BEGIN:VCALENDAR
PRODID:-//Grails iCalendar plugin//NONSGML Grails iCalendar plugin//EN
VERSION:2.0
CALSCALE:GREGORIAN
METHOD:PUBLISH
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTAMP:20260605T123739Z
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20210519T163000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20210519T180000
SUMMARY:"Authoritarian Rule in Plato's Statesman."
UID:20260608T104006Z-iCalPlugin-Grails@philevents-web-bd7db559-gt5qm
TZID:America/New_York
LOCATION:Amherst Center\, United States
DESCRIPTION:<p>The next meeting of&nbsp\;<em>The New England Symposium on Ancient Philosophy </em>will occur on Wednesday\, May 19 at 4:30 EDT.&nbsp\; We will discuss Catherine McKeen's&nbsp\;"Authoritarian Rule in Plato's&nbsp\;<em>Statesman</em>." &nbsp\; Here is Catherine's description of her paper: &nbsp\;</p>\n<ul>\n<li>Readers will be forgiven if they struggle to discern any political philosophy or political theory in Plato&rsquo\;s&nbsp\;<em>Statesman</em>. The&nbsp\;<em>Statesman</em>&nbsp\;sets out to develop a satisfactory definitional account of the genuine political expert\, the&nbsp\;<em>politicos</em>&nbsp\;of the dialogue&rsquo\;s title. But the dialogue does not explicitly elucidate the nature of justice\, carefully construct a model political community\, detail a system of laws\, or offer concrete advice about how to improve real-world political communities. In these respects\, the&nbsp\;<em>Statesman</em>&nbsp\;is markedly different from other Platonic works focused on political philosophy\, such as the&nbsp\;<em>Republic</em>&nbsp\;and&nbsp\;<em>Laws</em>. There is a temptation\, then\, to read the&nbsp\;<em>Statesman</em>&nbsp\;as having little to do with politics. Some readers have understood the&nbsp\;<em>Statesman</em>&nbsp\;as a piece of abstract theorizing divorced from political application. Others have read the dialogue as a set piece to demonstrate the method of collection and division.</li>\n</ul>\n<ul>\n<li>This paper argues\, however\, that politics is never far from the surface of the&nbsp\;<em>Statesman</em>. On my reading\, the&nbsp\;<em>Statesman</em>&nbsp\;defends a certain view about political power. This view of political power is authoritarian in three key ways: First\, the expert statesman is invested with total control over all aspects of life\, work\, and procreation in the model political community. Second\, the statesman is justified in using a variety of harsh methods to enforce political control. Third\, the statesman is unaccountable to the rule of law. Furthermore\, I argue that the&nbsp\;<em>Statesman</em>&nbsp\;justifies this authoritarian view of political power based on an understanding of the statesman as the &ldquo\;expert weaver of the community&rsquo\;s social fabric.&rdquo\;&nbsp\;</li>\n</ul>\n<p>&nbsp\; At the meeting\, Catherine&nbsp\;will give a short introduction to her paper at the beginning of the meeting\, and then we will turn to discussion. &nbsp\; The discussion will presuppose that participants have read Catherine's paper in advance of the session. The paper and Zoom link will be distributed to participants via email in a couple weeks.&nbsp\; To allow yourself time to complete the readings\, please register at least 48 hours prior to the event.&nbsp\;&nbsp\; &nbsp\;</p>\n<p>You can register for this and other events on our website at&nbsp\;<a target="_blank">https://www.newenglandsymposiumonancientphilosophy.com/</a>.</p>
ORGANIZER;CN=Jyl Gentzler:
METHOD:PUBLISH
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR