philosopher king
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.71 in modern English
30
Scrabble Score
15
Letters
3
Syllables
11
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A hypothetical ideal ruler, trained in philosophy, who has a full understanding of the Platonic ideal of the Form of the Good, and uses this for the benefit of the state.
Example Sentences
- "He flies much about from place to place; now at Potsdam, now at Berlin, at Charlottenburg, Reinsberg; nothing loath to run whither business calls him, and appear in public: the gazetteer world, as we noticed, which has been hitherto a most mute world, breaks out here and there into a kind of husky jubilation over the great things he is daily doing, and rejoices in the prospect of having a Philosopher King;[…]"
- "[…] what has been said about the State and the government is not a mere dream[…] that is to say, when the true philosopher kings are born in a State, one or more of them, despising the honours of this present world which they deem mean and worthless, […]"
- "But if the President was not the philosopher-king, what was he? After all he was a man who had spent much of his life at a University."
- "This philosopher king contrasts sharply with the cruel tyrant, who plays a memorable role in other parts of the Histories."
Etymology
The concept comes from Plato's Republic (circa 375 BCE), which considers the ideal rulers of a city state.