Book cover art for Republic by Plato

Republic

Plato

Date of Birth
427 BCE
Date of Death
347 BCE
Known For
The Symposium, Republic

One of the foundational works of western moral and political thought, the Republic is a dialogue about justice. After reviewing various theories of justice, Socrates and his interlocutors imagine what a just polis, or city, will look like. Their discussion includes the kind of education suitable to a just city, the types of rulers who will lead it, and the relationships that citizens will have with one another. In the end, their experiment fails, and the city they imagine comes crashing down, offering only a shadowy glimpse of a kind of justice. But their dialogue offers a model of philosophical conversation with rich insights into education and a life rooted in justice.