Abstract

This essay provides a profile of Mario Vegetti (1937-2018). Plato's political thought is one of the fields in which Vegetti has concentrated his researches. Vegetti has dedicated to Plato's political philosophy, among other works, the translation (with commentary) of the "Republic" (in 7 volumes). Vegetti's interpretation takes seriously the challenge launched against Plato by Karl Popper in his famous book "The Open Society and its Enemies". According to Vegetti, the meaning of Plato's political philosophy lies precisely in his untimely, that is, in his irreducibility to the today dominant thought (individualism and liberalism). Plato's political thought can be seen, according to Vegetti, as a normative utopia.