Political Science, History & Theory

The Republic

Name: The Republic
Author: Plato
ISBN: 9781934451656

by Plato

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Overview

The question The Republic sets out to define is "What is justice?" Given the difficulty of this task, Socrates and his interlocutors are led into a discussion of justice in the city, which Socrates suggests may help them see justice in the person, but on a grander (and therefore easier to discuss) scale ("suppose that a short-sighted person had been asked by some one to read small letters from a distance; and it occurred to some one else that they might be found in another place which was larger and in which the letters were larger," 368, trans. Jowett). Some critics (such as Julia Annas) have adhered to this premise that the dialogue's entire political construct exists to serve as an analogy for the individual soul, in which there are also various potentially competing or conflicting "members" that might be integrated and orchestrated under a just and productive "government."

The most important of the Socratic dialogues, The Republic is concerned with the construction of an ideal commonwealth and thus is the earliest of utopias.

Synopsis

This edition, translated from the New Standard Greek Text by C. D. C. Reeve, includes an Introduction, select bibliography, a synopsis of each book, a glossary of terms, a glossary and index of names, and a general index.

About the Author, Plato

Robin Waterfield is a distinguished translator and author. Previously a consultant editor for Collins-Harvill, his translations of Plato include Philebus (1982), Theatetus (1987), Early Socratic Dialogues (1987), and Symposium (WC, Jan, 1994).