BIROn - Birkbeck Institutional Research Online

    Freedom, ethical choice and the Hellenistic polis

    Gray, Benjamin (2018) Freedom, ethical choice and the Hellenistic polis. History of European Ideas 44 (6), pp. 719-742. ISSN 0191-6599.

    [img]
    Preview
    Text
    19726a.pdf - Author's Accepted Manuscript

    Download (532kB) | Preview

    Abstract

    This paper examines ideas of individual freedom in the Hellenistic city-states (c. 323–31 BC). It concentrates on the civic ideas expressed in the laws and decrees of Hellenistic cities, inscribed on stone, comparing them with Hellenistic historical and philosophical works. It places different Hellenistic approaches alongside modern liberal, neo-Roman republican and civic humanist theories of individual liberty, finding some overlaps with each of those modern approaches. The argument is that the Hellenistic Greeks developed innovative ways of combining demanding ideals of civic virtue and the common good with equally robust ideals of individual freedom and ethical choice. They did so not least by adapting and developing traditional Greek approaches close to modern civic humanism, in ways very relevant to modern debates about how to reconcile civic duty, the common good and pluralism.

    Metadata

    Item Type: Article
    Additional Information: This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis, available online at the link above.
    Keyword(s) / Subject(s): Polis, Hellenistic, liberalism, republicanism, civic humanism
    School: Birkbeck Faculties and Schools > Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences > School of Historical Studies
    Depositing User: Benjamin Gray
    Date Deposited: 27 Sep 2017 12:36
    Last Modified: 02 Aug 2023 17:35
    URI: https://eprints.bbk.ac.uk/id/eprint/19726

    Statistics

    Activity Overview
    6 month trend
    362Downloads
    6 month trend
    242Hits

    Additional statistics are available via IRStats2.

    Archive Staff Only (login required)

    Edit/View Item Edit/View Item