Abstract
Abstract
Toward the end of Book 7, the Athenian offers a pregnant reflection on his own political project. He has established the Magnesian regime as a mimesis of the best life; and that, he says, is the “truest tragedy.” According to the conventional interpretation, the Athenian’s prove superior to those of the traditional tragic poets, his rivals. While this interpretation fits the understanding of Magnesia’s ordinary citizens, Magnesia’s civil religion suggests the need to uncover, in addition, a deeper meaning. This chapter argues that the tragedy of the Athenian’s political project lies in the necessary ignorance of the ordinary citizens for whom the regime, with its civil religion, is created. Their teleological purpose as human beings is frustrated because they fail to live lives of rational self-governance. Subsequent discussions of astronomy and mathematics sharpen this distinction between ordinary citizens and philosophers.