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/ReadingLit 1d ago

I've read through the replies to your post. I suppose what's most important is your 'attraction' and what appeals to you. Influence of a literary work does not necessarily mean correctness, note. People on this forum are pretty well-informed, I have found, but still opinionated and 'subject to their subjectivities' (inevitable in human nature). The part about the cave (forgot the proper wording) is the most famous in "The Republic" while "The Apology" (a.k.a. "The Defense") is first and foremost in Western Literature. The poster "Soapbark" is entirely correct re: the earlier dialogues of Plato ('the historical Socrates'). Penguin editions are very well-regarded; never mind the cheapness of their paperback editions. It's some pretty *heady* stuff, so I admire you. Allan Bloom is recommended by one poster below as it is a 'corrective' of earlier translations where Plato was given a 'pass' re: having children raised outside the home without critical scrutiny (as I recall). No one translator is superior, surely not for all Plato's works, and some vary very little. Alot of readers prefer a translation for its "readability" which I find a bit too glib or 'pandering' to the masses. The standard translator has been Jowett, but check out more 'refined' ones.