Luckless : The Idea of Luck in Ancient Greek Thought

著者名：Schillinger, Daniel

Oxford University Press（2026/04/10発売）

• 言語：ENG
• ISBN：9780197690246
• eISBN：9780197690253

Description

What is luck? What is the significance of luck for our ethical and political lives? Could it be the case that luck is an intoxicating illusion, which threatens to obscure the true explanations of human action, excuse wrongdoing or cowardice, provoke powerful emotions, and cloud judgment?Schillinger's original interpretation of the idea of luck in ancient Greek thought challenges both scholars of ancient Greek texts and theorists of luck in the present. While many contemporaries approach luck as something "out there" in the world that explains why some human beings flourish while others suffer or perish, Schillinger argues that luck is a psychological phenomenon: what we have in mind when we speak of "luck" are the intellectual and emotional reactions of human beings as they run up against the limits of their knowledge and power. Schillinger returns to the Greeks because they fully examined this phenomenon, revealing the roots of the idea of luck in the psyche, its (often confused) role in ethical judgments of praise and blame, and its salience as a rhetorical trope used by statesmen and demagogues. His analysis summons unfamiliar perspectives on these issues in ancient Greek thought—perspectives that are acutely skeptical and attuned to both the realities of politics and the complexities of the human soul.

Table of Contents

Preface and AcknowledgementsPart 1: The Idea of LuckChapter 1: Luck Ancient and ModernIntroduction Language, Imagery, and Conceptual History Contemporary Approaches, Ancient Alternatives: The Plan of the Book On Interpretation Chapter 2: Aristotle's Psychological Approach to Luck The Idea of Luck in Physics 2.4-6 Luck and Causal Responsibility in Nicomachean Ethics 3.1 Prudent and Responsible Action Luck, Statesmanship, and Legislation in the Politics Conclusion Part 2: Bad Luck, Good LuckChapter 3: Bad Luck: The Daimon of Oedipus in Sophocles' Oedipus Tyrannus Oedipus, Child of Tuche Oedipus' Daimon Conclusion: Sophoclean Riddles and the Question of IntelligibilityChapter 4: Better Lucky than Good? The Aristotelian Eudemian Ethics 8.2 The Argument of EE 8.2 An Aristotelian Critique of EE 8.2 The Audience of the EE: Kaloi K'agathoi Conclusion: The Status of the EEPart 3: Luck and PoliticsChapter 5: From Fate to Freedom: Questioning Solon with Herodotus Solon and Croesus Themistocles and the Athenian DemocracyConclusion: Herodotus, Teacher and Storyteller Chapter 6: If It Wasn't for Bad Luck: Thucydides on the Political Significance of Tuche Pericles, Luck, Statesmanship Tuche as Illusion in the Action of the History Two Objections: Pylos and Sparta Conclusion: Thucydides' Historiography Chapter 7: Euripides' Critique of Luck and Courage in Trojan WomenThe Critique of LuckThe Critique of CourageThe Resilience of the Trojan WomenThe Problem of HelenConclusionBibliography