The Dark Side of Plato’s Beautiful City

• Authors: Zygmuntowicz Dorota
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

Why was the legislature of the Beautiful City (Kallipolis) in Plato’s Republic created by Socrates and Plato’s two brothers before Socrates had introduced the subject of the Form of the Good, and, thus, without grasping the nature of the Good? This paper suggests that this is because the necessity of the Good becomes apparent only after the founding of Kallipolis. As such, Kallipolis is not the peak of Plato’s political visions, but rather presents a challenge for the philosopher, who must understand this dark political structure. Without knowledge of the Good, every Kallipolis becomes a dark cave inhabited by prisoners of orthodoxy.

Keywords

EN

Ancient Political Philosophy; Plato; Political Rule; the “Cave Metaphor”

Discipline

• PHILOLOGY_&_LINGUISTICS: PHILOLOGY & LINGUISTICS
• PHILOSOPHY: PHILOSOPHY

• Publisher: Institute of Philosophy, Czech Academy of Sciences
• Journal: Eirene. Studia Graeca et Latina
• Year: 2015
• Volume: 51
• Issue: 1-2
• Pages: 99-126

Contributors

author

Zygmuntowicz Dorota