Free Speech Democracy Ancient Athens Arlene W. Saxonhou… Hardcover 9780521819855

Free Speech and Democracy in Ancient Athens\nPlease note: \nthis item is printed on demand and will take extra time before it can be dispatched to you (up to 20 working days).\n\nAuthor(s): Arlene W. Saxonhouse\nFormat: Hardback\nPublisher: Cambridge University Press, United Kingdom\nImprint: Cambridge University Press\nISBN-13: 9780521819855, 978-0521819855\nSynopsis\nThis book illuminates the distinctive character of our modern understanding of the basis and value of free speech by contrasting it with the very different form of free speech that was practised by the ancient Athenians in their democratic regime. Free speech in the ancient democracy was not a protected right but an expression of the freedom from hierarchy, awe, reverence and shame. It was thus an essential ingredient of the egalitarianism of that regime. That freedom was challenged by the consequences of the rejection of shame (aidos) which had served as a cohesive force within the polity. Through readings of Socrates.