What Do We Learn about Philosophers and Philosophy in RepublicÂ V?

Alexander Nehamas

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ChapterÂ 3 What Do We Learn about Philosophers and Philosophy in RepublicÂ V?

in New Essays on the Platonic Tradition

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Alexander Nehamas

Alexander Nehamas
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Art:: Kapitel

Seiten:: 46â79

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004751149_004

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Abstract

The final pages of BookÂ V of the Republic include Platoâs proposal that philosophers rule his ideal city. They are generally taken to give a full account of the nature of philosophy and its practitioners. I argue, instead, that the passage is only the very first step in a long argument that extends to the end of BookÂ VII, when (and only when) we find out that Platoâs conception of philosophy is a much more complex and forbidding practice than BookÂ V can possibly suggest. Apart from the explicit distinction between âknowledgeâ (epistÄmÄ), âopinionâ (doxa), and âignoranceâ (agnoia), the passage, which contains several unnoticed comic elements, recapitulates ideas already established in Platoâs Socratic dialogues, particularly the distinction between âoneâ and âmanyââin fact, only a small part of what being a philosopher demands. Philosophers must also have the right sort of character, which is moulded through the âhigherâ educational system of BooksÂ VI and VII and requires their understanding of the intelligible Forms, which are not introduced in BookÂ V but only considerably later. In short, BookÂ V does not present a full account of philosophy; it does not introduce the theory of Forms; it does not explain why philosophers should rule or what enables them to do so; and the distinction between epistÄmÄ and doxa has nothing to do with the contemporary understanding of knowledge and belief. Exclusive attention to the minimal constraints of BookÂ V makes it easy to believe that one can be on Platoâs side. But philosophers, according to Plato, must possess rare psychological and ethical features that are difficult to acquire and must espouse controversial epistemic and metaphysical views. Being âon Platoâs sideâ, that is, being a philosopher, is far more complex and demanding of those who aspire to it than BookÂ V could possibly suggest. The question then is not whether philosophers have a claim to govern the city but, rather, whether Platoâs readers have a claim to think of themselves as philosophers.

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New Essays on the Platonic Tradition

In Honour of Paul Kalligas

Reihe:Â Studies in Platonism, Neoplatonism, and the Platonic Tradition, Band: 35

Cover New Essays on the Platonic Tradition

ISBN:: 9789004751149

Verleger:: Brill

Print-Publikationsdatum:: 26 Feb 2026

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- Philosophie

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ChapterÂ 3 What Do We Learn about Philosophers and Philosophy in RepublicÂ V?

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New Essays on the Platonic Tradition

In Honour of Paul Kalligas

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