The feasible city of Plato: the rational use of beliefs and imagination in politics
Keywords:
Imagination, Paradigm, Plato, UtopiaAbstract
Plato’s perfect cities in the Republic and the Laws have often been criticized as utopias, that is, as unachievable cities. It is my argument that such a “utopian reading” is wrong. Plato’s best cities cannot be understood as utopias either in the literary meaning of the word or in the sense of theoretical projects of political reform. They must be seen as paradigms of feasible cities. To a broader extent, the conclusion of my argument is that, according to Plato, imagination and belief are constituent elements of a sound political rationality.
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