The Greatest of All Plagues
A history of wealth inequality in the political philosophical tradition
Book •
David Lay Williams's 'The Greatest of All Plagues' traces concerns about extreme wealth and inequality through the Western political-philosophical tradition, from ancient Greece to contemporary debates.
The book examines how thinkers like Plato, Hobbes, Mill, Rousseau, and Marx diagnosed excessive accumulation as a moral and political problem.
Williams argues that extreme wealth warps character—what classical authors called pleonexia—and threatens republican institutions through oligarchy and domination.
He situates modern phenomena, including figures like contemporary billionaires, within this longue durée conversation to show recurring worries about power and empathy.
The book aims to provoke renewed debate about inequality's effects on social character and democratic stability.
The book examines how thinkers like Plato, Hobbes, Mill, Rousseau, and Marx diagnosed excessive accumulation as a moral and political problem.
Williams argues that extreme wealth warps character—what classical authors called pleonexia—and threatens republican institutions through oligarchy and domination.
He situates modern phenomena, including figures like contemporary billionaires, within this longue durée conversation to show recurring worries about power and empathy.
The book aims to provoke renewed debate about inequality's effects on social character and democratic stability.
Mentioned by
Mentioned in 0 episodes
Mentioned by ![undefined]()
David Lay Williams
Envy, Greed, and Billionaires (with David Lay Williams)
