Republic
The Republic begins with a simple question at a dinner in the Piraeus, the port of Athens: what is justice, and is a just person happier than an unjust one? To answer it, Socrates and his companions build an ideal city in words, and find the same structure in the human soul.
Along the way come some of the most famous images in philosophy: the ring of Gyges, the philosopher-kings, the sun, the divided line, the cave, and the myth of Er. It is Plato’s longest and most ambitious work, and the one that has shaped Western thought about politics, education and the good life more than any other.
Socrates narrates the whole conversation himself. Each of the ten books is on its own page.
About Plato
Plato (about 428–348 BC) was an Athenian philosopher, a follower of Socrates, and the founder of the Academy, a school in Athens. His dialogues, most with Socrates as the main speaker, are among the founding texts of Western philosophy.
Who’s who
- Socrates
- The narrator, who retells a long conversation held at a house in the Piraeus.
- Glaucon
- Plato’s older brother, eager and sharp, Socrates’ main partner from Book II on.
- Adeimantus
- Plato’s other brother, who joins Glaucon in challenging Socrates to defend justice.
- Cephalus
- A wealthy, elderly resident of the Piraeus, the host, who talks about old age and money.
- Polemarchus
- Cephalus’ son, who defends the view that justice is helping friends and harming enemies.
- Thrasymachus
- A sophist from Chalcedon who argues angrily that justice is the advantage of the stronger.
- Clitophon
- A companion of Thrasymachus who briefly speaks up for him.
- Lysias
- Cephalus’ son, later a famous speechwriter, present but silent.
- Simonides
- A lyric poet whose saying about justice Polemarchus defends.
- Homer
- The epic poet, whose portrayal of gods and heroes Socrates criticizes.
- Hesiod
- An early poet, criticized alongside Homer for false stories about the gods.
- Gyges
- A shepherd in Glaucon’s story who finds a ring that makes him invisible and seizes a throne.
- Er
- A soldier who, in the closing myth, comes back to life and reports what happens to souls after death.
Key terms
- justice δικαιοσύνη dikaiosynē
- The main question of the book. It turns out to be each part of a city or soul doing its own work.
- injustice ἀδικία adikia
- The opposite of justice. Thrasymachus and Glaucon argue that the unjust life pays better.
- the advantage of the stronger τὸ τοῦ κρείττονος συμφέρον to tou kreittonos sympheron
- Thrasymachus’ definition of justice: whatever benefits those in power.
- constitution πολιτεία politeia
- A city’s form of government and way of life; also the Greek title of the book.
- guardians φύλακες phylakes
- The ruling class of the ideal city, trained from childhood. They include the rulers and the auxiliaries.
- auxiliaries ἐπίκουροι epikouroi
- The guardians who defend the city and enforce the rulers’ decisions, like soldiers.
- philosopher φιλόσοφος philosophos
- A lover of wisdom. Socrates argues that cities will not be free of trouble until philosophers rule.
- the reasoning part τὸ λογιστικόν to logistikon
- The part of the soul that thinks and should rule the others.
- the spirited part τὸ θυμοειδές to thymoeides
- The part of the soul that feels anger and cares about honor; it should side with reason.
- the appetitive part τὸ ἐπιθυμητικόν to epithymētikon
- The part of the soul that wants food, drink, sex, and money.
- moderation σωφροσύνη sōphrosynē
- Self-control; in the city and the soul, agreement among the parts about which should rule.
- the form of the good ἡ τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ ἰδέα hē tou agathou idea
- The highest object of knowledge, compared to the sun: it makes everything else knowable.
- forms εἴδη / ἰδέαι eidē / ideai
- The unchanging realities, such as justice itself, that philosophers know and ordinary things resemble.
- knowledge ἐπιστήμη epistēmē
- Grasp of what truly is. Socrates contrasts it with opinion and gives it only to philosophers.
- opinion δόξα doxa
- Belief about the changing world of appearances; it falls between knowledge and ignorance.
- imitation μίμησις mimēsis
- Copying the appearance of things, as poets and painters do. Book X argues it is far from the truth.