Comments for Sphinx

Comment on Thucydides and the Marginal Revolution by NevilleMorley

NevilleMorley — Sat, 18 May 2013 16:46:48 +0000

Should have added thanks to Ben Earley for that bit of research.

Comment on Thucydides and the Marginal Revolution by NevilleMorley

NevilleMorley — Sat, 18 May 2013 16:46:17 +0000

Okay, a slightly earlier reference, but still in the same institutional context: a publication of the Hoover Institute, edited by Tibor Machan, on The Commons: its tragedies and other follies (Stanford, 2001), includes a chapter by Ronald F. Lipp, ‘Tragic, truly tragic: the commons in modern life’; on p.92, Lipp notes that the idea that men are most attentive to private interests to detriment of those held in common goes back at least to Aristotle, and in the footnote then quotes the Thucydides passage – observing that “no doubt this human characteristic is so fundamental that a search of ancient literature would find earlier sources in a variety of cultures”. So, here Thucydides is offered not as an insightful authority but simply as evidence that the idea (and hence the reality) has been around for ever, so it’s foolish to imagine anything else.

As far as establishing the identity of Ronald F. Lipp, the List of Contributors for Edward Younkins, ed., Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged: a philosophical and literary companion (2007) to which he contributed a chapter on Rand’s theory of art, simply describes him as a writer on modern culture and history.

Comment on Thucydides and the Marginal Revolution by NevilleMorley

NevilleMorley — Thu, 16 May 2013 18:27:04 +0000

Quick update; so far I have not found any reference, at least on the internet, to this quotation in the context of the tragedy of the commons, before Machan’s blog in January 2002. In an article for the Hoover Institute in October that year, he credits Ronald Lipp with having drawn his attention to the line; I can’t find any trace as yet of Mr (Dr?) Lipp. Is Machan a sufficiently influential figure to have popularised this interpretation all on his own, or is this a case partly of “cometh the time, cometh the quotation”?

Comment on Thucydides and the Marginal Revolution by NevilleMorley

NevilleMorley — Thu, 16 May 2013 14:13:20 +0000

Haven’t yet found any clear indication of whether Thucydides was cited in relation to the tragedy of the commons before Machan, though it now seems to be widely-held belief, at least on the internet. However, I have learnt that he also pioneered game theory…

Comment on Thucydides and the Marginal Revolution by Critics respond to “Nietzsche’s Marginal Children” | Corey Robin

Thu, 16 May 2013 12:12:45 +0000

[…] Neville Morley, an ancient historian at Bristol, finds himself prompted by a fascinating chain of association to think Thucydides. […]

Comment on Thucydides and the Marginal Revolution by NevilleMorley

NevilleMorley — Thu, 16 May 2013 09:13:56 +0000

Colin Elliott, who knows a great deal more about the Austrian economic tradition than I do, has pointed out to me that these sorts of generalisation are deeply problematic; this isn’t a coherent movement or doctrine in the way that it’s often treated, both by its opponents and by those who claim (mostly because they like Hayek) to be following its ideas. There are at least two major lines of thought within this general heading, and many of the key figures changed their views quite substantially in the course of their careers. Tracing the possible influence of Thucydides might not be impossible, but it would be a lot of work.

However, I have found at least one example of a more recent appropriation of Thucydides for such purposes, in a blog post for the Ludwig von Mises Institute by Tibor Machan; he argues that Thucydides (1.141) anticipates the ‘tragedy of the commons’, and that this is just another side of the coin of Mises’ arguments on the calculation problem in centrally-planned economies: “The one side is the description, and the other side the evaluation of the same phenomenon, namely, the refusal to recognize private property rights in human affairs.” (http://mises.org/daily/865/Mises-and-Thucydides/).

What I now need to investigate is how far the association of Thucydides with the tragedy of the commons is an innovation or, as Machan appears to imply, an idea of long standing in certain economic circles…

Comment on Foundational Myths and Archetypes by Links for the Week of 21 April | CANEns: The CANE Blog and Newsletter

Links for the Week of 21 April | CANEns: The CANE Blog and Newsletter — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 00:08:27 +0000

[...] Neville Morley grapples with the concept of the Classicist as the “Lone Scholar.” [...]

Comment on Why I Shall Clearly Never Be A Popular Writer of History by James Waddington

James Waddington — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 16:25:45 +0000

I know this is long ago now, but I wrote this to a friend who had sent me the link to Bowerstock’s review having just read all the above, and so here it is:
If, for the sake of simplicity, there are three kinds of history: the analysis of never entirely reliable sources, the overt balancing of probability, and then of a set of possible conclusions (Abahachi/Neville Morley); the examination of all sources by eminent and authoratitive men, a determination of which are reliable, and then a pronouncement of the correct conclusion (Bowerstock); and an analysis of sources with the explicit assertion that a lot of them are unreliable, plus a lively, fast moving, riveting account of the historical context, and a transparently and honestly drawn conclusion (Tom Holland). I am halfway through the last, having a grand time, and have recommended it to one of my grandsons when he has finished his GCSEs.
At the same time I can see the absolute value and necessity of Abahachi’s approach. Maybe there is too much concern that the general reader will be misinformed, get the wrong end of the stick, place in putative misreadings of history the same faith as he places in the da Vinci Code. Some will. I guess most, like me, though we are not academics, are as capable of energetic scepticism as most historians are are.

Comment on Der Rasen ist grüner… by Michael Sommer

Michael Sommer — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 14:19:41 +0000

I moved from a job at a Red Brick University in the UK (Liverpool) to one at a new university in Germany (Oldenburg) and can confirm about any detail Neville is writing about. One could add that the balance of power between bureaucrats and academics is strikingly different and that, W-Besoldung notwithstanding, German academics still have an enormous sense of status. The grass is greener indeed.

Comment on The History Woman by Ben

Ben — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 12:51:41 +0000

With a great deal of luck!