Plato's Republic

by Plato Narrated by Albert A. Anderson

Overview

The Republic poses questions that endure: What is justice? What form of community fosters the best possible life for human beings? What is the nature and destiny of the soul? What form of education provides the best leaders for a good republic? What are the various forms of poetry and the other arts, and which ones should be fostered and which ones should be discouraged? How does knowing differ from believing? Several characters in the dialogue present a variety of tempting answers to those questions. Cephalus, Polemarchus, Thrasymachus, and Glaucon all offer definitions of justice. Socrates, Glaucon, and Adeimantus explore five different forms of republic and evaluate the merit of each from the standpoint of goodness. Two contrasting models of education are proposed and examined. Three different forms of poetry are identified and analyzed. The difference between knowing and believing is discussed in relation to the objects of each kind of thinking.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

"Robin Waterfield has produced an idiomatic, lively, and thoroughly up-to-date Englishing of Plato's Republic....Waterfield...succeeds beautifully...in making engaging English out of Plato's Greek. For this teachers of Greek philosophy owe him gratitude."—Ancient Philosophy

"Waterfield's translation is certainly the best 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 as varied and expressive as is Plato's Greek."— Professor Julia Annas, University of Arizona

"Translated in an easy, accessible style, as though these were people, not textbooks speaking. The introduction is lucid and complete."—E.N. Genovese, San Diego State University

"An excellent translation and introduction. The best I have seen."—Tom Christenson, Capital University

Product Details

BN ID:	2940169956283
Publisher:	Agora Publications
Publication date:	01/01/2010
Series:	Agora Editions
Edition description:	Unabridged

Read an Excerpt

Then if anyone at all is to have the privilege of lying, the rulers of the State should be the persons; and they, in their dealings either with enemies or with their own citizens, may be allowed to lie for the public good. But nobody else should meddle with anything of the kind.

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