Eero Arum | University of California, Berkeley (original) (raw)
I am a fifth-year PhD candidate in political theory at UC Berkeley, where I study ancient and early modern political thought. Before beginning my graduate studies, I received my B.A. in Philosophy & Political Science from the University of Chicago (2018) and taught English in Vienna through Fulbright Austria's USTA Program (2018-2020).
Supervisors: Kinch Hoekstra
less
Uploads
Drafts by Eero Arum
Review of Politics, 2020
Although Machiavelli argues that “return to first principles” is a necessary and perhaps even suf... more Although Machiavelli argues that “return to first principles” is a necessary
and perhaps even sufficient condition for counteracting political corruption, few
scholars have engaged in a sustained textual analysis of Discourses III.1, the
chapter in which he outlines the meaning of this enigmatic concept. Reassessing
Machiavelli’s exempla in this chapter will reveal that return to first principles
consists in the revival of the ethos of innovation and public-spiritedness that
accompanies every successful political founding. This process of renewal entails
reviving the psychological forces that initially guide human beings to establish
new political orders, including fear of violent death and longing for glory.
Existing interpretations of D III.1 have tended to emphasize renewal through
fear-invoking punishment, neglecting Machiavelli’s examples of renewal through
exemplary acts of civic virtue. A careful analysis of instruments and agents of
return to first principles will illustrate how both spectacular punishment and
virtuous acts of self-sacrifice converge to counteract corruption and foster
political innovation.
Papers by Eero Arum
Political Theory, 2024
This article argues that Machiavelli's chapters on the Decemvirate (D 1.35, 1.40-45) advance an i... more This article argues that Machiavelli's chapters on the Decemvirate (D 1.35, 1.40-45) advance an internal critique of the juridical discourse of sovereignty. I first contextualize these chapters in relation to several of Machiavelli's potential sources, including Livy's Ab urbe condita, Dionysius of Halicarnassus's Roman Antiquities, and the antiquarian writings of Andrea Fiocchi and Giulio Pomponio Leto. I then analyze Machiavelli's claim that the decemvirs held "absolute authority" (autorità assoluta)-an authority that was unconstrained by either laws or countervailing magistrates. I proceed to argue that Machiavelli's account of the decemvirs' election contains a web of allusions to the lex regia, the "royal law" by which the Roman people were thought to have conveyed their sovereign power to an emperor. By modeling the decemvirs' election on the lex regia, Machiavelli reveals the political limitations of the doctrine of popular sovereignty; moreover, he illustrates that "free elections" can easily give rise to tyranny.
History of Political Thought, 2023
Recent scholarship has placed the concept of friendship at the center of Aristotle's political th... more Recent scholarship has placed the concept of friendship at the center of Aristotle's political thought. However, relatively little attention has been given to Aristotle's claim that political friendship is 'based on equality'. This article first explicates this claim as it appears in the Eudemian Ethics, where Aristotle asserts that the paradigmatic form of political friendship is based on 'arithmetic' rather than 'proportional' equality. Second, it shows that this 'egalitarian' conception of political friendship is fully consistent with the Nicomachean Ethics and Politics -- and, in doing so, challenges a recent argument that the Eudemian Ethics was not genuinely written by Aristotle. And third, it argues that Aristotle's 'egalitarian' conception of political friendship motivates his advocacy of various economic arrangements and practices throughout the Politics, including but not limited to the common use of property.
Review of Politics, 2020
Although Machiavelli argues that “return to first principles” is a necessary and perhaps even suf... more Although Machiavelli argues that “return to first principles” is a necessary
and perhaps even sufficient condition for counteracting political corruption, few
scholars have engaged in a sustained textual analysis of Discourses III.1, the
chapter in which he outlines the meaning of this enigmatic concept. Reassessing
Machiavelli’s exempla in this chapter will reveal that return to first principles
consists in the revival of the ethos of innovation and public-spiritedness that
accompanies every successful political founding. This process of renewal entails
reviving the psychological forces that initially guide human beings to establish
new political orders, including fear of violent death and longing for glory.
Existing interpretations of D III.1 have tended to emphasize renewal through
fear-invoking punishment, neglecting Machiavelli’s examples of renewal through
exemplary acts of civic virtue. A careful analysis of instruments and agents of
return to first principles will illustrate how both spectacular punishment and
virtuous acts of self-sacrifice converge to counteract corruption and foster
political innovation.
Political Theory, 2024
This article argues that Machiavelli's chapters on the Decemvirate (D 1.35, 1.40-45) advance an i... more This article argues that Machiavelli's chapters on the Decemvirate (D 1.35, 1.40-45) advance an internal critique of the juridical discourse of sovereignty. I first contextualize these chapters in relation to several of Machiavelli's potential sources, including Livy's Ab urbe condita, Dionysius of Halicarnassus's Roman Antiquities, and the antiquarian writings of Andrea Fiocchi and Giulio Pomponio Leto. I then analyze Machiavelli's claim that the decemvirs held "absolute authority" (autorità assoluta)-an authority that was unconstrained by either laws or countervailing magistrates. I proceed to argue that Machiavelli's account of the decemvirs' election contains a web of allusions to the lex regia, the "royal law" by which the Roman people were thought to have conveyed their sovereign power to an emperor. By modeling the decemvirs' election on the lex regia, Machiavelli reveals the political limitations of the doctrine of popular sovereignty; moreover, he illustrates that "free elections" can easily give rise to tyranny.
History of Political Thought, 2023
Recent scholarship has placed the concept of friendship at the center of Aristotle's political th... more Recent scholarship has placed the concept of friendship at the center of Aristotle's political thought. However, relatively little attention has been given to Aristotle's claim that political friendship is 'based on equality'. This article first explicates this claim as it appears in the Eudemian Ethics, where Aristotle asserts that the paradigmatic form of political friendship is based on 'arithmetic' rather than 'proportional' equality. Second, it shows that this 'egalitarian' conception of political friendship is fully consistent with the Nicomachean Ethics and Politics -- and, in doing so, challenges a recent argument that the Eudemian Ethics was not genuinely written by Aristotle. And third, it argues that Aristotle's 'egalitarian' conception of political friendship motivates his advocacy of various economic arrangements and practices throughout the Politics, including but not limited to the common use of property.