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The Republic

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About this listen

What is at stake is far from insignificant: it is how one should live one's life. 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 roles 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."

©1923 Public Domain (P)2010 Tantor Greek & Roman History Philosophy Ancient History Ancient Greece
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The narrator used a variety of voices to great effect to emphasize the dialogue nature of Plato’s work. I don’t intend to be disparaging but it did remind me of “Jackanory” (a kid’s story telling BBC TV program from the 1970s) in that by having one narrator you get drawn into the story whereas I find I get distracted with different narrators. I hadn’t read the book prior to listening and it is easy to miss key elements of the arguments whilst listening on your commute to work and I had to repeat sections when I got lost. Although I did not fully understand the book, I was so intrigued that I bought a Great Courses audible book – Plato’s Republic (Professor David Roochnik). I found this excellent and would recommend people buying both to fully appreciate Plato's work. Initially I listened to the course and I then went through the course again switching from lectures to relevant chapters (Plato's "books").

Tough book to understand whilst communting

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