This final chapter of the book continues my exploration of ontology. In contrast to rational choice theories that work on the assumption of egoistic, autonomous actors, I offer the outlines of an ontology that builds on the polarities of life that are problematized by Greek tragedies and Thucydides. I contend that they are a better starting point for social analysis because they more accurately reflect the human condition. Egoistic, autonomous actors are a fiction of Enlightenment philosophy. So too is the possibility of altruistic communal actors envisaged by Marxist theory. In practice, individuals and their societies are distributed somewhere along a continuum between these two extremes. This is true for all polarities that capture important attributes of human orientation and behavior.

Tragedy and classical realism also offer us important epistemological insights. They raise serious doubts about the principal conceit of social science: the feasibility of developing a general, theoretical understanding of human behavior that bridges culture and time. Tragedy suggests, and classical realists affirm, that all knowledge is local, temporally bound and quickly negated because of the feedback loop between logos and erga. Such understandings, moreover, should never be confused with wisdom, which represents a holistic understanding of the human condition and the possible ends of human life.