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Melissa Lane is the Class of 1943 Professor of Politics at Princeton University. She is also an associated faculty member in the Department of Classics and the Department of Philosophy at Princeton. As of August 1, 2023, for a term of three academic years, she is also the 50th Professor of Rhetoric at Gresham College, a non-degree-granting institution founded in London in 1597. In this role, she delivers an extended series of public lectures, which are also livestreamed and available online on YouTube: access here.
Melissa Lane
Class of 1943 Professor of Politics, Princeton University
Melissa Lane’s newest book, Of Rule and Office: Plato’s Ideas of the Political (PUP, 2023) is capturing attention. Praise includes:
“[A] meticulous new analysis of Plato’s constitutionalism. . . With the appearance of Melissa Lane’s authoritative Of Rule and Office, debate over the evolution of Plato’s discussion of the vulnerabilities of political office and the various ways in which rule and office might be understood must be nearly at an end.” (Andrew David Irvine, Times Literary Supplement)
“[A] major contribution to our faltering efforts to understand the challenges of politics across the world” (John Dunn, History of European Ideas)
A “great achievement” written with “extraordinary scrupulousness”: “What Melissa Lane’s book does is to drill down through all the layers, as others have not done, to the political bedrock below” (Christopher Rowe, Mind)
Attention to the political significance of the book includes:
Op ed in ‘The Hill’ on office and the Trump immunity case on 7/17/2024, by Jane Manners and Melissa Lane
Op ed in US News & World Report on Plato & ethics of Supreme Court Justices and their families
Episode 75 of “Timeless Leadership” podcast with Scott Monty
Op ed in the LA Times online-first on 3/23/2024, by Jane Manners and Melissa Lane
“Keeping Democracy Alive” with Burt Cohen on Plato: The Benefits of Acting Justly
“The Political Mike” with Michael Taylor (Episode 122)
“Facepalm America” with Beowulf Rochlen (April 3)
An article about Lane’s new book in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette here – subscription required
Podcasts and reviews giving an overview of the book’s arguments:
Oxford New Books roundtable (Vol. 1, No. 1, June 2024): comments by Connor Grubaugh and Miyo Peck-Suzuki with reply by Melissa Lane
Political Theory Review podcast, interviewed by Jeffrey Church, here
Classical Wisdom podcast, interviewed by Anya Leonard, here
Book symposium in History of European Ideas: Introduction by John Dunn; Review articles by Matthew Landauer, Matthew Simonton, Mark Philp, Veronica Rodriguez-Blanco; Response by Melissa Lane.
Book review by Christopher Rowe in Mind
![Solon, lawmaker of Athens (640-558 BCE)](https://melissalane.princeton.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/829/2021/04/Solon-Art-Resource-image-authorized-for-use-Carlyles-ART56598-832x1440.jpg)
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Research Interests
Melissa Lane is a political theorist whose work focuses primarily on ancient Greek philosophy, especially the writings of Plato. She also works on the reception and uses of Plato, informing work which she also does in contemporary political theory, including especially on issues in regard to scientific knowledge, communication, and climate change.
New Publication
Melissa Lane’s major new monograph is Of Rule and Office: Plato’s Ideas of the Political, published by Princeton University Press on 20 June 2023.
In fall and winter 2023, the book was the topic of panel sessions of the American Political Science Association and UK-IVR Association for law and philosophy, and of book launches at Oxford, Princeton, and Labyrinth Books. Book symposia have been published or are forthcoming in History of European Ideas, Polis, and The Review of Politics.
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Recent & Upcoming Events
12 March 2024
'Who Will Guard the Guardians? Thinking Through Democratic Vulnerabilities with Plato
The Mary Wollstonecraft Annual Lecture
University of Hull
24 April 2024 / 31 May 2024
'To know is to act; to act is to know': rethinking rule with Plato
Philosophy Seminar, University of Colorado (Boulder), 24 April 2024
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In conference on
Virtue, Conversation, Knowledge: Plato and Beyond
London, 30-31 May 2024: in honour of M.M. McCabe
30 May 2024
'Experts in Politics: Lessons from Socrates and Aristotle'
Gresham College Lecture
Barnard’s Inn Hall, London
18:00 (BST)
Subsequently on the Gresham YouTube Channel
13 June 2024
'Plato's Cave: Thinking about Climate Change'
Gresham College Lecture
Barnard’s Inn Hall, London
18:00 (BST)
Subsequently on the Gresham YouTube Channel
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