Drinking Wine with Friends: Plato's Lesson for Contemporary Democratic Theory

Abstract

Democratic theory tells us that citizens should be engaged, informed, passionate, reasonable, willing to speak up, ready to listen, and militant but also restrained. Yet we are rarely told how they might achieve this. The challenge is particularly relevant for theories that distinguish between the liberal and democratic principles of our regime with their contradictory ideals of citizenship. This article draws on Plato's reflections on drinking wine with friends in the Laws to argue that the political psychology suggested therein fits the complex ideal of citizenship in a liberal democracy. Furthermore, it shows how extrapolitical and even disreputable social practices can not only help prepare citizens for political life but also enable them to deal with the inequalities that inevitably contaminate it. Weaving together law, contestation, reason, and passion, the Platonic account articulates the psychological burdens of citizenship in a liberal democracy and suggests ways to cope with them.