Who will rule the rulers? Who will chaperone the chaperones? Who will guard the guardians? These questions are rarely associated with Plato. Usually seen as the arch-defender of the rule of the enlightened few over the ignorant many, he has not been perceived as a friend of accountable government. But is this traditional picture of Plato true?
Melissa Lane, the world’s foremost interpreter of Plato’s political thought, thinks not. Far from being blind to the need to hold political leaders to account, Plato was in fact deeply invested in developing a system of limited rule in which the order of offices would be directed to the good of the ruled.
Hosted by Sam Tchorek-Bentall
Produced by Joshua Shortman
Interventions | The Intellectual History Podcast