Corrupting youth : political education, democratic culture, and political theory / J. Peter Euben.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Euben, J. Peter.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Political science--Greece.

Political science.

Political plays, Greek--History and criticism.

Political plays, Greek.

Politics and literature--Greece.

Politics and literature.

Political socialization.

Democracy--Greece.

Democracy.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (287 p.)

Edition:

Course Book

Place of Publication:

Princeton, N.J. : Princeton University Press, c1997.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

In Corrupting Youth, Peter Euben explores the affinities between Socratic philosophy and Athenian democratic culture as a way to think about issues of politics and education, both ancient and modern. The book moves skillfully between antiquity and the present, from ancient to contemporary political theory, and from Athenian to American democracy. It draws together important recent work by political theorists with the views of classical scholars in ways that shine new light on significant theoretical debates such as those over discourse ethics, rational choice, and political realism, and on political issues such as school vouchers and education reform. Euben not only argues for the generative capacity of classical texts and Athenian political thought, he demonstrates it by thinking with them to provide a framework for reflecting more deeply about socially divisive issues such as the war over the canon and the "politicization" of the university. Drawing on Aristophanes' Clouds, Sophocles' Antigone and Oedipus Tyrannos, and Plato's Apology of Socrates, Gorgias, and Protagoras, Euben develops a view of democratic political education. Arguing that Athenian democratic practices constituted a tradition of accountability and self-critique that Socrates expanded into a way of doing philosophy, Euben suggests a necessary reciprocity between political philosophy and radical democracy. By asking whether we can or should take "Socrates" out of the academy and put him back in front of a wider audience, Euben argues for anchoring contemporary higher education in appreciative yet skeptical encounter with the dramatic figure in Plato's dialogues.

Contents:

Front matter

Contents

Preface

Chapter I. Imploding the Canon: The Reform of Education and the War over Culture

Chapter II. Corrupting Socrates

Chapter III. The Battle of Salamis and the Origins of Political Theory

Chapter IV. Democratic Accountability and Socratic Dialectic

Chapter V. When There Are Gray Skies: Aristophanes' Clouds and the Political Education of Democratic Citizens

Chapter VI. Antigone and the Languages of Politics

Chapter VII. Oedipean Complexities and Political Science: Tragedy and the Search for Knowledge

Chapter VIII. The Gorgias, Socratic Dialectic, and the Education of Democratic Citizens

Chapter IX. The Protagoras and the Political Education of Democratic Citizens

Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9786612753282

9781400802050

1400802059

9781400811519

1400811511

9781282753280

1282753282

9781400822331

1400822335

OCLC:

700688539