Concept tag
#polis
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Can freedom as non-domination survive at the scale of millions?
I grew up hearing my grandmother speak Quechua at the market in Lima, and I spent summers in her village, where the community, the ayllu, still assigned duties by rotation. Every household took its turn at the offices of the community, at…
Started by Mateo Quispe5 replies -
When Aristotle calls humans political animals, does he mean we need a government?
At least once a debate tournament some student cites Aristotle: "man is a political animal." It always gets used to mean that people need government, or that humans are naturally into politics, like campaigning and voting. I have a nagging feeling that's…
Started by Sam Ellery4 replies -
Read the Republic with ‘citizen community’ in place of ‘state’ and the argument changes
Every year one of my students asks why we bother with Plato's Republic, since it's obviously a blueprint for a totalitarian state. I've started giving them an exercise that I'd like to share here. Take any English translation that renders polis as…
Started by Nikos TheodoridisReply first (no replies yet)