Platonic Noise
J. Peter Euben

Paper | 2003 | $27.95 / £19.95
232 pp. | 6 x 9

e-Book | 2008 | $27.95 | ISBN: 978-1-4008-2558-5

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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.

Review:

"An excellent example of how the Greeks can be used as something good to think with--not idealizing them, or giving in to misplaced nostalgia in their regard, but . . . recognizing them as a ceaseless source of stimulation."--John Dillon, Bryn Mawr Classical Review

Endorsements:

"This book contains a deeply felt, often moving meditation on the relationship between the human experience of loss, the redemptive power of politics, and the demands of intellectual life."--Sara Monoson, Northwestern University

"Always interesting and provocative, Euben continues and elaborates his project to read classical texts in relation to contemporary political concerns. This book contains innovative and enlightening readings of several thinkers of wide interest as well as of several topics that are central to political theory. His arguments are clear and striking."--Tracy B. Strong, University of California, San Diego

Table of Contents:

Acknowledgments xi
I.
Introduction 1
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 175
Index 201

Other Princeton books by J. Peter Euben:

• Corrupting Youth: Political Education, Democratic Culture, and Political Theory.
• The Tragedy of Political Theory: The Road Not Taken.

Subject Areas:

• Political Science and International Relations
• Political Philosophy
• Classics

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For customers in the U.S., Canada, Latin America, Asia, and Australia
Paper: $27.95 ISBN13: 978-0-691-11400-2

For customers in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and India
Paper: £19.95 ISBN13: 978-0-691-11400-2

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