Political Dissent in Democratic Athens: Intellectual Critics of Popular Rule

Josiah Ober

Princeton University Press, Nov 28, 2011 - History - 440 pages

How and why did the Western tradition of political theorizing arise in Athens during the late fifth and fourth centuries B.C.? By interweaving intellectual history with political philosophy and literary analysis, Josiah Ober argues that the tradition originated in a high-stakes debate about democracy. Since elite Greek intellectuals tended to assume that ordinary men were incapable of ruling themselves, the longevity and resilience of Athenian popular rule presented a problem: how to explain the apparent success of a regime "irrationally" based on the inherent wisdom and practical efficacy of decisions made by non-elite citizens? The problem became acute after two oligarchic coups d' tat in the late fifth century B.C. The generosity and statesmanship that democrats showed after regaining political power contrasted starkly with the oligarchs' violence and corruption. Since it was no longer self-evident that "better men" meant "better government," critics of democracy sought new arguments to explain the relationship among politics, ethics, and morality.


Ober offers fresh readings of the political works of Thucydides, Plato, and Aristotle, among others, by placing them in the context of a competitive community of dissident writers. These thinkers struggled against both democratic ideology and intellectual rivals to articulate the best and most influential criticism of popular rule. The competitive Athenian environment stimulated a century of brilliant literary and conceptual innovation. Through Ober's re-creation of an ancient intellectual milieu, early Western political thought emerges not just as a "footnote to Plato," but as a dissident commentary on the first Western democracy.

Contents

• INTRODUCTION Why Dissent? Why Athens?: 3
• The Problem of Dissent Criticism as Contest: 14
• Public Speech and Brute Fact Thucydides: 52
• Essence and Enactment Aristophanes Ecclesiazusae: 122
• Justice Knowledge Power Plato Apology Crito Gorgias Republic: 156
• Eloquence Leadership Memory Isocrates Antidosis and Areopagiticus: 248
• Political Animals Actual Citizens and the Best Possible Polis Aristotle Politics: 290
• The Dialectics of Dissent Criticism as Dialogue: 352
• BIBLIOGRAPHY: 375
• INDEX LOCORUM: 403
• GENERAL INDEX: 409

About the author

Josiah Ober is the David Magie Professor of Ancient History in the Department of Classics at Princeton University. His books include The Athenian Revolution, Mass and Elite in Democratic Athens, and Demokratia (edited with Charles Hedrick). All three books are available from Princeton.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Political Dissent in Democratic Athens: Intellectual Critics of Popular Rule; Volume 13 of Martin Classical Lectures
• Author: Josiah Ober
• Edition: reprint
• Publisher: Princeton University Press, 2011
• ISBN: 1400822718, 9781400822713
• Length: 440 pages
• Subjects: History / Ancient / General; History / Ancient / Greece