Moses Finley's reflections on ancient and modern democracy, explicitly directed against the liberal mainstream of political science, but also - avant la lettre - against the belittling of Greek democracy that has become fashionable among post-Marxist radicals, can be taken as a starting point for further discussion of historical as well as theoretical questions. The points at issue have to do with the belated recognition of democracy as a part of the Greek tradition, but also with the divided and contested (...) modern tradition that grew out of this new perspective on the past. The French Revolution is crucial to both aspects of the problem. Although it can be shown that the well-known attempts of the revolutionaries to appropriate classical models did not - in the short run - radically alter the image of ancient Greece, the very experience of the revolution - both as an exceptionally dramatic historical event and as a key episode in a more long-term process - was bound to change modern perceptions of the classical world. The new understanding of Greek democracy, made possible by the revolution but not inspired by it, was first articulated by the radical wing of 19th-century liberalism; but it could, in due course, serve to develop a critique of liberalism. (shrink)

A interpretação de Cassirer da dívida intelectual de Kant para com Rousseau é conhecida e estabeleceu um marco real na crítica especializada de ambos os filósofos. No entanto, o exame desta dívida no interior do projeto cassireriano de constituição de uma Antropologia filosófica não foi ainda realizado, devido à rejeição de Cassirer das notáveis antropologias de Kant e Rousseau, que resultou na omissão deste tópico em An Essay on Man. Os manuscritos de Cassirer que testemunham a preparação dessa obra nos (...) ajudam a formar uma outra imagem, que posiciona Rousseau e Kant no centro do álbum de família da Antropologia filosófica. A compreensão da negligência de Cassirer a respeito dos projetos antropológicos de Kant e de Rousseau, bem como das causas possíveis da ausência deles na foto oficial constituem o objetivo do presente artigo. (shrink)

This article undertakes a comparative study of the conjectural histories of Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Adam Ferguson, focusing on the convergences in the moral and political ideals expressed and grounded in these histories. In comparison with Scots like Adam Smith and John Millar, the conjectural histories of Ferguson and Rousseau follow a similar historical trajectory as regards the development and progress of commercial, political and cultural arts. However, their assessment of the moral progress of humanity does not, or in a much (...) more limited way than in Smith and Millar, correlate with this trajectory. Rousseau and Ferguson see a candour and vigour in savage and barbarian societies that is much less easily supported by the complex socio-economic framework of modern, commercial societies. It is argued that the convergences in their conjectural histories arise from a similar fusion of these histories with Stoic and republican perspectives. While Rousseau and Ferguson do not see history as cyclical, they think that the forces that push towards moral decline are strong and can, on the political level, only be countered by firm republican policies. Furthermore, their shared Stoic ideal of the life lived according to nature informs their solutions for modern societies. (shrink)

A filosofia política de Rousseau sugere que há uma ligação íntima entre a garantia da liberdade e uma constituição radicalmente democrática da sociedade, especialmente no que se refere ao processo de tomada de decisões coletivas. Este texto procura explorar alguns aspectos dessa ligação entre igualitarismo e liberdade como não dominação, a partir da teoria da democracia proposta por Rousseau no Contrato social.