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''The Republic'' (or, in a more literal translation: '''''Affairs of the Polis''''') is an very influential work of philosophy and political theory by the Greek philosopher Plato , written in approximately 390 BC . It is a Dialogue , like all Platonic works intended by Plato for publication. It concerns what is called ''philosophia peri ta anthropina'' or ''philosophy of the human things''. TRANSLATION OF THE TITLE The original title of the work is the Greek word (" Politeia "). "The Republic", which is the traditional English translation of the title, is somewhat of a misnomer, taken from Cicero's latin. The greek title referred to " Polis ", which can roughly correspond to the modern term "city", or rather "city-state". Reflecting this, CJK language translate the title as "State" (国家). However, a polis was much more than that. It was a way of life; so in actuality a proper translation would be 'how we live as people' (for a better understanding see Aristotle's ''Politics'' ). SETTING AND DRAMATIS PERSONAE ''The Republic'' is a wide-ranging and comprehensive dialogue articulated by dramatic scenes and topics of discussion. Plato wrote thirty-five dialogues, the longest of which is ''The Republic''. Although he is also credited with thirteen letters, written in First-person to specific people, it is clear, even if he did write the letters- a matter of debate to this day among Scholars - he did not intend for them to be widely read. Thus his preferred form of writing was the dialogue. Accordingly, Plato by name is never present in the dialogues, he speaks indirectly through all his characters, and thus the ability for readers to take varying interpretations is considerable. The main characters in ''The Republic'' are:
The scene of the dialogue is the house of Cephalus at Piraeus , a city-port beyond the walls of ancient Athens; it was the port of entry and exit for trade into the city. Socrates was not known to venture outside of Athens regularly. The whole dialogue is narrated by Socrates the day after it actually took place, to Timaeus , Hermocrates , and Critias , among others.See Benjamin Jowett 's introduction to his translation of Plato's ''Republic'' CONTENT One can refer to passages of the Republic by the Books, Chapters, and Stephanus Pagination of the manuscript and printing tradition. Structure Three interpretations, or summaries, of the dialogue follow. They are not, by any measure, an exhaustive representation, but represent accepted contemporary English language views on the work. Bertrand Russell In his '' History Of Western Philosophy '', Bertrand Russell sees three parts in Plato's ''Republic'' Russell, Bertrand , '' History Of Western Philosophy '', begin of Book I, part 2, ch. 14.: # Book I-V: the ''Utopia'' part, portraying the ideal community, starting from an attempt to define ''justice''; # Book VI-VII: since Philosopher s are seen as the ideal rulers of such community, this part of the text concentrates on defining what a philosopher is; # Book VIII-X: discusses several practical Forms Of Government , their pros and cons. The core of the second part is discussed in Plato's ''Allegory Of The Cave'' , and articles related to Plato's Theory Of (ideal) Forms . The third part, concentrating also on Education , is also strongly related to Plato's Dialogue ''The Laws'' . Cornford, Hildebrandt and Voegelin subdivisions Francis Cornford , Kurt Hildebrandt and Eric Voegelin contributed to an establishment of subdivisions marked by special formulae in Greek: ; Prologue : I.1 327a—328b. Descent to the Piraeus :I.2—I.5. 328b—331d. Cephalus. Justice of the Older Generation :I.6—1.9. 331e—336a. Polemarchus. Justice of the Middle Generation :I.10—1.24. 336b—354c. Thrasymachus. Justice of the Sophist ; Introduction : II.1—II.10. 357a—369b. The Question: Is Justice Better than Injustice? ; Part I :II.1—III.18. 376e—412b. Education of the Guardians :III.I9—IV.5. 412b—427c. Constitution of the Polis :IV.6—IV.I9. 427c—445e. Justice in the Polis ; Part II :V.17—VI.I4- 471c—502c. Rule of the Philosophers :VI.19—VII.5. 502c—521c. The Idea of the Agathon :VII.6—VII.18. 521c—541b. Education of the Philosophers ; Part III :VIII.6—VIII.9. 550c—555b. Oligarchy :VIII.10—VIII.13. 555b—562a. Democracy :VIII.I4—IX-3. 562a—576b. Tyranny ; Conclusion : IX-4—IX.13. 576b—592b Answer: Justice is Better than Injustice ; Epilogue : X.1—X.8. 595a—608b. Rejection of Mimetic Art : X-9—X.11. 608c—612a. Immortality of the Soul : X. 12 612a—613e. Rewards of Justice in Life : X.I3—X,16. 613e—631d. Judgment of the Dead The paradigm of the city - the idea of the Good, of the Agathon - has for Plato a manifold of historical embodiments. The embodiment must be undertaken by those who have seen the Agathon and are ordered through the vision. Hence, in the centre piece of the Republic, Part II, 2-3, Plato deals with the rule of the philosopher and the vision of the Agathon in the famous Allegory Of The Cave , with which Plato clarifies his theory of forms. That center piece is preceded and followed by the discussion of the means that will secure a well-ordered polis. Part II, 1 deals with marriage, the community of people and goods for the guardians, and the restraints on warfare among the Hellenes. It has been incorrectly described as a communistic utopia, a word that is not even extant in classical Greek. Part II, 4 deals with the philosophical education of the rulers who will preserve the order. The central Part II, the Embodiment of the Idea, is preceded by the building of economic and social of order for a polis in Part I; and is followed by an analysis in Part III, of the decline through which the right order will have to pass. The three parts form the main body of the dialogue, with their discussion of paradigm , its embodiment, its genesis, and its decline. That main body is framed by an Introduction and a Conclusion. The discussion of right order was occasioned by a question whether justice is better than injustice, or whether unjust man will not fare better than the just man. The introductory question is balanced by the concluding answer that justice is preferable to injustice. The main body of the dialogue, together with its Introduction and Conclusion, finally, is framed by the Prologue of Book I and the Epilogue of Book X. The prologue is a short dialogue in itself and it portrays the common opinions Doxai about justice. The Epilogue is not grounded on reason but on faith. It describes the new arts and the immortality of the soul. Leo Strauss The German-born American political theorist, Leo Strauss , sees a four-part structure of the dialogue: he looks at the entire dialogue as a drama played out between particular characters, each with particular points of view and levels of comprehension: #Book I: Socrates is compelled by force to Cephalus 's home. Three definitions of justice are presented, and all three are found lacking. #Books II-V: Socrates is challenged by Glaucon and Adeimantus to prove why a perfectly just person, who is seen by the entire world as unjust, would be happier than the perfectly unjust person, who hides his injustice from view and is seen by the entire world as just. This stark challenge is the engine and drive of the dialogue; it is only with this 'charge' that we begin to witness how Socrates actually conducted himself with the young men of Athens he was convicted of corrupting. Because a definition of justice is assumed by Glaucon and Adeimantus, Socrates makes a detour; he forces the group to try to uncover justice, and then to answer the question posed to him about the intrinsic value of the just life. #Books V-VI: The 'Just City in Speech' is now built from the earlier books, and three waves or critiques of the city are encountered. According to Leo Strauss and his student Allan Bloom they are: communism, communism of wives and children, and the rule of philosophers. The 'Just City in Speech’ stands or falls by these complications. #Books VII-X: Socrates has 'escaped' his capturers, for he has convinced them, at least for the moment, that the just man is the happy man. He then spends much time reinforcing their prejudices. He displays a rationale for political decay, and he ends the dialogue recounting a myth, The Myth Of Er , or Everyman , which acts as a consolation for non-philosophers who fear death. Topics Definition of justice The question with which ''The Republic'' sets out to define is "what is justice?". Given the difficulty of this task, Socrates and his interlocutors are led into a discussion of justice in the city, which Socrates suggests may help them see justice in the person, but on a grander (and therefore easier to discuss) scale. Because of this, some critics (such as Julia Annas ) interpret Plato's paradigm of a just state as an allegory for the paradigm of the just person. Justice is never defined satisfactorially to all participants throughout the dialogue. After Book V, the dialogue concentrates on convincing Glaucon and Adeimantus of Socrates view of justice; however, the other characters remain silent throughout these books. In the first book, three versions of justice come to be proposed and deemed inadequate. The sophist Thrasymachus states that justice is nothing but the power of the stronger. This seems counter-intuitive to Socrates, who begins to explore this concept of justice. Thrasymachus believes that the law of a polis, or justice, is nothing but the will of the ruler(s). Thrasymachus is agressive in advancing this view, he says justice is the advantage of the man who is cunning enough to take power and institute his will upon the people. As a result of this, those who break the law become powerful, eventually rising to the position of rulers in society. Socrates accepts this view, but asks whether the ruler who makes a mistake to his advantage, institutes a law or policy that lessens his well-being, is still a ruler according to the sophist's definition. A Sophist made their living in Greece by teaching young men how to rule successfully, and thus Socrates exploits this fact, indirectly undermining Thrasymachus's own definition of justice. This results in a turning point in the dialogue, for Thrasymachus blushes; afterwards, he is silent, as Socrates begins to teach the young men. Beginning in Book II, a definition of justice is furthered as the working of a person in the role for which you are best suited, and for not interfering in the work of others. This conception of justice, striking to the modern reader, is closely linked to the Greek conception of Dike , the just order. This definition of justice leads to a social structure radically different from most previous and subsequent states. Nevertheless, a reader must always be aware that Plato is writing a dialogue in which the dramatic quality has a weight. Socrates, in fact, proceeds in a very different manner then in Book I, where he attacks Thrasymachus's view of justice directly. In response to the two views of injustice and justice presented by Glaucon and Adeimantus, he claims incompetence, but feels it would be impious to leave justice in such doubt. In fact, Socrates (368a-c) does not challenge the arguments, but proposes to create a thought-experiment to better define and thus defend justice. Socrates defines justice as "working at that which he is naturally best suited," and "to do one's own business and not to be a busybody" (433a-433c) and goes on to say that justice sustains and perfects the other three cardinal virtues, Temperance, Wisdom, and Courage and that justice is the cause and condition of their existence. A result of this conception of justice separates people into three types; that of the soldier, that of the producer, and that of a ruler. If a ruler can create just laws, and if the warriors can carry out the orders of the rulers, and if the producers can obey this authority, then a society will be just. In terms of why it is best to be just rather than unjust for the individual, Plato prepares an answer in Book IV consisting of three main arguments. Plato says that a tyrant's nature will leave him with "horrid pains and pangs" and that the typical tyrant engages in lifestyles that are physically and mentally exacting on such a ruler. Such a disposition is in contrast to the truth-loving philosopher king, and a tyrant "never tastes of true freedom or friendship". The second argument proposes that of all the different types of person, only the Philosopher is able to judge which type of ruler is best since only he can see the Form Of The Good . Thirdly, Plato argues, "Pleasures which are approved of by the lover of wisdom and reason are the truest". In sum, Plato argues that only philosophical pleasure is the truest pleasure since other pleasures experienced by others are simply a neutral state free from pain. The form of government ). The paradigmatic society which stands behind every historical society is hierarchical, but social classes have a marginal permeability; there are no slaves, no discrimination between men and women. In addition to the ruling class of guardians ( Phulakes ) which abolished riches there is a class of private producers ( Demiourgoi ) be they rich or poor. A number of provisions aim to avoid making the people weak: the substitution of debilitating music, poetry and theatre by a universal educational system for men and women -- a startling departure from Greek society. These provisions apply to all classes, and the restrictions placed on the philosopher-kings and the warriors are much more severe than those placed on the producers, because the rulers must be kept away from any source of corruption. In Books V-VI the abolishment of riches among the guardian class (not unlike Max Weber's Bureaucracy ) leads controversially to the abandonment of the typical family, and as such no child may know his or her parents and the parents may not know their own children. Socrates tells a tale which is the "allegory of the good government". No nepotism, no private goods. The rulers assemble couples for reproduction, based on breeding criteria. Thus, stable population is achieved through Eugenism and social cohesion is projected to be high because familial links are extended towards everyone in the City. Also the education of the youth is such that they are taught of only works of writing that encourage them to improve themselves for the state's good, and envision (the) god(s) as entirely good, just, and the author(s) of only that which is good. In Books VII-X stand Plato's criticism of the forms of government. It begins with the dismissal of timocracy, a sort of authoritarian regime, not unlike a military dictatorship. Plato offers a psychoanalytical explanation of the "timocrat" as one who saw his father humiliated by his mother and wants to vindicate "manliness". The third worst regime is oligarchy, the rule of a small band of rich people, millionaires that only respect money. Then comes the Democratic form of government, and its susceptibility to being ruled by unfit "sectarians" Demagogues . Finally the worst regime is tyranny, where the whimsical desires of the ruler became law and there is no check upon arbitrariness. Theory of universals :''See also Problem Of Universals , Plato's Allegory Of The Cave and The Forms ''The Republic'' contains Plato's ''Allegory Of The Cave'' with which he explains his concept of The Forms as an answer to the Problem Of Universals . The allegory of the cave is an attempt to justify the philosopher's place in society as king. Plato imagines a group of people who have lived in a cave all of their lives, who are chained to the wall so they cannot see outside nor look behind them. Behind these people is a constant flame that illuminates various statues that are moved by others, which cause shadows to flicker around the cave. When the people of the cave see these shadows they realise how imitative they are of human life, and begin to ascribe forms to these shadows such as either "dog" or "cat". The shadows are as close as the prisoners get to seeing reality, according to Plato. Plato then goes on to explain how the philosopher is a former prisoner who is freed from the cave and comes to understand that the shadows on the wall are not constituitive of reality at all. He sees that the fire and the statues that cause the shadows are indeed more real than the shadows themselves, and therefore comes to know how the prisoners are easily deceived. Plato then imagines that the freedman is taken outside of the cave and into the real world, who is initially blinded by the light. However when this prisoner adjusts to the brightness, eventually comes to see all of the real objects around him are illuminated by the sun (which represents the Form Of The Good , which has caused the brightness. He also realises it is the sun to which he is indebted to for being able to see the things around him. He realises that the fire and the statues in the cave were just copies of the real objects in the world. Allegorically, Plato reasons that the freedman is the philosopher, who is the only person able to discern the Form of the Good, and thus absolute goodness. Since the philosopher is the only one able to recognise what is truly good, only he is fit to rule society, according to Plato. RECEPTION AND INTERPRETATION Ancient Greece The idea of writing treatises on systems of government was followed some decades later by Plato's most prominent pupil . Aristotle's treatise was not written in dialogue format: it systematises many of the concepts brought forward by Plato in his ''Republic'', in some cases leading the author to a different conclusion as to what options are the most preferable. Ancient Rome Cicero The English translation of the title of Plato's dialogue is derived from Cicero 's '' De Re Publica '', a dialogue written some three centuries later. Cicero's dialogue imitates the style of the Platonic dialogues, and treats many of the topics touched upon in Plato's ''Republic''. Scipio Africanus , the main character of Cicero's dialogue expresses his esteem for Plato and Socrates when they are talking about the " Res Publica ". "Res publica" is however not an exact translation of the Greek word "politeia" that Plato used in the title of his dialogue: "politeia" is a general term indicating the various forms of government that could be used and were used in a ''Polis'' or city-state. While in Plato's ''Republic'' Socrates and his friends discuss the nature of the City and are engaged in providing the foundations of every state they are living in (which was Athenian democracy, Oligarchy or tyranny - in Cicero's ''De re publica'' all comments, are more parochial about (the improvement of) the organisation of the state the participants live in, which was the Roman Republic in its final stages. Critique In Antiquity Plato's works were largely acclaimed, still, some commentators had another view. Tacitus , not mentioning Plato or ''The Republic'' nominally in this passage (so his critique extends, to a certain degree, to Cicero's ''Republic'' and Aristotle's ''Politics'' as well, to name only a few), noted the following ('' Ann. '' IV, 33): The point Tacitus develops in the paragraphs immediately preceding and following that quote is that the minute analysis and description of how a real state was governed, like he does in his ''Annals'', however boring the related facts might be (...if, for example, the regnants refuse to declench a spectacular war,...), has more practical lessons about good vs. bad governance, than philosophical treatises on the ideal form of government have.This text by Tacitus also mirrors the first paragraphs of , who learnt not less from Polybius and war heroes like Scipio, as from the more ''philosophical/utopian'' Greek writers. Augustine In the pivotal era of Rome's move from its ancient , using a visionary language not unlike that of the preceding philosophers. Thomas More's Utopia Thomas More , when writing his '' Utopia '', invented the technique of using the portrayal of a "utopia" as the carrier of his thoughts about the ideal society. In Thomas More's Utopia , the island Utopia is also similar to Plato's Republic in some aspects, among them common property and the lack of privacy. 20th Century Most 20th century commentators of Plato's ''Republic'' advise against reading it as a (would-be) manual for ''good governance'': most forms of government discussed in ''The Republic'' bear little resemblance to more recent state organisations like (modern) Republic s or Constitutional Monarchies . Also, the concepts of democracy and of Utopia as depicted in ''The Republic'' are tied to the City-state s of Ancient Greece and their relevance to modern states is questionable. Gadamer In his 1934 ''Plato und die Dichter'' (Plato and the Poets), as well as several other works, Hans-Georg Gadamer describes the utopic city of ''The Republic'' as a Heuristic Utopia that should not be pursued or even be used as an orientation-point for political development. Rather, its purpose is said to be to show how things would have to be connected, and how one thing would lead to another — often with highly problematic results — if one would opt for certain principles and carry them through rigorously. This interpretation argues that large passages in Plato's writing are ironic (which, of course, an unusually high level of proficiency in ancient Greek is required to detect). Popper The city portrayed in ''The Republic'' struck some critics as unduly harsh, rigid, and unfree; indeed, as a kind of precursor to modern Totalitarianism . Karl Popper gave a voice to that view in his 1945 '' The Open Society And Its Enemies '' Voegelin Eric Voegelin in Plato And Aristotle , Baton Rouge, 1957, gave meaning to the concept of ‘Just City in Speech’ (Books II-V). For instance, there is evidence in the dialogue that Socrates himself would not be a member of his 'ideal' state. His life was almost solely dedicated to the private pursuit of Knowledge . More practically, Socrates suggests that members of the lower classes could rise to the higher ruling class, and vice versa, if they had ‘gold’ in their veins. It is a crude version of the concept of Social Mobility . The exercise of power is built on the ‘Noble Lie’ that all men are brothers, Philadelphia born of the earth, yet there is a clear hierarchy and class divisions. There is a tri-partite explanation of human psychology that is extrapolated to the city, the relation among peoples. There is no Family among the guardians, another crude version of Max Weber's concept of Bureaucracy as the state non-private concern. Strauss, Bloom Some of Plato ’s proposals have led Philosophers like Leo Strauss and Allan Bloom to ask readers to consider the possibility that Socrates was creating not a blueprint for a real city, but a learning exercise for the young men in the dialogue. The ruling class will have ‘sacred’ marriages because these are the result of manipulating and drugging couples into predetermined intercourse with the aim of eugenically breeding guardian-warriors. In turn, Plato has immortalized this ‘learning exercise’ in ''The Republic''. Leo Strauss's approach developed out a belief that Plato wrote esoterically, an insight which although presently accepted by many North American academics, is still rather poorly conceived. The basic acceptance of the Exoteric - Esoteric distinction revolves around whether Plato really wanted to see “The Just City in Speech” of Books V-VI come to pass, or whether it is just an Allegory . However, it is clear Strauss never regarded this as the crucial issue. In fact, Strauss undermines the justice found in “The Just City in Speech” by implying the city is not natural, it is man made abstraction, and hence ironic. An argument that has been used against these less dismissive interpretations is that Plato's academy has produced a number of Tyrant s, despite being well-versed in Greek and having direct contact with Plato himself. Among his direct students were Klearchos , tyrant of Heraklia , Chairon , tyrant of Pellene , Eurostatos and Choriskos , tyrants of Skepsis , Hermias , tyrant of Atarneos and Assos , and Kallipos , tyrant of Syracuse . Against this, however, it can be argued, first, that the question is whether these men became "tyrants" through studying in the Academy (but rather that it was an elite student body, part of which would wind up in the seats of power, that was sent to study there), and, second, that it is by no means obvious that they were tyrants in the modern, or any totalitarian, sense. Practicality All these 20th century views have something in common: in spite of the near-impossibility of grasping the meanings of the ancient Greek for modern readers, the pedagogical value of ''The Republic'' is much greater than its practical value. It is a theoretical work, not a set of guidelines for good governance. Plato scholars see it as their task to provide the background knowledge that is needed to gain a fair understanding of what was meant by the author of ''The Republic''. Then the uniqueness of ''The Republic'' shows up in the way it clarifies genuine connections of political causes and effects in real life, precisely by providing them with a heuristically rich context. Nonetheless Bertrand Russell argues that at least in ''intent'', and all in all not so far from what was possible in ancient Greek city-states, the form of government portrayed in ''The Republic'' was meant as a practical one by Plato.'' History Of Western Philosophy '', end of Book I, part 2, ch. 14. SIMILARITIES IN LITERATURE Aristophanes Around the same time that ''The Republic'' was being composed, the Playwright Aristophanes produced the play Assemblywomen . The state formed by the women in this play bears many similarities to the ideal government described by Plato. It is unsure which was released first; most likely Aristophanes had heard an early form of ''The Republic'' before it was completed and used it as the basis for ''Assemblywomen''. Utopias See above, Thomas More . Dystopias The form of government described in the Republic has been adapted in several modern Dystopic novels and stories. The separation of people by professional class, assignment of profession and purpose by the state, and the absence of traditional family units, replaced by state-organized breeding, was included by authors in descriptions of totalitarian dystopic governments. Government which bears resemblance to Plato's Republic is found in Aldous Huxley's Brave New World and Lois Lowry's The Giver . The Orwellian Dystopia depicted in the novel '' 1984 '' had many characteristics in common with Plato's description of the Allegory Of The Cave as Winston Smith strives to liberate himself from it. Heinlein A more positive view of an Platonic style government would be Robert A. Heinlein's Starship Troopers . His citizen can be compared to a Platonic Guardian, without the communal breeding and property, but still having a militaristic base. Although there are significant differences in the specifics of the system, Heinlein and Plato both endorse systems of limited franchise, with a political class that has earned their power and wisely governs the whole. Saramago By the end of the 20th century, some authors exploited Utopia / Dystopia ambiguities in their descriptions of imaginary societies. A book in this vein is Nobel Prize winner José Saramago 's '' Ensaio Sobre A Lucidez '' ("Treatise on Lucidity", 2004 ): an election count turns out 83% blank votes in one city of the country, without discernible reason. Is this democracy at its best or just a nightmare? Although the book is clearly meant as a ''political'' statement, it's left to the reader's "lucidity" to decide on the interpretation. SEE ALSO NOTES REFERENCES
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