Conclusion: Modern Philosopher Kings

Summary

In this book we have explored the manifold, distinct and complex expressions of the seemingly indomitable impulse and spirit to resolve the paradox of the philosopher king to secure its promise of justice. What each account has revealed is that rushing through diverse channels and carving new courses, the powerful ambition to unite wisdom and power to fulfil the promise of progress and perfectibility has nevertheless met with limited or elusive success. The hope and promise of the pious king has in practice meant the prophet was soon displaced by the pope and pious prince, both exercising contending and questionable authority. The public intellectual was revealed as a tragic figure whose authority would dissolve with success or whose voice was increasingly drowned in the cacophony of views and opinions amplified by advances in modern information and communication technologies. Artists as creative philosopher kings were revealed to be either enter-tainers or minions of the powerful, with the few wise limited in their reach and influence. The combination of wise counsellor and powerful ruler seemed to be the conclusive resolution of the paradox of the philosopher king, though in fact it has meant an unstable relationship where the wise are at the mercy of wary and proud rulers or alternatively threaten to become hidden leaders. Modern scientists as the new philosopher kings increasingly confronted challenges to their legitimacy by a public now wary and watchful of their technocratic ambitions, even as their innova-tions were eagerly sought and acclaimed as benefactions. Finally, attempts to secure wisdom in democracy through institutions or, more ambitiously, the temptation to see the people as the wise sovereign had to be tempered by the limits to public deliberation and judgement.

The reasons for the frustrated ambitions and faltering hopes of these various expressions of the modern philosopher king are necessarily and inevitably complex and diverse. From a synoptic perspective, however, three persistent aspects reveal themselves as major obstacles to the promise of the modern philosopher king. Few would deny the goodness of wisdom and, equally, most concede that the coincidence of celerity of thought, facility with memory and above all the need to have measured temperament and disposition to attain wisdom means there are formidable obstacles to our possession of this virtue.