WAITING FOR GRACE: PHILOSOPHY AND POLITICS IN PLATO'S REPUBLIC

In: Canadian journal of political science: CJPS = Revue canadienne de science politique : RCSP, Band 21, Heft 1, S. 57-82

Abstract

THE TRADITIONAL INTERPRETATION OF PLATO'S REPUBLIC IN THE ENGLISH-SPEAKING WORLD, EXPRESSED MOST SHARPLY BY SIR KARL POPPER, WAS THAT IT REPRESENTED A SERIOUS PROPOSAL FOR POLITICAL RULE. HOWEVER, LEO STRAUSS AND ALLAN BLOOM HAVE ARGUED THAT PLATO'S REAL CONCERN WAS TO PROTECT THE POSITION OF PHILOSOPHY WITHIN THE CITY. INFLUENCED BY SIMONE WEIL, THIS ARTICLE ARGUES THAT EVEN STRAUSS AND BLOOM DO NOT EXPRESS THE EXTENT OF PLATO'S REJECTION OF THE POLITICAL LIFE. BY EXAMINING PLATO'S HANDLING OF SUCH THEMES AS GOLD AND NAKEDNESS, THE ARTICLE CONCLUDES THAT PLATO'S CENTRAL CONCERN IN THE REPUBLIC WAS TO EXPLORE HOW A SOUL COULD STRIVE FOR THE GOOD, GIVEN THAT THE HUMAN CONDITION INESCAPABLY REQUIRED SOCIAL LIFE.