Why read Political Dissent in Democratic Athens?

Book cover of Political Dissent in Democratic Athens

Book description

How and why did the Western tradition of political theorizing arise in Athens during the late fifth and fourth centuries B.C.? By interweaving intellectual history with political philosophy and literary analysis, Josiah Ober argues that the tradition originated in a high-stakes debate about democracy. Since elite Greek intellectuals tended to…

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Why read it?

1 author picked Political Dissent in Democratic Athens as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Melissa Lane

Author

This book hit me like a thunderclap as an early-career faculty member studying Plato. Ober trained a sociological lens on Greek philosophers, showing how the democratic constitution of ancient Athens was the backdrop against which many of them were reacting and responding in very different ways.

The book charts the difference between criticism that is constructively offered by those who identify with a given constitutional type and criticism that is far-reaching in rejecting the existing terms of constitutional debate.

I love how this contrast illuminates political debate today.

From Melissa's list on The most accessible and thought-provoking books about Plato.