Republic (The ^AWorld's Classics) - Hardcover

Plato

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0192126040 ISBN 13: 9780192126047

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 1993

Synopsis

The central work of one of the West's greatest philosophers, The Republic of Plato is a masterpiece of insight and feeling, the finest of the Socratic dialogues, and one of the great books of Western culture. Now Robin Waterfield offers a new translation of The Republic, one that captures the dramatic realism, poetic beauty, intellectual vitality, and emotional power of Plato at his height.
Deftly weaving three main strands of argument into an artistic whole--the ethical and political, the aesthetic and mystical, and the metaphysical--Plato explores in The Republic the elements of the ideal community, where morality can be achieved in a balance of wisdom, courage, and restraint. But of course the dialogue is as much about our internal life as about social morality, for these vital elements must likewise work together to create harmonious human beings. Equally important, Plato achieves more than a philosophical dialogue of lasting fame and importance: The Republic is a literary masterpiece as well, presenting the philosophy with poetic power, with strikingly memorable images (the simile of the cave being the best known of Plato's unforgettable images of the human condition), carrying the reader along by the wit and intensity of the language.
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"Waterfield's is certainly the best translation of the Republic available. It is accurate and informed by deep philosophical understanding of the text; unlike other translations it combines these virtues with an impressive ability to render Plato into English that is an varied and expressive as is Plato's Greek." --Julia Annas

About this title

Book Description

In this influential two-volume edition, first published in 1902, the Scottish classicist James Adam examines the text of Plato's monumental political and philosophical dialogue. Volume 2 focuses on Books 6-10, which discuss the place of the philosopher and questions of governance.

From the Back Cover

This celebrated philosophical work of the fourth century B.C. contemplates the elements of an ideal state, serving as the forerunner for such other classics of political thought as Cicero's De Republica, St. Augustine's City of God, and Thomas More's Utopia.
Written in the form of a dialog in which Socrates questions his students and fellow citizens, The Republic concerns itself chiefly with the question, "What is justice?" as well as Plato's theory of ideas and his conception of the philosopher's role in society. To explore the latter, he invents the allegory of the cave to illustrate his notion that ordinary men are like prisoners in a cave, observing only the shadows of things, while philosophers are those who venture outside the cave and see things as they really are, and whose task it is to return to the cave and tell the truth about what they have seen. This dynamic metaphor expresses at once the eternal conflict between the world of the senses (the cave) and the world of ideas (the world outside the cave), and the philosopher's role as mediator between the two.

About this edition

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 1993
• ISBN 10: 0192126040
• ISBN 13: 9780192126047
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 548