The Emergence of Subjectivity in the Ancient and Medieval World

An Interpretation of Western Civilization

Jon Stewart

Sketches a philosophical theory of the development of subjectivity based on analysis of key texts from the Western tradition
Utilizes a novel approach which will be of particular relevance for scholars and students of philosophical anthropology and philosophy of history
Presents a readable overview of and valuable insights into some of the classic texts of the Western canon, including the Hebrew Bible, Homer's Odyssey, Virgil's Aeneid, and Dante's Inferno
Draws connections between the ancient and medieval texts discussed and the key issues of our own time

The Emergence of Subjectivity in the Ancient and Medieval World

An Interpretation of Western Civilization

Jon Stewart

Description

The Emergence of Subjectivity in the Ancient and Medieval World: An Interpretation of Western Civilization represents a combination of different genres: cultural history, philosophical anthropology, and textbook. It follows a handful of different but interrelated themes through more than a dozen texts that were written over a period of several millennia and, by means of an analysis of these texts, presents a theory of the development of Western civilization from antiquity to the Middle Ages.

The main line of argument traces the various self-conceptions of different cultures as they developed historically, reflecting different views of what it is to be human. The thesis of the volume is that through examination of these changes we can discern the gradual emergence of what we today call inwardness, subjectivity, and individual freedom. As human civilization took its first tenuous steps, it had a very limited conception of the individual. Instead, the dominant principle was that of the wider group: the family, clan, or people. Only in the course of history did the idea of what we now know as individuality begin to emerge, and it took millennia for this idea to be fully recognized and developed. The conception of human beings as having a sphere of inwardness and subjectivity subsequently had a sweeping impact on all aspects of culture, including philosophy, religion, law, and art: indeed, this notion largely constitutes what is today referred to as modernity. It is easy to lose sight of the fact that this modern conception of human subjectivity was not simply something given, but rather the result of a long process of historical and cultural development.

The Emergence of Subjectivity in the Ancient and Medieval World

An Interpretation of Western Civilization

Jon Stewart

0: Introduction: The Humanities Questions of Identity and Difference
I. Defining the Humanities
I.A. Content: The Subject Matter of the Humanities
I.B. Form: The Methodology of the Humanities
II. The Human Mind and Its Objectification
III. The Contribution of the Present Study
III.A. A Philosophical Approach to Western Civilization
III.B. The Notion of Subjectivity
1: The Epic of Gilgamesh
I. The Initial Description of Gilgamesh and Uruk
II. Enkidu and the Story of the Fall
III. The Battle with Humbaba
IV. The Death of Enkidu and the Nature of the Gods
V. Gilgamesh's Journey
VI. The Flood
VII. Immortality Lost
VIII. The Mesopotamians' Pessimistic World-View
IX. Nature, Civilization, and Human Agency
2: The Hebrew Bible: Genesis and the Book of Job
I. The Creation: The Conception of God
II. The Creation: The Conception of Human Beings
III. The Fall
IV. The Flood
V. The Tower of Babel
VI. The Problem of Justice in Job
VII. The Pessimistic World-View in Job
VIII. The Legal Metaphor in Job
IX. The Incongruities in the Work
X. The Protest against the Gods
XI. The Limited Conception of Individuality
3: Homer's Odyssey
I. The Story and Structure of the Odyssey
II. Odysseus and Kalypso
III. The Lotus-Eaters
IV. The Cyclops
V. Circe
VI. The Underworld
VII. The Sirens
VIII. The Warrior Ethic
IX. The Greek View of Human Nature
4: Herodotus' Histories
I. Scholarly History versus Mythology
II. The Story of Gyges
III. Solon and Croesus
IV. The Relativity of Values
V. The Story of Polycrates and Nemesis
VI. The Debate about the Best Form of Government
VII. Xerxes' Plans to Invade Greece
VIII. Xerxes at the Hellespont
IX. Justice as a Matter of Balance
5: Sophocles' Oedipus the King
I. The Search for Knowledge
II. Self-Knowledge and the Riddle of the Sphinx
III. Natural Law versus Relativism
IV. Human Agency and Culpability
V. The Inevitability of Fate
VI. Greek Ethics
VII. Judging the Human Condition
VIII. The Unquestioned Value of Science and Knowledge
IX. Fate and the Good Life
6: Thucydides' History of the Peloponnesian War
I. Thucydides' Goal and Method
II. Pericles' Funeral Oration
III. The Plague in Athens
IV. The Political Repercussions for Pericles
V. The Revolt in Corcyra
VI. The Melian Dialogue
VII. Human Nature and Ethics
7: Plato's Gorgias and Apology
I. The Gorgias: Callicles' Argument
II. Socrates' Refutation of the Arguments of Callicles
III. A Mythological View of Judgment and Life after Death
IV. Socrates' Divine Mission
V. Socrates, the Gods, and the Daimon
VI. Socrates' Defense of Philosophy
VII. Socrates as the Gadfly of Athens
VIII. Socrates on the Nature of Death and a New Conception of the Self
IX. The New Role of Subjectivity
8: Aristotle's Politics
I. Introduction to the Politics
II. The Nature of Human Beings and the State
III. The Institution of Slavery
IV. The Other Relations of the Household
V. Political Science and the Forms of Government
VI. Democracy and Oligarchy
VII. The Best Form of Government
VIII. The Limitations of Empiricism
IX. Aristotle's Refutation of the Split between Nature and Law
9: Virgil's Aeneid
I. The Fall of Troy
II. Dido
III. The Struggle of Duty and Inclination
IV. Tartarus and the Question of Divine Justice
V. Elysium
VI. Anchises' Anticipation of Roman History
VII. The Shield of Aeneas
VIII. The Discovery of Inwardness
10: Seneca's Moral Letters
I. Introduction to Seneca's Moral Letters
II. Living According to Nature
III. The Retreat to the Inward Sphere
IV. The Cultivation of the Inward Virtues
V. Stoic Indifference and Self-Sufficiency
VI. The Stoic Conception of God and Human Beings
VII. Seneca's Conception of Equality
VIII. Providence and Divine Justice
IX. Seneca's Modern Relevance
11: The New Testament: Matthew
I. Introduction to the Gospel of Matthew
II. Criticism of the Greco-Roman Warrior Ethic
III. The Inversion of Values
IV. The Development of Inwardness
V. Christianity and Judaism
VI. Jesus' Miracles: The Relation to Nature
VII. The Notion of Offense
VIII. The Messiah and the Kingdom of Heaven
IX. Nietzsche's Criticism of Christian Ethics
12: Augustine's City of God
I. Augustine and Virgil
II. The Fall of Rome and the Gods
III. Augustine's Philosophy of History
IV. A New Conception of Ethics and the Expansion of Sinfulness
V. A New Conception of the Origin of Evil
VI. Augustine's Theodicy
VII. The Prohibition of Suicide
VIII. Augustine's Critical Evaluation of Roman Decadence
IX. The Struggle for Meaning
13: Dante's Inferno
I. Dante's Hell and the Underworlds of Homer and Virgil
II. The Beginning of the Work
III. Divine Justice
IV. Divine Punishment
V. The Changed Role of Pity
VI. The Virtuous Pagans
VII. The Changed Role of the Body
VIII. A New Role for Odysseus
IX. Understanding the Role of Humans in the Universe
14: The Dialectic of the Ancient and Modern Principles: Homer and the Internet
I. Content and Form in the Notion of Subjectivity
II. Alienation
III. The Modern Struggle to Establish Self-Identity
IV. Narcissism and Overcoming the Limitations of Time and Space
V. The Creation of Illusory Identities and the Erosion of the Other
VI. The Rise of Relativism and the Disappearance of Truth
VII. The Perceived Threat and the Creation of the Opposite Principle
VIII. The Need for a Balance
Endmatter
Bibliography for Further Reading
Index

The Emergence of Subjectivity in the Ancient and Medieval World

An Interpretation of Western Civilization

Jon Stewart

Author Information

Jon Stewart, Research Fellow in the Institute of Philosophy, Slovak Academy of Sciences

Jon Stewart is Research Fellow in the Institute of Philosophy at the Slovak Academy of Sciences. He is the founder and general editor of the series Kierkegaard Research: Sources, Reception and Resources, Texts from Golden Age Denmark, and Danish Golden Age Studies, as well as the co-editor of the Kierkegaard Studies Yearbook and Kierkegaard Studies Monograph Series. He is the author of Hegel's Interpretation of the Religions of the World: The Logic of the Gods (OUP, 2018), Søren Kierkegaard: Subjectivity, Irony, and the Crisis of Modernity (OUP, 2015), and Kierkegaard's Relations to Hegel Reconsidered (CUP, 2003).