Plato and democracy’s ambiguous beauty (ii)

philosophy and power

Authors

  • Alexandre Franco de Sá PUCPR / Universidade de Coimbra

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.14195/1984-249X_20_1

Keywords:

Democracy, Multitude, Philodoxy, Tyranny, Power

Abstract

The opposition between philosophy and philodoxy in Plato’s thought seems to suggest that philosophy could be taken, at first sight, as the sketch of an alternative political project to democracy. If democracy lies on the crowd’s power, and the opinions (doxai) current among it, philosophy would rest on philosopher’s power, i.e. on the power of those who possess the “art of ruling”. The present paper focuses on the insufficiency of this first approach and questions the relationship between philosophy and power. We will argue that Plato places this relationship on a twofold notion. On the one hand, the notion that if philosophy would have enough power to oppose the democratic city, this power, consisting in absolute tyranny, would mean the corruption of philosophy as such. On the other hand, the notion that if philosophy rest exclusively on its arguments with no relationship with power whatsoever, it would be simply powerless and have no place within the polis.

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Author Biography

Alexandre Franco de Sá, PUCPR / Universidade de Coimbra

Possui graduação em Filosofia pela Universidade Católica Portuguesa (1994), mestrado em Filosofia pela Universidade de Lisboa (1998, orientado por Manuel José do Carmo Ferreira) e doutorado pela Universidade de Coimbra (2007, orientado por orientado por Manuel José do Carmo Ferreira e António Manuel Martins). Pesquisou na Alemanha, em Freiburg im Breisgau, sob a orientação de Friedrich-Wilhelm von Herrmann. Foi Presidente da Associação de Professores de Filosofia e Vice-Presidente da Associação Portuguesa de Filosofia Fenomenológica. É membro da Martin-Heidegger Gesellschaft e da Carl Schmitt-Gesellschaft. Atualmente é professor auxiliar da Universidade de Coimbra e professor da Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Paraná. Tem experiência na área de Filosofia, com ênfase numa perspectiva fenomenológica, dedicando-se essencialmente aos temas da Filosofia Política, Ética, história dos conceitos e teologia política.

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Published

2017-05-02

How to Cite

Sá, A. F. de. (2017). Plato and democracy’s ambiguous beauty (ii): philosophy and power. Revista Archai, (20), 15. https://doi.org/10.14195/1984-249X_20_1

Issue

No. 20 (2017): Revista Archai nº20 (Maio, 2017)

Section

Articles

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