Homer and the Tradition of Political Philosophy

Homer and the Tradition of Political Philosophy PDF Author: Peter J. Ahrensdorf
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1009302590
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 335

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Book Description
In this book, Peter Ahrensdorf explores an overlooked but crucial role that Homer played in the thought of Plato, Machiavelli, and Nietzsche concerning, notably, the relationship between politics, religion, and philosophy; and in their debates about human nature, morality, the proper education for human excellence, and the best way of life. By studying Homer in conjunction with these three political philosophers, Ahrensdorf demonstrates that Homer was himself a philosophical thinker and educator. He presents the full force of Plato's critique of Homer and the paramount significance of Plato's achievement in winning honor for philosophy. Ahrensdorf also makes possible an appreciation of the powerful concerns expressed by Machiavelli and Nietzsche regarding that achievement. By uncovering and bringing to life the rich philosophic conversation among these four foundational thinkers, Ahrensdorf shows that there are many ways of living a philosophic life. His book broadens and deepens our understanding of what a philosopher is.

Homer and the Tradition of Political Philosophy

Homer and the Tradition of Political Philosophy PDF Author: Peter J. Ahrensdorf
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1009302590
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 335

Get Book Here

Book Description
In this book, Peter Ahrensdorf explores an overlooked but crucial role that Homer played in the thought of Plato, Machiavelli, and Nietzsche concerning, notably, the relationship between politics, religion, and philosophy; and in their debates about human nature, morality, the proper education for human excellence, and the best way of life. By studying Homer in conjunction with these three political philosophers, Ahrensdorf demonstrates that Homer was himself a philosophical thinker and educator. He presents the full force of Plato's critique of Homer and the paramount significance of Plato's achievement in winning honor for philosophy. Ahrensdorf also makes possible an appreciation of the powerful concerns expressed by Machiavelli and Nietzsche regarding that achievement. By uncovering and bringing to life the rich philosophic conversation among these four foundational thinkers, Ahrensdorf shows that there are many ways of living a philosophic life. His book broadens and deepens our understanding of what a philosopher is.

Homer and the Tradition of Political Philosophy

Homer and the Tradition of Political Philosophy PDF Author: Peter J. Ahrensdorf
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107124700
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 335

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Book Description
Shows that Homer was a philosophic thinker who played a crucial role in the thought of Plato, Machiavelli, and Nietzsche.

Homer Simpson Ponders Politics

Homer Simpson Ponders Politics PDF Author: Joseph J. Foy
Publisher: University Press of Kentucky
ISBN: 0813141516
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 272

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Book Description
It is often said that the poet Homer "educated" ancient Greece. Joseph J. Foy and Timothy M. Dale have assembled a team of notable scholars who argue, quite persuasively, that Homer Simpson and his ilk are educating America and offering insights into the social order and the human condition. Following Homer Simpson Goes to Washington (winner of the John G. Cawelti Award for Best Textbook or Primer on American and Popular Culture) and Homer Simpson Marches on Washington, this exceptional volume reveals how books like J. R. R. Tolkien's The Hobbit and J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter, movies like Avatar and Star Wars, and television shows like The Office and Firefly define Americans' perceptions of society. The authors expand the discussion to explore the ways in which political theories play out in popular culture. Homer Simpson Ponders Politics includes a foreword by fantasy author Margaret Weis (coauthor/creator of the Dragonlance novels and game world) and is divided according to eras and themes in political thought: The first section explores civic virtue, applying the work of Plato and Aristotle to modern media. Part 2 draws on the philosophy of Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, and Smith as a framework for understanding the role of the state. Part 3 explores the work of theorists such as Kant and Marx, and the final section investigates the ways in which movies and newer forms of electronic media either support or challenge the underlying assumptions of the democratic order. The result is an engaging read for undergraduate students as well as anyone interested in popular culture.

Homer on the Gods and Human Virtue

Homer on the Gods and Human Virtue PDF Author: Peter J. Ahrensdorf
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 0521193885
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 289

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Book Description
This book seeks to restore Homer to his rightful place among the principal figures in political and moral philosophy.

Politics through the Iliad and the Odyssey

Politics through the Iliad and the Odyssey PDF Author: Andrea Catanzaro
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 135120565X
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 222

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Book Description
Facing censorship and being confined to the fringes of the political debate of his time, Thomas Hobbes turned his attention to translating Homer’s Iliad and the Odyssey from Greek into English. Many have not considered enough the usefulness of these translations. In this book, Andrea Catanzaro analyses the political value of Hobbes’ translations of Homer’s works and exposes the existence of a link between the translations and the previous works of the Malmesbury philosopher. In doing so, he asks: • What new information concerning Hobbes' political and philosophical thought can be rendered from mere translation? • What new offerings can a man in his eighties at the time offer, having widely explained his political ideas in numerous famous essays and treatises? • What new elements can be deduced in a text that was well-known in England and where there were better versions than the ones produced by Hobbes? Andrea Catanzaro’s commentary and theoretical interpretation offers an incentive to study Hobbes lesser known works in the wider development of Western political philosophy and the history of political thought.

The Iliad as Politics

The Iliad as Politics PDF Author: Dean Hammer
Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press
ISBN: 9780806133669
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 318

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Book Description
"In this first full-length treatment of the Iliad as a work of political thought, Hammer demonstrates how Homer's epic is also an ancient Greek discussion on political ethics. Hammer redefines political thought as the activity of addressing issues of collective identity and organization. Using this understanding of politics, he discusses how the characters in the Iliad, through their larger-than-life actions and interactions, embody community issues of authority, conflict, judgment, and the interrelationship between personal and collective identity. The characters' many quarrels, laments, reconciliations, and vows of loyalty and friendship all critically model the principles and controversies of underlying Greek political ethics of communal responsibility and relationship."--BOOK JACKET.

Early Greek Political Thought from Homer to the Sophists

Early Greek Political Thought from Homer to the Sophists PDF Author: Michael Gagarin
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521437684
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 388

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Book Description
Including the works of more than thirty authors, this edition of early Greek writings on social and political issues includes the origin of human society and law; the nature of justice and good government; the distribution of power among genders and social classes.

Homer on the Gods and Human Virtue

Homer on the Gods and Human Virtue PDF Author: Peter J. Ahrensdorf
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1316165094
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 289

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Book Description
This book seeks to restore Homer to his rightful place among the principal figures in the history of political and moral philosophy. Through this fresh and provocative analysis of the Iliad and the Odyssey, Peter J. Ahrensdorf examines Homer's understanding of the best life, the nature of the divine, and the nature of human excellence. According to Ahrensdorf, Homer teaches that human greatness eclipses that of the gods, that the contemplative and compassionate singer ultimately surpasses the heroic warrior in grandeur, and that it is the courageously questioning Achilles, not the loyal Hector or even the wily Odysseus, who comes closest to the humane wisdom of Homer himself. Thanks to Homer, two of the distinctive features of Greek civilization are its extraordinary celebration of human excellence, as can be seen in Greek athletics, sculpture, and nudity, and its singular questioning of the divine, as can be seen in Greek philosophy.

The Odyssey of Political Theory

The Odyssey of Political Theory PDF Author: Patrick J. Deneen
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
ISBN: 146164500X
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 286

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Book Description
This path-breaking and eloquent analysis of The Odyssey, and the way it has been interpreted by political philosophers throughout the centuries, has dramatic implications for the current state of political thought. This important book offers readers original insights into The Odyssey and it provides a new understanding of the classic works of Plato, Rousseau, Vico, Horkheimer, and Adorno. Through his analysis Patrick J. Deneen requires readers to rethink the issues that are truly at the heart of our contemporary 'Culture Wars,' and he encourages us to reassess our assumptions about the Western canon's virtues or viciousness. Deneen's penetrating exploration of Odysseus's and our own enduring battles between the dual temptations of homecoming and exploration, patriotism and cosmopolitanism, and relativism and universality provides an original perspective on contentious debates at the center of modern political theory and philosophy.

The Cambridge Companion to Ancient Greek Political Thought

The Cambridge Companion to Ancient Greek Political Thought PDF Author: Stephen Salkever
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1139828029
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 391

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Book Description
The Cambridge Companion to Ancient Greek Political Thought provides a guide to understanding the central texts and problems in ancient Greek political thought, from Homer through the Stoics and Epicureans. Composed of essays specially commissioned for this volume and written by leading scholars of classics, political science, and philosophy, the Companion brings these texts to life by analysing what they have to tell us about the problems of political life. Focusing on texts by Homer, Herodotus, Thucydides, Plato, and Aristotle, among others, they examine perennial issues, including rights and virtues, democracy and the rule of law, community formation and maintenance, and the ways in which theorizing of several genres can and cannot assist political practice.