|
Books > Humanities > Philosophy > Western philosophy > Ancient Western philosophy to c 500
|
Buy Now
Law, Reason, and the Cosmic City - Political Philosophy in the Early Stoa (Paperback)
Loot Price: R1,348
Discovery Miles 13 480
|
|
|
Law, Reason, and the Cosmic City - Political Philosophy in the Early Stoa (Paperback)
Expected to ship within 12 - 17 working days
|
The notions of the cosmic city and the common law are central to
early Stoic political thought. As Vogt shows, together they make up
one complex theory. A city is a place governed by the law. Yet on
the law pervading the cosmos can be considered a true law, and thus
the cosmos is the only real city. A city is also a
dwelling-place-in the case of the cosmos, the dwelling-place of all
human beings. Further, a city demarcates who belongs together as
fellow-citizens. The thought that we should view all other human
beings as belonging to us constitutes the core of Stoic
cosmopolitanism. All human beings are citizens of the cosmic city
in the sense of living in the world. But the demanding task of
acquiring wisdom allows a person to become a citizen in the strict
sense: someone who lives according to the law, as the gods do. The
sage is the only citizen, relative, friend and free person; via
these notions, the Stoics explore the political dimensions of the
Stoic idea of wisdom. Vogt argues against two widespread
interpretations of the common law-that it consists of rules, and
that lawful action is what right reason prescribes. While she
rejects the rules-interpretation, she argues that the prescriptive
reason-interpretation correctly captures key ideas of the Stoics'
theory, but misses the substantive side of their conception of the
law. The sage fully understands what is valuable for human beings,
and this makes her actions lawful. The Stoics emphasize the
revisionary nature of their theory; whatever course of action
perfect deliberation commands, even if it be cutting off one's limb
and eating it, we should act on its command, and not be held back
by conventional judgments. "[The book] provides an innovative and
convincing way in which to understand a great many difficult Stoic
ideas in the areas of politics and ethics. It also makes a very
good case for integrating the political ideas into the context of
Stoic ethics more generally. And best of all, it makes Stoic
political theory seem reasonable, at least in the context of
Stoicism as a whole - rather than simply crazy, as it has often
looked before - and also makes it understandable why they should
want to present this theory as political." - Richard Bett, The
Johns Hopkins University "The author argues that the very scanty
evidence about Zeno's Republic, if correctly understood, does not
propose a framework for an actual city; rather it sets out what it
would mean for someone to have wisdom (i.e. be virtuous, on the
Stoic view): it would be to understand oneself as a citizen in the
community of gods and men structured by the law constituted by
perfect rationality. Her book thus aims to serve as a counterweight
or alternative to Schofield's The Stoic Idea of the City ." -
Charles Brittain, Cornell University
General
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!
|
You might also like..
|
Email address subscribed successfully.
A activation email has been sent to you.
Please click the link in that email to activate your subscription.
Welcome to Loot.co.za!
Sign in / Register |Wishlists & Gift Vouchers |Help | Advanced search
