Tags
Summary
Editor's review
Who it's for
A good fit for
- Students of philosophy, law and political science who need to study original texts of Western political thought
- General readers interested in the institutions and legislative thought of the Greek city-state
- Researchers who want to compare with the Republic to understand the evolution of Plato's thought
- Self-learners with some English reading ability willing to read classic texts slowly
Not a good fit for
- Beginner readers who want quick conclusions and lack patience
- First-time readers with no background in ancient Greek history or philosophy
- Casual readers who only want light stories or literary works
Reading tips
- Read introductory material first to learn the dialogue's characters and the city-state background before entering the text.
- Read by theme, such as education, punishment or the selection of officials; you need not go straight through from beginning to end.
- Jot down the specific institutional provisions Plato proposes for comparison with later legal theory.
- Read alongside the Republic to observe how Plato's thinking shifts from the ideal city to rule by law.
About the publisher
Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.
Contents
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FAQ
What is the relationship between the Laws and the Republic?
Does this edition have notes and an introduction?
Can I read it with only ordinary English?
Do I need to know ancient Greek history first?
Comments
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About the author
Plato (c. 427–347 BCE) was an ancient Greek philosopher. Reliable details of his life are limited in public sources, and his thought and writings are generally known through later accounts. The library holds 65 of his works, including the multi-volume Republic (Πολιτεία), the Symposium, and the Phaedo. These works are mostly dialogues with Socrates as the central figure, unfolding through question and answer around justice, the governance of the city, love, the soul, and knowledge, combining philosophical inquiry with dramatic literary form. The Republic, which discusses the ideal city and justice, is especially influential. Plato's style is marked by analogy, argument, and open-ended conclusions, and he has had a lasting influence on later Western philosophy and political thought.
