Arthur Melzer: The Lost History of Esoteric Writing

Arthur Melzer: The Lost History of Esoteric Writing

According to the standards of today, all philosophic and political writing is expected to be clear and unambiguous. Writers are told to be absolutely open about their suppositions and opinions—to lay all their cards on the table. In this Conversation with Bill Kristol, Michigan State political scientist Arthur Melzer reminds us that this was not always the case. Drawing on his recent book Philosophy Between the Lines, Melzer demonstrates that, from antiquity to the end of the Enlightenment, philosophers, theologians, and political thinkers practiced the art of esoteric writing. Esoteric writing is an elliptical mode of writing that employs rhetorical devices such as allusions, riddles, hints, repetitions, and contradictions that conceals the true thought of a great thinker from everyone except the most careful readers. In his research, Melzer has presented an impressive amount of evidence of the ubiquity of the practice among writers in world history. In this Conversation, he highlights some of the evidence and discloses (in a very forthright fashion) the series of motives that led writers to philosophize between the lines. Finally, Melzer and Kristol discuss why the practice largely disappeared from the nineteenth century onward, and what the phenomenon has to teach us about key themes in the history of philosophy and politics.

Denne episoden er hentet fra en åpen RSS-feed og er ikke publisert av Podme. Den kan derfor inneholde annonser.

Episoder(328)

Steve Rosen: New Military Challenges in the Age of AI, Drones, and Cyberattacks

Steve Rosen: New Military Challenges in the Age of AI, Drones, and Cyberattacks

"For the first time ever, the United States homeland cannot be taken for granted as a secure rear area against non-nuclear attacks."So argues Steve Rosen, professor emeritus of government at Harvard, ...

14 Okt 1h 10min

Phillips O’Brien on Ukraine, Iran, and What’s Next

Phillips O’Brien on Ukraine, Iran, and What’s Next

Where do things stand in the wars in Ukraine and Iran? What are the implications of these wars for military technology, the future of warfare, and our highly fluid geopolitical environment?In this Con...

30 Sep 58min

David Axelrod on the 2026 Midterms: How Big a Wave?

David Axelrod on the 2026 Midterms: How Big a Wave?

We are less than seven weeks away from Election Day, and early voting already has begun in some states. To discuss where things stand and where American politics might go after the midterms, we are jo...

18 Sep 56min

Doug Sosnik on Two Different Elections: 2026 and 2028

Doug Sosnik on Two Different Elections: 2026 and 2028

"We're 60 days away from a completely different political environment. And I think people are underestimating how different it's going to be, and how volatile it's going to be without really any moori...

27 Aug 1h 7min

Eric Edelman: Trump and the American Military

Eric Edelman: Trump and the American Military

Where do things stand with the military in Trump’s Second Term? What are the consequences of a shortage of munitions in the conduct of the Iran War? What should we make of the firings of senior milita...

7 Aug 1h 6min

Don Kettl: The Trump Administration and the Politicization of the Civil Service

Don Kettl: The Trump Administration and the Politicization of the Civil Service

"Am I worried? A lot. Why? Because they’re not done yet. And it’s not just the president, but the efforts of those around him and on the outside supporting him who have a very huge and fundamental and...

24 Jul 1h 1min

Ryan Goodman: The Trump Administration, the Supreme Court, and the Rule of Law

Ryan Goodman: The Trump Administration, the Supreme Court, and the Rule of Law

A year and a half into the second Trump administration, is the Supreme Court meeting the moment? What are the broader implications of recent Court decisions and the conduct of lower courts? What might...

9 Jul 1h 2min

Harvey Mansfield on Rational Control and Liberalism

Harvey Mansfield on Rational Control and Liberalism

What makes Niccolò Machiavelli the founder of modern politics? How did liberal thinkers like Locke, Montesquieu, and the American founders modify Machiavelli’s inventions? How did later thinkers like ...

26 Jun 55min

Populært innen Politikk og nyheter

giver-og-gjengen-vg
aftenpodden
forklart
stopp-verden
aftenpodden-usa
popradet
det-store-bildet
fotballpodden-2
rss-gukild-johaug
hanna-de-heldige
rss-ness
rss-espen-lee-usensurert
dine-penger-pengeradet
bt-dokumentar-2
aftenbla-bla
rss-penger-polser-og-politikk
nokon-ma-ga
ta-dokumentar
e24-podden
frokostshowet-pa-p5