User:Braelynn2000/Philosopher kings

Emma Adriana's Peer Review Suggestions and Responses
"I would add a quick update to the lead to include your addition of epistocracy. I'd also add a concise sentence summarizing the article."

- I will add a sentence to the lead of the article just to introduce the fact that the concept of philosopher kings is related to epistocracy. I'm not sure about this concise sentence summarizing the article though, the article taken in its totality is a political argument, and this may be irrelevant for the philosopher kings Wikipedia article.

"There is only one sentence I would nitpick: "One should be cautious to equate the concept of the philosopher king with epistocracy because many epistocrats are uncomfortable with the idea of one philosopher king or a small group of philosopher kings being the ultimate source of authority; some prefer a very large and diverse epistocratic polity." In this sentence, you use normative language, encouraging the reader to "be cautious." I think that this sentence is important, because it establishes the difference between some philosopher kings and epistocrats. Perhaps reword the structure here, and mention only the tension between epistocrats and philosopher kings. I would also take away the "some prefer" aspect unless you can reference the specific epistocrats who "prefer a large and diverse epistocratic polity."

- I attempted to remove the normative language and changed it up a little. I'm not sure about the second part of this critique though, I don't really want to remove it because it shows how epistocrats can differ with advocates of philosopher kings. In the source I use it is mentioned how some epistocrats do prefer this large and diverse polity but it does not mention specific advocates. It seems still acceptable for me to make this claim about "some epistocrats" because my source makes this claim.

"I would find some more sources. You've only got one!"

- Yes, I have a couple more sources in mind to use for adding some new content to the article, they will be utilized soon.

"I think there could be more to talk about in regard to Plato's republic – Socrates' idea for his perfect republic sounds similar to some versions of epistocracies that you reference."

- I think so too, but this would require me to explore some new sources; which I will do.

Jcalle00's Peer Review Suggestions and Responses
"I do think you should add a sentence to your intro for each section you talk about tho."

- Yes, I should probably add a sentence to the lead in relation to the section I added.

"I definitely think there is more information that could be added in terms of examples of philosopher-kings but for the most part, it seems like you hit all the points."

- One of the sources I have ready is an argument about whether or not Barack Obama could be considered a philosopher king and I wanted to include this in the examples of philosopher kings section, and explain the arguments for and against Barack Obama being added to this list of examples.

"You use the word  “cautious” but I think it’s an accurate way to warn the reader to not get confused with the concept you talk about and epistocatic polity because there is a way to get slightly confused by the two."

- I think his assessment is correct but it is kind of normative language, so it is probably safest to change the language a little.

"You do need more sources, you only have one source and that’s definitely not enough even tho your source is a reliable source that comes from a recognized journal."

- Yes, I just need to read through the sources I have prepared and figure out how they can help me contribute content to the article.

Article Draft
I had already added this section right into the article when we were adding our citations last week, so I copy and pasted it here. The parts that I bolded I have added this week but just to this sandbox draft. Parts of this section I may later remove and add to the noocracy article but I'm not quite ready to do that yet.

Lead
The idea of the philosopher king is closely related to contemporary political theories like epistocracy and noocracy.

Epistocracy
The concept of the philosopher king is closely related to the idea of epistocracy. Epistocracy (akin to noocracy) is the idea that those who possess a certain level of knowledge or wisdom should rule over those who do not. An argument in favor of epistocracy consists of three main tenets: that there are objectively correct answers to some political questions (truth tenet), some people know these answers and others do not (knowledge tenet), and those who know those answers should have political authority over those who do not (authority tenet). The philosopher Jason Brennan identifies six possible forms of epistocracy: values-only voting (citizens only have the power to choose the ends of government and not the means of their achievement), epistocratic veto (an epistemic political body holds ultimate veto authority over a citizen legislature), plural voting (certain citizens get more votes than others), restricted suffrage (only certain citizens have the right to vote and participate in decisions), enfranchisement lottery (citizens are randomly selected and given the right to vote, though they must first possess a certain level of competence), and government by simulated oracle (policy choices are guided mainly by statistics and data rather than an uninformed electorate). The concept of the philosopher king cannot be equated with epistocracy because many epistocrats are uncomfortable with the idea of one philosopher king or a small group of philosopher kings being the ultimate source of authority; some prefer a very large and diverse epistocratic polity. Epistocracy is subject to many criticisms and questions such as how exactly do we identify those more qualified to rule than others? Is it even possible for some one to have totally sufficient knowledge to become the ideal epistocratic ruler? And, could an epistocracy really produce better outcomes than its' main adversary democracy?

Barack Obama
Political psychologist David G. Winter claims that Barack Obama exemplified certain features of a philosopher king. Among these are his calm demeanor, impressive intellect, and "especially his high integrative complexity." He claims these traits were nurtured by his liberal arts education which resembles the kind of education Plato prescribed for his ideal rulers.