A. W. Price
- Published in print:
- 1990
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198248996
- eISBN:
- 9780191681172
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198248996.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Ancient Philosophy, Moral Philosophy
This book fully explores for the first time an idea common to Plato and Aristotle, which unites their treatments—otherwise very different—of love and friendship. The idea is that although persons are ...
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This book fully explores for the first time an idea common to Plato and Aristotle, which unites their treatments—otherwise very different—of love and friendship. The idea is that although persons are separate, their lives need not be. One person's life may overflow into another's, and as such, helping another person is a way of serving oneself. The book shows how their view of love and friendship, within not only personal relationships, but also the household and even the city-state, promises to resolve the old dichotomy between egoism and altruism.Less
This book fully explores for the first time an idea common to Plato and Aristotle, which unites their treatments—otherwise very different—of love and friendship. The idea is that although persons are separate, their lives need not be. One person's life may overflow into another's, and as such, helping another person is a way of serving oneself. The book shows how their view of love and friendship, within not only personal relationships, but also the household and even the city-state, promises to resolve the old dichotomy between egoism and altruism.
Antony Black
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- May 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199533206
- eISBN:
- 9780191714498
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199533206.003.0004
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
Islam retained clans and often tribes whereas Europe moved towards nuclear families. In Europe, significant social and political relationships were based on oath rather than kinship, whether between ...
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Islam retained clans and often tribes whereas Europe moved towards nuclear families. In Europe, significant social and political relationships were based on oath rather than kinship, whether between lords and followers (‘feudalism’) or among householders in city communities. Church and 'umma remained as universal societies. In Europe, territorial units of government became more entrenched, and, unlike in Islam, the nation sometimes became a political unit. Islam was well-disposed towards commerce. In Europe, the idea of the corporation as a legal body with specific legitimate powers favoured the city-state. In both societies, social inequalities and classes were justified, in Christendom by the organic metpahor, in Islam by a theory of the four social ‘orders’.Less
Islam retained clans and often tribes whereas Europe moved towards nuclear families. In Europe, significant social and political relationships were based on oath rather than kinship, whether between lords and followers (‘feudalism’) or among householders in city communities. Church and 'umma remained as universal societies. In Europe, territorial units of government became more entrenched, and, unlike in Islam, the nation sometimes became a political unit. Islam was well-disposed towards commerce. In Europe, the idea of the corporation as a legal body with specific legitimate powers favoured the city-state. In both societies, social inequalities and classes were justified, in Christendom by the organic metpahor, in Islam by a theory of the four social ‘orders’.
Antony Black
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- May 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199281695
- eISBN:
- 9780191713101
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199281695.003.0009
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
The polis (citizen-state) was ruled by warrior-citizens. Political debate kick-started philosophy and science; Aristotle later argued that humans fulfil their potential only in a polis. The Athenian ...
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The polis (citizen-state) was ruled by warrior-citizens. Political debate kick-started philosophy and science; Aristotle later argued that humans fulfil their potential only in a polis. The Athenian ideals of equality before the law, freedom of speech, and government by the people were reflected in popular law-courts and the citizens' assembly (direct democracy). Aeschylus portrayed the goddess Athene replacing divine vengeance with trial according to evidence and testimony before a citizens' jury. Plato, widely regarded as the founder of political philosophy, grounded political order on a theory of knowledge and rational dialectic; he wanted to replace democracy with philosopher-kings. But he later proposed a balance between experts and a citizen assembly under the sovereignty of the laws. His method was more influential than his conclusions. Aristotle undertook empirical investigation of actual states (political science); he concluded that a mixture of rule by the few and the many was best.Less
The polis (citizen-state) was ruled by warrior-citizens. Political debate kick-started philosophy and science; Aristotle later argued that humans fulfil their potential only in a polis. The Athenian ideals of equality before the law, freedom of speech, and government by the people were reflected in popular law-courts and the citizens' assembly (direct democracy). Aeschylus portrayed the goddess Athene replacing divine vengeance with trial according to evidence and testimony before a citizens' jury. Plato, widely regarded as the founder of political philosophy, grounded political order on a theory of knowledge and rational dialectic; he wanted to replace democracy with philosopher-kings. But he later proposed a balance between experts and a citizen assembly under the sovereignty of the laws. His method was more influential than his conclusions. Aristotle undertook empirical investigation of actual states (political science); he concluded that a mixture of rule by the few and the many was best.
Peter Liddel
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199226580
- eISBN:
- 9780191710186
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199226580.001.0001
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, European History: BCE to 500CE
By developing a notion of civic obligation, this book attempts to re‐interpret the nature of individual liberty in ancient Athens. Its primary concern is to elucidate how the considerable obligations ...
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By developing a notion of civic obligation, this book attempts to re‐interpret the nature of individual liberty in ancient Athens. Its primary concern is to elucidate how the considerable obligations of the citizen to the city‐state (polis) and community (known here as civic obligations) were reconciled with ideas about individual liberty, and how this reconciliation was negotiated, performed, and presented in the oratory of the Athenian law‐courts, assembly, and through the publication of inscriptions. This work assesses the extent to which Rawls' model of liberty, consisting of his advocacy of renewed conventional modes of justice and liberty, might be used to elucidate the kind of liberty that existed in the ancient Greek city. The historical context is late 4th‐century Athens, during which period it is possible to observe a growing concern, expressed in the oratorical and epigraphical sources, for the performance by citizens of obligations, epitomized in the notion of good citizenship which emerges in Lycurgus' speech Against Leocrates. The core of the work analyses the ways in which the civic obligations were negotiated in oratorical and epigraphical modes of expression, examines comprehensively the substance of those obligations, and the ways in which their virtuous performance was recorded and used as a tool of self‐promotion. The final chapter measures the survey of Athens with that gleaned from the theory of Rawls: notwithstanding certain historical peculiarities, it is suggested that the model may be a useful one for thinking about city‐states and other organizations beyond fourth‐century Athens.Less
By developing a notion of civic obligation, this book attempts to re‐interpret the nature of individual liberty in ancient Athens. Its primary concern is to elucidate how the considerable obligations of the citizen to the city‐state (polis) and community (known here as civic obligations) were reconciled with ideas about individual liberty, and how this reconciliation was negotiated, performed, and presented in the oratory of the Athenian law‐courts, assembly, and through the publication of inscriptions. This work assesses the extent to which Rawls' model of liberty, consisting of his advocacy of renewed conventional modes of justice and liberty, might be used to elucidate the kind of liberty that existed in the ancient Greek city. The historical context is late 4th‐century Athens, during which period it is possible to observe a growing concern, expressed in the oratorical and epigraphical sources, for the performance by citizens of obligations, epitomized in the notion of good citizenship which emerges in Lycurgus' speech Against Leocrates. The core of the work analyses the ways in which the civic obligations were negotiated in oratorical and epigraphical modes of expression, examines comprehensively the substance of those obligations, and the ways in which their virtuous performance was recorded and used as a tool of self‐promotion. The final chapter measures the survey of Athens with that gleaned from the theory of Rawls: notwithstanding certain historical peculiarities, it is suggested that the model may be a useful one for thinking about city‐states and other organizations beyond fourth‐century Athens.
M. E. Bratchel
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199542901
- eISBN:
- 9780191715655
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199542901.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History
The book traces the creation of the Lucchese state from classical antiquity to the end of the 15th century. It describes and explains the geographical configuration, institutional organization, and ...
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The book traces the creation of the Lucchese state from classical antiquity to the end of the 15th century. It describes and explains the geographical configuration, institutional organization, and social structures of an Italian city‐state that retained its independence in a world of much larger political entities. Medieval Lucca ruled over a relatively large city territory. The book argues that the region over which Lucca aspired to rule corresponded with its ecclesiastical diocese. Precise borders were the product of inter‐city warfare; but in early medieval Italy the diocese provided a basic framework in a world of fragmenting authority. The early chapters discuss not only the origins and evolving shape of the city territory, but also the firm control exercised by the city over its territory. Though not unique in this respect, Lucca provides a particularly strong example of the centralization of political and juridical power upon the hegemonic city. Lucca was especially innovative and precocious in the early division of its dominions into compact vicariates. Indeed Florence's restructuring of its own dominions was modelled on lands conquered during the fourteenth century from its western neighbour. The book asks how far Lucca's troubled political history in the fourteenth century subverted the earlier development of administrative institutions. Neither the disasters of the 14th century nor the decades of princely rule at the beginning of the 15th century brought a radical change of direction. The overview of the history of the Lucchese state from classical times provides the necessary background to the book's ultimate objective: the analysis in the final two chapters of the politico‐administrative and socio‐economic characteristics of the state that emerged from the Florentine wars of the 1430s. The final chapters compare Lucca with the new territorial or regional states of the Renaissance that have figured so largely in the historical literature, and ask whether the defining qualities of a city‐state retarded the greater market integration that historians have sometimes attributed to the newer political formations.Less
The book traces the creation of the Lucchese state from classical antiquity to the end of the 15th century. It describes and explains the geographical configuration, institutional organization, and social structures of an Italian city‐state that retained its independence in a world of much larger political entities. Medieval Lucca ruled over a relatively large city territory. The book argues that the region over which Lucca aspired to rule corresponded with its ecclesiastical diocese. Precise borders were the product of inter‐city warfare; but in early medieval Italy the diocese provided a basic framework in a world of fragmenting authority. The early chapters discuss not only the origins and evolving shape of the city territory, but also the firm control exercised by the city over its territory. Though not unique in this respect, Lucca provides a particularly strong example of the centralization of political and juridical power upon the hegemonic city. Lucca was especially innovative and precocious in the early division of its dominions into compact vicariates. Indeed Florence's restructuring of its own dominions was modelled on lands conquered during the fourteenth century from its western neighbour. The book asks how far Lucca's troubled political history in the fourteenth century subverted the earlier development of administrative institutions. Neither the disasters of the 14th century nor the decades of princely rule at the beginning of the 15th century brought a radical change of direction. The overview of the history of the Lucchese state from classical times provides the necessary background to the book's ultimate objective: the analysis in the final two chapters of the politico‐administrative and socio‐economic characteristics of the state that emerged from the Florentine wars of the 1430s. The final chapters compare Lucca with the new territorial or regional states of the Renaissance that have figured so largely in the historical literature, and ask whether the defining qualities of a city‐state retarded the greater market integration that historians have sometimes attributed to the newer political formations.
M. E. Bratchel
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199542901
- eISBN:
- 9780191715655
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199542901.003.0006
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History
In earlier chapters, political, administrative, social, and economic ingredients were forged into an integrated history of the developing Lucchese state. For purposes of a more detailed analysis, the ...
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In earlier chapters, political, administrative, social, and economic ingredients were forged into an integrated history of the developing Lucchese state. For purposes of a more detailed analysis, the political and administrative features of the 15th‐century Lucchesia have been separated from social and economic issues. This chapter looks at the mature political and administrative entity that was 15th‐century Lucca. By the mid‐15th century Lucca had attained the borders that it was to retain—with only minor adjustments—throughout the remaining centuries of independence. The picture that emerges is of a very weak state, which exercised a very fragile control, particularly in border areas. But the Lucchese state, as in previous centuries, was largely free of rival, autonomous jurisdictions within its borders. And its administrative structures remained highly centralized and intrusive. The chapter compares Lucca, as a somewhat anachronistic relic of the old‐style Italian city‐state, with the new regional powers of 15th‐century Italy. This comparison is complicated by the diverse and fluid characteristics of the new regional formations.Less
In earlier chapters, political, administrative, social, and economic ingredients were forged into an integrated history of the developing Lucchese state. For purposes of a more detailed analysis, the political and administrative features of the 15th‐century Lucchesia have been separated from social and economic issues. This chapter looks at the mature political and administrative entity that was 15th‐century Lucca. By the mid‐15th century Lucca had attained the borders that it was to retain—with only minor adjustments—throughout the remaining centuries of independence. The picture that emerges is of a very weak state, which exercised a very fragile control, particularly in border areas. But the Lucchese state, as in previous centuries, was largely free of rival, autonomous jurisdictions within its borders. And its administrative structures remained highly centralized and intrusive. The chapter compares Lucca, as a somewhat anachronistic relic of the old‐style Italian city‐state, with the new regional powers of 15th‐century Italy. This comparison is complicated by the diverse and fluid characteristics of the new regional formations.
Tony Travers
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780197266465
- eISBN:
- 9780191879609
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197266465.003.0010
- Subject:
- Political Science, UK Politics
London, by virtue of its large population, has long been the dominant city within the UK. It has had a number of forms of government since the mid-19th century including, most recently, the creation ...
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London, by virtue of its large population, has long been the dominant city within the UK. It has had a number of forms of government since the mid-19th century including, most recently, the creation of a mayor and assembly (the Greater London Authority (GLA)). This post-2000 system created a form of devolution within England, albeit a more limited one than in Scotland and Wales. The office of Mayor of London is now well established and has delivered a number of significant policy changes since inception. On occasion, the mayor has proved sufficiently powerful to prevail over the Government. London’s difference and economic success has led people in other parts of the country to feel that perhaps the capital is over-dominant and problematic. Londoners themselves feel a sense of difference, begging the question of how far the city could move towards further devolution or even to become a separate ‘city state’.Less
London, by virtue of its large population, has long been the dominant city within the UK. It has had a number of forms of government since the mid-19th century including, most recently, the creation of a mayor and assembly (the Greater London Authority (GLA)). This post-2000 system created a form of devolution within England, albeit a more limited one than in Scotland and Wales. The office of Mayor of London is now well established and has delivered a number of significant policy changes since inception. On occasion, the mayor has proved sufficiently powerful to prevail over the Government. London’s difference and economic success has led people in other parts of the country to feel that perhaps the capital is over-dominant and problematic. Londoners themselves feel a sense of difference, begging the question of how far the city could move towards further devolution or even to become a separate ‘city state’.
Trevor Dean
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197264577
- eISBN:
- 9780191734267
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197264577.003.0010
- Subject:
- History, Historiography
Philip James Jones (1921–2006), a Fellow of the British Academy, was one of the most distinguished, complex, and challenging of medieval historians. His works on the Italian city-states of the ...
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Philip James Jones (1921–2006), a Fellow of the British Academy, was one of the most distinguished, complex, and challenging of medieval historians. His works on the Italian city-states of the thirteenth to fifteenth centuries and on Italy's agrarian history are monuments built to last, benchmarks that defined the field for a generation. Jones was elected a Fellow of the British Academy in 1984 and was awarded the Serena Medal for Italian studies in 1988. He won a major open scholarship in Modern History at Wadham College, University of Oxford. Jones took a First in Modern History in 1945 and was appointed to a research studentship (Senior Demyship) at Magdalen College. He had also secured a temporary teaching post at Glasgow University. All Jones's previous works flowed into the 700 pages of his mammoth book Italian City-State: from Commune to Signoria.Less
Philip James Jones (1921–2006), a Fellow of the British Academy, was one of the most distinguished, complex, and challenging of medieval historians. His works on the Italian city-states of the thirteenth to fifteenth centuries and on Italy's agrarian history are monuments built to last, benchmarks that defined the field for a generation. Jones was elected a Fellow of the British Academy in 1984 and was awarded the Serena Medal for Italian studies in 1988. He won a major open scholarship in Modern History at Wadham College, University of Oxford. Jones took a First in Modern History in 1945 and was appointed to a research studentship (Senior Demyship) at Magdalen College. He had also secured a temporary teaching post at Glasgow University. All Jones's previous works flowed into the 700 pages of his mammoth book Italian City-State: from Commune to Signoria.
Tom Scott
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199274604
- eISBN:
- 9780191738685
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199274604.003.0007
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Medieval History
City‐states after 1500 were not a spent force; rather, they survived by transformation and adjustment, even if their increasingly aristocratic governments have been denounced as oligarchies which ...
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City‐states after 1500 were not a spent force; rather, they survived by transformation and adjustment, even if their increasingly aristocratic governments have been denounced as oligarchies which betrayed republican liberty. The Swiss Confederation continued to exert a political pull, though sometimes by overt aggression (Bernese conquest of the Vaud). The Dutch United Provinces display some similarities with city‐states. Many cities bargained with their rulers (especially capital cities and ports as outlets of commercial empires) to carve out autonomy. Others adapted to foreign rule internally or entered into new commercial/financial alliances externally. In Italy, the attraction of the city‐state encouraged lesser towns to emulate them, even acquiring their own small contadi (quasi‐città). Only a very few city‐states disappeared, in the sense of being stripped of territory and autonomy.Less
City‐states after 1500 were not a spent force; rather, they survived by transformation and adjustment, even if their increasingly aristocratic governments have been denounced as oligarchies which betrayed republican liberty. The Swiss Confederation continued to exert a political pull, though sometimes by overt aggression (Bernese conquest of the Vaud). The Dutch United Provinces display some similarities with city‐states. Many cities bargained with their rulers (especially capital cities and ports as outlets of commercial empires) to carve out autonomy. Others adapted to foreign rule internally or entered into new commercial/financial alliances externally. In Italy, the attraction of the city‐state encouraged lesser towns to emulate them, even acquiring their own small contadi (quasi‐città). Only a very few city‐states disappeared, in the sense of being stripped of territory and autonomy.
M. E. Bratchel
- Published in print:
- 1995
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198204848
- eISBN:
- 9780191676420
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198204848.003.0001
- Subject:
- History, European Medieval History
This introductory chapter discusses the Tuscan city-state of Lucca in the 15th century. It sets out the purpose of the book, which is explore through the Lucchese case-study a range of issues which ...
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This introductory chapter discusses the Tuscan city-state of Lucca in the 15th century. It sets out the purpose of the book, which is explore through the Lucchese case-study a range of issues which are central to current Italian Renaissance scholarship. The story is of a highly distinctive political entity striving to find and defend its place in the changing and largely hostile arena of an Italian politics dominated by the ambitions of a dwindling number of larger territorial states.Less
This introductory chapter discusses the Tuscan city-state of Lucca in the 15th century. It sets out the purpose of the book, which is explore through the Lucchese case-study a range of issues which are central to current Italian Renaissance scholarship. The story is of a highly distinctive political entity striving to find and defend its place in the changing and largely hostile arena of an Italian politics dominated by the ambitions of a dwindling number of larger territorial states.
Thomas N. Mitchell
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780300215038
- eISBN:
- 9780300217353
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300215038.003.0002
- Subject:
- History, Ancient History / Archaeology
This chapter points to the Greek polis, or city-state, as the point of origin for Greek democracy. The polis is the dominant form of political organization that developed in the Greek world between ...
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This chapter points to the Greek polis, or city-state, as the point of origin for Greek democracy. The polis is the dominant form of political organization that developed in the Greek world between 800 and 500 B.C. By the end of the fifth century, there were over 800 of these city-states throughout the Greek world and, while many showed marked differences in their political structures and ideals, they all had many common characteristics and similarities of political culture, out of which emerged seminal political principles and ideals that became embedded in Western political thought and provided the bedrock of the democratic ideal.Less
This chapter points to the Greek polis, or city-state, as the point of origin for Greek democracy. The polis is the dominant form of political organization that developed in the Greek world between 800 and 500 B.C. By the end of the fifth century, there were over 800 of these city-states throughout the Greek world and, while many showed marked differences in their political structures and ideals, they all had many common characteristics and similarities of political culture, out of which emerged seminal political principles and ideals that became embedded in Western political thought and provided the bedrock of the democratic ideal.
Nicholas White
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198250593
- eISBN:
- 9780191598661
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198250592.003.0004
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Ancient Philosophy
One of the main vehicles for the reconciliation of individual and social happiness that has supposedly been characteristic of Greek ethics is the concept of the polis. In the Hegelian tradition it ...
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One of the main vehicles for the reconciliation of individual and social happiness that has supposedly been characteristic of Greek ethics is the concept of the polis. In the Hegelian tradition it has been thought that the Greeks reduced all norms and values to standards laid down by and for the city‐state, and that this fact made it possible for them to hold that the well‐being of an individual is entirely compatible with the well‐being of his fellow‐citizens and of the city‐state as a whole. However, the Greeks were familiar with and attached substantial weight to non‐polis‐based norms and values, even universalist ones like the Golden Rule, and made ample conceptual room for conflict between the happiness of a citizen and that of his community. Moreover, Greek attitudes on this issue were variegated, not uniform.Less
One of the main vehicles for the reconciliation of individual and social happiness that has supposedly been characteristic of Greek ethics is the concept of the polis. In the Hegelian tradition it has been thought that the Greeks reduced all norms and values to standards laid down by and for the city‐state, and that this fact made it possible for them to hold that the well‐being of an individual is entirely compatible with the well‐being of his fellow‐citizens and of the city‐state as a whole. However, the Greeks were familiar with and attached substantial weight to non‐polis‐based norms and values, even universalist ones like the Golden Rule, and made ample conceptual room for conflict between the happiness of a citizen and that of his community. Moreover, Greek attitudes on this issue were variegated, not uniform.
Nicholas White
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198250593
- eISBN:
- 9780191598661
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198250592.003.0005
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Ancient Philosophy
Before Plato there are ample cases in which Greek poets, philosophers, and politicians recognize the possibility that individual and social good can conflict. Nor does Plato think that a full ...
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Before Plato there are ample cases in which Greek poets, philosophers, and politicians recognize the possibility that individual and social good can conflict. Nor does Plato think that a full understanding of the notion of one's good must demonstrate that it cannot conflict with standards of justice. On the contrary, Plato holds that such conflicts can occur even in the case of the rulers of his ideal city‐state. This idea is not contradicted by evidence of other works, such as the Meno, the Symposium, and the Philebus. Nevertheless, although Plato's view admits what is normally thought to be a characteristically Kantian conflict of ethical standards with one's good, it still possesses some distinctly eudaimonistic elements that are at variance with the Kantian view.Less
Before Plato there are ample cases in which Greek poets, philosophers, and politicians recognize the possibility that individual and social good can conflict. Nor does Plato think that a full understanding of the notion of one's good must demonstrate that it cannot conflict with standards of justice. On the contrary, Plato holds that such conflicts can occur even in the case of the rulers of his ideal city‐state. This idea is not contradicted by evidence of other works, such as the Meno, the Symposium, and the Philebus. Nevertheless, although Plato's view admits what is normally thought to be a characteristically Kantian conflict of ethical standards with one's good, it still possesses some distinctly eudaimonistic elements that are at variance with the Kantian view.
Julia Annas
- Published in print:
- 1995
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195096521
- eISBN:
- 9780199833061
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195096525.003.0005
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Ancient Philosophy
Aristotle argues that the virtues develop from nature as matter (mere nature) to nature as form, an ideal. Nature is also, however, what is ‘always or for the most part’. These points are linked to ...
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Aristotle argues that the virtues develop from nature as matter (mere nature) to nature as form, an ideal. Nature is also, however, what is ‘always or for the most part’. These points are linked to Aristotle's controversial uses of nature in discussing the city‐state, slavery, and moneymaking; on this issue, his arguments are inconsistent.Less
Aristotle argues that the virtues develop from nature as matter (mere nature) to nature as form, an ideal. Nature is also, however, what is ‘always or for the most part’. These points are linked to Aristotle's controversial uses of nature in discussing the city‐state, slavery, and moneymaking; on this issue, his arguments are inconsistent.
Kathleen M. German
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- May 2019
- ISBN:
- 9781496812353
- eISBN:
- 9781496812391
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Mississippi
- DOI:
- 10.14325/mississippi/9781496812353.003.0003
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
This chapter unravels the assumptions of citizenship rooted in the early city-states of Greece and Rome that form the basis for rewards and responsibilities in the twentieth century United States. It ...
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This chapter unravels the assumptions of citizenship rooted in the early city-states of Greece and Rome that form the basis for rewards and responsibilities in the twentieth century United States. It argues that military service has historically been linked to citizenship and the privileges gained through citizenship.Less
This chapter unravels the assumptions of citizenship rooted in the early city-states of Greece and Rome that form the basis for rewards and responsibilities in the twentieth century United States. It argues that military service has historically been linked to citizenship and the privileges gained through citizenship.
Gregory Woolf
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780748615650
- eISBN:
- 9780748650989
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748615650.003.0018
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Ancient Religions
This chapter examines one ordering principle that has recently become especially prominent in the study of the cults of the provinces in Rome, referred as the ‘polis-religion model’. However, that ...
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This chapter examines one ordering principle that has recently become especially prominent in the study of the cults of the provinces in Rome, referred as the ‘polis-religion model’. However, that model of ancient religion itself has an ideological component. The chapter considers what difference it makes to our understanding of the cults of the Roman provinces if the polis-religion model is regarded not as the key to understanding their organisation, but simply as one among several ordering principles, and an interested one at that. It begins by outlining the main features of the polis-religion model. Those who make use of it begin from seeing ancient religion as essentially homologous with the social and political structures of ancient societies. The spread of the city-state in Greece, through the Mediterranean basin and in Hellenistic and Roman empires, led to the extension of polis-religion.Less
This chapter examines one ordering principle that has recently become especially prominent in the study of the cults of the provinces in Rome, referred as the ‘polis-religion model’. However, that model of ancient religion itself has an ideological component. The chapter considers what difference it makes to our understanding of the cults of the Roman provinces if the polis-religion model is regarded not as the key to understanding their organisation, but simply as one among several ordering principles, and an interested one at that. It begins by outlining the main features of the polis-religion model. Those who make use of it begin from seeing ancient religion as essentially homologous with the social and political structures of ancient societies. The spread of the city-state in Greece, through the Mediterranean basin and in Hellenistic and Roman empires, led to the extension of polis-religion.
Anthony Snodgrass
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780748623334
- eISBN:
- 9780748653577
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748623334.003.0013
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Archaeology: Classical
Peer polity interaction, like many concepts recently under discussion in archaeological circles, is by no means the exclusive property of archaeology. One of the problems on which the model of peer ...
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Peer polity interaction, like many concepts recently under discussion in archaeological circles, is by no means the exclusive property of archaeology. One of the problems on which the model of peer polity interaction could be expected to throw light is that of the origins of the Greek (or any other) form of state. The operations of peer polity interaction are by no means confined to fully fledged states. For the sake of accuracy, it is better to replace the familiar phrase ‘city state’, with the Greek term polis, denoting in its strict sense a polity consisting of a settlement and its territory, politically united with one another, and independent of other polities. The fifth-century polis of Mycenae had become a very small place; yet Thucydides assumes without question that he can use it as a measure of the size and power of Agamemnon's capital, and thus make a fair comparison with contemporary Athens. The case of classical Greece has proved able to furnish a series of fairly concrete instances of the operation of peer polity interaction.Less
Peer polity interaction, like many concepts recently under discussion in archaeological circles, is by no means the exclusive property of archaeology. One of the problems on which the model of peer polity interaction could be expected to throw light is that of the origins of the Greek (or any other) form of state. The operations of peer polity interaction are by no means confined to fully fledged states. For the sake of accuracy, it is better to replace the familiar phrase ‘city state’, with the Greek term polis, denoting in its strict sense a polity consisting of a settlement and its territory, politically united with one another, and independent of other polities. The fifth-century polis of Mycenae had become a very small place; yet Thucydides assumes without question that he can use it as a measure of the size and power of Agamemnon's capital, and thus make a fair comparison with contemporary Athens. The case of classical Greece has proved able to furnish a series of fairly concrete instances of the operation of peer polity interaction.
Marcel Detienne
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- March 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780823226443
- eISBN:
- 9780823237043
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Fordham University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5422/fso/9780823226443.003.0002
- Subject:
- Religion, World Religions
This chapter focuses on the role of gods in politics in the Greek city-state, the polis, starting out from the observation of concrete practices that, in the ...
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This chapter focuses on the role of gods in politics in the Greek city-state, the polis, starting out from the observation of concrete practices that, in the geographical, linguistic, historical, and ethnic diversity of ancient Greece and its legacy, constitute what it calls the political domain. One such constituent is the phenomenon of the assembly. These first experimentations in the early Greek cities, with the independence of the political, extended their deliberations even to the affairs of the gods. While the gods had their place in politics, politics was seen as originally and ultimately a matter of human autonomy, that is to say, of “law unto itself”. What the comparativist approach would invite us to see is, first of all, the elementary forms of a concrete “politico-religious configuration”, before taking, in all too abstract ways, the combination of politics and religion, or that of theology and politics, or even that of politics and ritual as some kind of universal standard.Less
This chapter focuses on the role of gods in politics in the Greek city-state, the polis, starting out from the observation of concrete practices that, in the geographical, linguistic, historical, and ethnic diversity of ancient Greece and its legacy, constitute what it calls the political domain. One such constituent is the phenomenon of the assembly. These first experimentations in the early Greek cities, with the independence of the political, extended their deliberations even to the affairs of the gods. While the gods had their place in politics, politics was seen as originally and ultimately a matter of human autonomy, that is to say, of “law unto itself”. What the comparativist approach would invite us to see is, first of all, the elementary forms of a concrete “politico-religious configuration”, before taking, in all too abstract ways, the combination of politics and religion, or that of theology and politics, or even that of politics and ritual as some kind of universal standard.
Pietro Pucci
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- August 2016
- ISBN:
- 9781501700613
- eISBN:
- 9781501704055
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9781501700613.003.0024
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Plays and Playwrights: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This chapter examines Teiresias's attempt to convince Pentheus to accept Dionysism. In the first part of his appeal to Pentheus, before the king orders his men to destroy Teiresias's religious seat, ...
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This chapter examines Teiresias's attempt to convince Pentheus to accept Dionysism. In the first part of his appeal to Pentheus, before the king orders his men to destroy Teiresias's religious seat, Teiresias says: “Come on, Pentheus, believe me, do not be too confident that sovereignty rules men.” Teiresias could not be more explicit about the weakness of political power in relation to other powers, especially in satisfying the human need to forget everyday sufferings. However, Pentheus rejects Teiresias's and Cadmus's political advice and replaces their arguments with his own perverse obsessions. This chapter discusses Bacchae's presentation of a city-state in which sexual seduction satisfies the leaders' lechery and/or helps their political success. It also considers Teiresias's response to Pentheus's misrepresentation of the Bacchants' sexuality.Less
This chapter examines Teiresias's attempt to convince Pentheus to accept Dionysism. In the first part of his appeal to Pentheus, before the king orders his men to destroy Teiresias's religious seat, Teiresias says: “Come on, Pentheus, believe me, do not be too confident that sovereignty rules men.” Teiresias could not be more explicit about the weakness of political power in relation to other powers, especially in satisfying the human need to forget everyday sufferings. However, Pentheus rejects Teiresias's and Cadmus's political advice and replaces their arguments with his own perverse obsessions. This chapter discusses Bacchae's presentation of a city-state in which sexual seduction satisfies the leaders' lechery and/or helps their political success. It also considers Teiresias's response to Pentheus's misrepresentation of the Bacchants' sexuality.
D.M. Carter
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2014
- ISBN:
- 9781904675501
- eISBN:
- 9781781385463
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5949/liverpool/9781904675501.001.0001
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Literary Studies: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This book demonstrates how Greek tragedy can be called a political art form and why this is an exciting idea both for modern scholarship and to modern theatre producers and audiences. The central ...
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This book demonstrates how Greek tragedy can be called a political art form and why this is an exciting idea both for modern scholarship and to modern theatre producers and audiences. The central argument is that Greek tragedy made itself politically relevant to the members of the Greek city-state (polis) generally, rather than to Athenian democracy narrowly. The book begins by explaining the historical and theatrical context of first performance and then proceeds (in chapter 2) through a critical analysis of modern scholarly approaches to tragic politics. Chapter 3 gives a working definition of ‘political’ as ‘a concern with human beings as part of the community of the polis’ and shows how these concerns are manifest in the very shape (staging, performance) of tragedy. Chapter 4 discusses four political plays and identifies political issues that would have mattered to their original audience. Chapter 5 considers two of these four plays in modern performance and draws conclusions from the different political readings thus yielded: modern political theatre has often been counter-cultural; ancient Greek tragedy, for all that it posed awkward questions relevant to the life of the polis, was part of the establishment.Less
This book demonstrates how Greek tragedy can be called a political art form and why this is an exciting idea both for modern scholarship and to modern theatre producers and audiences. The central argument is that Greek tragedy made itself politically relevant to the members of the Greek city-state (polis) generally, rather than to Athenian democracy narrowly. The book begins by explaining the historical and theatrical context of first performance and then proceeds (in chapter 2) through a critical analysis of modern scholarly approaches to tragic politics. Chapter 3 gives a working definition of ‘political’ as ‘a concern with human beings as part of the community of the polis’ and shows how these concerns are manifest in the very shape (staging, performance) of tragedy. Chapter 4 discusses four political plays and identifies political issues that would have mattered to their original audience. Chapter 5 considers two of these four plays in modern performance and draws conclusions from the different political readings thus yielded: modern political theatre has often been counter-cultural; ancient Greek tragedy, for all that it posed awkward questions relevant to the life of the polis, was part of the establishment.
