The Republic (Dover Thrift Editions) 

Author：Plato，Benjamin Jowett (Translator)

Paperback: 320 pages

Publisher: Dover Publications Inc. (2 Jan. 2000)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0486411214

ISBN-13: 978-0486411217

Product Dimensions: 1.9 x 13.3 x 20.3 cm

內容簡介

Famous philosophical treatise of the 4th century BC concerns itself chiefly with the idea of justice, as well as such Platonic theories as that of ideas, the criticism of poetry, and the philosopher's role. Source of the famous cave myth and prototype for other imaginary commonwealths, including those of Cicero, St. Augustine, and More. Benjamin Jowett translation.

Review

certainly the best translation of the Republic available (Julia Annas)

A fine new translation (The Observer) --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

In this rendition, first published in 2000, Ferrari and Griffith have produced a vivid, dignified and accurate textbook of one of the great works of Western political thought. It contains an expanded introduction assessing the cultural and political background and general argument; text notes; summary of content; full glossary; chronology of events; and guide to further reading. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

From the Back Cover

This celebrated philosophical work of the fourth century B.C. contemplates the elements of an ideal state, serving as the forerunner for such other classics of political thought as Cicero's De Republica, St. Augustine's City of God, and Thomas More's Utopia.

Written in the form of a dialog in which Socrates questions his students and fellow citizens, The Republic concerns itself chiefly with the question, "What is justice?" as well as Plato's theory of ideas and his conception of the philosopher's role in society. To explore the latter, he invents the allegory of the cave to illustrate his notion that ordinary men are like prisoners in a cave, observing only the shadows of things, while philosophers are those who venture outside the cave and see things as they really are, and whose task it is to return to the cave and tell the truth about what they have seen. This dynamic metaphor expresses at once the eternal conflict between the world of the senses (the cave) and the world of ideas (the world outside the cave), and the philosopher's role as mediator between the two.

作者簡介

Plato ranks among the most familiar ancient philosophers, along with his teacher, Socrates, and his student, Aristotle. In addition to writing philosophical dialogues ― used to teach logic, ethics, rhetoric, religion, and mathematics as well as philosophy ― he founded Athens' Academy, the Western world's first institution of higher learning.