6. Rachel Barney (University of Toronto), 4.6.2025

Title: Knowledge, Techne and the Rule of the Guardians in Plato’s Republic Research Centre for Greek Philosophy, Academy of Athens Philosophy Series 2025: Plato’s Republic V-VII Organizers: Alexander Nehamas, Thanassis Gkatzaras, Xanthippe Bourlogianni Location: The Danish Institute in Athens ABSTRACT: In many contexts Plato treats episteme and techne as equivalent. In the Republic he also depicts his model rulers as practitioners of a techne, namely Guardianship. What can we learn about the epistemology of the Republic by seeing its account of knowledge as grounded in a craft model? It suggests that Platonic episteme should be seen as holistic and inherently such as to be at once theoretical and practical, general and particular.