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Overview
The Republic deals with the great range of Plato's thought, but is particularly concerned with what makes a well-balanced society and individual. It combines argument and myth to advocate a life organized by reason rather than dominated by desires and appetites. Regarded by some as the foundation document of totalitarianism, by others as a call to develop the full potential of humanity, the Republic remains a challenging and intensely exciting work.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781848704961 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Wordsworth Editions, Limited |
| Publication date: | 02/01/2013 |
| Series: | Classics of World Literature |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 400 |
| File size: | 1 MB |
About the Author
Simon Blackburn is a British American philosopher. He has been a professor at University of Cambridge and currently teaches at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is a former editor of the journal The Mind and is the author of Plato’s Republic: A Biography.
Read an Excerpt
Socrates: I went down yesterday to Piraeus with Glaucon, Ariston’s son, to pray to the goddess, wanting at the same time also to see the way they were going to hold the festival, since they were now conducting it for the first time. The parade of the local residents seemed to me to be beautiful, while the one that the Thracians put on looked no less appropriate. And having prayed and having seen, we went off toward the city. Spotting us from a distance then as we headed home, Polemarchus, Cephalus’s son, ordered his slave to run and order us to wait for him. And grabbing me from behind by my cloak, the slave said “Polemarchus orders you to wait.” And I turned around and asked him where the man himself was. “He’s coming along from behind,” he said. “Just wait.” “Certainly we’ll wait” said Glaucon.
Table of Contents
Preface and background to the Republic xiiiIntroduction xxiii
Principal Dates xlvii
Current Opinions of Justice Refuted (Book 1) 1
Introductory Dialogue (Socrates and Cephalus, 328c-331d) 2
First Definition (Cephalus, 331a-d) 5
Refutation (332c-335d) 6
Third Definition (Thrasymachus, 338c-343a) 13
Refutation (339b-e) 14
Redefinition of Ruler (340d-341a) 15
Refutation (341c-343a) 16
New Argument (343a-348a) 18
Refutations of (a): i) 345b-348a) 20
Refutation of (b), 352d-354a 28
Conclusion (354a-c) 30
Justice Reexamined, in the State and in the Individual (Books 2-4) 31
Adeimantus (362d-367e) 35
The Problem Examined and Solved (368c-445e) 40
Second State of the State (372d-427c) 44
Elementary Education of the guardians (376c-415d) 48
Gymnastics (physical education), 403c-412b 73
Instilling and testing patriotism and leadership, 412c-415d 81
Living arrangements of guardians and auxiliaries (415d-427c) 85
Conclusion (427c-434d) 94
Wisdom = the knowledge of the guardians (428a-429a) 95
Courage = the auxiliaries’ opinion of “what is and is not to be feared” (429a-30c) 96
Temperance = agreement of all three classes about who should rule and be ruled (430d-432b) 97
Justice = each of the three classes “tending its own business” and not preempting the work of another (432b-434d) 99
Composition of the Soul (434d-441c) 101
Conclusion (441d-444e) 109
Degeneration Regimes and Souls, Interrupted (445b-449a) 113
Digression: The Best Regime and Men (Books 5-7) 114
Organization of the Best Regime (451c-461e) 116
Women and children will not be private possessions but common to all of the men. Marriage arrangements, eugenics (457c-461e) 122
The Superiority and Possibility of Such a City (462a-473e) 126
Excursus: regulations for warfare (466e-471c) 131
Such a city is not impossible (471e-473c) 136
Reminder that the best state is only a model, not completely realizable in practice (472b-473b). It is possible only if philosophers become kings or kings philosophers (473c-3), 138
The Best Men: Philosopher Kings (Guardians), Book 5, 474b-Book 7 139
The Philosophic Nature (485a-503e) 147
Higher Education of the Guardians (504a-535a) 165
The Simple of the Sun (506e-509b) 168
The Simile of the Divided Line (509d-511e) 171
The Simile of the Cave (514a-521b) 174
Curriculum (521c-535a) 181
Plane geometry, 526c-527c 186
Harmonics, 530d-531c 190
Selection of the Guardians (535a-540c) 195
Brief Excursus (540d-541b) 200
Degenerate Regimes and Souls, Resumed From Book 5 (Books 8 and 9) 201
Cause of Change or Decline in a State: Civil War (545c-547c) 203
Degenerate Regimes and Men, Described and Compared (547c-592b) 205
Oilgarchy (rule of the wealthy few) and the oligarchic man (550c-555b) 208
Democracy (rule of the people) and the democratic man (555b-562a) 213
Tyranny (dictatorship) and the tyrannical man (562a-580a) 220
The five types are judged for their goodness and happiness and ranked in the order in which they were presented: Aristocracy and the aristocratic man are the best and happiness; tyranny and the tyrant are the worst and most miserable (580a-588a) 237
Conclusion: The aristocrat is just, the tyrant unjust. Therefore justice makes a man happy, injustice makes him unhappy (588b-592b) 247
Denunciation of Imitative Poetry (Book 10, 595a-608b) 251
Imitative poetry appeals to the emotions rather than to the mind (602c-605c) 259
Imitative poetry deforms character (605c-608b) 263
Immortality and the Rewards of Justice (608b-End) 265
Rewards of Justice and Punishments of Injustice in This Life (612b-614a) 269
Rewards and Punishments After Death (614a-621d) 271
Appendix: The Spindle of Necessity 279
Bibliography 283
What People are Saying About This
"Its increased accessibility promises to make it the number-one choice for undergraduate courses."
—Princeton University
"Loving attention to detail and deep familiarity with Plato's thought are evident on every page."
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Interviews
Joe Sachs's translation of Plato's Republic is for students studying philosophy at the college level, as well as for the general reader interested in the major works of western civilization.