Lecture Six: The Purposes of Office and Rule

Turning back to Republic I in dialogue with the Statesman, this lecture explores rule as a phenomenon that includes but is broader than political office alone (which is one role through which rule can be exercised). It shows Plato to have wrestled with both the promise and the danger of a perfect identification between a person and the role of ruler.

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