BENJAMIN
KEOSEYAN
philosopher
About
I am a philosopher and classicist. I teach philosophy at Pepperdine University in sunny Malibu, California. I am a Ph.D. candidate in philosophy at the even sunnier University of Arizona, completing a dissertation on Plato's political philosophy under Julia Annas and Thomas Christiano, which I expect to defend in January 2025. Before that I completed my M.A. in philosophy at the not-so-sunny Northern Illinois University.
My current research focuses on the role that law plays in Plato's political theorizing in the Republic and the Laws. I believe there is still more to learn from Plato about just how we should use law in the best political constitution, and explore this in my research. I am also currently writing on the way that Cicero's academic skepticism manifests in his political dialogues—the De Republica and the De Legibus.
Research
PDFs of all papers available upon request
Cicero's Academic Skepticism and his Political Dialogues
This research project tries to solve a puzzle in Cicero’s political works. Cicero’s De Republica and De Legibus are regarded as some of the most influential texts in the history of constitutionalism, and present confident and sustained arguments for such ideas as the importance of political involvement in a republic and natural law theory. Yet we know that Cicero was an academic skeptic, and did not think we could have knowledge regarding such matters. In the past, scholars took these dialogues to belong to a period where Cicero abandoned skepticism, thus explaining the apparently non-skeptical style of argument in them. But nowadays, the consensus is that Cicero was a skeptic throughout his life; so whence the lack of skepticism in these dialogues?
In “Ring Composition and the Skepticism of the De Republica” (Polis: The Journal for Ancient Greek and Roman Political Thought, 2024) I propose a novel interpretation of the De Republica, which has two main virtues: first, it explains how the apparently unconnected fragments of the dialogue form a cohesive literary whole (as we might expect from a master orator as Cicero) with a main argument against the Epicurean prohibition on political involvement; second, it explains how this sustained defense of the political life (contra the Epicureans) is compatible with Cicero’s skepticism, and is in fact an instance of his Academic skeptical teaching method. In the future, I plan to write an article describing how the De Legibus is consistent with Cicero’s academic skepticism.
Entrenchment in the Republic and the Laws
In “Entrenchment of the Laws in Kallipolis?” (under review), I describe how Plato uses legal entrenchment as a safeguarding mechanism against abuses of political authority in the guardian class. While recently scholars have highlighted some of the safeguarding mechanisms in the constitution of Kallipolis, my article is the first to argue that Plato intended some of the laws of Kallipolis—specifically the laws concerning guardian education—to be utterly unchangeable, even for the guardians.
In “Entrenchment of the Laws in Magnesia?” (draft), I argue that Plato intended for all the laws of Magnesia to be entrenched after a ten-year initial draft period for the constitution. I argue against those scholars who view a famous passage in book 6 to imply a constitutional power to change law, and argue against the view that the notorious Nocturnal Council described in books 10 and 12 has some power to change law. Being neither an office nor an official part of the constitution, their role resembles that of a university, promoting philosophical understanding of the laws among the citizens of Magnesia.
Rule of Law in the Republic and the Laws
Jeremy Waldron expressed a common view among scholars when he wrote that “The heritage of argument about the Rule of Law begins with Aristotle”. This view, I believe, is ill-founded. In “Eunomia and the Rule of Law in Plato” (draft), I argue that the ideal constitutions in both the Republic and the Laws are meant to embody eunomia. Eunomia, on my account, requires that a city embody the formal feature of generality of the Rule of Law, as well as the requirement of Rule of Law that rulers and citizens be law-abiding. These features of Rule of Law are found in both the Republic and the Laws. Additionally, the formal Rule of Law features of publicity and intelligibility are emphasized in the preludes to the laws in the Magnesian constitution. The reason scholars have hesitated to claim that Plato endorsed the Rule of Law is because of a misreading of the certain claims in the Statesman, claims which Plato himself explicitly clarified his position about in the Laws.
Early Greek Political Thinking About Law
Though Plato was the first to write systematically about entrenchment and the Rule of Law, he was not the first Greek to think about these ideas. In “Nomocracy in Early Greek Political Thought” (draft), I describe the precursors to Plato who thought about these two legal concepts. Writings about Solon and the fragments attributed to him, I argue, both indicate that the ideas of entrenchment and eunomia understood as Rule of Law were present in the archaic period. I analyze the philological evidence for an understanding of eunomia as something like Rule of Law in the archaic period. Further, Xenophon’s Memorabilia, Plato’s Crito, and Anonymous Iamblichi indicate that the same ideas were discussed in the Circle of Socrates.
Teaching
as primary instructor:
Foundations of Reasoning
Pepperdine University, Fall 2024
This is a discussion-based course that seeks to teach students to think well. It owes a lot to Meghan Sullivan’s God and the Good Life course at Notre Dame, and is a mixture of intro to philosophy, a bit of logic, Great Books, philosophy of religion, and the meaning of life. It is mandatory for almost all first-year students at Seaver College.
A Guided Tour of Plato's Republic
University of Arizona, Summer 2024, Fall 2023, Fall 2021
This is an upper-level philosophy course for philosophy and classics students at University of Arizona. In it, we closely read Plato’s Republic, as well as Julia Annas’s An Introduction to Plato’s Republic. Students hone their skills reconstructing and evaluating first Annas’s interpretations of Plato’s arguments, then their own interpretations of the arguments from the text. My lecture videos for this course are approved by the philosophy department for use by other instructors teaching it at Arizona.
Formal Logic
Pepperdine University, Summer 2022, Summer 2020
This course is an introduction to formal logic for philosophy majors at Pepperdine. We focus on translating natural language arguments into formal languages, including sentential logic, first order logic, and finally first order logic with identity. Students learn truth table, truth tree, and natural deduction methods for testing validity.
An Introduction to Aristotle
University of Arizona, Fall 2022
This is a discussion-based, upper-level philosophy course for philosophy and classics majors at University of Arizona. In it, we read selections from Aristotle’s work, as well as the entirety of Jonathan Lear’s fantastic Aristotle: the Desire to Understand. Students reconstruct and evaluate Lear’s interpretation of Aristotle, and give their own interpretations of Aristotle. I focus on helping students to see Aristotle’s various views as part of the impressive philosophical system of Aristotelianism, while flagging the tensions present between (and indeed within) Aristotle’s different works.
Environmental Ethics
University of Arizona, Summer 2021, Fall 2020
This is a survey of the ethical problems related to the environment and our place in it. I use Dave Schimdtz and Danny Shahar’s excellent Environmental Ethics: What Really Matters, What Really Works. We start in the nineteenth century, with Marsh, Emerson, and the debate between Gifford Pinchot and John Muir, then learn about Aldo Leopold’s Land Ethic. The bulk of the course is spent on evaluating arguments in contemporary writings on environmental issues, including rewilding, trophy hunting as conservation, ecological feminism, and animal liberation.
Philosophy of Happiness
University of Arizona, Summer 2020
This is an introductory ethics course with a special focus on hedonism, eudaimonism, and existentialism. In it, we read and discuss a very broad selection of philosophers, including Plato, Aristotle, Epicurus, Annas, the Daodejing, Nozick, Parfit, Mill, Nietzsche, Camus, and others.
as discussion instructor/teaching assistant:
The Classical Mind
Catholic University of America (Tucson Program), Spring 2024, Spring 2023, Fall 2022
The Modern Mind
Catholic University of America (Tucson Program), Fall 2023
Logic and Critical Thinking
University of Arizona, Fall 2019
Classical Mythology
Northern Illinois University, Fall 2018, Spring 2019
Contact Me
Benjamin Keoseyan
Religion and Philosophy Division
Pepperdine University
24255 Pacific Coast Highway
Malibu, CA 90263-4352
ben.keoseyan@pepperdine.edu
Tel: (seven-o-four) 604.8703
A photograph of me with the Philosopher, Thessaloniki, Greece.
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