Free Speech and Democracy in Ancient Athens

ISBN-13: 9780521721585 / Angielski / Miękka / 2008 / 246 str.

Arlene W. Saxonhouse

Opis

Free speech in the ancient democracy was not a protected right but an expression of the freedom from hierarchy, awe, reverence and shame. That freedom was challenged by the consequences of the rejection of shame (aidos) which had served as a cohesive force within the polity. Through readings of Socrates's trial, Greek tragedy and comedy, Thucydides's History, and Plato's Protagoras, this volume explores the paradoxical connections between free speech, democracy, shame, and Socratic philosophy and Thucydidean history.

Recenzje

'… Free Speech and Democracy in Ancient Athens is an invigorating work that will be of interest to both classicists and political scientists/theorists alike.' Bryn Mawr Classical Review

Spis treści

Prologue: four stories; Part I. Introduction: 1. The legacy of free speech; 2. Democratic amnesia; Part II. Aidos: 3. The tale of two gyges: shame, community, and the public/private self; Part III. Parrhesia: The Practice of Free Speech in Ancient Athens: 4. The practice of free speech; 5. The trial of Socrates; Part IV. The Limits of Free Speech: 6. Truth and tragedy; 7. Thucydides's Assemblies; 8. Protagoras's shame and Socrates's speech; Conclusion: four paradoxes.