, human nature did not change as much as Thucydides so eloquently emphasized, prognosed and hoped. Evidence on synchronous pandemic supports Thucydides diagnosis of the human nature but does not vindicate him on the hypothesis (or may be his wish) that his history would be used by future generations to avoid making the same mistakes over and over again. So far, the same or similar faults seem unavoidable. It appears that these faults are embedded in human nature and cannot be avoided.

“The Natural History of My Inward Self”: Sensing Character in George Eliot's Impressions of Theophrastus Such

PMLA ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 129 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-51 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Pearl Brilmyer
Keyword(s):  
Natural History ◽  
Large Body ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Ancient Greek ◽  
Human Psychology ◽  
History Of ◽  
Sensory Enhancement ◽  
Affective Dynamics ◽  
Habitual Responses ◽  
Individual Human

A large body of Eliot scholarship is dedicated to the question of human sympathy. My essay moves in a different direction, arguing that Eliot saw literature not only as a medium for intersubjective understanding but also as an amplificatory technology, a tool for sensory enhancement. This technology is embodied by the affective dynamics of character in Eliot's final published work, Impressions of Theophrastus Such (1879), a collection of character sketches and philosophical essays composed in conversation with the ancient Greek naturalist and sketch writer Theophrastus of Eresus. In Impressions Eliot invokes the descriptive traditions of natural history and the character sketch to suggest that human beings, like other animals, are conditioned by bodily frameworks and habitual responses that allow them to sense some things and not others. A meditation also on the history of characterization itself, Impressions puts pressure on the modern association of character with individual human psychology.

Between anarchy and tyranny: excellence and the pursuit of power and peace in ancient Greece

2001 ◽  
Vol 27 (5) ◽  
pp. 91-118 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nancy Kokaz
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
International System ◽  
Ancient Greece ◽  
Peloponnesian War ◽  
Ancient Greek ◽  
Historical Source ◽  
The Status ◽  
History Of ◽  
City States

Ancient Greece is not unfamiliar to International Relations scholars. Thucydides' History of the Peloponnesian War has been especially influential in shaping our understanding of the ancient Greek international system, not only because it is the best historical source available, but also in light of the status it has achieved as the foremost classic of International Relations. Of particular interest to International Relations have been questions concerning the character of the system and the units within it, and how these have affected the dynamics of conflict and co-operation in the international arena. Many find the antecedents of the modern European states-system in the pattern of relations that emerged between the independent city-states of Hellas roughly between the eighth and fourth centuries BC. Like our contemporary international system, the ancient Greek international system was anarchic in the sense that it lacked an overarching common government.

Conclusion

2020 ◽  
pp. 201-230
Author(s):  
Laurie M. Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Human Nature ◽  
International Politics ◽  
Peloponnesian War ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Alternative Approach ◽  
Self Interest ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Interesting Alternative

This concluding chapter argues that Thucydides' approach to politics is more preferable than Hobbes's. Hobbes, despite his pessimistic assumptions about human nature, is not realistic. Is it realistic to assume that all people act predictably, that they are always guided strictly by self-interest, that all other motivations are a sham—or, if genuine, so rare that to take them into account is useless? According to Thucydides, human beings are multifaceted, so that it becomes necessary, for example, to examine individual leaders and to listen seriously to their reasons for acting a certain way. Thucydides also shows that there is a natural sociability in people that goes beyond vying for power and glory and, indeed, coexists with these urges, so that it is unrealistic not to take into account a certain amount of genuine altruism. Does Hobbes's account of leadership deal with the impact of great individuals on history? Thucydides' History of the Peloponnesian War contains individuals with varying motivations, some altruistic, some self-interested, some acting on rage and revenge. In other words, it reflects reality. As such, Thucydides, as often as Hobbes, has been dubbed the father of international realism. The chapter then discusses how realism and neorealism, despite their differences, share the same philosophical roots. It also suggests that Thucydides has been misunderstood and that he actually provides an interesting alternative approach to realism in the study of international politics.

Human Nature

2020 ◽  
pp. 3-71
Author(s):  
Laurie M. Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Civil War ◽  
International Relations ◽  
Human Nature ◽  
Brute Force ◽  
Peloponnesian War ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Good Sense ◽  
History Of

This chapter discusses Thucydides' and Hobbes's ideas of human nature, which are often said to be very similar. International relations theorists are just as much prone to this mistake as others, referring to Thucydides, as they do to Hobbes, as a “realist.” Hobbes's view is close to the view of the famous “Athenian thesis” repeated throughout Thucydides' History of the Peloponnesian War. That thesis is similar in many ways to the realist thesis, claiming that human beings are universally selfish and always motivated by fear, honor, and interest. Since they are compelled by their passions, they are not to be blamed for their actions, and, as Thucydides' character Diodotus points out, they can be controlled only through superior power and brute force. However, the chapter argues that, in contradiction to the Athenian thesis, Thucydides' overall treatment of human nature proves that it is not so uniform and that passions do not force people to act. Individuals are responsible for their actions, capable of reason, and therefore guilty when they allow their passions to overcome their good sense. In Thucydides' view, political problems cannot be permanently solved, because there are elements in human nature that cannot be manipulated. While Thucydides depicts the bloodthirsty violence of civil war as well as genocidal international warfare as products of the extreme pressures of war, Hobbes sees them as events that take place whenever there is no power strong enough to prevent them.

The Place of Traditional Artists in the Preservation of Nigerian Art

2018 ◽  
pp. 75-88
Author(s):  
Victoria N Osuagwu
Keyword(s):  
Belief Systems ◽  
Sacred Grove ◽  
Art World ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Open Spaces ◽  
Economic Resource ◽  
The People ◽  
Traditional Artists ◽  
Global Art ◽  
Source Of Information

Human beings have always left signs of their activities behind them. These signs take both tangible and intangible forms, including buildings, sites, sculptural works, antiquities, rock art paintings, belief systems, and traditions. The people of this millennium have recognized the remains of our fore-bears namely archaeological, architectural monuments, sites, and cultural works as an integral part of the cultural heritage of all humanity. They also recognized the fact that heritage is an invaluable source of information about the lives and activities of human beings and their artistic and technical capabilities over the centuries. The Nigerian Ancient Art Tradition which spans eight thousand years is a product of diverse artists from Dufuna, Nok, Igbo-Ukwu, Ife, Owo, Benin, Tada, etc. Also remarkable are the sculptural works created by late Susanne Wenger (an Austrian) and her New Sacred Art Movement in Osun-Osogbo Sacred Grove, which gave meaning to open spaces within the grove. This paper examines the role played by these artworks to project Nigeria to the global art world. The benefits to Nigeria and the global art traditions and recommendations on how to revive this dwindling economic resource will also be examined. The approach used was to study the artworks produced by some of these artists. Some of the findings were that the works were carefully done with suitable materials that have withstood climate change.

Correspondence between Adolphe Brongniart and Robert Schomburgk: trading natural history collections for honours

2002 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 333-336
Author(s):  
PIOTR DASZKIEWICZ ◽  
MICHEL JEGU
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Natural History ◽  
Dominican Republic ◽  
Southeast Asia ◽  
Herbarium Specimens ◽  
British Guiana ◽  
Natural History Collections ◽  
History Of ◽  
Source Of Information ◽  
German Naturalist

ABSTRACT: This paper discusses some correspondence between Robert Schomburgk (1804–1865) and Adolphe Brongniart (1801–1876). Four letters survive, containing information about the history of Schomburgk's collection of fishes and plants from British Guiana, and his herbarium specimens from Dominican Republic and southeast Asia. A study of these letters has enabled us to confirm that Schomburgk supplied the collection of fishes from Guiana now in the Laboratoire d'Ichtyologie, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris. The letters of the German naturalist are an interesting source of information concerning the practice of sale and exchange of natural history collections in the nineteenth century in return for honours.

New Wars and Their Visual Representation: Dead Bodies without Graves/Mourne

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 1-18
Author(s):  
Tuncay Şur ◽  
Betül Yarar
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Visual Representation ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
The Public ◽  
Photographic Images ◽  
War Photography ◽  
New Wars ◽  
The Social ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Impact

This paper seeks to understand why there has been an increase in photographic images exposing military violence or displaying bodies killed by military forces and how they can freely circulate in the public without being censored or kept hidden. In other words, it aims to analyze this particular issue as a symptom of the emergence of new wars and a new regime of their visual representation. Within this framework, it attempts to relate two kinds of literature that are namely the history of war and war photography with the bridge of theoretical discussions on the real, its photographic representation, power, and violence.  Rather than systematic empirical analysis, the paper is based on a theoretical attempt which is reflected on some socio-political observations in the Middle East where there has been ongoing wars or new wars. The core discussion of the paper is supported by a brief analysis of some illustrative photographic images that are served through the social media under the circumstances of war for instance in Turkey between Turkish military troops and the Kurdish militants. The paper concludes that in line with the process of dissolution/transformation of the old nation-state formations and globalization, the mechanism and mode of power have also transformed to the extent that it resulted in the emergence of new wars. This is one dynamic that we need to recognize in relation to the above-mentioned question, the other is the impact of social media in not only delivering but also receiving war photographies. Today these changes have led the emergence of new machinery of power in which the old modern visual/photographic techniques of representing wars without human beings, torture, and violence through censorship began to be employed alongside medieval power techniques of a visual exhibition of tortures and violence.

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