Samaras, Athanasios (1995) Virtue and democracy in Plato's late dialogues. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.

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Abstract

Both Plato's theory of virtue and his attitude towards
democracy -the two being correspondent- change significantly as we
move from the middle to the late dialogues. The Republic is a
substantially authoritarian work which expresses an unmitigated
rejection of democracy. Its authoritarianism is deeply rooted in
the fact that its ethical and political assertions are justified
on a metaphysical basis. Plato suggests that virtue and
metaphysical knowledge legitimize political power, but both virtue
and knowledge are so defined as to be attainable only by a tiny
minority. In the Politicus Plato reasserts the superiority of a
complete virtue grounded on philosophical knowledge, but seriously
questions the attainability of this ideal. In the closing part of
this dialogue Plato demonstrates an interest in history and in
this respect the Politicus anticipates the Laws, where political
theory is not justified by metaphysics, but is informed by
historical experience. More specifically, Plato attempts to
reproduce on a theoretical level a legislation similar to the
actual historical legislation of Solon and he underlines the need
for a moderate state involving elements from different
constitutions. Because Plato adopts a historical perspective in
the Laws, his earlier authoritarianism is severely curtailed
(though not completely abandoned). So, despite still holding a low
opinion of democracy, Plato does use some democratic elements in
his Magnesian constitution and the predominant conception of moral
virtue put forward in the Laws is not the highly exclusive virtue
of the Republict but a virtue falling within the capacities of the
ordinary citizen. In comparison to the state of the Republic the
city of the Laws is for Plato only a "second best". Even so,
however, the latter dialogue with its moderation, its rejection of
absolutism and its surprisingly modern emphasis on the
accountability of all officials constitutes a contribution of
lasting interest to Western political thinking.

Item Type:	Thesis or Dissertation (PhD)
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > B Philosophy (General)
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Plato -- Criticism and interpretation, Virtue, Democracy -- Philosophy
Official Date:	September 1995
Dates:	Date Event September 1995 Submitted
Institution:	University of Warwick
Theses Department:	Department of Philosophy
Thesis Type:	PhD
Publication Status:	Unpublished
Supervisor(s)/Advisor:	Hobbes, Angela ; Benjamin, Andrew E.
Sponsors:	Greek State Scholarship Foundation (IKY)
Extent:	v, 401 p.
Language:	eng

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