An Introduction to Plato's Republic

by Annas, Julia

• ISBN13: 9780198274292
• ISBN10: 0198274297
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1981-06-18
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

This interpretive introduction provides unique insight into Plato's Republic. Stressing Plato's desire to stimulate philosophical thinking in his readers, Julia Annas here demonstrates the coherence of his main moral argument on the nature of justice, and expounds related concepts ofeducation, human motivation, knowledge and understanding. In a clear systematic fashion, this book shows that modern moral philosophy still has much to learn from Plato's attempt to move the focus from questions of what acts the just person ought to perform to the more profound questions of whatsort of person the just person ought to be.

Table of Contents

Introduction	1	(15)
Book One	16	(43)
Cephalus and Polemarchus: moral complacency	18	(16)
Thrasymachus	34	(25)
The Form of Plato's Argument	59	(13)
The Just Society	72	(37)
The first City	73	(6)
Education and philosophy of education	79	(22)
A sketch of the ideal state	101	(8)
Parts and Virtues of State and Soul	109	(44)
The Defence of Justice	153	(17)
Plato's State	170	(20)
Equality and rights	172	(6)
Fraternity and unity	178	(3)
Women's place	181	(4)
Is the ideal state possible?	185	(5)
Belief, Knowledge, and Understanding	190	(27)
The `Theory' of Forms	217	(25)
Understanding and the Good: Sun, Line, and Cave	242	(30)
Philosophy and Mathematics	272	(22)
The propaedeutic studies	272	(4)
Dialectic	276	(18)
The Benefits of Justice	294	(27)
The types of unjust state and individual	294	(11)
Justice and happiness in the individual	305	(16)
Plato's Moral Theories	321	(14)
Book Ten	335	(20)
Poetry	336	(8)
The ending of the Republic	344	(11)
Select Bibliography	355	(6)
Index	361