Thucydides and the Ancient Simplicity or A House Built on Sand

Thucydides and the Ancient Simplicity

Author: Gregory Cran

Thucydides' History of the Peloponnesian War is the earliest surviving realist text in the European tradition. As an account of the Peloponnesian War, it is famous both as an analysis of power politics and as a classic of political realism. From the opening speeches, Thucydides' Athenians emerge as a new and frightening source of power, motivated by self-interest and oblivious to the rules and shared values under which the Greeks had operated for centuries. Gregory Crane demonstrates how Thucydides' history brilliantly analyzes both the power and the dramatic weaknesses of realist thought.
The tragedy of Thucydides' history emerges from the ultimate failure of the Athenian project. The new morality of the imperialists proved as conflicted as the old; history shows that their values were unstable and self-destructive. Thucydides' history ends with the recounting of an intellectual stalemate that, a century later, motivated Plato's greatest work.
Thucydides and the Ancient Simplicity includes a thought-provoking discussion questioning currently held ideas of political realism and its limits. Crane's sophisticated claim for the continuing usefulness of the political examples of the classical past will appeal to anyone interested in the conflict between the exercise of political power and the preservation of human freedom and dignity.

Table of Contents:

	Acknowledgments
	Introduction	1
1	Sherman at Melos: Realpolitik Ancient and Modern	21
2	Truest Causes and Thucydidean Realisms	36
3	Representations of Power before and after Thucydides	72
4	Power, Prestige, and the Corcyraean Affair	93
5	Archaeology I: The Analytical Program of the History	125
6	Archaeology II: From Wealth to Capital: The Changing Politics of Accumulation	148
7	The Rule of the Strong and the Limits of Friendship	172
8	Archidamos and Sthenelaidas: The Dilemma of Spartan Authority	196
9	The Melian Dialogue: From Herodotus's Freedom Fighters to Thucydides' Imperialists	237
10	Athenian Theses: Realism as the Modern Simplicity	258
11	Conclusion: Thucydidean Realism and the Price of Objectivity	294
	Bibliography	327
	Index	343

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A House Built on Sand: Exposing Postmodernist Myths about Science

Author: Noretta Koertg

Cultural critics say that "science is politics by other means," arguing that the results of scientific inquiry are profoundly shaped by the ideological agendas of powerful elites. They base their claims on historical case studies purporting to show the systematic intrusion of sexist, racist, capitalist, colonialist, and/or professional interests into the very content of science. In this hard-hitting collection of essays, contributors offer crisp and detailed critiques of case studies offered by the cultural critics as evidence that scientific results tell us more about social context than they do about the natural world. Pulling no punches, they identify numerous crude factual blunders (e.g. that Newton never performed any experiments) and egregious errors of omission, such as the attempt to explain the slow development of fluid dynamics solely in terms of gender bias. Where there are positive aspects of a flawed account, or something to be learned from it, they do not hesitate to say so. Their target is shoddy scholarship.
Comprising new essays by distinguished scholars of history, philosophy, and science, this book raises a lively debate to a new level of seriousness.

Library Journal

This book is the latest and most explosive bomb to be launched in the "science wars." Recently, a cadre of historians and philosophers of science have attempted to deconstruct the scientific process by examining its underlying social metaphors. Many scholars, especially practicing scientists, view these efforts with undisguised disdain. The essays here, which are by scientists and philosophers, debunk postmodernist science studies by exposing their purported biases, errors, and fallacies. Essentially, they deconstruct the deconstructionists. For example, Michael Ruse asks, "Is Darwinism Sexist?" while Alan Sokal tackles "What the Social Text Affair Does and Does Not Approve." Although some olive branches are extended, the overall tone is aggressive. Academics on both sides of the debate will need this book. Expect a counterattack.--Gregg Sapp, Univ. of Miami Lib., Coral Gables, FL