Facets of Right Measure: Cognitive Images and Leadership of Minds in Plato's 'Statesman'

This thesis illuminates two underexplored facets of Plato’s notion of right measure in the Statesman: the cognitive role of imagery and the correct leadership of minds for individuals and political communities.
The central chapters of this thesis argue that the cognitive function of images is grounded on their well-articulated combination. The first and last chapters serve to frame this study of imagery within the main subject of the dialogue, namely the correct guidance of human minds. This study is thus divided in five chapters that explore the different facets of right measure in different contexts.
The first chapter examines the structure of the Statesman as representing a disrupted dialectical process aimed at discovering the right measure of philosophical judgments. The second chapter studies the notions of paradeigmata and eikones as images to be artfully combined in a cohesive, measured whole. The third chapter accounts for the value of mythical paidia as productive of a clash of images that corrects excesses and invites to seek for measured judgments. The fourth chapter examines Plato’s usage of contrasting images of divine steering and cosmic balance to represent an expert communication of inner harmony. Finally, the last chapter returns to the Statesman as a whole, examining how Plato represents education and educational leadership as communication of a well-composed balance to the mind and to the political community.
This project illuminates a frequently overlooked of Plato’s philosophy: its nuanced and flexible attention to the guidance of human minds in need of psychological and political equilibrium.