Aristotle on Plato’s Republic VIII-IX: Politics v. 12, 1316a1-b27
In: Polis: The Journal for Ancient Greek and Roman Political ThoughtSearch for other papers by Mor Segev in
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Abstract
Toward the end of Politics V. 12, Aristotle criticizes Plato’s discussion of political change in Republic VIII-IX. Scholars often reject Aristotle’s criticism, especially because it portrays Plato’s discussion, allegedly unfairly, as developing a historically testable theory. I argue that Aristotle’s criticism is adequate, and that the seriousness with which he considers Plato’s account of political change as an alternative to his own is both warranted and instructive. First, apart from criticizing Plato’s account for its historical inaccuracies, Aristotle also exposes theoretical insufficiencies and internal inconsistencies within it. Second, Aristotle’s criticisms of historical inaccuracies in Plato’s discussion of political change are not misdirected, since there are reasons to think that Plato does intend that discussion to accord with the historical facts.
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Aristotle on Plato’s Republic VIII-IX: Politics v. 12, 1316a1-b27
In: Polis: The Journal for Ancient Greek and Roman Political ThoughtSearch for other papers by Mor Segev in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Abstract
Toward the end of Politics V. 12, Aristotle criticizes Plato’s discussion of political change in Republic VIII-IX. Scholars often reject Aristotle’s criticism, especially because it portrays Plato’s discussion, allegedly unfairly, as developing a historically testable theory. I argue that Aristotle’s criticism is adequate, and that the seriousness with which he considers Plato’s account of political change as an alternative to his own is both warranted and instructive. First, apart from criticizing Plato’s account for its historical inaccuracies, Aristotle also exposes theoretical insufficiencies and internal inconsistencies within it. Second, Aristotle’s criticisms of historical inaccuracies in Plato’s discussion of political change are not misdirected, since there are reasons to think that Plato does intend that discussion to accord with the historical facts.
| All Time | Past 365 days | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 1540 | 82 | 9 |
| Full Text Views | 453 | 11 | 0 |
| PDF Views & Downloads | 524 | 24 | 0 |