Thucydides' "Archaeology" 1.2

Athens Corner

This is the trailer of the full recording of a discussion for the series "Technology and Nihilism" in philosophy on my website AthensCorner.com. After having previously discussed the first paragraph of the text, here I discuss the significance of Thucydides for current discussions of what we think of today as "technology." I discuss how the opening sections commonly referred to as the "Archaeology" (paragraphs 2-20) present a thematic account of the role of technology in the life of man, leading to the fundamental question of the text regarding the possibility of statesmanship. Alternatively, I present Thucydides as a political philosopher deeply concerned with the limitations of stability that are imposed upon political community by the very nature of man.