The Place of Herodotus’ Constitutional Debate in the History of Political Ideas and the Emergence of Classical Social Theory
This paper investigates the question of which place in the history of political ideas may be assigned to the Constitutional Debate in Herodotus’ Histories, 3.80-82. It is shown that the Herodotean debate represents the earliest extant example of a social theory, in which a variety of distinctly soci...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Center for Hellenic Studies
2019-12-01
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| Series: | Akropolis |
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| Online Access: | http://helenskestudije.me/ojs/index.php/jhs/article/view/43 |
| _version_ | 1818758790148784128 |
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| author | Otto Linderborg |
| author_facet | Otto Linderborg |
| author_sort | Otto Linderborg |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This paper investigates the question of which place in the history of political ideas may be assigned to the Constitutional Debate in Herodotus’ Histories, 3.80-82. It is shown that the Herodotean debate represents the earliest extant example of a social theory, in which a variety of distinctly social ordering principles are weighed against each other with normative arguments and in isolation from all sorts of divine authorisations. The article divides into three parts. The first part gives an account of the theoretical predecessors to the classical social theory first evidenced in the Constitutional Debate. The second part consists of an exposition of the socio-intellectual progressions clustered in the Herodotean debate, focussing on developments in constitutional thinking and argumentative evolvement. The third part consists of a close reading of the argumentative and politico-social content of the Constitutional Debate. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-18T06:32:25Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-dc41078562b24385853ce60f57db65b9 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2536-572X 2536-5738 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-18T06:32:25Z |
| publishDate | 2019-12-01 |
| publisher | Center for Hellenic Studies |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Akropolis |
| spelling | doaj.art-dc41078562b24385853ce60f57db65b92022-12-21T21:17:52ZengCenter for Hellenic StudiesAkropolis2536-572X2536-57382019-12-01310.35296/jhs.v3i0.43The Place of Herodotus’ Constitutional Debate in the History of Political Ideas and the Emergence of Classical Social TheoryOtto Linderborg0University of GothenburgThis paper investigates the question of which place in the history of political ideas may be assigned to the Constitutional Debate in Herodotus’ Histories, 3.80-82. It is shown that the Herodotean debate represents the earliest extant example of a social theory, in which a variety of distinctly social ordering principles are weighed against each other with normative arguments and in isolation from all sorts of divine authorisations. The article divides into three parts. The first part gives an account of the theoretical predecessors to the classical social theory first evidenced in the Constitutional Debate. The second part consists of an exposition of the socio-intellectual progressions clustered in the Herodotean debate, focussing on developments in constitutional thinking and argumentative evolvement. The third part consists of a close reading of the argumentative and politico-social content of the Constitutional Debate.http://helenskestudije.me/ojs/index.php/jhs/article/view/43history of political thoughtargumentative developmentHomerHerodotusPre-Socraticsclassical Greek social theory |
| spellingShingle | Otto Linderborg The Place of Herodotus’ Constitutional Debate in the History of Political Ideas and the Emergence of Classical Social Theory Akropolis history of political thought argumentative development Homer Herodotus Pre-Socratics classical Greek social theory |
| title | The Place of Herodotus’ Constitutional Debate in the History of Political Ideas and the Emergence of Classical Social Theory |
| title_full | The Place of Herodotus’ Constitutional Debate in the History of Political Ideas and the Emergence of Classical Social Theory |
| title_fullStr | The Place of Herodotus’ Constitutional Debate in the History of Political Ideas and the Emergence of Classical Social Theory |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Place of Herodotus’ Constitutional Debate in the History of Political Ideas and the Emergence of Classical Social Theory |
| title_short | The Place of Herodotus’ Constitutional Debate in the History of Political Ideas and the Emergence of Classical Social Theory |
| title_sort | place of herodotus constitutional debate in the history of political ideas and the emergence of classical social theory |
| topic | history of political thought argumentative development Homer Herodotus Pre-Socratics classical Greek social theory |
| url | http://helenskestudije.me/ojs/index.php/jhs/article/view/43 |
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