The Republic (Penguin Classics S.) - Softcover

Plato

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0140449140 ISBN 13: 9780140449143

Publisher: Penguin Classics, 2003

Synopsis

Plato's 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 enquiry 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'.

About this title

Review:

"Must we not acknowledge...that in each of us there are the same principles and habits which there are in the State; and that from the individual they pass into the State?"

What does it mean to be good? What enables us to distinguish right from wrong? And how should human virtues be translated into a just society? These are the questions that Plato sought to answer in this monumental work of moral and political philosophy, a book surpassed only by the Bible in its formative influence on two thousand years of Western thought.

In the course of its tautly reasoned Socratic dialogues, The Republic accomplishes nothing less than an anatomy of the soul and an exhaustive description of a State that both mirrors and enforces the soul's ideal harmony. The resulting text is at once mystical and elegantly logical and may be read as a template for the societies in which most of us live today.

Vintage Classics are quality paperback editions of the world's greatest written works. They are durably bound and are printed exclusively on acid-free paper.

Book Description:

The late James Adam's edition of The Republic of Plato was published in 1902 and remains the most detailed and valuable critical edition available. D. A. Rees has written an introduction of 15,000 words for this edition. In it, he surveys Adam's work on the textual problems, language and meaning of The Republic.

About this edition

• Publisher: Penguin Classics
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 0140449140
• ISBN 13: 9780140449143
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 496