On April 25, there was a lecture held at Seybert Hall by the Shimer Great Books School called “The Disordered Soul and Presidency of Donald J. Trump: Platonic Reflections on 45.” Its speaker was Dr. David Koukal, professor of philosophy at University of Detroit Mercy. Koukal read from his paper about the current president of the United States, which examined him through the philosophical lens of Plato.
Koukal compared Trump to Plato’s concept of “philosopher kings,” the idea that leaders should be knowledgeable about leading. He said his students would complain about this concept being undemocratic, which is true. But, as Koukal said, “Isn’t it appropriate that a doctor be prohibited from practicing medicine until they’ve passed their boards? Would you live in a house designed by an uncertified architect? Would you allow a lawyer to represent your interests if they had failed the bar?”
In a modern context, this doesn’t necessarily mean literal philosophers; he specifically pointed out how many of our former presidents had been lawyers, which considering our government’s framework is law, meant that they had some sort of experience in such matters.
President Trump, on the other hand, is cut from a different cloth with a different kind of wisdom, specifically, “Trump hails from (the) producing class, which would be highly problematic in Plato’s eyes,” said Koukal.
“Members of the producing class are guided by a kind of commercial wisdom.” The “philosopher kings” need to have a more broad kind of wisdom. “A society ruled by the producing class will meet its ruin in greed and immoderation,” he said. He also went on to state that Trump was particularly problematic even in his own field.
“It’s not just that he lacks the knowledge, skills and experience to perform his official duties, much more importantly, Trump lacks the temperament for the job and this puts our body politic at risk,” said Koukal.
This is where the concept of a well ordered soul comes into play. It has three parts: appetitive (pleasure seeking,) pugnacious (anger and indignation) and the rational part. Koukal argues Trump is overly pugnacious.
Koukal said this would include his fragile ego, which would not be to Plato’s liking. His mind is focused on “fleeting goods” like honor and reputation. Trump’s kind of lying is different than Plato’s concept of the “Noble Lie,” which is a lie that is the foundation for society, as for the greater good kind of paternalistic lie. Not only that, but Koukal asserts that Trump is “proud of his falsehoods,” which further compounds the issue.
“Empathy is not in his repertoire,” he said.
The metaphor from Plato he used to sums up the situation is that of a ship where the captain has no navigational skills; it leads to ruin. Koukal conluded with two things: “Get out and vote in November” and, “Beware of demagogues.”
