René De Nicolay
Biographic Data
| ID | 3094097 |
|---|---|
| NAME | René De Nicolay |
| GIVEN NAMES | René |
| FAMILY NAME | De Nicolay |
| SIGNATURE | DE NICOLAY R |
| AFFILIATIONS | Princeton University |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 6 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 1 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 6 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2019 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 1 |
Polybius on the Price of Deliberative Freedom
Polybius claims that equality to speak in public ( ἰσηγορία ) and freedom of speech ( παρρησία ) are the fulcrum of a democracy (2.38.6) and hence the most beautiful of political values (6.57.9). But his reasons for valuing them so dearly have remained obscure. This article argues that ἰσηγορία and παρρησία in Polybius maximize the role of persuasion—instead of sheer force—in the polity; that they favour rational decision-making; and that they ke…
Gernot Michael Müller, Jörn Müller (Hgg.)
Philosopher-King on a Leash
Late antique political Platonism was not unoriginal in its thought. The paper takes as an example the Justinianic dialogue On Political Science (ca. 550), which creatively engages with Plato’s political works. It shows that the dialogue tries – and manages, as I argue – to combine two apparently inconsistent Platonic models: what I call the “divine” model, in which a philosopher-king endowed with divine knowledge rules unhindered by civic laws; a…
Licentia
This paper studies the term and concept of licentia in the Latin Republican corpus, focusing on Cicero’s political theory. Its first part is a philological analysis of the term. It concludes that in the first century BCE licentia had three core meanings: permission, permission to do wrong, and permissiveness. The second part is a study of the concept licentia in Cicero’s rhetoric and political theory. It shows Cicero’s awareness of the effect of …
The Birth of Unlawful Freedom in Plato’s Laws 3
Plato’s pronouncements about political freedom in the Laws have sparked renewed interest in the literature. The present paper takes a new angle on that vexed question. It focusses on Plato’s account of the birth of unlawful freedom, or ‘theatrocracy’, at the end of book 3. By studying the transition from moderate to excessive freedom, it wishes to shed light on what sets the two apart. The paper provides a causal analysis of the key passage (700a…
Lire Platon avec Hannah Arendt
Marie-Josée Lavallée, (2018) Lire Platon avec Hannah Arendt: Pensée, Politique, Totalitarisme. Montréal: Presses de l’Université de Montréal. 368 pp. $31.95. ISBN: 9782760638716 (pbk).Hannah Arendt (1906-1975) contributed immensely to the revival of ancient political thought in the post-war period. Her admiration for ancient political practice was matched only by her condemnation of ancient, especially Greek, political thought, for having subject…
The Birth of Unlawful Freedom in Plato’s Laws 3
Plato’s pronouncements about political freedom in the Laws have sparked renewed interest in the literature. The present paper takes a new angle on that vexed question. It focusses on Plato’s account of the birth of unlawful freedom, or ‘theatrocracy’, at the end of book 3. By studying the transition from moderate to excessive freedom, it wishes to shed light on what sets the two apart. The paper provides a causal analysis of the key passage (700a…
Lire Platon avec Hannah Arendt
Marie-Josée Lavallée, (2018) Lire Platon avec Hannah Arendt: Pensée, Politique, Totalitarisme. Montréal: Presses de l’Université de Montréal. 368 pp. $31.95. ISBN: 9782760638716 (pbk).Hannah Arendt (1906-1975) contributed immensely to the revival of ancient political thought in the post-war period. Her admiration for ancient political practice was matched only by her condemnation of ancient, especially Greek, political thought, for having subject…
Licentia
This paper studies the term and concept of licentia in the Latin Republican corpus, focusing on Cicero’s political theory. Its first part is a philological analysis of the term. It concludes that in the first century BCE licentia had three core meanings: permission, permission to do wrong, and permissiveness. The second part is a study of the concept licentia in Cicero’s rhetoric and political theory. It shows Cicero’s awareness of the effect of …
The Birth of Unlawful Freedom in Plato’s Laws 3
Plato’s pronouncements about political freedom in the Laws have sparked renewed interest in the literature. The present paper takes a new angle on that vexed question. It focusses on Plato’s account of the birth of unlawful freedom, or ‘theatrocracy’, at the end of book 3. By studying the transition from moderate to excessive freedom, it wishes to shed light on what sets the two apart. The paper provides a causal analysis of the key passage (700a…
Philosopher-King on a Leash
Late antique political Platonism was not unoriginal in its thought. The paper takes as an example the Justinianic dialogue On Political Science (ca. 550), which creatively engages with Plato’s political works. It shows that the dialogue tries – and manages, as I argue – to combine two apparently inconsistent Platonic models: what I call the “divine” model, in which a philosopher-king endowed with divine knowledge rules unhindered by civic laws; a…
Gernot Michael Müller, Jörn Müller (Hgg.)
Polybius on the Price of Deliberative Freedom
Polybius claims that equality to speak in public ( ἰσηγορία ) and freedom of speech ( παρρησία ) are the fulcrum of a democracy (2.38.6) and hence the most beautiful of political values (6.57.9). But his reasons for valuing them so dearly have remained obscure. This article argues that ἰσηγορία and παρρησία in Polybius maximize the role of persuasion—instead of sheer force—in the polity; that they favour rational decision-making; and that they ke…
Philosophy (5 works) · Classical Philosophy and Thought (4 works) · Law (4 works) · Politics (4 works) · Art (3 works) · Classical Antiquity Studies (3 works) · Political science (3 works) · Sociology (3 works) · Cicero (2 works) · Classics (2 works)