Josiah Ober Book order

Tracing practical reason from its origins to its modern and contemporary permutations The Greek discovery of practical reason, as the skilled performance of strategic thinking in public and private affairs, was an intellectual breakthrough that remains both a feature of and a bug in our modern world. Countering arguments that rational choice-making is a contingent product of modernity, The Greeks and the Rational traces the long history of theorizing rationality back to ancient Greece. In this book, Josiah Ober explores how ancient Greek sophists, historians, and philosophers developed sophisticated and systematic ideas about practical reason. At the same time, they recognized its limits—that not every decision can be reduced to mechanistic calculations of optimal outcomes. Ober finds contemporary echoes of this tradition in the application of game theory to political science, economics, and business management. The Greeks and the Rational offers a striking revisionist history with widespread implications for the study of ancient Greek civilization, the history of thought, and human rationality itself. 

What did democracy mean before liberalism? What are the consequences for our lives today? These questions are examined by this book.

Drawing on newly available information and employing innovative approaches to evidence, a gripping narrative, filled with uncanny modern parallels, offers a major new history of classical Greece and an unprecedented account of its rise and fall.

When does democracy work well, and why? Is democracy the best form of government? These questions are of supreme importance as the United States seeks to promote its democratic values abroad. This book looks at ancient Athens to explain how and why directly democratic government by the people produces wealth, power, and security.

Focusing on classical Athens, the book explores the survival of democratic communities in the face of catastrophe. It emphasizes that enduring such crises demands a collective commitment from the populace, often involving significant sacrifices and difficult negotiations. The narrative highlights that while unity is easier during prosperous times, it becomes a complex challenge during periods of loss and conflict, requiring the community to navigate tragedy and compromise to maintain cohesion.

Focusing on the evolution of organizational management, this book posits that the future workplace should emulate ancient Athenian democracy, which effectively organized human capital through citizenship. Authors Brook Manville and Josiah Ober argue that viewing employees as citizens can foster a self-governing, values-driven environment. They explore how this historical model, characterized by collaboration for noble purposes and performance, offers timeless principles for modern leaders seeking to create innovative, people-centered organizations.

The book explores the emergence of political theorizing in Athens during the late fifth and fourth centuries B.C., focusing on the debate surrounding democracy. Josiah Ober examines how elite Greek thinkers grappled with the success of Athenian democracy, despite their belief in the incompetence of ordinary citizens. Following oligarchic coups, the contrasting responses of democrats and oligarchs highlighted the complexities of governance, prompting critics to reassess the connections between politics, ethics, and morality in a democratic context.

Exploring the origins of democracy, the book delves into the revolutionary uprising in Athens during 508-507 B.C. that established this system of governance. Josiah Ober analyzes its impact on various societal groups, including both upper and lower-class citizens, dissident intellectuals, and those excluded from citizenship, such as women, slaves, and resident foreigners. The examination highlights the broader implications of direct democracy on Greek history and its lasting effects on societal structures and political thought.

This book asks an important question often ignored by ancient historians and political scientists Why did Athenian democracy work as well and for as long as it did? Josiah Ober seeks the answer by analyzing the sociology of Athenian politics and the nature of communication between elite and nonelite citizens. After a preliminary survey of the development of the Athenian "constitution," he focuses on the role of political and legal rhetoric. As jurymen and Assemblymen, the citizen masses of Athens retained important powers, and elite Athenian politicians and litigants needed to address these large bodies of ordinary citizens in terms understandable and acceptable to the audience. This book probes the social strategies behind the rhetorical tactics employed by elite speakers.A close reading of the speeches exposes both egalitarian and elitist elements in Athenian popular ideology. Ober demonstrates that the vocabulary of public speech constituted a democratic discourse that allowed the Athenians to resolve contradictions between the ideal of political equality and the reality of social inequality. His radical reevaluation of leadership and political power in classical Athens restores key elements of the social and ideological context of the first western democracy.