ANCIENT DEBATES ON AUTARKEIA AND OUR GLOBAL IMPASSE

Abstract

The notion of self-sufficiency (Greek autarkeia) is gaining prominence in the context of probably the most pressing dilemma of our times, namely that of the conflicting demands of economic growth and ecological sustainability. Within this controversy, self-sufficiency is promoted as a viable counter-ideal to rampant consumerism. This article presents a survey of the use of the notion in ancient Greek literature of the classical era, in order to show that, by itself, autarkeia does not present a simple solution, due to the variety in its ancient usage. While the Greeks of archaic and classical times widely agreed on the desirability of the condition, some interpreted it as being able to fulfil any need that might arise and others as restricting need to the bare minimum. The notion was furthermore applied to both individual and state. There was no consensus that the individual could in fact reach a state of complete self-sufficiency: the radical but experimental autarkeia of the Cynic sage was admired but nonetheless generally rejected as incompatible to civil society. Consequently, authors of the fourth century transposed autarkeia to the social units of household and city-state, although even here its attainability remained dubious. The notion lived on in the restricted form of the self-sufficiency of virtue in the Stoic pursuit of happiness.