In Isonomia and the Origins of Philosophy —published originally in Japanese and now available in four languages—Kōjin Karatani questions the idealization of ancient Athens as the source of philosophy and democracy by placing the origins instead in Ionia, a set of Greek colonies located in present-day Turkey. Contrasting Athenian democracy with Ionian isonomia—a system based on non-rule and a lack of social divisions whereby equality is realized through the freedom to immigrate—Karatani shows how early Greek thinkers from Heraclitus to Pythagoras were inseparably linked to the isonomia of their Ionian origins, not democracy. He finds in isonomia a model for how an egalitarian society not driven by class antagonism might be put into practice, and resituates Socrates's work and that of his intellectual heirs as the last philosophical attempts to practice isonomia's utopic potentials. Karatani subtly interrogates the democratic commitments of Western philosophy from within and argues that the key to transcending their contradictions lies not in Athenian democracy, with its echoes of imperialism, slavery, and exclusion, but in the openness of isonomia. "A work of historical importance, this book should be read by all who are interested in the innumerable conflicts that beset the contemporary world. Essential." -- J. A. Fischel ― Choice "Karatani’s Isonomia and the Origins of Philosophy is a deceptively complex work that offers numerous transdisciplinary insights for the philosophically initiated and uninitiated alike. And while its true value may be its intellectual historical angle – namely, its fascinating re-presentation of the history of Greek philosophy – Isonomia is a very worthwhile part of Karatani’s broader effort to offer readers an illuminating systematic perspective from which to view our contemporary political and philosophical situation." -- Brendan Harvey ― Marx & Philosophy Review of Books "Provocative, wide-ranging, and very clearly written, Isonomia and the Origins of Philosophy is highly worthwhile to read for philosophers, political theorists, and anyone interested in questions of universal history." -- Grant Andersen ― Philosophy in Review "A unique and ambitious intellectual project, Isonomia and the Origins of Philosophy marks a new phase in the history of Marxism and in the career of Kōjin Karatani. It should be regarded as one of the radical critiques of Western metaphysics by virtue of its challenge to conventional accounts of the origins of philosophy. This work is of historical importance." -- Naoki Sakai, author of ― Translation and Subjectivity: On Japan and Cultural Nationalism Kōjin Karatani is an internationally renowned theorist and philosopher. Previously, he was a professor at Hosei University in Tokyo, Kinki University in Osaka, and Columbia University. He is the author of numerous books, including The Structure of World History: From Modes of Production to Modes of Exchange and Origins of Modern Japanese Literature , both also published by Duke University Press. Isonomia and the Origins of Philosophy By Kojin Karatani Duke University Press Copyright © 2017 Duke University Press All rights reserved. ISBN: 978-0-8223-6913-4 Contents TRANSLATOR'S NOTE, MAP, AUTHOR'S PREFACE TO THE JAPANESE EDITION, INTRODUCTION, Chapter 1 IONIAN SOCIETY AND THOUGHT, Chapter 2 THE BACKGROUND OF IONIAN NATURAL PHILOSOPHY, Chapter 3 THE ESSENTIAL POINTS OF IONIAN NATURAL PHILOSOPHY, Chapter 4 POST-IONIAN THOUGHT, Chapter 5 SOCRATES AND EMPIRE, APPENDIX From The Structure of World History to Isonomia and the Origins of Philosophy, TIMELINE OF THE ANCIENT WORLD, NOTES, BIBLIOGRAPHY, INDEX, CHAPTER 1 Ionian Society and Thought ATHENS AND IONIA Buddha and Laozi were free thinkers, who appeared at a time when ancient societies were at a turning point. They later came to be regarded as religious founders, but we would do better, rather, to reexamine them as free thinkers. On the other hand, what I would like to attempt here is to take a group of free thinkers roughly contemporary to them in the Ionian city-states, and the set of thinkers who inherited their legacy, and reexamine them as exemplary prophets. It is common practice today to locate in Ionian natural philosophy forms of thought that anticipate modern science, while disregarding other aspects. It is as if Ionian thinkers dealt exclusively with the physical world and were indifferent to things outside that domain, as are most scientists today. This picture, however, is a prejudice put in place by Athenian philosophers who came later such as Plato and Aristotle. For example, in Phaedo, Plato gives credit to Socrates for shifting the focus of philosophy from inquiry into the external world to the aims of human behavior in society. Aristotle as well characterized philosophers before Socrates as natural philosophers, and claimed that with the appearance of Socrates, philosophy firs