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DismantlingtheConceptofTechnology
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thosewhoknow,overthosewhodonot.Terearethusfourcouplings
oftraditionalqualificationstobehad,alongwithtwotheoretical
couplingsthatclaimpriorityoverthem,namely,naturalsuperiority
andtheruleofsciencequaknowledge(Plato1988).
Telistoughttostopthere.Butthereisaseventhqualification:
uthechoiceofGod”,otherwisereferringtoadrawingoflotsthat
designatestheonewhoexercisesuarche”.Platodoesnotexpandupon
this.Butclearly,thiskindofuchoice”pointsironicallytothedesig-
nationbyGodofaregimepreviouslyreferredtoasoneonlyGod
couldsave:democracy.Whatthuscharacterizesademocracyispure
chanceorthecompleteabsenceofqualificationsforgoverning.De-
mocracyisthestateofexceptionwherenooppositionscanfunction,
whereisnopre-determinedprincipleofroleallocation.Democracy
isthespecificsituationinwhichthereisanabsenceofqualifications
that,inturn,becomesthequalificationfortheexerciseofademo-
craticarche.Whatisdestroyedinthislogic,istheparticularquality
ofarche,itsredoubling,whichmeansthatitalwaysprecedesitself
withinacircleofitsowndispositionandexercise.Butthisexcep-
tionalstateisidenticalwiththeveryconditionforthespecificityof
politicsmoregenerally.
LawsisPlato’slatedialogue,inwhichSocratesisabsent.How-
ever,SocratesispresentinthedialogueentitledRepublic.Whatdoes
thetitlereallymean?TeGreekformusedinthistitleispoliteia,and
thiswordisordinarilytranslatedasuconstitution”.Tismeans,not
onlystructureaswemayunderstandit,butalsoawholewayoflife.
Wewouldtranslatepoliteialiterally,however,asuregime”orupolity”.
Whenyouspeakofdemocracyoraristocracyasawayoflifeand
notasamereprocedureforhavingagovernment,thendemocracy
wouldbearegimeinthissense.InRepublic,accordingtoSocrates,
therearefivekindsofregime:(1)kingdomoraristocracy,therule
ofthebestmanorthebestmen,thatisdirectedtowardgoodness
orvirtue,theregimeofthejustcity;(2)timocracy,theruleofthe
loversofhonororoftheambitiousmenwhichisdirectedtoward
superiorityorvictory;(3)oligarchyortheruleoftherichinwhich
wealthismosthighlyesteemed;(4)democracy,theruleoffreemen
inwhichfreedomismosthighlyesteemed;and(5)tyranny,therule
ofthecompletelyunjustmaninwhichunqualifiedandunashamed
injusticeholdssway(Plato1993).
