Ostensibly a discussion of the nature of justice, The Republic presents Plato's vision of the ideal state, covering a wide range of topics: ...
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Feb 09, 2011
Brendan
rated it: 
Let me explain why I'd recommend this book to everyone: Plato is retarded.
Seriously.
And it's important that you all understand that Western society is based on the fallacy-ridden ramblings of a retarded person. Read this, understand that he is not joking, and understand that Plato is retarded.
Every single one of his works goes like this:
SOCRATES: "Hello, I will now prove this theory!"
STRAWMAN: "Surely you are wrong!"
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Seriously.
And it's important that you all understand that Western society is based on the fallacy-ridden ramblings of a retarded person. Read this, understand that he is not joking, and understand that Plato is retarded.
Every single one of his works goes like this:
SOCRATES: "Hello, I will now prove this theory!"
STRAWMAN: "Surely you are wrong!"
More...
32 comments
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Dec 05, 2011
Everyman
rated it: 
All the criticisms of Plato are valid. He raises straw arguments. He manipulates discussions unfairly. He doesn't offer realistic solutions. And so no.
But he is still, and for very good reason, the most influential philosopher in Western civilization. He makes people think. Most authors we read today are trying to persuade us to agree with their point of view. Plato, not so. He wants you to disagree with him. He wants you to argue with him. He wants you to identify the fallacie More...
But he is still, and for very good reason, the most influential philosopher in Western civilization. He makes people think. Most authors we read today are trying to persuade us to agree with their point of view. Plato, not so. He wants you to disagree with him. He wants you to argue with him. He wants you to identify the fallacie More...
Apr 04, 2008
Jason
rated it: 
(Reprinted from the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography [cclapcenter.com]. I am the original author of this essay, as well as the owner of CCLaP; it is not being reprinted here illegally.)
The CCLaP 100: In which I read a hundred so-called "classic" books for the first time, then write reports on whether or not I think they deserve the label
Essay #11: The Republic, by Plato (~360 BC)
The story in a nutshell:
For those who don't know, the More...
The CCLaP 100: In which I read a hundred so-called "classic" books for the first time, then write reports on whether or not I think they deserve the label
Essay #11: The Republic, by Plato (~360 BC)
The story in a nutshell:
For those who don't know, the More...
Dec 17, 2009
aisha
rated it:
i have read plato's republic...three times.
and i've actually enjoyed every time, although i hadn't thought i would each round.
i love greek writing, and though aristotle and thucydides are my favorite, plato is a close second (third?).
even if you disagree with the ideas he presents, the ideas are fascinating to discuss. i actually kind of think it is way more fun to discuss when someone contradicts an idea or assumption made.
the dialectic style is o More...
and i've actually enjoyed every time, although i hadn't thought i would each round.
i love greek writing, and though aristotle and thucydides are my favorite, plato is a close second (third?).
even if you disagree with the ideas he presents, the ideas are fascinating to discuss. i actually kind of think it is way more fun to discuss when someone contradicts an idea or assumption made.
the dialectic style is o More...
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Dec 16, 2009
Mark
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I finished reading The Republic on my birthday and now am both older and wiser. The Republic is in essence one long argument why a person should lead a just life verses choosing a life of pleasure, riches, ambition, or power. It is deeply concerned with the nature of the human soul and how to prepare one's soul for eternity. Socrates/Plato uses a plethora of logical examples for this argument, although it is the logic of 400 B.C. Greek culture, which seems somewhat fractured to us today. The
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(6 people liked it)
Dec 16, 2009
Covert.adrian
rated it:
No book has influenced my life more than Plato's Republic. It admittedly can be a difficult read: it is almost entirely a back and forth conversation between two people, Socrates and Glaucon, discussing the nature of man, the soul, justice, and what the most just society, or Republic, would look like. In this highly utopian account, Socrates expresses little hope in the common man, and instead suggests authoritarian rule, by philosophers, would lead to the most just state. His contempt for democ
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(4 people liked it)
Aug 17, 2007
Thomas
rated it: 
This seemed like an appropriate book to read in the new milleneium. So I did. It was interesting. Some say it is the template for socialism.
Some say it is the template for democracy.
People say lots of things about it.
The concept of reading Plato's Republic is pretentious.
So I admit it- I'm at times such a little snot.
Some idjut on NPR said the other day that Plato's Republic was just sooooooooooooo much more enlightening after the third read More...
Some say it is the template for democracy.
People say lots of things about it.
The concept of reading Plato's Republic is pretentious.
So I admit it- I'm at times such a little snot.
Some idjut on NPR said the other day that Plato's Republic was just sooooooooooooo much more enlightening after the third read More...
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Apr 15, 2009
Christopher
rated it:
I'm really glad a read The Republic. Even though I knew anecdotes for the books, and the discourse centered around the ideal city-state, I did not realize that it was really about the nature of Justice.
I was surprised to discover how much I disagreed with some points, in particular Socrates' final definition of Justice. There were many chilling moments when I contrasted his conclusions to such dystopian literature such as Brave New World. I was also heavily struck by his criticisms of D More...
I was surprised to discover how much I disagreed with some points, in particular Socrates' final definition of Justice. There were many chilling moments when I contrasted his conclusions to such dystopian literature such as Brave New World. I was also heavily struck by his criticisms of D More...
Nov 01, 2011
William
rated it: 
Halfway through now and the ability to see the book solely as a metaphor for one's personal moral development becomes hard to see. The state Plato describes here is one that is highly prohibitive in almost every aspect. Arts and culture are severely controlled for propaganda purposes. There is a complete inability to view open, transparent government as an option. The guardians must be lied to and deceived constantly if they are to develop correctly. Moreover, to establish what we might call a f
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Dec 16, 2010
Steven
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The Cornford translation of Plato is still one of the standards, even though other translations might well be better in this age. It is also the version that I used as an undergraduate student at Bradley University in my Political Philosophy class! To get to the point: Socrates' greatest student was Plato. In "The Republic," Plato, through the voice of Socrates, provided the keenest metaphor to describe his understanding of the problem cod defining "reality." His allegory of
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Sep 17, 2008
Erin
rated it:
This was a tough book to get through, mostly because the ten chapters are so big, that it was hard to find a place to stop. If you're not familiar with it, it is a conversation between Socrates and some of his pupils or followers beginning with the question of who has a better life, a just man or an unjust man. The students make a pretty good argument at the outset as to why a person who is unjust but keeps it hidden is happier than the just man with a bad reputation. Socrates then begins to bui
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5 comments
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(1 person liked it)
Jun 06, 2008
Tyler
rated it:
This essential work of philosophy suffers from its antiquity. Long stretches of Plato's famous dialog make the point over and over, too much for today's readers. Though repetition may have been useful in ancient times, it's through modern lenses that I read. Any editor today would have chopped fifty pages off this treatise in an eye blink.
Through these lenses too, the ideal state Plato suggests will make a reader's hair stand on end, knowing as we do how his proposals can only end More...
Through these lenses too, the ideal state Plato suggests will make a reader's hair stand on end, knowing as we do how his proposals can only end More...
Feb 04, 2008
Dan
rated it:
I'm not sure why people read this. For those interested in the history of philosophy it's undoubtedly important. For everyone else... meh. A lot of people comment that Plato deals seriously with all the big issues. Well, he brings them up, but never seriously engages with them.
Maybe the problem is that I'm reading this at 25 after spending a couple years seriously reading philosophy. Maybe Popper inoculated me. I might have felt differently if I started reading The Republic with a less cri More...
Maybe the problem is that I'm reading this at 25 after spending a couple years seriously reading philosophy. Maybe Popper inoculated me. I might have felt differently if I started reading The Republic with a less cri More...
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Jun 07, 2008
Tim
rated it:
When I wrote this review I failed to mention Bloom’s essay (and translation). It’s possibly the best commentary on Plato I’ve read. An overly simple summary is that Bloom suggests many of Socrates’ proposals were intentionally preposterous, with the aim of leading his interlocutors to grasp that no truly legitimate political system is possible, and that the best course for individuals is to tend their souls, necessarily within a polity, going along with its requirements as necessary, but avoid
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(2 people liked it)
Jan 23, 2008
Lauren
rated it:
I have always enjoyed Plato’s Allegory of the Cave. I love to think of truths visually, often using metaphors to articulate and organize thoughts. The Allegory of the Cave is an excellent metaphor of truth versus reality or pretence versus perception. I believe in absolutes. There is truth, and then there is what we perceive to be true. Because everyone is viewing ultimate truth from their own perspective, truth is often misconceived as ambiguous, “in the eye of the beholder,” or circumstan
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Jul 18, 2007
Zoeita
rated it:
i freakin' love this book!!! of course, it helps that i had a most excellant professor who guided our naive freshman class through the text. the second time around, i had a wider breadth of expierence and again, an excellant professor to facilitate discussion in an even smaller class. plato lays out the groundwork for much of what was to become Western Civilization as we know it. i agree w/much of what plato says, particularly when it comes to focusing on encouraging the traits or morals that on
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Dec 16, 2007
Brian
rated it:
This book is not for the faint of heart. It may in fact not be for anyone outside a select few who are either pretentious and intelligent or foolish and masochistic - or some combination of both.
The main thing one can take away from this book is the ability to tell the next person who says, "Democracy started back in ancient Greece with Plato and Co.," to shove off. The book attempts to answer the question of whether being good for goodness' sake is truly important, and i More...
The main thing one can take away from this book is the ability to tell the next person who says, "Democracy started back in ancient Greece with Plato and Co.," to shove off. The book attempts to answer the question of whether being good for goodness' sake is truly important, and i More...
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Jul 03, 2010
Life in an unreal ideal world: Plato's 'Republic' is one of the most important works of ancient Greek philosophy, and one of the foundation pieces of political science and political philosophy of that and subsequent ages. It was one of the first pieces I read when undertaking a political science degree.
Plato was not only a great philosopher, but also a great writer. While few master the classical Greek language sufficient to undertake its study in the original language, the text appears in cou More...
Plato was not only a great philosopher, but also a great writer. While few master the classical Greek language sufficient to undertake its study in the original language, the text appears in cou More...
Jan 31, 2012
Kolagani
rated it:
Wanted to read this book ever since I was told about it in high school, that this triggered the Western Philosophy or thinking.
I was impressed from the start of this book, the usage of high level language was impressive giving me a fair idea of thought process in 350 BC. And the confidence of Socrates in proving something, starting at a point which seemed to far away from the point which he intended to prove. But then the course of the proof is so much filled with over-generalization More...
I was impressed from the start of this book, the usage of high level language was impressive giving me a fair idea of thought process in 350 BC. And the confidence of Socrates in proving something, starting at a point which seemed to far away from the point which he intended to prove. But then the course of the proof is so much filled with over-generalization More...
Jan 05, 2012
Alex
rated it:
Even if you disagree with Plato, which for me occurred several times, you can't deny Socrates' method and dialogue forces you to think. I found myself pausing and taking the time to reflect on key passages (on justice, on the reality of the material in regards to reason and the physical senses, etc.) and how it relates to our time period. There is still utility in such an old text. I was taken aback by the prescience of this book, especially Plato's observations on the political 'chy' (oligarchy
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Oct 15, 2011
Giovanni
rated it:
Mandatory reading for PHL100Y1Y, Intro to Philosophy; at least it was for my professor's class. The other class had a single textbook with excerpts.
So, the Republic (rather, "On Society"). It's actually a really important work, when you zoom out and really consider it. Yes, it's centred around the question, "what is justice?", but it's also the originator for the concept of platonic forms, the predominant conception of human psychology for two millennia, as well a More...
So, the Republic (rather, "On Society"). It's actually a really important work, when you zoom out and really consider it. Yes, it's centred around the question, "what is justice?", but it's also the originator for the concept of platonic forms, the predominant conception of human psychology for two millennia, as well a More...
Oct 04, 2011
Deanna
rated it:
I've tried to read this book twice. The first time I made it about 2/3 of the way through; the second time I made it less than halfway. I spent the entire time thinking of Dorothy Parker's review of The Cardinal's Mistress: "This is not a novel to be tossed aside lightly. It should be thrown with great force."
My problem with the book was that Plato's ideas of what makes for an ideal society frustrate me. A lot. I would get so angry with the totalitarian regime he was setting up- More...
My problem with the book was that Plato's ideas of what makes for an ideal society frustrate me. A lot. I would get so angry with the totalitarian regime he was setting up- More...
Sep 28, 2011
Koba
rated it:
Knyga - amerikietiškieji kalneliai - taip, kaip man patiko kūrinio pradžia, keli skyriai jo antroje pusėje ir siurrealistinė pabaiga, taip man nepatiko idiotiškos Platono idėjos apie cenzūrą, šeimos nebuvimą, cinišką požiūrį į melą ir jo požiūris į meną, ypač Homerą. Bendrai paėmus, man Platonas nepatiko, jis priklauso tų "teisiųjų" kastai, kurių labiausiai nemėgstu, nes jie mano, kad elgiasi teisingai ir turi moralinę teisę spręsti kas gerai, o kas ne. Be to, ta dialogų forma, su padl
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Jul 27, 2011
I realise how arrogant this sounds but I found this slightly disappointing. It is quite readable but I wasn't bowled over by Plato's thought. It is written in the form of a dialogue between Socrates and some friends. They have asked him to demonstrate what morality and goodness are and why it is rewarding to live in accordance with it's precepts. Socrates (and Plato) use dialectic to build an argument but on many occasions the other contributors to the conversation accept that Socrates has demon
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Jul 26, 2011
Fabian
rated it:
Staple of western philosophy; must read.
This dialogue starts with a discussion of life with and without wealth, then moves onto the nature of justice. During this discussion a third person Thrasymachus, through proclamation, brings up a related and perhaps more important question: Who lives the better life; the Just or the Unjust?
People then and today feel one gains more and lives a better life being unscrupulous, than those who are pious and scrupulous. Socrates proceeds to unhinge Thrasymacus More...
This dialogue starts with a discussion of life with and without wealth, then moves onto the nature of justice. During this discussion a third person Thrasymachus, through proclamation, brings up a related and perhaps more important question: Who lives the better life; the Just or the Unjust?
People then and today feel one gains more and lives a better life being unscrupulous, than those who are pious and scrupulous. Socrates proceeds to unhinge Thrasymacus More...
Jul 12, 2011
Joe
rated it:
3/30/2007
A note on the unending work of Political Philosophy: Republic, Statesman, Laws
A great source of perplexity to students beginning to study Plato's political philosophy is the question of how the three political dialogues -Republic, Statesman, Laws- hang together. In this brief note I would like to touch on how these three dialogues might be related. At first blush it might seem they have very little in common. Indeed, they do not even share a common primary speake More...
A note on the unending work of Political Philosophy: Republic, Statesman, Laws
A great source of perplexity to students beginning to study Plato's political philosophy is the question of how the three political dialogues -Republic, Statesman, Laws- hang together. In this brief note I would like to touch on how these three dialogues might be related. At first blush it might seem they have very little in common. Indeed, they do not even share a common primary speake More...
May 19, 2011
Justin
rated it:
Just to be clear, my rating is for the edition of the Republic I read- the Oxford World's Classics text translated by Robin Waterfield. Giving stars to the Republic is so flagrantly stupid that I can't even come up with a suitably stupid analogy. Giving stars to the Mona Lisa? Not even close. Giving stars to Dante? Not the same, because that deserves five stars. The Republic simultaneously deserves five stars, for kick-starting Western philosophy, social science, aesthetics, theology, and politi
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Apr 30, 2011
Daniel
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A book I've been meaning for a long time to read in its entirety and I am glad I have finally attained that goal. As a political science undergrad this was of course part of the canon in political philosophy that I was required to read-- yet like many other "requirements" for the stressed out undergrad, it was one that was left only partially fulfilled. Here I am, several years later, now able to claim this as a fait accompli. I, like many others, was first introduced to Plato's Republ
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Feb 05, 2011
Owen
rated it:
Plato's "Republic" is definitely one of the world's most influential and controversial works of literature, philosophy, and spirituality. It's impossible not to feel ambivalent about it. The ideas expressed in this book are exceedingly thought-provoking and enlightening. Of course, I found myself disagreeing with Plato about a few things (as everyone does), especially in regard to his idea about sharing wives and children. Also, I feel certain that the "ideal state" that
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Feb 09, 2010
K
rated it:
This was my first "philosophy" book or whatever, excluding literary/art theory. Initially rough going. It helped to swallow my gall over the inconsistencies in Plato's logical arguments and just parse out the ideas themselves. These include philosophical theories about the nature of knowledge & virtue, and political arguments on justice and why it pays.
Over the course of the dialogue Plato also goes into some detail on what he believes are the requirements for an ideal cit More...
Over the course of the dialogue Plato also goes into some detail on what he believes are the requirements for an ideal cit More...
