Malcolm Schofield

This chapter focuses on Epictetus' presentation of Diogenes the Cynic, whom he regards both as a divine messenger and as a scout sent by God to spy on men. The two functions complement each other: as a scout the philosopher discovers whether life poses any danger to mankind; as a messenger he reveals to others the result of this enquiry, that there is no real danger, as good and evil are always within our power. It is by his way of life, not by formal teaching, that the Cynic achieves this mission. The Cynic's special task, described as ‘kingship and castigation’, is that of protreptic, which may be seen as the first stage in philosophy, preceding examination and formal teaching; it identifies errors in our ordinary way of thinking and points the way towards the truth. In this way, Diogenes can be recognized as a philosopher despite having no formal philosophical doctrine, since protreptic can be seen as a distinctive form of philosophy.

Plato is the best known and most widely studied of all the ancient Greek philosophers. Malcolm Schofield, a leading scholar of ancient philosophy, offers a lucid and accessible guide to Plato's political thought, enormously influential and much discussed in the modern world as well as the ancient. Schofield discusses Plato's ideas on education, democracy and its shortcomings, the role of knowledge in government, utopia and the idea of community, money and its grip on the psyche, and ideological uses of religion.