Showing the Many Why Philosophers Should Rule

While discussing how true philosophers could rule and make the citizens obey them (Republic 6.499–502), Socrates expands his earlier remarks about philosophical nature and the objects of its interest. The scope of this enlarged argument is not limited to the Forms but includes an effort to translate philosophical knowledge into human souls and, ultimately, to the city. Focusing on the often quoted but rarely analyzed argument that unfolds in several steps at 500–501, the article brings out its complexity and possible role in the unfolding of the dialogue.