Audace, modération et guerre

dans la guerre du Péloponnèse de Thucydide

Abstract

With this rather long article, Mathieu Gonzalez stresses the importance for social sciences to consider ancient texts, following Strauss and Nietzsche. He explores Thucydide’s notions of “modération” and “audace”, both developed in his famous History of the Peloponnesian War as a central tools for the understanding of political actions, successes or failures. Gonzalez’s main aim is to reveal a certain kind of explanation precedent to the one which shapes the social and political sciences as we know them today. His thorough analysis reveals a pertinent system of understanding whose dynamic structure challenges the static and problem-centered explanation characteristic of nowadays political science. In other words, the irresistible ascent of the logos may well have done some harm, and should not put aside more ancient and fluid ways of understanding.