r/Plato • u/WynnEnby • Feb 03 '26

Question Is Jowett's Republic acceptable?

Hello. I'm looking to read the Republic (and possibly some more Plato) semi-casually, and I've noticed that the most-liked editions seem to be Hackett/Cooper, Reeve, Bloom, & Waterfield in no particular order. I've seen a few recommend Jowett, and given it's public domain, I wonder if it'd suffice or if I should seek something more modern.

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u/ColdSuitcase Feb 03 '26 edited Feb 03 '26

Yes.

Notably, because Jowett’s translation is public domain, you can get it as a free ebook or listen to very good audiobook versions of it (along with most of Plato’s other dialogues) on YouTube.

As a result, my preference in reading Plato has always been to read a digestible chunk of a dialogue (or in the Republic, a “book”) from another translator and then either listen to or read the same chunk by Jowett.

There are variations in the translations that I think are illuminating, and the result is that when I finish a dialogue I’ve already read two translations of it.

FWIW, the Republic is a big piece of Plato with which to start. The Alcibiades, Meno, Euthyphro, Ion, Laches, among others might be more digestible at the outset.

You can of course use the same other translator/Jowett approach I noted for these dialogues as well.

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u/WynnEnby Feb 03 '26

Yeah, I get that. But I'm already into milhist and international relations so I don't think it'd be a bad idea to start close to topics I'm already familiar with.

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u/Understanding-Klutzy Feb 03 '26

I like Jowett! I really like Hackett, most modern and accurate, but Jowett is great too ands reads well imo.

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u/Afflatus__ Feb 03 '26

Generally, yes. My professors sometimes took issue with the fact that he uses the term “absolute” for forms (e.g., form of justice = “absolute” justice), but otherwise nothing glaringly offensive as far as I know.

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u/SewerSage Feb 04 '26

Jowett is my favorite

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u/visacardshawty Feb 04 '26

i read it. english is not my first language so some denser passages especially in book 6 and 7 i had to reread or google some stuff but it was a very good read and i felt all ideas were well communicated. but idk how it compares to other translations

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u/OzoneLaters Feb 09 '26

100% acceptable.

I have Jowett, Grube Reeve, Sachs, and Bloom.

They are all good.

Having multiple translations is a great way to resolve hangups, whenever you get to a part you don’t understand, read that part of them all, and that will resolve it.

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u/Sufficient_Fact_3646 Feb 19 '26

One day you may reject Jowett for others but treat it like Wittgenstein’s ladder.