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Title: The Republic by Plato ISBN: 0-486-41121-4 Publisher: Dover Pubns Pub. Date: 18 April, 2000 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $2.50 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.31 (48 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: A masterpiece of philosophy and scholarship
Comment: I've used this text for some time in my undergraduate courses, with great success. Waterfield's translation is accurate and scholarly, and the introduction and notes make this edition a perfect introduction to Plato's philosophy.
As for the value of the text itself, little needs to be said. Plato's Republic is one of the most important works in the history of philosophy, and every well-educated person ought to have read it at least once. There is some controversy among scholars over whether the work is primarily one of political philosophy or of moral psychology, but Plato perhaps did not draw these distinctions the way we do: one can certainly learn a great deal about both areas from reading this one work.
Rating: 3
Summary: Plato's Ideal State
Comment: My three-star rating aside, Plato's "The Republic" is a must read for anyone interested in political science. It will make you think about the subjects it covers in a very critical way. Plato is not shy about his opinions and does not couch them in mysterious language. He confronts the reader with them and forces you to consider them.
Of course, part of this directness is attributable to the translator, Desmond Lee. One of the things that makes the Penguin's Classics series so useful is the excellent introductions they contain. In this particular work, Lee presents Plato's contemporary society and how it affected his world view. Lee also prefaces each section with anywhere from two sentences to as much as a page or two in order to assist the reader with understanding some of the finer points of Plato's philosophy.
"The Republic" is primarily concerned with four questions: 1) what is justice?, 2) is it better to be a just man or to only appear to be just?, 3) given our answer to #2, what is the ideal state?, and 4) how are contemporary Greek states imperfect?. The answer to the first three questions are closely related to Plato's philosophy of the Forms. Plato's Form can be thought of as perfection or the ideal. For instance, a carpenter may build a house. The house may appear real to us but it is only a representation of the ideal house, or the Form of a house. Plato says to think of a Form as being created by god and that, when the carpenter builds his house, he may build it in any number of ways and styles, but it will never be as perfect as the Form of the house. The philosopher should only be interested in the Form and not in the inferior representations.
Now, if that sounds a little bit odd to you, then most of "The Republic" must be understood as an outsider looking in. Given that the first three questions are intimately related to that concept, I did find Plato's arguments very unconvincing. However, Plato's discussion of the imperfection of contemporary Greek states is very interesting and pertinent to our time.
For those of us living in the United States, Plato's description of democracy, which he lived under in Athens, and the democratic character should be chilling. Of course, Athenian democracy and American democracy are not the same. The Constitution was written to a great extent to avoid the imbalances of ancient Greek democracies. In fact, in a technical sense, our state is not a democracy at all but a representative democracy.
Plato's main critique of democracy was that it necessarily lead to a reduction in respect for authority and elders. Plato also criticized democracy for its weak leaders. He felt that the democratic character of a man living in a democracy would cause him to promote only those people like himself to positions of power within the state. Given that the average man is, by definition, of average intelligence, skill, and talent, the ablest of a democracy's citizens would be unable to attain the highest positions of power within the state. Since the elected leaders would only be able to keep their positions by pleasing the great mass of citizenry, they would enact laws and regulations which benefited those people to the detriment of the wealthiest. In other words, politicians in a democracy are prone to overtaxing the rich so that they can transfer their wealth and land to the poor.
Plato believed that policies like this would unavoidably lead to class warfare and the forcible transfer of political power to one man, a tyrant, who would be able to secure the masses against the wealthy. Of course, the tyrant would eventually provide himself with a personal army and attempt to enslave the entire populace to his will, thereby securing only himself against the general population.
The American Constitution and the American character have successfully prevented this scenario from occurring here but it cannot prolong it forever. Certain barriers built into the Constitution have already been breached: the income tax, direct election of Senators, and various programs like social security, medicare, and agricultural subsidies are all cracks in the armor of American liberty. If we continue on the path we are headed, American liberty will cease to exist by the end of this century.
As a final note, some readers may find it difficult to follow the format that "The Republic" uses. In Plato's day, philosophical prose was often written in a dialogue format. In this work, Plato uses Socrates as his primary questioner and speaker. This may seem odd to have another, real person speak for you in a political treatise but just know that, every time Socrates speaks, it's really Plato's sentiments being expressed.
Rating: 3
Summary: The Excellent Society
Comment: in the Republic, Plato. envisioned his ideology of what a free and fair society should look like. the book emphasises on the perfection of a perfect society, which will be free of corruption, discremination, race division, and partiality.
the author was aware of the alarming rate of corruption gripping the world we are in. he sketched a plan for a state to be run and maintained. a state that will based on law and order. specifically, Plato was hitting the nail on justice and equity of law, he stressed that a society should not be making laws based on a portion of the jurisdiction rather order should be maintained on equality and fair justice.
The book is a treaty on how a social society and a normal state is to be ressuracted from the clamouring segregation of the rich state and the poor society. in his work of art plato pulls the trigger of justice towards equity, unity and peace of justice. its such a great book, it is more than the wordings on it because it contains ancient landmarks of literary work of art, the work has been done long ago, and it grammer complex needs not be rushed but remember that the day a man stops reading, he stops growing intellectually. how i wished books were paste. i could have kept reading each day first thing as i woke up from the sleep. The Republic needs not be rush, just slow and steady because it is a treaty and not a mere thriller novel. but its a try from all intellectual aspirants. so dont let go. if you do, you missed a book from one great thinker.
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Title: The Politics by Aristotle, T.A. Sinclair, Trevor J. Saunders ISBN: 0140444211 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: June, 1992 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
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Title: The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli ISBN: 0553212788 Publisher: Bantam Pub. Date: 01 August, 1984 List Price(USD): $4.50 |
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Title: The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels, Martin Edward Malia ISBN: 0451527100 Publisher: Signet Pub. Date: October, 1998 List Price(USD): $5.95 |
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Title: The Nicomachean Ethics (Oxford World's Classics) by Aristotle, David Ross, W. D. Ross, J. L. Ackrill, J. O. Urmson ISBN: 019283407X Publisher: Oxford University Press Pub. Date: June, 1998 List Price(USD): $9.95 |
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Title: Utopia by Sir Thomas More ISBN: 0486295834 Publisher: Dover Pubns Pub. Date: 05 September, 1997 List Price(USD): $1.50 |
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