The Paradox of the Philosopher King. In the third-season TOS episode "Plato's Stepchildren," the Platonians claim to have modeled their society on the ideals of the Greek philosopher Plato. Parmen, the leader of the Platonians, even claims to be a philosopher king as described in Plato's dialog, the Republic. In this episode of Meta Treks, find out what the Plutonians got right and what they got wrong about Plato's philosophy. Hosts Zachary Fruhling and Mike Morrison discuss Plato's Paradox of the Philosopher King in "Plato's Stepchildren" and other places in the Star Trek universe, such as: General Martok as leader of the Klingon High Council, Commander Riker as the captain who wouldn't sit down in the Big Chair, Captain Picard as the captain who wouldn't become an admiral (or a badmiral), and Quark's brother Rom as the unlikeliest candidate for Grand Nagus of the Ferengi Alliance. Chapters Welcome to Episode 15 (00:01:07) Meta Treks iTunes Reviews (00:02:25) The Paradox of the Philosopher King (00:06:56) Star Trek and the Ideal Society (00:08:43) Not Seeking Power for its Own Sake (00:11:38) Philosopher Kings in Star Trek: Martok (00:12:52) Captain Picard - Authority from Above or Below (00:15:57) Authority and Hierarchy (00:18:25) Commander Riker - The Captain Who Wouldn't Sit Down (00:20:24) Plato and Forms - Justice in Itself (00:21:48) Plato and the Allegory of the Cave (00:29:46) Philosopher Kings or Bumbling Fools? (00:35:50) Plato's Stepchildren (00:37:22) Kirk and Uhura - Social Commentary and Society's Ideals (00:38:39) The Platonians - Getting Plato Right and Getting Plato Wrong (00:40:23) Rom - The Paradox of the Philanthropist Grand Nagus (01:00:57) Final Thoughts (01:05:21)

Hosts Zachary Fruhling and Mike Morrison Production Dennis Castello (Editor and Producer) Norman C. Lao (Executive Producer) C Bryan Jones (Executive Producer) Matthew Rushing (Executive Producer) Charlynn Schmiedt (Executive Producer) Will Nguyen (Content Manager) Richard Marquez (Production Manager) Send us your feedback! Twitter: @trekfm Facebook: http://facebook.com/trekfm Voicemail: http://www.speakpipe.com/trekfm Contact Form: http://www.trek.fm/contact Visit the Trek.fm website at http://www.trek.fm/ Subscribe in iTunes: http://itunes.com/trekfm Support the Network! Become a Trek.fm Patron on Patreon and help us keep Star Trek talk coming every week. We have great perks for you at http://patreon.com/trekfm