Overview

In Plato on Democracy and Political techne Sorensen 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.

Full Product Details

Author:   Anders Sorensen
Publisher:   Brill
Imprint:   Brill
Volume:   143
Dimensions:   Width: 15.50cm , Height: 1.80cm , Length: 23.50cm
Weight:   0.453kg
ISBN:  

9789004312005

ISBN 10:   9004312005
Pages:   198
Publication Date:   23 September 2016
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In stock  
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Table of Contents

Contents Acknowledgements Note on Editions, Translations and Abbreviations Introduction 1 Thrasymachus' Challenge: Political Sociology and Expert Rule in Republic 1 Thrasymachus' Political Account of Justice Rulers in the Strict Sense Real Existing Expert Rulers Democratic Expert Rule? 8 Towards an Epistemic Analysis of Democracy 2 Scientific Politics and the Power of the People: Rhetoric and techne in the Gorgias Why is Rhetoric not Scientific? Who Rules Who? Rhetoric as kolakeia Democracy and techne Scientific Politics and the Power of the People 3 Democracy as Imitator: Expertise and Democratic Conservatism in the Statesman Lawfulness and Imitation Expertise and Its Discontents Democratic Expertise The Laws and Democratic Ideology Statesmanship and the Ancestral Laws 4 Athenian Measurement: Democracy and Expert Authority in the Protagoras The Athenian Premise Protagoras' `Great Speech' Protagoras' Social Pragmatism Problems with Appearance Towards the Theaetetus 5 Self-Refuting Wisdom: Turning the Tables on Protagoras in the Theaetetus Minding the Gap Prelude to the Self-Refutation Argument (169d3-170a5) Protagoras' Defense (166c9-167d5) Who is the Measure? The Self-Refutation Argument (170a3-171c7) Epilogue Bibliography Index Locorum General Index

Reviews

This book represents an important contribution to the study of Plato's political thought and its relationship to its Athenian context, and its careful readings of both Plato's dialogues and previous scholarship provide helpful additions to current debates. -Carol Atack, University of Oxford, Bryn Mawr Classical Review 2017.05.25

Author Information

Anders Dahl Sorensen, Ph.D. (2014), Humboldt-Universitat zu Berlin, currently holds a Post-doctoral position at the SAXO-institute, University of Copenhagen. He works on ancient Greek political and legal thought.

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