Greeks and the Rational

The Discovery of Practical Reason

AvJosiah Ober

Inbunden, Engelska, 2022

Del 76 i serien Sather Classical Lectures

282 kr

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Beskrivning

Tracing practical reason from its origins to its modern and contemporary permutations The Greek discovery of practical reason, as the skilled performance of strategic thinking in public and private affairs, was an intellectual breakthrough that remains both a feature of and a bug in our modern world. Countering arguments that rational choice-making is a contingent product of modernity, The Greeks and the Rational traces the long history of theorizing rationality back to ancient Greece. In this book, Josiah Ober explores how ancient Greek sophists, historians, and philosophers developed sophisticated and systematic ideas about practical reason. At the same time, they recognized its limits—that not every decision can be reduced to mechanistic calculations of optimal outcomes. Ober finds contemporary echoes of this tradition in the application of game theory to political science, economics, and business management. The Greeks and the Rational offers a striking revisionist history with widespread implications for the study of ancient Greek civilization, the history of thought, and human rationality itself.

Produktinformation

Utgivningsdatum:2022-11-29
Mått:152 x 231 x 36 mm
Vikt:781 g
Format:Inbunden
Språk:Engelska
Serie:Sather Classical Lectures
Antal sidor:488
Förlag:University of California Press
ISBN:9780520380165

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Mer om författaren

Josiah Ober is Mitsotakis Professor of Political Science and Classics at Stanford University and Senior Fellow (Courtesy) at the Hoover Institution. He is author or editor of eighteen books, including The Rise and Fall of Classical Greece and Demopolis: Democracy before Liberalism in Theory and Practice.

Recensioner i media

"Ober’s study should be praised for both its scope and its coherence. Indispensable for readers interested in how the Greeks conceived of practical reason and what Greek thought can offer modern cooperation efforts. Summing Up: Essential."

Innehållsförteckning

ContentsList of IllustrationsPreface Acknowledgments Abbreviations and Classical ReferencesIntroduction: Discovering Practical Reason1. Gyges’ Choice: Rationality and Visibility2. Glaucon’s Dilemma: Origins of Social Order3. Deioces’ Ultimatum: How to Choose a Ruler4. Solon’s Bargain: Self-Enforcing Constitutional Order5. Melos’ Prospect: Limits of Interstate Rationality6. Socrates’ Critique: Problems for Democratic Rationality7. Cephalus’ Expertise: Economic Rationality8. Conclusions: Utility and EudaimoniaEpilogueAppendix: Probability, Risk, and LikelihoodWorks CitedIndex