Product Description

This new translation of one of the great works of Western political thought is based on the assumption that when Plato chose the dialogue form for his writing, he intended these dialogues to sound like conversations - although conversations of a philosophical sort. In addition to a vivid, dignified and accurate rendition of Plato’s text, the student and general reader will find many aids to comprehension in this volume: an introduction that assesses the cultural background to the Republic, its place within political philosophy, and its general argument; succinct notes in the body of the text; an analytical summary of the work’s content; a full glossary of proper names; a chronology of important events; and a guide to further reading. The result is an accomplished and accessible edition of this seminal work, suitable for philosophers and classicists as well as historians of political thought at all levels.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #184950 in Books
• Published on: 2000-09-25
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 436 pages

Review
"[Griffith's] aim was to traslate the Greek text as if it were a conversation, and he has succeeded admirably." Library Journal

"In addition to a vivid, dignified and accurate rendition of Plato's text, the student and general reader will find many aids to comprehension in this volume: an introduction that assesses the cultural background to the Republic, its place within political philosophy, and its general argument; succinct notes in the body of the text; an analytical summary of the work's content; a full glossary of proper names; a chronology of important events; and a guide to further reading. The result is an accomplished and accessible edition of this seminal work, suitable for philosophers and classicists as well as historians of political thought at all levels." African Sun Times Review of Books

Customer Reviews

interesting but difficult to read
I decided to read this book because it was referenced in several political textbooks. Despite reading all available reviews , I found this book very difficult to read ; this may be partly caused by my being a layman rather than an academic student. The book is a translation of a Greek papyrus rolls and is over 2000 years old. There is plenty of academic information in the book to help understand the rather strange presentation. This is not a riveting read ; I fell asleep numerous times during every chapter. The main problem is the waffley presentation. It is supposed to be a discussion about how to organise the perfect city, based on experience gained studying Greek cities of varying political approaches. The book shows that the author had an immense insight into human behaviour and psychology; however this knowledge seems to be lacking when it comes to applying it to politics. I should think Stalin and Hitler borrowed many ideas from this book. It is clear while reading , that this book was never intended to be widely read. It is not entertaining and the political views expressed would seem to be intended to suck up to the ruling classes. Then as now philosophers are members of the ruling classes , so they are not likely to bite the hand that feeds them and perhaps risk political reprisal. I then puzzled as to what other purpose the author may have intended it for. My conclusion was that it was intended to teach philosophy students the art of logical deductive thinking. Since most philosophers spend most of their time waffling to each other ; it would seem an perfect teaching method. Towards the end of the book there is a discussion about the merits of various political regimes; the author presented these regimes as separate political systems. What struck me was that the system we have now , hypocritically known as Democracy , contains all of them ; all struggling to take over the world. My conclusion drawn from this book is that there is no political system which is suited to organising humans to live in cities. Humans were designed to live in caves wearing animal skins; they were never intended to live in organised cities controlled by laws and political dogmas. Difficult to read , but interesting and fairly enjoyable even for a layman.