Peter J Ahrensdorf
Dados Biográficos
| ID | 461217 |
|---|---|
| NOME | Peter J Ahrensdorf |
| PRENOMES | Peter J |
| SOBRENOME | Ahrensdorf |
| ASSINATURA | AHRENSDORF P J |
| AFILIAÇÕES | Davidson College |
| VERIFICADO | Não |
| TOTAL DE OBRAS | 11 |
| TOTAL DE CITAÇÕES | 35 |
| TOTAL COMO AUTOR | 10 |
| TOTAL COMO EDITOR | 1 |
| PRIMEIRO ANO DE PUBLICAÇÃO | 1994 |
| ANO MAIS RECENTE DE PUBLICAÇÃO | 2019 |
| ÍNDICE H | 3 |
“Tyranny,” Enlightenment, and Religion
By opening Oedipus the Tyrant with a plague befalling Thebes that parallels the plague befalling Athens, Sophocles points to a parallel between Oedipus’s Thebes and Sophocles’s own, Periclean Athens: namely, that between the singularly untraditional, rationalistic, and even antireligious spirit of enlightenment that characterizes Oedipus’s “tyrannical” rule over Thebes and the similar spirit that characterizes Pericles’s Athens. That spirit is te…
Homer on the Gods and Human Virtue
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 an…
Greek Tragedy and Political Philosophy
In this book, Peter Ahrensdorf examines Sophocles' powerful analysis of a central question of political philosophy and a perennial question of political life: should citizens and leaders govern political society by the light of unaided human reason or religious faith? Through an examination of Sophocles' timeless masterpieces - Oedipus the Tyrant, Oedipus at Colonus and Antigone - Ahrensdorf offers a sustained challenge to the prevailing view, ch…
The Theban Plays
The timeless Theban tragedies of Sophocles— Oedipus the Tyrant , Oedipus at Colonus , and Antigone —have fascinated and moved audiences and readers across the ages with their haunting plots and their unforgettable heroes and heroines. Now, following the best texts faithfully, and translating the key moral, religious, and political terminology of the plays accurately and consistently, Peter J. Ahrensdorf and Thomas L. Pangle allow contemporary rea…
Greek tragedy and political philosophy
Blind Faith and Political Rationalism in Sophocles' Oedipus at Colonus
Political conflicts around the world increasingly reflect a religious challenge to liberal rationalism. Given the tendency of modern political rationalism to underestimate the power of religion, it seems reasonable to consider the classical analysis of religious antirationalism set forth with great clarity in Sophocles' Oedipus at Colonus . The play seeks to demonstrate that religious antirationalism—as exemplified by Oedipus—is self-contradictor…
The Limits of Political Rationalism
When Nietzsche launched the postmodern attack on the Western tradition of rationalism founded by Socrates, he invoked the purported antirationalism of Sophocles' Oedipus the Tyrant. Through his account of Oedipus, Sophocles does indicate why a pure political rationalism, that is, an attempt to govern political society in the light of reason alone, must ultimately fail and why tradition, convention, and piety are therefore necessary to political l…
The Fear of Death and the Longing for Immortality
Recent challenges to the modern secular state invite us to reexamine the arguments made by its theoretical founders, especially Hobbes. Hobbes argues that the desire for security is the most reliable and rational desire of our nature, and the state based on satisfying that desire is fully in harmony with human nature and therefore fully capable of solving the problem of anarchy. I will examine his argument that anarchy, although in some sense the…
Thucydides' Realistic Critique of Realism
For the last half century foreign policy thinking in the United States has been dominated by the realist school. Part of its prestige has rested on its adherents' ability to trace their intellectual pedigree back to Thucydides. Read carefully, however, Thucydides is a theoretical realist who provides a sharp critique of political realism. He does support twentieth-century realists' claims about the weakness of justice in international affairs and…
Plato's Statesman
The Question of Historical Context and the Study of Plato
This article challenges Quentin Skinner's claim that a belief in the importance of studying the historical context of classical texts is incompatible with the belief that we can learn timeless truths from them. The author uses a study of Plato to show that political philosophers adapt their writings to their immediate audience as well as address posterity. He contends that a study of the historical context of a work is necessary for distinguishin…
The Fear of Death and the Longing for Immortality
Recent challenges to the modern secular state invite us to reexamine the arguments made by its theoretical founders, especially Hobbes. Hobbes argues that the desire for security is the most reliable and rational desire of our nature, and the state based on satisfying that desire is fully in harmony with human nature and therefore fully capable of solving the problem of anarchy. I will examine his argument that anarchy, although in some sense the…
Thucydides' Realistic Critique of Realism
For the last half century foreign policy thinking in the United States has been dominated by the realist school. Part of its prestige has rested on its adherents' ability to trace their intellectual pedigree back to Thucydides. Read carefully, however, Thucydides is a theoretical realist who provides a sharp critique of political realism. He does support twentieth-century realists' claims about the weakness of justice in international affairs and…
The Theban Plays
The timeless Theban tragedies of Sophocles— Oedipus the Tyrant , Oedipus at Colonus , and Antigone —have fascinated and moved audiences and readers across the ages with their haunting plots and their unforgettable heroes and heroines. Now, following the best texts faithfully, and translating the key moral, religious, and political terminology of the plays accurately and consistently, Peter J. Ahrensdorf and Thomas L. Pangle allow contemporary rea…
The Question of Historical Context and the Study of Plato
This article challenges Quentin Skinner's claim that a belief in the importance of studying the historical context of classical texts is incompatible with the belief that we can learn timeless truths from them. The author uses a study of Plato to show that political philosophers adapt their writings to their immediate audience as well as address posterity. He contends that a study of the historical context of a work is necessary for distinguishin…
The Limits of Political Rationalism
When Nietzsche launched the postmodern attack on the Western tradition of rationalism founded by Socrates, he invoked the purported antirationalism of Sophocles' Oedipus the Tyrant. Through his account of Oedipus, Sophocles does indicate why a pure political rationalism, that is, an attempt to govern political society in the light of reason alone, must ultimately fail and why tradition, convention, and piety are therefore necessary to political l…
The Question of Historical Context and the Study of Plato
This article challenges Quentin Skinner's claim that a belief in the importance of studying the historical context of classical texts is incompatible with the belief that we can learn timeless truths from them. The author uses a study of Plato to show that political philosophers adapt their writings to their immediate audience as well as address posterity. He contends that a study of the historical context of a work is necessary for distinguishin…
Plato's Statesman
Thucydides' Realistic Critique of Realism
For the last half century foreign policy thinking in the United States has been dominated by the realist school. Part of its prestige has rested on its adherents' ability to trace their intellectual pedigree back to Thucydides. Read carefully, however, Thucydides is a theoretical realist who provides a sharp critique of political realism. He does support twentieth-century realists' claims about the weakness of justice in international affairs and…
The Fear of Death and the Longing for Immortality
Recent challenges to the modern secular state invite us to reexamine the arguments made by its theoretical founders, especially Hobbes. Hobbes argues that the desire for security is the most reliable and rational desire of our nature, and the state based on satisfying that desire is fully in harmony with human nature and therefore fully capable of solving the problem of anarchy. I will examine his argument that anarchy, although in some sense the…
The Limits of Political Rationalism
When Nietzsche launched the postmodern attack on the Western tradition of rationalism founded by Socrates, he invoked the purported antirationalism of Sophocles' Oedipus the Tyrant. Through his account of Oedipus, Sophocles does indicate why a pure political rationalism, that is, an attempt to govern political society in the light of reason alone, must ultimately fail and why tradition, convention, and piety are therefore necessary to political l…
Blind Faith and Political Rationalism in Sophocles' Oedipus at Colonus
Political conflicts around the world increasingly reflect a religious challenge to liberal rationalism. Given the tendency of modern political rationalism to underestimate the power of religion, it seems reasonable to consider the classical analysis of religious antirationalism set forth with great clarity in Sophocles' Oedipus at Colonus . The play seeks to demonstrate that religious antirationalism—as exemplified by Oedipus—is self-contradictor…
Greek Tragedy and Political Philosophy
In this book, Peter Ahrensdorf examines Sophocles' powerful analysis of a central question of political philosophy and a perennial question of political life: should citizens and leaders govern political society by the light of unaided human reason or religious faith? Through an examination of Sophocles' timeless masterpieces - Oedipus the Tyrant, Oedipus at Colonus and Antigone - Ahrensdorf offers a sustained challenge to the prevailing view, ch…
The Theban Plays
The timeless Theban tragedies of Sophocles— Oedipus the Tyrant , Oedipus at Colonus , and Antigone —have fascinated and moved audiences and readers across the ages with their haunting plots and their unforgettable heroes and heroines. Now, following the best texts faithfully, and translating the key moral, religious, and political terminology of the plays accurately and consistently, Peter J. Ahrensdorf and Thomas L. Pangle allow contemporary rea…
Greek tragedy and political philosophy
Homer on the Gods and Human Virtue
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 an…
“Tyranny,” Enlightenment, and Religion
By opening Oedipus the Tyrant with a plague befalling Thebes that parallels the plague befalling Athens, Sophocles points to a parallel between Oedipus’s Thebes and Sophocles’s own, Periclean Athens: namely, that between the singularly untraditional, rationalistic, and even antireligious spirit of enlightenment that characterizes Oedipus’s “tyrannical” rule over Thebes and the similar spirit that characterizes Pericles’s Athens. That spirit is te…
Law (9 obras) · Political science (9 obras) · Politics (9 obras) · Epistemology (8 obras) · Philosophy (8 obras) · History (6 obras) · Law (6 obras) · Philosophy (6 obras) · Art (5 obras) · Rationalism (5 obras)