John Dunn, Moses Finley, the history of political thought

I just attended a fine celebration of the work of John Dunn, Cambridge
political scientist who's worked on democratic theory and practice (e.g. in
Ghana) for half a century.  Very good speakers, including Dunn himself.
There's a lot to say, and I won't say it here.
But it is worth noting that one of Dunn's strengths has been his
recognition of the virtues of cross-disciplinary work.  His 1974 book on
Ghana, *Dependence and Opportunity*, was co-authored with an anthropologist
and guided by Victor Hugo's dictum, to study the vine from the viewpoint of
the grapes (*l'**arbre vu du côte des racines*).  The cross-disciplinarity
included ancient studies.  In fact, as he said (roughly transcribed)...:


It all goes back to Michael Cook
<https://nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fnes.princeton.edu%2Fpeople%2Fmichael-cook&amp;data=02%7C01%7CCLASSICS-L%40lsv.uky.edu%7C6064b450c3114a375f1308d6d0f8961f%7C2b30530b69b64457b818481cb53d42ae%7C0%7C0%7C636926163430348795&amp;sdata=T3BsQXxsjiBH0DSHKOYfLJT3Q1bWOBCTlFgy3%2BXg%2Bj4%3D&amp;reserved=0>’s persuading me to take
Finley’s [high-powered] seminar in my second year as an undergraduate.
This was daring of Cook.  There I learned by example [n.b. from Athenian
history] how to think about democracy as a historical reality.

Since then, as Dunn said, he has spent a career trying to understand the
spread of democracy around the world.  The topic "surprisingly has not let
him go."  This exercise became even more painful with the Brexit vote: who
would have expected it?  Yet by far this was the the most consequential
political choice ever put before the citizenry.  So, he concluded, there is
much to study there, and in the current or coming crisis of the environment.

This insistence on cross-disciplinarity showed when he listed former
students including at least two,   Danielle Allen
<https://nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FDanielle_Allen&amp;data=02%7C01%7CCLASSICS-L%40lsv.uky.edu%7C6064b450c3114a375f1308d6d0f8961f%7C2b30530b69b64457b818481cb53d42ae%7C0%7C0%7C636926163430348795&amp;sdata=4gkmYbeMajLNREeqzIDsDL9FsxR7YLIta4EfBU8%2FUzw%3D&amp;reserved=0>and Melissa Lane
<https://nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fscholar.princeton.edu%2Fmslane%2Fresearch-interests&amp;data=02%7C01%7CCLASSICS-L%40lsv.uky.edu%7C6064b450c3114a375f1308d6d0f8961f%7C2b30530b69b64457b818481cb53d42ae%7C0%7C0%7C636926163430348795&amp;sdata=iNY%2BT2wKtVTonw75vbujgQP2te0b47lu2aPvXMdJqpg%3D&amp;reserved=0>, for whom
classical studies are pivotal.  Lane appeared by long-distance hookup, in
fact.

All in all a wonderful event for a wonderful person.  And a very worthwhile
affirmation of the importance of ancient studies.

Best,

Dan

After the event he agreed that his attitude was gloomy but upbeat: aware of
the problems, but convinced that  we can or must apply our skills to
figuring  next best courses.  He