The Carlyle Lectures - Constitutions before Constitutionalism: Classical Greek Ideas of Office and Rule (Lecture Four)

Lecture Four: Rule and Liberty

While rule requires the willing obedience of the ruled to the rulers, it also requires the willing obedience of the rulers to the limits of constitutional order. The first of three lectures developing a sub-theme of what might be called Platonic realism, this lecture argues for friendship as key to reconciling liberty and obedience in Republic IX and Laws III.

The Carlyle Lectures are a lecture series co-sponsored by the Department of Politics and International Relations and the Faculty of History.