Volume 34, Issue 2, March 2026, Page 281-311.

Recent scholarship on the philosophy of time in pre-Qin Daoist thought has not yet produced a thorough examination of dao’s relationship to time. This essay resolves this omission through a systematic study of the concept heng 恒 in pre-Qin Daoist literature. While principally expressing the ‘constancy’ of dao, heng also significantly presupposes dao’s ability to change. This change is characterized in the texts as a cyclical movement of ‘return’ and identified with the universe’s circular metanarrative of generation and reintegration. The (...) essay turns to examine pre-Qin Daoist literature’s use of primal wu 無 metaphors to describe dao. It concludes that they present dao as undifferentiated infinitude, liberating dao as heng from the tense structure of past-present-future that divides life in time. These metaphors further associate the movement of dao with the flow of time, reformulating time’s relentless ever-greater advancement into an endless cycle of creative transformation. (shrink)

Republic is the central work of the Western world's most famous philosopher. Essentially an inquiry into morality, Republic also contains crucial arguments and insights into many other areas of philosophy. It is also a literary masterpiece: the philosophy is presented for the most part for the ordinary reader, who is carried along by the wit and intensity of the dialogue and by Plato's unforgettable images of the human condition. This new, lucid translation by Robin Waterfield is complemented by (...) full explanatory notes and an up-to-date critical introduction. (shrink)

This essay examines the systematic destruction of American constitutional democracy during the first year of President Donald Trump's second administration (January 2025–January 2026). Written from the perspective of a Canadian citizen and scholar, it documents the authoritarian consolidation of power through mass deportations resulting in documented deaths and wrongful removal of U.S. citizens, systematic defiance of federal court orders, weaponization of the Department of Justice against political opponents, unprecedented purges of military leadership, economic warfare against democratic allies justified by fabricated (...) claims, and the deliberate destruction of institutional capacity for oversight and accountability. Drawing on assessments from over 1,000 law professors, multiple former Defense Secretaries, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and historians of fascism who have drawn explicit parallels to 1930s Germany, the essay establishes that expert consensus identifies these actions as authoritarian governance constituting a constitutional crisis. The philosophical core of the essay engages with the American Founders' understanding of tyranny, power, and the conditions necessary for republican government, demonstrating how current events represent precisely the consolidation of arbitrary power that the constitutional architecture was designed to prevent. Through analysis of foundational texts including the Declaration of Independence, The Federalist Papers, and Jefferson's writings on natural rights, the essay argues that the current crisis vindicates the Founders' warnings about the fragility of republican government and the permanent threat of tyrannical ambition. The essay concludes with a philosophical argument about the moral obligations of citizens when constitutional democracy faces existential threat, examining the tension between partisan loyalty and fidelity to the constitutional order itself, and calling upon Americans across the political spectrum to defend the institutional foundations that make all political contestation possible. Written from Canada, it represents both a warning from a democratic ally and an act of solidarity with Americans fighting to preserve their republic. (shrink)

Socrates' attitude towards falsehood is quite puzzling in the Republic. Although Socrates is clearly committed to truth, at several points he discusses the benefits of falsehood. This occurs most notably in Book 3 with the "noble lie" (414d-415c) and most disturbingly in Book 5 with the "rigged sexual lottery" (459d-460c). This raises the question: What kinds of falsehoods does Socrates think are beneficial, and what kinds of falsehoods does he think are harmful? And more broadly: What can this tell (...) us about the relationship between ethics and epistemology? The key to answering these questions lies in an obscure and paradoxical passage in Book II; at 382a-d Socrates distinguishes between "true falsehoods" and "impure lies." True falsehoods are always bad, but impure lies are sometimes beneficial. Despite Socrates' insistence that he is not saying anything deep, his distinction is far from straightforward. Nevertheless, in order to determine why some falsehoods are beneficial and why some are always harmful, we must understand what exactly true falsehoods are and how they differ from impure lies. In this paper, I argue that true falsehoods are a restricted class of false beliefs about ethics; they are false beliefs about how one should live and what one should pursue. I refer to these beliefs as "normative commitments." False normative commitments are always pernicious because they create and sustain psychological disharmony. Unlike true falsehoods, impure lies can be about anything. Nevertheless, they are only beneficial when they help produce and sustain true normative commitments. I argue that the upshot of this is that practical concerns have a kind of primacy over theoretical concerns. (shrink)

The first book length study of property-owning democracy, Republic of Equals argues that a society in which capital is universally accessible to all citizens is uniquely placed to meet the demands of justice. Arguing from a basis in liberal-republican principles, this expanded conception of the economic structure of society contextualizes the market to make its transactions fair. The author shows that a property-owning democracy structures economic incentives such that the domination of one agent by another in the market is (...) structurally impossible. The result is a renovated form of capitalism in which the free market is no longer a threat to social democratic values, but is potentially convergent with them. It is argued that a property-owning democracy has advantages that give it priority over rival forms of social organization such as welfare state capitalism and market socialist institutions. The book also addresses the currently high levels of inequality in the societies of the developed West to suggest a range of policies that target the "New Inequality" of our times. For this reason, the work engages not only with political philosophers such as John Rawls, Philip Pettit and John Tomasi, but also with the work of economists and historians such as Anthony B. Atkinson, François Bourguignon, Jacob S. Hacker, Lane Kenworthy, and Thomas Piketty. (shrink)

"This edition of Eco-Republic is published by arrangement with Peter Lang Ltd; first published in 2011 by Peter Lang Ltd"--T.p. verso.

Essestially an inquiry into morality, the Republic is the central work of the Western world's most famous philosopher. Containing crucial arguments and insights into many other areas of philosophy, it is also a literary masterpiece: the philosophy is presented for the most part for ordinary readers, who are carried along by the wit and intensity of the dialogue and by Plato's unforgettable images of the human condition. This new, lucid translation is complemented by full explanatory notes and an up-to-date (...) critical introduction. (shrink)

Scholars have long been aware of striking similarities between a crucial passage in Book II of Plato’s Republic and the longest papyrus fragment surviving from Antiphon’s On Truth. Previous scholarship has identified some views common to both texts but has not explained how these views hang together in a unified and coherent ethical outlook. A deeper investigation into these two texts turns up a blueprint for Greek immoralist arguments, a finding which should be of considerable interest to scholars of (...) ancient Greek ethics and political philosophy. The paper argues that both texts include an argument whose demonstrandum is that it is by nature good or advantageous to commit injustice when one can do so undetected; that this argument in each case involves a set of background premises that constitute a blueprint for immoralist arguments in Classical Athens; and that the immoralist ethical theory of Republic II is an outline distilled from several more detailed theories, including the one belonging to On Truth. (shrink)

This article describes the development of business ethics teaching and researching in the Czech Republic since the last global survey of business ethics organized by ISBEE in 2012. The role of business ethics training remains rather limited. The authors present results of interviews and of a survey conducted among instructors of business ethics and CSR, and students of their courses offered at various levels (undergraduate, graduate and MBA). The main differences between the lecturers and the students regarding the importance (...) of various themes, as well as future challenges are featured. The literature review highlights the major topics addressed by the Czech authors, such as CSR and sustainability, tools of ethics management, corruption, corporate governance, ethics in public administration, equal opportunities, and digitalization and AI. The most frequently used concepts and the terminology complement the picture. (shrink)

ABSTRACT Italian historiographers of the second half of the seventeenth century often establish parallels between early modern republics, comparing Genoa and Venice with the United Provinces, considered as similar political entities despite their evident political differences. The article, taking into account four different sources, investigates the meaning of those comparisons, published when the absolutist model was taking root all around Europe. In the twilight of the republican state, when the power and reputation of the Italian republics was maybe at its (...) weakest, those comparisons served both as a way to boost a supranational republican identity, and to question the strength of the classical republican constitution. This survey explores how these authors claim that, in order to survive in the Europe of absolute monarchies, those republics have to undergo a radical political change. Only by avoiding splitting the sovereignty among too many subjects, and reinforcing the monarchical element in their constitution, these republican states, no more based on the principle of equality, could compete in the new seventeenth-century political scenario. For this reason, Italian authors looked with great interest, and often celebrated the Dutch republic, considered a stronger government than that of Venice, even if it was regarded as an imperfect republic. (shrink)

Republics of Knowledge tells the story of how the circulation of knowledge shaped the formation of nation-states in Latin America, and particularly in Argentina, Peru and Chile, during the century after Iberian rule was defeated in the 1820s. Most immediately, the author has sought to provide a cross-disciplinary approach to the history of knowledge, combining the methods of global intellectual history with a new way of thinking about nations as experienced and enacted as well as how they are imagined, and (...) in so doing offer a new interpretation of the history of independent Latin America to illustrate its wider significance in the making of the modern world. By bringing these lines of inquiry together within a transnational framework, Nicola Miller shows how evidence from the pioneering nations of Latin America can invite historians to rethink many of their general theories about how knowledge travels and how a sense of nationhood is created. The book is designed to stimulate debate about the significance of knowledge not only in Latin America but in all modern societies. As Miller explains, Latin America is usually regarded as an exception to general theories, notably of colonialism, nationalism and liberalism; and yet it was in that part of the world, not in Europe, that the Age of Revolution brought the founding of a second wave of modern republics, and it was in Latin America that pioneering attempts were made to apply liberal principles in societies with inherited caste divisions and corporate institutions. It was there that some of the richest debates about the vexed relationship between collective identities and individualism took place. (shrink)

Toward the end of the astonishing period of Athenian creativity that furnished Western civilization with the greater part of its intellectual, artistic, and political wealth, Plato wrote The Republic, his discussion of the nature and meaning of justice and of the ideal state and its ruler. All subsequent European thinking about these subjects owes its character, directly or indirectly, to this most famous (and most accessible) of the Platonic dialogues. Although he describes a society that looks to some like (...) the ideal human community and to others like a totalitarian nightmare, in the course of his description Plato raises enduringly relevant questions about politics, art, education, and the general conduct of life. Translated by A. D. Lindsay From the Hardcover edition. (shrink)

_Understanding Plato’s Republic_ is an accessible introduction to the concepts of justice that inform Plato’s Republic, elucidating the ancient philosopher's main argument that we would be better off leading just lives rather than unjust ones Provides a much needed up to date discussion of _The Republic_'s fundamental ideas and Plato's main argument Discusses the unity and coherence of _The Republic_ as a whole Written in a lively style, informed by over 50 years of teaching experience Reveals rich insights into (...) a timeless classic that holds remarkable relevance to the modern world. (shrink)

Focus Philosophical Library's edition of Plato's _Republic _is an English translation of one of the most intellectually important works in Western philosophy and political theory. It includes an extensive introduction, an extensive afterword "Imitation" by John White, a chapter-by-chapter outline of principal speakers and summary of the content, Stephanus numbers, boldface type to indicate the entrance of a new speaker into the discussion, footnotes, and glossary of key terms with cross-references for the text. This dialogue includes Socrates and others discussing (...) the definition of justice, the theory of forms, and the immortality of the soul. Plato uses numerous dialogues between Socrates and various characters in Athens to discuss the nature of government, including the nature of justice, the happiness of the just and the unjust man, the nature of rule in the ideal city-state, and other matters essential to understanding classical philosophy such as the theory of forms, the immortality of the soul, poetry, and the role of the philosopher in society. FPL books are distinguished by their commitment to faithful, clear, and consistent translations of texts and the rich world part and parcel of those texts. (shrink)

Toward the end of the astonishing period of Athenian creativity that furnished Western civilization with the greater part of its intellectual, artistic, and political wealth, Plato wrote The Republic, his discussion of the nature and meaning of justice and of the ideal state and its ruler. All subsequent European thinking about these subjects owes its character, directly or indirectly, to this most famous (and most accessible) of the Platonic dialogues. Although he describes a society that looks to some like (...) the ideal human community and to others like a totalitarian nightmare, in the course of his description Plato raises enduringly relevant questions about politics, art, education, and the general conduct of life. (shrink)

This chapter studies the later books of the Republic in order to see how the distinctions between the different kinds of justice, presented in previous chapter, work in the last part of the dialogue. To start with, it is demonstrated that deviant souls are “c-unjust,” while democratic souls are “p-unjust.” Then, the rational part of the soul is extensively analysed in order to explain why it is the more comprehensive. Finally, it is underlined that the just man is the (...) one in whom prevails the rational soul, which is the only one able to provide a good balance to the all human beings. (shrink)

From the publisher: "This book is a lucid and accessible companion to Plato’s Republic, throwing light upon the text’s arguments and main themes, placing them in the wider context of the text’s structure. In its illumination of the philosophical ideas underpinning the work, it provides readers with an understanding and appreciation of the complexity and literary artistry of Plato’s Republic. McAleer not only unpacks the key overarching questions of the text – What is justice? And Is a just (...) life happier than an unjust life? – but also highlights some fascinating, overlooked passages which contribute to our understanding of Plato’s philosophical thought.". (shrink)

Plato is perhaps the most significant philosopher who has ever lived and The Republic, composed in Athens in about 375 BC, is widely regarded as his most famous dialogue. Its discussion of the perfect city — and the perfect mind — laid the foundations for Western culture and, for over two thousand years, has been the cornerstone of Western philosophy. As the distinguished Cambridge professor Simon Blackburn points out, it has probably sustained more commentary, and been subject to more (...) radical and impassioned disagreement, than almost any other of the great founding texts of the modern world. In Plato’s Republic, Blackburn explains the judicial, moral and political ideas in the Republic with dazzling insight and clarity. Blackburn also examines Republic’s remarkable influence and unquestioned staying power, and shows why, from St. Augustine to twentieth century philosophers such as Ludwig Wittgenstein and Henri Bergson, Western thought is still conditioned by this most important, and contemporary, of books. (shrink)

A compilation of the essential works of Plato in one paperback volume: The Republic, The Symposium, Parmenides, Euthyphro, Apology, Crito, and Phaedo.

Republic IX 583c-585a presents something surprisingly unusual in ancient accounts of pleasure and pain: an argument in favour of the view that there are three relevant hedonic states: pleasure, pain, and an intermediate. The argument turns on the proposal that a person's evaluation of their current state may be misled by a comparison with a prior or subsequent state. The argument also refers to `pure' and anticipated pleasures. The brief remarks in the Republic may appear cursory or clumsy (...) in comparison with the Philebus , but this appearance is misleading. Rather, they are part of a neat dialectical argument against a potentially troubling set of opponents. Socrates' use of a topological analogy at 584d3-585a7 rounds off this section by clarifying and illustrating his position, preparing the ground for the final explanation of the pleasantness of the philosophical life at 585a-587c. (shrink)

Plato’s Republic is a political thought experiment, claims the present paper. Thought-experimenting is announced in the story of the Ring of Gyges, and done in a thorough and systematic way through a series of political scenarios: community of goods, of women and children, educational system and the philosopher rule? The paper considers the longstanding issue of plausibility, putting it in the context of current debates about thought-experiments, and the issue of replaceability: can a given political thought experiment be replaced (...) by an argument which features only norms and empirical information? The paper also puts the Republic thought experiment into a broad historical context, presenting it as the point of origin of utopian literature on the one hand, and the thought-experimental tradition in political philosophy on the other hand, contrasting it with the social-contract thought-experiment, also adumbrated in the Republic but fully developed in modern thought. (shrink)

Plato, Republic 606ab, which deals with the soul bipartition and the behaviour of the two soul components during a theatrical performance, has been the object of scholarly dispute concerning both its grammar and its meaning. This article proposes a new syntactical approach and argues that the passage does not have to be interpreted as contradicting the context.

Pentecostal Republic: Religion and the Struggle for State Power in Nigeria By ObadareEbenezer, xviii + 214 pp. Price PB £16.99. EAN 978–1786992376.

Plato's _Republic_ is one of the best-known and most widely-discussed texts in the history of philosophy. But how might we get to the heart of this work today, 2,500 years after its original composition? Alain Badiou breathes life into Plato's landmark text and revives its universality. Rather than producing yet another critical commentary, he has instead worked closely on the original Greek and, through spectacular changes, adapted it to our times. In this innovative reimagining of Plato's work, Badiou has removed (...) all references specific to ancient Greek society -- from lengthy exchanges about moral courage in archaic poetry to political considerations mainly of interest to the aristocratic elite -- and has expanded the range of cultural references. Here, philosophy is firing on all cylinders: Socrates and his companions are joined by Beckett, Pessoa, Freud, and Hegel, among others. Together these thinkers demonstrate that true philosophy endures, ready to absorb new horizons without changing its essence. Moreover, Badiou -- who is also a dramatist -- has transformed the Socratic dialogue into a genuine oratorial contest. In his version of the _Republic_, the interlocutors do much more than simply agree with Socrates. They argue, stand up to him, put him on the spot, and show thought in motion. In this work of dramatic scholarship and philosophy, we encounter a modern version of Plato's text that is alive, stimulating, and directly relevant to our own world. (shrink)

Republic is the central work of the Western world's most famous philosopher. Essentially an inquiry into morality, Republic also contains crucial arguments and insights into many other areas of philosophy. It is also a literary masterpiece: the philosophy is presented for the most part for the ordinary reader, who is carried along by the wit and intensity of the dialogue and by Plato's unforgettable images of the human condition. This new, lucid translation by Robin Waterfield is complemented by (...) full explanatory notes and an up-to-date critical introduction. (shrink)

Republic of Caste by Anand Teltumbde is distinct from most Dalit studies in recognizing the role of material conditions in determining the life conditions of untouchables in the caste system. What is problematic is the claim he makes about Ambedkar recognizing the role of material conditions in determining the plight of untouchables in the caste system. On the contrary, it is argued that Ambedkar did not have the conceptual vocabulary and theoretical framework to integrate the economic, political, and cultural (...) components of caste from a historical perspective. Central to Ambedkar’s conceptualization of caste and emancipation from caste is Hinduism. (shrink)

The Republic happens to be Plato's most important work. The article throws light on Plato's Magnum Opus. The debate rages over the idea of a city; rather an ideal city state comprising three classes—producers, auxiliaries, and guardians. The first to provide for the material needs of the state, the second for its defence, and the third to rule. Each has a specific function of its own, and none is to interfere with the others. Above all, the just city will (...) be unified, ordered, and harmonious. The rulers and auxiliaries, the two classes Socrates discusses at most length, will be dedicated to protecting the good of the state as a whole, and every aspect of their education, as well as the conditions, under which they live, will be minutely engineered to ensure they fulfil their roles as best they can. In a particularly famous passage, Socrates devotes considerable attention to the arts, proposing radical censorship of the kinds of poetry and music to which will be applicable in the city-state or the Republic that Plato has idealized. (shrink)

ArgumentWithin the Republic of Letters the art of experiment led to immense reorientation and an extensive redrawing of the enlightened map of natural knowledge. This paper will investigate the formative period of the exact sciences from the late eighteenth to the nineteenth century when the persona of the experimentalist as a scientific expert was shaped. The paper focuses on Moritz Hermann Jacobi’s experimental knowledge derived from his modeling of an electro-magnetic self-acting machine and the social and epistemological problems of (...) its integration into traditional academic life. His struggle to achieve academic recognition and credibility for his experimental work reflects not just his individual quandary, but important structural problems of the historical development of experimental knowledge traditions and science in what has been called the “second scientific revolution.”. (shrink)

Republic, Plato's best known and most frequently read dialogue, although receiving a flood of translations and philosophical analysis over the last 100 years, has in recent times been quite short of detailed commentaries. In particular, a full edition of the introductory sections of the dialogue, representing, probably, a single papyrus roll in the original text, has not been attempted for more than fifty years. In that period scholarship has moved on, and this edition aims to take into account recent (...) developments in the study of Plato's literary style as well as of his ideas. The arguments have always been of great interest to philosophers, especially the sophist Thrasymachus' clash with Socrates in defending injustice as the most profitable life-choice. But there is a great deal more to this introduction than abstract ideas; Plato chooses to begin his great work by staging a dramatic debate, arising out of a social meeting between Socrates and friends in the Athenian port of the Piraeus during a religious festival. The case against justice as a state of affairs leading to eudaimonia is put with great force and humour, not to mention bad temper, and in the cut-and-thrust of argument and the clash of personalities, Plato brings vividly to life the cultural and social world of his times and the crucial issues at stake for his contemporaries. He also puts as effectively as possible the adversarial case which Socrates has to answer in the rest of Republic. This edition is aimed principally at readers without Greek; however, following the main purpose of the Series, a spectrum of needs is catered for, ranging from those studying through the original text to those working with the translation. Greek text with facing-page translation, introduction and commentary. (shrink)

Republicanism and imperialism are typically understood to be located at opposite ends of the political spectrum. In Imperial Republics, Edward G. Andrew challenges the supposed incompatibility of these theories with regard to seventeenth- and eighteenth-century revolutions in England, the United States, and France. Many scholars have noted the influence of the Roman state on the ideology of republican revolutionaries, especially in the model it provided for transforming subordinate subjects into autonomous citizens. Andrew finds an equally important parallel between Rome's expansionary (...) dynamic — in contrast to that of Athens, Sparta, or Carthage — and the imperial rivalries that emerged between the United States, France, and England in the age of revolutions. Imperial Republics is a sophisticated, wide-ranging examination of the intellectual origins of republican movements, and explains why revolutionaries felt the need to 'don the toga' in laying the foundation for their own uprisings. (shrink)

Translating Plato’s Republic (c. 375 BCE) into symbolic logic is a monumental but illuminating task, as the work is itself an early masterpiece of structured philosophical reasoning. We must focus on its core arguments about justice, the soul, and the ideal state. We will use a mix of propositional, predicate, and modal logic to capture its depth.

Plato's Republic critiques Athenian democracy as practised during the Peloponnesian War years. The diseased city Socrates attempts to purge mirrors Athens in crucial particulars, and his proposals should be evaluated as counter-weights to existing institutions and practices, not as absolutes to be instantiated. Plato's assessment of the Athenian polity incorporates two strategies -- one rhetorical, the other argumentative -- both of which I address. Failure to consider Athens a catalyst for Socrates' arguments has led to the misconception that Plato (...) was dogmatically committed to a single political doctrine for all and for all time. (shrink)

This paper criticises the two prominent interpretations of utopianism in Plato's Republic. The traditional argues that it is mere utopianism, seriously proposing that Kallipolis is, in fact, the ideal city. The ironic argues that the Republic is a critique of the ability for reason to reconstruct human nature and is, therefore, a dire warning against utopian thinking in politics. I oppose these two interpretations and instead argue that the Republic implies a paradoxical necessity in the nature of (...) utopianism: The ideal cannot be theorised without itself being conditioned by the politics of theorising, and yet the politics of theorising is immanently motivated by the ideal. I locate this seemingly antonymic dynamic within the education of the learner/citizen in the Republic. Although this is centred on the notion of self-governance, it cannot be imposed and instead depends on the philosophical development of one's soul that is inextricably linked to justice in the city. Therefore, the utopianism of the Republic ought to be thought of as dialectical, being simultaneously situated and yet normatively transcending. (shrink)

Plato's Republic continues to arouse intense controversy among commentators, both for its ethical and political project and for its psychological, epistemological, and ontological implications for the knowledge of philosophers, who, says Plato, should be set as guides for such a project. Considering just a few examples from recent years, we might recall that a new critical edition of the dialogue has been published 1 that contains significant innovations both in the text and in the attribution of lines to speakers. (...) Moreover, this new edition has been accompanied by a volume of philological commentary edited by the same author. 2 Numerous translations in the main modern languages have also been published with a more or less detailed apparatus of notes. 3 An equally significant quantity of works of commentary, individual or miscellaneous, of extremely varied origin and composition has appeared, from the monumental work coordinated by M. Vegetti , to the volumes of O. Höffe , E. N. Ostenfeld , S. Sayers , R. Gutiérrez , B. Mitchell and J. R. Lucas , S. Rosen , M. Dixsaut , G. Santas , and G. R. F. Ferrari . Just this brief indication of the mass of philological, historical, and philosophical studies suggests the constant—and constantly renewed—appeal of a dialogue that is rightly considered as one of the most influential and representative of Plato's thought. (shrink)

LUCRETIUS AND THE LATE REPUBLIC . Roman Intellectual History The history of human values is the history of changing notions about truth and reality, ...

This is a compelling if sober set of questions from America's foremost legal scholar."--Lawrence Lessig, Stanford University.

The essay places the modern Euro-American (“Atlantic”) conception of publicity (Öffentlichkeit) into the historical and systematic context of the Western political tradition of republicanism. Section 1 features the state as the public realm of political deliberation and decision in the twin traditions of the Greek city state (polis) and the Roman republic (res publica). Section 2 analyzes the redrawing of the boundaries between the public and the private in early modern political thought. Section 3 examines the transformation of the (...) distinction between the public and the private in politico-philosophical reflection on high modern commercial and civil society. The focus throughout is on the republican requisites of the rule of law and of self-rule in political society. (shrink)

Most scholars have thought that in the _Republic_ democracy is supposed to be worse than timarchy or oligarchy, but lately certain commentators have denied that it is. Is it, then? We argue that pursuing this question leads to a dead end: it simply is not clear how bad democracy is supposed to be in the _Republic_. To make our case, we first marshal the strongest available evidence that democracy is supposedly better than timarchy and oligarchy. Next we lay out the (...) strongest available evidence that democracy is supposedly worse. And then we explain why there is an impasse. (shrink)

In The Republic of Love, philosopher Martha C. Nussbaum argues that opera engages in political dialogue with the other institutions of public life. Opera interrogates the underlying political culture: what human beings have to be like to sustain different political institutions. Opera’s central contribution, buttressed by the powers of the chorus and the nuances of musical expression, is its exploration of emotions in the structuring of public life, including the role of gender, rank, and class. Nussbaum argues that a (...) distinct Mozartean strand of opera embodies the political project of the Enlightenment. These operas, starting with those of Mozart himself—The Marriage of Figaro, Idomeneo, The Magic Flute, Don Giovanni, Così fan tutte, and La Clemenza di Tito—portray an egalitarian vision, not just of republican political institutions, but of emotion. This vision calls for the rejection of feudal hierarchy based on retributive anger and fear, and an embrace of love. This project has faced complications from the power-politics, tyranny, and oppression of the modern world, and so Mozart’s heirs considered how the Republic of Love can exist despite evil. Nussbaum traces the development of the Mozartean vision from Beethoven’s Fidelio and Verdi’s Don Carlos to Heggie’s Dead Man Walking and Adams’s Nixon in China. Contrasting with this hopeful tradition, Nussbaum considers one antagonist, Richard Wagner, who envisioned a closed and unaccepting society, fearful of strangers, and with eyes forever cast backwards. Ending with hope, Nussbaum examines Verdi’s Falstaff and its joyful and humorous depiction of human frailty. (shrink)

If we accept the 7th letter as authentic and reliable, a matter that we will not be addressing in this paper, the text that we have in front of us is “an extraordinary autobiographic document”, an autobiography where the “I” as a subject becomes “I” as an object, according to Brisson. The objective of the paper is to examine how we could approach and interpret the excerpt from Plato’s 7th letter regarding the Doric way of life (Δωριστὶ ζῆν). According to (...) Plato, the Sicilian life (Σικελικὸν βίον) that was allegedly a blissful life (βίος εὐδαίμων) would never allow anyone to become virtuous with all these excesses on behalf of the appetitive part of the soul (ἐπιθυμητικόν). In contrast to this specific type of life that is presented as prevalent in the 7th Letter, only Dion used to live virtuously above pleasure and luxury. The “therapy” for this φλεγμαίνουσαν πόλιν of Syracuse is the return to Δωριστὶ ζῆν κατὰ τὰ πάτρια, the return to the Doric way of the forefathers. The phrase Δωριστὶ ζῆν in its context in the 7th Letter is an important one, because it probably shows the significance of adopting the Doric way of life, in order to create the appropriate conditions for a political reform. Examining the guardians who are the ἄριστοι of the ideal city, a class that constitutes the platonic idea of aristocracy in the Republic, we can understand that they receive many important traits from the Doric ideal (especially the educational program). Combining the concept of Δωριστὶ ζῆν with the Doric ideal, we suggest that the Doric model is quite important for the Athenian philosopher functioning as the cornerstone of reform. (shrink)

(2008). The Medical Republic of Letters before the Thirty Years War. Intellectual History Review: Vol. 18, Humanism and Medicine in the Early Modern Era, pp. 15-30.

El materialismo salvaje desarrollado por Jacques Lezra no solo se opone a las cosmologías y ontologías modernas, articuladas en torno a un principio de organización de lo que hay, sino que también se expresa políticamente bajo la forma de un republicanismo salvaje que difiere no solo del republicanismo liberal sino también del llamado republicanismo normativo ilustrado. ¿De qué trata este republicanismo salvaje, abierto a la diferencia entre terror y terrorismo?, ¿qué consecuencias tiene su desmontaje de los presupuestos normativos y soberanos (...) del pensamiento onto-político occidental? Y, finalmente, ¿qué función/posición cumple/ocupa el poema, no solo el poema lucreciano, sino el poema en general (si hay tal cosa), para esta imaginación política aleatoria, defectiva y salvaje? Con estas preguntas procedemos a interrogar una de las múltiples aristas de un pensamiento concernido con la mundanidad del pensar, cuya relevancia parece ser evidente. Al final, incorporaremos algunas reflexiones sobre el poema de Néstor Perlongher, “Cadáveres” (1987), como caso de la proliferación lucreciana de lo que hay. (shrink)