Plato. The Republic - Circa 360 BC

Plato (in Greek Πλάτων, Plátōn, meaning “wide, broad-browed”) was an ancient Greek philosopher and mathematician.  Born to Ariston (his father) and to Perictione (his mother) Plato lived between 428/427 BC and died 348/347 BC in Athens and together with his teacher Socrates and his student Aristotle helped to create what is now known as Western Philosophy.  He did this by founding the Academy in Athens, the first real western institute of higher education and Philosophy.

Plato had a number of interests, including Art, Literature, Rhetoric, Virtue, Politics,Epistemology, Justice, Education, Militarism and Family. In his life and teachings, Plato had many influences, including primarily, that of the Philosopher Socrates. He was however influenced also by Aristophanes, Homer, Hesiod, Protagoras, Parmenides, Aesop, Heraclitus and Pythagoras.

This page and the links in the menu to the left discuss one of Plato’s most influential and best known works – The Republic (Greek: Πολιτεία).  This dialogue, narrated by Socrates himself, was written approximately 360 BC and covers both philosophical and political theory.  The Greek title for The Republic was originally “politeia,” which is derived from the word “Polis,” meaning city.  Politeia has therefore been translated in many languages into the phrase “city-state” rather than “The Republic.”  In many languages therefore (including Dutch), The Republic is known as “The State.” In reality however, the Greek word ‘politeia’ was considered to be a way of life. 

In “The Republic,” Plato uses the word “politeia” according to Scott and Liddell (in a Greek-English Lexicon that they compiled) in the meaning of “form of Government.”  This meaning for the term for “politeia” is however not used very commonly by modern philosophers or researchers into Plato.

Plato's The Republic. An Overview

Plato sets the scene for “The Republic” in the house of Cephalus (an elderly arms manufacturer) at Piraeus, a port city near Athens. Socrates narrates the entire dialogue a day after it took place to Hermocrates, Timaeus and Critias as well as several other minor characters.

In this dialogue, Plato discuses two primary topics. These are:

* The definition of justice
* A comparison of various types of Governments

Plato (through Socrates) uses The Republic to search for Justice.  In this dialogue, the just and blameless old man Cephalus first hints at the nature of Justice.  Socrates and Polemarchus then discuss justice further on the basis of proverbial morality.  Thrasymachus then caricatures justice and Socrates attempts a partial explanation of this concept.  Glaucon and Adeimantus then reduce justice to an abstraction before Socrates returns to discuss in great detail the ideal state.

In the first books ( Books I-IV) Plato describes a State that obeys general Hellenic rules relating to religion and morality.  In the second group of books (Books V-X), Plato moves on to talk about how the Hellenic State could be transformed into an ideal State based on philosophy and philosophical values.