Philosophy and Politics

Description

1) What do you make of Socrates’ claim that philosophy and politics should be made to coincide, so that philosophers will be entrusted with absolute political power? Consider Socrates’ definition of true philosophers and his arguments for the philosophers’ possession of the two most important criteria for ruling: knowledge and virtue. You might also wish to consider the current state of our politics and the extent to which the spirit of philosophy might or might not improve our politicians and political situation. 2) Consider Socrates’ arguments for the supreme importance of “the idea of the good” and the series of images (the sun, the line, and the cave) that he goes on to develop to depict the nature of goodness and our relation to it. What do you take away from these arguments and images about the nature and value of goodness, reality, philosophy, knowledge, education, and/or politics (among other possible applications)?  This is from The Republic of Plato books 5-7