Plato and democracy’s ambiguous beauty (i): the tension between philosophy and democracy

Authors

  • Alexandre Franco de Sá PUCPR, Paraná (Brasil); Universidade de Coimbra (Portugal)

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.14195/1984-249X_19_1

Keywords:

democracy, crowd, philodoxy, tyranny, power

Abstract

Inasmuch as it has in its core the power of the “crowd”, democracy rests on a concept which is directly and explicitly opposed to philosophy: philodoxy. While a well-ordered polis lies, according to Plato, in the power of those who have “the art of ruling”, and philosophy leads to the acquisition of this art, democracy is based on the power of those who are not qualified to rule, i.e. on the power of those who are able to manipulate their opinion (doxa). Starting from the opposition between philosophy and philodoxy, between the “love of knowledge” and the “love of opinion”, the present paper approaches the conception of philosophy as an alternative political project to democracy.

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References

BRUNSCHVICG, L. (1897) (ed.). Pascal. Pensées. Paris, Hachette.

FERRARI, F. (2013). Platone. Contro la democrazia. Milão, BUR (ed. Digital).

GÜNTHER, H. (1928). Platon als Hüter des Lebens. Munique, J. F. Lehmann.

POPPER, K. (1947). The Open Society and its En-emies. Vol. 1: The Spell of Plato. Londres, Routledge.

RANCIÈRE, J. (2006). O ódio à democracia (trad. Fernando Marques). Lisboa, Mareantes.

STRAUSS, L. (1987). Plato. In: STRAUSS, L.; CROP-SEY, J. (eds.). History of Political Philosophy. Chicago, The University of Chicago Press.

VEGETTI, M. (2009). “Un paragima in cielo”. Platone politico da Aristotele al Novecento. Roma, Carocci.

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Published

2025-11-15

How to Cite

Franco de Sá, A. (2025). Plato and democracy’s ambiguous beauty (i): the tension between philosophy and democracy . Revista Archai, (19), 15. https://doi.org/10.14195/1984-249X_19_1

Issue

No. 19 (2017): No. 19 (2017): Revista Archai nº19 (january, 2017)

Section

Articles

License

Copyright (c) 2025 Alexandre Franco de Sá

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