Jonny Thakkar

Cover -- Title Page -- Copyright -- Epigraph -- Contents -- Preface -- Introduction -- 1. What Is Philosophy For? -- 2. Why Philosophers Should Rule -- 3. The Beautiful City -- 4. Plato and Athens -- 5. Historical Possibility -- 6. Philosopher-Citizens -- 7. Moneymaking and Malfunction -- Conclusion -- Bibliography -- Index

Plato As Critical Theorist

What is the best possible society? How would its rulers govern and its citizens behave? Such questions are sometimes dismissed as distractions from genuine political problems, but in an era when political idealism seems a relic of the past, says Jonny Thakkar, they are more urgent than ever. A daring experiment in using ancient philosophy to breathe life into our political present, Plato as Critical Theorist takes seriously one of Plato’s central claims: that philosophers should rule. What many accounts miss is the intimate connection between Plato’s politics and his metaphysics, Thakkar argues. Philosophy is the activity of articulating how parts and wholes best fit together, while ruling is the activity that shapes the parts of society into a coherent whole conducive to the good life. Plato’s ideal society is thus one in which ideal theory itself plays a leading role. Today’s liberal democracies require not philosopher-kings legislating from above but philosopher-citizens willing to work toward a vision of the best society in their daily lives. Against the claim that such idealism is inherently illiberal, Thakkar shows that it is fully compatible with the liberal theories of both Popper and Rawls while nevertheless pushing beyond them in providing a new vantage point for the Marxian critique of capitalism.

Plato as Critical Theorist

Ursula Lindsey

Gal Katz

Andrew Kay

Jesse McCarthy

Frank Guan

Nora Caplan-Bricker

Phillipa Snow

Rachel Wiseman

Jonathan Baskin

Anastasia Berg

Ollie Cussen

Robert Kehoe III

Ben Jeffrey

John Thomason

Anton Barba-Kay

This issue of The Point features the symposium question "What are intellectuals for?", essays on feminist utopias, consent after the #MeToo movement, wrestling in Paris, Lindsay Lohan as David Lynch Girl, and more. e

What Are Intellectuals For?

Issue 16

Agnes Callard

Angie Cruz

Samuel Scheffler

Wesley Hill

Robert Bird

Timothy Aubry

James Duesterberg

Apoorva Tadepalli

Nargol Aran

Jonah Galeota-Sprung

Charlie Tyson

Becca Rothfeld

Issue 20

Jon Baskin

Etay Zwick

The Point is a twice-yearly journal of essays on contemporary life and culture, based in Chicago. A mix of criticism, memoir, and reviews, The Point goes beyond intellectual tourism by challenging its readers to recognize the impact of ideas on their everyday life. Early issues have considered whether it is possible to live an honorable social life on Facebook, what Thorstein Veblen would say about Goldman Sachs, how Stendhal might help us with dating, and why today’s conservatives ought to read Marx. Each issue also contains a symposium consisting of several shorter pieces relating to a topic chosen by the editors—for instance, film, conservatism, or contemporary music. The symposium for issue 9 asks: What is Privacy for? An essay by Leslie Jamison ("The Empathy Exams") on female woundedness and the biographies of Sylvia Plath, and by Thomas Chatterton Williams on Duchamp, modernism, and growing up. Jon Baskin will discuss going out on weekends as a philosophical problem. In the review section, Emilie Shumway will chronicle her visit to House on the Rock, a bizarre tourist attraction in Spring Green, Wisconsin.

The Point, Issue 9

Jonny Thakkar

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