Introduction to Studies on Plato’s Statesman
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.14195/1984-249X_34_S0Keywords:
Plato, Statesman, StudiesAbstract
Plato’s Statesman is an enigmatic dialogue. Any reader of this conversation between the Eleatic Stranger and Young Socrates must immediately confront a staggering array of interpretive puzzles. What is, for instance, the precise nature of the political expertise held up as the essential element of ideal political rule? Should the political expert be thought of as ruling solely by particularist decrees, or as also making use of general laws? Next, why does Plato rank imperfect constitutions as he does? And are these imperfect constitutions really constitutions in the first place? Furthermore, how does Plato’s method of division work in the dialogue, and how should we connect this method’s employment in the Statesman to its other instances in the rest of the Platonic corpus? How should we understand the Eleatic Stranger’s puzzling myth, and what role does it (and the other paradigms of political rule in the dialogue) play in the larger philosophical investigation? What ties together the Statesman as a single, unified dialogue in the first place, given the remarkable range of subjects Plato discusses?
Downloads
References
BEN-ASHER, S. (2024). Herds of Featherless Bipeds: Division and Privation in Plato’s Statesman In: PIERING, J.; RUDEBUSCH, G.; SLABON, T. (eds.). Studies on Plato’s Statesman, special issue of Archai, 34, suppl. 1.
MCKEEN, C. (2024). Law and Political Expertise in Plato’s Statesman In: PIERING, J.; RUDEBUSCH, G.; SLABON, T. (eds.). Studies on Plato’s Statesman, special issue ofArchai , 34, suppl. 1.
MÖBUS, F.; VLASITS, J. (2024). Division and Animal Sacrifice in Plato’s Statesman In: PIERING, J.; RUDEBUSCH, G.; SLABON, T. (eds.). Studies on Plato’s Statesman, special issue ofArchai , 34, suppl. 1.
REID, J. (2024). The Analysis of Constitutions in Plato’s Statesman In: PIERING, J.; RUDEBUSCH, G.; SLABON, T. (eds.). Studies on Plato’s Statesman, special issue ofArchai , 34, suppl. 1.
ROWE, C. (2024). Contemporary Politikoi [Statesmen] and Other Sophists in Plato’s Political Dialogues. In: PIERING, J.; RUDEBUSCH, G.; SLABON, T. (eds.). Studies on Plato’s Statesman, special issue ofArchai, 34, suppl. 1.
SPELIOTIS, E. (2024). Paradigm and Method in Plato’s Statesman In: PIERING, J.; RUDEBUSCH, G.; SLABON, T. (eds.). Studies on Plato’s Statesman, special issue ofArchai , 34, suppl. 1.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Thomas Slabon
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Given the public access policy of the journal, the use of the published texts is free, with the obligation of recognizing the original authorship and the first publication in this journal. The authors of the published contributions are entirely and exclusively responsible for their contents.
1. The authors authorize the publication of the article in this journal.
2. The authors guarantee that the contribution is original, and take full responsibility for its content in case of impugnation by third parties.
3. The authors guarantee that the contribution is not under evaluation in another journal.
4. The authors keep the copyright and convey to the journal the right of first publication, the work being licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License-BY.
5. The authors are allowed and stimulated to publicize and distribute their work on-line after the publication in the journal.
6. The authors of the approved works authorize the journal to distribute their content, after publication, for reproduction in content indexes, virtual libraries and similars.
7. The editors reserve the right to make adjustments to the text and to adequate the article to the editorial rules of the journal.
