Discussing Plato On Governance: "Statesman"

In this episode of Canonball we discuss "Statesman," which is one of the dialogues of Plato, who lived in the fifth and fourth centuries BC. The cover art for this episode is Plato as depicted in a portion of the oil painting "The Death of Socrates," which French painter Jacques-Louis David completed in 1787. Listen to this podcast on any of several dozen podcast platforms, most of which have no ads, at this link: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2132180/share Get a copy of my edition of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein at my website: https://www.vollrathpublishing.com 00:00 Context 01:12 Discipline In Thinking 03:36 Spider Philosophers 07:29 Kings, Tyrants, And The Inaccessibility Of Expertise To Crowds 12:13 The Vulnerability Of Democracy To Plutocracy 14:40 The Ruler Himself Governed By Laws And Customs 16:08 A Brief Detour Into Herodotus And Hobbes 17:21 Dividing Plutocracy Into Aristocracy And Oligarchy 18:58 The Tyrant As Sophist 21:31 Cities Sinking Like Ships Through Depravity 22:47 Propaganda And Branches Of Knowledge That Are Components Of Statesmanship 24:50 The Statesman As Weaving The Fabric Of Society Together From The Threads Of Conflicting Virtues 31:05 A Closing Thought On Virtue, Vice, And Politics