Plato and Democracy Today PDF Download

Author: Keekok Lee
Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
ISBN: 1527523322
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 195

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Book Description
This book deploys an innovative narrative device to mount an exercise in (popular) political philosophy. It presents Plato as “the Reith Lecturer” bringing up to date his critique of democracy which he began more than two thousand years ago in The Republic. Three recent “unexpected” electoral outcomes (the Brexit Referendum in the UK, the Presidential Election in the USA in 2016, and the UK General Election in 2017) allow it to focus on populism and the role it plays in understanding the logic of democracy. The book relentlessly exposes its fundamental flaw as demagoguery, relying not on high abstract philosophical/political theorising but entirely on empirical data to back up his critique. Ironically, it shows that Orwell’s Newspeak is its tongue.

Author: Cinzia Arruzza
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0190678860
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 304

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Book Description
The problem of tyranny preoccupied Plato, and its discussion both begins and ends his famous Republic. Though philosophers have mined the Republic for millennia, Cinzia Arruzza is the first to devote a full book to the study of tyranny and of the tyrant's soul in Plato's Republic. In A Wolf in the City, Arruzza argues that Plato's critique of tyranny intervenes in an ancient debate concerning the sources of the crisis of Athenian democracy and the relation between political leaders and demos in the last decades of the fifth century BCE. Arruzza shows that Plato's critique of tyranny should not be taken as veiled criticism of the Syracusan tyrannical regime, but rather of Athenian democracy. In parsing Plato's discussion of the soul of the tyrant, Arruzza will also offer new and innovative insights into his moral psychology, addressing much-debated problems such as the nature of eros and of the spirited part of the soul, the unity or disunity of the soul, and the relation between the non-rational parts of the soul and reason.

Author: R. H. S. Crossman
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 0415624002
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 218

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Book Description
Annotation The problems facing Plato's world bear striking parallels to ours today, the author maintains, so who better to turn to than Plato, the most objective and most ruthless observer of the failures of Greek society. This text provides both an informed introduction to Greek ideas and an original and controversial view of Plato himself.

Author: Amos Ajo
Publisher: Independently Published
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Plato's theories and works have had a significant influence on American democracy, shaping discussions about the function of the state, what constitutes effective leadership, and how citizens should interact with the government. The principles and works of Plato still have a significant influence on American democracy today. There is no doubt that Plato's thoughts and works have had a significant influence on Western philosophy and American democracy, and they still affect intellectual and political discussions in the contemporary era. However, some have recently argued that American democracy cannot be taken for granted and that its viability is threatened by the country's present political polarization. Concerns stem from the division that is growing, the loss of democratic standards, the decline in confidence in government, and the possibility of outside intervention in the political process. These elements have contributed to an increase in unease and worry about the survival of American democracy. The increasing division of American politics is one of the main causes for worry. Republicans and Democrats' political differences have grown in recent years, which has caused a collapse in communication and collaboration between the two groups. This has made it challenging to approve significant legislation and increased Americans' anger and feeling of hopelessness. The erosion of public confidence in government is another issue. Only a tiny proportion of Americans say they trust the government to uphold moral principles, according to recent polls, which indicate that confidence in government is at record lows. This lack of confidence can make political organizations less legitimate and make it more challenging for leaders to run their governments successfully. Another issue is the deterioration of political standards. Democratic standards are the customs and unspoken laws that support American democracy, including adherence to the rule of law, press freedom, and the orderly transition of power. In recent years, these standards have come under attack, with some lawmakers and leaders publicly disobeying them. A collapse of political structures and procedures may result from this. The fear of foreign meddling in the political process is the last worry. There is proof that foreign governments and players have attempted to sway American elections and politics, which can jeopardize the democracy system's validity and diminish the public's faith in the executive branch. Some contend that in light of these worries, American democracy cannot be taken for granted and that fresh efforts are required to improve democratic structures and standards. This can include initiatives to encourage public activity and involvement, to support the media and civil society, and to encourage responsibility and openness in government. There is no question, a book like this on Plato's Republic and American Democracy is greatly needed at this time.

Author: Jason Brennan
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 1400888395
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 312

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Book Description
A bracingly provocative challenge to one of our most cherished ideas and institutions Most people believe democracy is a uniquely just form of government. They believe people have the right to an equal share of political power. And they believe that political participation is good for us—it empowers us, helps us get what we want, and tends to make us smarter, more virtuous, and more caring for one another. These are some of our most cherished ideas about democracy. But Jason Brennan says they are all wrong. In this trenchant book, Brennan argues that democracy should be judged by its results—and the results are not good enough. Just as defendants have a right to a fair trial, citizens have a right to competent government. But democracy is the rule of the ignorant and the irrational, and it all too often falls short. Furthermore, no one has a fundamental right to any share of political power, and exercising political power does most of us little good. On the contrary, a wide range of social science research shows that political participation and democratic deliberation actually tend to make people worse—more irrational, biased, and mean. Given this grim picture, Brennan argues that a new system of government—epistocracy, the rule of the knowledgeable—may be better than democracy, and that it's time to experiment and find out. A challenging critique of democracy and the first sustained defense of the rule of the knowledgeable, Against Democracy is essential reading for scholars and students of politics across the disciplines. Featuring a new preface that situates the book within the current political climate and discusses other alternatives beyond epistocracy, Against Democracy is a challenging critique of democracy and the first sustained defense of the rule of the knowledgeable.

Author: Naseer Ahmad Habibi
Publisher: GRIN Verlag
ISBN: 3656188181
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 9

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Book Description
Scientific Essay from the year 2011 in the subject Philosophy - Philosophy of the Ancient World, grade: A, American University of Central Asia, course: FYS, language: English, abstract: This essay seeks to address the above questions. First it explains Plato’s concept of democracy, which shapes his attitude towards this form of government. Then it discusses my position towards Plato’s criticism of democracy, provides a definition of contemporary democracy, and finally shows how Plato’s argumentation can be applied to present day democracies.

Author: John R. Wallach
Publisher: Penn State Press
ISBN: 0271076798
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 421

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Book Description
In this first comprehensive treatment of Plato’s political thought in a long time, John Wallach offers a "critical historicist" interpretation of Plato. Wallach shows how Plato’s theory, while a radical critique of the conventional ethical and political practice of his own era, can be seen as having the potential for contributing to democratic discourse about ethics and politics today. The author argues that Plato articulates and "solves" his Socratic Problem in his various dialogues in different but potentially complementary ways. The book effectively extracts Plato from the straightjacket of Platonism and from the interpretive perspectives of the past fifty years—principally those of Karl Popper, Leo Strauss, Hannah Arendt, M. I. Finley, Jacques Derrida, and Gregory Vlastos. The author’s distinctive approach for understanding Plato—and, he argues, for the history of political theory in general—can inform contemporary theorizing about democracy, opening pathways for criticizing democracy on behalf of virtue, justice, and democracy itself.

Author: Linda Vuskane
Publisher: GRIN Verlag
ISBN: 3640762037
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 7

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Book Description
Essay from the year 2009 in the subject Politics - Political Theory and the History of Ideas Journal, grade: 72%, Liverpool John Moores University, language: English, abstract: Following a short overview of Plato’s life and the political situation of his time, this paper describes and analyses Plato’s ideas regarding political organisation, including aristocracy, timocracy, oligarchy, democracy and tyranny and further examines whether these ideas have any relevance nowadays. In addition, the paper touches on Plato’s ideas about the ideal state and his famous allegory of the cave. The paper concludes that, even if many Plato’s ideas seem very alien to us, some ideas, particularly the moral and spiritual dimension of political life, are still very relevant today.

Author: Richard Howard Stafford Crossman
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Democracy
Languages : en
Pages : 214

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Author: Greg Recco
Publisher: Lexington Books
ISBN: 0739123270
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 263

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Book Description
Plato's Republic is typically thought to recommend a form of government that, from our current perspective, seems perniciously totalitarian. Athens Victorious demonstrates that Plato intended quite the opposite: to demonstrate the superiorityof a democratic constitution. Greg Recco provides a brilliant rereading of Book Eight. Often considered an anticlimax, Book Eight seems to be a mere catalogue of mistakes but is in fact one of Plato's most neglected literary creations: a mythic or epic restaging of the Peloponnesian War that pitted Sparta's militaristic oligarchy against Athens' democracy. In Plato's reenactment, Athens wins. Recco argues that the values identified in Book Eight as distinctively democratic were the very ones that served as the unannounced touchstones of moral and political judgment throughout the dialogue.Athens Victorious is an important reinterpretation ofThe Republic. It is an excellent resource for students and scholars of Classical Studies, Philosophy, and Political Theory.