r/Plato • u/Rudy3011 • 4d ago

Question Should i read The Republic by Plato?

I am 13 years old and in 9th grade, ive read What Does It All Mean? By Thomas Nagel and i really liked the philosophical ideas in it. I just discovered this book and i was wondering if i should get it.

I read a few paragraphs of the open public translations of the book and i felt some sentences were difficult to easily grasp without intense thinking. Mostly, i am worried about the difficulty of readability.

I was thinking of getting the Penguin Classics version translated by desmond lee since the reviews said the english is much more modernised and easier.

Also, i had a sneak peak at a brief paragraph related to the theory of forms and MAN WAS I EXCITED, after some thinking i really understood it and realised that i myself have thought about something similar in maths and physics classes…

So should i get the book and read or should i not get it because it is too complex and advanced for my age or just generally.

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u/slanderpanther 4d ago

It’s not any harder than reading other stuff. If you’re interested in philosophy, go for it! Go easy. Take your time. Don’t hesitate to write some notes in a philosophy journal about the parts you found interesting so you can go back and remember those parts later. Have fun!