Description
The Republic is the first and arguably the greatest work on political philosophy. (Alfred North Whitehead famously stated that all Western philosophy was a footnote to Plato.) In it Socrates, Plato’s teacher, presents the case for the good life and the perfectly administered society. (Albeit, some writers, like Karl Popper, have called it a blueprint for a closed or authoritarian society.) Plato’s writing is poetical, and the book is replete with timeless images: the allegory of the cave, philosopher kings, and the ring of Gyges (the inspiration for Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings), among others. We will use the translation by C. D. C. Reeve (Hackett paperback).
Weekly Topics
Week 1: Book I: Theories of Justice
Week 2: Book II: Justice in the city; guardians and their education
Week 3: Book III: More on education
Week 4: Book IV: City-soul analogy
Week 5: Book V: More on the city
Week 6: Book VI: Philosopher kings
Week 7: Book VII: Allegory of the cave and role of education
Week 8: Book VIII: Four unjust constitutions
Week 9: Book IX: Tyranny
Week 10: Book X: Rejection of imitative arts
Bibliography
The Republic, C. D. C. Reeve, translator (Hackett paperback)
