Plato's 'Republic': A Critical Guide

by Edited by Mark L. McPherran

• ISBN13: 9780521491907
• ISBN10: 0521491908
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2011-01-17
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

Plato's Republic has proven to be of astounding influence and importance. Justly celebrated as Plato's central text, it brings together all of his prior works, unifying them into a comprehensive vision that is at once theological, philosophical, political, and moral. These essays provide a state-of-the-art research picture of the most interesting aspects of the Republic, and address questions that continue to puzzle and provoke, such as: Does Plato succeed in his argument that the life of justice is the most attractive one? Is his tripartite analysis of the soul coherent and plausible? Why does Plato seem to have to force his philosopher-guardians to rule when they know this is something that they ought to do? What is the point of the strange and complicated closing Myth of Er? This volume will be essential to those looking for thoughtful and detailed excursions into the problems posed by Plato's text and ideas.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. ix
List of contributors	p. x
List of abbreviations	p. xiii
Introduction	p. 1
Socrates in the Republic	p. 11
Platonic ring-composition and Republic 10	p. 32
The Atlantis story: the Republic and the Timaeus	p. 52
Ethics and politics in Socrates' defense of justice	p. 65
Return to the cave	p. 83
Degenerate regimes in Plato's Republic	p. 103
Virtue, luck, and choice at the end of the Republic	p. 132
Plato's divided soul	p. 147
The meaning of "sapheneia" in Plato's Divided Line	p. 171
Plato's philosophical method in the Republic: the Divided Line (5Iob-5IId)	p. 188
Blindness and reorientation: education and the acquisition of knowledge in the Republic	p. 209
Music all pow'rful	p. 229
Bibliography	p. 249
Index of passages	p. 261
Index of names and subjects	p. 270
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.