“Living as One Wishes” in Athens: The (Anti-)Democratic Polemics

IN THE LONG-RUNNING DEBATE about Greek political ideals and the extent of individual liberty in the Athenian democracy, scholars have taken numerous positions, not infrequently founded upon Aristotle’s systematization of constitutions. This classification rested upon the philosopher’s view of democracy— or its “extreme” form, also found in Athens—as a disorderly, unlawful polity based on unrestrained freedom. This article aims to question this influential testimony by highlighting the language of democratic discourse, based primarily on the survivingAthenian speeches as the source closest to the political beliefs of the majority of Athenian citizens. It will thus deal with the question whether the Athenians as individuals and as a collective believed that they should be able to “dowhatever they wished” and “live however they wanted” and if they shaped their political system upon this premise. In doing so, this article aims at a more complete understanding of what has been studied under the label of “Athenian freedom.” Traditionally, classical liberal thought had been criticized by other, particularly communitarian and republican, schools of political philosophy for not emphasizing the connection between freedom and law but rather focusing on freedom from any kind of restraint, with law treated as one of such limitations. It is interesting to compare this view with what John Locke—today customarily referred to as the Father of Liberalism—had to say in his Second Treatise of Civil Government of 1690, when criticizing Robert Filmer’s definition of liberty (VI 57):