ИСТОРИЈСКИ КОРЕНИ УЧЕЊА О ПРАВУ ЈАЧЕГ
HISTORICAL EMERGENCE OF THE RIGHT OF STRONGER DOCTRINE

Summary/Abstract: This article looks into the origins of an extremely destructive theory – the ancient Greek theory of the right of the stronger. The author makes a difference between the traditional right of the stronger, and the right of the stronger doctrine which was theoretically established in the nomos-physis antithesis. The main objective of this article is to examine the time of occurrence of the right of the stronger doctrine, i.e. to determine whether this theory appeared before or during the Peloponnesian war Scholars tend to link several Thucydides’ speeches and Plato’s characters with the right of the stronger doctrine. Thus, the author tries to establish the cases in which we can truly speak about theoretical foundations of the right of the stronger – as there are fewer such cases than commonly imagined. Namely, the analysis of the sources reveals that the sole representatives of this doctrine are Thucydides’ Athenians in the Melian dialogue, and Calicles in Plato’s Gorgias. This finding shows that the right of the stronger doctrine emerged during the Peloponnesian war, and that the Sophistic movement and the war had major influence on its origins.

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