Platonic noise / J. Peter Euben.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Euben, J. Peter.

Contributor:

Gotham Book Mart Collection (University of Pennsylvania)

Series:

Princeton paperbacks

Princeton paperbacks.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Arendt, Hannah, 1906-1975. Human condition.

Greek literature--History and criticism.

Greek literature.

Politics and literature--United States--History--20th century.

Politics and literature.

American fiction.

Political science.

United States.

History.

American fiction--20th century--History and criticism.

Comparative literature--Greek and American.

Comparative literature.

Comparative literature--American and Greek.

Political science--Greece--Athens.

American fiction--Greek influences.

Politics and literature--Greece.

Greece.

Greece--Athens.

Penn Provenance:

Gotham Book Mart (former owner) (Gotham Book Mart Collection copy)

Physical Description:

xii pages, 2 unnumbered pages, 210 pages ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Princeton ; Oxford : Princeton University Press, [2003]

Summary:

Platonic Noise brings classical and contemporary writings into conversation to enrich our experience of modern life and politics. Drawing on writers as diverse as Plato, Homer, Nietzsche, Borges, Don DeLillo, and Philip Roth, Peter Euben shows us the relevance of both popular literature and ancient Greek thought to current questions of loss, mourning, and democracy -- all while arguing for the redeeming qualities of political and intellectual work and making an original case against presentism. Juxtaposing ancient and contemporary texts, politics, and culture, Euben reflects on a remarkable range of recent issues and controversies. He discusses Stoic cosmopolitanism and globalization, takes a critical look at Nietzsche's own efforts to make the Greeks speak to the issues of his day, examines a Greek tragedy through Hannah Arendt's eyes, compares the role of comedy in ancient Athens and contemporary America, analyzes political theory as a reaction to an acute sense of loss, and considers questions of agency and morality. Platonic Noise makes a case for reading political theory and politics through literature. Working as much through example as through explicit argument, Euben casts the literary memory of Athenian democracy as a crucial cultural resource and a presence in contemporary political and theoretical debates. In so doing, he reasserts the moral value of what we used to call participatory democracy and the practical value of seeing ourselves with the help of insights from long-gone Greeks.

Contents:

II. On the Uses and Disadvantages of Hellenic Studies for Political and Theoretical Life 14

III. Hannah Arendt at Colonus 40

IV. Aristophanes in America 64

V. The Politics of Nostalgia and Theories of Loss 85

VI. The Polis, Globalization, and the Citizenship of Place 112

VII. Platonic Noise 141.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [175]-199) and index.

ISBN:

0691113998

0691114005

OCLC:

50477250

Online:

Publisher description