Notes on Additional Plato Reading

The reading assignment for The Republic of Plato is somewhat complicated this semester. The difficulty is that, in my judgment, the selections from this book found in Pathways to Civilization, volume I,  are not entirely adequate. While they are very well edited, these selections leave out some parts of the book that, in my judgment, are central to understanding the work as a whole. And, in addition, these selections are taken out of the order in which they appear in Plato’s work.

To remedy this difficulty, I will do two things.

First, I have made the additional recommended selections available to you in two ways.

a. I have placed on reserve a copy of the first edition of the text from which the selections in the IH Sourcebook are taken. This book is G. M. A. Grube, trans. The Republic of Plato.

b. I have placed all of the selections of the text that we will read on my own website. These selections are from the translation of The Republic by Benjamin Jowett. While it would be best if you could read the additional selections in the same translation as found in the IH Sourcebook, there is a copyright  on that translation. Thus I cannot put it on my web site. I have, however, made a few changes in Jowett’s translation to bring the two translations closer to one another. You can click on the links in the chart (in the column labeled Stephanus Numbers) to get to each of these sections.

Second, I have prepared the chart on the previous page  to guide your reading. The selections are organized by Stephanus numbers. These numbers are taken from an edition of the Greek text edited by Stephanus. The numbers refer to the page and column of the text (from a—which is usually implicit—to e) as found in the edition of Plato’s work edited by Stephanus. Almost all translations of The Republic in English give Stephanus numbers in the margins. The Republic begins on 327a and goes to 621d. In addition to Stephanus numbers (and the associated links to the Jowett translation on my web site) this chart gives you:

a. The book number of each selection. The Republic is divided into ten books.

b. The pages in Paths to Civilization, volume I on which you can find each selection that is included in this text.

c. The pages in the Grube translation on reserve in which you can find each selection.

d. An indication of the topic of discussion in each section.

While it is, I realize, somewhat annoying to read this book in this fashion, the additional pages are relatively few in number (probably no more than the equivalent of twenty pages in Paths to Civilizations, volume I and extremely important. 

Please be sure to bring the text, in one version or another, to class. You also might want to have a copy of the selections that are not in Paths to Civilization, volume I.  So, if you have the funds, you might print out the selections that are found on my web site or Xerox the selections found in the text on reserve. Or, alternatively, you might buy a  copy of Plato's Republic. The  cost of the text is not high to begin with and there should be many used copies available. If you wish to buy a copy, I recommend the following translations:

    Allan Bloom, The Republic of Plato, Basic Books. This is the most accurate translation and it contains an excellent interpretive essay. I do not agree with everything Bloom says about the text (and many other interpreters disagree with even more of what he says.) But Bloom's essay is extremely intelligent and insightful. And it is written in a way that is accessible to the student encountering Plato for the first time.

G. M. A. Grube and C. D. C. Reeve, The Republic of Plato, Hackett Books.. This is the edition excerpted in Pathways to Civilization, volume I.

G. M. A. Grube, The Republic of Plato, Hackett Books. This is the first edition of the text excerpted in Pathways to Civilization, volume I. It is also the edition I have put on reserve for you.