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A review by jacobwaller
The Republic by Plato
4.0
Okay so I spent almost three months of my life really trying to understand and get into Plato’s Republic and it resulted in some of the most intense, beautiful moments as well as the most boring moments I’ve ever spent reading a book.
First, Republic is a masterpiece through and through. There are so many ideas here that are endlessly dense and complex. There was a lot of deliberation that I put into this book and there is still a lot of stuff I don’t fully get or understand in the depth that I want to be able to, so I’ll definitely be rereading it again at some point. Plato blends a bunch of different branches of philosophy together in this all-encompassing universe that is very easy to get lost in and make sense of but will reward you if you take your time with it and give it some attention. It makes sense why this book has been read by all great thinkers since it was written almost 2500 years ago.
That being said, I didn’t completely fall in love with it. There’s a good amount of conclusions that Socrates will make that will come out of nowhere and will seemingly be predicated on a LOT of presumptions. He sort of gives you the conclusion of the argument without the buildup, and then he sort of gives you the pieces of said argument and it sort of your responsibility to try and build the puzzle. When he is able to pull it off, it results in some of the most beautiful, intoxicating moments of reading philosophy ever. However when he doesn’t, it feels like you’re just wasting your time. My interests more lie in the ontological and metaphysical stuff, so the political stuff was kind of a slog to get through at some points, but overall I enjoyed my experience reading this book for the first time around. Book 6 and 7 were my absolute favorite though, we get the theory of Forms and “the Absolute Good,” and of course the allegory of the cave and this is where Plato’s effect on religion, specifically Christianity, felt most potent. I’ll end it with one of my favorite quotes from the book that have to do with the pursuit of philosophy.
“For if a man had always on his arrival in this world dedicated himself from the first to sound philosophy, and had been moderately fortunate in the number of the lot, he might, as the messenger reported, be happy here, and also his journey to another life and return to this, instead of being rough and underground, would be smooth and heavenly.” - p.350
First, Republic is a masterpiece through and through. There are so many ideas here that are endlessly dense and complex. There was a lot of deliberation that I put into this book and there is still a lot of stuff I don’t fully get or understand in the depth that I want to be able to, so I’ll definitely be rereading it again at some point. Plato blends a bunch of different branches of philosophy together in this all-encompassing universe that is very easy to get lost in and make sense of but will reward you if you take your time with it and give it some attention. It makes sense why this book has been read by all great thinkers since it was written almost 2500 years ago.
That being said, I didn’t completely fall in love with it. There’s a good amount of conclusions that Socrates will make that will come out of nowhere and will seemingly be predicated on a LOT of presumptions. He sort of gives you the conclusion of the argument without the buildup, and then he sort of gives you the pieces of said argument and it sort of your responsibility to try and build the puzzle. When he is able to pull it off, it results in some of the most beautiful, intoxicating moments of reading philosophy ever. However when he doesn’t, it feels like you’re just wasting your time. My interests more lie in the ontological and metaphysical stuff, so the political stuff was kind of a slog to get through at some points, but overall I enjoyed my experience reading this book for the first time around. Book 6 and 7 were my absolute favorite though, we get the theory of Forms and “the Absolute Good,” and of course the allegory of the cave and this is where Plato’s effect on religion, specifically Christianity, felt most potent. I’ll end it with one of my favorite quotes from the book that have to do with the pursuit of philosophy.
“For if a man had always on his arrival in this world dedicated himself from the first to sound philosophy, and had been moderately fortunate in the number of the lot, he might, as the messenger reported, be happy here, and also his journey to another life and return to this, instead of being rough and underground, would be smooth and heavenly.” - p.350