Plato: Politikos [The Statesman]

To what extent may human interrelations be governed by art or skill? What is the nature of the expertise required in politics? Does political philosophy ever achieve the status of knowledge? Plato’s Politikos [Statesman], one of the most intriguing texts in the history of philosophy, develops the question of the possibility of scientific statesmanship by indicating the inherent limits of any rational account (logos).

The Eleatic dialogues Theaetetus, Sophist, and Statesman belong together, and the three conversations depicted in this trilogy are supposed to have taken place shortly before the trial of Socrates. The Eleatic dialogue Parmenides complem