First democracy [[electronic resource] ] : the challenge of an ancient idea / / Paul Woodruff

• Record Nr.: UNINA9910777890203321
• Autore: Woodruff Paul <1943->
• Pubbl/distr/stampa: Oxford, : Oxford University Press, 2005
• ISBN: 0-19-985074-7; 1-280-84642-9; 0-19-803938-7; 1-4294-3847-9
• Descrizione fisica: 1 online resource (301 p.)
• Disciplina: 320.938509014; 321.809385
• Soggetti: Democracy - Greece - History; Democracy - Greece - Athens - History; Democracy - Philosophy
• Lingua di pubblicazione: Inglese
• Formato: Materiale a stampa
• Livello bibliografico: Monografia
• Note generali: Description based upon print version of record.
• Nota di bibliografia: Includes bibliographical references and index.
• Nota di contenuto: Contents; Preface; Acknowledgments; Maps; 1 Introduction: Democracy and Its Doubles; 2 The Life and Death of Democracy; 3 Freedom from Tyranny (And from Being a Tyrant); 4 Harmony; 5 The Rule of Law (Nomos); 6 Natural Equality; 7 Citizen Wisdom; 8 Reasoning Without Knowledge; 9 Education (Paideia); 10 Afterword: Are Americans Ready for Democracy?; Notes; Dates; Cast of Characters; Guide to the Peloponnesian War; Ancient Sources; Scholarly Works Cited; Index; A; B; C; D; E; F; G; H; I; J; L; M; N; O; P; R; S; T; U; V; W; X; Y; Z
• Sommario/riassunto: Americans have an unwavering faith in democracy and are ever eager to import it to nations around the world. But how democratic is our own ""democracy""? If you can vote, if the majority rules, if you have elected representatives--does this automatically mean that you have a democracy? In thiseye-opening look at an ideal that we all take for granted, classical scholar Paul Woodruff offers some surprising answers to these questions. Drawing on classical literature, philosophy, and history--with many intriguing passages from Sophocles, Aesop, and Plato, among others--Woodruff immerses us in