The Rule of Wisdom and the Rule of Law in Plato'sStatesman

Abstract

Recently, the idea ofphronesishas assumed great importance among political theorists. This prominence is due to the perception that, contrary to the application of the methods of natural science to politics,phronesispreserves the distinctive character of politics in its refusal to apply inappropriate standards of precision and to find certainty where it does not exist. But precisely because of this, the following question arises: Can we ascertain a nonarbitrary standard ofphronesiswithout denying those characteristics that make it appropriate for the understanding of politics? I address this question by considering the treatment ofphronesis(wisdom) found in Plato'sStatesmanand, in particular, the passage that weighs the relative merits of rule by wisdom and rule by law. In this seminal consideration ofphronesisPlato (unlike Aristotle) does not confine his treatment to the practical sphere; even this intensely political passage contains far-reaching reflections on the nature of humanity and the world we inhabit. These explain what we are and what our world is, such that there is a need for this cognitive capacity. As I argue, they express the conditions ofphronesisthat can provide a guide for its use without negating its essential character.

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