What Does κρίσις Entail? The Problem of ‘Decision and/ or Judgement’ in Plato’s Republic and Laws

In spite of its current meaning, the coming of the Greek noun krísis from the verb kríno evokes a different originating semantic dimension, dealing with the spheres of decision and judgement. If, in the medical tradition, krísis represents the “turning point of a disease, sudden change for better or worse” (Liddell-Scott-Jones, 1996), its links to kríno and to the idea of decision and/or judgement appear predominant in ancient Greek literature. Through a lexical analysis, the essay focuses on the usages of the noun krísis in Plato’s Republic and Laws, with a view to stressing the close connection between the original conception of krísis and politics in these works. A specific light is shed on krísis and political action, in order to sound out in depth the relation between the moment of decision and/or judgement by rulers or judges and its practical consequences for the ruled people, since this connection clearly entails a conception of power connected to the idea of responsibility. As a result, it might be said that the action of krínein and its political consequences can be good or bad based on the skills – moral or material – of the men who have the duty of choosing. In this sense, the idea of krísis might be apparently similar to the aforementioned medical acceptation and, to some extent, to move close to its current contemporary meaning.