이 글은 최초의 포퓰리스트로 불리는 고대 데마고고스(dēmagōgos), 클레온(Kleon)의 정치술을 다룬다. 이를 통해 데마고고스에 대한 부정적 견해가 아테네의 ‘반민주적인’ 전통하에서 용인되기 어려운 ‘반엘리트적인’ 요소에서 찾아진다는 흥미로운 사실을 발견한다. 요컨대 대중과 엘리트의 갈등, 대중을 닮은 지도자와 엘리트를 닮은 지도자의 갈등에서 엘리트 지도자에 대한 강한 신뢰와 계급적 편견, 대중에 관한 그들의 부정적인 견해가 데마고고스로 압축되었음을 주장한다. 이러한 논의는 현대 민주주의에서‘포퓰리즘 논쟁과 그 프레임’이 갖는 숨겨진 의도들(엘리트와 비엘리트의 구별, 이성과 비이성(혹은 감정)의 구분, 포퓰리즘으로 우회하는 대중에 대한 정치엘리트의 반감들)을 파악하는 하나의 정치철학적 단서를 제공할 수 (...) 있을 것이다. (shrink)

This article is an introduction to an ancient Egyptian text called The Tale of the Eloquent Peasant and an argument that it ought to be seen as a classic of political philosophy. After contextualizing the tale as part of a tradition of moral and political philosophy in ancient Egypt, I explore the methods by which the text defines the proper roles of political authority and contrast its approach to justifying political authority with (...) the argument from the state of nature so common in modern Western political philosophy. I claim that the tale's argument from dysfunction anticipates the move in contemporary Western political philosophy towards privileging non-ideal over ideal theory. I discuss challenges in translating the key term in the tale – ma'at – in light of the fact that it can be taken to mean ‘justice’ and/or ‘truth’. Finally, I discuss how the irony at the heart of its narrative can lead us to interpret the tale as having either conservative or revolutionary implications for the political system it depicts. (shrink)

This book presents selections from the political and social thought of the ancient West from the early sixth century BCE up to the early years of the Roman Empire and includes not only the classic philosophers, Plato, Aristotle, and Cicero, but a number of dramatists and historians as well. The range of topics these writings treat run from class conflict, through the perils of democracy and the horrors of tyranny, to the place of women in politics, while the (...) styles range from the deeply dramatic of Sophocles' Antigone and the bawdy satire of Aristophanes' Assemblywomen to Plato's Socratic dialogue Republic and Aristotle's scientific treatise Politics. The translations have been chosen, and sometimes modified, for clarity and readability, and are accompanied by introductions which set forth the historical context and trace the general lines of thought the readings develop. Frequent notes explain references to ancient lore unfamiliar to many readers. Questions for discussion accompany each reading. (shrink)