In this paper, I intend to propound that Socrates’ choice of abstaining himself from writing not only leads to the “Socratic Problem” but also renders him vulnerable to misappropriations; a ...vulnerability he attributes to writing while substantiating his downright dismissal of it. The paper has been divided into three sections. In section one; effort is to contemplate “The Socratic Problem” which has been baffling scholars across centuries. Whether, for example, in Plato’s works, is it Plato’s or the historical Socrates’ views? Absence of Socrates’ own work has put his historical existence in a blurry picture and his character under shadows of doubts. In section two, there is an attempt to outline the debate between Phonocentrism and Oral tradition. Socrates is seen projecting phonocentric viewpoints in Plato’s Phaedrus, when he censures writing by invoking an Egyptian myth. In the last section, I have put forth a surmise that Plato’s Socrates must be an apotheosized and misappropriated version of the historical Socrates. And I question, if it can be taken as an insinuation that we need to consider possibility of misappropriation every time we read history without historicity.
The role of Greek thought in the final days of the Roman republic is a topic that has garnered much attention in recent years. This volume of essays, commissioned specially from a distinguished ...international group of scholars, explores the role and influence of Greek philosophy, specifically Epicureanism, in the late republic. It focuses primarily (although not exclusively) on the works and views of Cicero, premier politician and Roman philosopher of the day, and Lucretius, foremost among the representatives and supporters of Epicureanism at the time. Throughout the volume, the impact of such disparate reception on the part of these leading authors is explored in a way that illuminates the popularity as well as the controversy attached to the followers of Epicurus in Italy, ranging from ethical and political concerns to the understanding of scientific and celestial phenomena. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.
The tale of the tripod that the Seven Wise Men exchanged, until one of them decided to offer it to Apollo, the most knowledgeable in their circle, seems to form the subtext of the well-known episode ...of Delphi’s Oracle addressed to Socrates, recounted by Plato in his Apology. The philosopher rejects the title of “wisest of the Greeks” and reaffirms the superiority of divine wisdom. Drawing upon this template, Plato places the figure of Socrates within the context of ancient erudition and traditional pietas, categorically eschewing any affinity with the Sophists.
According to Aristotle, democracy and oligarchy are empirically the most widespread and analytically fundamental 'constitutions'. I analyse how in different places in his Politics Aristotle ...'positively' defines and differentiates between democracy and oligarchy. At the same time, I substantiate in detail a new interpretation of Aristotle's view that significantly differs from the current interpretation. 'Combining' the elements, procedures, and principles of democracy and oligarchy gives rise to mixed 'constitutions', a special place among which is occupied by the politeia or republic, which is the best regime 'for most states and for most people'. I show the ways in which it is possible, according to Aristotle, to form such a regime. Carl Schmitt and, later somewhat differently, Bernard Manin draw a link between Aristotle's mixed regime and the representative democracies of today.
The application of Thomistic Aristotelian principles to contemporary constitutionalism has involved many shifts and transformations: from postwar Christian democracy to post-liberalism. In order to ...evaluate these changing assessments, the article discusses and compares the work of Pierre Manent and John Milbank who provide a useful long term historical perspective on the relevant issues. The article explores how Manet's emphasis on the theologico-political problem seems inescapable in one form of another in appraising the origin, development and the future of the liberal regime as well as any possible alternatives. Nevertheless, Milbank's work points to more fruitful post-liberal institutional forms capable of sustaining an Aristotelian conception of political association. Despite this, the theologico-political problem arguably still affects how such political structures are to be thought and developed with tensions involving the realization of cardinal and supernatural virtues intrinsic to the balances that need to be struck.
La discusión en torno a los distintos conceptos de libertad sigue constituyendo un tema de interés central para la teoría política. Las implicaciones que de estos conceptos se derivan resultan del ...todo relevantes de cara a la concepción de la persona y a la configuración de la vida en común. A partir de un análisis del concepto de libertad planteado por Foucault en su conocido ensayo El sujeto y el poder, este artículo indaga cuáles son las implicaciones de una consideración emancipatoria de libertad como la que estaría presente en algunas de las obras del pensador francés en términos de resistencia y liberación. Asimismo, se explora la consideración relacional de persona propuesta por el filósofo alemán contemporáneo Robert Spaemann, a fin de plantear, en diálogo con la tradición aristotélica, una discusión con la concepción foucaultiana de la libertad y sus implicaciones para la comunidad política. En las conclusiones se destaca que una libertad plenamente humana no puede definirse exclusivamente desde el aspecto negativo de la emancipación, sino que ella incluye el aspecto afirmativo de reconocimiento del otro como un bien en sí mismo que, en cuanto contenido definitorio del amor de amistad, habría de estar presente de algún modo en los fundamentos de la comunidad política.
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