Cecilia Z. Li

Volume 34, Issue 1, January 2026, Page 171-176.

It is commonly thought that a central lesson of Republic i is to indicate the flaws of the τέχνη model for thinking about justice and ruling. I provide a novel defense of Socrates’ arguments from τέχνη. I argue that (i) book 1 is less hostile to the τέχνη model than is often supposed and that (ii) Socrates’ arguments from τέχνη are more favorable than they are often supposed.