“There were two views of how a polis was formed. The first was military: a scattered group of people came to live in one city behind a set of protective walls. The other was political: a group of people agreed… — Alan Ryan Copy Share Image
“There was no politics in Persia because the great king was the master of slaves, not rulers of citizens. The point is beautifully made by Herodotus, the father of history and our own starting point. The exiled Spartan king, Demaratus,… — Alan Ryan Copy Share Image
“The revolt in Asia Minor was snugged out in 494, and the Athenians realized that they had acquired a dangerous enemy. Darius I's first… — Alan Ryan Copy Share Image
“In many cities, tyrants were able to seize power by offering to protect the poorer citizens against the rich or vice versa. “Tyrant” is… — Alan Ryan Copy Share Image
We do not go to work only to earn an income, but to find meaning in our lives. What we do is a large… — Alan Ryan Copy Share Image
“There were two views of how a polis was formed. The first was military: a scattered group of people came to live in one… — Alan Ryan Copy Share Image
Justice is the most "political" or institutional of the virtues. The legitimacy of a state rests upon its claim to do justice. — Alan Ryan Copy Share Image
“He had gone again and, emboldened by his first successful trip, had chosen a different sort of world to enter, that of THE MONK.… — Alan Ryan Copy Share Image
Modern liberalism has many roots. One of the most important is the ideas of a man described by an American critic as 'his satanic… — Alan Ryan Copy Share Image
It is never right to injure anyone. It can never be right to make someone worse than he is. — Alan Ryan Copy Share Image
“The revolutionaries failed to institute the novel forms of social and political organization they hankered after; Workers would not accept a ten-day week, or… — Alan Ryan Copy Share Image
A colleague once described political theorists as people who were obsessed with two dozen books; after half a century of grappling with Mill's essay… — Alan Ryan Copy Share Image
Richard A. Posner is an extraordinary person. If he did not exist, it would be hard to believe that he could. (...) He writes… — Alan Ryan Copy Share Image
“There was no politics in Persia because the great king was the master of slaves, not rulers of citizens. The point is beautifully made… — Alan Ryan Copy Share Image
