The Justice of Socrates' Philosopher Kings
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6231672 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Darrell Dobbs (corresponding author) |
| Year | 1985 |
| Volume | 29 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 809 |
| Publication date | 1985-11-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | American Journal of Political Science (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0092-5853 • E-ISSN: 1540-5907 |
| Publisher | JSTOR (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.2307/2111182 |
| OpenAlex | W2328188878 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 5 |
| References cited | 10 |
As against current notions, which tend to identify the just with the voluntary and thereby to espouse a politically suicidal individualism, Plato's Socrates develops an account of justice that involves coercion, even against the elite, his philosophers, who must be forced from a life of contemplation to rule as kings. This essay suggests, accordingly, that despite the modern emphasis on individual rights, it is Plato who most fully exposes the perplexity of justice and political partnership, and who thus provides the soundest basis for its theoretical examination. It is further argued, against prevailing interpretations, that the manifestation of this perplexity in the Republic -the conflict between Socrates' city and philosophy -is merely provisional, not fundamental. Learning-loving philosophers actually benefit from the political responsibility forced upon them in gaining access to the greatest learning matter, the idea of the good. This result provides stronger support for the reconciliation of the individual to his own citizenship, and thus for public-spiritedness, than might otherwise be available today
Constitution · Constitutionality · Economic Justice · Environmental ethics · Epistemology · Individualism · Law and economics · Perplexity · Political science · Politics · Sociology · SOCRATES · Socratic method · Classical Philosophy and Thought · Law · Philosophical Ethics and Theory · Philosophy · Seventeenth-Century Political and Philosophical Thought
| Unique citing works | 5 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,16 |
| Citation span | 1994 - 2019 (26) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 5 |