1/26/05
Wednesday, January 26, 2005
4:00 PM
Thucydides - On Justice, Power, and Human Nature
-is a history of the Peloponnesisan War between Athens and Sparta
-war was from 431BC - 404BC (421BC-414BC relatively peaceful)
-Thucydides lived from 450BC - 399BC
-was a general for Athens at first
-exiled, after failures, in 421BC
-Thucydides believed that his exile allowed him to give a more impartial view of the war
-war took place during the Golden Age of Athens
-Golden Age: Athens moved away from the mythical explanat= ions to more rational explanations of the world based on reason, rationality, science, etc.
-Golden Age took place under the rule of Pericles
-considered the Greek enlightenment
-philosophy, natural science, physics, political science, rhetoric - essentially the outline of the liberal arts - had its beginnings= in the 5th century BC in Athens
-influences on Thucydides: pre-Socratic philosophers, Sophists, Protagarus
-these people gave an understanding of what it meant to b= e a human being outside of the common interpretations that involved the gods
-the Sophists taught people how to speak (become orators), were very skeptical of traditional understanding of reality, justice, etc.<= /p>
-believed that you could use language to undermine traditional understandings of words like "justice," "virtue," etc. that played a large part in Athens and Greece as a whole - said that language could be UNHINGED and used to argue in favor of almost anything
-said that there were two sides to any argument, and one could make a strong case arguing = from either side if one were a good speaker
-Protagarus argued that man is responsible for declaring = what is true, what the parameters of the world are, etc.
-like the Sophists, Protagarus saw the world as secular, believed that humans decided what their world would be like
-saw the world in terms of raw political power
-Thucydides sees the world as a dangerous, chaotic place in which morality is obscure
-during war, Thucydides argues, the limits of our ethical foundations are evident
-we discover our true nature in war - whether our words w= ill be backed by actions
-war is the ultimate tool for understanding hman nature, = the nature of politics, etc.
-emphasis on this analysis of war and human nature leads Thucydides to be a nihilist
-believing that there is no moral truth, no possibility of being virtuous, pessimistic and realistic instead of idealistic
-although seemingly morbid, this is in fact a liberating perspective (understanding of true nature of man/politics =3D liberation)
-draws on the Sophist belief that any argument has two sides from which one can ma= ke a good argument
-seen in the many dialectic speeches, debates, and dialog= ues
-in this understanding, the Sophists were more rhetoricia= ns than philosophers (philosophers like Socrates and Plato would later attempt= to tame the influence of the Sophists in their own philosophy)
-Thucydides shows the dangers of language getting out of control
-the danger, he argues, is demagoguery
-believes that this is an overall danger of democracy
-Hippocrates was responsible for the first medical text in the West - attempted to expla= in the diseases of the body in a secular, non-mythical manner. He believed that doctors should study = the symptoms of a disease to discover its cause and thus explain and possibly c= ure it. This required one to dispassi= onately look at the evidence in question.
-Thucydides takes the same approach to war
-explores the symptoms of the Peloponnesian War and thus provides insight into the nature of that war and war as a whole
-his history of the war is a political history that expla= ined the workings of politics as governed by secular, political laws that govern human activity
-this is the first attempt at political science
-pg. 13 - argues that this history is to have lasting value, will be a lasting possession because it is designed to tell the truth about politics, human nature, power, and justice
-trying to find political truths that are trans-cultural - universally valid observations of politics and human nature
-Thucydides comes up with a new historical method (pg. 12= -13) - collecting evidence and giving a factual account of events
-first time that such an attempt at dispassionate record-keeping of history is made in the West
-attempts to be objective about the cause(s) of the war
-comes to the conclusion that the principal cause of the = war was fear - the Spartans' fear of Athenian power (pg. 15-16)
-plunges below surface explanations to uncover the true causes behind the war
-Pericles' Funeral Oration (starts pg. 39) - one of the most famous speeches in all history
-praises democracy as the best political system - freedom= in the private life, equity before the law
-i.e. democracy ensures justice
-says that Athenian democracy has unique characteristics = (pg. 42) - a cultivated democracy that was hard, courageous, refined, intellectu= al, wise
-a faith in the common man
-Thucydides argues that Athens was a democracy in name only
-was, in fact, an aristocracy ruled by the "first man"
-argues that it is difficult to ride the wave of politics without strong leadership
-the greatness of Athens lies in the greatness of its lea= ders (namely, Pericles)
-left to its own devices, democracy is dangerous
-the plague shows the fragility of human nature, of order, civilization, etc.
-under duress the virtues of democratic life evaporate
-the normal human order and organization can collapse with the slightest breeze
-the "civilized" Athenians are in fact base and instinctive, self-serving, etc. (pg. 56 - "a mob")
-pg. 66 - Mytilenean revolt against Athens - under democr= acy, the knee-jerk reaction in wartime is to kill the men and enslave the women/children
-democracy is prone to revenge, ignoring justice
-these problems exist because of demagoguery
-Cleon emerges as "first man" after Pericles - his demagoguery threatens= the safety of Athens, his rhetoric/Sophistry is used to manipulate democracy to= his own ends
-one of his tricks is to have the common people rise agai= nst the intellectuals (ironic because he is himself an intellectual manipulating the common people)
-the good aspects of Athens (freedom, intellectualism, flexibility, etc.) are al= so the causes of its downfall
-free from good leaders and religious traditions, Athens = has a difficult time succeeding
-one of the most important ideas is that law, justice, freedom are good things b= ut not necessarily natural - are man-made conventions
-the entire legal order is a man-made artifice
-believes that we are essentially guided by base, animal instincts
-necessary that we pretend not to be animals (merely a façade)
-must create the façade of rationality
-man not necessarily evil, but adapts and becomes evil - human beings inherently evil, murderous - difficult to get back to Pericles=
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