Republic

Plato

Republic

Plato (428–347 BC)

Plato's Republic in the Greek text edited by John Burnet, with Paul Shorey's English translation.


Book 1

Section 327

Section 328

Section 329

Section 330

Section 331

Section 332

Section 333

Section 334

Section 335

Section 336

Section 337

Section 338

Section 339

Section 340

Section 341

Section 342

Section 343

Section 344

Section 345

Section 346

Section 347

Section 348

Section 349

Section 350

Section 351

Section 352

Section 353

Section 354

Book 2

Section 357

Section 358

Section 359

Section 360

Section 361

Section 362

Section 363

Section 364

Section 365

Section 366

Section 367

Section 368

Section 369

Section 370

Section 371

Section 372

Section 373

Section 374

Section 375

Section 376

Section 377

Section 378

Section 379

Section 380

Section 381

Section 382

Section 383

Book 3

Section 386

Section 387

Section 388

Section 389

Section 390

Section 391

Section 392

Section 393

Section 394

Section 395

Section 396

Section 397

Section 398

Section 399

Section 400

Section 401

Section 402

Section 403

Section 404

Section 405

Section 406

Section 407

Section 408

Section 409

Section 410

Section 411

Section 412

Section 413

Section 414

Section 415

Section 416

Section 417

Book 4

Section 419

Section 420

Section 421

Section 422

Section 423

Section 424

Section 425

Section 426

Section 427

Section 428

Section 429

Section 430

Section 431

Section 432

Section 433

Section 434

Section 435

Section 436

Section 437

Section 438

Section 439

Section 440

Section 441

Section 442

Section 443

Section 444

Section 445

Book 5

Section 449

Section 450

Section 451

Section 452

Section 453

Section 454

Section 455

Section 456

Section 457

Section 458

Section 459

Section 460

Section 461

Section 462

Section 463

Section 464

Section 465

Section 466

Section 467

Section 468

Section 469

Section 470

Section 471

Section 472

Section 473

Section 474

Section 475

Section 476

Section 477

Section 478

Section 479

Section 480

Book 6

Section 484

Section 485

Section 486

Section 487

Section 488

Section 489

Section 490

Section 491

Section 492

Section 493

Section 494

Section 495

Section 496

Section 497

Section 498

Section 499

Section 500

Section 501

Section 502

Section 503

Section 504

Section 505

Section 506

Section 507

Section 508

Section 509

Section 510

Section 511

Book 7

Section 514

Section 515

Section 516

Section 517

Section 518

Section 519

Section 520

Section 521

Section 522

Section 523

Section 524

Section 525

Section 526

Section 527

Section 528

Section 529

Section 530

Section 531

Section 532

Section 533

Section 534

Section 535

Section 536

Section 537

Section 538

Section 539

Section 540

Section 541

Book 8

Section 543

Section 544

Section 545

Section 546

Section 547

Section 548

Section 549

Section 550

Section 551

Section 552

Section 553

Section 554

Section 555

Section 556

Section 557

Section 558

Section 559

Section 560

Section 561

Section 562

Section 563

Section 564

Section 565

Section 566

Section 567

Section 568

Section 569

Book 9

Section 571

Section 572

Section 573

Section 574

Section 575

Section 576

Section 577

Section 578

Section 579

Section 580

And in addition, shall we not further attribute to him all that we spoke of before, and say that he must needs be, and, by reason of his rule, come to be still more than he was, envious, faithless, unjust, friendless, impious, a vessel and nurse of all iniquity, and so in consequence be himself most unhappy make all about him so? No man of sense will gainsay that, he said. Come then, said I, now at last, even as the judge of last instance pronounces, so do you declare who in your opinion is first in happiness and who second, and similarly judge the others, all five in succession, the royal, the timocratic, the oligarchic, the democratic, and the tyrannical man. Nay, he said, the decision is easy. For as if they were choruses I judge them in the order of their entrance, and so rank them in respect of virtue and vice, happiness and its contrary. Shall we hire a herald, then, said I, or shall I myself make proclamation that the son of Ariston pronounced the best man and the most righteous to be the happiest, and that he is the one who is the most kingly and a king over himself; and declared that the most evil and most unjust is the most unhappy, who again is the man who, having the most of the tyrannical temper in himself, become, most of a tyrant over himself and over the state? Let it have been so proclaimed by you, he said. Shall I add the clause alike whether their character is known to all men and gods or is not known? Add that to the proclamation, he said. Very good, said I; this, then, would be one of our proofs, but examine this second one and see if there is anything in it. What is it? Since, said I, corresponding to the three types in the city, the soul also is tripartite, it will admit, I think, of another demonstration also. What is that? The following: The three parts have also, it appears to me, three kinds of pleasure, one peculiar to each, and similarly three appetites and controls. What do you mean? he said. One part, we say, is that with which a man learns, one is that with which he feels anger. But the third part, owing to its manifold forms, we could not easily designate by any one distinctive name, but gave it the name of its chief and strongest element;

Section 581

Section 582

Section 583

Section 584

Section 585

Section 586

Section 587

Section 588

Section 589

Section 590

Section 591

Section 592

Book 10

Section 595

Section 596

Section 597

Section 598

Section 599

Section 600

Section 601

Section 602

Section 603

Section 604

Section 605

Section 606

Section 607

Section 608

Section 609

Section 610

Section 611

Section 612

Section 613

Section 614

Section 615

Section 616

Section 617

Section 618

Section 619

Section 620

Section 621

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