The Republic
The Republic is a work of political philosophy by Plato, one of the best-known works by the Greek author, and is usually dated to around 375 BC.
It is a dialogue between Socrates and other characters, such as the disciples or relatives of Socrates himself. The work is made up of ten books, and brings together all the ideas that make up Plato's philosophy.
The main theme of the book is justice, but reference is also made to fundamental Platonic doctrines, such as the allegory of the cave, the doctrine of ideas or forms, the conception of philosophy as a dialectic or the project of an ideal city, governed according to philosophical principles.
In short, The Republic deals with all issues related to the "philosophy of human things", and involves topics such as ontology, epistemology, political philosophy and ethics.
For this digital edition of the book The Republic we have used Benjamin Jowett's translation.
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Public domain (US)·No sign-up·DRM-free·Real text, not scans
Copyright note. The Republic by Plato is believed to be in the public domain in the United States only. It may still be copyrighted in other countries. If you are not in the United States, please check your local laws to ensure this eBook is in the public domain in your country before downloading The Republic in PDF or EPUB.
- Pages
- 570
- Reading time
- 18 hours 4 minutes
- Pace
- Slow
- First published
- -375
- Language
- Ancient Greek
- Downloads
- 7,094
2401 years later, still timely
Why Read The Republic in 2026?
A long conversation about justice that still frames our arguments. Clear, rigorous, and provocative.
Today's connection
Plato tests city designs to ask what a good life requires—education, law, and limits. Read it with a pencil; map the claims; disagree out loud. It’s a workshop in thinking together.
Justice defined
Not a slogan—an examined structure.
Dialogue method
Questions build, challenge, refine.
City as mirror
Polis design reveals soul design.
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About the author
Plato
Dialogues that teach thinking; reason, myth, and civic life explored in living talk.
If this one stays with you…
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LeviathanThomas Hobbes
A ConfessionLeo Tolstoy
From The Republic
Will he not fancy that the shadows which he formerly saw are truer than the objects which are now shown to him?
Variety in poetry breeds self-indulgence; in gymnastics, disease: simplicity there puts temperance in the soul; here it puts health in the body.
Wherefore each of you, when his turn comes, must go down to the general underground abode, and get the habit of seeing in the dark.
The result, then, is that more plentiful and better-quality goods are more easily produced if each person does one thing for which he is naturally suited, does it at the right time, and is released from having to do any of the others.
Justice is practiced only under compulsion, as someone else's good - not our own.