The problem of tyranny preoccupied Plato, and its discussion both begins and ends his famous Repu... more The problem of tyranny preoccupied Plato, and its discussion both begins and ends his famous Republic. Though philosophers have mined the Republic for millennia, Cinzia Arruzza is the first to devote a full book to the study of tyranny and of the tyrant's soul in Plato's Republic.
In A Wolf in the City, Arruzza argues that Plato's critique of tyranny intervenes in an ancient debate concerning the sources of the crisis of Athenian democracy and the relation between political leaders and demos in the last decades of the fifth century BCE. Arruzza shows that Plato's critique of tyranny should not be taken as veiled criticism of the Syracusan tyrannical regime, but rather of Athenian democracy. In parsing Plato's discussion of the soul of the tyrant, Arruzza will also offer new and innovative insights into his moral psychology, addressing much-debated problems such as the nature of eros and of the spirited part of the soul, the unity or disunity of the soul, and the relation between the non-rational parts of the soul and reason.
The term dunamis (potentiality) entered into the philosophical vocabulary with Plato, but it was ... more The term dunamis (potentiality) entered into the philosophical vocabulary with Plato, but it was with Aristotle that it acquired, together with energeia (actuality), the strong technical meaning that the two terms have maintained, with variations, throughout subsequent philosophical tradition.
The significance of the notions of actuality and potentiality in Plotinus’ thought can hardly be overstated. Throughout the Enneads, they are crucial to understanding the specific causality of intelligible realities and the relation of participation between intelligible and sensible realms.
In Ennead II.5, Plotinus for the first time provides a systematic clarification of his peculiar use of these terms, through a sustained revision of Aristotle’s own elaboration of the topic and of his terminology. The treatise discusses the different meanings of potentiality and actuality as well as the way each of them applies or does not apply to the sensible realm, to the intelligible realm, and to matter.
While the structure of the text unfolds in a coherent and cohesive manner, Plotinus’ writing in this treatise is dense and at times dry in its technicality. The detailed commentary guides the reader step by step, making an otherwise particularly difficult text accessible.
An accessible introduction to the relationship between the workers' movement and the women's move... more An accessible introduction to the relationship between the workers' movement and the women's movement. The first part is historical, the second theoretical. Historical examples range from the mid-19th century to the 1970s and include events, debates and key personalities from China, Russia, the USA, France, Italy, Spain and Britain. It shows time and again, the controversial, often difficult relationship between feminism and Marxism The theoretical questions discussed include the origins of women's oppression, domestic labour, dual systems theory, performativity and differentialism. Women's oppression is a structural element of the division of labour and one of the direct factors through which capitalism not only reinforces its ideological domination but also organises the exploitation and reproduction of labour. The integration of patriarchal relations and capitalism has led to their radical transformation - in the family, in terms of women's place in production, in sexual relations and with respect to sexual identity.
Marxism needs to probe complex processes: ongoing transformations and crises, a global context creating an increasingly feminised workforce, and changing relations between men and women. It is a mistake to submerge gender into class or to believe that freedom from exploitation automatically brings about women's liberation and the ending of sexual roles. It is equally wrong is to think the class question can be removed and gender made the main enemy. The author believes passionately in the need to combine gender and class politics.
La théodicée de Plotin et la théodicée chrétienne d’Origène et Grégoire de Nysse ont plusieurs él... more La théodicée de Plotin et la théodicée chrétienne d’Origène et Grégoire de Nysse ont plusieurs éléments en commun: l’identification du mal et du non-être, l’idée d’un ordre rationnel de la réalité provenant du principe divin, l’élaboration d’une notion unitaire de mal. Cependant, ces similarités cachent des logiques très différentes. Pour Plotin, la solution au problème du mal réside dans la demonstration de sa nécessité en tant que produit non accidentel de la procession. Pour Origène et Grégoire de Nysse, par contre, c’est dans l’élaboration d’une idée radicale de liberté et dans l’instabilité ontologique de la créature qu’il faut chercher la solution. Ce livre analyse ces deux théodicées, la théodicée de la nécessité et celle de la liberté, les confrontant à une série de “mésaventures”, afin de mettre en lumière aussi bien les difficultés surmontées par ces auteurs dans leur élaboration de la notion de mal que celles qui restent encore ouvertes.
In Plato’s Republic V, 449a-457b, Socrates argues that the guardian class of Kallipolis will comp... more In Plato’s Republic V, 449a-457b, Socrates argues that the guardian class of Kallipolis will comprise both men and women and that women with the appropriate nature ought to receive the same education and fulfill the same tasks as their male counterparts. In this article I argue, against competing interpretations of this claim as dependent either on the necessity of abolishing the oikos or on eugenic principles, that Socrates’ argument ought to be understood as a genuine argument about women’s natural capabilities and ought to be interpreted in light of the Socratic debate about women’s virtues. Moreover, I show that the legal language mobilized, combined with polemical references to Aristophanes, serves the purpose of evoking Socrates’ trial, thus alerting the reader to the seriousness of the proposal in question.
This chapter addresses the question of the identity of the historical figure depicted by Plato’s ... more This chapter addresses the question of the identity of the historical figure depicted by Plato’s tyrant, and rules out that Plato’s main inspiration and referent was an actual tyrant. Contra such suppositions, the chapter emphasizes the conventional elements of Plato’s description and shows its appropriation of preexisting characterizations of tyrannies and tyrants in Greek literature. Plato’s adoption of these literary tropes reflects an argumentative strategy best understood by referring to their function in democratic self-understanding. Plato adopts these tropes to subvert democratic discourse, arguing that tyranny is democracy’s natural derivation rather than its polar opposite. Thus, Plato’s diagnosis of tyranny can be better understood as an intervention in a debate concerning the transformation of the relation between political leaders and the demos in Athenian democracy and the crisis of democracy in the last years of the fifth century, foreshadowed by the dramatic setting ...
Comme cela a deja ete mis en lumiere, c'est probablement dans la negligence (αμeλeαap) qu'... more Comme cela a deja ete mis en lumiere, c'est probablement dans la negligence (αμeλeαap) qu'il faut voir la cause premiere de la chute des creatures rationnelles qui a donne lieu a la vie dans le monde sensible et dont Origene parle diffusement dans le De principiis. Cet article a pour but d'examiner la notion de negligence, en analysant ses sources bibliques et philosophiques, notamment Philon d'Alexandrie, ainsi que le sens qu'ilfaut lui attribuer a la lumiere de la theodicee elaboree plus en general par Origene.
While Daniel Bensaid’s writings on Marxism, socialist strategy, and historical temporality have g... more While Daniel Bensaid’s writings on Marxism, socialist strategy, and historical temporality have gained increased attention in the years since his passing, there remain relatively few accounts of his thinking on class. This article seeks to correct that gap by situating Bensaid’s various texts on class theory in relation to other key reconceptualizations of class in the Marxist tradition that sought to avoid sociological determinism: E. P. Thompson’s lens of class formation and the Italian Workerists’ methodology of class composition. In tracing these connections, we argue that Bensaid’s conception of class is at once historically grounded and attuned to the open-ended conflictuality and multiple terrains of class struggle.
This chapter addresses the role of the tyrannical man’s rational part. Based on the discussion in... more This chapter addresses the role of the tyrannical man’s rational part. Based on the discussion in Book VI of the Republic concerning the danger for the city represented by corrupted philosophical natures and other passages (such as the reference to the role of intelligence in vicious people, at 519a1–b5), this chapter explores the hypothesis that the tyrant may be endowed with strong intellectual capabilities. Seen in this light, the tyrant may be an example of reason’s complete moral perversion and his intellectual capabilities may play an important and negative role. The chapter further explores the nature of the madness attributed to the tyrant and its connection to bad beliefs concerning the good, of which Thrasymachus’ and Glaucon’s defense of injustice and tyranny are exemplary.
A Wolf in the City is a study of tyranny and of the tyrant’s soul in Plato’s Republic. It argues ... more A Wolf in the City is a study of tyranny and of the tyrant’s soul in Plato’s Republic. It argues that Plato’s critique of tyranny is an intervention in an ancient debate concerning the sources of the crisis of Athenian democracy and the relation between political leaders and the demos in the last decades of the fifth century BCE. The book shows that Plato’s critique of tyranny should not be taken as a veiled critique of the Syracusan tyrannical regime but, rather, as an integral part of his critique of Athenian democracy. The book also offers an in-depth and detailed analysis of all three parts of the tyrant’s soul, and contends that this approach is necessary to both fully appraise the complex psychic dynamics taking place in the description of the tyrannical man and shed light on Plato’s moral psychology and its relation with his political theory.
Abstract The notion of social reproduction articulated by Marxist feminists within a unitary theo... more Abstract The notion of social reproduction articulated by Marxist feminists within a unitary theory of gender oppression and capitalism has been accused in the past of being either functionalist or economic and biological determinist. These accusations were based on a fundamental misunderstanding of the Marxist notions of production and reproduction and on a reified understanding of what a capitalist society is. Moreover, often those who have criticized the Marxist feminist understanding of social reproduction have not been able to offer a solid alternative and have ended up in even greater theoretical impasses, particularly exemplified by dual and triple systems theories. On the contrary, the notion of social reproduction has the potential to avoid these impasses, while at the same time suggesting a non-reductionist account of the capitalist mode of production: one in which capital is not seen as the subject of a strictly “economic” process.
This article addresses the notions of gender performativity and temporality in Butler’s early wor... more This article addresses the notions of gender performativity and temporality in Butler’s early work on gender. The paper is articulated in four steps. First it gives an account of the role and nature of temporality in Butler’s theory of gender performativity. Second, it shows some similarities and connections between the role played by temporality in Butler’s theory of gender performativity and its role in Marx’s analysis of capital. Third, it raises some criticisms of Butler’s understanding of temporality and historicity, focusing in particular on the lack of historicisation of her own categories in both Gender Trouble and Bodies that Matter. This deficit is a consequence of the epistemological framework within which she is operating, in particular of her understanding of social practices and relations through the lens of linguistic concepts extrapolated from their theoretical context. The article concludes by referring to Floyd’s and Hennessy’s analyses of the formation of sexual i...
Polis: The Journal for Ancient Greek Political Thought, 2012
This paper examines an issue that seems particularly overlooked in the debate on Plato and Popper... more This paper examines an issue that seems particularly overlooked in the debate on Plato and Popper, namely that of political change. The aim of the paper is to challenge the largely unchallenged assumption that modern liberal democracy can play the role of the general standard, upon which basis we can judge the thinkers of the past. Indeed, in the Open Society liberal democracy sets the boundaries of what is considered as a ‘rational’ political change, thus revealing that Popper holds a form of teleological conception of historical development. The paper argues for a different interpretation of Plato’s approach to the question of political change, against Popper’s claim that the final aim of the utopian city of the Republic is the elimination of change. The conclusion is that Plato’s utopian construction provides us with better tools than Popper’s framework for thinking of change in politics.
Vegetti’s book tries to decipher and recast the complex history of the interpretation of the poli... more Vegetti’s book tries to decipher and recast the complex history of the interpretation of the political Plato in a compelling historical and philosophical analysis. This review article presents an intellectual profile of Mario Vegetti and a critical engagement with his historical and politico-philosophical approach. It concludes with the suggestion that we should investigate the vicious circle of philosophy and politics in Plato’s Republic in light of Marx’s Theses on Feuerbach.
The problem of tyranny preoccupied Plato, and its discussion both begins and ends his famous Repu... more The problem of tyranny preoccupied Plato, and its discussion both begins and ends his famous Republic. Though philosophers have mined the Republic for millennia, Cinzia Arruzza is the first to devote a full book to the study of tyranny and of the tyrant's soul in Plato's Republic.
In A Wolf in the City, Arruzza argues that Plato's critique of tyranny intervenes in an ancient debate concerning the sources of the crisis of Athenian democracy and the relation between political leaders and demos in the last decades of the fifth century BCE. Arruzza shows that Plato's critique of tyranny should not be taken as veiled criticism of the Syracusan tyrannical regime, but rather of Athenian democracy. In parsing Plato's discussion of the soul of the tyrant, Arruzza will also offer new and innovative insights into his moral psychology, addressing much-debated problems such as the nature of eros and of the spirited part of the soul, the unity or disunity of the soul, and the relation between the non-rational parts of the soul and reason.
The term dunamis (potentiality) entered into the philosophical vocabulary with Plato, but it was ... more The term dunamis (potentiality) entered into the philosophical vocabulary with Plato, but it was with Aristotle that it acquired, together with energeia (actuality), the strong technical meaning that the two terms have maintained, with variations, throughout subsequent philosophical tradition.
The significance of the notions of actuality and potentiality in Plotinus’ thought can hardly be overstated. Throughout the Enneads, they are crucial to understanding the specific causality of intelligible realities and the relation of participation between intelligible and sensible realms.
In Ennead II.5, Plotinus for the first time provides a systematic clarification of his peculiar use of these terms, through a sustained revision of Aristotle’s own elaboration of the topic and of his terminology. The treatise discusses the different meanings of potentiality and actuality as well as the way each of them applies or does not apply to the sensible realm, to the intelligible realm, and to matter.
While the structure of the text unfolds in a coherent and cohesive manner, Plotinus’ writing in this treatise is dense and at times dry in its technicality. The detailed commentary guides the reader step by step, making an otherwise particularly difficult text accessible.
An accessible introduction to the relationship between the workers' movement and the women's move... more An accessible introduction to the relationship between the workers' movement and the women's movement. The first part is historical, the second theoretical. Historical examples range from the mid-19th century to the 1970s and include events, debates and key personalities from China, Russia, the USA, France, Italy, Spain and Britain. It shows time and again, the controversial, often difficult relationship between feminism and Marxism The theoretical questions discussed include the origins of women's oppression, domestic labour, dual systems theory, performativity and differentialism. Women's oppression is a structural element of the division of labour and one of the direct factors through which capitalism not only reinforces its ideological domination but also organises the exploitation and reproduction of labour. The integration of patriarchal relations and capitalism has led to their radical transformation - in the family, in terms of women's place in production, in sexual relations and with respect to sexual identity.
Marxism needs to probe complex processes: ongoing transformations and crises, a global context creating an increasingly feminised workforce, and changing relations between men and women. It is a mistake to submerge gender into class or to believe that freedom from exploitation automatically brings about women's liberation and the ending of sexual roles. It is equally wrong is to think the class question can be removed and gender made the main enemy. The author believes passionately in the need to combine gender and class politics.
La théodicée de Plotin et la théodicée chrétienne d’Origène et Grégoire de Nysse ont plusieurs él... more La théodicée de Plotin et la théodicée chrétienne d’Origène et Grégoire de Nysse ont plusieurs éléments en commun: l’identification du mal et du non-être, l’idée d’un ordre rationnel de la réalité provenant du principe divin, l’élaboration d’une notion unitaire de mal. Cependant, ces similarités cachent des logiques très différentes. Pour Plotin, la solution au problème du mal réside dans la demonstration de sa nécessité en tant que produit non accidentel de la procession. Pour Origène et Grégoire de Nysse, par contre, c’est dans l’élaboration d’une idée radicale de liberté et dans l’instabilité ontologique de la créature qu’il faut chercher la solution. Ce livre analyse ces deux théodicées, la théodicée de la nécessité et celle de la liberté, les confrontant à une série de “mésaventures”, afin de mettre en lumière aussi bien les difficultés surmontées par ces auteurs dans leur élaboration de la notion de mal que celles qui restent encore ouvertes.
In Plato’s Republic V, 449a-457b, Socrates argues that the guardian class of Kallipolis will comp... more In Plato’s Republic V, 449a-457b, Socrates argues that the guardian class of Kallipolis will comprise both men and women and that women with the appropriate nature ought to receive the same education and fulfill the same tasks as their male counterparts. In this article I argue, against competing interpretations of this claim as dependent either on the necessity of abolishing the oikos or on eugenic principles, that Socrates’ argument ought to be understood as a genuine argument about women’s natural capabilities and ought to be interpreted in light of the Socratic debate about women’s virtues. Moreover, I show that the legal language mobilized, combined with polemical references to Aristophanes, serves the purpose of evoking Socrates’ trial, thus alerting the reader to the seriousness of the proposal in question.
This chapter addresses the question of the identity of the historical figure depicted by Plato’s ... more This chapter addresses the question of the identity of the historical figure depicted by Plato’s tyrant, and rules out that Plato’s main inspiration and referent was an actual tyrant. Contra such suppositions, the chapter emphasizes the conventional elements of Plato’s description and shows its appropriation of preexisting characterizations of tyrannies and tyrants in Greek literature. Plato’s adoption of these literary tropes reflects an argumentative strategy best understood by referring to their function in democratic self-understanding. Plato adopts these tropes to subvert democratic discourse, arguing that tyranny is democracy’s natural derivation rather than its polar opposite. Thus, Plato’s diagnosis of tyranny can be better understood as an intervention in a debate concerning the transformation of the relation between political leaders and the demos in Athenian democracy and the crisis of democracy in the last years of the fifth century, foreshadowed by the dramatic setting ...
Comme cela a deja ete mis en lumiere, c'est probablement dans la negligence (αμeλeαap) qu'... more Comme cela a deja ete mis en lumiere, c'est probablement dans la negligence (αμeλeαap) qu'il faut voir la cause premiere de la chute des creatures rationnelles qui a donne lieu a la vie dans le monde sensible et dont Origene parle diffusement dans le De principiis. Cet article a pour but d'examiner la notion de negligence, en analysant ses sources bibliques et philosophiques, notamment Philon d'Alexandrie, ainsi que le sens qu'ilfaut lui attribuer a la lumiere de la theodicee elaboree plus en general par Origene.
While Daniel Bensaid’s writings on Marxism, socialist strategy, and historical temporality have g... more While Daniel Bensaid’s writings on Marxism, socialist strategy, and historical temporality have gained increased attention in the years since his passing, there remain relatively few accounts of his thinking on class. This article seeks to correct that gap by situating Bensaid’s various texts on class theory in relation to other key reconceptualizations of class in the Marxist tradition that sought to avoid sociological determinism: E. P. Thompson’s lens of class formation and the Italian Workerists’ methodology of class composition. In tracing these connections, we argue that Bensaid’s conception of class is at once historically grounded and attuned to the open-ended conflictuality and multiple terrains of class struggle.
This chapter addresses the role of the tyrannical man’s rational part. Based on the discussion in... more This chapter addresses the role of the tyrannical man’s rational part. Based on the discussion in Book VI of the Republic concerning the danger for the city represented by corrupted philosophical natures and other passages (such as the reference to the role of intelligence in vicious people, at 519a1–b5), this chapter explores the hypothesis that the tyrant may be endowed with strong intellectual capabilities. Seen in this light, the tyrant may be an example of reason’s complete moral perversion and his intellectual capabilities may play an important and negative role. The chapter further explores the nature of the madness attributed to the tyrant and its connection to bad beliefs concerning the good, of which Thrasymachus’ and Glaucon’s defense of injustice and tyranny are exemplary.
A Wolf in the City is a study of tyranny and of the tyrant’s soul in Plato’s Republic. It argues ... more A Wolf in the City is a study of tyranny and of the tyrant’s soul in Plato’s Republic. It argues that Plato’s critique of tyranny is an intervention in an ancient debate concerning the sources of the crisis of Athenian democracy and the relation between political leaders and the demos in the last decades of the fifth century BCE. The book shows that Plato’s critique of tyranny should not be taken as a veiled critique of the Syracusan tyrannical regime but, rather, as an integral part of his critique of Athenian democracy. The book also offers an in-depth and detailed analysis of all three parts of the tyrant’s soul, and contends that this approach is necessary to both fully appraise the complex psychic dynamics taking place in the description of the tyrannical man and shed light on Plato’s moral psychology and its relation with his political theory.
Abstract The notion of social reproduction articulated by Marxist feminists within a unitary theo... more Abstract The notion of social reproduction articulated by Marxist feminists within a unitary theory of gender oppression and capitalism has been accused in the past of being either functionalist or economic and biological determinist. These accusations were based on a fundamental misunderstanding of the Marxist notions of production and reproduction and on a reified understanding of what a capitalist society is. Moreover, often those who have criticized the Marxist feminist understanding of social reproduction have not been able to offer a solid alternative and have ended up in even greater theoretical impasses, particularly exemplified by dual and triple systems theories. On the contrary, the notion of social reproduction has the potential to avoid these impasses, while at the same time suggesting a non-reductionist account of the capitalist mode of production: one in which capital is not seen as the subject of a strictly “economic” process.
This article addresses the notions of gender performativity and temporality in Butler’s early wor... more This article addresses the notions of gender performativity and temporality in Butler’s early work on gender. The paper is articulated in four steps. First it gives an account of the role and nature of temporality in Butler’s theory of gender performativity. Second, it shows some similarities and connections between the role played by temporality in Butler’s theory of gender performativity and its role in Marx’s analysis of capital. Third, it raises some criticisms of Butler’s understanding of temporality and historicity, focusing in particular on the lack of historicisation of her own categories in both Gender Trouble and Bodies that Matter. This deficit is a consequence of the epistemological framework within which she is operating, in particular of her understanding of social practices and relations through the lens of linguistic concepts extrapolated from their theoretical context. The article concludes by referring to Floyd’s and Hennessy’s analyses of the formation of sexual i...
Polis: The Journal for Ancient Greek Political Thought, 2012
This paper examines an issue that seems particularly overlooked in the debate on Plato and Popper... more This paper examines an issue that seems particularly overlooked in the debate on Plato and Popper, namely that of political change. The aim of the paper is to challenge the largely unchallenged assumption that modern liberal democracy can play the role of the general standard, upon which basis we can judge the thinkers of the past. Indeed, in the Open Society liberal democracy sets the boundaries of what is considered as a ‘rational’ political change, thus revealing that Popper holds a form of teleological conception of historical development. The paper argues for a different interpretation of Plato’s approach to the question of political change, against Popper’s claim that the final aim of the utopian city of the Republic is the elimination of change. The conclusion is that Plato’s utopian construction provides us with better tools than Popper’s framework for thinking of change in politics.
Vegetti’s book tries to decipher and recast the complex history of the interpretation of the poli... more Vegetti’s book tries to decipher and recast the complex history of the interpretation of the political Plato in a compelling historical and philosophical analysis. This review article presents an intellectual profile of Mario Vegetti and a critical engagement with his historical and politico-philosophical approach. It concludes with the suggestion that we should investigate the vicious circle of philosophy and politics in Plato’s Republic in light of Marx’s Theses on Feuerbach.
This chapter addresses the argumentative dimension of Plato’s claim that democracy generates tyra... more This chapter addresses the argumentative dimension of Plato’s claim that democracy generates tyranny. In contrast with readings of the analysis of democracy that suggest a benevolent view of the democratic regime, the chapter unpacks the argumentative logic of Plato’s claim that the demos is the tyrant’s father. This claim should be understood as referring to two main aspects: On the one hand, the corrupting effects of democracy’s institutional mechanisms and of the collective action of the demos when acting as a sovereign body; on the other, the similarity between the appetitive natures of the demos and of its political leaders. The figure of the tyrant privatizes and embodies a fundamental feature of the demos understood as a collective body: its freedom understood as both freedom from any superior authority and license of appetitive enjoyment.
A noção de reprodução social articulada pelo feminismo marxista, no interior de uma teoria unitár... more A noção de reprodução social articulada pelo feminismo marxista, no interior de uma teoria unitária da opressão de gênero e do capitalismo, foi acusada no passado de ser ou funcionalista ou econômica e biologicamente determinista. Essas acusações baseiam-se em uma incompreensão fundamental das noções marxistas de produção e de reprodução e de um entendimento reifi cado do que a sociedade capitalista é. Ademais, frequentemente aquelas que criticaram a compreensão feminista marxista de reprodução social não foram capazes de oferecer uma alternativa sólida e acabaram emimpasses teóricos ainda maiores, particularmente exemplifi cados pelas teorias dos sistemas duplos e triplos. No sentido contrário, a noção de reprodução social tem o potencial de evitar esses impasses, enquanto concomitantemente sugere uma perspectiva não-reducionista do modo capitalista de produção: aquele no qual o capital não é considerado como o sujeito de um processo estritamente “econômico”.
This chapter is divided into two main parts. The first offers a discussion of the nature of spiri... more This chapter is divided into two main parts. The first offers a discussion of the nature of spirit, dealing with the current range of interpretive options, and arguing for a definition of spirit as a drive to self-assertion. The second is based on exegesis of the beginning of book IX and of the only reference to spirit included therein. The thesis is that a hardened and corrupt spirit plays a significant role in the tyrant’s psyche, because the latter’s condition is determined in part by the spirited part’s lawlessness as inflamed by the appetitive part. The two parts are bridged by a section concerning the animal metaphors related to spirit in the dialogue: this section interprets each animal as corresponding to a different state of spirit, and argues that the wolf—the animal associated with the tyrant in the dialogue—is the animal metaphor for the tyrant’s corrupt spirit.
In her recent work on feminism and capitalism, Nancy Fraser has insisted on the necessity to resi... more In her recent work on feminism and capitalism, Nancy Fraser has insisted on the necessity to resist the neoliberal cooptation of feminist discourse and to combine the critique of gender inequality with the critique of capitalism. Arruzza accepts Nancy Fraser’s invitation to think again about the structural connection between gender and sexual oppression and capitalist social relations. She critically discusses the liberal feminist notion that capitalism has led and can still lead to greater emancipation from gender and sexual oppression, and that the oppression of women and of sexuality is only a vestige of a pre-capitalist past. As capitalism generates gender and sexual oppression in various ways and new forms, these kinds of oppression cannot be considered simply as a remnant from a pre-capitalist past.
In book V of Plato's Republic, Socrates famously puts forward a set of radical policies regarding... more In book V of Plato's Republic, Socrates famously puts forward a set of radical policies regarding women and the upbringing of the children of Kallipolis' guardians. These policies are articulated in two distinct but interconnected "waves". The first wave establishes that women with the required natural talent should receive the same education as the male guardians and share in the same activities; the second wave concerns the institution of eugenic "marriage" rules, the production of children, and their communal upbringing. This section of the Republic has prompted wildly divergent interpretations among scholars. One
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In A Wolf in the City, Arruzza argues that Plato's critique of tyranny intervenes in an ancient debate concerning the sources of the crisis of Athenian democracy and the relation between political leaders and demos in the last decades of the fifth century BCE. Arruzza shows that Plato's critique of tyranny should not be taken as veiled criticism of the Syracusan tyrannical regime, but rather of Athenian democracy. In parsing Plato's discussion of the soul of the tyrant, Arruzza will also offer new and innovative insights into his moral psychology, addressing much-debated problems such as the nature of eros and of the spirited part of the soul, the unity or disunity of the soul, and the relation between the non-rational parts of the soul and reason.
The significance of the notions of actuality and potentiality in Plotinus’ thought can hardly be overstated. Throughout the Enneads, they are crucial to understanding the specific causality of intelligible realities and the relation of participation between intelligible and sensible realms.
In Ennead II.5, Plotinus for the first time provides a systematic clarification of his peculiar use of these terms, through a sustained revision of Aristotle’s own elaboration of the topic and of his terminology. The treatise discusses the different meanings of potentiality and actuality as well as the way each of them applies or does not apply to the sensible realm, to the intelligible realm, and to matter.
While the structure of the text unfolds in a coherent and cohesive manner, Plotinus’ writing in this treatise is dense and at times dry in its technicality. The detailed commentary guides the reader step by step, making an otherwise particularly difficult text accessible.
The theoretical questions discussed include the origins of women's oppression, domestic labour, dual systems theory, performativity and differentialism. Women's oppression is a structural element of the division of labour and one of the direct factors through which capitalism not only reinforces its ideological domination but also organises the exploitation and reproduction of labour. The integration of patriarchal relations and capitalism has led to their radical transformation - in the family, in terms of women's place in production, in sexual relations and with respect to sexual identity.
Marxism needs to probe complex processes: ongoing transformations and crises, a global context creating an increasingly feminised workforce, and changing relations between men and women. It is a mistake to submerge gender into class or to believe that freedom from exploitation automatically brings about women's liberation and the ending of sexual roles. It is equally wrong is to think the class question can be removed and gender made the main enemy. The author believes passionately in the need to combine gender and class politics.
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In A Wolf in the City, Arruzza argues that Plato's critique of tyranny intervenes in an ancient debate concerning the sources of the crisis of Athenian democracy and the relation between political leaders and demos in the last decades of the fifth century BCE. Arruzza shows that Plato's critique of tyranny should not be taken as veiled criticism of the Syracusan tyrannical regime, but rather of Athenian democracy. In parsing Plato's discussion of the soul of the tyrant, Arruzza will also offer new and innovative insights into his moral psychology, addressing much-debated problems such as the nature of eros and of the spirited part of the soul, the unity or disunity of the soul, and the relation between the non-rational parts of the soul and reason.
The significance of the notions of actuality and potentiality in Plotinus’ thought can hardly be overstated. Throughout the Enneads, they are crucial to understanding the specific causality of intelligible realities and the relation of participation between intelligible and sensible realms.
In Ennead II.5, Plotinus for the first time provides a systematic clarification of his peculiar use of these terms, through a sustained revision of Aristotle’s own elaboration of the topic and of his terminology. The treatise discusses the different meanings of potentiality and actuality as well as the way each of them applies or does not apply to the sensible realm, to the intelligible realm, and to matter.
While the structure of the text unfolds in a coherent and cohesive manner, Plotinus’ writing in this treatise is dense and at times dry in its technicality. The detailed commentary guides the reader step by step, making an otherwise particularly difficult text accessible.
The theoretical questions discussed include the origins of women's oppression, domestic labour, dual systems theory, performativity and differentialism. Women's oppression is a structural element of the division of labour and one of the direct factors through which capitalism not only reinforces its ideological domination but also organises the exploitation and reproduction of labour. The integration of patriarchal relations and capitalism has led to their radical transformation - in the family, in terms of women's place in production, in sexual relations and with respect to sexual identity.
Marxism needs to probe complex processes: ongoing transformations and crises, a global context creating an increasingly feminised workforce, and changing relations between men and women. It is a mistake to submerge gender into class or to believe that freedom from exploitation automatically brings about women's liberation and the ending of sexual roles. It is equally wrong is to think the class question can be removed and gender made the main enemy. The author believes passionately in the need to combine gender and class politics.