English Explanatory Dictionary

philosopher king

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A hypothetical ideal ruler, trained in philosophy, who has a full understanding of the Platonic ideal of the Form of the Good, and uses this for the benefit of the state.
  2. A very wise ruler.

Word forms

philosopher king philosopher kings philosopher-king

Etymology

The concept comes from Plato's Republic (circa 375 BCE), which considers the ideal rulers of a city state.

This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.
Back to search All on P Russian dictionary Dahl dictionary