In archaic societies the oath is not an explanation given in particular form by an official order, but, at the very most, a selfcondemnation and therefore, together with trial by ordeal and duel, a means to ending serious conflicts. In the early Greek epos there is only one single paragraph that still testifies to such a regulation ; and less than 200 years later Xenophanes describes what happens when in the legal reality of more secular/enlightened societies the old piece of (...) evidence remains preserved. (shrink)

Thema des Charmides, einem der fruhen Dialoge Platons, ist die Frage: Was ist Besonnenheit? Ernst Heitsch und Franz von Kutschera nahern sich dem Dialog auf unterschiedliche Weise und diskutieren verschiedene Aspekte.