Title Details

Preface and background to the Republic xiii

Introduction xxiii

Principal Dates xlvii

Current Opinions of Justice Refuted (Book 1) 1

Introductory Dialogue (Socrates and Cephalus, 328c-331d) 2

First Definition (Cephalus, 331a-d) 5

Refutation (332c-335d) 6

Third Definition (Thrasymachus, 338c-343a) 13

Refutation (339b-e) 14

Redefinition of Ruler (340d-341a) 15

Refutation (341c-343a) 16

New Argument (343a-348a) 18

Refutations of (a): i) 345b-348a) 20

Refutation of (b), 352d-354a 28

Conclusion (354a-c) 30

Justice Reexamined, in the State and in the Individual (Books 2-4) 31

Adeimantus (362d-367e) 35

The Problem Examined and Solved (368c-445e) 40

Second State of the State (372d-427c) 44

Elementary Education of the guardians (376c-415d) 48

Gymnastics (physical education), 403c-412b 73

Instilling and testing patriotism and leadership, 412c-415d 81

Living arrangements of guardians and auxiliaries (415d-427c) 85

Conclusion (427c-434d) 94

Wisdom = the knowledge of the guardians (428a-429a) 95

Courage = the auxiliaries’ opinion of “what is and is not to be feared” (429a-30c) 96

Temperance = agreement of all three classes about who should rule and be ruled (430d-432b) 97

Justice = each of the three classes “tending its own business” and not preempting the work of another (432b-434d) 99

Composition of the Soul (434d-441c) 101

Conclusion (441d-444e) 109

Degeneration Regimes and Souls, Interrupted (445b-449a) 113

Digression: The Best Regime and Men (Books 5-7) 114

Organization of the Best Regime (451c-461e) 116

Women and children will not be private possessions but common to all of the men. Marriage arrangements, eugenics (457c-461e) 122

The Superiority and Possibility of Such a City (462a-473e) 126

Excursus: regulations for warfare (466e-471c) 131

Such a city is not impossible (471e-473c) 136

Reminder that the best state is only a model, not completely realizable in practice (472b-473b). It is possible only if philosophers become kings or kings philosophers (473c-3), 138

The Best Men: Philosopher Kings (Guardians), Book 5, 474b-Book 7 139

The Philosophic Nature (485a-503e) 147

Higher Education of the Guardians (504a-535a) 165

The Simple of the Sun (506e-509b) 168

The Simile of the Divided Line (509d-511e) 171

The Simile of the Cave (514a-521b) 174

Curriculum (521c-535a) 181

Plane geometry, 526c-527c 186

Harmonics, 530d-531c 190

Selection of the Guardians (535a-540c) 195

Brief Excursus (540d-541b) 200

Degenerate Regimes and Souls, Resumed From Book 5 (Books 8 and 9) 201

Cause of Change or Decline in a State: Civil War (545c-547c) 203

Degenerate Regimes and Men, Described and Compared (547c-592b) 205

Oilgarchy (rule of the wealthy few) and the oligarchic man (550c-555b) 208

Democracy (rule of the people) and the democratic man (555b-562a) 213

Tyranny (dictatorship) and the tyrannical man (562a-580a) 220

The five types are judged for their goodness and happiness and ranked in the order in which they were presented: Aristocracy and the aristocratic man are the best and happiness; tyranny and the tyrant are the worst and most miserable (580a-588a) 237

Conclusion: The aristocrat is just, the tyrant unjust. Therefore justice makes a man happy, injustice makes him unhappy (588b-592b) 247

Denunciation of Imitative Poetry (Book 10, 595a-608b) 251

Imitative poetry appeals to the emotions rather than to the mind (602c-605c) 259

Imitative poetry deforms character (605c-608b) 263

Immortality and the Rewards of Justice (608b-End) 265

Rewards of Justice and Punishments of Injustice in This Life (612b-614a) 269

Rewards and Punishments After Death (614a-621d) 271

Appendix: The Spindle of Necessity 279

Bibliography 283