What is justice? Where does tyranny come from, and why does democracy seem so fragile? Can reason tame politics — or not? These are urgent questions for so many folks today; they are also at the core of Plato’s Republic, one of the wildest and most radical works of political philosophy ever written. Join us for a discussion of the first book of this text led by Justin Reynolds, PhD and Ana Keilson, PhD of the Gull Island Institute.
This session will serve as a teaser and introduction to the text, which we propose to read in its entirety over multiple sessions during the summer. The first book may be read by itself as a free standing dialogue (which some scholars believe it originally was). Please email whpl_mail@clamsnet.org to request a .pdf of the reading (30 pp.) in an accessible modern translation (Reeve).