Plato and democracy’s ambiguous beauty (i)

the tension between philosophy and democracy

Authors

  • Alexandre Franco de Sá PUCPR / Universidade de Coimbra

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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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

2016-12-29

How to Cite

Sá, A. F. de. (2016). 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): Revista Archai nº19 (Janeiro, 2017)

Section

Articles

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