Four Paradigms of Philosophical Politics

Abstract

Part of a special issue on philosophy as a way of life. The writer argues that there were at least four distinct conceptions of the philosopher's public role in the ancient Greco-Roman world: the elenctic activity of the historical Socrates; the philosopher-rulers described in Plato's Republic; the philosopher's role as teacher of politicians described by Aristotle; and the philosophical art of self-reformation that, according to some Stoic philosophers, has important political consequences. She contends that Aristotle's answers to questions regarding the philosopher's public role are, in their basic outlines, the most promising ones for modern philosophers to adopt. She demonstrates, however, that Aristotle's answers must be combined with Platonic and Stoic insights into the deformation of desire and passion if philosophy is to deliver its public benefits in the most productive way.