Abstract

The Republic is here treated as an introduction to philosophy. The authors systematically summarize and criticize the various topics and arguments Plato used. No line-by-line scholarly commentary is attempted; rather the emphasis is on the philosophical importance and truth of Plato's arguments. Unfortunately the result of this approach is that the Republic becomes an introduction to the British brand of philosophical analysis, rather than to Plato's philosophy. Literary form and dramatic situation are virtually ignored, and with them Plato's conception of philosophy as shared inquiry. The most sympathetic chapter is the one in which analysis is subordinated to scholarship.—R. J. W.