Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Снова о нашей природе. / Гудалов, Николай Николаевич.
In: ДИАЛОГ СО ВРЕМЕНЕМ, No. 90, 2025, p. 375-381.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Снова о нашей природе
AU - Гудалов, Николай Николаевич
N1 - Export Date: 05 February 2026; Cited By: 0; Correspondence Address: G. Nikolay; Saint-Petersburg State University, Russian Federation; email: n.gudalov@spbu.ru
PY - 2025
Y1 - 2025
N2 - This review assesses the new monograph by Yu.P. Ivonin and O.I. Ivonina, which deals with a topic that is both highly relevant and 'perennial' - the notion of human nature in its politico-philosophical dimension. The book's methodological 'moderate presentism' seeks to balance a treatment of the classics from the perspective of current authors and a simultaneous thorough study of the sources' specificity. The monograph's novelty is grounded in the useful methodology, in taking into account numerous classical texts, especially those rarely discussed, and in bringing out their complicated aspects. Thus, the role of will in Plato, the relationship between the contemplative and active lives in Aristotle, and sceptical elements in the Enlightenment authors have been analyzed in detail. Nevertheless, Augustine's interest to political institutions has been underrated, and a linguistic construction of politics in Thomas Hobbes has not been discussed. Also, the (pseudo-)Platonic letters and The Athenian Constitution have been omitted; it is unclear why the authors selected some classics and left out many others (including numerous Roman and medieval authors, representatives of the Renaissance, Reformation, and the late scholastics, a range of utopianists and German classics). Yet, even the unsolved issues are guides for future debates. © 2025 Aquilo. All rights reserved.
AB - This review assesses the new monograph by Yu.P. Ivonin and O.I. Ivonina, which deals with a topic that is both highly relevant and 'perennial' - the notion of human nature in its politico-philosophical dimension. The book's methodological 'moderate presentism' seeks to balance a treatment of the classics from the perspective of current authors and a simultaneous thorough study of the sources' specificity. The monograph's novelty is grounded in the useful methodology, in taking into account numerous classical texts, especially those rarely discussed, and in bringing out their complicated aspects. Thus, the role of will in Plato, the relationship between the contemplative and active lives in Aristotle, and sceptical elements in the Enlightenment authors have been analyzed in detail. Nevertheless, Augustine's interest to political institutions has been underrated, and a linguistic construction of politics in Thomas Hobbes has not been discussed. Also, the (pseudo-)Platonic letters and The Athenian Constitution have been omitted; it is unclear why the authors selected some classics and left out many others (including numerous Roman and medieval authors, representatives of the Renaissance, Reformation, and the late scholastics, a range of utopianists and German classics). Yet, even the unsolved issues are guides for future debates. © 2025 Aquilo. All rights reserved.
KW - Antiquity
KW - Enlightenment
KW - human nature
KW - intellectual history
KW - presentism
UR - https://elibrary.ru/item.asp?id=82321537
M3 - статья
SP - 375
EP - 381
JO - ДИАЛОГ СО ВРЕМЕНЕМ
JF - ДИАЛОГ СО ВРЕМЕНЕМ
SN - 2073-7564
IS - 90
ER -
ID: 133491307