The Republic (Penguin Classics) - Softcover

Plato

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0140455116 ISBN 13: 9780140455113

Publisher: Penguin Classics, 2007

Synopsis

Plato's The Republic is widely acknowledged as the cornerstone of Western philosophy.

Presented in the form of a dialogue between Socrates and three different interlocutors, it is an inquiry into the notion of a perfect community and the ideal individual within it. During the conversation other questions are raised: what is goodness; what is reality; what is knowledge? The Republic also addresses the purpose of education and the role of both women and men as "guardians" of the people. With remarkable lucidity and deft use of allegory, Plato arrives at a depiction of a state bound by harmony and ruled by "philosopher kings."

For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

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: Penguin Classics
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 0140455116
• ISBN 13: 9780140455113
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 416