The Philosopher and the Poet

Learning and authority are at best uncomfortable bedfellows. At worst, the relationship between them is one of toxic codependence which, like any torrid affair between two lovely but ill-suited partners, degrades them both and makes even their friends respect them a little less. This is among the oldest problems in political thought: should philosophers really be kings? Peter J. Ahrensdorf subtly explores the history of this question in Homer and the Tradition of Political Philosophy: Encounters with Plato, Machiavelli, and Nietzsche.