The Republic

The Republic is the central dialogue of Plato (c. 428–348 BCE) and one of the most influential works of philosophy ever written. Through ten books of dialogue between Socrates and a circle of Athenians, Plato lays out his account of justice, the soul, education, art, the philosopher-ruler, and the ideal state.

Its most famous passages — the Allegory of the Cave, the Divided Line, the Myth of Er, the celebrated discussion of the philosopher-king — have shaped the philosophical imagination of Europe for two and a half millennia. Aristotle wrote his Politics in answer to it; Augustine wrote his City of God in its shadow; Rousseau called it the finest treatise on education ever written.