Dialoguec. 375 BCAncient Greek

Republic

Plato

Plato's central dialogue. A long argument about justice that becomes a long argument about everything: the soul, the city, education, art, and the form of the Good. The cave allegory sits in the middle of it.

In Res

Read for the structure, not the conclusions. The interest of Republic is in watching an argument get tested by its participants, taken seriously, and pushed until it produces a model of the soul. The mistake is to treat any single position in it as Plato's settled view.

Subjects

  • justice
  • political philosophy
  • epistemology
  • ethics
  • education

Editions

  • 1968

    Hardcover

    Basic Books· English· 512 pp.

    TranslatorAllan Bloom

    ISBN 0465069347ISBN-13 9780465069347

  • 2003

    Hardcover

    Oxford Classical Texts· Ancient Greek· 432 pp.

    ISBN-13 9780198145745