The present article reflects on Early Byzantine strands of political thought (more precisely, on viewpoints developed by Priscus of Panion and Procopius of Caesarea) in tandem with Anthony Kaldellis’ depiction of Byzantium as a representative politeia. It explains how Priscus’ and Procopius’ insights concerning the Eastern Roman Empire as lawful polity could allow us to envisage a new cosmopolitan paradigm, grounded on ‘bottom-up’ institutions of political representation. This paradigm could respond to a series of limitations that characterise the present standards of international cooperation, upon which transnational projects, such as the European Union, are predicated. These standards rely much on Immanuel Kant’s viewpoints on cosmopolitanism, but also on John Locke’s theory of Social Contract, which constitutes a genealogical evolution of Hobbes’ absolutist thought that I also intend to submit to scrutiny. In short, I set out to explain how this new cosmopolitan paradigm (based on this particular depiction of Byzantium as a ‘representative’ and ‘lawful constitution’) could respond to gaps identified in the liberal canon of international relations.
Author: Dr. Michail Theodosiadis
Dr. Michail TheodosiadisΒυζαντινή πολιτική θεωρία και σύγχρονο κράτος (Πανεπιστήμιο Δυτικής Μακεδονίας)
Βυζάντιο: πολιτική σκέψη και η πρακτική της εφαρμογή στο ευρωπαϊκό διακρατικό πεδίο– Η πολιτική σκέψη […]
Charles University, Prague – Early modern culture in the Greek diaspora: the Presence of Greeks in Italy and Ukraine
The first part of this lecture will shed further light on the anthropocentric becoming of the early modern culture of the Greek diaspora in Odessa and Mariupol, on its dialogue with the culture of the Greek emigrants in Italy, Austria and Switzerland, and, more importantly, on its decisive impact to the spread of democratic ideas in the Danubian Principalities. Along with Western ideas, borrowed from the Renaissance and the Enlightenment (which as mentioned earlier, partially owe their existence to the post-Byzantine Greek diaspora of Italy), the second part will emphasize the contribution of Greeks in Ukraine in the anthropocentric revival of the Greeks under the Ottoman Occupation.
Ἡ βαθειὰ ἀνθρωποκεντρικότητα τῆς λαϊκῆς εὐκοσμίας καὶ ἡ ἐλευθερία ὡς κάθαρση
Κύρια ἐπιδίωξη τοῦ φιλελευθερισμοῦ, κατὰ τὸν Bertrand Russell, εἶναι ἡ ἐξασφάλιση τῆς ἀτομικῆς ἐλευθερίας, ἡ ὁποία προϋποθέτει προστασία τῆς ἀτομικῆς ἰδιοκτησίας καὶ περιορισμὸ τῶν ἐξουσιῶν μιᾶς κυβέρνησης1 βάσει ἑνὸς συνόλου κανόνων κράτους δικαίου2 . Στὴ ρεπουμπλικανικὴ καὶ δημοκρατικὴ παράδοση, ὅπως ἐκφράζεται μέσα ἀπὸ τὴ σκέψη τῆς Hannah Arendt, ἡ ἐλευθερία ταυτίζεται μὲ τὴ συμμετοχὴ στὰ κοινὰ τῆς πόλεως3 . Πιὸ συγκεκριμένα, ἡ φιλελεύθερη κατανόηση τῆς ἐλευθερίας ὡς χειραφέτησης (ὡς liberation, μὲ βάση τὴν Arendt) ἀφορᾶ τὴν προστασία τοῦ ἀτόμου ἀπὸ τὶς αὐθαιρεσίες μιᾶς ἐξουσίας. Ἀπὸ τὴν ἄλλη, ἡ ρεπουμπλικανικὴ ἐλευθερία (γιὰ τὴν ὁποία ἡ Arendt χρησιμοποιεῖ τὴν ἀγγλικὴ λέξη freedom) δὲν σχετίζεται μὲ τὴν ἀποδέσμευση τοῦ ἀτόμου ἀπὸ ἐξουσιαστικοὺς περιορισμοὺς ἀλλὰ μὲ τὸν ἄνθρωπο ὡς πολιτικὸ ζῶο καὶ ἐνεργὸ μέλος μιᾶς δημοκρατικῆς πόλεως.