Translator's Note vii
Map viii
Author's Preface to the Japanese Edition ix
Introduction
Universal Religion 1
Ethical Prophets 5
Exemplary Prophets 7
1. Ionian Society and Thought
Athens and Ionia 11
Isonomia and Democracy 14
Athenian Democracy 17
State and Democracy 20
Colonization and Isonomia 22
Iceland and North America 26
Isonomia and Council 31
2, The Background of Ionian Natural Philosophy
Natural Philosophy and Ethics 35
Hippocrates 39
Herodotus 42
Homer 46
Hesiod 51
3. The Essential Points of Ionian Natural Philosophy
The Critique of Religion 56
Self-Moving Matter 58
Poiesis and Becoming 62
4. Post-Ionian Thought
Pythagoras 68
Heraclitus 80
Parmenides 87
Post-Eliatics 96
5. Socrates and Empire
The Athenian Empire and Democracy 103
Sophists and Rule by Rhetoric 107
The Trial of Socrates 110
The Riddle of Socrates 114
Daimon 118
The Socratic Method 121
Plato and Pythagoras 125
The Philosopher-King 127
Isonomia and the Philosopher-King 130
Appendix. From Structure of World History to Isonomia and the
Origins of Philosophy 135
Timeline of the Ancient World 141
Notes 143
Bibliography 155
Index 159
Kōjin Karatani is an internationally renowned theorist and philosopher. Previously, he was a professor at Hosei University in Tokyo, Kinki University in Osaka, and Columbia University. He is the author of numerous books, including The Structure of World History: From Modes of Production to Modes of Exchange and Origins of Modern Japanese Literature, both also published by Duke University Press.
"A work of historical importance, this book should be read by all
who are interested in the innumerable conflicts that beset the
contemporary world. Essential."
*Choice*
"Karatani’s Isonomia and the Origins of Philosophy is a deceptively
complex work that offers numerous transdisciplinary insights for
the philosophically initiated and uninitiated alike. And while its
true value may be its intellectual historical angle – namely, its
fascinating re-presentation of the history of Greek philosophy –
Isonomia is a very worthwhile part of Karatani’s broader effort to
offer readers an illuminating systematic perspective from which to
view our contemporary political and philosophical situation."
*Marx & Philosophy Review of Books*
"Provocative, wide-ranging, and very clearly written, Isonomia and
the Origins of Philosophy is highly worthwhile to read for
philosophers, political theorists, and anyone interested in
questions of universal history."
*Philosophy in Review*
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