Classics 311-A: Special Topic in Plato: Plato's Republic

Plato's Republic is a literary, philosophical, and political masterpiece, and it is often held to be his single most important dialogue. While its official topic is the nature of justice, it brings together elements of Plato's epistemology, metaphysics, philosophy of art, ethics, and political theory into what purports to be a coherent whole. This class will be dedicated to a slow and thorough reading of the dialogue, attempting to come to grips with Plato's philosophical arguments, his literary devices, and his political vision. Along the way we will compare different approaches to reading the dialogue, different answers to how well Plato's arguments hold up, and different perspectives on what we can take from this text today. May be elected as Philosophy 311 or Politics 315.