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The Origins of Plato's Philosopher Statesman

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 February 2009

J. S. Morrison
J. S. Morrison
Affiliation:
Trinity College, Cambridge
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Extract

The idea of the philosopher-statesman finds its first literary expression in Plato's Republic, where Socrates, facing the ‘third wave’ of criticism of his ideal State, how it can be realized in practice, declares2 that it will be sufficient ‘to indicate the least change that would affect a transformation into this type of government. There is one change’, he claims, ‘not a small change certainly, nor an easy one, but possible.’ ‘Unless either philosophers become kings in their countries, or those who are now called kings and rulers come to be sufficiendy inspired with a genuine desire for wisdom; unless, that is to say, political power and philosophy meet together, … there can be no rest from troubles for states.’

Type
Research Article
Information
The Classical Quarterly , Volume 8 , Issue 3-4 , November 1958 , pp. 198 - 218
Copyright
Copyright © The Classical Association 1958

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References

1 The substance of this article was delivered in the form of a paper at a meeting of the Classical Association in Durham in April 1957.

2 473 bff.

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1 There is no confirmatory evidence that Plato met Archytas on his first visit, but we only know that he visited Syracuse (Ep. 7. 326 d), and that by chance. Some primary destination must be supposed, and there is none more likely than Tarentum. For Archytas see Diels-Kranz, i, pp. 421 ff.

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