Corrupting Youth: Political Education, Democratic Culture, and Political Theory

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Explores the affinities between Socratic philosophy and Athenian democratic culture as a way to think about issues of politics and education, both ancient and modern. Drawing on Aristophanes' "Clouds", Sophocles' "Antigone and Oedipus Tyrannos", and Plato's "Apology of Socrates", this work develops a view of democratic political education.

FORMATPaperback LANGUAGEEnglish CONDITIONBrand New Publisher Description

In Corrupting Youth, Peter Euben explores the affinities between Socratic philosophy and Athenian democratic culture as a way to think about issues of politics and education, both ancient and modern. The book moves skillfully between antiquity and the present, from ancient to contemporary political theory, and from Athenian to American democracy. It draws together important recent work by political theorists with the views of classical scholars in ways that shine new light on significant theoretical debates such as those over discourse ethics, rational choice, and political realism, and on political issues such as school vouchers and education reform. Euben not only argues for the generative capacity of classical texts and Athenian political thought, he demonstrates it by thinking with them to provide a framework for reflecting more deeply about socially divisive issues such as the war over the canon and the "politicization" of the university. Drawing on Aristophanes' Clouds, Sophocles' Antigone and Oedipus Tyrannos, and Plato's Apology of Socrates, Gorgias, and Protagoras, Euben develops a view of democratic political education.Arguing that Athenian democratic practices constituted a tradition of accountability and self-critique that Socrates expanded into a way of doing philosophy, Euben suggests a necessary reciprocity between political philosophy and radical democracy.By asking whether we can or should take "Socrates" out of the academy and put him back in front of a wider audience, Euben argues for anchoring contemporary higher education in appreciative yet skeptical encounter with the dramatic figure in Plato's dialogues.

Author Biography

J. Peter Euben is Professor of Politics at the University of California at Santa Cruz. He is the author of The Tragedy of Political Theory: The Road Not Taken (Princeton), the editor of Greek Tragedy and Political Theory, and coeditor of Athenian Political Thought and Reconstitution of American Democracy.

Table of Contents

PrefaceCh. IImploding the Canon: The Reform of Education and the War over Culture3Ch. IICorrupting Socrates32Ch. IIIThe Battle of Salamis and the Origins of Political Theory64Ch. IVDemocratic Accountability and Socratic Dialectic91Ch. VWhen There Are Gray Skies: Aristophanes' Clouds and the Political Education of Democratic Citizens109Ch. VIAntigone and the Languages of Politics139Ch. VIIOedipean Complexities and Political Science: Tragedy and the Search for Knowledge179Ch. VIIIThe Gorgias, Socratic Dialectic, and the Education of Democratic Citizens202Ch. IXThe Protagoras and the Political Education of Democratic Citizens229Index267

Review

"In this wide-ranging study of political thought in classical Athens, Peter Euben locates Greek explorations of the civic community, and how one educates people for it, in the context of contemporary debates over higher education in the United States... [This] work, probing and reflective, with many surprising twists and turns, will spark quite enough (democratic) discussion and debate as it is."--American Journal of Philology

Long Description

In Corrupting Youth, Peter Euben explores the affinities between Socratic philosophy and Athenian democratic culture as a way to think about issues of politics and education, both ancient and modern. The book moves skillfully between antiquity and the present, from ancient to contemporary political theory, and from Athenian to American democracy. It draws together important recent work by political theorists with the views of classical scholars in ways that shine new light on significant theoretical debates such as those over discourse ethics, rational choice, and political realism, and on political issues such as school vouchers and education reform. Euben not only argues for the generative capacity of classical texts and Athenian political thought, he demonstrates it by thinking with them to provide a framework for reflecting more deeply about socially divisive issues such as the war over the canon and the "politicization" of the university. Drawing on Aristophanes' Clouds, Sophocles' Antigone and Oedipus Tyrannos, and Plato's Apology of Socrates, Gorgias, and Protagoras, Euben develops a view of democratic political education.Arguing that Athenian democratic practices constituted a tradition of accountability and self-critique that Socrates expanded into a way of doing philosophy, Euben suggests a necessary reciprocity between political philosophy and radical democracy.By asking whether we can or should take "Socrates" out of the academy and put him back in front of a wider audience, Euben argues for anchoring contemporary higher education in appreciative yet skeptical encounter with the dramatic figure in Plato's dialogues.

Review Quote

In this wide-ranging study of political thought in classical Athens, Peter Euben locates Greek explorations of the civic community, and how one educates people for it, in the context of contemporary debates over higher education in the United States. . . . [This] work, probing and reflective, with many surprising twists and turns, will spark quite enough (democratic) discussion and debate as it is. -- American Journal of Philology

Details ISBN0691048282 Author J. Peter Euben Short Title CORRUPTING YOUTH Publisher Princeton University Press Language English ISBN-10 0691048282 ISBN-13 9780691048284 Media Book Format Paperback Year 1997 Imprint Princeton University Press Place of Publication New Jersey Country of Publication United States Illustrations black & white illustrations Pages 272 Subtitle Political Education, Democratic Culture, and Political Theory Translated from English DOI 10.1604/9780691048284 UK Release Date 1997-09-07 NZ Release Date 1997-09-07 US Release Date 1997-09-07 Publication Date 1997-09-07 Alternative 9780691012025 DEWEY 320.01 Audience Professional & Vocational AU Release Date 1997-11-16 We've got this

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