Arts and Humanities Commons^™

The Republic’S Reluctant Rulers, Christopher Buckels

The Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy Newsletter

I attempt to resolve three closely related problems concerning philosophers’ rule over Kallipolis in Plato's Republic. First and foremost, it seems that the rulers should willingly take up ruling, since it is just to rule and the rulers are just people. So why does Plato emphasize that they must be compelled to rule? Second, since just acts are beneficial, how does ruling, qua just act, benefit philosophers? Third, since Plato has been accused of jumping unfairly between just actions and just souls, what exactly is the connection between the two? I submit that these questions are intricately related, so that …

Aristotle On Property Rights, Fred D. Miller Jr.

The Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy Newsletter

The thesis is that a theory of private property rights can be reconstructed from the remarks about property scattered throughout Aristotle’s writings. His working concept is as follows: X has a property right in P if, and only if, X possesses P in such a way that the use of P is up to X and the alienation of P (giving P away or selling P) is up to X. It is argued that Aristotle provides clear answers to the important questions which should be answered by a theory of property rights: (1) What individuals can properly hold rights to …

Plato On The Complexity Of The Psyche, John Moline

The Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy Newsletter

What were the parts of the psyche posited by Plato in the Republic? The question calls not for a list but for an account of the grounds on which Plato posited and distinguished such parts. It calls for an account of their nature and role in his system.

We are not lacking in attempts at such an account. These parts have been termed "faculties", "principles", "activities", "aspects", "instances", and "levels" of the psyche. Their nature and role have been characterized in ways influenced as much perhaps by the connotations of these terms as by the details of Plato's text. …

Socrates And Protagoras, Michael I. Stokes

The Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy Newsletter

Stokes provides a close reading of the arguments in Plato's Protagoras, focusing especially on Socrates' questions after Protagoras' "Great Speech."

Socrates And Thrasymachus, Francis Sparshott

The Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy Newsletter

What is striking in the Republic is less the doctrines that Plato propounds than the relationship that he develops between ideas. We show that a surprising number of these relationships are already set forth, or alluded to, in the encounter between Socrates and Thrasymachus.