Michael Ignatieff on Political Theory and Political Practice

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• 00:03

  This is philosophy bites with me, Nigel.

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  Warburton, and me, David Edmonds.

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• 00:19

  Only one philosophy bites interviewee has come close to leading a country well, so far.

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  Michael Ignatieff was a successful academic and writer before he was lured into politics in his native Canada.

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  He swiftly rose to become leader of the liberal party.

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  Then things went equally swiftly downhill, culminating in a humiliating defeat in the 2011 election.

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  Plato believed that the ideal state would be ruled by philosophers.

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  So what does Professor Ignatieff, now back at Harvard and chastened by his short political career, have to say to that?

• 00:55

  Michael Ignatieff, welcome to philosophy bites.

• 00:57

  It's nice to be here.

• 00:59

  The topic we're going to focus on is political theory and political practice.

• 01:04

  Now, whenever I've taught Plato's republic, the students have always smiled.

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  When we get to the bit where Plato puts the philosophers in charge of the state, why would anybody think that an intellectual, a philosopher, would be good at politics?

• 01:19

  Oh, it's a classic bit of hubris.

• 01:21

  I mean, in my case, I was a Harvard professor and was asked out of the blue, literally out of the blue, whether I'd come back to Canada, my home country, and run for public office.

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  And what made it hubristic is that it took a nanosecond to say yes.

• 01:36

  And I've always, in retrospect, since it didn't turn out so well, I've often asked why that was so deeply rooted in me.

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