Isonomia and the Origins of Philosophy

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https://www.amazon.com/Isonomia-Origins-Philosophy-Kojin-Karatani-ebook/dp/B074TDWFV5/

Isonomia and the Origins of PhilosophyPaperback – September 1, 2017

by Kojin Karatani (Author), Joseph A. Murphy (Translator)

In Isonomia and the Origins of Philosophy—published originally in Japanese and now 
available in four languages—Kōjin Karatani questions the idealization of ancient Athens as 
the source of philosophy and democracy by placing the origins instead in Ionia, a set of Greek
 colonies located in present-day Turkey. Contrasting Athenian democracy with Ionian isonomia—a 
system based on non-rule and a lack of social divisions whereby equality is realized through
 the freedom to immigrate—Karatani shows how early Greek thinkers from Heraclitus to 
Pythagoras were inseparably linked to the isonomia of their Ionian origins, not democracy. 
He finds in isonomia a model for how an egalitarian society not driven by class antagonism 
might be put into practice, and resituates Socrates's work and that of his intellectual heirs 
as the last philosophical attempts to practice isonomia's utopic potentials. Karatani subtly 
interrogates the democratic commitments of Western philosophy from within and argues that
 the key to transcending their contradictions lies not in Athenian democracy, with its echoes 
of imperialism, slavery, and exclusion, but in the openness of isonomia.ew

from $18.96

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Editorial Reviews

Review

"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."

(J. A. Fischel Choice 2018-03-01)

"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."

(Brendan Harvey Marx & Philosophy Review of Books 2019-06-13)

Review

"In our anti-Eurocentrist era, attempts abound to 'decenter' European legacy, to demonstrate how European ideology borrowed from and simultaneously oppressed other traditions. Kojin Karatani does something very different: he decenters European legacy from within, shifting the accent from the classic Greek idealism (Plato, Aristotle) to its half-forgotten predecessors, the so-called Ionian materialists (Thales, Democritus), the first philosophers who were also the true founders of democratic egalitarianism. Karatani’s book makes you see the entire history of philosophy in a new way; it deserves to become an instant classic."

(Slavoj Žižek)

"A unique and ambitious intellectual project, Isonomia and the Origins of Philosophy marks a new phase in the history of Marxism and in the career of Kojin Karatani. It should be regarded as one of the radical critiques of Western metaphysics by virtue of its challenge to conventional accounts of the origins of philosophy. This work is of historical importance."

(Naoki Sakai, author of Translation and Subjectivity: On Japan and Cultural Nationalism)

About the Author

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.

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Product details Paperback: 176 pages Publisher: Duke University Press Books (September 1, 2017) Language: English ISBN-10: 0822369133 ISBN-13: 978-0822369134 Product Dimensions: 6.2 x 0.5 x 9.2 inches Shipping Weight: 7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies) Customer Reviews: 5.0 out of 5 stars   2 customer reviews Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #722,155 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #2216 in European Politics Books #1179 in Greek & Roman Philosophy (Books) #1385 in Communism & Socialism (Books)