In Plato's Republic, Socrates contends that philosophers make the best rulers because only they behold with their mind's eye the eternal and purely intelligible Forms of the Just, the Noble, and the Good. When they are endowed with an array of moral, intellectual, and personal virtues and appropriately educated, surely no one could doubt the wisdom of entrusting to them the governance of cities? Although it is widely assumed that all the Republic's philosophers are the same, the Republic actually contains two distinct portrayals of the philosopher. According to the book, Plato's two paradigms ... More

In Plato's Republic, Socrates contends that philosophers make the best rulers because only they behold with their mind's eye the eternal and purely intelligible Forms of the Just, the Noble, and the Good. When they are endowed with an array of moral, intellectual, and personal virtues and appropriately educated, surely no one could doubt the wisdom of entrusting to them the governance of cities? Although it is widely assumed that all the Republic's philosophers are the same, the Republic actually contains two distinct portrayals of the philosopher. According to the book, Plato's two paradigms of the philosopher are the “philosopher by nature” and the “philosopher by design.” Philosophers by design, as the allegory of the Cave vividly shows, must be forcibly dragged from the material world of pleasure to the sublime realm of the intellect, and from there back down again to the “Cave” to rule the beautiful city envisioned by Socrates and his interlocutors. Yet philosophers by nature, are distinguished by their natural yearning to encounter the transcendent realm of pure Forms, as well as by a willingness to serve others—at least under appropriate circumstances. In contrast to both sets of philosophers stands Socrates, who represents a third paradigm, one that is only hinted at in the Republic. As a man who not only loves “what is” but is also utterly devoted to the justice of others, Socrates surpasses both the philosophers by design and the philosophers by nature. This book aims to challenge Plato scholars to revisit their assumptions about Plato's moral and political philosophy.