Originally, this research project aimed to recover and defend analytical and normative uses of 'cynicism' for contemporary political analysis. Beginning with an historical/conceptual reconstruction of 'cynicism' (understood as a radical mode of disaffection, evincing a unique normative perspective, and tied to a definable set of political tactics and rhetorical techniques), I had planned to develop a novel framework for interpreting manifestations of cynical distrust and estrangement.
Over the course of the past three years, this initially narrow focus has been widened and deepened. I am now undertaking a more intensive engagement with the political culture of ancient Athenian democracy—always with a view to making this reconstruction relevant for contemporary political debates. This change in focus resulted from two methodological concerns. First, the extant material available for 'reconstructing' cynicism proved to be extremely limited (with almost no reliable contemporaneous accounts of the practices and beliefs of the ancient itinerant moralists associated with Diogenes of Sinope). The outsized influence of a single text (the third century "Lives of Eminent Philosophers") is unfortunate, give the limitations of its crude caricatures and unreliable sourcing. The problem of a relatively weak empirical basis for initial historical findings was compounded by the shortcomings of the project's second interpretive pathway, which would have entailed the deployment of a speculative interpretive frame ('cynical disenchantment') for understanding incongruous political behaviours. This brought with it the danger of the researcher's findings being refuted by the self-interpretations of actors themselves, with no further pathway for working through such impasses.
Thus, it was decided to strengthen the empirical basis of this study by devoting more effort to an expanded historical reconstruction. I am now engaging with a wider array of 'marginal' and 'irregular' political personas, many of which first emerged in fifth and fourth century Athens (the 'sycophant,' the 'flatterer'/kolax, the 'demagogue', the 'backbiter', the 'parasite')—all of whom are well accounted for in the historical record, as characters in Attic tragedy and Old Comedy, and as recurring themes in forensic oratory. This methodological shift necessitated intensive training in Attic Greek, which is ongoing.
Here I should preempt the criticism that these changes indicate a retreat into scholarly antiquarianism. Among the many reasons for studying Attic Greek is the aim of becoming reacquainted with a remarkably resilient lexicon that exerts an outsized influence within contemporary political culture—which also means critically reassessing inherited interpretations of those political 'anchoring terms'. To take one example from among the papers I have submitted for review, political 'power' is typically conceptualised as a 'possession' to be wielded or enforced by virtue of one's status and position. This 'objectified' understanding of power applies across governing regimes, both authoritarian and democratic. However, when we consider the ways in which 'power' was understood within Ancient Athenian democracy (to the extent that extant records allow us such speculation), we find an array of clearly distinguishable modes of ‘power,’ from legal entitlements (archê), to charismatic influence (demagōgós), to overwhelming force (krátos). Importantly, the political vocabulary of Attic Greek was able to capture the range and diversity of democratic agency with much greater subtlety than is typically found in modern normative/political theorising. I therefore seek to recapture the original meaning of ‘kratos’ within ‘democracy,’ in the expectation that this will provide the basis for further reassessments of ‘irregular’ and ‘extrajudicial’ political behaviours that are typically labelled ‘un-democratic’.
By the end of this project I hope to establish a means of revitalising contemporary political vocabularies through reacquaintance with the complex and conflictual political culture that coined many of these terms.
