Jordan Dorney: Xenophon and Socratic Libertarianism

The George Buchanan Forum

Why does it seem so difficult for people to acquire, exercise, and establish political rule over others? Why can't human rulers get their human "herds" to obey them willingly like shepherds can with sheep? Why is everyone always revolting against the regime? Xenophon's Education of Cyrus begins with reflection on these questions apparently connected to the anthropological case for libertarianism. For Xenophon, the figure of Cyrus the Great would seem to resolve them decisively in favor of absolute tyranny: Cyrus makes it look so easy to conquer nations and subjugate individuals that not only does the regime itself seem natural but the tyrannical one most of all. Man looks made to be dominated, until even the greatest of kings proves inadequate to the task. Should we look for an even greater king with an even better art of kingship, or is this proof that man is born free and for freedom? This presentation introduces the political writings of the greatest student of Socrates not named Plato and attempts to provide a defense of natural liberty and a skeptical perspective toward attempts to subsume that liberty in or under political life.George Buchanan was a late 16th-century Scottish Reformed thinker who used Scripture, history, and the natural law to argue for the restraint of civil rulers, the resistance to tyranny, and the freedom of Christian citizens. Like its namesake, the George Buchanan Forum is a community of liberty-minded Christians seeking to integrate theology, political theory, economics, and history. Learn more at... https://www.tgbf.orghttps://www.facebook.com/TheGeorgeBuchananForum