Plato’s Republic

Catalog description

This course will conduct an intensive reading of Plato's Republic, and perhaps other works by Plato. The Republic brings the famously impractical subject of philosophy into close engagement with the cynical practicalities of politics. To make that engagement happen, Plato reimagines philosophy so that it can organize politics, but also reimagines politics so that it opens itself up to philosophical intervention. The result is a grand and mysterious dialogue that speaks to politics, ethics, psychology, education, the nature of art, and metaphysics. The course will undertake a sustained and close study of the Republic. Students will keep a journal, write some short response pieces, and construct bibliographies for further research.