Plato, Politikos [The Statesman]

Kelsey Wood (University of Arkansas at Little Rock)

Ed. by Gerhard P. Knapp, University of Utah
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.1.1: Greek Writing and Culture: Archaic, Classical, Hellenistic and Imperial, -800--100.
Vol. editors: Jonathan Burgess (University of Toronto), Anca Dan (École Practique de Hautes Études PSL), Martine Diepenbroek (University of Johannesburg), Giacomo Fedeli (University of Exeter), Victoria Fendel (University of Oxford), Emily Kneebone (University of Nottingham), Vaios Liapis (Open University of Cyprus), Elodie Paillard (University of Sydney), Mali Skotheim (Ashoka University), Laura Swift (The Open University), Guendalina Daniela Maria Taietti (University of Liverpool)

Domains

Political Philosophy

Dates

First circulation or publication c. -350

Places

Ancient Greece (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Non-Fiction
- Commentary / Criticism (literary)

Resources

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To what extent may human interrelations be governed by art or skill? What is the nature of the expertise required in politics? Does political philosophy ever achieve the status of

knowledge

? Plato’s

Politikos

[

Statesman

], one of the most intriguing texts in the history of philosophy, develops the question of the possibility of scientific statesmanship by indicating the inherent limits of any rational account (

logos

The Eleatic dialogues Theaetetus, Sophist, and Statesman belong together, and the three conversations depicted in this trilogy are supposed to have taken place shortly before the trial of Socrates. The Eleatic dialogue Parmenides complements the trilogy with a dramatic representation of Socrates’ initiation as a young man into philosophy. The fact that Plato gives the

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2329 words

Citation: Wood, Kelsey. "Politikos". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 15 April 2005 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=13440, accessed 21 November 2024.]