Kings (and All Politicians) Should Study Philosophy
Plato famously said that philosophers should be in charge of the State, he is often misunderstood. (Musonius Rufus — Lecture VIII)
“What else would be more serviceable to a king who wished to be good than the study of philosophy? How better or how otherwise could a man be a good ruler or live a good life than by studying philosophy?”
Plato famously said that philosophers should be in charge of the State. He is often misunderstood on this point, as he certainly wasn’t saying that academic professionals like myself should guide a nation. He meant that people who are in charge of the lives of others should be as wise as possible, that is, they should be “philosophers” in the sense that they mindfully practice the art of living. I’m so fascinated by this topic that I have a new book that will come out next year on the relationship between philosophy and politics.
Musonius Rufus’ seventh lecture addresses the same theme, and in modern terms we can expand his concern from just kings (of which, thankfully, there is a decreasing number around the globe) to politicians and statesmen more generally.
In response to a question by an unnamed king, Musonius defines the respective roles of a king (or…
