- 488 pages
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub
About this book
Tracing practical reason from its origins to its modern and contemporary permutations
The Greek discovery of practical reason, as the skilled performance of strategic thinking in public and private affairs, was an intellectual breakthrough that remains both a feature of and a bug in our modern world. Countering arguments that rational choice-making is a contingent product of modernity, The Greeks and the Rational traces the long history of theorizing rationality back to ancient Greece.
In this book, Josiah Ober explores how ancient Greek sophists, historians, and philosophers developed sophisticated and systematic ideas about practical reason. At the same time, they recognized its limits—that not every decision can be reduced to mechanistic calculations of optimal outcomes. Ober finds contemporary echoes of this tradition in the application of game theory to political science, economics, and business management. The Greeks and the Rational offers a striking revisionist history with widespread implications for the study of ancient Greek civilization, the history of thought, and human rationality itself.
The Greek discovery of practical reason, as the skilled performance of strategic thinking in public and private affairs, was an intellectual breakthrough that remains both a feature of and a bug in our modern world. Countering arguments that rational choice-making is a contingent product of modernity, The Greeks and the Rational traces the long history of theorizing rationality back to ancient Greece.
In this book, Josiah Ober explores how ancient Greek sophists, historians, and philosophers developed sophisticated and systematic ideas about practical reason. At the same time, they recognized its limits—that not every decision can be reduced to mechanistic calculations of optimal outcomes. Ober finds contemporary echoes of this tradition in the application of game theory to political science, economics, and business management. The Greeks and the Rational offers a striking revisionist history with widespread implications for the study of ancient Greek civilization, the history of thought, and human rationality itself.
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Yes, you can access The Greeks and the Rational by Josiah Ober in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in History & Economic Theory. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.
Information
Table of contents
- Imprint
- Subvention
- Title
- Copyright
- Dedication
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Abbreviations and Classical References
- Introduction: Discovering Practical Reason
- 1. Gygesâ Choice: Rationality and Visibility
- 2. Glauconâs Dilemma: Origins of Social Order
- 3. Deiocesâ Ultimatum: How to Choose a Ruler
- 4. Solonâs Bargain: Self-Enforcing Constitutional Order
- 5. Melosâ Prospect: Limits of Interstate Rationality
- 6. Socratesâ Critique: Problems for Democratic Rationality
- 7. Cephalusâ Expertise: Economic Rationality
- 8. Conclusions: Utility and Eudaimonia
- Appendix: Probability, Risk, and Likelihood
- Works Cited
- Index