Political scientists have rightly been criticized for “physics envy.” I do not want
to open myself up to the charge of “polis envy.” I do, however, want to go back to the
Greeks and their thoughts about politics for the epistemological and conceptual
foundations of my theory. I recognize that the Greeks of the classical period lived in a
very different world, where the city state (polis) was the principal unit and source of
identity, and where politics, and all important relationships, were conducted face-to-face
among people long acquainted with one another. Democracy, where it existed, was
direct, with most or all important issues being debated and voted on in public assemblies.
Politics was entirely the preserve of adult male citizens, and the criteria for citizenship,
even in Athens, were extremely restrictive. Women, children, slaves and resident aliens
performed at most ceremonial roles.
Despite these striking differences, the great playwrights and political thinkers of
classical Greece still speak to us and their writings remain the starting point of our
reflections on a wide range of ethical and political issues. Thucydides (460- c. 390),
Plato (427-347) and Aristotle (384-322) provide the foundations for theories of politics
and international relations. Their insights are timeless, but only in part due to their
indisputable genius. Their writings reflect a collective Greek wisdom about human
motives and their implications for social relationships and stability. Greek playwrights,
historians and philosophers also wrote at a time before symmetry was broken. In physics,
this refers to that period of time after the Big Bang, when the universe began to cool, but
before it had cooled enough for the four forces that govern all interactions to emerge. In
fifth century Greece, academic disciplines had not yet developed. What we know today
as physics, philosophy, poetry and history were all intertwined, and influenced one
8
Convention