1. The Problem of Technology in Plutarch's Lycurgus and Numa.
- Author
-
Harding, Michael
- Subjects
- *
PHILOSOPHERS , *POLITICAL science , *EDUCATION - Abstract
In Plutarch's Lives of Lycurgus and Numa one is presented with two different aspects of the Republic's best regime. Numan Rome is the city in which the philosopher is king, and Lycurgan Sparta is the city which is unified. Of particular interest is the fact that the reforms enacted by Numa in Rome do not last beyond his lifetime, while Lycurgan Sparta endures far beyond the life of the founder. Sparta endures because Lycurgus recognizes the destabilizing effect of unlimited technê, and responds with political limitation of the technical arts and the institution of a public education. Numa, on the other hand, fails to respond to these necessities, leaving education a wholly private affair, and leaving technê free of political rule. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2008