Keynote Speech: The Ethics and Politics of Plato’s Noble Lie (Rachel Barney, University of Toronto)
- https://ancient-philosophy.hu-berlin.de/en/events/events-guest-lecture-the-ethics-and-politics-of-plato2019s-noble-lie-rachel-barney-university-of-toronto-1
- Keynote Speech: The Ethics and Politics of Plato’s Noble Lie (Rachel Barney, University of Toronto)
- 2022-11-09T18:15:00+01:00
- 2022-11-09T19:45:00+01:00
- When Nov 09, 2022 from 06:15 to 07:45
- Where Unter den Linden 6, 2249A
-
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This is the keynote speech of the 6th Ancient Philosophy Workshop for Female Graduate Students and Early Career Researchers on November 9th and November 10th. Feel free to attend even if you don't participate in the workshop.
Abstract:
The Noble Lie proposed by Plato for the Just City in Republic III has been much misunderstood. Its primary purpose is to persuade the elite of the City of the truth that ensuring social mobility amongst its classes must be a top priority. It does so through a myth of natural unity, according to which all the citizens are brothers and sisters. This ideological myth is necessary to generate the social solidarity which makes class mobility and meritocracy possible; but such ideologies of natural unity and fraternity are always false. So the Lie really is a lie, but a necessary one; as such it poses an awkward ethical and political problem for Plato and, if he is right, for our own societies as well.