The Republic of Plato
Plato
The Republic of Plato
3.97from 232,380 ratingson Goodreads
"The Republic of Plato" by Plato is a Socratic dialogue written around 375 BC. In this foundational work of philosophy and political theory, Socrates debates the nature of justice with Athenians and foreigners, asking whether the just person is happier than the unjust. The discussion ranges from definitions of justice to the design of an ideal city-state ruled by philosopher-kings, exploring aging, love, the soul's immortality, and poetry's role in society along the way.
About the book
The Republic was written by Plato in Athens around 375 BC, in the form of a conversation led by his teacher Socrates. It begins with a simple question, what justice is and whether a just person is happier than an unjust one, and pursues it by imagining an entire city built on just principles. Over ten books the discussion takes in education, the role of poetry and music, the equality of women among the city's guardians, and the rule of philosopher-kings. It includes the allegory of the cave, in which prisoners mistake shadows for reality, and ends with an argument for the immortality of the soul. This edition uses the translation of the Oxford classicist Benjamin Jowett.
Characters
Socrates — Leading speaker
Plato’s teacher, who leads the conversation about justice by asking questions.
Glaucon — Plato’s brother
An ambitious young man who pushes Socrates to prove that justice is worth having for its own sake.
Adeimantus — Plato’s brother
Glaucon’s brother, who presses Socrates on education and the city.
Thrasymachus — Sophist
A forceful teacher of rhetoric who argues that justice is the advantage of the stronger.
Cephalus — Host’s father
A wealthy old man whose remarks on age and wealth start the discussion.
Polemarchus — Host
Cephalus’s son, who offers the first definition of justice.
About the author
Plato (c. 428–348 BC) was an Athenian philosopher, a student of Socrates and the teacher of Aristotle, and he founded the Academy — arguably the first university in the West, and one that ran for nearly three centuries. He never writes in his own voice: the thirty-odd dialogues that survive are arguments between named Athenians, usually with Socrates in the middle asking the questions. The execution of Socrates by the city in 399 BC is the event behind all of them. The Republic, the Symposium, the Phaedo and the Apology are the most read.