This is Philosophy Bites with me Nigel Warburton and me David Edmonds.

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Only one philosophy bites interviewee has come close to leading a country, well so far.

Michael Ignatyev was a successful academic and writer before he was lured into politics in his

native Canada. He swiftly rose to become leader of the Liberal Party.

Then things went equally swiftly downhill, culminating in a humiliating defeat in the 2011 election.

Plato believed that the ideal state would be ruled by philosophers.

So what does Professor Ignatyev, now back at Harvard and chastened by his short political career have to say to that.

Michael Ignatiev, welcome to Philosophy Bites.

It's nice to be here.

The topic we're going to focus on is political theory and political practice.

Now whenever I've taught Plato's Republic, the students have always smiled when we get to the

bit where Plato puts the philosophers in charge of the state.

Why would anybody think that an intellectual, a philosopher,

would be good at politics?

Oh, it's a classic bit of hubris.

I mean, in my case case I was a Harvard professor and was asked out of the blue,

literally out of the blue, whether I'd come back to Canada, my home country and run for public

office and what made it hubristic is that it took a nanosecond to say yes.

And I've always, in retrospect, since it didn't turn out so well, I've often asked why that

...