Good in Theory: A Political Philosophy Podcast

With Earl Fontainelle

Earl Fontainelle of the Secret History of Western Esotericism podcast joins Clif Mark to discuss whether Plato wrote esoterically, the secret meanings he may have been hiding, the divided line and the mysterious Plato math in the Republic.

Clif Mark joins Graham Culbertson of the Everyday Anarchism podcast to discuss Athenian democracy, Plato, anarchism and how modern meritocratic education fails, in this crossover episode.

Socrates, whom Clif Mark calls a philosopher of desire, tells Glaucon that the form of the good is essential to a good life, illustrated with the sun, line and cave in book 7 of Plato's Republic.

Socrates, suspected by Athenians of plotting to overthrow democracy, argues that thinking politics turns people into a paranoid mob, raising how the political mindset differs from the philosophical mindset and whether he is an enemy of the state.

Socrates analyzes the four kinds of regime in the Greek world and the personality each one makes, spirited and proud under Sparta, cheap under oligarchy, chilled out under democracy until a tyrant takes over, in book 8 of Plato's Republic.

Socrates defines justice in the city and the soul, explaining the structure of the human soul after building imaginary cities and armies with Glaucon and Adeimantus, in book 4 of Plato's Republic.

Socrates thinks poetry is like candy that can rot the soul, that humans have a poetic sweet tooth for certain stories, and that following a natural taste for art undermines reason, in Plato's Republic.

Glaucon and Socrates design an immersive education for the guardians and tell them a noble lie about being built underground by a god, in this reading of book 3 of Plato's Republic.

Socrates explains his proposal for philosopher kings, smart, capable and virtuous rulers, and argues that democracies never produce them, in this reading of books 5 and 6 of Plato's Republic.

Socrates insults his jury, dares them to sentence him to death and mocks them when they do, in part 2 of Clif Mark's 4-part series on Plato's Apology.

Adeimantus and Socrates plan an education for the guardians, replacing the lies young Athenians learn from Homer and Hesiod with new lies that set a good example, covering parts of books 2 and 3 of Plato's Republic.

Clif Mark asks why a reasonable, well-intentioned Athenian might have voted to kill the 70-year-old Socrates, why politics might get interested in you, and what separates morality tales from philosophy tales.

Socrates finally answers Glaucon and Adeimantus's book 2 challenge, arguing the tyrant's life is desperate, paranoid and miserable, and the philosopher king 729 times happier, in book 9 of Plato's Republic.

Socrates faces the sophist Thrasymachus, who yells at him for playing dirty and argues that morality is a lie before Socrates wins the argument, covering the second half of book 1 of Plato's Republic.

Plato's Republic stages an all-night conversation between Socrates, Cephalus, Polemarchus and friends covering ethics, politics, education, epistemology and psychology, starting from the question what is justice, in book 1.

Clif Mark asks whether philosophy's reputation as an outrage to religion and a danger to morality explains why the Athenians killed Socrates, or whether calling philosophy dangerous just makes it sound sexier.

The last bit of book 10 of Plato's Republic: what to know to choose a good reincarnation, and Socrates's story of a man who travelled to the afterlife and came back, showing how he thinks poetry should be written.

Socrates proposes nationalizing the family into one giant clan, women taking jobs and a eugenics program disguised as a religious festival, testing how family loyalty, political unity and meritocracy fit together in book 5 of Plato's Republic.

Paul Sagar, a lecturer in political theory at King's College London who played Thrasymachus in book 1, tells Clif Mark why he doesn't actually enjoy reading Plato very much.