Cameron’s Cabinet – Plato’s Ship of Fools

I observed on twitter that the recent reshuffle reminded me of Plato’s ‘Ship of Fools’ critique of democracy. And that I would blog why…

Philosophy Now had a recent article on why Plato didn’t like democracy:

Imagine a sea-voyage on which all who are travelling feel entitled to claim the helm. Though the captain is a good navigator, he isn’t good at convincing the others that he is, and those who shout the loudest and make the most confident claims, though they know nothing of the skills of navigation, will get a go… Jonathan Wolff in his Introduction to Political Philosophy summarizes Plato’s argument like this: Ruling is a skill, like medicine or navigation. It is rational to leave the exercise of skills to experts. In a democracy, however, the people rule, and the people are not experts…

The reference to experts may make people both nervous and critical. Siegel and Kotkin write with concern about the “clerisy”, an elite comprising academia, the prestige press, and leaders in IT, finance and culture, assuming a superior position and holding the population in contempt. They paint the idea of rule by experts as unattractive, and of course anti-democratic, though this seems to be the position Plato would favour.

The immediate reason for my linking the latest reshuffle in my mind with Plato’s ‘Ship of Fools’ critique was