|
Hannah Arendt and Reiner Schürmann Symposium in Political
Philosophy Tyrants,
Kings, Emperors, and Philosophers: Philosophy and Political Power in Antiquity New
School for Social Research, New York, May, 10-11 2013 55
West 13 St Room I 202
May
11 10:00-11:30:
Christoph Horn (University of Bonn), Individual
Competence and Collective Deliberation in Aristotle’s Politics Chair : Euree Song (Kyung Hee University, Seoul) Abstract: There
can be no doubt that we find, in Aristotle’s Politics, many traces of the Platonic principle that political rule
should be transferred to those individuals who are cognitively and morally
outstanding or excellent. The idea behind this seems to be that insight (phronêsis) is the most important virtue
of rulers, as Aristotle contends, e.g., in Politics
III.4. On the other hand, we are told, especially in Politics III.11, that a bigger group of people is capable to arrive
at an even better political judgment than an individual since they are able to
combine their competences. In my talk, I will deal with the problem how these
two seemingly antithetic principles may fit together. Where do we have to
locate Aristotle: close to ‘expertocracy’ or close to ‘deliberative democracy’?
11:45-1:15:
Gretchen Reydams-Schils (University of Notre Dame), Dion and Epictetus on how to speak
the truth to power Chair : Simon Critchley (NSSR) Abstract: In treatments of the how the Stoics
of the Roman imperial era viewed participation in politics, the issue of the
so-called opposition to imperial rule has received disproportionate attention.
But one cannot make sense of this stance unless one reintegrates it into
the larger question of political responsibility in general. Regarding the
latter, the diverging positions of Epictetus and Dion of Prusa, who were both
seen as influenced by Musonius Rufus, present an interesting dilemma. 3:00-4:30:
Dominic O’Meara (University of Fribourg), Plato's
Tyrant in Neoplatonic Philosophy Chair : Benoit Challand (NYU) Abstract: The purpose of this
paper is to examine the way in which the Platonists of Late Antiquity
interpreted the figure of the tyrant, as they found this figure in Plato's
works. I will discuss in particular the interpretation of the tyrant in
Proclus' Commentary on Plato's Republic, but will also take into account other
authors, notably Olympiodorus and Damascius. I wish also to raise the question
as to the extent to which these Platonists, in speaking of Plato's tyrant, may
be referring indirectly to the emperors of their time.
4:45-6:15: Final
roundtable
|
