Recommend the translation by Allan Bloom, which attempts to be as literal and true to the original text as possible. Professor Bloom was my teacher long ago.
Funny. I was just going to ask why this edition. I had the Loeb Classical Library edition, and I tend to want to read it in Greek, but I got curious about different translations because of this article. I may get Bloom also. Plato remains an enduring influence.
I have the Loeb's for all of Plato except the Republic, since I have a copy of Bloom and was taught on it. If you can read Greek then the ancient world is your oyster, have at it.
Bloom and his teacher Leo Strauss held that it was important to keep as close to the original, even if it sounds odd on modern ears, that it does so for a reason.
Thank you for the recommendation to read it. But until I can access the book, can anyone recommend a decent summation (either a read or podcast) of Platos Republic? thanks
"Republic" is a fascinating read. As with much of Plato’s output, to a large degree it’s a fantasy world. Those who know squat about philosophy should at least learn that Plato, if not the inventor of, certainly was the world's most famous exponent of idealism, the assertion that there is a “real” (I’d call it mental) world that is the true world, and that what most people call everyday reality was the “rabble of the senses”, the “apparent” world.
"Republic" displays stimulating thought experiments, but most don’t map well to our everyday, “Apparent” reality, as he called it. Of the many “proposals” he made, alas, probably the one that has seen the most practical use is the arrogated right, indeed, even the monopoly power, of governments to deceive not just perceived enemies, but their own citizens. Noble lie, indeed.
After ten thousand or more years of civilization, Mankind still has to learn that, while the mental world has its uses, typically attempts to impose those fairy castles in the air upon that darn, implacable “apparent” reality usually fall short. Efforts to do so typically involve enormous wasted efforts and resources, and as we’ve learned in the past hundred years or so, body counts in the hundreds of millions.
Recommend the translation by Allan Bloom, which attempts to be as literal and true to the original text as possible. Professor Bloom was my teacher long ago.
Funny. I was just going to ask why this edition. I had the Loeb Classical Library edition, and I tend to want to read it in Greek, but I got curious about different translations because of this article. I may get Bloom also. Plato remains an enduring influence.
I have the Loeb's for all of Plato except the Republic, since I have a copy of Bloom and was taught on it. If you can read Greek then the ancient world is your oyster, have at it.
Bloom and his teacher Leo Strauss held that it was important to keep as close to the original, even if it sounds odd on modern ears, that it does so for a reason.
Thank you for the recommendation to read it. But until I can access the book, can anyone recommend a decent summation (either a read or podcast) of Platos Republic? thanks
"Republic" is a fascinating read. As with much of Plato’s output, to a large degree it’s a fantasy world. Those who know squat about philosophy should at least learn that Plato, if not the inventor of, certainly was the world's most famous exponent of idealism, the assertion that there is a “real” (I’d call it mental) world that is the true world, and that what most people call everyday reality was the “rabble of the senses”, the “apparent” world.
"Republic" displays stimulating thought experiments, but most don’t map well to our everyday, “Apparent” reality, as he called it. Of the many “proposals” he made, alas, probably the one that has seen the most practical use is the arrogated right, indeed, even the monopoly power, of governments to deceive not just perceived enemies, but their own citizens. Noble lie, indeed.
After ten thousand or more years of civilization, Mankind still has to learn that, while the mental world has its uses, typically attempts to impose those fairy castles in the air upon that darn, implacable “apparent” reality usually fall short. Efforts to do so typically involve enormous wasted efforts and resources, and as we’ve learned in the past hundred years or so, body counts in the hundreds of millions.
Another classic that needs to be in everyone's personal library. Only $0.19 in Kindle version! A timeless treasure and gift worth its weight in gold!