Table of Contents
Preface and background to the Republic xiii
Introduction xxiii
Principal Dates xlvii
Current Opinions of Justice Refuted (Book 1) 1
Introductory Dialogue (Socrates and Cephalus, 328c-331d) 2
First Definition (Cephalus, 331a-d) 5
Refutation (332c-335d) 6
Third Definition (Thrasymachus, 338c-343a) 13
Refutation (339b-e) 14
Redefinition of Ruler (340d-341a) 15
Refutation (341c-343a) 16
New Argument (343a-348a) 18
Refutations of (a): i) 345b-348a) 20
Refutation of (b), 352d-354a 28
Conclusion (354a-c) 30
Justice Reexamined, in the State and in the Individual (Books 2-4) 31
Adeimantus (362d-367e) 35
The Problem Examined and Solved (368c-445e) 40
Second State of the State (372d-427c) 44
Elementary Education of the guardians (376c-415d) 48
Gymnastics (physical education), 403c-412b 73
Instilling and testing patriotism and leadership, 412c-415d 81
Living arrangements of guardians and auxiliaries (415d-427c) 85
Conclusion (427c-434d) 94
Wisdom = the knowledge of the guardians (428a-429a) 95
Courage = the auxiliaries’ opinion of “what is and is not to be feared” (429a-30c) 96
Temperance = agreement of all three classes about who should rule and be ruled (430d-432b) 97
Justice = each of the three classes “tending its own business” and not preempting the work of another (432b-434d) 99
Composition of the Soul (434d-441c) 101
Conclusion (441d-444e) 109
Degeneration Regimes and Souls, Interrupted (445b-449a) 113
Digression: The Best Regime and Men (Books 5-7) 114
Organization of the Best Regime (451c-461e) 116
Women and children will not be private possessions but common to all of the men. Marriage arrangements, eugenics (457c-461e) 122
The Superiority and Possibility of Such a City (462a-473e) 126
Excursus: regulations for warfare (466e-471c) 131
Such a city is not impossible (471e-473c) 136
Reminder that the best state is only a model, not completely realizable in practice (472b-473b). It is possible only if philosophers become kings or kings philosophers (473c-3), 138
The Best Men: Philosopher Kings (Guardians), Book 5, 474b-Book 7 139
The Philosophic Nature (485a-503e) 147
Higher Education of the Guardians (504a-535a) 165
The Simple of the Sun (506e-509b) 168
The Simile of the Divided Line (509d-511e) 171
The Simile of the Cave (514a-521b) 174
Curriculum (521c-535a) 181
Plane geometry, 526c-527c 186
Harmonics, 530d-531c 190
Selection of the Guardians (535a-540c) 195
Brief Excursus (540d-541b) 200
Degenerate Regimes and Souls, Resumed From Book 5 (Books 8 and 9) 201
Cause of Change or Decline in a State: Civil War (545c-547c) 203
Degenerate Regimes and Men, Described and Compared (547c-592b) 205
Oilgarchy (rule of the wealthy few) and the oligarchic man (550c-555b) 208
Democracy (rule of the people) and the democratic man (555b-562a) 213
Tyranny (dictatorship) and the tyrannical man (562a-580a) 220
The five types are judged for their goodness and happiness and ranked in the order in which they were presented: Aristocracy and the aristocratic man are the best and happiness; tyranny and the tyrant are the worst and most miserable (580a-588a) 237
Conclusion: The aristocrat is just, the tyrant unjust. Therefore justice makes a man happy, injustice makes him unhappy (588b-592b) 247
Denunciation of Imitative Poetry (Book 10, 595a-608b) 251
Imitative poetry appeals to the emotions rather than to the mind (602c-605c) 259
Imitative poetry deforms character (605c-608b) 263
Immortality and the Rewards of Justice (608b-End) 265
Rewards of Justice and Punishments of Injustice in This Life (612b-614a) 269
Rewards and Punishments After Death (614a-621d) 271
Appendix: The Spindle of Necessity 279
Bibliography 283
