| FT-52688-04 | Research Programs: Summer Stipends | Paul Walter Ludwig | Family and Community in Greek Political Thought: The Tragedy of Philia | 6/1/2004 - 8/31/2004 | $5,000.00 | Paul | Walter | Ludwig | | | | St. John's College, Main Campus | Annapolis | MD | 21401-1687 | USA | 2004 | Classics | Summer Stipends | Research Programs | 5000 | 0 | 5000 | 0 |
My project studies the ancient Greek word and concept philia: the nonerotic love between family members and friends. I focus on philia as a bond of political association in Greek philosophy, drama, and historiography. In particular, I examine political and theoretical attempts to use the family (and familial love) as a model for the political community. At their most utopian, these attempts envisioned transforming the community into one great household that would bind citizens together with ties of philia. I attempt to assess the pros and cons of philia as a bond of political association in a variety of classical Greek discourses. To correct what I see as a lacuna in the scholarly literature, I focus largely on examples of dysfunctional philia. |