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https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/10622
Title: | The Spell of Parmenides and the Paradox of the Commonwealth | Contributor(s): | Maddox, W Graham (author) | Publication Date: | 2011 | Handle Link: | https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/10622 | Abstract: | Given the dominance of the United States' constitutional tradition, the modern world has inherited a widespread conservatism that holds constitutional 'reform' to be risky and change to mean decline. This attitude has ancient roots. Atavism in politics may be traced to movements that draw (however remotely) upon the legacy of the presocratic philosopher, Parmenides, who promoted a monist view of the world and graphically represented a radical rejection of all change as mere illusion. As one of the forerunners of the immeasurably influential Plato and Aristotle, he helped to shape a philosophical worldview in which the ultimate reality was locked in a realm of disembodied and unchanging Forms. Despite his 'new modes and orders', archaism is apparent in Machiavelli's constitutional inheritance from Polybius, who sought to arrest change through a blending of the 'given' forms of government. This mixed constitution is inherently not conducive to democratic development. | Publication Type: | Journal Article | Source of Publication: | History of Political Thought, XXXII [32](2), p. 253-279 | Publisher: | Imprint Academic | Place of Publication: | United Kingdom | ISSN: | 0143-781X | Fields of Research (FoR) 2008: | 160603 Comparative Government and Politics 160699 Political Science not elsewhere classified 160609 Political Theory and Political Philosophy |
Socio-Economic Objective (SEO) 2008: | 940499 Justice and the Law not elsewhere classified 950404 Religion and Society Law, Politics and Community Services/Other Law, Politics and Community Services 970116 Expanding Knowledge through Studies of Human Society |
Peer Reviewed: | Yes | HERDC Category Description: | C1 Refereed Article in a Scholarly Journal | Publisher/associated links: | http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/imp/hpt/2011/00000032/00000002/art00004 |
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Appears in Collections: | Journal Article |
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