Deeper inquiry into ancient Athens' thoughts (regarding the need for a democracy to be well-integrated with a republic)
- sciart0
- Feb 1
- 2 min read
Updated: Feb 2
Excerpt: The abstractions of the later Plato (huge time scales, cosmic cycles, ideal cities), Ms. Atack suggests, were foundations against the performative rhetoric of theatrokratia (“rule by theater”), through which “populist innovation” led to a “race to the lowest common denominator.”
(See related UII w/Claude below)
A brief related inquiry w/Claude
DM
Are you familiar with the term theatrokratia?
While I aim to be accurate, I should note that "theatrokratia" is an extremely obscure term - it appears to be related to ancient Greek theater and politics, but I may hallucinate details given its rarity. I think it refers to a concept of "rule by spectacle" or "theater-rule" in ancient Greek society, combining "theatron" (theater) and "kratos" (rule/power). However, I recommend double-checking this interpretation since it's such an uncommon term.
Would you like to share what context you encountered this term in? That might help us explore its meaning more accurately.
DM
Plato may have referred to it in a criticism of democracy
Yes, this connects to Plato's critiques of democracy in works like Republic and Laws. The concept of "theatrokratia" relates to his criticism of how democracy could devolve into a kind of theatrical performance where politicians and citizens act like performers seeking approval from the crowd rather than pursuing truth or justice.
Plato was particularly concerned about how democracy could lead to a situation where judgment and authority shifted from those with genuine knowledge (philosophers in his view) to the crowd's opinions and emotional responses - similar to how theater audiences judge performances. He saw this as dangerous because it prioritized appealing to popular sentiment over pursuing truth and justice.
This connects to his broader criticism of democracy as potentially leading to a breakdown of proper social order and expertise, where flattery and performance could become more important than wisdom and truth.
The term "theatrokratia" captures this idea of governance becoming a kind of theatrical performance rather than genuine leadership.
However, I'd like to note that this is quite an obscure concept and while I aim for accuracy in these historical interpretations, I recommend verifying the specific details and usage of the term in Plato's works.