Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: For Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, Plato's Republic offered a partial model for the reform of Iranian politics. Here we argue that the criticism directed at much of Iran's theocratic state derives from the problems inherent in the Republic.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: This paper argues that "Beyond Good and Evil" is a part by part reply to Plato's "Republic." What Plato does with eros in the "Republic," Nietzsche does with will to power in "Beyond Good and Evil." Awareness of this relation between the two texts provides clearer access to the meaning and significance of will to power.

Publication Type: Proceeding

Publication Type: Proceeding
Abstract: My paper argues that the downward “slope”(568c) of the four bad regimes presented by Plato in book VIII of the Republic shows us that the core political principles, and thus the real foundations of power, are conceptions of the good. The slope is a seriously-offered regime theory focused upon the dominant conception of the good for each regime. It is excellence in pursuing this good which determines who makes up the ruling class for each, which is why I refer to it as the ruling political good. Justice, victory, wealth, freedom, and indiscriminate satisfaction of all desires are the respective ruling political goods of the “best regime,” timarchy, oligarchy, democracy, and tyranny. Each of the possible regimes neglects the other goods and unleashes self-destructive dynamics through its devotion to one good alone.(562b)
By contrast, Thrasymachus, in accord with many contemporary political scientists, assumes that every ruling class rules for the sake of its advantage, that is, its advantage understood tyrannically. He assumes any promotion of a ruling political good will turn out to be a cover for the real goal. The slope, however, never suggests that a ruling class is held together by any class interest or loyalty besides its ruling good. For Plato, neither economic interest nor military power can be the political principle which governs all regimes.
Most previous commentary on the slope has either exclusively focused upon its parallel regime/soul structure, or has been timid about exploring its political applicability given the Republic’s obvious employment of the slope to develop larger themes, and given the way the order of regime decline often contradicts the historical record. I hold, however, that Plato is capable of utilizing a part of his dialogue for more than one purpose, and I show that the historically problematic order makes sense once one understands that Plato means to focus solely upon the politeia, which causes him to abstract out all factors external to a polis that condition its development. I present is method as "abstraction for the sake of foundational realism."
Overall, the paper provides a new interpretative approach to book VIII. Its findings invite comparison with and reconsideration of the different regime theories offered in the Statesman and the Laws, and force us to regard Plato not simply as a political philosopher, but also as a political scientist.