Tale of a New Republic
I’ve started prepping for a course in Moral Philosophy I’ll be teaching this summer, and I decided to include a hefty chunk of Plato’s Republic. I’ve mentioned this before, but the Republic is the first major work I studied in my first college philosophy course, and it also the first major work I covered in the first course that I taught. So it’s a bit of a sentimental favorite. I like it because I can use it to address so many different areas of philosophy, an then show how each area can link to others.
(I also have a sneaking suspicion that Plato’s guardian class is an inspiration for the Jedi in the Star Wars prequels, but that’s another post. Not sure how well that illustration would go over, but hey.)
I had always used the G.M. A. Grube translation of the Republic that was revised by C.D.C. Reeve, but a couple of years ago I discovered that Reeve had put out his own edition. So this summer I decided to give it a look, and I’ve decided to switch. In terms of the translation itself, I’m about the farthest thing from an expert on ancient Greek, so I can’t comment on its accuracy. But Reeve has decided to convert the format of the work into something of a drama, with every speaker identified and with the background narration put into italics. As Reeve suggests in his introduction, students are going to find this immeasurably easier to read, and anything that removes roadblocks between the student and the material is worthwhile in my book.
About Dave Thomer
Born and raised in Philadelphia. Studied philosophy at Fordham University in the Bronx, where I made many great friends and met my wonderful wife. We moved back to Philadelphia, where I studied philosophy some more and became a teacher. Online and off, I'm looking for ways that we can be better citizens and build stronger communities.