John R Wallach
Hunter College, Political Science, Department Member
- Political theorist, classically and historically educated in the Western tradition -- Specializations: ancient Greek ... morePolitical theorist, classically and historically educated in the Western tradition -- Specializations: ancient Greek political thought, democratic ethics; human rights; political interpretation; Constitutional lawedit
Thucydides and Plato are often read in opposed or equivalent intellectual registers (cf. Strauss, Guthrie, Ober, Mara). If the former, they speak past one another. If the latter, their different purposes have no interpretive effect. This... more
Thucydides and Plato are often read in opposed or equivalent intellectual registers (cf. Strauss, Guthrie, Ober, Mara). If the former, they speak past one another. If the latter, their different purposes have no interpretive effect. This article notes how each seeks to ameliorate stasis by means of different accounts of the logos-ergon relationship; in so doing, it points out political and theoretical differences and similarities. It yields insights into what Thucydides and Plato were doing and saying, and it illustrates how reading each about stasis can bridge undue gaps between the critical discourses of history and political theory and their relationships to democratic thought.
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From the days of Plato's Academy, academic life and discourse have oper ated in tension with political life, and often the political life of democracy. Since World War II, this tension has been read as essentially antagonistic. In this... more
From the days of Plato's Academy, academic life and discourse have oper ated in tension with political life, and often the political life of democracy. Since World War II, this tension has been read as essentially antagonistic. In this survey of the rela
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Citizens, political leaders, and scholars invoke the term 'democracy' to describe present-day states without grasping its roots or prospects in theory or practice. This book clarifies the political discourse about democracy by... more
Citizens, political leaders, and scholars invoke the term 'democracy' to describe present-day states without grasping its roots or prospects in theory or practice. This book clarifies the political discourse about democracy by identifying that its primary focus is human activity, not consent. It points out how democracy is neither self-legitimating nor self-justifying and so requires critical, ethical discourse to address its ongoing problems, such as inequality and exclusion. Wallach pinpoints how democracy has historically depended on notions of goodness to ratify its power. The book analyses pivotal concepts of democratic ethics such as 'virtue', 'representation', 'civil rightness', 'legitimacy', and 'human rights' and looks at them as practical versions of goodness that have adapted democracy to new constellations of power in history. Wallach notes how democratic ethics should never be reduced to power or moral ideals. Historical understanding needs to come first to highlight the potentials and prospects of democratic citizenship.
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SovereigntySovereignty in Fragments: The Past, Present, and Future of a Contested Concept, edited by KalmoHentSkinnerQuentin. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010.Popular Sovereignty in Historical Perspective, edited by BourkeRichardSkinnerQuentin. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2016more
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Notably since Thomas Hobbes, canonically with Benjamin Constant, and conventionally amid Nietzschean, Popperian, Straussian, Arendtian, liberal (sc. Madison, Mill, Berlin, Rawls, Vlastos, Hansen), republican (sc. Skinner), political (sc.... more
Notably since Thomas Hobbes, canonically with Benjamin Constant, and conventionally amid Nietzschean, Popperian, Straussian, Arendtian, liberal (sc. Madison, Mill, Berlin, Rawls, Vlastos, Hansen), republican (sc. Skinner), political (sc. Finley), and sociological (sc. Ober) readings of ancient texts, contemporary scholarship on the ancients often has employed some version of the dichotomous ancient/modern or ancient/contemporary contrast as a template for explaining, understanding, and interpretively appropriating ancient texts and political practices – particularly those of ancient Greek philosophy and democracy (although Roman ideas and practices also have been invoked). In particular, this has been done to argue for some conception of political ethics and democracy. I argue that this rhetorical trope, often using Athens and Europe/America as synecdoches for antiquity and modernity, has generated narrow and distorted views of ancient texts and political practices, on the one hand,...
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Research Interests: Philosophy and Mind
This essay discusses the contribution of Alasdair MacIntyre’s After Virtue (1981) to a generation of moral theory. Pitched as a critique of liberal individualism (e.g., Rawls), modernity (e.g., amoral bureaucracies), and the antagonism... more
This essay discusses the contribution of Alasdair MacIntyre’s After Virtue (1981) to a generation of moral theory. Pitched as a critique of liberal individualism (e.g., Rawls), modernity (e.g., amoral bureaucracies), and the antagonism toward the history of moral theory evinced by analytical philosophers, MacIntyre’s book urges a return toward moral traditions embedded in local communities as the best route to avoid what he regards as the soullessness of modernity and the abyss of Nietzschean philosophy. But his failure to reflect on the political valence of traditions in general or the Aristotelian and Thomist ones he values, seriously compromises his complaints about modernity and his suggestions for ways out.
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The notion of ‘democracy’ as found in ancient Athens and the work of ancient Greek political theorists has crucially functioned as a critical, distant mirror for major authors of twentieth-century political thought — starting importantly... more
The notion of ‘democracy’ as found in ancient Athens and the work of ancient Greek political theorists has crucially functioned as a critical, distant mirror for major authors of twentieth-century political thought — starting importantly with Ernest Barker but continuing along diverse paths in the works of Karl Popper, Leo Strauss, Hannah Arendt in the wake ofWorld War II, as well as for recent theorists of democracy who have read Athenian practices and critical discourses against the grain of contemporary philosophy, politics, and culture. In all of them, images of ‘democracy’ in ancient Greek political theory operate simultaneously as historical discoveries, theoretical constructions, and rhetorical supplements for critical renditions of the political realm. As such, they evidence the slippery centrality of ideas of democracy in ancient Greek political thought for the necessary, problematic, and divergent efforts of recent political theorists to justify their ideas as historically...
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From the days of Plato’s Academy, academic life and discourse have operated in tension with political life, and often the political life of democracy. Since World War II, this tension has been read as essentially antagonistic. In this... more
From the days of Plato’s Academy, academic life and discourse have operated in tension with political life, and often the political life of democracy. Since World War II, this tension has been read as essentially antagonistic. In this survey of the relationship of the original and subsequent incarnations of the Academy to ancient Athens, republican Rome, and the Florentine city-state, it becomes clear that the tension was, in fact, potentially as much of an asset to democracy as an assault upon it—even as the tension forever remained real. Readings of Plato and versions of the Academy become antagonistic to civic life only when their intellectual posture takes refuge in metaphysical doctrines or political ideologies that bear only marginal connections to the effective argument of Plato’s dialogues or the initial political postures of Academic life.
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Research Interests: Law and Human Rights
... best to ''realize'' human rights (Balfour & Cadava, 2004; Habermas, 2010; Power & Allison, 2000).6 We should take human rights discourse, as it were, ''off the shelf'' and use it as a... more
... best to ''realize'' human rights (Balfour & Cadava, 2004; Habermas, 2010; Power & Allison, 2000).6 We should take human rights discourse, as it were, ''off the shelf'' and use it as a moral guide and template for political practice in the words of the Samantha Power (journalist ...
... components misconstrues how "private" attachments become "public" concerns, a process that,after all, constitutes ... The inability of Rawls's moral and cognitive scheme to fit our political world becomes ...... more
... components misconstrues how "private" attachments become "public" concerns, a process that,after all, constitutes ... The inability of Rawls's moral and cognitive scheme to fit our political world becomes ... a tent that can cover a variety of philosophical and religious doctrines and ...
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Compromise and Political Action: Political Morality in Liberal and Democratic Life. By J. Patrick Dobel. Savage: Rowman Littlefield Publishers, 1990. 215p. $38.00 cloth, $18.95 paper. - The Moral Imagination and Public Life: Raising the Ethical Question. By Thomas E. McCollough. Chatham: Chatham ...more
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... The growing awareness of an unmediated relationship between the indi-vidual and the social order prompted concern about conflict between ... Ancient reflections 7 Democratic ideology anddemocratic political thought - the one... more
... The growing awareness of an unmediated relationship between the indi-vidual and the social order prompted concern about conflict between ... Ancient reflections 7 Democratic ideology anddemocratic political thought - the one im-plicitly, the other explicitly - sought to reconcile ...
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In the contemporary United States the image and experience of Athenian democracy has been appropriated to justify a profoundly conservative political and educational agenda. Such is the conviction expressed in this provocative book, which... more
In the contemporary United States the image and experience of Athenian democracy has been appropriated to justify a profoundly conservative political and educational agenda. Such is the conviction expressed in this provocative book, which is certain to arouse widespread comment and discussion. What does it mean to be a citizen in a democracy? Indeed, how do we educate for democracy? These questions are addressed here by thirteen historians, classicists, and political theorists, who critically examine ancient Greek history ...
This paper notes that Plato actually understood law in terms of political judgment as much as philosophical reason. As such, it stands apart from the apolitical, rationalist notion of the rule of law that prevails in Western political... more
This paper notes that Plato actually understood law in terms of political judgment as much as philosophical reason. As such, it stands apart from the apolitical, rationalist notion of the rule of law that prevails in Western political thought -- due in large measure to the work of Max Weber. Indeed, Plato's sense of the rule of the law may be more accurately read as akin to the Islamic notion of Kadi-Justice -- which Weber condemned as arbitrary and oriental.
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This paper is a review essay of Samuel Huntington's 1981 book, AMERICAN POLITICS: THE PROMISE OF DISHARMONY. It situates this book in relation to Huntington's oeuvre. It particularly notes how he typically ascribes emotionalism and... more
This paper is a review essay of Samuel Huntington's 1981 book, AMERICAN POLITICS: THE PROMISE OF DISHARMONY. It situates this book in relation to Huntington's oeuvre. It particularly notes how he typically ascribes emotionalism and irrationality to democratic activity, on the one hand, and rationality to elitist, anti-democratic readings of historical events and political phenomena, on the other... Looking at this piece from 2020 indicates how complaints about rationality of democracy have extended from conservative elitism to liberalism to the bizarre anti-elitism and know-nothingism of Trump voters.
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This review essay interprets MacIntyre's 1981 book in terms of his oeuvre and its critique of liberalism. It notes how the cogency of his critique depends on excising phenomena of power and politics from his quasi-historical and... more
This review essay interprets MacIntyre's 1981 book in terms of his oeuvre and its critique of liberalism. It notes how the cogency of his critique depends on excising phenomena of power and politics from his quasi-historical and contextual readings of Western thinkers... An updated version of this essay appears in CONTEMPORARY CLASSICS OF POLITICAL THEORY, ed. Jacob Levy.
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This article interprets demokratia and arete as dynamically related terms of political thought in ancient Greek culture, from Homeric times to the end of the classical era. It does so selectively, identifying three stages in which this... more
This article interprets demokratia and arete as dynamically related terms of political thought in ancient Greek culture, from Homeric times to the end of the classical era. It does so selectively, identifying three stages in which this relationship is developed: (1) from the Homeric to archaic eras; (2) fifth-century Athenian democracy , in which demokratia and arete are posed as complementary terms; and (3) the fourth century era in which philosophers used virtue to critique democracy. Relying mostly on evidence from writers who have become benchmarks in the history of Western political thought, the argument emphasizes the inherently political dimension of arete during this period of ancient Greek culture. Noting different ways in which arete is related to political power in general and democracy in particular, it also illustrates the manner in which arete is neither philosophically pristine nor merely an instrument of practical power. The effect of the research contradicts traditional and recent readings of democracy and virtue as inherently antagonistic. The aim of the article is to identify ancient Greek contributions to understanding the potential, contingencies and dangers of the relationship between democracy (as a form of power) and virtue (as a form of ethics)-one which may benefit both democracy and virtue.
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This article interprets human rights not in terms of philosophical principles but in terms of what they do. In this context, it notes that some human rights are used in ways that fortify liberalism and state security while others may... more
This article interprets human rights not in terms of philosophical principles but in terms of what they do. In this context, it notes that some human rights are used in ways that fortify liberalism and state security while others may have the opposite effect. As a result, the article argues for a politics of specific human rights rather than for a general attitude towards human rights as such or for a conception of the philosophical or political interdependency of specified human rights.
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Book review of DEMOCRACY AND GOODNESS: A HISTORICIST POLITICAL THEORY (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2018)
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This article deconstructs the ancients-moderns contrast, arguing that toggling between the two eras erases important contexts and so undermines the cogency of arguments for historical lessons.
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This paper offers a historical and theoretical critique of human rights as a coherent political idea. It does not, however, dismiss the practical utility of human rights in various public discourses.
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Contribution to a collection of articles, edited by J. Peter Euben, myself, and Josiah Ober.
Explores the issues in understanding and using the history of political thought in contemporary contexts.
Explores the issues in understanding and using the history of political thought in contemporary contexts.
Typically, interpreters of Socrates and Plato stumble upon what they call "the Socratic Problem," namely what we are to associate politically, philosophically, and historically with "Socrates." Sometimes "Socrates is understood as a... more
Typically, interpreters of Socrates and Plato stumble upon what they call "the Socratic Problem," namely what we are to associate politically, philosophically, and historically with "Socrates." Sometimes "Socrates is understood as a historical figure with distinct ethical views; at others, his name is associated with what Plato puts in the mouth of the character of Socrates in his dialogues. I argue that the historical Socrates created a deep-seated problem for Plato: how could the ethically most virtuous man of his time be condemned to death by the institutions of a polis regarded as the most virtuous political order of his time? Does that suggest that virtue is either impotent (ethically) or misguided (politically)? This dilemma is what I refer to as "Plato's Socratic Problem," one which I believed vexed Plato and still destabilizes coherent ethical and political thought today.
Socrates was a problematic Athenian citizen -- reviled by some, heroized by others, taken up by others (Plato) for dialectical purposes. This article identifies what can be confidently known as the historical Socrates -- in contrast to... more
Socrates was a problematic Athenian citizen -- reviled by some, heroized by others, taken up by others (Plato) for dialectical purposes. This article identifies what can be confidently known as the historical Socrates -- in contrast to the character who articulates independently Platonic arguments in the latter's dialogues. It argues that Socrates offered an ethically virtuous but politically incomplete position -- which provided room for both Athenians' criticisms and Platonic uptake.
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... It is only one among four he describes in his 1988 book, Whose Justice? Which Rationality? the others being Thomism (Maclntyre's favorite), the Scottish Enlightenment, and liberalism, but the way he establishes Aristotelianism... more
... It is only one among four he describes in his 1988 book, Whose Justice? Which Rationality? the others being Thomism (Maclntyre's favorite), the Scottish Enlightenment, and liberalism, but the way he establishes Aristotelianism as a rational tradition provides the model for his ...
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Neither the historical tradition of American constitutionalism nor those who have theorized about it have promoted political or theoretical designs hospitable to the valorization or promotion of democratic virtue. This article illustrates... more
Neither the historical tradition of American constitutionalism nor those who have theorized about it have promoted political or theoretical designs hospitable to the valorization or promotion of democratic virtue. This article illustrates this point by canvassing practical interpretations of the American constitution, from the document of 1787–1791 to Bush v. Gore, and theoretical interpretations from Madison to Rawls, Dworkin, Ackerman, Elster, Holmes, and other contemporary theorists of liberal constitutionalism and natural law. Exposing these roadblocks to the theory and practice of democratic virtue in America, it argues, provides a critical corrective to current debates about the relationship between constitutionalism and democracy.
Research Interests: Law and Philosophy
This lengthy review essay provides a critical account of a collection of essays assessing the the role of history in the humanities and social sciences. It argues for the indelibly political character of history, which but also... more
This lengthy review essay provides a critical account of a collection of essays assessing the the role of history in the humanities and social sciences. It argues for the indelibly political character of history, which but also illuminates the ways in which history is past and present.
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Book Review: Richard Bourke and Quentin Skinner (editors), History in the Humanities and Social Sciences (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2023)