The Republic

Why should we read The Republic Hmm, I imagine lots of students ask this question to themselves when they're given it as a set book at the beginning of their university course. But, in fact, there are many good reasons to read The Republic. And the first one I would pick on is just that it is immensely readable. It's not...Plater did not write philosophy like a dry textbook. He wrote it like a living conversation. The Whole of the Republic, which is a fairly fat book, is a living conversation written in short, almost soundbite type answers, but nevertheless developing some very, very important ideas. So, my first answer then, we should read The Republic just because it is readable. It was written by a genius and it's worth reading. It's easy to read. It's not difficult. But then there's also obviously the thought, the content of the book. And he's asking this absolutely fundamental question, why should we bother to be good What's in it for us, effectively It seems, when we look at the world, it looks as though injustice pays, it looks as though crime pays, whereas the good people get trodden down. So Plato addresses this absolutely fundamental question, why should we be good I'm not going to tell you his answer. Read the book.