In the complex and often violent political arena of ancient Greece, ideals of civic engagement and self-determination mingled uneasily with the realities of power.

Plato’s well known skepticism of democracy seems the result of his fear of what happens when you put things to a vote. That’s how Socrates died — voted into a death sentence when his case was ...

The Republic, the best-known work of ancient Greek philosopher Plato, authored around 375 BC, has shaped western political thought. Greece is now known as the “cradle of democracy”.

Not only was the first democracy in the world in Athens, but the word itself comes from the Greek demos (people) and kratos ...

So what was Plato’s argument? And could it hold the key to understanding why, across the West, confidence in democracy is declining? The arguments Plato makes against democracy in The Republic are ...

His pupil Plato, however, found that practical knowledge led to the abstractions of metaphysics and political theory. Carol Atack’s “Plato: A Civic Life” traces Plato’s philosophy back to ...

The Republic, the best-known work of ancient Greek philosopher Plato, authored around 375BC, has shaped western political thought. Greece is now known as the “cradle of democracy”. Not only was the ...