Western democracy is now at a critical juncture. Some worry that power has been wrested from the people and placed in the hands of a small political elite. Others argue that the democratic system gives too much power to a populace that is largely ill-informed and easily swayed by demagogues. This classic study of democratic principles is thus now more relevant than ever. A renowned historian of antiquity and political philosophy, Sir M.I. Finley offers a comparative analysis of Greek and (...) modern conceptions of democracy. As he puts the ancient Greeks in dialogue with their contemporary counterparts, Finley tackles some of the most pressing issues of our day, including public apathy, partisanship, consensus politics, distrust of professional politicians, and the limits of free speech. Including three lectures that Finley delivered at Rutgers University, plus two additional essays that further illuminate his thinking, _Democracy Ancient and Modern _explores the dramatic differences between the close-knit civil society of the ancient Greeks and our own atomized mass societies. By mapping out democracy’s past and its present manifestations, this book helps us plot a course for democracy’s future. (shrink)

Book synopsis: With the emergence of democracy in the city-state of Athens in the years around 460 BC, public speaking became an essential skill for politicians in the Assemblies and Councils - and even for ordinary citizens in the courts of law. In response, the technique of rhetoric rapidly developed, bringing virtuoso performances and a host of practical manuals for the layman. While many of these were little more than collections of debaters' tricks, the Art of Rhetoric held a far (...) deeper purpose. Here Aristotle establishes the methods of informal reasoning, provides the first aesthetic evaluation of prose style and offers detailed observations on character and the emotions. Hugely influential upon later Western culture, the Art of Rhetoric is a fascinating consideration of the force of persuasion and sophistry, and a compelling guide to the principles behind oratorical skill. (shrink)

In this short essay, Kant completes his political theory and philosophy of history, considering the prospects for peace among nations and addressing questions that remain central to our thoughts about nationalism, war, and peace. Ted Humphrey provides an eminently readable translation, along with a brief introduction that sketches Kant's argument.

Discusses contemporary notions of the self, and examines their origins, development, and effects.

In this classic text, Kant sets out to articulate and defend the Categorical Imperative - the fundamental principle that underlies moral reasoning - and to lay the foundation for a comprehensive account of justice and human virtues. This new edition and translation of Kant's work is designed especially for students. An extensive and comprehensive introduction explains the central concepts of Groundwork and looks at Kant's main lines of argument. Detailed notes aim to clarify Kant's thoughts and to correct some common (...) misunderstandings of his doctrines. (shrink)

Part of the Studies in Crime and Public Policy series, this book, written by one of the top philosophers of punishment, examines the main trends in penal theorizing over the past three decades. Duff asks what can justify criminal punishment, and then explores the legitimacy of actual practices by examining what would count as adequate justification for them. Duff argues that a "communicative conception of punishment," which he presents as a third way between consequentialist and retributive theories, offers the most (...) fruitful way of understanding punishment's meaning and justification. Duff addresses such questions as how much sentences should be constrained by proportionality requirements; what modalities of punishment best communicate their intended meaning; and what decisionmaking procedures he envisions. This book will appeal to criminologists, philosophers, and others interested in theories of punishment. (shrink)

'Most of us are still groping for answers about what makes life worth living, or what confers meaning on individual lives', writes Charles Taylor in Sources of the Self. 'This is an essentially modern predicament.' Charles Taylor's latest book sets out to define the modern identity by tracing its genesis, analysing the writings of such thinkers as Augustine, Descartes, Montaigne, Luther, and many others. This then serves as a starting point for a renewed understanding of modernity. Taylor argues that modern (...) subjectivity has its roots in ideas of human good, and is in fact the result of our long efforts to define and attain the good. The modern turn inwards is far from being a disastrous rejection of rationality, as its critics contend, but has at its heart what Taylor calls the affirmation of ordinary life. He concludes that the modern identity, and its attendant rejection of an objective order of reason, is far richer in moral sources that its detractors allow. Sources of the Self provides a decisive defence of the modern order and a sharp rebuff to its critics. (shrink)

Les séminaires de Cornelius Castoriadis à l'EHESS, dont le contenu a nourri quelques-uns des textes les plus importants de la série des Carrefours du labyrinthe, devaient servir de matériau à son dernier grand ouvrage, La Création humaine, qu'il n'a malheureusement pu mener à son terme. Sur Le Politique de Platon reprenait une partie de l'enseignement de l'année 1986. On trouvera dans le présent volume, qui inaugure la publication intégrale de ses séminaires, la transcription - effectuée par Castoriadis lui-même - de (...) ceux de l'année 1986-1987. Il y aborde deux questions pour lui indissociables : qu'en est-il du sujet aujourd'hui? Et : dans quelle mesure y a-t-il création social-historique de la vérité? Sujet et vérité dans le monde social-historique est un nouveau témoignage d'une pensée puissamment originale, pour laquelle la société, l'histoire et la psyché humaine sont les objets privilégiés de la réflexion philosophique. (shrink)

En travaillant aussi bien sur le droit, la sociologie, la psychologie ou la philologie du monde grec ancien, Louis Gernet a fondé l'interdisciplinarité dans les sciences humaines. Dans ce voyage à la recherche du "soi", notion indispensable à la naissance des concepts moraux et juridiques, Gernet recherche l'origine du droit criminel qui va de pair avec l'avènement de la pensée rationnelle. Avec l'établissement d'une justice organisée, qui élabore les notions de délit, de peine, d'outrage, de responsabilité, c'est toute la société (...) qui prend conscience d'elle-même en concevant des institutions proprement humaines. A travers l'analyse, précise et fine, des institutions, des oeuvres écrites, des documents, la question que Gernet ne cessa de poser au monde ancien nous concerne de façon directe : pourquoi et comment se sont constitués ces formes de vie sociale, ces modes de pensée où l'Occident situe son origine, où il croit pouvoir se reconnaître et qui servent aujourd'hui encore à la culture européenne de référence et de justification? (shrink)

Les Grecs, toujours si jaloux de leur independance, ont toujours ete fiers de proclamer leur obeissance aux lois. De fait, ils ne cherchaient pas a definir leurs droits et leurs libertes par rapport a la cite dont ils faisaient partie et a laquelle ils s'identifiaient: ils demandaient seulement que cette cite elle-meme fut regie par une regle a elle et non point par un homme. La loi etait ainsi le support et le garant de toute leur vie politique. (...)Mais cette (...) loi, dont ils etaient si fiers, n'assumait ce role a leurs yeux que parce qu'elle etait leur oeuvre et tirait son pouvoir d'un consentement initial. Autrement dit, elle n'avait point de garant dont elle put se reclamer: la loi grecque n'etait pas, comme la loi juive par exemple, une loi revelee. Elle etait nee des conventions humaines et des coutumes. (...) Cette double circonstance devait susciter autour de la loi des reflexions des debats, des attaques et des justifications: ainsi s'explique pour une bonne part, le nombre et l'importance des textes grecs relatifs a la loi. En outre, la reflexion fut stimulee par le fait qu'a Athenes, au Y" siecle, avec l'epanouissement de la pensee critique et l'influence des sophistes, toutes les valeurs et toutes les notions furent analysees, definies, contestees, dans un elan intellectuel sans pareil. (...) L'idee de loi ne fait pas exception et la crise qu'elle connut aida tres largement a en preciser les contours.Cette crise, qui est capitale pour l'histoire de la cite grecque comme pour celle des doctrines politiques en general, constitue le sujet du present ouvrage. ].d.R. (shrink)

Meier shows how the structure of Greek communal life gave individuals a civic role and discusses a crucial reform that institutionalized the idea of equality ...

In this pathbreaking study, Axel Honneth argues that "the struggle for recognition" is, and should be, at the center of social conflicts.

In Between Facts and Norms, Jürgen Habermas works out the legal and political implications of his Theory of Communicative Action (1981), bringing to fruition the project announced with his publication of The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere in 1962. This new work is a major contribution to recent debates on the rule of law and the possibilities of democracy in postindustrial societies, but it is much more. The introduction by William Rehg succinctly captures the special nature of the work, (...) noting that it offers a sweeping, sociologically informed conceptualization of law and basic rights, a normative account of the rule of law and the constitutional state, an attempt to bridge normative and empirical approaches to democracy, and an account of the social context required for democracy. Finally, the work frames and caps these arguments with a bold proposal for a new paradigm of law that goes beyond the dichotomies that have afflicted modern political theory from its inception and that still underlie current controversies between so-called liberals and civic republicans. The book includes a postscript written in 1994, which restates the argument in light of its initial reception, and two appendixes, which cover key developments that preceded the book. Habermas himself was actively involved in the translation, adapting the text as necessary to make it more accessible to English-speaking readers. (shrink)

Immanuel Kant's Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals ranks alongside Plato's Republic and Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics as one of the most profound and influential works in moral philosophy ever written. In Kant's own words its aim is to search for and establish the supreme principle of morality, the categorical imperative. Kant argues that every human being is an end in himself or herself, never to be used as a means by others, and that moral obligation is an expression of the (...) human capacity for autonomy or self-government. This edition presents the acclaimed translation of the text by Mary Gregor, together with an introduction by Christine M. Korsgaard that examines and explains Kant's argument. (shrink)

Aristotle believes that an agent lacks virtue unless she enjoys the performance of virtuous actions, while Kant claims that the person who does her duty despite contrary inclinations exhibits a moral worth that the person who acts from inclination lacks. Despite these differences, this chapter argues that Aristotle and Kant share a distinctive view of the object of human choice and locus of moral value: that what we choose, and what has moral value, are not mere acts, but actions: acts (...) done for the sake of ends. Morally good actions embody a kind of intrinsic value that inspires us to do them from duty (in Kant) or for the sake of the noble (in Aristotle). The chapter traces the difference in their attitudes about doing one's duty with pleasure to a difference in their attitudes towards pleasure itself: Aristotle sees it as a perception of the good, while Kant thinks of it as mere feeling. (shrink)