It begins with Plato. Republic is one of the founding texts of Western civilization. Plato’s dialogue with Socrates (and other Athenians) considers the structures of society, of justice, the nature of the soul, happiness and many other themes of the world of humans. In books V and VI of Republic, Plato outlines a detailed plan to control the breeding of the people in a utopian city-state, where a guardian class would forgo their wealth, and women and men would be matched by the state according to their qualities, like sporting dogs or horses bred for their strength or speed.
