Exploring the historical context of democracy, this chapter delves into the vulnerabilities exposed by demagogues from ancient Athens to modern times. It highlights the manipulation by figures like Cleon and the importance of civil debates based on facts to safeguard democracy from descending into dictatorship.
This special episode contains a live recording of my recent talk for Conversations with Modern Stoicism, hosted by Phil Yanov. We were celebrating Marcus Aurelius’ birthday, and I spoke at length about what I think we can learn from ancient Greece about the dangers faced by democracy, and how Socrates and the Stoics could help us. I was speaking live from Athens, the birthplace of democracy. Thanks to Phil Yanov, for providing the audio recording for this podcast episode.
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