The Republic by Plato

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Presented in the form of a dialogue between Socrates and three different interlocutors, this classic text is an enquiry 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?; and 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.

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed this one! I read it for PewDiePie’s Book Review/Literature Club.

Though I was already quite familiar with the published pieces, having taken philosophy classes in undergrad, I still found the content intriguing. I started out reading it in digital format, but ended up listening to the rest of it via audiobook. My version didn’t list the narrator, but it was perfect for this particular book which consists of a lot of dialogue. The audio version allowed it to be an enjoyable conversation to listen to. I think those familiar and less familiar with the notions and key figures of philosophy will be able to understand the flow and concepts and the audiobook version makes it just that much more easy to follow and understand.

I’d recommend it to anyone, especially those who are in high school or college as I think students would find it particularly insightful and helpful in developing their worldview, exploring habits of thinking, bringing relevant human behavior and perspective into discussions and debates, and for an overall general must read about historical key figures who contributed so much to the world of philosophy even as we know it today.

I really liked the dialogue style format. Basically this book reads like a real time conversation between philosophers, most notably Plato and Socrates among a few others.

As far as content is concerned, the philosophers discussed interesting perspectives of the most basic and abstract needs of humanity. They commented on topics such as aging, wealth, deeds, death, tales, and fears. They talked about contrasting viewpoints on the just and unjust, intention vs action, as well as wisdom and virtue. Each conversation took each viewpoint to the extreme for exploration purposes, almost lost in minutia but ultimately became helpful for establishing boundaries as well as creating and assigning meaning.

It can be a heavy read at times and definitely one you will want to take your time with.

Here is a photo of the complete collection of Plato’s works that I took while visiting the Library of Congress in Washington D.C. back in February. The Library of Congress is a marvelous place!