Thucydides and the invention of political science
Thucydides self-consciously invented a new form of inquiry, which can reasonably be called “social and political science.” His intellectual goal was a new understanding of power and its relationship to human agency and the deep structures of human society. His understanding of agency and structure is in some ways reminiscent of the reflexivity theory developed by Anthony Giddens.
The Presocratics in the doxographical tradition. Sources, controversies, and current research
Until twelve or fifteen years ago, the study of the Presocratics was not often connected to the study of doxography. The Presocratic philosophers received attention individually, and translations were available. But more recently the Presocratics have been experiencing a renewed interest…
THE PLATONIC SAGE IN LOVE
How, then, one may ask, can the true philosopher have any truck with the passion of love? It is a basic axiom of Plato’s ethics, after all, that the irrational part, or aspect, of the soul, including the erotic impulse, should be subordinated to the reason, and that the passions, if not entirely eradicated, should at all times be reduced to ‘moderation’ by the exercise of the power of rationality.