Philosophers in the Republic

An infamous problem with Socrates’ proposal in Plato's Republic that philosophers rule is that they will not want to and so ‘we will be doing them a wrong’ (519d) by forcing them back down into the cave. Roslyn Weiss offers an innovative solution to this dilemma by proposing that the Republic in fact gives the reader two paradigms of the philosopher, one better and intended for enlightened readers to discover, the other second-rate and designed to appeal to Plato's brothers, the interlocutors Glaucon and Adeimantus. It is only the second-rate philosophers who would be reluctant rulers. This book consists of an Introduction, Conclusion and five chapters. The Introduction and ch. 1 make the case for there being two predominant paradigms of philosopher. Chapters 2 and 3 explain the second-rate or pseudo-philosopher in more detail. The fourth chapter proposes a third paradigm of philosopher in the form of Socrates, who is better than the other two. Chapter 5 and the Conclusion explain the impact of this understanding on the content and goals of the Rep. as a whole, with reference in particular to justice.

Appeal · Art · Dilemma · Economic Justice · Epistemology · Literature · Political science · SOCRATES · The Republic · Classical Philosophy and Thought · Law · Philosophy