The Blackwell Guide to Platos Republic

The Blackwell Guide to Plato’s Republic consists of thirteen new essays written by both established scholars and younger researchers with the specific aim of helping readers to understand Plato’s masterwork. The essays shed new light on many central features and themes of the Republic including: Plato’s literary and philosophical style; his use of myths, metaphors, and allegories; his theories of justice and knowledge; and his treatment of psychology, education, myth, and the divine. Contributors include Christopher Rowe, David Keyt, Jonathan Lear, Terry Penner, Rachel Barney, and Hendrik Lorenz. Written clearly and simply, this volume is the ideal companion for readers coming to the Republic for the first time, and will also be of interest to those returning to this foundational work of the Western canon.

Notes on Contributors. Editor’s Introduction. 1. The Literary and Philosophical Style of The Republic: Christopher Rowe (University of Durham). 2. Allegory and Myth in Plato’s Republic: Jonathan Lear (The University of Chicago). 3. Socrates’ Refutation of Thrasymachus: Rachel Barney (University of Toronto). 4. Plato’s Challenge: the Case Against Justice in Republic II: Christopher Shields (Oxford University). 5. The Gods and Piety of Plato’s Republic: Mark L. McPherran (University of Maine). 6. Plato on Learning to Love Beauty: Gabriel Richardson Lear (The University of Chicago). 7. Methods of Reasoning About Justice in Plato’s Republic: Gerasimos Santas (University of California, Irvine). 8. The Analysis of the Soul in Plato’s Republic: Hendrik Lorenz (Princeton University). 9. The Divided Soul and Desire for the Good in Plato’s Republic: Mariana Anagnostopoulos (California State University). 10. Plato and the Ship of State: David Keyt (University of Washington). 11. Knowledge, Recollection and the Forms in Republic VII: Michael T. Ferejohn (Duke University). 12. Plato’s Theory of Forms in the Republic: Terrence Penner (University of Edinburgh). 13. Plato’s Defense of Justice: Rachel G. K. Singpurwalla (Southern Illinois University). Bibliography. Index

Gerasimos Santas is Professor of Philosophy at the University of California, Irvine. His previous publications include Socrates (1979), Plato and Freud: Two Theories of Love (Blackwell, 1988), and Goodness and Justice: Plato, Aristotle and the Moderns (Blackwell, 2001).

"A judicious mix of new voices and more familiar ones, Santas′ Guide is a terrific resource for students and teachers of Plato′s masterwork. It should command a wide readership and be in every library." C. D. C. Reeve, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill This is a splendid collection of essays. The contributors are not content with rehashing old material but demonstrate how it is still possible to engage with the Republic in new and philosophically stimulating ways. It provides a first–rate guide both to the Republic itself and to some of the most exciting developments in its interpretation. R F Stalley, University of Glasgow "This is a valuable collection. We should be grateful to Gerasimos Santas, and to each of the contributors to this volume, for the new light they have shed on Plato′s masterpiece." Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews