Plato on democracy and political techne
By: by Anders Dahl Sorensen
Series: Philosophia antiqua -- volume 143; Philosophia antiqua -- v. 143.
Publisher: Brill
Published: 2016
Place of publication: Leiden; Boston
Language: eng
Number of pages: 196
ISBN-13: 9789004312005
Subjects: Political and social views; Democracy; Demokratie; Politik
Description: In 'Plato on Democracy and Political techne' Sørensen argues that the question of democracy's 'epistemic potential' was one that Plato took more seriously than is usually assumed. While he famously rejected democracy on the basis of its inherent inability to accommodate political expertise ('techne'), he did not think that this failure on democracy's part was necessarily inevitable but a concept that required further examination. Sorensen shows that in a number of his most important dialogues ('Republic, Gorgias, Statesman, Protagoras, Theaetetus'), Plato was ready to take up the question of democracy's epistemic potential and to enter into strikingly technical and sophisticated discussions of what both rule by 'techne' and rule by the people would have to look like in order for the two things to be compatible.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.