This book offers an original interpretation of Plato’s Laws and a new account of its enduring importance. Ballingall argues that the republican regime conceived in the Laws is built on "reverence," an archaic virtue governing emotions of self-assessment—particularly awe and shame. Ballingall demonstrates how learning to feel these emotions in the right way, at the right time, and for the right things is the necessary basis for the rule of law conceived in the dialogue. The Laws remains surprisingly neglected in the scholarly literature, although this is changing. The cynical populisms haunting liberal democracies are focusing new attention on the “characterological” basis of constitutional government and Plato’s Laws remains an indispensable resource on this question, especially when we attend to the theme of reverence at its core.
As a virtue, reverence seems to have disappeared. People who speak highly of it are suspected of an obtuse fanaticism or of adherence to some eccentric New Age cult. If reverence lives on in mainstream culture, it does so either as a term of abuse or-more typically-through its antonym, whose merits are loudly broadcast. But what if reverence is a quality without which civilized life becomes impossible? Do societies like ours neglect reverence at their peril? Plato, at any rate, suggests they do. This study elucidates Plato's reasons for thinking so. These appear in the seldom studied Laws, the most important treatment of reverence in the tradition of Western political philosophy. Building on exciting developments in classical studies and political theory, The Reverent City sheds new light on this long-neglected dialogue, and on its significance for our irreverent times. On my interpretation, Plato looks to reverence as the root of ethical learning in all-too-human citizens. Political life depends on such learning, but the Laws shows how powerful currents in human nature incline most of us away from it. To acquire and practice the virtues that are its fruit thus demands refusing the inclinations that are its bane, and it is reverence-the capacity to show due respect for what exceeds and circumscribes the human-that supplies the needed impetus on Plato's account. I bring out the enduring relevance of this argument by highlighting the prescience of its warnings. He shows how the Laws anticipates with remarkable foresight the cynicism, apathy, and nativism to which democratic publics are increasingly prone in modern societies. By recovering a novel diagnosis for these trends in the neglect of a forgotten virtue, The Reverent City affords a richer understanding of our worrying politics, and blazes a promising path for future research.
"The Reverent City is among the best studies of Plato's Laws. Ballingall argues convincingly that reverence or awe plays a far greater role in classical political thought than is ordinarily understood." -Mark Lutz, Director, Society for Greek Political Thought and Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, USA "A subtle and penetrating interpreter of Plato, Ballingall shows that Plato's Laws has important lessons to teach our irreverent age. This is a book for serious students of Plato, but also for those concerned about the drift of our politics away from all things respectful and reverent." -Devin Stauffer, Professor and Associate Chair, Department of Government, University of Texas at Austin, USA "Ballingall's astute study of Plato's Laws addresses the puzzles and covers all the aspects of reverence while offering a thoughtful tribute to this unlikely friend of reason." -Harvey C. Mansfield, Kenan Professor of Government, Harvard University, USA This book offers an original interpretation of Plato's Laws and a new account of its enduring importance. Ballingall argues that the republican regime conceived in the Laws is built on "reverence," an archaic virtue governing emotions of self-assessment-particularly awe and shame. Ballingall demonstrates how learning to feel these emotions in the right way, at the right time, and for the right things is the necessary basis for the rule of law conceived in the dialogue. The Laws remains surprisingly neglected in the scholarly literature, although this is changing. The cynical populisms haunting liberal democracies are focusing new attention on the "characterological" basis of constitutional government and Plato's Laws remains an indispensable resource on this question, especially when we attend to the theme of reverence at its core. Robert Ballingall is Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Maine, USA. Previously, he was a postdoctoral fellow in the Program on Constitutional Government at Harvard University and Allan Bloom Memorial Postdoctoral Fellow for Research in Classical Political Thought at the University of Toronto, where he also earned his PhD.
Socrates presents a compelling case for some life-changing conclusions that follow from a close reading of Socrates' arguments. Offers a highly original study of Socrates and his thought, accessible to contemporary readers Argues that through studying Socrates we can learn practical wisdom to apply to our lives Lovingly crafted with humour, thought-experiments and literary references (from the Iliad to Harry Potter), and with close reading sof key Socratic arguments Aids readers with diagrams to make clear complex arguments
Reverence is an ancient virtue that survives among us in half-forgotten patterns of civility and moments of inarticulate awe. Reverence gives meaning to much that we do, yet the word has almost passed out of our vocabulary. Reverence, says philosopher and classicist Paul Woodruff, begins in an understanding of human limitations. From this grows the capacity to be in awe of whatever we believe lies outside our control -- God, truth, justice, nature, even death. It is a quality of character that is especially important in leadership and in teaching, although it figures in virtually every human relationship. It transcends religious boundaries and can be found outside religion altogether. Woodruff draws on thinking about this lost virtue in ancient Greek and Chinese traditions and applies lessons from these highly reverent cultures to today's world. The book covers reverence in a variety of contexts -- the arts, leadership, teaching, warfare, and the home -- and shows how essential a quality it is to a well-functioning society. First published by Oxford University Press in 2001, this new edition of Reverence is revised and expanded. It contains a foreword by Betty Sue Flowers, Distinguished Teaching Professor Emeritus at the University of Texas at Austin, a new preface, two new chapters -- one on the sacred and one on compassion -- and an epilogue focused on renewing reverence in our own lives.
A body of theory has developed about the role and function of memory in creating and maintaining cultural identity. Yet there has been no consideration of the rich Mediterranean and Near Eastern traditions of laments for fallen cities in commemorating or resolving communal trauma. This volume offers new insights into the trope of the fallen city in folk-song and a variety of literary genres. These commemorations reveal memories modified by diverse agendas, and contains narrative structures and motifs that show the meaning of memory-making about fallen cities. Opening a new avenue of research into the Mediterranean genre of city lament, this book examines references to, or re-workings of, otherwise lost texts or ways of commemorating fallen cities in the extant texts, and with greater emphasis than usual on the point of view of the victors.
