{"product_id":"tyranny-from-plato-to-trump-fools-sycophants-and-citizens-9781538160480","title":"Tyranny from Plato to Trump: Fools, Sycophants,","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA greedy bully seizes his moment to make a grab for power. Bootlicking kiss-ups swarm around him. Mobs of partisans are seduced by lies, propaganda, and virulent ideology. Plagues and violence breakout. People die and the nation falters. This is a common, recurring tragedy: tyrants rise to power, sycophants suck up, the moronic masses cheer it on, against their interests. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAnd things fall apart. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis is a tale of the contemporary political landscape of the USA, but it is also a story as old as the Ancient Greeks. Plato and Sophocles described this trio of political characters; they warned that tragedy unfolds in the absence of reason, and proposed wisdom and virtue as the cure. This account was well-known to the Founders of the United States, who imagined the U.S. Constitution as a solution to tyranny. The dream of Enlightenment required educated citizens and leaders informed by philosophy, theology, and history. The Trump era prompts us to think about perennial themes in politics, philosophy and morality. The bad news is that there have always been morons, sycophants, and tyrants. The good news is that once we know this, we can prepare a response. At times, each of us can be tyrannical, moronic, and sycophantic. That is why we need reason and virtue, as well as a political system that restrains our worst inclinations. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis book brings historical insight to bear on current affairs, the arc of the Trump phenomenon, and uses the contemporary moment to illuminate universal themes of human society.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTable of Contents\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003ePreface\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePart 1: Historical, Political, and Theological Contexts\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eChapter 1: From Trump to Plato and Back Again\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTrump: 2021\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePlato: 375 BCE\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTrump: 2016\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eConclusion: Tragic Love and the Problem of Polarization\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eChapter 2: Tyranny as a Theological Problem\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eModest Humanism\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIs God a Tyrant?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePaganism and Trumpism\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eInspirational Moral Leaders\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe Trump Difference\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eConclusion: God is not a Tyrant\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eChapter 3: The Tragic Trio and the Midwife Who Enlightens\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTyranny is in the Eye of the Beholder\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOur Fundamental Brokenness \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTyranny Trumps Truth\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTyranny Over the Mind\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTrump is a Symptom\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eConclusion: The Midwife who Opens Our Eyes\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eChapter 4: Political Tragedy and Historical Wisdom\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePhilosophical History\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe Problem of Living Within History\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe Common Story of Toil and Trouble\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTyrants Everywhere\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eConclusion: Wisdom, Virtue, and Democratic Education\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePart 2: The Tragic Trio\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eChapter 5: The Tyrant’s Pride: On Ambition, Power, and Greatness\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFashionable Tyranny\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDefining Tyranny \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA Tyrannical Soul does not a Tyrant Make\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eExorbitant Power\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eRevolutions and Transitions\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHubris\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eGreatness is not Goodness\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eConclusion: The Goodness of Goodness\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eChapter 6: The Fool’s Stupidity: On Willful and Vicious Ignorance \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eViolence is Fun\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWho Are You Calling a Moron?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eInfantilization and Accountability \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDefining Foolishness\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIgnorance and The Big Lie\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eConclusion: Fools Want to Believe Fake News\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eChapter 7: The Sycophant’s Complicity: On Cunning, Flattery, and the Trojan Horse\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDefining Sycophancy\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSycophants and Flatterers from Socrates to Seneca\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOpportunism, Contortionism, and Political Performance Art\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eComplicity and Structures of Power\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFlattering the Tyrant and the Mob\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eConclusion: The Trojan Horse\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePart 3: Remedies and Solutions\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eChapter 8: Wisdom, Vigilance, and The Citizen-Philosopher\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA Few Good Men\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eConflicting Patriotisms\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNobody’s Free Until Everybody’s Free\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePhilo-politics and Philosophical Friendship\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eVigilance, Resistance, and Complicity\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eCivic and Moral Education\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eConclusion: Vigilance and Accountability in an Un-Thinking Culture\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eChapter 9: The Constitution of Wisdom\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMontesquieu, Madison, and Mike Pence\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe Evolving Constitution\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe Tragic Truth of Political Philosophy \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eRepublicanism Triumphs Against Trump\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHitler, Mussolini, and Real Tyranny\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe Wise Dysfunction of Mixed Government \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe Near Fatal Flaw of Slavery\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA Tragic Conclusion\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eChapter 10: The Mirror of Philosophy\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAppendices\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAppendix 1: Trump’s View of Morality in Context\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAppendix 2: Cast of Characters and Key Events\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Rowman \u0026 Littlefield","offers":[{"title":"Default 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