Luckless: The Idea of Luck in Ancient Greek Thought

What is luck? What is the significance of luck for our ethical and political lives? Could it be the case that luck is an intoxicating illusion, which threatens to obscure the true explanations of human action, excuse wrongdoing or cowardice, provoke powerful emotions, and cloud judgment? Schillinger's original interpretation of the idea of luck in ancient Greek thought challenges both scholars of ancient Greek texts and theorists of luck in the present. While many contemporaries approach luck as something "out there" in the world that explains why some human beings flourish while others suffer or perish, Schillinger argues that luck is a psychological phenomenon: what we have in mind when we speak of "luck" are the intellectual and emotional reactions of human beings as they run up against the limits of their knowledge and power. Schillinger returns to the Greeks because they fully examined this phenomenon, revealing the roots of the idea of luck in the psyche, its (often confused) role in ethical judgments of praise and blame, and its salience as a rhetorical trope used by statesmen and demagogues. His analysis summons unfamiliar perspectives on these issues in ancient Greek thoughtDLperspectives that are acutely skeptical and attuned to both the realities of politics and the complexities of the human soul.

Table of Contents:
Preface and Acknowledgements Part 1: The Idea of Luck Chapter 1: Luck Ancient and Modern Introduction Language, Imagery, and Conceptual History Contemporary Approaches, Ancient Alternatives: The Plan of the Book On Interpretation Chapter 2: Aristotle's Psychological Approach to Luck The Idea of Luck in Physics 2.4-6 Luck and Causal Responsibility in Nicomachean Ethics 3.1 Prudent and Responsible Action Luck, Statesmanship, and Legislation in the Politics Conclusion Part 2: Bad Luck, Good Luck Chapter 3: Bad Luck: The Daimon of Oedipus in Sophocles' Oedipus Tyrannus Oedipus, Child of Tuche Oedipus' Daimon Conclusion: Sophoclean Riddles and the Question of Intelligibility Chapter 4: Better Lucky than Good? The Aristotelian Eudemian Ethics 8.2 The Argument of EE 8.2 An Aristotelian Critique of EE 8.2 The Audience of the EE: Kaloi K'agathoi Conclusion: The Status of the EE Part 3: Luck and Politics Chapter 5: From Fate to Freedom: Questioning Solon with Herodotus Solon and Croesus Themistocles and the Athenian Democracy Conclusion: Herodotus, Teacher and Storyteller Chapter 6: If It Wasn't for Bad Luck: Thucydides on the Political Significance of Tuche Pericles, Luck, Statesmanship Tuche as Illusion in the Action of the History Two Objections: Pylos and Sparta Conclusion: Thucydides' Historiography Chapter 7: Euripides' Critique of Luck and Courage in Trojan Women The Critique of Luck The Critique of Courage The Resilience of the Trojan Women The Problem of Helen Conclusion Bibliography

About the Author :
Daniel Schillinger is a Lecturer in Political Science at Yale University, where he teaches in the Directed Studies Program and offers seminars on Greek political thought. He is also a Senior Fellow of the Yale Center for Civic Thought and a recipient of the Lux et Veritas teaching prize.

Review :
In this marvelous new book, Daniel Schillinger, taking his cue from Aristotle, offers subtle and original readings of a set of ancient Greek texts to reorient our understanding of luck from its being an agent "out there" to its moral, psychological, and rhetorical role in our political lives. No one, after reading this transformative work, will blithely invoke luck Elegantly written and deeply thoughtful, Luckless is a book that shows that classical texts can illuminate enduring questions of human life. That is often claimed about classical texts, but not always so well demonstrated as it is here. The questions Schillinger takes up concern the meaning of luck, its role in our lives, and its significance as a concept that dwells more in our minds or souls than in the external world. His interpretation of what the classical authors have to say about luck is original and thought-provoking. Luckless is a major contribution to the study of classical thought. Do you feel lucky? Are you actually lucky? Luckless investigates how our stories about luck too often obscure the real reasons for things, both good and bad. We want to believe in luck, but we need to look behind luck's veil if we are to address the ethical and political crises confronting us today. Cogent, lucid, and revelatory, Daniel Schillinger's book will transform your thinking about luck, full stop.