The Sting of the Kephènes. Economy and violence in Plato's Republic

Abstract

The image of the kephènesis omnipresent in the description of the transformation of the political regimes of the Republic. As such, it illustrates a degradation process of the human soul and the constitution, which leads to the prevalence of the appetitive part of the soul and to the ascension of the tyrant to the State government.The kephenèsare the metaphor of agents of an acquisitive morality and of a series of lucrative practices that favour the tendency to pleonexia. For this reason, they represent an indispensable element for understanding the radical economic measures that govern the existence of the guardians of Kallipolis. The present article aims to highlight the determining role of the kephènesin a process of exacerbating superfluous desires the satisfaction of which implies the emancipation of the economy from political authority. Free from all subjection and incapable of self-regulation, the economy will lead the city to an internal war and will propitiate the advent of tyranny.