Tag: tyranny

Plato by L. Vorsterman after Peter Paul Rubens

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Socrates and Plato were enemies of tyranny. Indeed, in book 9 of Plato’s Republic, Socrates sets forth one of history’s oldest and most influential denunciations of tyrants and tyranny. Yet some of their best friends and students were tyrants.

Socrates was a friend and teacher of Alcibiades, a would-be tyrant, and of Critias and Charmides, who were actual members of the Thirty Tyrants who ruled Athens in 404–403 BCE.

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Part 6 of 14 (Part 1 here, Part 2 here, Part 3 here, Part 4 here, Part 5 here, Part 7 here)

Socrates the Pugilist

After Socrates outlines why he thinks that rhetoric is not an art but rather merely a “knack” for pandering and corrupting, he apologizes for lapsing into speech-making, but he explains that it was necessary because Polus was incapable of answering short questions. (more…)

Jusepe de Ribera, The Philosopher

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Part 3 of 14 (Part 1 here, Part 2 here, Part 4 here)

Gorgias’ Art (449a–c)

When Socrates finally speaks directly to Gorgias, he asks a simple, straightforward question: “What should we call you based on the art (techne) that you know?”[1] To which Gorgias gives a simple, straightforward answer: he knows “rhetoric” (rhetorike). Socrates continues: “Then is it best to call you a rhetorician [rhetor]?” Gorgias agrees and amplifies: “Yes, Socrates, and a good one too, if you want to call me what, as Homer puts it, ‘I boast myself to be.’” (more…)

Kristian Zahrtmann, Socrates and Alcibiades, 1911 (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

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Part 7 of 7 (Part 1 here, Part 2 here, Part 3 here, Part 4 here, Part 5 here, Part 6 here)

Wisdom vs. Tyranny

Having established that the true self is the soul and defended philosophical dialogue as the best path to self-knowledge, Socrates wraps up his argument. (more…)

Jean-Baptiste Regnault, Socrates Tears Alcibiades from the Embrace of Sensual Pleasure, 1791.

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Part 1 of 7 (Part 2 here)

Author’s Note: I am typing up and editing my lecture notes on Plato’s Alcibiades I and Gorgias to incorporate them into a new book tentatively entitled Tyranny and Wisdom: An Introduction to Platonic Philosophy. The Phoenician neoplatonist philosopher Iamblichus (c. 245–c. 325) placed the Alcibiades I first and the Gorgias second in his curriculum of Plato’s dialogues, and with good reason, for together they constitute an excellent introduction to Socratic moral and political philosophy.

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Part 2 of 2 (Part 1 here)

Nero was only 16 when he became Emperor. His coming to power had nevertheless been enabled by several murders and/or suspiciously timely deaths. Claudius may or may not have died accidentally, but Narcissus, who favored Britannicus and the Senator Silanus, were poisoned almost certainly on the orders of Nero’s mother. (more…)

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Part 1 of 2 (Part 2 here)

Alexander Bätz
Nero: Wahnsinn und Wirklichkeit
‎Hamburg: Rowohlt Buchverlag, 2023

Among those able to name any Roman emperors, Nero is likely to be on their list. Although he was Roman Emperor for only 14 years, from 54 to 68 AD, he is widely viewed as one of the most famous or infamous of all of them, strongly associated with the persecution of the Christians and the murder of both his mother and wife, and he is widely seen as the embodiment of tyranny. (more…)

Seated Socrates, fresco from ancient Ephesus

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Greg Johnson began a five-week course on Plato’s Gorgias on the latest broadcast of Counter-Currents Radio, which will continue for the next four Saturdays (July 1, 8, 15, and 22). The first lecture, which both introduces the dialogue as a whole and also examines Socrates’ argument with the great Sophist Gorgias, can be heard below.

The theme of the course is “Might vs. Right.” Dr. Johnson will be using Donald J. Zeyl’s translation of the Gorgias published by Hackett as both a separate book and as part of their Plato Complete Works volume. (more…)

Xenophon in front of the Austrian parliament.

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Wolfgang Will
Der Zug der 10 000: Die unglaubliche Geschichte eines antiken Söldnerheeres
Munich: C. H. Beck, 2022
314 pages

The merit of Der Zug der 10 000 (The March of the 10,000: The Incredible Story of an Ancient Mercenary Army) lies in the story itself, not in the wooden and pedestrian manner in which it is retold by Wolfgang Will. The march of the 10,000 was a remarkable event in ancient history. (more…)

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The following essay on Plato’s Theages is based on a transcript of a taped lecture, which I revised based on notes for two later lectures on the same dialogue that offered a more complete interpretation. I want to thank V.S. for the original transcript.

The Theages is a short Platonic dialogue that can be read as a response to Aristophanes’ Clouds. In both texts, Socrates is approached by a country gentleman to educate his son. In the Clouds, the father is insistent, the son reluctant. (more…)

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The one and only Rich Houck was host Nick Jeelvy‘s guest on the latest broadcast of The Writers’ Bloc, where they discussed Yukio Mishima’s My Friend Hitler — a play about politics, friendship, and doing what is necessary — and answered listener questions, and it is now available for download and online listening.

Topics discussed include:

00:04:00 Yukio Mishima’s play My Friend Hitler
00:09:00 Who is Richard Houck?
00:12:00 Nick and Rich reflect on what it means to be a lawyer (more…)

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Author’s note: An earlier version of this appeared at Return of Kings as “How Our Government Is Sanctioning A New Kind Of Tyranny.” The following expanded version is in my compilation Deplorable Diatribes. 

My first encounter with anarcho-tyranny was when my grandfather got busted in a sting. His “crime” was cutting hair without a license, which got him a fine. (more…)