The classical authors of political philosophy have shaped the way we think about politics over the centuries. We owe to them fundamental notions such as forms of government and popular sovereignty. However, social media have revolutionized the public sphere in democratic societies. Can the classical authors shed light on phenomena such as the surrender of personal data online, digital cacophony, fragmentation of the public sphere, political polarization, or online lynch mobs that characterize current politics?

This book explores the influence of the classical thinkers of political philosophy in the age of social media. It offers an in-depth analysis of the main classical authors –from Aristotle to Hegel– providing a renewed and original reading of their theoretical proposals. It then connects their views on human nature and politics with the current bibliography in the social sciences and neuroscience regarding the dynamics and latent impulses driving social media use. In this way, the work articulates, drawing on the wisdom of the classics, explanatory keys and solutions to the problems that threaten democracy in the digital era.