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Plato

The Republic (Penguin Classics) Paperback – September 14, 2007

by Plato (Author), Desmond Lee (Translator), Melissa Lane (Introduction)

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Plato's The 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 inquiry 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."

For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

Print length

416 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Penguin Classics
Publication date

September 14, 2007
Grade level

12 and up
Reading age

18 years and up
Dimensions

7.8 x 5.08 x 0.81 inches
ISBN-10

0140455116
ISBN-13

978-0140455113
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About the Author

Plato (c. 427–347 b.c.) founded the Academy in Athens, the prototype of all Western universities, and wrote more than twenty philosophical dialogues.

Desmond Lee (1908–1993) taught for many years at Cambridge University and also translated Plato’s Timaeus and Critias for Penguin Classics.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Penguin Classics; New edition (September 14, 2007)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 416 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0140455116
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0140455113
Reading age ‏ : ‎ 18 years and up
Grade level ‏ : ‎ 12 and up
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 11.6 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7.8 x 5.08 x 0.81 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #5,427 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #4 in Ancient Greek History (Books)
- #6 in Political Philosophy (Books)
- #21 in Greek & Roman Philosophy (Books)

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Plato

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Plato (428-348 BCE) was a philosopher and mathematician in ancient Greece. A student of Socrates and a teacher of Aristotle, his Academy was one of the first institutions of higher learning in the Western world. He is widely regarded as the father of modern philosophy.

Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5

1,673 global ratings

5 star		77%
4 star		13%
3 star		6%
2 star		2%
1 star		2%

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Taylor Lee

Another excellent job by Penguin

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 23, 2023

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Penguin Classics continues to do a great job in reprinting various classics. They provide excellent footnotes helping the reader understand the various arguments made by Plato. The book can be a little confusing and challenging at times due to Plato seeming preoccupation with mathematical proofs and stars to explain various events, but the editors do an admirable job in helping explain the confusion.

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Peace Monger

Great book for Young adults.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on November 11, 2022

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All of my teenage kids, in there time loved this book. Great for explaining the inconsistent behavior we are all surrounded by.

2 people found this helpful

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Gro

Great book - Book condition is decent

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on June 15, 2022

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I've been curious about Plato so I decided to buy this book. The book is intact though in decent condition (there is slight damage on each corner, which is generally expected, though I expected less of it). Overall, good book.

One person found this helpful

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THe Neuro

An Interesting Look into Justice and the Perfect State

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 17, 2012

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The Republic, by Plato, is a very thoughtful and explorative writing about the perfect state, the role of justice in it, and how it could be materialized. Plato explores how a state should function, in terms of justice, and he discusses what justice is, how it governs human actions, and why it is so important.
The society, according to him, has 3 classes, workers, warriors, and rulers, who must all coexist and work together. They are governed by appetite, spirit(honor), and thought, respectively. Someone who is governed by one thing, say appetite, but holds a position that should be governed by another idea(say ruler), becomes a bad thing for society, in this case a tyrant. Who should hold each postitions, how they should be trained, and what types of things should be allowed in the society, and in their lives are all discussed by Plato, but he does come to the conclusion, that although money can satisfy the appetite, it cannot satisfy the mind, and thought and understanding brings true happiness, and justice brings true good. Education should ensure that good rules the minds of society, for great knowlege combined with evil intentions causes trouble. The world inself has a visible and mental form, and Thinkers and Philosophers are those who access most the mental world. Justice however, is inherently good, and brings the most true good to a society.
Plato's analysis of the state is quite a profound and interesting one, and this book is a simple translation to read and understand and is recommendable to anyone. It is truly a must read, especially in greek literature, as Plato is one of the great thinkers of all time.

10 people found this helpful

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TM

Covers most philosophies in one book.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on October 4, 2022

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Good

3 people found this helpful

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Marisol herrera

Books come damaged

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on February 28, 2023

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Opened it and saw damage everywhere. On the spine and all the sides

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Ritesh Laud

Outstanding political philosophy, still relevant today

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on November 19, 2005

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Written over 2300 years ago, this cornerstone of political philosophy retains an astonishing degree of relevancy and applicability to the modern world. The prose takes the form of a friendly debate (with occasional humorous excursions into antagonism when Thrasymachus takes offense a few times) between four or five men, ostensibly on elucidating the nature of justice. Well, besides discussing justice, Plato launches into a description of his ideal state along with a somewhat comprehensive analysis of the various forms of government known to the ancient Greeks: the Spartan timarchy, oligarchy, democracy, and tyranny. I found these sections of the work to be lucid and educational.

In addition, Plato lays the groundwork for his philosophy of the "forms", which are fleshed out in some of his later works. This bit gets heavy and at times incomprehensible; I skimmed some of it.

There are certain assumptions that Socrates (the primary mouthpiece in The Republic) makes that I suppose were taken for granted to the ancient Greeks, such as how weather was assumed to be at the whim of the gods or the importance of animal sacrifice. These assumptions are used to further some logical arguments and arrive at a conclusion, which of course wouldn't pass muster today.

Overall, a very readable and well-written treatise that serves the secondary purpose of proving to the layman how advanced the ancient Greek world was in its thinking.

16 people found this helpful

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Interesting book

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on November 11, 2021

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I gave it five star because it requires special talent to write such a great book.

I wouldn’t read it again nor would I recommend this to anyone.

I read it as a challenge and to see what I could learn from it.

I believe one day they might ban this book because of Plato’s view about certain topics.

7 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

Robert

This book is very closely watched by the GLOBALIST ELITE

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on March 14, 2021

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The globalist elite is guarding this book by all means to prevent it to spread in human populations and start the awakening of the humans how the globalist are using the corruption, political power to influence election results and where the political elite has they monopoly. Plato’s REPUBLIC was danger for politics in his age, and the REPUBLIC is danger for present corrupt government and politics as well.

10 people found this helpful

Ben J. Johnson

Early learning.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on April 25, 2020

Verified Purchase

I purchased this for my friends daughters birthday. She was not impressed. She did like the Dr Seuss book though. Every child should read this, especially if they intend to be a member of the ruling class.

15 people found this helpful

Amazon Customer

A good read, Plato was a wise man.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on March 9, 2021

Verified Purchase

A wonderful book. hard work at times but worth it. More of a study than a read.
Really made me question the concept of a democracy and all men being equal.

The way they argue every point rather than take it as accepted before coming to an agreement so they can build on it and go deeper in agreement makes the ideas flow into each other and leaves you with a very well supported argument at the end point.

Also considering it’s age it’s a credit to Plato how some of his points are very relevant to modern society. The bit about teachers/parents in democracies fearing kids was a good prediction.

3 people found this helpful

Amazon Customer

Subjective in its ethics but shouldn't be a taken as a book of empirical discussion on morality

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on June 22, 2020

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Often regarded as a cornerstone of modern philosophy, Socrates popularises the very purpose which still holds true today: the study of knowledge for the love of it. His 'philosopher kings' are seemingly prodigies and natural lovers of the field, who should be rulers according to his views. Though the practicality or possibility of this might be nil, Plato does well to leave a broad definition of such kings, for the 'love of knowledge' is a broad and flexible term, doing well to set a history-long tradition of thinkers and thinking that has far developed to today.

Socrates' style of argument might not be the best one, but might have been revolutionary for the time. His frequent use of nature and professions as analogy falls to glaring logical fallacies. Nonetheless in some sections he manages to present arguments which you could not have seen coming.

The argument lies whether The Republic should be seen for its ethical or political side. My view is both: the political is merely a convenient side effect of Socrates' extensive analogy of the state to reflect the individual, to prove an ultimately ethical debate. The question whether living a just life pays off in itself isn't answered in the most satisfactory way for me, yet a lover of knowledge and philosopher would blindly agree that yes, it does pay off. Besides, the other concepts this book is famous for justify its fame; the Simile of The Cave being a rather moving one.

5 people found this helpful

Neasa MacErlean

Why democracy is going downhill, according to Socrates

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on December 23, 2012

Verified Purchase

Is the UK an oligarchy - with its powerful banks, police, insurance companies and newspapers? Why, if democracy is so good, do so many voters distrust and dislike politicians? Is Mario Monti, the technocrat Italian prime minister in 2011/2012, the ideal kind of leader (despite his lack of popularity at home) that Socrates describes as the guardian? Will watching TV and shortening our attention spans lead to the degradation of democracy? He wrote it 2,400 years ago and much of it is controversial (particularly his distrust of democracy) but Plato's portrayal of Socrates describing the ideal republic and the ideal person is a marvellous start for an analysis of modern politics, life and discipline. It is long and can be difficult at times but most of it is illuminating, optimistic and well worth studying. It is hard to disagree with his idea wisdom leads you to the best life, and that if you make mistakes you have not reached the right level of wisdom. And could we dispute the four virtues he holds up as being the necessary ones for states and individuals - courage, discipline, justice and, of course, wisdom. A question I would ask is how the reluctant leader/guardian type would come out under the modern Myers-Briggs analysis? Are they INTJs and INTPs?

20 people found this helpful

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