THE REPUBLIC by Plato

Paper Back Book, 636 Pages
Print Book: Digest (5.5 x 8.5 in / 140 x 216 mm), High Quality Black & White, Thick Paper, Paperback Perfect Bound, Matte Cover.

Embark on one of the most ambitious journeys in Western philosophy with Plato's Republic. In this foundational work, Socrates and his companions engage in a sweeping dialogue that seeks to define justice not just as a legal concept, but as a fundamental virtue of the human soul and the bedrock of an ideal state. To understand justice writ large, Socrates proposes the construction, in theory, of the perfect city – Kallipolis. This meticulously crafted society, governed by enlightened philosopher-kings, features a rigid class structure mirroring the tripartite division of the individual soul (reason, spirit, and appetite). Plato outlines a radical system of education designed to cultivate guardians fit to rule, delves into the nature of knowledge versus opinion, and famously illustrates the path to enlightenment through the powerful Allegory of the Cave. The Republic is far more than a political treatise; it's a profound exploration of ethics, metaphysics, epistemology, and psychology. It grapples with censorship, the role of women, the nature of reality (the Theory of Forms), and the ultimate fate of the just and unjust soul.