Reply to Koenraad Verboven

Abstract

I am grateful to Dr. Verboven for his comment, because it is well argued and thus allows me to clarify more explicitly what I do and do not want to say. The main purpose of my paper is to draw attention to the methodological problems inherent in the kind of psychohistorical research that is the topic of this conference. To this end my paper is somewhat polemical. Publications from a psychohistorical perspective on antiquity that I have seen thus far usually begin by conceding that of course there are great differences between ancient and modern societies, but next proceed to apply modern psychological theory without any further qualms.